Cox, George - Aryan Mythology Vol 2.pdf

THE PARENTAGE OF AGNI. 19;
one is so described, the others are for the time unnoticed, or CHAP,
else are placed in a subordinate position. Thus Agni is said •
to comprehend all other gods within himself, as the circum-
ference of a wheel embraces its spokes; 1 and not unfre-
quently Indra is said to be Agni, and Agni is said to be
Indra, while both alike are Skambha, the supporter of
the universe.
Hence the character of the god, as we might expect, is Physical
almost wholly physical. The blessings which his worship-
pers pray for are commonly temporal, and very rarely is he
asked, like Yaruna, to forgive sin. In the earlier hymns,
he is generally addressed as the fire which to mortal men
is an indispensable boon: in the more developed cere-
monialism of later times he is chiefly concerned with the
ordering of the sacrifice. As bearing up the offerings on the
flames which mount to the sky, he stands in the place of
Hermes as the messenger between gods and men. Like
Phoibos and Indra, he is full of a secret wisdom. He is the
tongue (of fire) through which gods and men receive each
their share of the victims offered on the altar. Nay, so
clearly is his mythical character still understood, that,
although he is sometimes the originator of all things, at
others he is said to have been kindled by Manu (man), and
the expression at once carries us to the legends of Prometheus,
Hermes, and Phoroneus, who is himself the Vedic god
of fire Bhuranyu. The very sticks which Manu rubbed
together are called the parents of Agni, who is said to have
destroyed them, as Oidipous and Perseus, Cyrus and Eomulus
are said to have destroyed their fathers. The hymns
describe simply the phenomena of fire.
' O Agni, thou from whom, as a new-bom male, undying
flames proceed, the brilliant smoke-god goes towards the
sky, for as messenger thou art sent to the gods.
6 Thou, whose power spreads over the earth in a moment
when thou hast grasped food with thy jaws—like a dashing
army thy blast goes forth; with thy lambent flame thou
seemest to tear up the grass.
' Him alone, the ever youthful Agni, men groom, like a
1 Muir, Principal Deities of It. V. 670.
*J'
attributes
of Agni.