Agni Dev - The Hindu God of Fire

1. Agni Dev - The Hindu God of Fire Visit Our Website www.Eoxticindiaart.com

2. Summary 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.

3. The Family of Agni Dev • Agni, son of sages, was born to mediate between humans & gods. • He desired the wives of the Saptarishi, but knew it was wrong. • Swaha, in love with Agni, cleverly shapeshifted into the Saptarishi wives. • Agni saw through the ruse (except for Arundhati) and admired Swaha's wit. • They married, and offerings to Agni now end with "Swaha" for his wife.

4. How Agni Dev Became the Eater of All Things? • Agni, the mediator god, witnessed a demon threaten Puloma (sage Bhrigu's wife) in his absence. • Agni, unaware of their unconventional marriage, declared it invalid, emboldening the demon. • Bhrigu cursed Agni to consume both pure & impure offerings for revealing the truth. • Despite the curse, Agni's core remained sacred according to Brahma. • In another story, Agni cradled Lord Shiva's fiery seed (Karttikeya) but was cursed by Parvati to accept all offerings (pure & impure)

5. Agni Dev and King Shibi • 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.

6. Lord Shiva and Agni Dev • Cosmic Pillar : In Shiva Purana, Shiva appears as a never-ending pillar of fire (Lingam) to prove his supremacy over Brahma & Vishnu. • Krodhagni : Fire of wrath from Shiva's third eye destroys negativity (e.g., burning Kamadeva). • Nataraja : Agni, as a flaming circle, surrounds Shiva in his dancing form (Nataraja), symbolizing purification and the cycle of life. • Tapas : Fire also represents the sacred heat (Tapas) generated by Shiva's eternal yoga.

7. Agni Dev in Khandavaprastha or KhandavaVana • 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.

8. Agni Purana - One of the 18major Puranas • One of the 18major 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.

9. Many Fires - 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:- Agnichayana ritual: Agnichayana, a Vedic ritual ("choosing the fire"), builds the sacred altar for Havana offerings. Agnihotra: Agnihotra, a Vedic Yajna, is a daily ritual offered twice a day by Dvijas (upper castes) with their wives using ghee and milk. Agniprakara: In Hinduism, Agniprakara, meaning "wall of fire", is a protective shield of fire (real or symbolic) created during rituals to ward off impurities

10. Agni in Ayurveda • 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”. • Agnisarais 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.

11. 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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