A History of Sanskrit Literature c7.100

c7.100

Probably the oldest function of fire in regard to its cult is that of burning and dispelling evil spirits and hostile magic. It still survives in the *Rigveda* from an earlier age, Agni being said to drive away the goblins with his light and receiving the epithet *rakshohan*, "goblin-slayer." This activity is at any rate more characteristic of Agni than of any other deity, both in the hymns and in the ritual of the Vedas.