Agni Purana — Kosha, Shloka 15
Adhyāya 361 — अव्ययवर्गः
Avyaya-vargaḥ) — The Section on Indeclinables (Colophon/Closure
अर्थो ऽभिधेयरैवस्तुप्रयोजननिवृत्तिषु निदानागमयोस्तीर्थमृषिजुष्टजले गुरौ
artho 'bhidheyaraivastuprayojananivṛttiṣu nidānāgamayostīrthamṛṣijuṣṭajale gurau
‘അർഥ’ എന്ന പദം ‘അഭിധേയ’ (പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കേണ്ടത്), ‘വസ്തു’ (തത്ത്വം/യാഥാർത്ഥ്യം), ‘പ്രയോജന’ (ലക്ഷ്യം), ‘നിവൃത്തി’ (വിരതി/പിന്മാറ്റം) എന്നീ അർത്ഥങ്ങളിലും ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നു; അതുപോലെ ‘നിദാന’ (കാരണം) ‘ആഗമ’ (പ്രമാണശാസ്ത്രം) അർത്ഥങ്ങളിലും. ‘തീർഥം’, ഋഷികൾ സേവിച്ച ജലം, കൂടാതെ ‘ഗുരു’ എന്ന അർത്ഥത്തിലും ‘അർഥ’ പദം പ്രയോഗിക്കുന്നു.
Lord Agni (teaching to Sage Vasiṣṭha in the Agni Purāṇa’s instructional frame)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Vyakarana","secondary_vidya":"Alamkara","practical_application":"Disambiguating the polysemy of ‘artha’ in śāstra, kāvya, and discourse—useful for commentary-writing, hermeneutics, and precise interpretation.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"List","entry_title":"Artha-śabda: semantic range (meaning, referent, purpose, scripture, tīrtha, guru)","lookup_keywords":["artha","abhidheya","prayojana","āgama","tīrtha"],"quick_summary":"Catalogues the principal senses of ‘artha’ from semantics and pragmatics to authority (āgama), sacred geography (tīrtha), and the preceptor (guru), guiding context-based interpretation."}
Concept: Contextual semantics (prakaraṇa) governs meaning; ‘artha’ spans referent, purpose, cessation, and authority
Application: In exegesis, decide whether ‘artha’ means ‘meaning’, ‘goal’, ‘scriptural authority’, ‘holy place’, or ‘guru’ by checking topic and syntactic environment.
Khanda Section: Sahitya-shastra (Kavya, Shabda-bodha, and technical definitions)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: Tirtha
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A commentator-scholar writes a bhāṣya, with a diagram showing ‘artha’ branching into abhidheya, vastu, prayojana, nivṛtti, nidāna, āgama, tīrtha, and guru; in the background, a tīrtha riverbank with sages and a seated guru teaching.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, split composition: left a guru teaching under a tree, right a sacred river tīrtha with ṛṣis, center a manuscript with the word ‘artha’ and branching labels, bold outlines and flat iconic forms.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style, central guru with gold halo, disciples, ornate manuscript stand; side panel shows tīrtha waters with sages; decorative gold work highlighting ‘āgama’ and ‘guru’ as sacred authority.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, instructional semantic tree of ‘artha’ on a palm-leaf, scholar pointing with stylus, calm classroom setting, fine detailing and soft colors.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, library and riverside vignette combined, scholar-scribe with marginalia, sages at a ford, refined architectural frames, labeled branches for each sense of ‘artha’."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":"Kalyani","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: अर्थो ऽभिधेय-एव = अर्थः + अभिधेयः + एव. ...योस्तीर्थम् = ...योः + तीर्थम्. तीर्थमृषि... = तीर्थम् + ऋषि... (म् + ऋ → मृ).
Related Themes: Agni Purana 361 (kośa/śabda-bheda passages); Agni Purana sections on tīrtha-māhātmya and guru-dharma (elsewhere in the Purana)
FAQs
It teaches a technical semantic rule: ‘artha’ is a multi-valued shāstric term, used for denotation (abhidheya), reality (vastu), practical purpose (prayojana), cessation (nivṛtti), causal ground (nidāna), scriptural authority (āgama), and even sacred loci like tīrtha, sage-frequented water, and the guru.
By cataloging specialized senses of a key term across disciplines—poetics/semantics (abhidheya, vastu), philosophy and soteriology (nivṛtti), reasoning/causality (nidāna), scriptural studies (āgama), and dharma practice (tīrtha, guru)—it shows the Agni Purāṇa’s cross-disciplinary, encyclopedic method.
It frames ‘artha’ not only as linguistic meaning but as spiritually weighty referents—scripture, guru, and tīrtha—implying that correct understanding and orientation to these sources supports purification, right practice, and progress toward nivṛtti (turning away from bondage).