Agni
Thou, oh Agni, shining
forth throughout the days, from the waters, from the stones,
from the forests and from the herbs, thou as the ruler of all
human souls, are ever born pure.
Rishi
Gritsamada RV II.1.1
The Secret of Agni (Agni Rahasya):
The Journey of the Soul through the Kingdoms of
Nature
By David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)
www.vedanet.com
In ancient Vedic thought, the
individual soul was symbolized by fire. Our inner soul, hidden like a
secret flame deep within our hearts, abides inextinguishable throughout
all our states of consciousness of waking, dream and deep sleep. It
endures as the witness through our every birth and death, through all
the many sojourns in the various worlds and planes of existence of our
soul’s vast manifestation.
The Rigveda-the oldest of the
Vedas and perhaps the key to our ancient spiritual heritage as a
species-begins characteristically with the image of the fire sacrifice
as a universal metaphor, the underlying process of all existence. This
spiritual fire sacrifice indicates that all our thoughts and actions are
offerings to our soul in order to help it grow and evolve in
consciousness as it moves through the world of nature on its way back to
the Godhead or Brahman.
This fire was called Agni, meaning the
inner guide (agra-ni). Agni is the Divine child, seed or embryo (kumara,
putra, sunu, sishu, garbha, napat), the spiritual consciousness that
enters into creation and builds it up from within. Agni contains the
essence, the source and the matrix of who we are and all that we can
become. All the forces of nature are the mothers of this Divine child
that nothing can limit or overcome. Agni is the mystery of our birth and
death and the doorway to the infinite and the eternal.
Let us take a quick look at the
journey of this Divine flame or Agni because it is the journey of our
own souls. Of course, one could write volumes on this process. In this
short article, we can however touch a few of its rays and shadows on the
different levels of our world.
Agni, symbolically the Divine fire
child, represents the soul on Earth that evolves through the world of
nature. The soul is like a flame that moves through the kingdoms of
nature both creating them and participating in them. It is the fire that
develops their particular substances and structures and becomes the
beings or life-forms which inhabit them. Yet this Agni is not only fire
but also color, heat and light, which are the outer factors of fire, and
inwardly life, perception and consciousness, which are the inner factors
of light.
Each one of us is a flame, a form of
Agni, which is the light that lights our body, senses, breath, mind and
consciousness. We are fire beings, not simply as portions of a material
fire but as manifestations of a spiritual and universal fire (symbolized
by the God Shiva or Rudra). All that we see is a form of fire, light,
color, heat, energy or motion and spiritually is the great God Agni. And
as a manifestation of Agni, we are all that as well.
Where does this flame of the soul come
from? It is a portion of the solar fire that has descended into the
Earth, which in turn the Sun receives from the light of consciousness
(Chit-tejas) behind time and space and from the lords of universal life
and karma (the Bhrigu and Angirasa Rishis).
The Soul in the Mineral Kingdom
Agni or fire is the ruling deity or
spirit of the Earth in Vedic thought, just as the Wind or Vayu is deity
of the Atmosphere and the Sun or Surya is the deity of Heaven. This is
not only a statement of mysticism or Yoga but also one of science. The
planet Earth has a fiery core as science has revealed. This is its
portion of the solar fire that it received at the time of the formation
of the solar system.
Agni or the individual soul’s (Jivatman’s)
first level of manifestation is the mineral kingdom. Science teaches us
that all the rocks on Earth originate, directly or indirectly, from only
one source, which is volcanic activity, or through the Fire inherent in
the Earth as it bubbles to the surface. This ‘mineral fire’ is a
manifestation of the Earth fire or fire at the planet’s core.
The mineral or volcanic fire has
several forms. The first is the fire that erupts in volcanoes, which
builds up extrusive igneous or fiery rocks. The second is the fire that
builds up the great mountain ranges of the Earth. It does not reach the
surface in a molten form and builds up intrusive igneous or fiery rocks,
like granite, which become the backbones of the continents.
The dominant mineral on Earth is
silica and quartz, which has a capacity to reflect light, showing its
connection to Agni. The mineral kingdom manifests various qualities of
Agni like color, heat and light. This is most obvious in gemstones and
in metallic ores, particularly gold, which is the main and purest form
of Agni in the mineral realm. The mineral fire builds up various
crystals that are the first forms of life and possess great conductive
powers for cosmic, spiritual and physical healing forces. That is why
gemstones are so important in Vedic healing.
The most obvious outer mineral or
Earth form of Agni is the mountains. Mountains are built up by Agni or
volcanic activity deep within the earth and rise like a flame to reach
the Heavens. Indeed the mountains are said to be the houses of the Gods
or cosmic powers that can descend and perceive this earth through the
eyes of the mineral kingdom. The mountain is the main mineral
manifestation of Agni or the soul, which reflects the cosmic mountain as
a universal image, the different levels on the pyramid of existence.
There are many sacred rocks, like sacred pillars, in which the Divine
fire can be worshipped or like Shiva lingas.
This Earth Fire is connected to the
Water Fire, which is also part of the mineral realm and the interrelated
rock and water cycles. The third form of the mineral fire is the
‘oceanic fire’ that builds up the ocean floor, which exists in the
mid-ocean ridges. The oceanic fire both heats and energizes the waters,
and strange new forms of life have recently been discovered deep in the
ocean, living on its heat and the sulphur-based minerals that arise from
it.
Water on the surface of the Earth
brings in an additional portion of the solar fire from the sunlight that
is reflected upon it. Water can receive light and through it conceive
life. The solar fire descends and impregnates the Waters. This is
quickened by an additional spark of fire that comes into water from the
lightning and is transmitted through the rain. Lightning is part of the
atmospheric fire, which itself is magnetically connected to the earth or
volcanic fire.
The atmosphere also participates in
the unfoldment of the mineral soul. Atmospheric forces break down the
rocks through the wind and water-
the forces of the weather-and help
turn them into the soil necessary to nourish plant life. The soil is the
ultimate product of mineral evolution and sets the stage for the plant
evolution to follow.
The mineral kingdom itself has many
domains as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock, as minerals,
metals, gems and fossils, as the continental plates and the ocean
floors. Those who look deeply into the forms of the mineral kingdom can
discover their own soul and contact the Divine fire working through it.
The Soul in Plants
The combination of these earthly,
watery, mineral, atmospheric and solar fires gives rise to life through
the plant kingdom, which is the second level of manifestation of Agni or
the individual soul (Jivatman). Plants use minerals to build up their
tissue structure, which is earthy in form. The bioelectric or lightning
fire gives plants their Prana. The sap of plants carries a fiery energy
or heat. It is a kind of pranically energized water containing nutrient
minerals. So the plant fire is more of a water fire, while the mineral
fire is more an earth fire.
Agni, the soul that was asleep in the
rock, now wakes in the plants. It develops a new form which is the Agni
or fire of photosynthesis. The digestive fire of the plants has the
unique ability to digest sunlight and turn it into energy, which it
conducts through its water or juice.
Plant material contains fire in many
forms. Plants are generally combustible as in the case of wood, dry
grass or peat. Plant remains in the Earth like oil and coal create our
fossil fuels, which are our main energy sources today. Plants manifest
fire in the form of color in a more evident way than the rocks,
particularly as flowers, but also as colored fruit, bark and leaves.
Fiery plant derivatives include spices, oils and resins that can burn.
All of these plant qualities are new plays of Agni, new displays of our
own soul, which finds a feminine beauty in the plant kingdom. The plant
kingdom itself has many domains as trees, herbs, grasses, lichens and
mosses.
Plants are also dwellings of the Gods,
particularly the Goddesses, who dwell in flowers and herbs. The most
developed of plants is the tree, which is the main plant form of Agni or
the soul. Trees are the human beings in the plant kingdom and they carry
the energies of the Gods who can descend into them. Trees mirror the
universal process of the One being becoming many forms and branches,
which is the image of the cosmic tree. That is why sacred trees are
common objects of worship in ancient and nature-based religions. Great
yogis and mystics have always frequented forests where the plant force
and energy of peace acts as a powerful catalyst for their meditations.
In Vedic thought, the fire that is
naturally produced through the rubbing of the wood of certain sacred
trees is especially powerful. It is the very life fire in manifestation,
not simply a material fire. Through such a natural fire Divine forces
can descend into our environment and purify them. In fact, all creatures
and all worlds are essentially plant-that is, organisms which contain
fire and convert sunlight or starlight into energy and consciousness.
Connected to the mineral soul which
sustains, the plant soul dwells in the ground, particularly in the roots
of plants, where it is held in the bosom of the mineral fire. The plant
is unable to move or to heat itself, so it requires the protection of
the heat of the earth.
Those who look deeply into the forms
of plant kingdom can discover their own soul and contact the Divine fire
working through it.
The Soul in Animals
The plant soul or Agni over time
evolves into the animal soul, which produces a new abundance of mobile
creatures. Agni that woke in the plants now moves in the form of the
animals. The animal realm brings in several powerful new types of Agni.
First is the digestive fire or fire in
the belly (Jatharagni) that is able to digest food, whether of plant or
animal origin. While plants can digest sunlight, animals must actively
find food that hold its. Each animal contains a zone of fire within it,
a digestive system around which its physical body is built. This
material fire burns the semi-liquid food, like a wick flame burning on
oil.
Second is the fire of Prana, breathing
or respiration, which allows animals to move. In this regard, Agni or
fire brings in Vayu or wind, the atmospheric force, to allow motion to
occur. Vayu descends into the animal through the help of the digestive
fire, which in turned is sustained by the heat of the breath. Prana or
the breath descends via Vayu from the Sun. It is a portion of the solar
fire transmitted via the lightning or wind force. This fire of the
breath, like the solar fire, is a gaseous fire.
These two fires, the earthy or
food-based and the solar or air-based, develop the animal body and mind.
Together they build up the appropriate sense and motor organs designed
to find and grasp food, along with the mind necessary to direct the
process of food-seeking. Animals develop limbs mainly to find food or to
catch it. Their sensory acuity develops mainly in the search for food.
Their mental cunning develops primarily from hunting or searching for
food. They are the intelligence of food.
The breath, Prana or the solar fire
creates the mind and sense organs. The digestive fire creates the motor
organs and the tissues of the body. But in the animal, the digestive
fire predominates over the fire of the breath, meaning the motor organs
rule the sense organs.
While minerals manifest the earth fire
and plants manifest the water fire, animals have a more ‘fiery fire’, as
it were. In them fire is quite impetuous and hard to tame or control.
Animals are like a wild fire on the earth, driven by hunger and desire..
The animal is a living fire in motion.
The digestive fire and the fire of respiration go together and are
connected through the circulatory system. The animal fire, centered on
food, is connected to other vital passions like sex and the development
of territorial boundaries. It builds up the kingdoms of the senses and
of instinct. The animal kingdom itself has many domains as amphibians,
reptiles, birds, mammals, humans and even insects.
While plants must rely passively on
Prana from the sunlight, animals can create that actively through the
breath. While plants must passively absorb minerals from the earth,
animals can actively eat matter from which to grow. While the mind and
senses in the plant function in a general way, these become
differentiated organ systems in the animal.
Animals demonstrate many aspects of
fire in their colors, bodily heat and passions. Their fur, feathers,
markings and sense organs reflect the forms of fire. Animal matter is
not as combustible as plant matter, but oils and fats derived from
animals are flammable. Of these, the best animal oil is ghee or
clarified butter, which is the ultimate material transformation of
sunlight through grass and cow’s milk. Ghee is said to be the best
offering for the sacred fire. Its quality is that of the nerve tissue (Majja
dhatu) in creatures.
In fact, in Vedic thought, the main
animal manifestation of Agni or the soul is the cow. This is the basis
of the sacred cow in Hindu culture. The cow symbolizes the nurturing
force of nature in general that suckles and carries our soul or Agni.
Another important sacred Agni animal is the horse, which manifests
speed, energy or Prana.
Mammals, the most evolved of animals,
are very fiery creatures. Their digestive fire is strong and allows them
to live in cold climates (as opposed to reptiles that are cold-blooded).
It produces a warm red blood, along with powerful and aggressive senses
and great powers of movement and adaptation. Generally, carnivores have
stronger animal fires than vegetarian animals. It makes them more
cunning but also more prey to powerful hunger and thirst.
Those who look deeply into the forms
of animal kingdom can discover their own soul and contact the Divine
fire working through it.
The Soul in Human Beings
The human soul or Agni is the ultimate
result of the evolution of the animal soul and of the plant and mineral
realms as well. It evolves a new type of Agni as intelligence (called
buddhi, dhi, prajna, kratu or medha in Vedic thought), manifested by our
manual and vocal skills, our unique hands, mouths, brains and nervous
systems.
Humans have not only an instinctual
mind that can find food and protect the body, but an intelligence that
can digest ideas and discover the nature of truth beyond all bodily
concerns. They can look beyond the outer forms of nature to its inner
spirit. They have a conscience and can discern right from wrong and
truth from falsehood. Through this higher intelligence, they can develop
philosophy, art, religion and spirituality.
The human fire of intelligence can
extend the range of the sense and motor organs by developing various
tools, machines, vehicles and instruments, which has produced modern
computers and the mass media. We can delve into nature with such tools
and extract her animal, plant and mineral essences as metals, gems,
fibers, dyes, spices, oils and medicines. We can develop our own plants
varieties and breeds of animals, becoming mini-creators of our own.
The human kingdom itself has many
domains or breeds including different races, ethnicities, cultures and
languages and various social orders as priests, warriors, merchants,
farmers, intellectuals, artists and so on, each with its own type of
Agni, fire or activity.
This fire of intelligence is a
development out of the fire of the breath or solar fire. It is fed by
the essences of both the digestive fire and breath fire, on top of which
comes in a fire of communication and understanding through speech. In
the human being, there is a battle between the solar fire of
intelligence and the earthy fire of desire inherited from the animal
kingdom, the so-called Devas and Asuras. Our intelligence can not only
open up to the higher light, it can also artificially augment the
drives, passions and egoism of the lower nature.
Unfortunately, our human species is
not yet very evolved, being probably a young species that has yet to
manifest its real potential and the higher aspects of its intelligence.
The animal fire still burns strong within us, but without the grace of
nature that the animals have to keep it in harmony with the world of
nature. We have cultivated an artificial animal fire through
meat-eating, the use of intoxicants, excessive sexuality and a cult of
aggression and violence that pervades much of our culture extending even
to our religions. Instead of using our higher intelligence to breed a
higher human type, we have turned it into an artificial cunning that is
destroying the very planet on which we live. We have bred a human
species that is against both nature and the spirit, trapped in a world
(a concrete jungle) not of spiritual intelligence but of artificial
intelligence and artificial cravings.
The human soul that should be the
crowing glory of nature and the protector of the Earth is trampling upon
the very animals, plants and even rocks through which it evolved and
which are its mothers. This is because we have forgotten our soul, our
Agni, our flame portion of the Divine light. We have lost touch with our
heart, our origin and our goal. Our artificially cultivated ego has
become our dominant motive force and it is fed with the dark fires of
greed, lust and ambition. This is the tragedy of our current
civilization and the global crisis it has created. Instead of promoting
the Divine light, we have created a false Agni or fire of consumerist
desires that may end up destroying ourselves as well as our environment.
In little more than a century, our species, almost like a disease, has
devastated the beautiful planet that gave it birth.
As human beings, we are or should be
the intelligence of fire. Fire was our first guru and guide in the
infancy of our species. It taught us how to cook our food, how to forge
metal and many other skills of early humanity. It taught us our first
religion, our most ancient rituals, and functioned as our first doorway
into the cosmic mind. Today we need to return to that original fire
spirit and discover its inner message.
While minerals represent the earth
fire, plants the water fire, and animals the fire fire, humans can
manifest the air fire. Through the cosmic air element the human fire can
transcend form and enter into the cosmic spirit. We can liberate the
soul fire from its bodily limitations so that it can freely move through
the entire universe. We can free the bird of the soul from its bodily
shackles.
The Soul in Yoga
Yoga’s main concern is a higher human
evolution-the manifestation of the soul or Agni in its full glory, to
turn the human being into a universal being. The fire of Yoga is meant
to turn our crude human nature into something genuinely spiritual, to
replace our egoic mindset with pure awareness beyond desire. It can help
us realize our higher human potential which is universal.
One of the earliest sections on Yoga
in the Upanishads states, "First yogically controlling the mind and
extending the power of intelligence, discerning the light of the fire
from the Earth, the solar Creator carried it upwards." (Svetasvatara
Upanishad II.1).
The Agni or flame within us naturally
seeks to return to his Divine solar home. Our soul’s fire is the Divine
will within us to return to God. We must bring that spiritual fire out
of the Earth of our hearts to illumine our lives and reconnect us with
the greater universe of consciousness.
All the different practices of Yoga
serve to develop Agni on different levels. Asana practice purifies and
balances the digestive fire (Jatharagni). Pranayama purifies, balances
and energizes the pranic or breath fire (Pranagni). Pratyahara or
internalization purifies and internalizes the fire of the sense and
motor organs (Indriya-agni), particularly the eye and speech, which are
the main forms of Agni in the sense and motor organs. Dharana or
concentration focuses and heightens the fire of the mind (Manasa-agni).
Dhyana or meditation increase the fire of wisdom (Buddhi-Agni). Samadhi
or absorption merges us into the Divine fire to transform our
consciousness at a soul level (Jiva-Agni).
So too, the different paths of Yoga
cultivate different forms of fire. Jnana Yoga or the Yoga of knowledge
burns our samskaras and karmas in the fire of knowledge (Jnana-agni).
Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of devotion burns our lower passions in the fire
of Divine Love (Prema-agni). Karma Yoga burns our egoistic impurities in
the fire of sevice (Seva-agni). Raja Yoga, the integral Yoga, burns our
conditioned habits in the fire of Samadhi. Hatha Yoga, the Yoga of
psycho-physical practices, use Yoga postures and Pranayama to purify the
body and mind.
We must learn to sublimate our fire
from an animal to a Divine level. This is not to suppress it or try to
put it out but to take it to a higher level of manifestation. It
requires the fire of austerity and simplicity (tapas), recasting the
base metal of our lower humanity into the pure gold of the enlightened
nature. This is the Yogic fire alchemy. In this process, a new form of
the Divine fire, the Kundalini force, which is a higher aspect of the
Pranic fire, arises from the base of the spine and carries our
consciousness upwards out the top of the head and into the higher
consciousness beyond all time and space.
The Universal Soul
Through the process of Yoga, the
individual soul can expand into the universal soul, which is the real
goal of our journey through Nature. In Vedic thought, the individual
soul is called Agni Jatavedas, the knower of all births. As the Rishi
Vishvamitra states (RV III.1), "Oh Agni, these your eternal births for
you the ancient we proclaim anew. Hidden in all births is the knower of
all births. By the sages he is enkindled inextinguishable." We must
learn to awaken at the level of the soul and the spiritual heart, as
beings of consciousness seeking immortality through many bodies and many
births. We must awaken to our Divine mission of Self-realization, not
just for our individual needs but for the evolution of life and
consciousness in the world of nature.
This Divine fire is born within all
creatures as their soul and sense of Self. Through Yoga it expands into
the universal and becomes Vaishvanara Agni, meaning the fire as the
universal soul person. In the process Agni unfolds all the Gods or
Divine powers (the Vasus, Rudras and Adityas of Vedic thoughts) and
takes us through all the worlds or realms of consciousness from the
Earth to the highest formless heavens (the Lokas and Rochanas of Vedic
thought). Notably, Agni unfolds the Lords of Dharma as the great Gods,
Varuna and Mitra, who symbolize the truth principles of purity and
compassion. Agni merges with the descending Vayu or electrical/lightning
force of Indra (truth perception), which destroys all ignorance and
brings the soul into the infinite.
As the Rishi Bharadvaja states,
"The eternal light is placed
within us for the vision, the swiftest consciousness among the
moving senses. All the Divine powers of common mind and common
perception follow perfectly that single Will.
Wide moves my ears and wide my
eyes facing this light that is placed within the heart. Wide
moves my mind in a deep understanding. What can is say, indeed
what could I think?
All the Gods surrendered to
you in awe, Oh Fire, as your enduring throughout the Darkness.
May the universal soul (Vaishvanara) protect us with his grace.
May the immortal one protect us with his grace."
Bharadvaja, RV VI.9.7
Whatever we see on Earth is a form of
Agni. All human beings are forms of Agni. The Sun, Moon and stars in the
sky above are also forms of Agni. The highest form of Agni is the
Brahmagni (Agni or Brahman or the Absolute). This is the Agni of pure
being (sat). This is Shiva, the fire that creates, preserves, destroys
and transcends the entire universe.
May that Agni awaken in you! May all
human beings manifest the Divine Fire and restore the Divine Light to
this troubled world!
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
"May we abide in the favor of
the universal Fire, for he is the ruler resplendent over all the
worlds. Manifesting from us he perceives the entire universe.
The universal Fire spreads himself through the Sun.
Present in Heaven, Agni is
present on Earth. Present here he has entered into all the
plants. The universal Fire by his sudden power is present
everywhere. May he protect us by day and by night."
Rishi Kutsa, RV I.98.1-2
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