Information AboutAgni |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AGNI | |
| fire gods | |
| hindu gods | |
| rigvedic deities | |
| solar gods | |
| classical elements | |
| guardians of the directions | |
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Agni is a Hindu deity. The word ''agni'' is Sanskrit for "fire" (noun), cognate with Latin ''ignis'' ''Ignite'' The sacrifices made to Agni go to the Deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods. He is ever-young, because the fire is re-lit every day; but also he is immortal. He is worshipped under a threefold form: fire on Earth and Lightning and the Sun . His cult survived the change of the ancient Vedic nature-worship into modern Hinduism , and there are fire-priests (agnihotr) whose duty is to watch over his worshippers. The sacred fire-drill for procuring the temple-fire by friction -- symbolic of Agni's daily miraculous birth -- is still used. DEPICTIONS In Hindu Art , Agni is represented as Red and two-faced (sometimes covered with Butter ), suggesting both his destructive and beneficent qualities, and with Black Eye s and Hair , three Legs and seven Arm s. He rides a Ram , or a Chariot pulled by Goat s or, more rarely, Parrot s. Seven rays of light emanate from his body. One of his names is "Sapta jihva", 'seven tongues'. FAMILY In and father of Karttikeya by either Svaha or Ganga . He is one of the Ashta-Dikpalas , representing the southeast. In some stories about the Hindu gods, Agni is the one who is sent to the front in dangerous situations. AGNI IN THE VEDAS His name is the first word of the first hymn of the Rigveda :- अि॒ग्नम् ई॑ळे पुरो॒िह॑तं यज्ञ॒स्य॑ देव॒म् ऋि॒त्वज॑म् । होता॑रं रत्नधा॒त॑मम् ॥ ''agnim īļe purohitam'' / ''yajñasya devam ŗtvijam'' / ''hotāraM ratnadhātamam.'' (The vowels which are underlined here, carry the Vedic ''udātta'' Pitch Accent .) "I praise Agni, the priest of the house, the divine ministrant of sacrifice, the invoker, the best bestower of treasure." Another hymn runs: "No god indeed, no mortal is beyond the might of thee, the mighty One.". He lives among men and is miraculously reborn each day by the fire-drill, the friction of the two sticks which are regarded as his parents. He is the supreme director of Religious ceremonies and duties, and even has the power of influencing the fate of each man in the future world. Agni is also representative of the power which Digests the food in every person's Stomach . He created the Star s with the sparks resulting from his flames. The Rigveda often says that Agni arises from water or dwells in the waters. He may have originally been the same as Apam Napat , which see. Although the Vedic fire-sacrifice ( Yagya ) has largely disappeared from modern Hinduism, Agni with the fire-sacrifice is still the mode of ritual in any modern Hindu marriage, where Agni is said to be the chief sakshi or witness of the marriage and guardian of the santity of marriage. Indeed, without seven encirclements around the holy fire, the modern Indian Hindu Marriage Act regards a Hindu marriage as void. AGNI IN OTHER FAITHS AND RELIGIONS In (fire- Puja ) rites. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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