Vedic Mythology c5.s3.t2.31

c5.s3.t2.31

Agni is more closely connected with human life than any other god. His association with the dwellings of men is peculiarly intimate. He is the only god to whom the frequent epithet *gṛhapati*, 'lord of the house', is applied. He dwells in every abode (7, 15²), never leaving his home (8, 49¹⁹). The attribute 'domestic' (*damūnas*) is generally connected with him (1, 60⁴ &c.). This household deity probably represents an old order of ideas; for in the later elaborate ritual of the three sacrificial fires, the one from which the other two (the *āhavanīya* or eastern and the *dakṣiṇa* or southern) were taken, is called the *gārhapatya* or that which belongs to *gṛhapati*. In this connexion it is interesting to observe that even as early as Rigvedic times there are traces of the sacrificial fire having been transported³⁶. For Agni is led round (4, 9³. 15¹), strides round the offerings (4, 15³) or goes round the sacrifice three times (4, 6⁴· ⁵. 15²); and as soon as he is released from his parents, he is led to the east and again to the west (1, 31⁴).