1.

Importance of Agni
A. Manifest form of all Deities

Agni is the manifest form of all Deities.

B. Agni means a Rutvij invoking Shakti (Divine Energy)

The Vedas have termed Agni as ‘Divya (Divine) Hota’. Hota means a Rutvij

invoking the Shakti. When the fire is kindled at the place of Agnihotra during
sunrise and sunset, and we deeply contemplate and invoke God with oblations in
our hand, Agni brings Shakti and keeps it present at that time (स दे वाँ एह वक्ष्यति).
While performing Agnihotra during both these auspicious times, our Deity of
worship remains manifest in front of us in the house or at the place of worship.
Therefore, the environment of great purity and sanctity is created at that place
during Agnihotra.
C. Agni represents the ‘mouth’ of the Deities

The Vedas have addressed Agni as the ‘mouth of Shakti’ or ‘Havya-vahan’

(Carrier of oblations). You may worship God in any form. You may be a devotee
of Deity Shiva or Shrivishnu. You may worship Shri Ganesh, Sun Deity, Goddess
Matru-Shakti, Shriram or Deity Hanuman; however, if you wish to offer oblations
to any or all of these Deities, it has to be offered only through Agni – ‘Mouth of
Deities’. Just as when any edible item needs to be consumed, it can be done
only through the mouth, similarly, havirbhag (Share of oblation) that is to be
offered to any Deity must be offered in the Agni only.
D. Usefulness of effects of sadhana
being performed in the presence of Agni

 Any act performed in the presence of Agni bestows the result of complete
Chaitanya on the individual without any hindrance.
 When the individual starts worshipping the Divine Principle in the presence
of Agni, only then the act gets transformed into sadhana in the true sense.
 

2. Definition of Agnihotra
Agnihotra is a form of vrat (Vowed religious observance) performed by invoking
Tej (Absolute Fire Principle) to attract the Chaitanya of manifest sagun (Manifest)
form and nirgun (Unmanifest) in its Principle form.
Agnihotra is a Divine worship performed by offering oblations in the Agni.

4. Importance of Agnihotra
Agni generated from Agnihotra disintegrates Raja-Tama particles and lingers for
a long time in the atmosphere. Therefore, practicing this process regularly
creates a protective sheath around an individual up to a radius of 10 feet. This
sheath is very sensitive to the contact of anything that is related to Tej. The
sheath looks reddish in the subtle.
When Tej associated with virtuous objects comes in contact with the sheath, the
reddish Tej particles of the sheath absorb this Tej and further strengthens the
sheath.

Since the Raja-Tama-predominant Tej particles strike a very harsh note, this
protective sheath senses their approach much in advance. Then this sheath, as a
reflex action, emits multiple Tej ripples from within with tremendous force and
destroys the harsh sound as also the Tej particles that produce these sound
waves. As a result, the Tej in these destructive waves becomes powerless to
strike. Since the striking destructive energy rings emitting from an atom bomb are
already destroyed by the sheath, the bomb becomes incapable of spreading
radiation. Therefore, even if the bomb is dropped, the loss of life is avoided to
some extent. In the event of detonation of the bomb, the rapidly flowing Raja-
Tama-predominant waves in the form of Tej emitted by the bomb strike against
this subtler sheath of Agni present in the atmosphere and disintegrate within this
sheath. Thus, their subtle effect is also destroyed instantly, and the atmosphere
becomes free from the danger of further toxic pollution.