Agni Purana — Mantra-shastra, Shloka 25
Chapter 312 — Various Mantras (नानामन्त्राः)
ईशानादौ च मध्ये तां नित्यां पाशाङ्कुशौ तथा कपालकल्पकतरुं वीणा रक्ता च तद्वती
īśānādau ca madhye tāṃ nityāṃ pāśāṅkuśau tathā kapālakalpakataruṃ vīṇā raktā ca tadvatī
ဣရှာန ဦးတည်ရာ (အရှေ့မြောက်) နှင့် အလယ်ဗဟို၌လည်း ထိုနိစ္စတည်သော ဒေဝီကို စိတ်တွင် သမ္မာဓိဖြင့် တွေးတောရမည်။ သူမသည် ပာရှ (ကြိုး) နှင့် အင်္ကုရှ (ချွန်တံ) ကို ကိုင်ဆောင်၍၊ ကပာလ (ခေါင်းခွံ) နှင့် ကလ္ပကတရု (ဆန္ဒပြည့်ပင်) ကိုလည်း ကိုင်ဆောင်ကာ၊ ထို့ပြင် ဝီဏာကို ကိုင်ထားသည်။ သူမသည် အနီရောင်ဖြစ်၍ ထိုသင်္ကေတများကို ပိုင်ဆိုင်သည်။
Lord Agni (narrating the ritual/iconographic instruction to sage Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Tantra","secondary_vidya":"Shilpa","practical_application":"Devī-dhyāna for pūjā/nyāsa: placement (Īśāna and center) and emblem-set (pāśa, aṅkuśa, kapāla, kalpataru, vīṇā) with red coloration for accurate visualization and icon-making.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Description","entry_title":"Dhyāna-lakṣaṇa of the Nityā Devī: emblems and placement (Īśāna/center)","lookup_keywords":["Ishana","Dhyana","Pasha","Ankusha","Kapala","Kalpataru","Vina"],"quick_summary":"Specifies where to contemplate/install the Devī (northeast and center) and her identifying emblems—noose, goad, skull, wish-fulfilling tree, and vīṇā—along with her red hue, enabling correct ritual visualization and iconography."}
Concept: Dhyāna as the bridge between mantra and form: precise emblems and spatial placement stabilize the deity’s presence in mind and ritual space.
Application: Before japa/pūjā, visualize the Devī in the Īśāna quarter and at the center of the maṇḍala; maintain the emblem-set to prevent dhyāna-bhrānti (visualization drift).
Khanda Section: Puja-vidhi / Tantra: Devi-dhyana and iconography (Nitya/Devi-nyasa context)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A red-hued eternal Devī visualized in the northeast and at the center of a ritual maṇḍala, multi-armed holding noose, goad, skull, kalpataru, and vīṇā—combining control, boon, transcendence, and music.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, Devī in red seated within a maṇḍala, shown twice or mirrored to indicate Īśāna and center, holding pāśa and aṅkuśa, kapāla, kalpataru branch, and vīṇā, bold outlines, temple ambience","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore, central red Devī with heavy gold ornaments, five emblems clearly displayed, kalpataru rendered as jeweled tree, vīṇā detailed, directional Īśāna marker motif, gold leaf halo","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, precise iconographic plate: Devī with labeled emblems (pāśa, aṅkuśa, kapāla, kalpataru, vīṇā), small diagram indicating Īśāna and center placement, delicate shading and clarity","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, refined devotional portrait of a red-clad goddess with vīṇā and ritual emblems, set in a palace-garden with a wish-fulfilling tree, subtle compass cue for northeast, intricate textile detail"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"contemplative","suggested_raga":"Yaman","pace":"slow","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: ईशानादौ = ईशान-आदौ; पाशाङ्कुशौ = पाश-अङ्कुशौ; तद्वती = तद्-वती
Related Themes: Agni Purana 312.24 (mūla-mantra and ṣaḍaṅga to empower dhyāna); Agni Purana 312.23 (yantra context where dhyāna is applied)
FAQs
It gives a dhyāna/iconographic specification for Nityā Devī, including her placement in the Īśāna (northeast) direction and in the center, and the precise emblems to visualize: pāśa, aṅkuśa, kapāla, kalpataru, and vīṇā, along with her red complexion.
It preserves practical tantric-paurāṇic liturgy—directional placement, deity-visualization, and emblem lists—showing the Agni Purana’s coverage beyond narrative into applied ritual science (pūjā-vidhi, dhyāna, and iconography).
Correct dhyāna with accurate attributes and placement is taught as a means to make worship effective—stabilizing concentration, aligning the rite with śāstric form, and thereby supporting merit (puṇya) and purification through properly performed devotion.