Shloka 14
आक्रोशतां हि भूतानां यः करोति हि निष्कृतिम् । अग्नि: स निष्कृतिर्नाम शोभयत्यभिसेविते,वे वेदनासे पीडित होकर आर्तनाद करनेवाले प्राणियोंको उस कष्टसे निष्कृति (छुटकारा) दिलाते हैं, इसीलिये उन अग्निका एक नाम निष्कृति भी है। वे ही प्राणियोंद्वारा सेवित गृह और उद्यान आदिमें शोभाकी सृष्टि करते हैं
ākrośatāṃ hi bhūtānāṃ yaḥ karoti hi niṣkṛtim | agniḥ sa niṣkṛtir nāma śobhayaty abhisevite ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “That which grants release to living beings who, tormented by pain, cry out in distress is called ‘deliverance’ (Niṣkṛti). Fire does exactly this; therefore Agni bears the name Niṣkṛti. And when tended and employed by creatures, that very fire brings beauty and prosperity to dwellings, gardens, and the like.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Fire is presented as a compassionate, dharmic force: it relieves beings from painful affliction (niṣkṛti—remedy/deliverance) and, when properly tended, it also supports human flourishing by beautifying and sustaining homes and cultivated spaces.
Mārkaṇḍeya explains an epithet of Agni—‘Niṣkṛti’—by describing fire’s function: it provides relief to suffering creatures and, in everyday life, when people maintain and use it, it becomes a source of order, comfort, and splendor in inhabited places.