The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c17.s3.2

v1.c17.s3.2

In the Avesta there is found a spirit Apãm Napāt, who lives in the depths of the waters, surrounded by females; he is said to have recovered the glory when in the flight between Ātar and the dragon it fell in the ocean Vourukaša. In this trait there is clearly a connexion with fire, and the igneous nature of the spirit is asserted by Spiegel⁶ and Darmesteter,⁷ the latter of whom considers him to be the fire-god born from the cloud in the lightning. The natural conclusion is that the traditional view is correct, and the Apāṁ Napāt is the same god as Agni, who is conceived as the lightning in the clouds. Of the moon character as connected with the waters which Hillebrandt¹ ascribes to this deity, a view accepted by Hardy,² it is difficult to see any clear trace, and of resemblance to the sun as suggested by Max Müller³ there is small evidence. Oldenberg's⁴ view that Agni and Apāṁ Napāt were originally distinct and that the identification, which he does not deny, is later, is of course possible, but it is not supported at all conclusively by the ritual, which naturally emphasizes the water side of the god, but which by no means proves that he was a water deity. The fact that the only hymn⁵ addressed to him already identifies the deities precludes us from certain knowledge of an earlier period in the history of the deity. The other deities beside Agni with whom the god is found mentioned, such as Ahi Budhnya and Aja Ekapād, are probably also akin in part to Agni, and this is clear of Savitṛ, with whom the god seems to be identified once.⁶