Agni Purana — Dharma-shastra, Shloka 41
Śāva-āśauca and Sūtikā-śauca: Death/Childbirth Impurity, Preta-śuddhi, and Śrāddha Procedure
Chapter 157
कार्यो नैवाग्निसंस्कारो नैव चास्योदकक्रिया चतुर्थे च दिनेकार्यस् तथास्थ्नां चैव सञ्चयः
kāryo naivāgnisaṃskāro naiva cāsyodakakriyā caturthe ca dinekāryas tathāsthnāṃ caiva sañcayaḥ
ထပ်မံသော မီးပူဇော်ပွဲ (အဂ္နိသံစ్కာရ) ကို မပြုရ၊ ထိုသူအတွက် ရေကရိယာ (ဥဒကကရိယာ—ရေဖြင့် ပူဇော်ခြင်း) ကိုလည်း မပြုရ။ အစားထိုး၍ စတုတ္ထနေ့တွင် အရိုးများကို စုဆောင်းခြင်းကို ပြုရမည်။
Lord Agni (teaching the rites in the Agni Purana’s instructional voice)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","secondary_vidya":"Vrata","practical_application":"Guidance for post-cremation observances: avoid repeating cremation/water rites; perform asthi-sañcaya on the fourth day.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Procedure","entry_title":"Antyeṣṭi-niyama: Fourth-day asthi-sañcaya; no repeat agni/udaka-kriyā","lookup_keywords":["antyeṣṭi","agni-saṃskāra","udaka-kriyā","caturtha-dina","asthi-sañcaya"],"quick_summary":"After cremation, do not redo fire-rites or water-libations for the deceased; instead, collect the bones on the fourth day as the prescribed act."}
Concept: Ritual sequence (krama) and restraint: prescribed acts are to be done once, with the correct timing.
Application: Maintain correct funeral protocol to avoid ritual redundancy and to complete the transition rites properly.
Khanda Section: Antyeshti-vidhi (Funeral rites and post-cremation observances)
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A cremation has already occurred; relatives refrain from further offerings and prepare for the fourth-day bone collection, with ritual implements set aside and a sense of ordered mourning.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, stylized śmaśāna edge with extinguished pyre site, family figures in simple white, a priest indicating ‘no further agni/udaka’, calendar-like emphasis on the fourth day, subdued palette.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style, symbolic depiction of funeral ground with ornate but restrained gold accents on ritual vessels kept unused, priest gesturing toward a fourth-day asthi collection basket, solemn composition.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, clear instructional scene: left shows completed pyre site, right shows labeled ‘caturtha dina’ bone-collection tools, figures in calm post-ritual posture.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, detailed cremation-ground aftermath, attendants holding a small container for bones, elder instructing to wait until day four, naturalistic landscape and quiet grief."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"solemn","suggested_raga":"Todi","pace":"slow","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: नैवाग्निसंस्कारो → न + एव + अग्निसंस्कारः; चास्योदकक्रिया → च + अस्य + उदकक्रिया; दिनेकार्यः → दिने + अकार्यः; तथास्थ्नां → तथा + अस्थ्नाम्.
Related Themes: Agni Purana 157 (corpse-impurity and funeral context)
FAQs
It specifies the sequencing of post-death rites: do not repeat the cremation/fire rite or water-libation rite at this stage; instead, perform asthi-sañcaya (collection of bones) on the fourth day.
By codifying procedural dharma (samskara-vidhi) with precise timing—here, the fourth-day bone collection—the text functions like a practical manual alongside its many other subjects.
Following the prescribed order is treated as ritually purifying and dharmic: it completes the transition of the deceased’s remains and maintains correctness (vidhi) in rites believed to support auspicious outcomes for family and departed.