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Agni is the god of fire and sacrifice, of divine knowledge, and is also associated with water.  Agni, identified with energy and action, is the first emanation and the sacred spark hidden within all beings.   

Agni is the god of fire and sacrifice, of divine knowledge, and is also associated with water.  Agni, identified with energy and action, is the first emanation and the sacred spark hidden within all beings.   

=== Havyavahana ॥ हव्यवाहनः ===

=== हव्यवाहनः ॥ Havyavahana ===

Agni is the very personification of the sacrificial fire. He is associated with Vedic sacrifice, taking offerings of men to the other world in his fire. He is the priest of the gods, and the god of the priests. Through ''yajna'' he carries the oblations to the gods, to ensure the continuance of conditions favorable to mankind. No devata is approachable without the medium of Agni, and no divinity is without the presence of Agni.       

Agni is the very personification of the sacrificial fire. He is associated with Vedic sacrifice, taking offerings of men to the other world in his fire. He is the priest of the gods, and the god of the priests. Through ''yajna'' he carries the oblations to the gods, to ensure the continuance of conditions favorable to mankind. No devata is approachable without the medium of Agni, and no divinity is without the presence of Agni.       

Kravyaad (क्रव्याद) is the form of Agni which consumes corpses, the fire of the funeral pyre; the fire that burns the corpses can consume everything. In this form, after one’s death and at the time of cremation, Agni heats up and burns the body (SB 2.2.4.8) and is the fastest way to unite the body's panchabhutas (five elements) back into them. Agni thus releases the Jeevatma from the body, and the soul then starts its ascent to the higher realms based on its Karma.  

Kravyaad (क्रव्याद) is the form of Agni which consumes corpses, the fire of the funeral pyre; the fire that burns the corpses can consume everything. In this form, after one’s death and at the time of cremation, Agni heats up and burns the body (SB 2.2.4.8) and is the fastest way to unite the body's panchabhutas (five elements) back into them. Agni thus releases the Jeevatma from the body, and the soul then starts its ascent to the higher realms based on its Karma.  

=== देवता स्वरुपम् '''॥ Agnid'''evata Swaroopam ===

=== देवता स्वरुपम् '''॥ Agnid'''evata Swaroopam ===

=== Birth and Family ===

==== Birth and Family ====

There are different statements in puranas about the origin of Agni. Agni descended from Vishnu in the following order according to Puranic Encyclopedia (based on Bhagavata and Mahabharata) :  Vishnu - Brahma - Angiras - Brihaspati - Agni.  

There are different statements in puranas about the origin of Agni. Agni descended from Vishnu in the following order according to Puranic Encyclopedia (based on Bhagavata and Mahabharata) :  Vishnu - Brahma - Angiras - Brihaspati - Agni.  

Agni is also called ''Arka'', "water," the accessory to worship, and the cause of fire that covers all food which covers all life (Yajurveda V.vii.5).

Agni is also called ''Arka'', "water," the accessory to worship, and the cause of fire that covers all food which covers all life (Yajurveda V.vii.5).

In some Hindu symbolism, Agni's parents are said to be the two components of the fire drill used to start the fire, and when young he was said to be cared for by ten servants who are represented by the ten fingers of the man who starts the fire. Agni hid from the gods, but Atharvan??? found him and raised him, thus combining the divine and the human worlds, transforming the sublime and the subtle to the gross and the material.

At the command of Bhrigu, Agni was brought down from the heavens for man’s use by Matarishvan, in the later writings Agni is described as a son of Angiras who happened to discover fire and its uses.   

 

Agni has two consorts, Svaha and Svadha. Agni married Svaha (invocation offering) and fathered three sons - Pāvaka (purifier), Pāvamāna (purifying) and Śuchi (purity) who in their turn had forty-five children, all different aspects of fire.  

At the command of Bhrigu, Agni was brought down from the heavens for man’s use by Matarishvan, in the later writings Agni is described as a son of Angiras who happened to discover fire and its uses.  Agni is flanked on either side by his two consorts, Svāhā and Svadhā. The smoke is his banner and the ram is his mount.  Agni married Svāhā (invocation offering) and fathered three sons - Pāvaka (purifier), Pāvamāna (purifying) and Śuchi (purity) who in their turn had forty-five children, all different aspects of fire.^[29][30] Agni’s three sons, according to the Vayu Purana, stand for three different aspects of Agni (fire): ''Pāvaka'' is the electric fire,''Pāvamanā'' is the fire produced by friction, and ''Śuchi'' is the solar fire. Every fire has a corresponding relation to one of the human psychic faculties. They also represent body, spirit and soul, and body.^[31] ''Abhimāni'', his three sons, and their 45 sons constitute the 49 mystic fires of the Puranas, especially the Agni Purana.  Agneya is the daughter of Agni and the Hindu Goddess of Fire. Medhā (intelligence) is Agni’s sister.^[29]

Agni’s three sons, according to the Vayu Purana, stand for three different aspects of Agni (fire): ''Pāvaka'' is the electric fire,''Pāvamanā'' is the fire produced by friction, and ''Śuchi'' is the solar fire. Every fire has a corresponding relation to one of the human psychic faculties. They also represent body, spirit and soul, and body.^[31] ''Abhimāni'', his three sons, and their 45 sons constitute the 49 mystic fires of the Puranas, especially the Agni Purana.  Agneya is the daughter of Agni and the Hindu Goddess of Fire. Medhā (intelligence) is Agni’s sister.

=== '''पावकः ॥ Pavaka''' ===

=== '''पावकः ॥ Pavaka''' ===

=== दाहकः '''॥''' Daahaka ===

=== दाहकः '''॥''' Daahaka ===

In Mahabharata (Adi Parva. Khandava daha parva Chap. 221 to 226), there is a legend about Agni.  Agni who suffers from stomach ailments (due to the Yagnas of Svetaki King) was advised to consume the Khandava forest which contains the medicinal herbs that can treat his condition.  In the process, Indra protects Takshaka who resides in the same forest, thus preventing Agni from consuming the medicinal plants. In this parva, Krishna and Arjuna, are requested by Agni to  

In Mahabharata (Adi Parva. Khandava daha parva Chap. 221 to 226), there is a legend about Agni.  Agni who suffers from stomach ailments (due to the Yagnas of Svetaki King) was advised to consume the Khandava forest which contains the medicinal herbs that can treat his condition.  In the process, Indra protects Takshaka who resides in the same forest, thus preventing Agni from consuming the medicinal plants. In this parva, Krishna and Arjuna, are requested by Agni (who in the guise of a Brahmana) to quench his hunger.  Realizing his true form, they agree to prevent his obstacles (Indra from sending heavy rain) in consuming the forest. 

Aided by Krishna and Arjuna, Agni consumed the ''Khandava Forest'', which burnt for fifteen days, sparing only Aswasena, Maya, and the four birds called ''sarangakas''; later, as a boon Arjuna got all his weapons from Indra and also the bow, ''Gandiva'', from Varuna.^[33]

Please with their offer of help Agni gave Arjuna an arrow case which would never be empty, a chariot bearing Hanuman on the flag and four white horses, and the famous Gandiva bow. To Krishna he gave the Chakra or discuss.  With the help of these military equipment, Krishna and Arjuna created a canopy of arrow against the downpour created by Indra and thus, Agni burned incessantly for fifteen days, and was cured of his stomach ailments.

=== Kartikeya ===

=== Kartikeya ===