Agnimeele Purohitam - Part 2

Agnimeele Purohitam - Part 2

So, Agni means, there are several meanings:

अग्नि means अग्रणीः
One who leads from the front. He is the leader of Devas; he is the first among Devas.

अग्निर्देवानां सेनानीः
He is the commander of the Devas. Indra is the king of Devas. Agni is their commander.

अग्निर्वै देवानामवमः (ऐ.ब्रा.१.१)
अवमः means protector. He, being the commander, is also their protector. We pray to Devas for protection, and Agni protects them.

Then why do not we pray to Agni directly? If he protects Devas, then he is bigger than them. So, forget all other Devas and go to Agni. These are the mistakes we make. Our impatient interpreters make.

We like to make conclusions. We do not want too much stuff. We want to write conclusions, put the pen down and say, look, I have found out. It is not so simple.

You catch a viral fever; you do not go to the health minister for treatment. You have to go to a doctor. Everything has its place. Everybody has his place.

अग्निर्मुखं प्रथमो देवतानाम् (ऐ.ब्रा.१.४)
He is the mouth of the Devas. Whatever you want to offer to Devas, you have to offer to Agni first. You have to offer in the mouth of Agni first. You cannot offer directly, nor can they receive directly. Everything has to go through Agni, which he receives on behalf of them first.

Another meaning of अग्रणीः:
अग्निरग्रे प्रथमो देवतानाम् (तै.ब्रा.२.४.३.३)
स वा एषोऽग्रे देवतानामजायत तस्मादग्निर्नाम (वाजसनेयी संहिता)
Agni was the first one to be born among Devas. In that sense, he is अग्रणीः.

Be clear about words used. अग्रे अजयत – First to be born. There could be divinities who pre-existed Agni. He was the first one to be born.

अग्रं प्रणीयते इत्यग्निः
There are Agnihotris, dedicated to this Upasana Marga of Veda, like those we have at Nidagod, where वेदधारा plays a humble role of support, who are dedicated to the upkeep of these systems. They maintain Agni unextinguished and go on performing various yajnas and ishtis in a time-bound manner.

Agni is maintained in the Yaga Shala. Normally, there are three Homa Kundas in this Yaga Shala: Garhapatya, Ahavaniya, and Dakshinagni. Normally, Agni is in the Garhapatya Kunda, which is in the west at the bottom in the Yaga Shala. When the yajna is to be performed, Agni is taken from Garhapatya and placed in the Ahavaniya Kunda, which is in the front, east. Since he is taken in this manner and placed in the front, अग्रं प्रणीयते इत्यग्निः, he is called Agni. This is the second etymology.

See what all a single term conveys.

अङ्गं नयतीत्यग्निः
In the Yaga Shala, when he is prayed to, he prompts himself for cooking of the offerings or burning of the firewood, etc. Hence, he is called Agni. This is the third etymology.

न क्नोपयति – न स्नेहयति – रूक्षयति काष्ठादिकं इत्यग्निः
He is not kind to firewood, etc. He burns them. Hence, he is called Agni.

अग्निः comprises of अकारः + गकारः + निः
अकारः comes from अयन, which is derived from इण् गतौ, indicating that he goes to the place of yajna when invoked.

गकारः is taken either from:

• अनक्ति, which is derived from अञ्जूव्यक्तिम्रक्षणकान्तिगतिषु, meaning that he envelops. His flames envelope whatever is offered to him. That is the nature of Agni.
• Or from the गकार in the term दग्धः, derived from दह भस्मीकरणे, because he turns into ashes whatever is offered to him.

निः is taken from नयति, which is derived from नीञ् प्रापणे, meaning he prompts his body/himself to cook the offerings and to burn firewood, etc.

See, so much is behind every single word in the Vedas. This is not all. We can speak for another month on just the meaning of this word – Agni.

Anyway, that is not our purpose here. So, this is the basic idea of Agni.

अ॒ग्निम् । ई॒ळे॒
'ईड स्तुतौ'
It is actually 'agnim eede' – I am praising Agni. 'Eede' becomes 'eele' in Rigveda. It is a tradition in Rigveda, this replacement of 'da' with 'la.'

अज्मध्यस्थडकारस्य ळकारं बह्वृचा जगुः
कीदृशमग्निम् – यज्ञस्य पुरोहितम्
Just as a priest for the king performs various rituals for attaining his desires, Agni performs Homa, which is part of the yajna. Without Agni, there cannot be Homa.

Do not think yajna means Homa. Homa is part of yajna, but yajna is not just Homa; there are many other rituals in yajna. Agni’s role is in Homa, which is part of yajna. It is a major role, of course.

Since he is instrumental in the performance of the yajna, he is called the priest of the yajna – Purohita of the yajna.

If you view yajna as an entity of its own, like the king, then Agni is the Purohita of yajna. Agni performs the act called Homa on behalf of yajna. Hence, he is the Purohita of yajna.

And who is Purohita?
पुरो दृष्टादृष्टफलेषु कर्म्मसु धीयते आरोप्यते यः
He performs karma, which obtains various results, seen and unseen. This is what your Purohita also does for you. Hence, he is the Purohita.

And Agni is the Purohita of the yajna.

अ॒ग्निम् । ई॒ळे॒ । पु॒रःऽहि॑तम् । य॒ज्ञस्य॑ । दे॒वम्

देवं दानादिगुणयुक्तम्
Agni gives. He is the giver because he is the carrier and provider of the offerings to Devas. He is also the giver of the results of the yajna to the yajamana. Deva also denotes brilliance and presence in heaven. He is, by nature, brilliant. Even though he is present on earth in the Yaga Shala, eventually, he carries offerings and reaches heaven, where he hands them over to Devas.

होतारं ऋत्विजम्
Devas' Hota in yajnas is Agni. In human yajnas, the Rigvedic priest chants mantras, while the Yajurvedic priest makes offerings to Agni. In Devas' yajnas, Agni is their Hota.

रत्नधातमम्
रत्न is a synonym for wealth. रत्नधा is a provider of wealth, in the form of blessings as a result of yajna. तमम् in the superlative degree indicates Agni is the foremost among such Devas who bless.

I am praising Agni, who is the Purohita of yajna, who is Deva, who is the Hota in the yajnas conducted by Devas, and is the foremost among providers of wealth, the wealth of results of the yajna.

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So, Agni means there are several meanings: अग्नि means अग्रणीः One who leads from the front. He is the leader of the devas; he is the first among the devas. अग्निर्देवानां सेनानीः He is the commander of the devas. Indra is the king of the devas, and Agni is their commander. In this sense, अग्निर्वै देवानामवमः (ऐ.ब्रा.१.१) - अवमः means protector. He, being the commander, is also their protector. We pray to the devas for protectio....