Markandeya and Agni

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 begins a systematic enumeration of the fires descended from Brihaspati and Chandramasi — their births, marriages, children, and ritual roles. From Shamyu, the first recipient of oblations at chaturmasya, to Uktha, praised by the three uktha hymns, the entire genealogy of the sacred fires is recited, establishing their names, attributes, and places in sacrificial rites.

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.

Terrible portents shake the world, and the rishis fear the calamities have come because Agni slept with the wives of the saptarshis. But no one knows the truth — that the deed was done by Svaha, the goddess of offering, who had taken the form of each wife to seduce the fire god. When the child Skanda is born, the gods themselves tremble at his power and send the mothers of the world to destroy him.

Indra, king of the gods, rides out on Airavata with the full army of heaven to kill Agni's son, Mahasena. But when the boy god roars back and belches flames that burn the divine army to cinders, the gods abandon their king — and Indra is left alone to hurl his vajra at a being who cannot be killed by it.

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.