(RV 1.1.5)
agnir hotā kavikratuĥ satya chitra shravas tamaĥ, devo
devebhir ā gamat.
Agni, the summoner, the Seer-Will, True and
most full of richly varied listenings,
may
he come, a God with the Gods.
Agni is the flame of aspiration in man, a mounting impulsion to
rise out of his limited humanity and grow into unfettered
divinity. Leading all the faculties of man, he calls the higher
Powers to come and aid. He is the undeflectable seeing Will of
Truth which knows its way. Power of Truth that he is, all that he
does and effects is true. He carries the rich inspirations of
Truth from beyond and communicates them to him in whom he is set
awake. He is the Immortal in mortals, God in the human; he brings
other gods too to the sessions of self-offering and new-birth of
man.
Agni - Durga
(RV 1.99.1)
jātavedase sunavāma somam, arātīyato
ni dahāti vedaĥ,
sa naĥ parşhad ati durgāņi vishwā nāveva sindhum duritāty-agniĥ
We press Soma to the knower of all Birth, to him who
consumes the knowledge of the enemy;
Let Agni carry us across all obstructions like a boat over the
river.
Agni is the seer, knower of all. It lies in his power to render us
all help as a result of his foreknowledge. Knowledge is a most
priceless possession of man and without it he is rudderless in the
sea of life. And Agni deprives the enemy of this indispensable
possession. To him, says the rishi, let us offer our choicest
gift, the very sap of life, the distilled juice of Ananda, the
Soma, so that pleased, he would transport us over all the eddies
and whirls, tides and waves of obstruction and misfortune that
beset life. "Like a boat across the waters", is a favourite image
of the ancients. It is repeated in the Upanishads, it also finds
mention in the Tantric texts.
Agni as Mitra
(RV 1.77.3)
sa hi kratuĥ sa maryaĥ sa sadhur mitro na bhūd-adbhutasya rathīĥ,
For he is the Will, he is the strength, he is the achiever, even
as Mitra he becomes the charioteer
of the Supreme.
Agni is the Divine Will at work in the cosmos as also in the
individual for onward progress; his is the strength that
withstands all strains and shocks of opposition and battle from
the adversaries. It is Agni who destroys the negative elements,
builds up the positive and shapes life in the growing image of the
divine perfection that is the goal. Once the purification is
effected and the foundation of higher life firmly laid, Agni
reveals himself to be the Godhead of Love and Harmony who ushers
in the Divine Ruler for His reign of Truth, Power and Bliss.
One must needs have an unshakable will for progress, an unyielding
strength to withstand opposition and persist, an untiring capacity
to strive for perfection and an opening to the workings of
universal Harmony and Love before one can embody the supreme
Consciousness.
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