Origin of Agni and Svarṇa

Śaunaka asks Sūta two questions. How did Agni, fire, come to be? And how did svarṇa (gold) come to be? Sūta answers with two linked accounts from the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa. Agni is born from the seed of Brahmā, which was cast into the Milk Ocean. A shining boy rises from it, and Bhagavān Vishṇu, Varuṇa and Bhagavān Śiva each give him a power. Gold comes from the seed of Agni, which became the brightness of the mountain Sumeru.

The origin of Agni

At the time of creation, Brahmā, Śiva and Ananta went together to Śvetadvīpa to see Bhagavān Vishṇu. In Bhagavān Vishṇu’s court they saw the celestial women who were born from his own body. They were dancing and singing in the joy of Vaikuṇṭha.

Brahmā is the creator, and he holds in himself the whole power of rajas (the creative energy). He was moved by the beauty he saw, beyond his own control. His seed fell without his wish. He was deeply ashamed and covered it at once with a cloth. He did not want it to remain on the earth, so he threw the cloth with the seed into the Milk Ocean, Kshīrasāgara.

A shining boy rose from the Milk Ocean. His body blazed with light, and his eyes were like two suns. He rose out of the water and at once sought refuge. He sat on Brahmā’s chest, as a child goes to its father. Brahmā held him but was not sure of the child’s standing.

Varuṇa came and claimed the boy: “He was born in my domain. The waters are my realm. This boy is my son.” Brahmā refused: “He came to me for refuge. That makes him my son first.” The dispute was taken to Bhagavān Vishṇu for judgment.

Bhagavān Vishṇu gave his ruling: “The boy is first of all Brahmā’s son, for the seed was Brahmā’s and the boy sought Brahmā as his refuge. But he is also, in the second place, Varuṇa’s kshetrajā (born in Varuṇa’s field), since he was born in Varuṇa’s domain. Both have a claim, and both must do their part.”

Then Bhagavān Vishṇu gave the boy the power to burn everything. Nothing will withstand his heat. Varuṇa gave him the matching power: water will put him out, so that he does not burn without limit. Bhagavān Śiva gave him the mantras and vidyā (knowledge) that go with fire. These are the Agni mantras, the powers of Havyavāhana (the carrier of offerings), and the wisdom to serve as the messenger between humans and devas through the yajña.

This boy became Agni. He is also known as Hiraṇyaretasa (the one with golden seed), Pāvaka (the purifier), Jātavedas (the all-knowing), Havyavāhana and Vaiśvānara. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 131)

The origin of Svarṇa (gold)

Later, at a great assembly of the devas and other great beings, Agni, in his nature as Hiraṇyaretasa, was moved by the sight of the apsarā Rambhā, the most beautiful of all apsarās. Agni’s seed, which is of the nature of golden fire, fell without his wish. He quickly covered it with a cloth.

From the cloth that held Agni’s golden seed, a mass of brilliant golden light rose. It was so strong and so bright that it took the form of the great Sumeru, the golden mountain. So the gold in Sumeru, and all the gold in the world, comes from the seed of Agni. For this reason Agni is called Hiraṇyaretasa, “he of golden seed”. It is also why svarṇa is held to be holy and cleansing, and joined to the divine fire.

The golden colour of gold and its cleansing quality both come from its origin in Agni, the great cleanser of the cosmos. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 131)

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 131