Shloka 6

Matsya Purana — Genealogy and Classification of Sacred Fires

Devanagari script

सहरक्षः सुराणां तु त्रयाणां ते त्रयो ऽग्नयः एतेषां पुत्रपौत्राश्च चत्वारिंशत्तथैव च //

Transliteration

saharakṣaḥ surāṇāṃ tu trayāṇāṃ te trayo 'gnayaḥ eteṣāṃ putrapautrāśca catvāriṃśattathaiva ca //

Translation

Along with Saharākṣa, for those three classes of gods there are three sacred Fires (Agni-deities). And of these, their sons and grandsons are likewise forty in number.

Word by Word

• सहरक्षः (saharākṣaḥ): Saharākṣa (a named divine figure)

• सुराणाम् (surāṇām): of the gods

• तु (tu): indeed/and

• त्रयाणाम् (trayāṇām): of the three (groups)

• ते (te): those/for them

• त्रयः (trayaḥ): three

• अग्नयः (agnayaḥ): Fires, Agni-deities/sacred fires

• एतेषाम् (eteṣām): of these

• पुत्रपौत्राः (putra-pautrāḥ): sons and grandsons (descendants)

• च (ca): and

• चत्वारिंशत् (catvāriṁśat): forty

• तथैव (tathaiva): likewise/in the same manner

• च (ca): also.

Speaker

• Sūta (Purāṇic narrator) describing traditional enumerations within the Matsya Purana’s genealogical/cosmological discourse

Entities Mentioned

• Saharākṣa
• Devas (Surāḥ)
• Agni (sacred Fires / Agni-deities)

Tags

• Genealogies
• Agni
• Deva-lineages
• Cosmology
• Enumeration

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse is not describing Pralaya; it is cataloguing divine groupings and the proliferation of Agni-related lineages (Fires and their descendants) within the ongoing cosmic order.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

By foregrounding the Agnis (sacred Fires), it indirectly supports the householder’s Vedic duty of maintaining ritual fire and honoring fire-centered rites, which Purāṇas treat as stabilizing dharma in society.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

The ritual significance is primary: it points to the theology of multiple Agnis and their lineages, reinforcing the centrality of fire in yajña and domestic rites—background knowledge often presupposed in temple and ritual procedure discussions.