Agni Purana — Yoga & Brahma-vidya, Shloka 22
Āgneya-Purāṇa-māhātmya
The Greatness and Self-Testimony of the Agni Purāṇa
न गर्भहारिणीभीतिर्न च बालग्रहा गृहे यत्राग्नेयं पुराणं स्यान्न पिशाचादिकं भयं
na garbhahāriṇībhītirna ca bālagrahā gṛhe yatrāgneyaṃ purāṇaṃ syānna piśācādikaṃ bhayaṃ
အဂ္နేయပုရာဏ ရှိသော အိမ်၌ ကိုယ်ဝန်ကို ခိုးယူသည့် မကောင်းဝိညာဉ် (ဂರ್ಭဟာရိဏီ) ကို ကြောက်ရန်မလို၊ ကလေးကို ဖမ်းဆီးနှိပ်စက်သည့် ဝိညာဉ်များ (ဗာလဂြဟ) မရှိ၊ ပိသာစတို့ကဲ့သို့သော အန္တရာယ်ကိုလည်း မကြောက်ရ။
Lord Agni (traditional Agni Purana frame: Agni instructing the sage Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Mantra","secondary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","practical_application":"Protective household practice against graha-doṣa and bhūta-bādha: keeping/reciting the Purāṇa as rakṣā, especially for pregnancy and child-protection contexts.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"List","entry_title":"Agneya Purāṇa-sannidhau bhaya-nivṛtti (garbhahāriṇī, bāla-graha, piśāca)","lookup_keywords":["garbhahāriṇī","bāla-graha","piśāca","bhūta-bādha","rakṣā"],"quick_summary":"The verse enumerates specific feared afflictions—pregnancy-harming forces, child-seizing grahas, and piśācas—and states their non-presence where the Agni Purāṇa is kept."}
Concept: Apotropaic dharma: sacred narrative/śāstra functions as protective field (rakṣā-kavaca) against seen/unseen harms.
Application: For households with pregnancy/infants: schedule gentle daily reading, keep the text in the sleeping/pujā area respectfully, and cultivate sattva (cleanliness, non-violence, truthful speech) as the supportive ‘rakṣā’ environment.
Khanda Section: Phala-श्रुति (Recitation Benefits) / Raksha-vidhi (Protective Efficacy of Purana-श्रवण)
Primary Rasa: abhaya
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A protected home with a pregnant woman and a cradle; shadowy graha/piśāca figures kept outside by the radiance of the Agni Purāṇa manuscript within.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, mother and infant in stylized interior, manuscript glowing on a stand, dark graha silhouettes at the threshold repelled, traditional lamp and floral borders","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, mother-and-child scene with gold aura emanating from the scripture, protective motifs (lotus, conch-like auspiciousness), subdued demon-like forms outside the frame","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, clear didactic composition: scripture placement, mother resting, cradle nearby, faint graha figures dissolving, soft colors and precise outlines","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, domestic zenana-like room with cradle, attendants, a bookstand with Sanskrit manuscript, tiny grotesque spirits in margins fleeing, intricate textiles and architecture"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"devotional","suggested_raga":"Kedar","pace":"slow","voice_tone":"contemplative"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: भीतिः + न → भीतिर्न; यत्र + आग्नेयम् → यत्राग्नेयम्; स्यात् + न → स्यान्न
Related Themes: Agni Purana rakṣā-vidhi and bhūta-pratiṣedha materials (general); Agni Purana 382.21-24 (household protection and upadrava-nāśa)
FAQs
It teaches rakṣā-vidyā in the Purāṇic sense: keeping, reading, or hearing the Agni Purāṇa in the home is presented as an apotropaic practice that wards off specific categories of malignant beings (garbhahāriṇī, bāla-grahas, piśācas).
Alongside theology and ritual, the Agni Purāṇa also preserves cultural-ritual conceptions of health and misfortune (e.g., infant/gestational afflictions attributed to grahas). This verse shows the text functioning as a practical household manual—linking scripture, domestic well-being, and protective rites.
The verse frames Purāṇa-sannidhi and Purāṇa-pāṭha as purifying merit (puṇya) that creates a protective sacred environment (maṅgala-kṣetra) in the home, thereby negating fear and hostile influences.