Agni

(“fire,” cognate with Latin ignis) Hindu
deity present in every fire. Agni is also
one of the eight dikpalas, or Guardians
of the Directions, with responsibility for
the southeast quarter. As fire, Agni is
also one of the five elements in classical
Hindu cosmology.
Agni is important in the samhitas
(hymns) of the Rg Veda and in the
Brahmanas, a later strand of Vedic liter-
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ature emphasizing sacrificial rites. The
Rg Veda opens with a hymn to Agni and
describes him as “the household priest,
the god and officiant of the sacrifice,
[and]. . .the giver of blessings.” Agni
remained important in the Brahmanas
since, as the sacrificial fire, he was
essential to all ritual. Agni’s importance
in these texts stems from his presence in
all three levels of the Vedic universe—on
the earth as fire, in the middle atmospheric realm (antariksha) as lightning,
and in the sky as the sun. This ability to
move between these levels made Agni
the intermediary between the gods and
human beings. From above, Agni served
as the messenger of the gods, while as
the sacrificial fire on earth, Agni not only
consumed the offerings but conveyed
them in the smoke to the gods above.
Because of his role in bringing about the
sacrifice, another epithet for Agni is the
“mouth of the gods.”
Unlike many of the other Vedic
deities, Agni has retained a certain
prominence even in the present day.
Although Vedic sacrifices are uncommon, sacrificial motifs have been incorporated into many contemporary rites.
Ceremonies often have a part in which
offerings (often of clarified butter) are
ladled into a sacrificial fire. Fire plays an
important role in many rituals, particularly that of arati, in which lamps are
waved before the image of a divinity as
an offering of light. Agni also serves as
the divine witness to the single action
widely believed to seal a marriage. This
is agnipradakshinam, in which the
bride and groom make seven revolutions around a lamp or fire. Even on the
most prosaic level, fire is still essential to
daily life since most Indians continue to
cook over an open flame—whether coal,
wood, dung, or bottled gas. This everyday utility, combined with his abiding
ritual presence, have assured Agni a
continuing presence in Hindu life.