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AGNI

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 378 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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AGNI , the See also:

HINDU

Hindu See also:

God of See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

Fire, second only to See also:

INDRA

Indra in the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power and importance attributed to him in Vedic See also:

MYTHOLOGY

mythology. His name is the first word of the first hymn of the Rig-veda: " Agni, I entreat, divine appointed See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest of See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice." The sacrifices made to Agni pass to the gods, for Agni is a messenger from and to the gods; but, at the same See also:

time, he is more than a See also:

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 See also:

day by the fire-See also:

DRILL

drill, by the See also:

FRICTION (from Lat. fricare, to rub)

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 of influencing the See also:

lot of See also:

man in the future See also:

WORLD

world. He is worshipped under a threefold See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, fire on See also:

earth, lightning• and the See also:

sun. His cult survived the See also:

METAMORPHOSIS

metamorphosis of the See also:

ancient Vedic nature-See also:

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship into See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

HINDUISM

Hinduism, and there still are in See also:

India fire-priests (agnihotri) whose See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty is to superintend his worship. The sacred fire-drill for procuring the See also:

temple-fire by friction—symbolic of Agni's daily miraculous birth—is still used. In pictorial See also:

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. See also:

Wilkins, Hindu Mythology (See also:

LONDON

London, 1900) ; A. A.

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