Burning controllably in the kitchen, He seems harmless, but if you meet Him in a vast, dried-up forest, where He hurriedly climbs the trees, devouring all that comes in His path, you will understand the potent nature of this element, worshipped in Indian culture as a God since the Vedic time. He is Agni, the Hindu god of Fires. “Fires” because he manifests in many forms.
He is Daavanal- the fire that eats up jungles, the Sun blazing in the sky, the Premaagni, or the fire of love immortalized by Indian poets and he is the sacred fire of Homa, the sacrificial ritual, taking offerings from the human priests and Yajman (performer of the sacrifice) directly to the heavens.
Present in our world in many forms, Agni is among the few Vedic gods who continue to be revered in modern times, yet very few know about his enigmatic, fluid, and powerful nature. So let us turn the pages of ancient Indian literature and get to know more about Agni, the mighty purifier of all things.
The son of Rishi Kashyap and Aditi, Agni earlier was only meant to consume sacred, ritual offerings, poured in the Kunda or altar and bring it to the gods. He was born to be the mediator between the world of humans and the heavens. On one of the days, Agni saw the wives of the Saptarishi, or seven sages, who were very beautiful and was attracted to them.
However, he could not approach them because it would have been immoral to propose marriage to the already married women. A witness to all this was Swaha, the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, who was in love with Agni, who seemed to be smitten by other women. Not losing heart, Swaha wittily transformed herself into the wives of the Saptarishis and reached Agni with her loving proposal.
But, when she was changing herself into Arundhati, Agni saw her and realized that all this was Swaha’s ruse. He was charmed by the intelligence of Swaha and agreed to marry her. From that day on, an offering to Agni is incomplete without saying the name of his beloved wife “Swaha” in the end. As mentioned before, Agni was born to be a divine being, who only accepted pure and sacred gifts to the god.
One day, when he was in the house of sage Bhrigu and Puloma, a couple who had not married according to the traditional Hindu marriage rituals, Agni saw a demon enter the home. Rishi Bhrigu was not at home, and seeing the beautiful Puloma, who was with child at the time, the demon tried to approach her. However, he did not want to transgress by proposing to a married woman and thus asked Agni if Puloma was rightfully the wife of Bhrigu.
Agni mentioned that since they were not married in accordance with the rites of the Veda, the marriage was not legitimate. Overjoyed hearing this, the demon tried to take Puloma with him, scarring her terribly, which resulted in the sudden birth of the child. Bhrigu returned to see his household in a mess and blamed Agni for the misconduct of the demon. He then cursed that Agni would become the eater of all things, pure as well as impure.
Agni was saddened, for though he indirectly caused the incident, he only uttered what was true. He disappeared and stopped doing his usual duties as the mediator of gods. Brahma intervened and told Agni that even when he would devour impurities, his essence would stay sacred. Satisfied, Agni returned to his tasks. A variation of the story goes on to tell that when Lord Shiva released the potent seed that was to become Lord Karttikeya, its heat was such that no being in the Universe could handle it.
Agni appeared on the scene, cradling and making the seed bearable, which is why he is also counted among the many divine parents of Kumara. Parvati however saw this as a wrongdoing and cursed Agni that he will no longer receive only the pious offerings but will have to be an all-eating element. Though Agni continues to burn wherever he receives the pure and impure fuels, for a practicing Hindu, fire at its core remains sacred and deific.
The story of King Shibi, who donated his body flesh in order to release a pigeon from its predator is a popular tale, included not only in Hindu texts but also in Buddhist literature. The story tells that Shibi with his many Yajnas and good deeds collected such Punya that he became equivalent to divine beings. Seeing his ascendance, Agni and Indra approached him with the aim of putting his goodness to the test.
Agni became a pigeon as Indra followed him as a hawk. The pigeon took refuge in Shibi and asked to protect him while the hawk told him that he needed to hunt to sustain his family and could not go back empty-handed. The king without a second thought cut out the flesh from his own body and gave it to the hawk. Agni and Indra were happy to see the kindness of the king and blessed him with many boons.
Although Hindu texts suggest that all gods are forms of Agni and Agni is a representation of all deities, his association with one god- Shiva, is the most visible and interesting. In the Shiva Purana, when Brahma and Vishnu are arguing over who is the most powerful being, Shiva is said to have appeared as a cosmic pillar of fire or Lingam with no beginning or end in front of them.
The story ends with the gods being unable to discern the origin and ceasing of the pillar and accepting Shiva as the most powerful deity. Another link between Shiva and Agni is the “Krodhagni” or fire of wrath that emerges from Shiva’s third eye, capable of burning everything and everyone it gazes upon.
The burning of Kamadeva, lord of love to ashes is a popular episode from Hindu traditions, which unites the potency of fire with the role of Shiva as the cosmic destroyer. Agni also accompanies Shiva in his form as Nataraja, the lord of dance, framing his majestic stance in a round flaming circle, symbolic of the cosmic fire that purifies and ends, regulating the flow of life or Samsara. Fire also becomes the sacred heat or Tapas that resides in Shiva’s body, as a result of his eternal Yoga.
Eating everything that came in his path, Agni one day reached his threshold and his brilliance was gone. He asked Lord Brahma for a solution, who directed him towards the Khandavaprastha, the forest where Nagas lived. They had friendly connections with Lord Indra, so when Agni attempted to devour the forest, he was unable to do so.
Brahma then told Agni that Krishna and Arjuna were about to visit the forest and that they would help him. When they arrived, Arjuna created a roof above the forest using his arrows and Agni was able to burn down the forest, blazing highly in the process and regaining his original form.
One of the eighteen major Puranas, the Agni Purana in its compiled version is dated back to the 700-1000 CE by historians. It has around 12,000 verses and over 383 chapters. It contains the characteristic features of a Purana, a story of creation, various rituals, a discussion on the making of temples, descriptions of Lord Vishnu, and different stories of Agni.
Discussing all the stories of Agni is not possible in one go. However, before concluding, there are a few forms of sacred fire in Hindu culture that should be mentioned-
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👉 Agnichayana ritual - A Vedic ritual, Agnichayana (choosing the fire) is mentioned in the Shatapatha Brahmana as the task of creating the sacred space or altar in which the Havana is to be conducted. The man who conducts the ritual is called “Agnichit” and the ritual has different durations- 1 year, 4 months, or several days, depending upon the complexity of the altar and the capacity of the participant.
👉 Agnihotra - Agnihotra is a popular Yajna or sacrifice from the Vedic period, considered to be a nitya or daily sacred performance. The Dvijas (twice-born) were allowed and motivated to do Agnihotra, two times a day, at dusk and dawn along with their wife.
👉 Agniprakara - A powerful concept from ritualistic and devotional beliefs of Hinduism, Agniprakaraliterally means “a wall of fire”, which is either imagined or created with sacred symbols on the ground, to maintain a defense of fire around the person engaged in ritual activity. It is believed the Agniprakara keeps the impurities of the world away from the person just like a formidable fortress.
👉 Agni in Ayurveda - As one of the five elements that make up the human body, Agni has been studied in the Ayurveda elaborately. An interesting mention of Agni comes in the context of cleansing the body, in which “Agnisara” kriya, an activity in which the abdominal muscles are moved to “press the naval knot or Naabhi a thousand times”. Agnisara is done to ensure that the Jatharagni or fire of digestion is properly present in the body, on which depends the entire function of a healthy human being.
👉 The Ritual Lamp - Aarati or Jyoti lit in every Puja is perhaps the most controlled and sacred most form of Agni. An important element in the worship routine, the Aarati lights up the ritual space and offers a chance to the devotee to do the Darshana of the deity in the divine brilliance of Agni. In the ritual lamp, Agni becomes a symbol of devotion and divinity, once again, taking our prayers to the god as the eternal intermediary.
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