Agni in Vedavangmaya (अग्निः वेदवाङ्मये)

परिचय || Introduction

Agni (Samskrit: अग्निः) is the god of fire, sacrifice and divine knowledge, and a large number of mantras and suktas are devoted to describing and praising Agni in various texts. 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. Through yajna he carries the oblations to the gods, to ensure the continuance of conditions favorable to mankind.

This aspect of Agni is significantly highlighted in the Rig veda and gradually as one progresses towards the Upanishads Agni is personified as the Knower of Brahman. The sacrificial fires attain the position of Guru of Upakosala, in the Chandogya Upanishad, wherein they preach the brahmavidya to Upakosala.

 Agni in Vedas

Rig veda 

Rigveda starts with Agnisukta and thereafter many mandalas have suktas related to and in praise of Agni. The very first word, mantra and sukta of the oldest veda, Rig veda starts with Agni as revealed to Rishi Madhuchchandah Vaishvamitah in Gāyatri metre..

" अग्निसूक्त "

" ९ मधुच्छन्दा वैश्वामित्रः ऋषिः । अग्निः देवता।  गायत्री छन्दः। प्रथमं मण्डलम्।"

" अ॒ग्निमी॑ळे पु॒रोहि॑तं य॒ज्ञस्य॑ दे॒वमृ॒त्विज॑म् । होता॑रं रत्न॒धात॑मम् ॥१"

" अ॒ग्निः पूर्वे॑भि॒र्ऋषि॑भि॒रीड्यो॒ नूत॑नैरु॒त । स दे॒वाँ एह व॑क्षति ॥२"

" अ॒ग्निना॑ र॒यिम॑श्नव॒त् पोष॑मे॒व दि॒वेदि॑वे । य॒शसं॑ वी॒रव॑त्तमम् ॥३"

" अग्ने॒ यं य॒ज्ञम॑ध्व॒रं वि॒श्वत॑: परि॒भूरसि॑ । स इद् दे॒वेषु॑ गच्छति ॥४"

" अ॒ग्निर्होता॑ क॒विक्र॑तुः स॒त्यश्चि॒त्रश्र॑वस्तमः । दे॒वो दे॒वेभि॒रा ग॑मत् ॥५"

" यद॒ङ्ग दा॒शुषे॒ त्वमग्ने॑ भ॒द्रं क॑रि॒ष्यसि॑ । तवेत् तत् स॒त्यम॑ङ्गिरः ॥६"

" उप॑ त्वाग्ने दि॒वेदि॑वे॒ दोषा॑वस्तर्धि॒या व॒यम् । नमो॒ भर॑न्त॒ एम॑सि ॥७"

" राज॑न्तमध्व॒राणां॑ गो॒पामृ॒तस्य॒ दीदि॑विम् । वर्ध॑मानं॒ स्वे दमे॑ ॥८"

" स न॑: पि॒तेव॑ सू॒नवे ऽग्ने॑ सूपाय॒नो भ॑व । सच॑स्वा नः स्व॒स्तये॑ ॥९ (Rig. Ved. 1.1.1)"

Summary : Agni, the chosen one as the minister of sacrifice, is worthy to be praised for he brings along other deities with him (He is the bearer of sacrificial offerings from the Yajamani or the Performer of the Yagna). Agni bestows his worshipper with boundless riches and wealth. Indeed greatly revered is Agni, the dispeller of the darkness.

Agni is the Rishi or mantra drasta of many suktas in the 9th Mandala. He figures prominently in as many as 200 suktas in the Rig veda. Along with Indra and Surya, Agni is a significant deity of Rig veda (Sukta 10.124).

In the Rig Veda (I.95.2), a Rishi prays - दशेमं त्वष्टुर्जनयन्त गर्भम - for the ten eternal powers to bless Tvashtr (the supreme mind which creates all things) with the birth of Agni, which is a reference to the ten undisclosed powers that nourish Agni.^[14]

Rishi Tritapti (Rig Veda X.v.3), in a mantra in praise of Agni, refers to the bearers of water, the most subtle and the most refined aspects of manifestations. In a subsequent mantra he says that in the conditions prevalent prior to the formation of water, Agni, which was the first visible manifestation of the Unmanifested, was the giver and the taker, both, because as energy it had transformed into matter, beginning with water.

Yajur Veda

Shatapatha Brahmana (SB 6.1.1.1) tells us that Prajapati was generated through the tapas of the rishis (equated with the non-existent of the Beginning), thereafter, through his own tapas Prajapati generated all the gods and all the creatures. He also generated Agni as the sacrificial fire and as the second self having wearied himself his glow and essence of him heated up and developed Agni (SB 10.6.5.2). Ritually Agni, as the altar built by the sacrifice, reconstitutes Prajapati.

=== The one who knows === Agni, who is addressed as Atithi ('guest'), is also called जातवेदसम्, meaning "the one who knows all things that are born, created or produced."^[59] He is the god of will-power, united with wisdom. The Vedic people knew human will-power to be a feeble projection of this power which they believed could be strengthened by the Rig Vedic chants to Agni.^[60] The Kanvasatpathabrahmanam (SB.IV.i.iv.11) calls Agni "wisdom" and the "ind."^{[note 15][61]} Rishi Bharadavaja Barhaspatya, in a mantra addressed to Agni Vaishvanara^{[note 16]} calls Agni "the mind swiftest among (all) those that fly."^[62] Rishi Praskanva states that Agni represents great learning and enlightening wisdom, which ought to be sought, located and humbly approached. Agni excites Buddhi(reason and intellect), the perceiving and the determining factor, and by illuminating the mind it makes one understand and comprehend the truth – प्रचेतसोऽग्ने देवाँ इह द्रवत् (Rig Veda I.xliv.7).

Agni in Upanishads

Isavasyopanishad

In this Upanishad, the last two mantras, as given below are a prayer to Agni who is the divine witness to the actions of every life form

" वा॒युरनि॑लम॒मृत॒मथे॒दं भस्मा॑न्त॒म् शरी॑रम् ।"

" ॐ क्रतो॒ स्मर॑ कृ॒तम् स्म॑र॒ क्रतो॒ स्मर॑ कृ॒तम् स्म॑र ॥१७॥ (Isav. Upan. 17)"

" अग्ने॒ नय॑ सु॒पथा॑ रा॒ये अ॒स्मान्विश्वा॑नि देव व॒युना॑नि वि॒द्वान् ।"

" यु॒यो॒ध्य॒स्मज्जु॑हुरा॒णमेनो॒ भूयि॑ष्ठां ते॒ नम॑ उ॒क्तिं विधेम ॥१८॥ (Isav. Upan. 18)"

Meaning : Let the breath merge with the Immortal being or Hiranyagarbha and let the body be reduced to ashes, remember your deeds. Let Agni lead us along the right path or the bright path of the Devas (Devayana path from where there is no return to mortality).

This is the prayer for the dissolution of the individual prana into the infinite prana. Agni is prayed to as the chief priest of the sacrifice and the divine witness of all actions done by the individual, when the body is being being reduced to ashes. He is the principle intelligence which guides all thoughts and actions, a path to Universal Knowledge. Agni at the first step is like guide with a torch that illuminates the path of the soul.

Kena Upanishad, Agni reveals his identity as the heat energy and the ever-burning flame of the conscious force in matter, that makes up the entire world.^[17]The gods sent first Agni to find out the nature of Brahman, which means it is Agni that releases the energy which is latent in all beings. Moreover, the sage of the Kena Upanishad refers to the functional differentiation and specialization of body parts, on which account the life-stream progresses, when he speaks of Agni becoming the speech and entering the mouth, and Vayu becoming breath and entering the nostrils.^[18]

The Katha Upanishad tells how Yama taught Nachiketa the secrets of the fire that leads to heaven, and what bricks were required to build the altar.^[19]

Chandogya Upanishad (Chap 5 and 6) describe the Panchagnividya, the meditation on the five fires (sumbolic). Panchagnividya, however, is not actually fires in the physical sense, or an outward sacrificial activity, nor a penance or tapas but deals with the knowledge or meditation to know the inner meaning of the common phenomenon of birth and death. It is a method of meditation wherein evolution and the cycle of samsara-chakra is understood such that a householder frees himself from the bondage of the samsara-chakra. This all inclusiveness and comprehension of various aspects of the world and their relationship to the Universe is the secret of the meditation that is Panchagnividya. It explains the interconnectivity of everything that exists, with creation as a kind of sacrifice. Each manifestation, the microcosm, is a manifestation of Prakrti, the macrocosm.

The Dialogue of the Three Fires with Upakosala, the student of Satyakama Jabali reveals Agni's knowledge of the Brahman.

The vyahiritis to be performed if the sacrificial fires are injured are mentioned very beautifully in this Upanishad.

Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.1-5) describes the role of Agni in Karmakanda before a householder rises up in the Jnanamarga. The procedure to light the Agnihotra and the consequences of not conducting the Agnihotra is explained in detail in this Mundaka.

यदा लेलायते हृार्चि: समिद्धे हव्यवाहने |

तदाज्यभागावन्तरेणाहुती: प्रतिपादयेत् || (Mund. Upan. 1.2.2)

Meaning : When the flames of the bearer of the sacrificial offerings (fire) are bright and high, let the offerings (of sacrificial ghee) be given, with faith, between the two (tongues) flares of the fire.

यस्याग्निहोत्रमदर्शमपौर्णमासमचातुर्मास्यमनाग्रयणमतिथिवर्जितं च |

अहुतमवैश्वदेवमविधिना हुतमाससप्तमां स्तस्य लोकान्हिनस्ति || (Mund. Upan. 1.2.3)

One (householder) whose Agnihotra is devoid of the Darsa, Paurnamaasa Chaaturmasya (four autumnal observances) sacrifices, is not attended by the Atithi (uninvited guest), is without Vaisvedeva (offerings to the animals and birds) or is not performed without proper procedures or not performed at all (that Agnihotra) will destroy the seven worlds (of the householder).

काली कराली च मनोजवा च सुलोहिता या च सुधूम्रवर्णा |  

स्फुलिङ्गिनीं विश्वरुची च देवी लेलायमाना इति सप्त जिह्वा: || (Mund. Upan. 1.2.4) 

Meaning : That Agni, devours with his seven tongues or flames namely Kālī (black), Karālī (terrible),Manojava (speedy as the mind), Sulohita (very red), Sudhumravarna (coloured like thick smoke'), Sphulingini (emitting sparks) and Vishwaruchi (having the fuel as the Sun)

Agni In Mahabharata

In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (Sloka 15.14) it is said: ":अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः