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the sacrificial altar, the navel of the world (1. 164. 34, 35). The rites
of the sacrifice confirm and celebrate the tracks of these two gods
which traverse the cosmos and the inner world of man. The station
of Agni's descent in the cosmos is the sun in the sky (10. 88. 11, 12)
and his garb is the lightning (2. 35. 9) in antarik6a, the midspace. It
is Savitr, the Impeller, who drove the midspace between the earth
which he had steadied and the sky which he had fixed (10. 149. 1).
Roaring in his might, Brhaspati propped apart the limits of this world
(4. 50. 1). Born in the beyond, in the highest space of the great light,
he drove away the darkness that was in the beginning (4. 50. 4) and
liberated the cows, the radiant life-giving waters, the rays-the songs
-from the dark cave where they had been imprisoned (4. 50. 5).
Brhaspati, Lord of inner transport and its expression, the hymn, liber-
ates, like Agni, the light-to-be between heaven and earth, on the stage
of man's illumination.
The "Third" is in the midst of the two whose places he assigned
to them. He is the link between heaven and earth, mediator, mes-
senger, and creator of this our world. He gives it firmness, discrimina-
tion, and the power of expression.
The leading myth of the heroic feat of separating heaven and earth
is that of Indra. Indra is the creator of this universe; "by his might
and strength he spread out both the worlds, heaven and earth, and
he let shine the sun" (8. 3. 6). He who performed this masterwork is
asked to grant mastery (suvTryam)and the creative, magic word, the
Brahman (8. 3. 9). He is invoked by the Ayus, the living beings,
mortal men; he is invoked by the I~bhus, creative masters of their
craft who by their work have become gods; and he is invoked by the
Rudras (8. 3. 7). He is the creator of this manifest cosmos. Its three
worlds of heaven, earth, and midspace are the triple counterweight of
Indra's strength, though he is greater than all of them together
(1. 102. 8). For "he makes the non-existent at once and the existent"
(asac ca san muhur dcakrir;6.24.5). He makes them come about simul-
taneously by separating existence from non-existence. Before that, they
were conjoined in the highest heaven, the uttermost Empyrean (asac
ca sac ca parame vyoman; 10. 5. 7). Before that, neither was, neither
Asat nor Sat (ndsad dsfn no sad dsit; 10. 129. 1) in the indistinc-
tion of precosmic darkness and the void of the flood.3 In the on-
tological hierarchy of the existent and the non-existent, below the
3 The gods are "this side of creation" (10. 129. 6), that is, in the Sat, the exist-
ent, when they are viewed not as cosmogonic powers but as expressions and pro-
tectors of the three parts of the manifest world. The three classes of gods are the
Vasus, Rudras, and Adityas (2. 31. 1; 10. 66. 12; cf. 7. 10. 4; 7. 35. 6). Indra is
invoked with the Vasus, Rudra with the Rudras, Aditi with the Adityas (7. 10. 4).
144
all the ten directions, above and below, in the cardinal and intermediate
directions, and they are led by one protecting protagonist of each
sphere who exceeds them in rank, so that they are ten plus one in each
of the three spheres. But the number thirty-three is also an emphatic
form of the number three. This three-tiered world picture, however,
is but a prelude that indicates the theme and adumbrates the possi-
bilities of its transposition to further and higher levels.
are below, one is visible."6 The three times two worlds of heaven and
earth are upheld and about to be propped apart by the non-proceeding
Goat One-Foot. It does not proceed into creation, while each world
is still a monad. The Aja stands firm as the axis of the pattern which
creation will have. It is a figure extending from the Uncreate which lies
beyond the third heaven, a flowing darkness of the Void (10. 129. 3).
The limit between the highest heaven of light and the restless waters
of the beyond is the point instant of creation, where "the One inheres
in the navel of the Uncreate" (10. 82. 6) or where the spark is lighted
in the creative heat (tapas) of That One in the darkness beyond and
before light. The source in the beyond, in the darkness of the limitless
flood, where That One is (10. 129), or the Golden Germ shoots up,
the Child of Fire, and Agni, the Fire, Son of the Waters, Apam
Napat, begets himself as his own son (tananapdt), is near to the source
of honey, the sweet secret, in the highest heaven. These two sources
are contiguous in their identity, on the threshold of creation; nothing
but the point instant of the creative act divides them. At the dawn
of creation, in the first age of the gods, in the highest heaven, the
Godhead reveals itself and proceeds into creation (carati; 3. 38. 4). Its
name is Tvatr-Savitr-Visvarupa, the Former, Impeller, All-form-to-
be (3. 55. 19; 10. 10. 5).
The scene plays at the moment of creation. Its light illumines the
darkness of the restless, indefatigable waters of the flood; their waves
now are waves of light in the third and highest heaven (parame
vyoman; 10. 5. 7). It is there that Agni is the First-Born of the world
order (rta), in the earliest aeon (purva dyuni), the age of the bull-cow
(10. 5. 7), of bisexual, monadic wholeness which is the mode of Agni
and of Visvaripa.
Hymn 3.56 sings of the cosmogonic stages in the triple structure
of creation. The One-who is Aja Ekapad-carries six burdens without
proceeding. Three earths are below, one is visible (3. 56. 2). These six
burdens are the three mothers and three fathers carried by the one
standing straight (1. 164. 10). Following the image of the original pair
of Heaven and Earth in the shape of two bowls (mah ... camvd
6A
hymn to Varuna (7.87) celebrates his creative operation. His breath roars
as wind into the space between the two worlds of heaven and earth (7. 87. 2).
Three heavens rest in him and three earths below, a group of six (7. 87. 5), the
six burdens of the non-proceeding One (3. 56. 2). It is at this vision that the singer
is given by Varuna the revelation of the thrice seven names of the cow, that is,
of the song itself: it holds the secret of creation.
The image of the non-proceeding One-Foot demarcates the position of this
Uncreate one. It is on the verge from and links ante principium to in principio.
The mythical figures ante principium are footless (apdd; 1. 32. 7; 4. 1. 11; see A. K.
Coomaraswamy, "Angel and Titan," JAOS, LV, 401). They are serpents, ophidian
powers.
150
Heaven
Earth
Heaven
- Midspace --
153
JATAVEDAS
asat
FIG. 1
is in the triple world of Indra. Indra and Agni are twin brothers
(6. 59. 2). They have the same father; he is Tvastr, Agni's father
(1. 95. 2). Agni is the elder of the twins. He dwelt in the Asura, the
Godhead, before Indra bade him to leave that ancient rule and join
him and the other gods (10. 124. 1-6). The prefigurement of the triple
structure of creation is carried by the One as Aja, the Uncreate or the
Goat. This is Aja Ekapad whose one foot is the vertical axis of the
cosmos-to-be. Unlike Agni, Aja does not proceed into creation. He
carries the three monads of the world-to-be.
These three times two which the non-proceeding One carries are his
six burdens. They are strung on his traversing rod. He is the One; in
155
the One traverses and carries the diversified creation in its triple
structure. Viewed from here below he is fully apprehended on each
level. The vertical, descending, and ascending perspectives show the
leading light in the highest heaven as one in its comprehensive gran-
deur and as three in its activity in the three worlds. The special ac-
tivity in each world manifests under a special name. It is Surya, the
Sun in the sky, Vata, the Gale-with the lightning-in the midspace,
and Agni, the Fire on earth. In each stratum the respective divinity
protects from the dangers, from the destructive possibilities particular
on that level (cf. 10. 158. 1). There are also three Nirrtis (10. 114. 2),
three awful goddesses or principles of disintegration, which seize the
cosmos and the faculties in man that are exercised on each of the three
levels. Against and in spite of them, there is the loyal triple progeny
(7. 33. 7) with their leading light. Theirs are the "three voices" (tisro
vdcah;7. 101. 1).10They are led by Agni, the illumination, who is the
charioteer of the chariot, which is the Sacrifice. The three voices express
the insight into cosmic and sacrificial law (rtasya dh7tim)and the wis-
dom of the sacred, magic word (brahma.o man.sdm; 9. 97. 34). They
are the voices of the priests, of the cows, and of Soma (9. 33. 4). The
cows are the hymns (9. 50. 2). The three voices are the audible voice
of the inspired priest, the form in which this voice is heard as song or
poem and the inner voice of Soma, the source of inspiration. The total
of these voices constitutes the three bodies (tanu) of Light (sukra;
10. 107. 6). They are the seed (sukra) of the three inseminating bulls.
At the beginning of things, by forces antagonistic to creation, the
cows were withheld by Visvariipa, the son, and primordial darkness
was made to stay on. The Panis, moreover, the misers and fiends, held
imprisoned in a cavern the dawn, the sun, and the song. The song
or hymn is a cow. From the dark waters of the cave, Brhaspati releases
10Tisra prajd dryd jyotiragrdh are generally taken to be three Aryan creatures
or three Aryan generations. Who are these Aryan exponents and their leading
light? Geldner doubts whether they are the three voices (op. cit., II, 212). Arya
is derived from ari, whose meaning ranges from "true" to "inimical," from ar or
r, to set into motion. (See 7. 33. 7.)
The three voices with their leading light (tisra vdcah jyotiragrdh; 7. 101. 1) are
the three voices specified in 9. 33. 4 and 9. 97. 34. They are those of the priest,
of the "cows" and of the Soma-stream preceded by illumination, that is, led by
Agni, the "light," who is their charioteer. They are also called the three Vidathani
or domains of knowledge of which Sfrya is cognizant (6. 51. 2). There are many
gods with the eye of Sirya and the tongue of Agni who govern the three Vidathani
with insight (7. 66. 10). On the terrestrial plane, the three Vidathani are the three
daily sacrifices (cf. 3. 56. 5) at sunrise, midday, and sunset (5. 76. 3; 8. 1. 29;
10. 151. 5).
In the cosmos, three Usases, three dawns of the three worlds (3. 17. 3; 8. 41. 3;
7. 33. 7), correspond to the three voices. In the beginning, song and the dawn
are liberated by Brhaspati (10. 67. 5).
158
160
in new wombs and fresh shoots (cf. 8.43. 7, 9). In his ageless knowledge
he sings of himself: "I am Agni, by birth Jatavedas-ageless, glowing
Fire; sacrifice I am" (3. 26. 7). As sacrifice he flames up on "the navel
of the earth," the sacrificial altar, leaving below him what has been
burned up, a darkness reminiscent of that at the bottom of the "great
space," the lap of darkness (4. 1. 11), where he was born first, in the
flood. The sacrificial Fire on earth has its archetype before creation,
when Agni, the seed of life, glowed in the restless waters, full of
potentiality in the darkness of the flood. There Agni has his "highest
name" which is secret (ndma paramam guha), known only to the seers
and poets-as is the source (utsa) whence he came (10. 45. 2). The
"dear (cdru) name" of Agni at the source (purisya; cf. 3. 22. 4), his
person, grows in secret (ndmdpicyam; 2. 35. 11) as son of the waters
(apdm napat). He shines in the water (of the flood) without kindling
(10. 30. 4). This son of the waters born in the beginning, is "ancient,"
precedes all ages, is the origin of any fire that ever was to burn on
earth. From even existing, the child of the waters is the "hoary king"
(pratna rajan; 10. 4. 1) of all the fires that burn on earth. Each one
of them, as it is kindled by man is the youngest (yavi.tha; 10. 4. 2;
3. 9. 6). Agni, the Fire, the ever ancient, and ever youngest, as
knower of beings (Jatavedas) is a triple radiance (cf. 3. 26. 7), out of
chaos, in the cosmos, with its light worlds on high and this earth
below. These are his three domains. The wavy dark flood of chaos
before and beyond creation; the flowing light of heaven; and this
earth, with its plants and trees and stones even whence the spark
springs forth, their child (garbha; 1. 70. 4; 2. 1. 1) and life (ayu;
10. 20. 7), this earth where the sacrificer fathers Agni on the altar of
the sacrifice (1, 27. 2; 2. 1. 9; 2. 13. 4; 5. 3. 9, 10).21Here, too, on earth,
Agni, who is "One Fire only that is kindled manifold" (1027. 2), is
born as Yama, the god who chose to become mortal (10. 13. 4), the
lover of maidens, the husband of women. As Yama he causes the
coming generations (1. 66. 8), transmits the spark of life to men in
whom the flame of desire will lead to life and death. This is how
Jatavedas, the knower of generation, is known to living beings. He
is known to them in the flame of the sacrifice whence he ascends to
heaven. His birth here below on the sacrificial altar is prefigured by
21 The
ground here on earth, the altar, is the "ground of the buffalo" (1. 95. 9;
1. 141. 3). Here Agni is freed from the shape of the buffalo, his shape in the Un-
create, by the SQri on whose behalf the sacrifice is performed by Matari?van, the
priest who kindles the fire. It is here, on the ground of this space (budhne rajasah)
that the gods appointed Agni as ordainer of heaven and earth (2. 2. 3), an eternal
avatarana and sarvajnana" A. K. Coomaraswamy, Recollection, Indian and Pla-
tonic, JAOS, Supplement 3 (1944), p. 33.
164
Son of the Waters.24He is asked to "give the sweet water" (10. 30. 4),
the drink of immortality, the drink of life. This son and germ of the
waters (apam garbha; 3. 1. 12), in the lap of the waters (10. 45. 3;
apdm upasthe), "has grown, as it were, secretly in his home, in the
midst of the sea (urva) that has no yonder shore" (3. 1. 14). The lap
of the waters is the lap of .Rta,cosmic order and the norm of existence.
The lap of Rta is a secret place, in the ground of the limitless flood.
This secret place is also known as the nest of the bull (rtasya yond
vrsabhasya n7de; 4. 1. 12; cf. 4. 1. 11). It is the place where life is
hatched and sprouts, the place of mystery or creation. As germ of the
waters (apdm garbha), he who is their son, Apam Napat, enters the
plants (7. 9. 3). The plants are known to have come into existence
three ages before the gods (10. 97. 1). Their sap ascends near to the
waters of the flood; they hold the vital spark which will be coaxed
from the dry wood and flame up as fire on earth. He who is the "germ
of the waters, germ of the trees, germ of what stands and moves
(1. 70. 3) is Apam Napat, son of the waters," who fecundates the
waters (7. 35. 13) who surround him, the seven voices or melodies
(sapta vdZaih; 3. 1. 6).25 The fecund streams, the voices or melodies are
sisters, seven in number (3. 1. 6; 1. 164. 24). The seven flowing currents
in transcendency are the shape of the seven voices of the I.sis, the
seers, (9. 103. 3), their melodies flow in their meters. They carry the
sevenfold sacred concentration (dhzti) of the seven officiating priests
of the sacrifice.2 As their expression, they are the seven concentrations
(dhFtayah;9. 8. 4; 9. 15. 8). They are the seven sisters of the Hotr,
the main priest, the sacrificer (9. 10. 7). The seven sisters sing (asvaran
sapta jdmayah; 9. 66. 8), their harmony is that of the musical scale
24 Apam
Napat, from the Nirukta of the fifth century B.C. to recent Western
interpretation(A. A. Macdonell, VedicMythology,p. 40), is classifiedas an "atmos-
pheric god" and "appearsto representthe lightning form of Agni," or he is con-
sideredan ancient water god (L. Renou, L'lnde classique[Paris, 1947],I, 326). The
triple abode of fire is seen in the flame on the (sacrificial)hearth, the lightning,
and the sun. As shown, Agni appears clothed in lightning. Lightning is to him as
a raiment of manifestation;it is not his third station in creation. The three stations
of Agni are not contained within this physical world. Even A. Bergaigne (La
Religionvedique,II [Paris, 1882], 17), speaks of the celestial ocean and the clouds
by which Apam Napat is enveloped, for he is lightning itself (p. 19). Although
Bergaigne distinguishes the station of Apam Napat as the supreme station as
opposed to his birth in heaven and that on the altar, the supreme station neces-
sarily is above heaven and earth and not between them. It is before and above the
dawn of this world, at the source, in the waters of the flood, which precede the
waters in creation whether in heaven, in the air, or in the ocean.
25 The
identity is establishedof the waters (rivers,streams,or currents) (3. 1. 11;
2. 35. 4, 5) with the seven restless streams (3. 1. 4) and the seven voices (vanZh;
3. 1. 6).
26 The seven
priests are the Hotr, Potr, Nestr, Agnidh, Prasastr,Adhvaryu,and
Brahman (cf. Satapatha Brahmana, 6. 3. 7. 11).
166
10. Goldenin his beauty, of fiery appearanceis the Son of the Watersalso
when he has taken his stand here below,from the goldenlap.
11. This, his countenanceas also the dear name of the "Sonof the Waters"
grow in secret; him the maidenshere inflame. Gold-coloredghee is his
food.33
13. As bull he generatedin them the embryo.As child he sucks them; they
lick him. The Son of the Waters,of unfadingcolor, acts here as if with
another'sbody.
14. Havinghis station in this most remoterealm,shiningunobscuredforever,
in raimentsself-assumed,the restlesswatersflowaroundthe Son, offering
him their creamas nourishment.34
The Son of the Waters, of songs, melodies, and contemplations,
mounts their lap and generates the germ and embryo in them. He
generates himself, brings about his own nativity in the self-sufficiency
of autonomous creation, the spark of illumination in a substance
cognate with him (cf. 3. 1. 10-12). It sustains him while the "maidens"
caress him who is their lover and son, in the waters of the flood whose
currents they are. He is clad in their life force (dyus; 3. 1. 5). In the
miraculous moment of his self-begetting he spreads his wings which
had been folded and hidden (3. 1. 5, 7; 4. 1. 11). When Agni is born,
the living spirit (asu) of all the gods condenses into being (sam avartat;
10. 121. 7). Agni, the germ of the waters (apam garbha)-and son of
himself-is a fiery golden germ (hira.nyagarbha;10. 121. 7). Born in
white heat and fiery radiance, he assumes all colors (visvaripa). He
has entered the stage of Visvariipa, in the highest heaven, one degree
nearer to created beings-to-be around whom, in the sun, he will draw
his circles. As creator and generator he is the Bull, the Father whose
germ he carries (3. 1. 10). Being Visvarupa in whom all forms are,
before discrimination and dichotomy, he is bull and cow, the "First,
born of RIta,"in the first age (10. 5. 7). "Glorious, sapient (pitumat)35
Agni sleeps with the bringers of nurture as their lawful spouse. Second,
he is in the seven gracious ones, his mothers. Third, the young women
generated him for his, the bull's, milking" (1. 141. 2). Agni, the Bull,
33 In verses 10 and
11, the equivalence of the flaming countenanceof the sacri-
ficial fire and of Agni's secret name and nature as Son of the Waters is expressed
by the "maidens"who inflamehim. They are not the waters. They are the fingers
of the sacrificingpriest.
34 "In the most remote realm"
(pade parame)means "in transcendency."The
self-assumedraimentsare the flashesof lightning (2. 35. 9) in which Agni manifests,
at the moment of impregnation.To this day the couplingpairs, or Mithun sculp-
tures, on the walls of temples in Orissa are believed to ward off lightning. This
apotropaiceffect would be due to the presenceof the act itself, akin as it is to the
stroke of lightning. The lightning is thus incorporatedin the walls of the temple
and leaves no room for their being struck from out of the sky.
36As pitumatmeans provided with nourishmentor sap, it has here been trans-
lated as "sapient."
168
V. VAISVANARA
As soon as Apam Napat, the Light in cosmic darkness, stretched out
"his shining limbs in the dark space (rajas), clarifying his will through
the filters of the seers and robing himself in flame and the vitality
of the waters, he unfolded his exalted, perfect splendor" (3. 1. 5). His
limbs had been folded up and hidden (4. 1. 11) in his embryonic stage,
but now "his folded [limbs] are extended, the many-hued ones
(visvarupa).... The parents of this wondrous one are the great pair"
([Heaven and Earth]; 3. 1. 7)40 for now Agni is born in creation. As
soon as born, he overcame darkness (6. 9. 1) by his light. When the
gods "generated" Agni in heaven, they [then] made him divide three-
fold (10. 88. 10-13).41 Now Agni guards the peak of the earth,42the
track of the bird, the path of the sun and the udder of nurture, full of
ghee (3. 5. 5-6). These are the three stations (6. 8. 7) of Agni manifest-
39 Rain comes from the sun accordingto Khila 3. 9. 3 (the A?vinsmade the sun
shed water from the sky); Manu 3. 76 "adityaj jdyate vrstih"; Mahabharata,
12. 264. 11. The sun as rain-maker is the bird Sarasvat, "full of water." The
vapors rise toward the sun whence they are precipitatedback to this earth. Saras-
vat is the visible Son of the Waters; as their child he is full of their sap. When
the hidden Son of the Waters unfolds his wings he becomes visible as the sun, the
firebird.
40
Visvarupa,whether meaning "All-Form,"the shape of every thing to be, or
"many-hued,"designates the threshold and entry into creation.
e Here Yaska, Nirukta (7. 28) correctly sees the triple division of Agni Vai?-
vanara on earth, in the air, and in heaven.
42 Ripo agram, cf. rupo
agram (4. 5. 8). Rup designates a cow. The cow is the
Earth. The peak of the cow is the head of the cow or the altar where Trita found
Agni.
171
ing.43In heaven, Agni is the guardian of Soma (10. 45. 12), the elixir of
life. "Born in the highest heaven, Agni watches over the divine com-
mitments (vrata), the guardian of commitments" (vratapd;6.8. 2). The
divine commitments will be regulated by the flight of the bird, the sun,
whose track Agni guards. The highest heaven is Agni's station as
guardian of Soma (10, 45. 12) and of the divine vows. As he is the
guardian in heaven, so he is the guardian on earth. There, at its peak,
which is also the head of the cow, or "in the navel of the world," he
guards the seven-headed one, that is, the sacrifice (3. 5. 5). In mid-air
he guards the udder of nurture, full of ghee, the rain-charged cloud.
As triple guardian, Agni watches over the triad of his manifestations
as sun, lightning, and fire. This is his lower ternary, his triple function
in manifestation. It is an unfolding of his triple nature which man
sees with his eyes here on earth. In this lesser triad44Vaisvanara shines
forth, himself the middle in Agni's Great Triad, which is Apam Napat
at the source, the causal Fire; Vaisvanara in heaven, the archetypal
Fire, and Jatavedas on earth (Fig. 1, p. 155).
Vaisvanara is the guardian of the sun, of the lightning in the cloud,
and of the sacrificial fire. Matarisvan brought him from heaven to
earth (6. 8. 4).45 Vaisv&nara, who shines for each and every living
being, is the guardian not only of the visible light and fire. He is the
"guardian of immortality, who, moving here below, yet sees beyond
any other" (6. 9. 3). God Vaisvanara "has taken to himself the treas-
ures of the deep (budhnydvasani) from the ocean here below and from
the ocean beyond. Agni has taken them, from heaven and earth"
(7. 6. 7). That was at the beginning of creation. Gathering within
himself the treasures, the power of illumination, at the source of crea-
tion, and all that in creation is of the nature of light and flame, he
is the immortal Light among mortals and he is for seeing (6. 9. 4).
"He is the Light sent here below abidingly for beholding, Mind, the
fleetest of the flying" (6. 9. 5). The light of Vaisvanara is seen here
in this world and it is the inner light of the seers. It passes through
their filters, the "three filters of the song," in the heart, on the road
of meditation (mati), on the road of illumination (3. 26. 8). Fire says
43 The three stations are, however, also the three altars, the Garhapatyain the
West, the householder'sfire symbolizing the earth, the Ahavaniya in the East,
where the gods are invoked, symbolizingheaven, and the Daksinagni, the southern
altar where the Fathers are invoked.
44The three Agnis of the lower triad are called Agni Suci, Agni Vanaspati, and
Agni Pavamana in heaven, midspace, and on earth (Brhad Devata 1. 66).
45The same verse (6. 8. 4) sings of the waters in whose lap the "buffaloes"
seized Agni. This is a recounting of the total hierarchy of the Fire and does not
refer to the ocean of air.
172
soon as born, finds the udder of the Father (3. 1. 9). High rays accom-
pany Agni, bright like lightning (cf. 3. 1. 14). Agni is like lightning,
he is robed in lightning (2. 35. 9, 14), he manifests in the light of the
storm in mid-air. "Golden-haired when space cleaves open, a rushing
serpent (ahi), roaring like a gale, sparkling light" (Sucibhrdjd;1. 79. 1),46
the bull, the Pr~ni-cow, has milked his bright udder (4. 3. 10; 6. 66. 1;
cf. 1. 79. 2). Pr~ni means the sun.47 Agni, who is bull and cow, acts
bisexually and has himself for his object complete in his nature and
in his operation; he milks himself just as he begets himself.
Sun, lightning, and the fire on hearth and altar are the trust which
he guards and the forms in which Agni manifests as Vaisvanara from
heaven. Sun, lightning, and fire are the three epiphanies of Agni Vais-
vanara. As fire, "Agni is the head of the earth at night. Of him is born,
in the morning, the rising sun" (10. 88. 6). Vaisvanara is the head of
heaven, the navel of the earth; like a pillar (sthauZa)he is the support
of men and his greatness reaches beyond heaven (1. 59. 1, 2, 5). Agni
manifest coincides with Aja Ekapad, the Goat One-Foot, the non-
proceeding, directing ray of creation. Agni raises his head on earth and
he is the head of heaven; on earth he is Jatavedas, the Knower of all
beings-their consciousness. In heaven he is Vaisvanara. He shines for
and illumines all men. Thus he is invoked as Javatedas Vaisvanara
(1. 59. 5; 7. 5. 8). He is Jatavedas by birth here on earth, the sacrificial
fire, the sacrifice (cf. 3. 26. 7). Agni VaiSvanara has entered all the
plants (1 .98. 2). Born in the highest heaven (parame vyoman), he has
generated the beings, the Knower of beings, Jatavedas (7. 5. 7).
He places his germ (garbha)in the beings here on earth (cf. 3. 2. 10),
he propagates himself in manifold wombs (3. 2. 11). He implants the
Germ of Fire, the spark of life, in all living beings. He fills both the
worlds, he filled the great sun (3. 2. 7.)48 This is his work when he
moves down from heaven, where the gods generated him (3. 2. 3), to
earth, where the mortals have generated the immortal Fire (3. 29. 13).
Thence, he ascends to heaven. Always on the move, intensely active,
the wondrous one goes upward and downward (3. 2. 10), the messenger
between both the worlds, appointed as sacrificer (hotr), as priest
(purohita) of man (3. 3. 2). This office, essential to man, is irksome
to the god. Agni flees and is found. He carries over into creation the
46 The t1g Veda has no specific name for the middle of the lower ternary of
Agni (cf. n. 38).
47Yaska, Nirukta, 2.14; whereas Grassmann,op. cit., gives the meaning "mot-
tled, scintillating" and assigns this quality to the cloud.
48 This refers to
Agni manifestingand not to the inner nature of Agni by which
he renews or engendershimself. It is the gods who placed Agni in the sky, the sun
(10. 88. 11), for they are the celestial intelligence operatingin the cosmos.
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