Agni Purana — Mantra-shastra, Shloka 31
Chapter 303: Mantras for Worship Beginning with the Five-syllable (Pañcākṣara) — पञ्चाक्षरादिपूजामन्त्राः
कुलिशं शक्तिदण्डौ च खड्गपाशध्वजौ गदां शूलं चक्रं यजेत् पद्मं पूव्वादौ देवमर्च्य च
kuliśaṃ śaktidaṇḍau ca khaḍgapāśadhvajau gadāṃ śūlaṃ cakraṃ yajet padmaṃ pūvvādau devamarcya ca
ဗဇ္ရ (ကူလိသ) ကိုလည်းကောင်း၊ လှံ (သက္တိ) နှင့် တောင်ဝှက် (ဒဏ္ဍ) ကိုလည်းကောင်း၊ ဓား၊ ကြိုးဖမ်း (ပါသ) နှင့် အလံကိုလည်းကောင်း၊ ဂဒါ၊ သုံးချွန် (ရှူလ) နှင့် စက်ဝိုင်းလက်နက် (ချက်ရ) ကိုလည်းကောင်း၊ ထို့ပြင် ပဒ္မ (ကြာပန်း) ကိုလည်းကောင်း—အရှေ့ဘက်နှင့် အခြားဘက်များတွင် တည်ထား၍ ပူဇော်ပြီးနောက်၊ ဒေဝတাকেလည်း အာရ္ချနာပြုရမည်။
Lord Agni (in dialogue, instructing Sage Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Tantra","secondary_vidya":"Mantra","practical_application":"Ayudha-puja and dik-nyasa: consecrating and placing divine weapons/emblems in the directions to guard the mandala before main deity worship.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"List","entry_title":"Ayudha-puja: Vajra–Shakti–Danda–Khadga–Pasha–Dhvaja–Gada–Shula–Chakra–Padma (Directional placement)","lookup_keywords":["ayudha-puja","dik-nyasa","vajra","chakra","padma"],"quick_summary":"Worship a set of divine weapons/emblems and assign them to the directions (beginning east), then proceed to worship the main deity within the protected mandala."}
Weapon Type: Vajra, Shakti (spear), Danda (staff), Khadga (sword), Pasha (noose), Dhvaja (banner), Gada (mace), Shula (trident), Chakra (discus)
Concept: Sacred space is secured by installing powers (ayudhas/shaktis) in the directions before approaching the deity.
Application: In puja/abhisheka/diksha contexts, perform dik-nyasa/ayudha-puja to prevent obstacles (vighna) and stabilize concentration.
Khanda Section: Puja-vidhi (Ayudha-puja and Mandala/Directional worship in deity-arcana)
Primary Rasa: Adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: Veera
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A ritual mandala with consecrated weapons/emblems placed in the eight directions—vajra in the east and others around—followed by worship of the central deity.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, circular mandala on temple floor, stylized vajra, chakra, shula, gada, khadga, pasha, dhvaja, padma placed by directions, priest with lamp and flowers, bold flat colors","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, gold-embossed emblems arranged around a central deity, jeweled chakra and padma, ornate borders, lamps and kalasha, symmetrical directional layout","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, diagrammatic yet elegant depiction of directional placement of ayudhas, clear east marker, priest performing offerings, soft palette and fine lines","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, detailed floor mandala with weapons as exquisite objects, attendants holding banner and mace, central deity shrine, intricate textiles and architectural frame"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":"Hamsadhwani","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: शक्तिदण्डौ इति पाठे शक्ति + दण्डौ (सूची); खड्गपाशध्वजौ इति पाठे खड्ग + पाश + ध्वजौ (सूची); देवमर्च्य इति देवम् + अर्च्य
Related Themes: Agni Purana 303 (Ayudha-puja; mandala and dik-krama)
FAQs
It teaches an Ayudha-puja procedure: specific divine weapons and emblems are to be installed and worshipped in a directional sequence (beginning in the east), followed by worship of the presiding deity.
By cataloging iconographic/ritual elements (weapons, emblems, and their placement) and embedding them into a practical worship protocol, it exemplifies how the Agni Purana functions as a manual that compiles ritual, temple practice, and symbolic theology.
Worship of the deity’s weapons as extensions of divine power is treated as a purifying, protective act that harmonizes the worship-space (mandala) and aligns the devotee with the deity’s protective and dharmic energies.