Brahma and Agni

Agni reveals to a rakshasa that the beautiful Puloma is the wife of the sage Bhrigu. The demon abducts her, but the unborn child in her womb, enraged by the violence, falls out and incinerates the rakshasa with his own energy. When Bhrigu learns Agni was the informant, he curses the god of fire to consume everything.

With Agni absent, all sacrifices have stopped, and the three worlds are in crisis. The desperate sages and gods appeal to Brahma, the creator, who summons Agni and offers a solution: only his sacred sacrificial flames will devour offerings, thus technically fulfilling the curse without taint.

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.

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.

Prajapati Brahma tells Mahasena (Skanda) to go to his father Mahadeva, then explains the strange circumstances of his birth — how Rudra entered Agni and Uma entered Svaha, how the semen was scattered five ways, and how the flesh-eating ganas were born from it. Skanda agrees, worships his father, and is affectionately received.

Dashagriva, the ten-headed king of the rakshasas, is rampaging through the three worlds, protected by a boon that makes him invincible to gods and asuras. The gods, led by Agni, flee to Brahma for refuge — and learn that the solution has already been set in motion. Vishnu has already descended to earth, and the gods themselves must take birth among monkeys and bears to serve as his army.

Sita has collapsed after Rama's public rejection. As she lies on the ground, the sky fills with gods — Brahma, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Varuna — and the radiant form of King Dasharatha descends in a swan-drawn chariot. Sita rises and calls upon the elements themselves to witness her truth.