Agni Purana — Agneya-vidya, Shloka 21
Chapter 23 — पूजाविधिकथनम्
The Account of the Rules of Worship
अङ्गुष्ठकद्वये न्यस्य वासुदेवं बलादिकान् तर्जन्यादौ शरीरेथ शिरोललाटवक्त्रके
aṅguṣṭhakadvaye nyasya vāsudevaṃ balādikān tarjanyādau śarīretha śirolalāṭavaktrake
လက်မနှစ်ချောင်းပေါ်တွင် ဝါစုဒေဝ (Vāsudeva) ကို တင်ထားပြီးနောက်၊ လက်ညှိုးမှစ၍ ကိုယ်ခန္ဓာပေါ်တွင် ဘလ (Bala) နှင့် အခြားတို့ကို တင်ရမည်—ခေါင်း၊ နဖူး၊ မျက်နှာတို့၌ (အစဉ်လိုက်) တင်ရမည်။
Lord Agni (in instruction to the sage Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Tantra","secondary_vidya":"Mantra","practical_application":"Performing aṅga-nyāsa/karanyāsa in Vaiṣṇava pūjā to sacralize the hands and body as the deity’s seat before mantra-japa and upacāra offerings.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Procedure","entry_title":"Karanyāsa/Aṅganyāsa of Vāsudeva and Bala (thumbs and fingers; head–forehead–face placements)","lookup_keywords":["aṅganyāsa","karanyāsa","Vāsudeva","Bala","nyāsa"],"quick_summary":"Assign Vāsudeva to the two thumbs, then place Bala and allied names on the body beginning with the index finger, mapping them onto head, forehead, and face to establish divine embodiment for worship."}
Concept: Deha as devatā-āyatana (the body as the deity’s locus) through nyāsa.
Application: Use systematic placements to stabilize attention (ekāgratā) and ritually ‘install’ the mantra-deity prior to pūjā/japa.
Khanda Section: Puja-vidhi (Mantra-nyasa and Deha-nyasa in Vaishnava/Tantric practice)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A Vaiṣṇava sādhaka seated in pūjā posture, hands raised for karanyāsa, touching thumbs and then fingers, then touching head, forehead, and face to install Vāsudeva and Bala-ādi names within the body.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala temple mural style, ochre-red background, a serene Vaiṣṇava priest performing karanyāsa, subtle white linework, Vāsudeva aura suggested as conch-disc symbols near the thumbs, minimal altar elements, sacred calm.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, rich colors and gold leaf halo, seated sādhaka before a small Viṣṇu altar, hands in nyāsa gesture, gold highlights on conch and discus motifs, ornate borders, devotional yet instructional composition.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting style, clean lines and soft shading, stepwise depiction of nyāsa: thumbs labeled Vāsudeva, index onward Bala-ādi, arrows to head/forehead/face, didactic diagrammatic clarity with traditional aesthetics.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, fine detailing of hands and facial touch sequence, a quiet interior shrine, calligraphic labels for Vāsudeva and Bala-ādi near fingers, delicate textiles, restrained palette emphasizing ritual precision."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"contemplative","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: अङ्गुष्ठकद्वये = अङ्गुष्ठक-द्वये; बलादिकान् = बल-आदिकान्; तर्जन्यादौ = तर्जनी-आदौ; शरीरेथ = शरीरे अथ; शिरोललाटवक्त्रके = शिरः-ललाट-वक्त्रके (द्वन्द्व, सप्तमी एकवचन).
Related Themes: Agni Purana 23 (Pūjā-vidhi: nyāsa, upacāra sequence); Agni Purana 24 (Agni-kārya: external ritual construction parallels internal installation)
FAQs
It teaches a specific nyāsa sequence: installing Vāsudeva on both thumbs and then installing Bala and related presences starting from the index finger onto key bodily loci (head, forehead, face) as part of mantra-empowerment in worship.
Beyond mythic narration, it preserves procedural liturgy—precise body-mapping of mantra-deities (nyāsa) used in temple and personal sādhana—showing the Agni Purana as a compendium of practical ritual technology alongside theology.
Nyāsa sacralizes the practitioner’s body as a seat of the deity, supporting concentration, purity, and ritual eligibility; it is understood to remove impediments and make the worship (pūjā/japa) spiritually efficacious.