The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c18.s1.12

v1.c18.s1.12

At the dedication of tanks of water and similar rites, offerings are made to Agni in the waters;¹ the Brahman student, when he performs the bath marking the end of his period of pupilship, takes water from a vessel, appropriating to himself the bright form of Agni and repelling the other forms of Agni, which have entered into the water.² The waters used at the royal consecration are regarded as being full of Agni.³ In the ceremony of the piling of the fire altar, when it is desired to diminish the heat of Agni, cooling plants and a frog are placed on the altar, and Agni is asked to enter the waters of which he is the gall.⁴ It is clear, therefore, that the view that Agni is connected with the waters of the earth is an old one, but it must be noted that at no period is his connexion with the waters of the air forgotten: we find it expressly asserted in a Sūtra⁵ text which shows that it was perfectly well understood. It is impossible, therefore, to accept the view of Oldenberg that the connexion of Agni in the terrestrial waters is the normal one, as opposed to the Agni of the aerial waters: both conceptions are clearly found equally authenticated. The explanation of the belief in the presence of Agni in the terrestrial waters may be a transfer from the belief in his presence in the aerial waters, but it can also be accounted for in other ways. Thus the phenomenon of the lightning coming down to and entering the waters may well have played a more important part than the more elaborate idea, clearly valid for the Brāhmaṇa period, which sees in the plants the closest connexion with the waters, and which pictures a cycle from the water to the plants, from the plants to the flame, from the flame to the smoke, from the smoke to the cloud, and thence to the water again.