रूपमण्डन एवं देवमूर्त्ति-प्रकरणम् (मण्डन सूत्रधार - प्राचीन मूर्तिकला एवं देव-प्रतिमा लक्षण सटीक)

[ 30 ] "The Āgneya or Agni-purāṇa,⁸² is so called because it is supposed to have been communicated to Vasiṣṭha by Agni, It describes the incarnations (Avatāras) of Viṣṇu, among them also those as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, where it confessedly follows the Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata and Harivaṁśa. Although it commences with Viṣṇu,...it is yet essentially a Śivaite work and deals in detail with the mystic cult of the Liṅga and of Durgā. It also mentions Tāntric rites, gives instructions for the production of images of gods and their consecration and refers to the cult of Gaṇeśa (chapt. 71) and the sun-cult (chapt. 73)...But the cosmo- logical, geneological and geographical sections peculiar to the Purāṇas are not missing. The especially distinctive feature of this Purāṇa is, however, its encyclopædic characters. It actually deals with anything and everything. We find sections on Geography, Astronomy and Astrology,...on omina and potenta, house building and other occupations of daily life...To which age this remarkable encyclopædia or its separate parts belong, it is impossible to say." The Matsya-Purāṇa enumerates the names of eighteen ancient teachers of architecture, as quoted before. The passages have been interpreted as below.⁸³ "The Ṛṣis asked :— 'Sūta ! be gracious enough to tell us how royal palaces and other houses are constructed. Also explain to us what is Vāstu- Deva—1.' Sūta replied :—(1) Bhṛgu, (2) Atri, (3) Vasiṣṭha, (4) Viśva- karmā, (5) Maya, (6) Nārada, (7) Nagnajit, (8) Viśālākṣa, (9) Indra, (10) Brahmā, (11) Svāmikārtika, (12) Nandiśvara, (13) Śaunaka, (14) Garga, (15) Śrī Kṛṣṇa, (16) Aniruddha, 82. M. Winternitz : Op. cit., p. 566. Agni-P. ed. in Bibliotheca Indica (1873—79) and Ānandāśram Skt. Series, No. 41 ; Transl. by M. N. Dutt (Cal., 1901). 83. The Matsya-purāṇam. Transl. by A Taluqdar of Oudh. (The Sacred Books of the Hindus. Ed. by Major B. D. Basu. I. M. S. Vol. XVII.) Appendix X, by Sris Chandra Vidyarnava, p. cvi.