Agni

Agni is the deva of fire. He stands between humans and the devas. He carries oblations from the earth to the devas in yajña (the fire ritual). He is the witness of all sacred rites and vows. He is one of the eight lokapālas (guardians of the directions) and rules the southeast.

In the Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Agni is the first to receive the retas (seed) of Bhagavān Śiva when Kārttikeya was born. The devas had placed him there as a stand-in vessel for a power that no one else could hold.

Identity and nature

Agni is one of the oldest and most basic of the Vedic devas. He has three forms. On earth he is the fire of the altar and the jāṭhara-agni (the fire of digestion inside living beings). In the air he is lightning. In the sky he is the sun.

He is the mouth of the devas. Whatever is offered in the sacred fire, Agni eats and passes on to the deva meant to receive it. Without Agni there can be no yajña. Without yajña the devas get no food. Without food for the devas, the order of the world breaks down.

Agni is red in colour and has seven tongues of flame. He rides a ram (mesha) and carries a torch and a ladle (sruk and sruva). He has two wives. Svāhā is the sacred call that goes with every oblation. Svadhā is the call for offerings to the pitṛs (the forefathers). Svāhā is so close to Agni that the word “svāhā” is itself a name for fire.

The birth of Kārttikeya: the Kedāra Khaṇḍa

Agni has a key place in the chain by which Kārttikeya was born. When Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī were united, the retas was so powerful that Pārvatī’s body could not hold it. The devas had arranged for Agni to receive it in her place.

Agni received the retas of Bhagavān Śiva, but its heat and power overwhelmed him at once. Even the deva of fire could not hold what was the whole creative power of Bhagavān Śiva gathered together. From Agni the retas passed to all the devas who had gathered. From the devas it passed to the Kṛttikā women. At last it was placed in the sands of the Gaṅgā, where Kārttikeya was born.

So Agni was the first channel through which the creative fire of Bhagavān Śiva passed on its way to Kārttikeya. Kārttikeya carries the name Agnibhū, “born of Agni”. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 27.

The birth of Kārttikeya: the Kumāra Khaṇḍa

The Kumāra Khaṇḍa of the Śiva Purāṇa gives another account. In it Agni took the form of a bird, a dove or pigeon. He slipped into the private rooms of Bhagavān Śiva and received his tejas (radiance) before Pārvatī could receive it.

Pārvatī found out about the intrusion. She laid two heavy śāpa (curses) on Agni. First, the wives of all the devas would be barren. Second, Agni would from then on eat everything without choice, taking in whatever was put into him. This second śāpa is why fire burns everything.

The devas had to carry the tejas between them, and the heat was too much for them. At the word of Bhagavān Śiva they threw it out. Nārada guided Agni to place the tejas in women who were bathing at dawn in the month of Māgha. These were the six wives of the Saptarshis, who took it in because Agni was near them. From them the tejas went to Himavān, then to Gaṅgā, then to a thicket of reeds. There Kārttikeya was born.

In the battle against Tārakāsura, Agni fought Śaṃprada as his own foe in the battle line. This is in the Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Kumāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 2, 7.

His part in yajña

In the Purāṇas, Agni’s main work is to carry oblations. Every yajña calls on Agni as the chief go-between. This holds for Daksha’s great yajña and for the rites that came before the churning of the ocean (samudra manthana).

Agni as witness

Agni is also the witness of all sacred vows and agreements. Marriages are held before the sacred fire because Agni sees and seals every promise. At the wedding of Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī in the Kedāra Khaṇḍa, the sacred fires were lit with full rites. This is in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25.

Freed from the dosha at Badarīkāśrama

The Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells how Agni was set free at Badarīkāśrama. Agni was troubled by sarva-bhakshakatva-dosha. This is the stain that comes from eating everything without choice, and it belongs to the nature of fire. He went to the gathering of ṛshis at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṃgama (meeting of the rivers) and told them of this dosha (fault).

The ṛshis fell silent. No usual prāyaścitta (act of atonement) in the śāstras could cure it. Only Vyāsa knew the answer. Agni must go to Badarīkāśrama and praise Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.

Agni did so. He offered a stotra to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa at Badarī and was fully freed from every dosha by the direct grace of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Since then Agni has lived at Badarīkāśrama for ever.

The Agni Tīrtha was set up at the place where he was freed. It is the most powerful tīrtha (holy place) for purification at Badarī. Ten days of snāna (ritual bathing) there make all yajñas unnecessary, and the sight of it alone destroys all stored pāpa (sin). Agni also set up the Kedaraliṅga at Badarī, in honour of Bhagavān Śiva’s freedom from brahmahatyā (the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa) at the same kshetra (holy place). This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Badarī Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 2.

Agni claims Princess Sudarśanā

The Anuśāsana Parva tells that Agni once wanted the princess Sudarśanā. She was the daughter of the ancient king Duryodhana and the river devī Narmadā. Duryodhana thought no suitor worthy of his daughter, and that included Agni, because Agni was not born a kshatriya. Agni vanished in anger from the king’s great yajña.

Then Agni told the assembled brāhmaṇas that he himself wanted Sudarśanā. The king gave way. He gave her to Agni in vivāha (marriage). He asked only that Agni stay always in his city, and Agni agreed. Their son was Sudarśana. He went on to conquer Mṛtyu through atithi-sevā (service to guests). This is in the Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 2.

Agni’s teachings in the Rahasya-Dharma cycle

Agni speaks three times in the Rahasya-Dharma cycle of the Anuśāsana Parva.

In Chapter 126 he teaches the dosha of touching a cow, a pure brāhmaṇa or a blazing fire with the foot. The apakīrti (disgrace) of such a person reaches the sky. The pitṛs become afraid. The devas feel deep vaimanasya (dislike) towards him. Agni himself refuses his havya (oblation). He suffers a hundred births in naraka, and no deva ever agrees to free him.

In Chapter 127, as Vibhāvasu, Agni teaches the following.

• On Pūrṇimā, offering water together with akshatas (whole rice grains) soaked in ghee to the rising full moon equals doing agni-kārya (the work of the fire). It honours all three sacred fires at once.
• On amāvāsyā (the new moon day), plucking even a single leaf without knowing it brings the dosha of brahma-hatyā.
• Chewing a tooth-cleaning twig on amāvāsyā equals hurting the moon itself, and it shakes even the hearts of the pitṛs.

In Chapter 128, Vāyu’s teaching on the rules of the rainy months also centres on agni-kārya, the base of the small dharma that brings sukha (happiness) to men. This is in the Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 126–128.

Agni as messenger to King Marutta

This account is in the Saṃvarta-Maruttīya ākhyāna of the Aśvamedhika Parva. Indra twice sent Agni as his envoy to King Marutta. Agni was to offer Bṛhaspati as the yājaka (priest of the yajña) in place of the ṛshi Saṃvarta. Indra also promised Marutta amaratva (deathlessness).

Agni did the first mission faithfully. He tore across Himavat “like Vāyu breaking branches”. Marutta received him with full honours but refused. He would not give up Saṃvarta, whatever worlds were offered.

Indra pressed Agni to go a second time. Then Saṃvarta himself warned Agni: “Pāvaka, never come here again on this errand. If I grow angry, I will burn you with my terrible gaze.” Agni, though he is dhūma-ketu (he whose banner is smoke), ran back to the devas in terror, “like a dry leaf fearing to be burnt”.

Indra doubted that the very form of fire could fear being burned. He ordered Agni to go a third time. Agni refused and asked that a gandharva be sent instead. Indra’s scorn stung Agni, and he reminded Indra of an old shame of his own before the power of brahma-bala (the power of a brāhmaṇa).

Agni told how Cyavana, serving as priest at Śaryāti’s yajña, won soma for the Aśvins against Indra’s will. Indra raised his hand with the vajra, but Cyavana’s tapas (austerity) struck the hand away. Then Cyavana brought forth a terrible viśvarūpa (huge form) called Mada. Indra had to shut his eyes and beg for shelter before it.

Agni ended: “Śatakratu, kshatra-bala (the power of a kshatriya) is nothing compared to brahma-bala. There is nothing greater than brahma-bala. I do not wish to try Saṃvarta.” This is in the Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 9.

Agni as the horse in Nāgaloka

This account is in the Uttaṅkopākhyāna of the Aśvamedhika Parva. Uttaṅka went down into Nāgaloka (the world of the nāgas) to win back the stolen maṇi-kuṇḍalas (jewelled earrings) of Madayantī. There Agni appeared in an unusual form, a horse with a black and white tail, blazing with tejas. The horse spoke to the despairing Uttaṅka.

The horse said: “O vipra! I am the guru of your guru. I am Agnideva. You have always honoured me faithfully on your guru’s behalf.” He named himself Citrabhānu. He was the Agni whom Uttaṅka had tended in the sacred fire through his long years of service to Gautama.

At Agni’s word, Uttaṅka blew his breath hard into the horse’s hindquarters (the apāna). Agni “desired to burn” and flared up still brighter. From his own romakūpas (pores) he sent out thick, terrifying smoke. It filled the whole of Nāgaloka and darkened every house, including the house of Vāsuki and the house of Airāvata. The nāgas were in pain. They came out to honour Uttaṅka and give back the earrings. This is in the Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 58.

The return of the cakra: the Mausala Parva

Among the terrible signs before the end of the Yādavas at Dvārakā was one that touched the weapon Agni had once given. This was the Sudarśana Cakra, a disc with an iron hub, set with the vajra. Agni Deva had given it to Kṛshṇa at the burning of the Khāṇḍava forest. It rose up before the eyes of the Vṛshṇis and flew away into the sky.

Its going, together with the loss of the banners and of Dāruka’s divine horses, showed that Kāla had come for the clan. It showed that the brāhmaṇa śāpa (the curse of the brāhmaṇas) was about to come true at Prabhāsa. So the gift of Agni went back to the world of the devas as the avatāra drew to a close. This is in the Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 3.

Taking back Gāṇḍīva: the Mahā Prasthānika Parva

The Pāṇḍavas gave up their kingdom and went east on the great departure. They came to the shore of the sea Lauhitya. There Agni stood in their path in the form of a person as huge as a great mountain, blazing with seven flames. He named himself Pāvaka.

He reminded them that through Arjuna’s might and the power of Nārāyaṇa he had once eaten the Khāṇḍava forest. He said that the time for the divine bow Gāṇḍīva was now over. He had long ago brought the bow for Arjuna from Varuṇa, and now it must go back to Varuṇa. In the same way Kṛshṇa’s discus had gone, and it would come again only in its own time.

At Agni’s command, and as his brothers urged, Arjuna threw Gāṇḍīva and the two quivers that never ran empty into the waters. Agni vanished on the spot. This is in the Mahābhārata, Mahā Prasthānika Parva, Chapter 1.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 25, 27
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Badarī Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 2
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Kumāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 2, 7
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 2, 126–128
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 9, 58
• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 3
• Mahābhārata, Mahā Prasthānika Parva, Chapter 1