The Composition and Chronicle of the Agni Purāṇa: A Brief Study

Abstract

The Purāṇas have obtained an incomparable status in Indian religious literature. As a category of religious literature, the Purāṇas are concerned with the Indian ancient philosophy, sociology, history, politics, religion, and geography. Besides, the Purāṇas have delivered valuable materials for the study of miscellaneous knowledge and ancient wisdom. The Purāṇas are considered to be the post-Vedic literature. Among that Purāṇasthe Agni Purāṇa is a vital purāṇa. The Purāṇa has included an eighth place in the list of the Mahāpurāṇa. The Purāṇa is called TāmasikaPurāṇa. The narrator of this Purāṇa is Agni or the fire god himself. KṛṣnadvaipāyaṇaVedavyāsa wrote this Purāṇa. The god Agni delivered the summary of the Purāṇa to the sage Vasistha, who passed on the knowledge to Vedavyāsa. Śuta, the disciple of Vedavyāsa learnt about this Purāṇa from his teacher. There are 383 chapters and about fifteen and half thousand verses in the Agni Purāṇa. In this article, I have discussedbriefly about the composition and chronicle of the Agni Purāṇa