Book of Shadows (MYTHICAL CREATURES A-Z)

Agni

Agni

Mythology: Hindu        

        Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic god, the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices for onwards conveyance to other deities. Any sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods. He is ever-young, because the fire is re-lit every day, and also immortal.        

        Agni, the Vedic god of fire, is described as having two heads, one head marks immortality and the other marks an unknown symbol of life. In the link between heaven and earth, and between deities and humans, he is associated with sacrifice, and he takes the offerings to the other world in his fire. He rides a ram for means of transportation. Agni has three forms: fire, lightning and the Sun.

In Section VII of the Sabha Parva of Mahabharata, Narada speaks about the twenty-seven fires conveying the sacrificial butter,  which fires are:-

Angira (अङ्गिरा) – Angiras, son of Bharata, himself became Agni whom he surpassed when Agni began to practise penance,

Dakshinagni (दक्षिणाग्नि) - consecrated fire taken from the house-hold fire and placed in the south side,

Gārhapatya (गार्हपत्य) – the perpetual house-hold fire,

Āhavaniya (आहवनीय) – consecrated fire taken from the house-hold fire and placed in the east side,

Nirmanthya (निर्मन्थ्य) – fire produced by friction,

Vaidyuta (वैद्युत) – lightening,

Śūra (शूर) – powerful mighty fire,

Samvarta (संवर्त) – the fire that destroys,

Laukika (लौकिक) – the classical fire, belonging to the world of men,

Jathar (जठर) – the old or ancient fire, the fire pertaining to the stomach,

Vishaghā (विषघा) – the entwining fire,

Havya-vāhan (हव्य-वाहन) – the bearer of oblations,

Kshemāvān (क्षेमावान्) – the secure, tranquil fire,

Vaishnava (वैष्णव) – the fire relating to Vishnu,

Dasyuhan (दस्युहन्) – the fire who is the destroyer of the dasyus,

Balād (बलाद्) -

Śānta (शान्त) – the calm, peaceful, serene fire,

Pushta (पुष्ट) – the ever-equipped, protected fire,

Vibhāvasu (विभावसु) – the fire which is one of the eight vasus

Jotishmata (ज्योतिष्मत) – the luminous, pure, brilliant fire,

Bharat (भरत) – the fire who is the priest, maintained,

Bhadra (भद्र) – the great, auspicious fire,

Swistikrt (सवस्तिकृत्) – the fire causing welfare or prosperity,

Vasumaya (वसुमय) – the fire consisting of wealth or of good things

Ritu (ऋतु) – the fire of light, splendor,

Soma (सोम) – the fire which is nector, ethereal,

Pitryāna (पितृयाण) – the conveyor of virtuous persons to heaven.

        There are five kinds of Agni (fire) – Kala-agni ('the fire of time'), Ksuda-agni ('the fire of hunger'), Sita-agni ('the cold fire'), Kopa-agni ('the fire of anger') and Jnana-agni ('the fire of knowledge').

        Agni is the supreme director of religious ceremonies and duties, and figures as messenger between mortals and gods. Agni is a deva , second only to Indra in the power and importance attributed to him in Vedic mythology, with 218 out of 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda dedicated to him. He is Indra's twin. He is one of the Guardians of the directions, representing the southeast.

        Agni first appeared in the heavens in the form of lightening; this was his first birth, his second birth was among the human beings as Jataveda (learned by birth); his third birth was in water (Rig Veda I.45.1).

        Agni has two forms: Jataveda and Kravyada.

Jataveda is invoked to burn and carry the offerings (except flesh) to the respective Gods.Kravyada is invoked to burn the flesh (corpses and animal parts).

        In the Jataveda form, Agni, the god of fire, acts as the divine model for the sacrificial priest. He is the messenger who carries the oblation from humans to the gods, bringing the Gods to sacrifice, and interceding between gods and humans (Rig Veda I.26.3). When Agni is pleased, the gods are generous. Agni represents the cultivated, cooked and cultured aspects of Vedic ritual. Together with Soma, Agni is invoked in the Rig Veda more than any other gods.

        In Hindu scriptures, Agni is depicted with two or seven hands, two heads and three legs. He has seven fiery tongues with which he licks the sacrificial butter. He rides a ram or a chariot harnessed by fiery horses. Agni is represented as red and two-faced, suggesting both his destructive and beneficent qualities, and with black eyes and hair, three legs and seven arms. He rides a ram, or a chariot pulled by goats or, more rarely, parrots. Seven rays of light emanate from his body. One of his names is Saptajihva, "the one having seven tongues".

        Agni is the chief terrestrial deity personified by the sacrificial fire which is the centre of the ritual poetry of the Rig Veda. The earth enveloped in darkness and the sky, become visible when Agni is born; the acquisition of fire by man is regarded as a gift of the gods. Agni is only compared and not identified with the Sun.