AGNI:

INTRODUCTION:

Greetings to everyone present here, today I- Nikita Sarma will be presenting on the Rigvedic
Deity- Agni, a transparent terrestrial deity, who stood second to Indra- in terms of position
and power. As per estimates, Agni has been invoked in over 200 hymns solely dedicated to
him, which again tells us about his status and importance in the early vedic religion. Although
Agni stands only second in position to Indra, the characteristics and nature attributed to him
are clearly very different from those of Indra. The scholar A.B Keith opines that foremost
distinction arises in the abode of the two deities. While the deity Indra resides in the ethereal
spheres, Agni resides in the mundane earth and is therefore a terrestrial deity. As a terrestrial
deity, Agni is also closely associated with the human world. This aspect of the terrestrial
deities has been commented upon by the scholar P.S Deshmukh, according to whom the
terrestrial deities played the important role of serving as the medium, the agent or the
messenger between the heaven and earth. Deshmukh further opines that without this
instrumentality of the Agni and Some (yet another important terrestrial deity which represents
the plant world), the celestial and atmospheric deities, including Indra could have simply
remained as ‘creatures of fertile imagination’.

Having briefed upon the terrestrial deities and how crucial they were in the early Indian
religion, I shall now delve directly into my subject matter, i.e. Agni. To begin with, let us
discuss how Agni has been described in the Rigveda.

DESCRIPTION:

PHYSICAL ANTHROPOMOPHISM:

Physical anthropomorphism or personification of natural elements and phenomenon and their

literary description is one of the crucial features of the Rig-Veda. Similarly, we find physical
description of Agni in the Rig-Veda which provides a vague understanding on how this deity
was imagined or could have looked like. The description of Agni however is comparatively
less developed and cautiously built in reference to the phenomenon of terrestrial Agni, mainly
in its sacrificial aspect. For instance, in the Rig-Veda, Agni is mentioned as Butter-haired,
butter-backed, butter-formed, honey-tongued etc. These ideas allude to the regular offerings
of butter and honey in fire at the sacrifice. In a similar manner we can form our understanding
of the other epithets such as – ‘ghrtanna’ – ‘he whose food is butter’, flame-haired, oil-clad,
smoke bannered, dark-backed and likewise. The burning flames of Agni adorn him with non-
comparable luminosity which is said to drive away darkness and manifest light in the heaven,
earth and air’s mid region. This aspect is also suggested by the root word for Agni- ‘Aj’, the
literal meaning of which is to drive away darkness. Furthermore, he is described as strong-
jawed and many-jawed possessing sharp burning teeth that devour a forest. All these
descriptions allude to the fair appearance of Agni, his multiform and loud noise.

VAHANA:
This rig Vedic deity is said to be carried by a car of lightning, which is drawn by beautiful
horses or mares which again are described as butter-backed. Riding on his vahana, Agni
fulfills his most important duty of bringing the celestial and atmospheric deities to terrestrial
sacrifices.

BIRTH:

Another aspect of Agni that has been meticulously described in the Rig-Veda and yet it forms
one of the most confusing aspects of the deity is birth. For instance, Agni is reported to be the
wisest progeny of the celestial God Dyaus (which represents heaven) and terrestrial god
Prithvi (which represents Earth). At the same time, he is also referred to as the son of Indra,
Vishnu, and the other gods in general. In the description of the deity’s birth, the numerical
‘Three’ assumes a special character. Numerous references in the Rigveda mention him as
having triple births- first in the heaven, next among men and third in the waters, which allude
to the three manifestations of Agni which includes- the sun in heaven, the lightning in the
atmosphere and men kindled fire on earth. Finally, due to its triple birth, the deity is attributed
a three-fold physical appearance with three heads, three tongues and three bodies. The three-
fold birth of Agni is said to be the oldest reference of the concept of Trinity in the Hindu
scripture by Professor Hopkins.

While Triple birth is the most celebrated origin story of Agni, sometimes he is also said to
have only two births (dvijanman), first in heaven and then in earth, which is believed to refer
to the two fold division of the universe. Furthermore, considering the regular ignition of fire
in every altar of every household, Agni is also said to have many births.

Along with these, there are numerous tales surrounding the birth of the terrestrial form of
Agni. The most celebrated among them is the birth of Agni from the rubbing together of two
timber sticks or aranis. The aranis are sometimes depicted as belonging to opposite sex, i.e.
the upper stick is said to be ]depicting a male and the lower is depicted as female, while at
other times they are spoken off as depicting the same sex- i.e two female sticks. Upon its
genesis, Agni is said to devour his parents. Moreover, Agni is said to have been birthed by
seven mothers or ten maidens, the vigilant youthful daughters of Tvastr, which alludes to the
ten fingers of two hands.

As per another story, Agni is the son of strength. This could refer to amount of powerful
friction required for the ignition of the terrestrial Agni. At other times, he is also spoken off as
the ‘son of herbs’ or as ‘born in wood’ or as ‘embryo of plants’. As per Professor MacDonell,
the reference of Agni as the son of plants or wood may refer to forest fire.

OTHER EPITHETS:

After birth, I shall now discuss the epithets attributed to Agni in Rigveda, which is crucial to
understand the multifaceted nature of the deity and his central position in the Rigvedic
religion. There are two commonly appearing epithets for Agni- one is grhapati (lord of the
house) and other is damunas (domestic). These epithets allude to the importance of physical
fire to mankind in daily life. Some other titles like- atithi (the first guest), immortal among
mortals, and a kinsman on the other hand emphasizes on Agni’s close affinity with the human
world. Another set of epithets include- rtvij or vipra (the most skilful priest), purohita
(domestic priest), hotr appointed by the gods (priest), duta (messenger), Vahana (oblation
bearer) etc. These titles represent a changing status of Agni. from being worshipped due to its
extreme usefulness in the primitive society, the deity was now linked with sacrifice. Thus, we
see a transition of epithets from grhapati to purohita. Along with these, there is another
branch of epithets that attribute an ‘all-knowing’ character to Agni. These include- visvavid
(all knowing), visvavedas (possessed of all knowledge), vidvan (wise), vedhastama (the
wisest), seer (rsi), kavi (great sage), jatavedas (he who knows all generations) and likewise.

Finally, certain epithets representing power and glory which are usually associated with Indra
such as Samrat (a mighty monarch), Vrtra-slayer, fort destroyer, promoter of the Arya etc are
also found for Agni. Sometimes comparisons and parallels are also drawn between the two.
For instance- Agni is said to be an Asura (mighty monarch) who is as strong as Indra.

THREE FORMS OF AGNI:

Agni is manifested in three forms, namely Garhapatya Agni, Ahavaniya Agni and Dakshina
Agni. Garhapatya or domestic fire is brought into the house after the marriage of the
householder. Ahavaniya or ritual fire is kindled by the fire brought from the grhapatya. Most
of the special sacrifices are performed in the ahavaniya agni. Dakshina or funeral agni is the
southern fire, associated with the dead. This form of agni is not considered auspicious.

MODERN DAY WORSHIP OF AGNI:

The worship of vedic deity Agni has evolved over time. The deity is however still honoured
in various ways- such as through fire rituals (homa or yajna) performed by priests or by
individuals. Other than this, agni is also invoked in various cultural and religious celebrations
around the world. One such festival is Lohri in which p eople gather around bonfires, sing
traditional songs, and perform folk dances as a way of paying homage to fire.

Similarly, during Bhogali Bihu, people light bonfires called "Meji" made of bamboo, thatch,
and other materials. They offer prayers to the fire god Agni for a bountiful harvest and
prosperity.

Last but not the least, Holi also involves the lighting of bonfires on the eve of the main
festival day, known as Holika Dahan.

CONCLUSION: