Agni Purana — Mantra-shastra, Shloka 3

वागीश्वरीपूजा

Worship of Vāgīśvarī

Devanagari script

पञ्चाशद्वर्णमालान्तु मुक्तास्रग्दामभूषिताम् वरदाभयाक्षसूत्रपुस्तकाढ्यां त्रिलोचनां

Transliteration

pañcāśadvarṇamālāntu muktāsragdāmabhūṣitām varadābhayākṣasūtrapustakāḍhyāṃ trilocanāṃ

Translation

သူမသည် သက္ကတအက္ခရာ ၅၀ လုံးဖြင့် ဖွဲ့ထားသော ဝဏ္ဏမာလာ ပန်းကုံးကို ဆင်ယင်ထားပြီး ပုလဲကြိုးနှင့် ပန်းကုံးများဖြင့် အလှဆင်ထားသည်။ သူမသည် အပေးအကူ (ဝရဒ) နှင့် အကြောက်ကင်း (အဘယ) မုဒြာတို့ကို ပြသကာ၊ ဂဏန်းပုတီး (အက္ရှစူတရ) နှင့် စာအုပ်ကို ကိုင်ထားပြီး၊ မျက်စိသုံးလုံးရှိသည်။

Word by Word

• pañcāśat-varṇamālām: garland of fifty letters
• pañcāśat-varṇamālām: Karma (कर्म/object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pañcāśat+varṇamālā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (pañcāśat varṇānāṃ mālā)

• tu: indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अवधान/विरोध (particle: but/indeed)

• muktā-srak-dāma-bhūṣitām: adorned with pearl-garlands and wreaths
• muktā-srak-dāma-bhūṣitām: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: muktā+srak+dāma+bhūṣita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तृतीया-तत्पुरुषार्थ (muktā-srak-dāmaiḥ bhūṣitā)

• varadā-abhaya-akṣa-sūtra-pustaka-āḍhyām: having boon-giving, fearlessness, rosary, and book (in hands)
• varadā-abhaya-akṣa-sūtra-pustaka-āḍhyām: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: varadā+abhaya+akṣa+sūtra+pustaka+āḍhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (यस्याः एते सन्ति/धार्यन्ते)

• trilocanām: three-eyed
• trilocanām: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri+locana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; द्विगु/कर्मधारय-प्राय (three-eyed)

Speaker

Lord Agni (narrating Agni Purana teachings to sage Vasiṣṭha, in the standard dialogue frame)

Vidya Category

Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Tantra","secondary_vidya":"Shilpa","practical_application":"Provides dhyāna/iconographic cues for Vāgīśvarī: mātṛkā-garland, mudrās, attributes (akṣa-sūtra, pustaka), and tri-netra—used for visualization, image-making, and pūjā setup.","sutra_style":true}

Encyclopedic Reference

Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Description","entry_title":"Vāgīśvarī-dhyāna: mātṛkā-mālā, mudrā, akṣamālā, pustaka, trinetra","lookup_keywords":["Vāgīśvarī dhyāna","pañcāśad-varṇa-mālā","varada-abhaya","akṣasūtra","pustaka"],"quick_summary":"Defines the goddess’s meditative form: adorned with the fifty-letter garland, holding rosary and book, showing boon and fearlessness, and possessing three eyes—supporting both mantra-visualization and iconographic crafting."}

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Speech/knowledge (Vāk) is embodied as the alphabet (mātṛkā); meditating on the deity with book and rosary integrates study (jñāna) and repetition (japa).

Application: Use this dhyāna before study, teaching, composition, mantra-japa, or consecration of Sarasvatī images; align visualization with the alphabetic garland for mātṛkā-siddhi.

Khanda Section

Khanda Section: Puja-vidhi / Devi-dhyana (Iconography and meditation on the Goddess)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Visual Art Cues

Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Vāgīśvarī seated in serene posture, wearing a garland made of Sanskrit letters, pearl strings and flower garlands; four arms showing varada and abhaya, holding rosary and book; three eyes shining gently.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, Vāgīśvarī with tri-netra, bold outlines, mātṛkā letters stylized as a garland, warm ochres and reds, lotus seat, symmetrical arms with varada/abhaya, akṣamālā and pustaka clearly shown","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, Vāgīśvarī on lotus, heavy gold work on jewelry and pearl strings, letter-garland rendered in raised relief, luminous white complexion, ornate arch backdrop, devotional frontal composition","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, delicate shading, clear depiction of mudrās and objects, letter-garland neatly legible as stylized akṣaras, calm scholarly ambiance with book emphasized","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, refined facial features, detailed pearls and floral garlands, letter-garland as calligraphic band, soft pastel background, lotus and attendants minimal, emphasis on book and rosary"}

Audio Atmosphere

Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"devotional","suggested_raga":"Saraswati","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"devotional"}

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: varṇamālāntu → varṇamālām tu. muktāsragdāmabhūṣitām resolved as muktā-srak-dāma-bhūṣitām. varadābhayākṣasūtrapustakāḍhyāṃ segmented as varadā-abhaya-akṣa-sūtra-pustaka-āḍhyām.

Cross References

Related Themes: Agni Purana 318 (varṇa-japa/nyāsa instructions following this dhyāna); Agni Purana iconography chapters (mūrti-lakṣaṇa sections, general)

Characters & Entities

• Devi (Goddess)
• Varṇamālā (Sanskrit alphabet)
• Akṣasūtra (rosary)
• Pustaka (book)

FAQs

What technical or ritual knowledge (Vidya) is imparted in this verse?

It gives a dhyāna-lakṣaṇa (meditative iconography) for visualizing the Goddess: her varṇamālā-ornament, pearl garlands, and the specific hand-symbols and implements (varada, abhaya, rosary, book) used in pūjā and mantra-upāsanā.

How does this verse contribute to the 'Encyclopedic' nature of the Agni Purana?

Alongside topics like polity, medicine, and warfare, the Agni Purana also preserves precise ritual-technical material—here, a compact iconographic specification used for liturgical visualization, temple imagery, and mantra-based worship practice.

What is the spiritual or karmic significance of this specific instruction?

Meditating on the Goddess with varada (bestowing) and abhaya (protection) signifies seeking both grace and refuge; the rosary and book indicate disciplined japa and sacred knowledge, traditionally held to purify speech and mind and support liberation-oriented worship.