Agni

“ Agni, the divine ministrant of the sacrifice, the greatest bestower of treasures; may one obtain through Agni wealth and welfare day by day, which may bring glory and high bliss of valiant offspring.
Agni, whatever sacrifice and worship thou encompassest on every side, that indeed goes to the gods. Thou art King of all worship.... Conduct the gods hither in an easy-moving chariot. [76]
Like Indra, Agni was a heavy consumer of Soma; his intensely human side is not lost in mystic Vedic poetry. ”

“ The attentive gods, wearying themselves, following his footsteps, stood at the highest, beautiful standing-place of Agni. When the bright ones had done service to thee, the bright one, Agni, with Ghrita through three autumns, they assumed worshipful names; the well-born shaped their own bodies. Acquiring for themselves the two great worlds, the worshipful ones brought forward their Rudra-like powers. The mortal, when beings were in discord, perceived and found out Agni standing in the highest place. ”

“ Make manifest thy divine powers, O Agni! Unbend the strong bows of those [pg 46] who incite demons against us. Crush all enemies, be they relations or strangers. He knows thy favor, O youngest one, who makes a way for a sacred speech like this. Mayest thou beam forth to his doors all auspicious days and the wealth and the splendor of the niggard. Let him, O Agni, be fortunate and blessed with good rain, who longs to gladden thee with constant offerings and hymns through his life in his house. May such longing ever bring auspicious days to him. I praise thy favor ”

“ Thus we find the speculations about Agni’s various forms leading to the monotheistic notion of a unity pervading the many manifestations of the divine.
Agni is an immortal who has taken up his abode among mortals; he is constantly called a “guest” in human dwellings; and is the only god to whom the frequent epithet gṛihapati, “lord of the house,” is applied.
As the conductor of sacrifice, Agni is repeatedly called both a “messenger” who moves between heaven and earth and a priest. He is indeed the great priest, just as Indra is the great warrior. ”

“ Thus the concept of Fire grew; and while it became more and more generalized, it also became more sublime, more incomprehensible, more divine. Without Agni, without fire, light, and warmth, life would have been impossible. Hence he became the author and giver of life, of the life of plants and animals and of men; and his favor having once been implored for "light and life and all things," what wonder that in the minds of some poets, and in the traditions of this or that village-community he should have been raised to the rank of a supreme ruler, a god above all gods, their own true god! ”

“ Let us stand straight that we may walk and live. Find out our worship among the gods. Save us, O Agni, from the sorcerer, save us from mischief, from the niggard. Save us from him who does us harm or tries to kill us, O youngest god with bright splendor! As with a club smite the niggards in all directions, and him who deceives us, O god with fiery jaws. The mortal who makes his weapons very sharp by night, may that impostor not rule over us. Agni has won abundance in heroes. ”

“ ENJOY, O Agni, this my Fuel, welcome the oil-filled ladle where we pour libation. Rise up for worship of the Gods, wise Agni, on the earth's height, while days are bright with beauty. 2. May he who goes before the Gods come hither with steeds whose shapes are varied, Narasarhsa. May he, most Godlike, speed our offered viands with homage God-ward on the path of Order. 3. Men with oblations laud most constant Agni, and pray him to perform an envoy's duty. With lightly-rolling car and best draught-horses, bring the Gods hither and sit down as Hotar. ”

“ Next to him, in the affections of the people, stands Agni (ignis) , the god of fire, invoked as the genial inmate of the Aryan household, and as the bearer of oblations, and mediator between gods and men. Indra and Agni are thus, as it were, the divine representatives of the king (or chief) and the priest of the Aryan community; and if, in the arrangement of the Saṃhitā, the Brāhmanical collectors gave precedence to Agni, it was but one of many avowals of their own hierarchical pretensions. ”

“ We implore with well-spoken words the vigorous Agni who belongs to many people, to the clans that worship the gods, whom other people also magnify. Men have placed Agni on the altar as the augmenter of strength. May we worship thee, rich in sacrificial food. Thus be thou here to-day gracious to us, a helper in our striving for gain, O good one! We choose thee, the all-possessor, as our messenger and as our Hotri. The flames of thee, who art great, spread around; thy rays touch the heaven. The gods, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, kindle thee, the ancient messenger. ”

“ That Agni's nourishment has shone brightly whom Medhyâtithi and Kanva have kindled on behalf of Rita. Him do these hymns, him do we extol. Fill us with wealth, thou self-dependent one, for thou, O Agni, hast companionship with the gods. Thou art lord over glorious booty. Have mercy upon us; thou art great. Stand up straight for blessing us, like the god Savitri, straight a winner of booty, when we with our worshippers and with ointments call thee in emulation with other people. Standing straight, protect us by thy splendor from evil ”

“ May Goddess Aditi with Gods defend us, save us the saviour God with care unceasing. We dare not stint the sacred food of Mitra and Varuna upon the back of Agni. 8. Agni is Sovran Lord of wealth, Agni of great prosperity: May he bestow these gifts on us. 9. Hither to us, rich pleasant Dawn, bring many things to be desired, Thou who hast ample store of wealth. 10. So then may Bhaga, Savitar, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Indra, with bounty come to us. ”

“ The deeper significance of Agni-worship is found not alone in the fact that he is the god in whom are the other gods, nor in that he is the sun alone, but that "I am Agni, immortality is in my mouth; threefold my light, eternal fire, my name the oblation (fire) ," iii. 26. 7. He is felt as a mysterious trinity. As a sun he lights earth; and gives life, sustenance, children, and wealth (iii. 3. 7) ; as lightning he destroys, as fire he befriends; like Indra he gives victory (iii. 16. 1) ; like Varuna he releases the bonds of sin ”

“ Agni is Master of sublime dominion, Agni is Lord of strength and lofty riches. Straightway the self-reliant God, Most Youthful, gives treasures to the mortal who adores him. 4. Most Youthful God, whatever sin, through folly, we here, as human beings, have committed, In sight of Aditi make thou us sinless remit, entirely, Agni, our offences. 5. Even in the presence of great sin, O Agni, free us from prison of the Gods or mortals. Never may we who are thy friends be injured: grant health and strength unto our seed and offspring. ”

“ AGNI, the Hindu God of Fire, second only to Indra in the power and importance attributed to him in Vedic mythology. His name is the first word of the first hymn of the Rig-veda: “Agni, I entreat, divine appointed priest of sacrifice.” The sacrifices made to Agni pass to the gods, for Agni is a messenger from and to the gods; but, at the same time, he is more than a mere messenger, he is an immortal, for another hymn runs: “No god indeed, no mortal is beyond the might of thee, the mighty One. ”

“ Agni, thou enterest as Priest the home of men who sacrifice. Lord of the people, prosper them. Accept the ofrering, Angiras! 11. O Agni, God with Mitra's might, call hither the favour of the Gods from earth and heaven. Bring weal from heaven, that men may dwell securely. May we o'ercome the foe's malign oppressions, may we o'ercome them, through thy help o'ercome them. ”

“ He inspires men and delivers and protects them. Riches and rain are his gifts, as are offspring and prosperity; he forgives sin, averts the wrath of Varuṇa, and makes men guiltless before Aditi.
To the gods also Agni is a benefactor; he delivered them from a curse, won them great space in battle, and is even called "the Slayer of Vṛtra." His main feat, however, is the burning of the Rakṣases who infest the sacrifice, a sign of the early use of fire to destroy demons. By magic the lighting of Agni may even bring about the rising of the sun in the sky. ”

“ Thou art, O Agni, the Hotri of the universe and of sacrifices. Thou art the source through which the deities and men do good to the universe. Agni is truly the Hotri and the performer of sacrifices. Agni is again the Brahma of the sacrifice. No libations can be poured into sacrificial fire without uttering mantras; there can be no penances without a person to perform them; the worship of the deities and men and the Rishis is accomplished by the libations poured with mantras. Hence, O Agni, thou hast been regarded as the Hotri in sacrifices. ”

“ But the sky is overcast and darkened by a thunder-cloud: Agni has concealed himself; he has hidden himself in the hollow of the cloud. He breaks forth from it, being fetched by a divine Pramantha, Mâtariśvan, the Lightning. The lightning bores into the cloud as the earthly borer into the wooden disk: Prometheus, or Bhṛgu and his descendants the Bhṛgu-s, fetch the god from his hiding-place. They go down to the earth with him and take him to men.
The primitive man does not ask, Where does the fire come from? what becomes of the fire that has fallen from heaven? ”

“ Agni impels a single man to battle, and with him rends in pieces many a foeman. 3. Agni rejoiced the car of him who praised him, and from the waters burnt away Jarutha. Agni saved Atri in the fiery cave, and made Nrmedha rich with troops of children. 4. Agni hath granted wealth that decks the hero, and sent the sage who wins a thousand cattle. Agni hath made oblations rise to heaven: to every place are Agni's laws extended. 5. With songs of praise the Rsis call on Agni; on Agni, heroes worsted in the foray. Birds flying in the region call on Agni around a thousand cattle Agni wanders. ”

“ No deity that is plainly limited to any one phase or form of nature in India can be or become a great god; and speedily all their real divinity fades away from Mitra and Varuṇa, and they shrivel into insignificance.
Next we turn to a spirit of a very different sort, the Fire-god, Agni. The word agni is identical with the Latin ignis; it means "fire," and nothing else but fire, and this fact is quite sufficient to prevent Agni from becoming a great god. The priests indeed do their best, by fertile fancy and endless repetition of his praises, to lift him to that rank; but even they cannot do it. ”

“ We call on thee as such, as one who hears, as Jatavedas, one, Agni! who beats away our foes. 24. I pray to Agni, King of men, the Wonderful, the President Of holy Laws: may he give ear. 25. Him like a bridegroom, him who stirs all people, like a noble horse, Like a fleet steed, we instigate. 26. Slaying things deadly, burning up foes, Riksasas, on every side, Shine, Agni, with thy sharpened flame. 27. Thou whom the people kindle even as Manus did, best Angiras! O Agni, mark thou this my speech. 28. O Agni, made by strength! ”

“ Agni, the man who giveth guerdon to the priests, like well-sewn armour thou guardest on every side. He who with grateful food shows kindness in his house, an offerer to the living, is the type of heaven. ”

“ Send thou with hymns that Agni to his own abode, who rules, one Sovran Lord of wealth, like Varuna, Him, All-possessor, whom the Bhrgus with their might brought to earth's central point, the centre of the world. 5. He whom no force can stay, even as the Maruts' roar, like to a dart sent forth, even as the bolt from heaven, Agni with sharpened jaws chews up and eats the trees, and conquers them as when the warrior smites his foes. 6. And will not Agni find enjoyment in our praise, will not the Vasu grant our wish with gifts of wealth? Will not the Inspirer speed our prayers to gain their end? ”

“ Agni is Lord of Amrta. in abundance, Lord of the gift of wealth and hero valour, Victorious God, let us not sit about thee like men devoid of strength, beauty, and worship. 7. The foeman's treasure may be won with labour: may we be masters of our own possessions. Agni, no son is he who springs from others: lengthen not out the pathways of the foolish. 8. Unwelcome for adoption is the stranger, one to be thought of as another's offspring, Though grown familiar by continual presence. May our strong hero come, freshly triumphant. 9. Guard us from him who would assail us, Agni ”

“ Bright Agni with the bright car, Lord of green domains, Vaisvanara dweller in the floods, who finds the light, Pervading, swift and wild, encompassed round with powers, him very glorious have the Gods established here. 6. Agni, together with the Gods and Manu's folk by thought extending sacrifice in varied form, Goes, car-borne, to and fro with those who crown each rite, the fleet, the Household Friend, who turns the curse aside. 7. Sing, Agni, for long life to us and noble sons: teem thou with plenty, shine upon us store of food. ”

“ Agni, who lives on the fire of the sacrifice, on the domestic hearth, and in the lightnings of the sky, is the great Mediator between God and Man; Uschas, or the Dawn, leads forth the Gods in the morning to make their daily repast in the intoxicating Soma of Nature's offertory, of which the Priest could only compound, from simples a symbolical imitation. Then came the various Sun-Gods, Adityas or Solar Attributes, Surya the Heavenly, Savitri the Progenitor, Pashan the Nourisher, Bagha the Felicitous, and Mitra the Friend. ”