Agni Gayatri

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Agni: The holy fire

Sri Agni is the adhi devata of the Sun and is the most revered deity of the agnihotri's and brahmins of the Vedic period. He symbolizes life and the living as he is both the heat and light from the fire. In essence he is understood as ENERGY the cause of all animation in this creation.

He

has two wives named 'Svaha' and 'Svadha' who carry the offerings made

by the devotees into the holy fire (Agni devata) to the Gods and manes

respectively. The three lokas are worshipped with the bija mantras " OM

bhu, Bhuva, Svah" respectively. Bhu refers to this terrestrial plane or

the earth (Agni is the Lord of the Bhu loka); Bhuva refers to the solar

system (Surya is the Lord of the Bhuva loka) and Svah refers to the

universe beyond (Indra is the Lord of the heavens). Thus, in this

earthly plane it is necessary to worship agni for a good life and

energy.

Thus the offerings to the gods must end with the word Svaha whereas those to the manes ends with the word Svadha. All mantra ending with the word "svaahaa" are carried to the deities (devata) of the mantra through the energy of Agni while the word "svadhaa" when ending a mantra carries the prayer to the manes (and the ancestors).

Typical mantra -

devebhyo svaahaa

pitRibhyo svadhaa

Agni mantraTraditional Bija akshara and mantra

 

Other bija and mantra (Mantra mahodadhi)

 

Agni mantraOther bija and mantra (Mantra mahodadhi)

 

 

 

This is the Vahni (fire) navakshari mantra and is used to light the lamp. Others combine the two bija 'huM' and 'raM' into one bija 'hruM'. However this distorts the navakshari mantra and makes it an astakshari mantra i.e. alters the number of syllables or phonemes from nine to eight thereby leading to a serious distortion. The navakshari mantra has the mantra devatä in the first house or light comes to lagna whereas the astakshari mantra has the mantra devatä in the 12th house which is most undesirable for the Sun/Agni devata.Agni Yantra and mantra (Shiva Purana)

 

 

 

Agni is of red complexion and is two-faced indicating the nature of fire (agni) as being both destructive and benevolent. This is the quality of Surya or the Sun and Agni as the adhi-devata of the Sun symbolises the dual nature as being of satva guna as well as krura (cruel or punishing).

 

He is depicted with black eyes and hair symbolising youth (as opposed to old age).

 

He is shown with three legs as being the three levels of physical creation of (1) bhu-loka (earth plane), (2) bhuva-loka (solar system) and (3) svarga loka or heavens (universe beyond). This also covers the signs from (1) Aries to Cancer, (2) Leo to Scorpio and (3) Sagittarius to Pisces respectively.

 

He is depicted with seven arms indicating the seven karana of the day which He energizes and which are responsible for all actions or karma yoga.

 

He rides (1) a ram (as agni the digpala ordeity of the south eastern direction), or (2) a chariot pulled by goats (as the adhi-devata of Surya the Sun god) or, sometimes when associated with Devi (female goddess), parrots.

 

Seven rays of light emanate from his body and can be seen when they are refracted through the moisture in the atmosplere as the rainbow. The colors visible in the sky (after light is split by water molecules) is (1) Red, (2) Orange, (3) Yellow, (4) Green, (5) Blue, (6) Indigo and (7) Violet. These colors are the "rays of fame" of the planets from Sun to Saturn in their order of the weekdays when the planets are strong in the ascendant.

Seven Tongues

One of his names is "Sapta jihva", 'seven tongues' depicting that taste or 'rasa' is in seven flavors called sapta rasa or seven flavors. These seven flavors are the cause of seven types of pregnancies and are the seven deities of the saptamsa. Rasa is a water element while agni is fire. The fire going to water is the cause of impregnation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agni Gayatri