On Wings of Fire

5/20/2018 On Wings of Fire

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The fire in a Hearth, that cackles and burns,Is a remnant of Life, of Ashes and Urns,Stored in trees, by breaths of the Sun,Life giving Life, the Wood bakes the Bun

Fire, one of the FIVE essential elements or the Panch-Mahabhootof Hinduism; the elementthat brings fold images of immense energy; the element that gave humanity the chance tosurvive; the element that would ultimately destroy everything at the end of Time.

Even though it may appear predominantly estructive, Fire is a !onstructive force which has"uite literally ignited the development and growth of Human species. #lmost single$handedly,the taming of this devastating force of %ature, led Humanity away from its dar& origins andhelped in the development of !ulture and !ivili'ation.

From ar&ness to (ight

In this post, I would ta&e you through the origins of the use of Fire by early man and the role itplayed in the development of !ivili'ation as we &now it. )e will also ta&e a loo& at the role itplays in various )orld mythologies including our own.

The Life before Fire

# report published in *++, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows thatthere was a very real ris& of e-tinction for our ancestors.

The study declares that the effective population of humans living .* million years ago was ust
http://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/when-humans-almost-went-extincthttp://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/when-humans-almost-went-extinct


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about /,0++. This implies a really really tiny population si'e, especially if you compare withthe population si'es of chimpan'ees 1*,+++2 and gorillas 1*0,+++2 during the same time period33

4an was in fact "uite vulnerable $ he was poorly insulated because of no fur; had nails and teethunsuitable for defense or hunting; and was completely ill$e"uipped to tolerate the fluctuating

e-tremes of the !limate. (eft on our own, we might have 5E6I7HE li&e numerous otherspecies in the history of our planet3 )hat changed our fate was the 'Discovery of Fire'.

Early 4an probably first encountered bush$fires in summers or lightening stri&es that set fire totall trees. It would have ta&en him some time to actually get control of it and even more time toactually 5689!E fire on his own.

Forest Fire, probably the First form of Fire encountered by Early 4an


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!laims for the evidence of use of fire by various species of Hominidsare made from almost .0million years ago 1mya2 however, most historians believe that the controlled use of fire startedwith Homo erectus some :++,+++ years ago.

Yo light my Fire!

8nce tamed, Fire helped early man ward off the #6%E77 that tormented him at night.It provided him security and let him survive in the harshest )I%TE67especially during the I!E$#


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Humans could now stop worrying about defense and safety and use their brains for developmentof new ideas. =oth directly as well as indirectly, Fire initiated I%97T6> and has ledman&ind to the E?5(86#TI8% of 7pace, the Final Frontier.

Therefore, it is not surprising, that the Early 4an developed deep reverence for this 5rimal forceof %ature. In fact, some )orld 4ythologies worship Fire as the 7upreme


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#gni is described as the son of Dyas Pita and Prithvi Mataand hence IndraBs twin, both ofthem performing complimentary functions. )hile I%6# transmits energy to the Earth in theform of his thunderbolt, #


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#gni is also appointed as one of the Ashta-digpals and is the guardian of the 7outh$Eastdirection. His wife is Svahaand his sons are Pava() Pavaman)and Shchi, who according tothe *ay Praan, stand for Electric fire, the fire produced by Friction, and the 7olar firerespectively.

SvahaBs name is mentioned each time an offering is poured into the sacrificial$fire. This suggeststhat the husband$wife duo is to be appeased together and reflects a rarely researched pro-imitybetween the two..

#gni and 7vaha from a 4ughal miniature painting

The legends tal& about a messenger of 7urya, Matarish+an 1identified in the 9panishads asVayu2 who brought the secret of controlling Fire down from the Heavens and gave it to theancient ,hrigsfor safe$&eeping. .

This reminds me of the


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It is in star& contrast to the Hindu legend where


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The #'tec Fire$


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In /e+ismthe 7upreme


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In the oman0%ree(traditions, Fire had two separate formsA one of the BHearthB and theother of the BForgeB.

Hearth worship was dedicated to


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!loser home, Ataris the 5arsi concept of "oly fire. In Yasna., #tar is the 4aster of

the house, and it is only with its assistance, the other si- creations can begin their wor&1$undahishnC.L/; and%atspramC.L/C2.

1oroastriansevidence of fire$worship e-ists from around 0++ =!E, together with the firstevidence of cremation. The tradition is still followed in the Indo$Iranian branch of Hinduswhere #gni is considered an agent of purity.

The


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In Hinduism, Fire$sacrifices hold a very important place. The ,hagavat Praan declaresYagneshwara1(ord of yagya2 to be an incarnation of (ord Vishnu, and Da(shina1donation2, theembodiment of agnya is e"uivalent toappeasing (ord Vishnu.

# Vedic >agnya in progress

#gni is worshiped in ig *edic verse 23435-*as the embodiment of all gods. He is the priestwho prays to other demigods on behalf of humans; he is the officating priest of a Yagnya; andlastly, he is the bestower of the gifts of gods to us humans.

#ccordingly, the human priests are also classified into three categories based on the roles they

play in a >agnya $Hotri Adhvaryuand (dgatri. The 7acrifices performed could be of varioustypes depending on the intended beneficiary.

For e-ample, a $rahma-yagnyais performed to please the 7upreme =rahman, while a Dev-yagnyaaims to appease the evas. # Pitri-yagnyais performed for the benefit of the #ncestors,!anushya-yagnyafor that of men and a$huta-yagnyafor the benefit of all life forms.


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# eva$>agnya being performed to appease the evas

There are numerous instances of special >agnyas being performed by the ings and Emperors ofyore in order to fulfill their desires. 7ome e-amples are the Putra-)ameshthi Yagnyaperformedby Dashrath and >uvanashva; theAshwamedh Yagnya performed by Lord ama and the*a#asuya Yagnya underta&en by the Pandavs.

ishi 6ashya$obtained %arda, a son stronger$than$Indra through a >agnya while raupadi,the nemesis of the uru family, and her twin brother hristadyumna also emerged from thesacrificial fires of rupadBs >agnya.

#gni is also chronicled as the bestower of advanced weaponry and he gifted Shri 6rishnaandAr7nathe 7udarshan !ha&ra and agnya and was able to defeat Indra with their help.

Agni) the .elestial #itness


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Sh(la Ya7r *eda 8534 refers to #gni as the B4aster of all branches of nowledgeB. He isbelieved to be the symbol of righteousness and truth and hence appointed the witness and thepriest for all Vedic ceremonies.

This position he attains by virtue of being present in all the Three )orlds at all times, in all the

dwellings of the sentient beings. =ecause of this uni"ue presence in all spheres of life, #gni isthe ideal witness in case of disputes. Therefore, in ancient India, promises were made andagreements solemni'ed in front of a sacred fire. For the same reason, #gni is also the witness ofa Hindu 4arriage !eremony.

Hindu marriage ceremony performed with #gni as the witness

MImage courtesy $ Imagesba'aarN

=ecause of this omniscience, #gni was also made the arbitrator of disputes that couldnBt besettled by human intellect. The most important e-ample is that of the Agni-Pari(shaof (ady7ita.

4any people today critici'e the incident giving it a chauvinistic tinge, but the truth is that inancient times, #gni was the Highest udge 1somewhat li&e the !hief$ustice of our 7upreme!ourt today32. Those were the times when Devas and Asrsfreely intermingled with humansand it was not uncommon for a human of good standing to call upon #gni as his witness.


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The process is more elaborately detailed in Joroastrian te-ts which describe Fire as Atarand amedium through which udgement is passed. This ordeal$by$heat is &nown in #vesta as +armo-varah,

#n individual who has passed the fiery test, has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom,truth and love with serenity Yasna 94:3;


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Fire released from 7hivaBs Third Eye

MImage courtesy $ India #uthenticN


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Issue $ 9ma

Therefore, one of the epithets of amdev is Anangor bodiless. =y destroying his body butletting his soul remain, (ord 7hiva highlighted the supremacy of spiritual (8VE over physical

(97T. 1The story later had a Happy ending when 7hiva was finally united with 5arvati andama reborn as rishnaBs son Pradymnawas re$united with 6ati.2

Shiv Prana 983438:35=-5>


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Interesting possibility and we shall dwell on it in a later post. For now, let us than& #gni, thecatalyst of our development and conclude this post with a homage to him by Shri .hinmoy.

#gni, the Hindu$god of Fire


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MImage courtesy Vimani&a !omicsN

8 (ight of the 7upreme3indle the flame of (iberation within me,

5our down the ocean of !ompassion,Into my heart,


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>ou are my Immortality,#ccept my ar&ness, =ondage, Ignorance, eath;

#nd release me from this 4ortal frame.

3

Am Shanti? Shanti? Shanti?3

5osted by Vineet #man #ggarwal at CA0:+ commentsA (in&s to this postEmail This=logThis37hare to Twitter7hare to Faceboo&7hare to 5interest(abelsA 8n )ings of Fire(ocationA 7himla, Himachal 5radesh, India
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On Wings of Fire

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