( RV 5.26.5)
...āgne ... devairā satsi barhişhi
O Flame, sit with the gods on the seat of
the soul's fullness.
Whether man is aware of it or not, his life is a constant flow to
the Gods of universe, to the divinities above him. His energies of
body, life and mind stream towards these greater powers and in
turn receive nourishment and strength from them. When man is awake
to this phenomenon in himself and participates consciously in this
interchange, it becomes a sacrifice, a self-giving. And this
sacrifice is the appointed means for the growth of man into
godhead, for the manifestation of God in humanity.
In this sacred session, the heart-seat of the soul, is the altar,
vedi, the being of man is the sacrificer, yajamana,
all movements of life are the oblations, ahuti, and the
mounting flame of aspiration for the Divine is the Fire,
Agni,
in which all is cast for transmutation and
acceptance by the supreme Godhead.
God Agni, the Deity who presides over the
material fire is invoked as the summoner of the Gods, to come with
them and take seat on the altar of the plenitude of the powers of
the consecrated soul.
(RV 1.170.4)
aram kŗņvantu vedim sam agnim indhatām puraĥ, tatra amŗtasya chetanam
....
Let them make ready the altar,
Let them set Agni in blaze in front; It is there, the awaking of
the consciousness to Immortality.
Once the inner altar is made
ready by cleansing it of the impurities of thought, emotion,
egoism and inertia, Agni, the Divine Force in the individual, is
to be installed on it as the leader of the journey of sacrifice.
It is this flaming Force that initially receives into its mouth
the mixed offerings of the seeker, burns up their dross, purifies
them and makes them over to the Gods of whom it is the summoner.
Agni is the Divine Priest who initiates and conducts the sacrifice
of the human seeker to the supreme Godhead, the great rite of
interchange in which mortal man awakes to his true nature of
immortality. His consciousness frees itself from its lower
involvement and rises into the realm of the unbound sprit. The
mortal ascends to the Immortal, the Immortal descends into the
mortal. |
