AGNI
This article appears in Volume V01, Page 378 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: ADA-AIZ
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AGNI , the Hindu God of Fire, second only to Indra in the power See Also: - POWER [
WILLIAM See Also: - WILLIAM
- WILLIAM (1143-1214)
- WILLIAM (1227-1256)
- WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
- WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
- WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
- WILLIAM, 13TH
GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841) and importance attributed to him in Vedic mythology. His name is the first word of the first hymn of the Rig-veda: " Agni, I entreat, divine appointed priest of sacrifice." The sacrifices made to Agni pass to the gods, for Agni is a messenger from and to the gods; but, at the same time, he is more than a mere messenger, he is an immortal, for another hymn runs: " No god indeed, no mortal is beyond the might of thee, the mighty One. . . ." He is a god who lives among men, miraculously reborn each day by the fire-drill , by the friction of the two sticks which are regarded as his parents; he is the supreme director of religious ceremonies and duties,and even has the power See Also: - POWER [
WILLIAM See Also: - WILLIAM
- WILLIAM (1143-1214)
- WILLIAM (1227-1256)
- WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
- WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
- WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
- WILLIAM, 13TH
GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841) of influencing the lot of man in the future world. He is worshipped under a threefold form, fire on earth, lightning and the sun. His cult survived the metamorphosis of the ancient Vedic nature-worship into modern Hinduism, and there still are in India fire-priests (agnihotri) whose duty is to superintend his worship . The sacred fire-drill for procuring the temple-fire by frictionsymbolic of Agni's daily miraculous birthis still used. In pictorial art Agni is always represented as red, two-faced, suggesting his destructive and beneficent qualities, and with three legs and seven arms.
See W. J. Wilkins , Hindu Mythology (London, 1900) ; A. A. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology (Strassburg, 1897).
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