Angiras

Agni, displaced by the sage Angiras who has become the new fire-god, returns from his austerities to find himself forgotten. He approaches Angiras fearfully, and the sage offers him a way to regain his position — not by reclaiming his role, but by obtaining his first son through Angiras himself.

Yudhishthira, having heard holy accounts, asks Markandeya why Agni left for the forest, how Angiras became fire in his absence, and how Kumara was born. Markandeya begins to narrate the ancient history of the fire-god's displacement.

Markandeya recounts the lineage of Brahma’s third son, Angiras, who married Apava’s daughter. He names the seven sons — from Brihajjyoti to Brihaspati — and then the seven daughters, each with her own distinct nature: Bhanumati the beautiful, Raga the beloved, Sinivali who appears and disappears, and others whose names reveal their powers.

Markandeya begins to describe the sacred fires — their origins, their names, and the rites that correct them when they are defiled. What follows is a genealogy of fire itself, from the primal austerity of Tapas through the sons of Bhanu and Manu, down to the fires that dwell in breath, in anger, and in the bodies of all living beings.

When the sage Niyata arrives, Agni is so frightened he abandons his cosmic duty and hides in the ocean. The gods cannot find him. He asks Atharva to carry oblations in his place, then discards his body entirely — creating minerals, gems, and metals from his flesh — before being restored to his sacrificial role through Atharva's churning.

Markandeya narrates the entire genealogy of fire — from Mudita and Saha Apa, through Apamgarbha, Bharata, and Niyata, to Agni's flight, his discarding of his body, and his restoration by Atharva. The account reveals that all fires are ultimately one, issuing from Angiras's body in many forms.

Emerging from a sacrifice, Agni sees the wives of the seven great rishis bathing and is overcome with desire. Unable to act on his feelings, he retreats to the forest to give up his body — but Svaha, who has long desired Agni, sees his weakness and resolves to assume the forms of those very wives to seduce him.

Tormented by desire, Shiva — the wife of the sage Angiras — approaches Agni and threatens to kill herself if he does not satisfy her. She reveals that the wives of the saptarshis have learned of Agni's longing through signs and have sent her to him. Agni, overjoyed, accepts her.

With Skanda instated as general of the gods, Rudra departs for Bhadravata in a chariot yoked to a thousand lions, followed by a vast celestial procession — gods, yakshas, rishis, weapons, rivers, and the very branches of knowledge — establishing the new cosmic order.

Dhritarashtra asks for more counsel, unsatisfied with what he has already heard. Vidura responds with an ancient story about Virochana and Sudhanva — a tale of pride, truth, and the cost of falsehood — and then delivers a cascade of ethical warnings about the dangers of favoring Duryodhana over the Pandavas.

A woman asks Virochana whether brahmanas or asuras are superior, sparking a confrontation. Virochana and the brahmana Sudhanva stake their lives on the answer and go to Prahlada for judgment — where the question of who is superior becomes a question of who will tell the truth.