One of these is the Dīkṣā, or initiation of a novice by which, with numerous ceremonies and invocations, in which the mysterious monosyllables of the Tantras are constantly repeated, the disciple is transformed into a living personation of Śiva, and receives in that capacity the homage of his Guru. Some belong to mystical forms of Śaiva worship, little known in Hindustan, though perhaps still practised in the south. A considerable portion is then appropriated to instructions for the performance of religious ceremonies many of winch belong to the Tāntrika ritual, and are apparently transcribed from the principal authorities of that system. The early chapters of this Purāṇa describe the Avatāras and in those of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa avowedly follow the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. A very great proportion of it may be traced to other sources and a more careful collation -if the task was worth the time it would require-would probably discover the remainder.
It may be doubted if a single line of it is original.
The Agni Purāṇa, in the form in which it has been obtained in Bengal and at Benares, presents a striking contrast to the Mārkaṇḍeya. There are two in the Company's library, which do not extend beyond twelve thousand verses but they are in many other respects different from mine: one of them was written at Agra, in the reign of Akbar, in A. The two copies which were employed by me contain about fifteen thousand ślokas. Its contents are variously specified as sixteen thousand, fifteen thousand, or fourteen thousand stanzas. By him it was taught to Vyāsa, who imparted it to Sūta and the latter is represented as repeating it to the Rising at Naimiṣāraṇya.
” The Agni or Agneya Purāṇa derives its name from its having being communicated originally by Agni, the deity of fire, to the Muni Vaśiṣṭha, for the purpose of instructing him in the twofold knowledge of Brahma. “That Purāṇa which describes the occurrences of the Īśāna Kalpa, and was related by Agni to Vaśiṣṭha, is called the Āgneya: it consists of sixteen thousand stanzas.
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