Vedic Mythology c5.s3.t2.2

c5.s3.t2.2

As his name is also the regular designation of fire, the anthropomorphism of his physical appearance is only rudimentary, his bodily parts having a clear reference to the phenomena of terrestrial fire mainly in its sacrificial aspect. He is butter-backed (5, 4^3 &c.), butter-faced (3, 1^ &c.) and beautiful-tongued (1, 14^7). He is butter-haired (8, 49^2), flame-haired (1, 45^6 &c.) or tawny-haired (3, 2^), and has a tawny beard (5, 7^7). He has sharp (8, 49^3 &c.) or burning jaws (1, 58^5 &c.), golden (5, 2^3) or shining teeth (5, 7^4) and iron grinders (10, 87^2). He is once described as footless and headless (4, 1^), but elsewhere he is said to have a burning head (7, 3¹) or three heads and seven rays (1, 146¹; 2, 5³). He faces in all directions (2, 3¹ &c.). His tongue is often mentioned (8, 61¹⁸ &c.). He is also said to have three tongues (3, 20²) or seven (VS. 17, 79), his steeds also being seven-tongued (3, 6²). A name was later given to each of these seven tongues¹. Butter is Agni's eye (3, 26⁷); he is four-eyed (1, 31¹³), thousand-eyed (1, 79¹²), and thousand-horned (6, 1⁸). In his hand he bears many gifts for men (1, 72¹). Like Indra, he has the epithet *sahasra-muṣka* (8, 19³²). He is called an archer (4, 4¹) or is compared with an archer (1, 70¹¹), who sharpens his flame like a blade of iron (6, 3⁵).