The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c18.s1.7

v1.c18.s1.7

Agni’s mythic parents are Dyaus and Pṛthivī, or Tvaṣṭṛ and the Waters. But he is also produced by the gods whose father, however, he is; he is brought into existence by Indra or Indra and Viṣṇu, or by the Dawn, and is the son of Iḍā, the personification of the sacrificial food. All these accounts are open to obvious explanations and are of no consequence. More important is the birth from the two fire sticks, the upper being deemed the male, the lower the female, and in mythical form being described as Purūravas and Urvaçī, from that famous pair of lovers. They are also called two mothers, and many plays on the curious infant and his mothers occur.¹ As friction is engendered by the action of the hands in turning the one stick in the other, he is credited with ten mothers, the ten fingers. As force is needed for his production, Agni is the son of strength. He is born ever new and is called the youngest, but still is old as being born for ever. Here and there occurs, in the Brāhmaṇa literature, the idea that the fire at the end of a year is outworn, but the idea that the fire is at the beginning of each year to be formally renewed in a special rite is not to be recognized. For the sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma, the four-monthly rites, and the animal offering, the fire is solemnly produced anew by friction, but there is no evidence that the winter solstice was felt to be a time when the fire as such was in need of any special renewal. If such an idea existed,² it has not left any clear trace in Vedic ritual.