The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c18.s1.56

v1.c18.s1.56

As a sacrificer Agni has this advantage over the human sacrificer that he does not make mistakes, and if he errs in any way he can put all right. Hence he is all knowing, the sage, possessed of all wisdom, and exclusively bears the epithet Jātavedas,⁶ used about 120 times of him in the Rigveda and explained there as he who knows all generations, though some modern scholars prefer the sense ‘having innate wisdom’. The priest prays, therefore, to him to accord him power of memory and wisdom. He produces wisdom, and is himself eloquent, and a cause of eloquence in others. In all other matters too he befriends his worshippers, he gives food, wealth, long life, he defeats enemies, and demons: even in battle he leads the van, which may be a reference to the carrying of fire before the host in its onslaught. He is also occasionally given the power to remit sin, to make guiltless before Aditi, to avert the anger of Varuṇa,¹ and in the later texts he is said to free from the crimes committed by man’s father and mother.²