Agni Purana — Agneya-vidya, Shloka 7
Chapter 17 — सृष्टिविषयकवर्णनम्
An Account Concerning Creation
अप एव ससर्जादौ तासु वीर्यमवासृजत् आपो नारा इति प्रोक्ता आपो वै नरसूनवः
apa eva sasarjādau tāsu vīryamavāsṛjat āpo nārā iti proktā āpo vai narasūnavaḥ
အစဦး၌ ထာဝရဘုရားသည် «ရေများ» ကိုသာ ဖန်ဆင်း၍ ထိုရေများအတွင်းသို့ မျိုးပွားစွမ်းအားကို ထုတ်လွှတ်တော်မူ၏။ ရေများကို «နာရာ» ဟု ခေါ်ကြပြီး၊ အမှန်တကယ် ရေများသည် နရာ၏ သားသမီးဖြစ်သဖြင့် (ထာဝရဘုရား) ကို «နာရာယဏ»—ရေတို့၏ အာဝါသ ဟု ဆိုကြ၏။
Lord Agni (narrating to the sage Vasiṣṭha in the Agni Purana’s dialogue frame)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Cosmology","secondary_vidya":"Philosophy","practical_application":"Uses etymology and cosmogonic sequencing to ground Narayana-upasana and to frame creation as emergence from undifferentiated waters energized by divine virya.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Definition","entry_title":"Nārāyaṇa—Etymology from Nārā (Waters) and Nara","lookup_keywords":["Nārāyaṇa","nārā (waters)","virya (creative potency)","ap (primeval waters)","etymology"],"quick_summary":"Creation begins with waters (āpah) into which the Lord projects generative potency; since waters are called nārā and are said to be born of Nara, the Lord is termed Nārāyaṇa—‘the abode/support of the waters’."}
Alamkara Type: Nirukti (etymological explanation)
Concept: From the unmanifest, the first manifest principle is the cosmic waters; divine consciousness energizes them, and names (like Nārāyaṇa) encode metaphysical function.
Application: For contemplation: meditate on Nārāyaṇa as the ground of manifestation (āpah) and as the immanent support of all forms.
Khanda Section: Cosmogony / Srishti-krama (Creation sequence; Narayana etymology)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A boundless dark-blue ocean of primordial waters; above it the formless presence of Nārāyaṇa releasing a luminous seed-like potency into the waters, suggesting the first stirrings of creation.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style, deep indigo primordial ocean with stylized wave patterns, subtle golden aura indicating Nārāyaṇa’s presence, a small radiant bindu/seed descending into the waters, traditional flat perspective, temple-mural palette.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, central golden halo suggesting Nārāyaṇa over a stylized ocean, embossed gold leaf for the radiant virya-bindu, rich reds and blues, ornate borders, devotional cosmology theme.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, clean linework and soft shading, diagrammatic feel: ‘āpah’ as first element, a luminous droplet/seed entering waters, minimal figures, instructional cosmology caption aesthetic.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, finely detailed rippling water surface, a subtle divine light-source above, delicate gold highlights for the descending seed, restrained palette, atmospheric depth."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"contemplative","suggested_raga":"Ahir Bhairav","pace":"slow","voice_tone":"contemplative"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: ससर्जादौ = ससर्ज + आदौ; वीर्यमवासृजत् = वीर्यम् + अवासृजत्; आपो = आपः (visarga-lopa before voiced sound); नरसूनवः = नर + सूनवः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष).
Related Themes: Agni Purana 17 (Sarga/Srishti-krama context); Agni Purana cosmology sections on bhuta-srishti and brahmāṇḍa
FAQs
It conveys cosmogonic doctrine: creation begins with primordial Waters into which the creator infuses vīrya (creative potency), and it preserves the traditional etymology linking ‘nārā’ (waters) to ‘Nārāyaṇa’ (the one whose abode/resting-place is the waters).
Alongside ritual and practical sciences, the Agni Purana also compiles cosmology and theological etymologies; this verse exemplifies its inclusion of sṛṣṭi-krama (creation sequence) and name-derivations used in Vaiṣṇava theology.
It directs contemplation toward the divine origin of the elements and the sacredness of waters, supporting devotional understanding of Nārāyaṇa as the cosmic foundation and encouraging reverence for creation as an expression of divine power.