 |
Kathmandu Sunday November 05, 2000 Kartik 20, 2057.
|
Ancient verses on fire
By Arun Gupto
Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, about the act of
offering the gift to fire, sings of its power that purifies breath, speech, eye, ear, mind
and semen. And the most frequently quoted verse is from Chandogya Upanishad: One who seeks
to guard oneself. This is the verse: The plunderer of gold, the liquor-drinker, the
invader of a teacher's bed, the Brahman-killer and he who consorts with them.
The person, who knows the five-fire
doctrine (Panchagnividya in Sanskrit), is never stained with evil. The person becomes
pure, clean and possesses the sacred world.
From the Vedas to modern literature of
Hindu traditions, fire has been a major object of reverence. Agni is the god of fire. He
is the earliest of Vedic gods and only next in importance to Indra, the King of Heaven.
Agni rules the south-east. In later times, in Puranic texts- the mythical narratives- he
occupied subordinate positions, and still retains his significance. Agni is identified
with fierce form of Shiva, and in this form he is called Rudra. He is the protector and
purifier of all ceremonies. Sita, wife of Ram in the Hindu epic Ramayana, has to go
through an ordeal of fire to prove her chastity. The fire worship was systematically
developed by the Aryans when they settled in the Indus valley.
Fire is regarded as the son of heaven and
earth, and in some Puranas he is believed to be the son of the Hindu God Brahma, the
creator. In other accounts, he is regarded as the son of Saint Kasyap and his wife Aditi.
In some earliest Hindu accounts, Agni along
with Marutas and Indra are believed to be the three creators of the universe. Bhrigus, the
descendants of mythical saint Bhrigu, are said to have established the tradition of
worshipping of fire on earth. Hindus have havan, hom or sacrificial fire because Agni
witnesses and cleanses their ceremonies, rituals and events. According to the Vedic texts,
Agni has three forms: fire on earth, lightning in atmosphere and sun in the Heaven. Agni
was once called upon by gods to kill flesh-eating Rakchhas (demons), known as Kravyads,
and he defeated them by consuming them. Swaha is Agni's consort. Once, Agni developed a
strong passion for the wives of the seven saints called Saptarishis. To satisfy his
desire, the rejected Swaha (Agni) took the forms of the six virtuous wives of the seven
saints. Out of her (Swaha) six meetings with her husband, a son Kumara or Kartikeya was
born.
In artistic manifestations, Agni is seen as
a red man with three flaming heads, seven arms and wearing a garland of fruits and riding
on a ram. Various images of flame, one of the weapons of Shiva and Agni, can be seen
in shrines of Nepal.
During the last month's festival, Dashain
or Dashahara and Laxmi puja (Laxmi is the goddess of wealth), fire was an important object
to purify religious ceremonies. It is frequently used in almost all religious
rituals of the Hindus.
In the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, an
oblation in the fire is sung in these modes: "To the chiefest, hail! To the best
hail! - he makes an oblation in the fire, and pours the remaining in the mixed
potion. A hail to breath!"
"To the most excellent, hail! - he
makes an oblation in the fire and pours the remaining in the mixed potion. A hail to the
eye!" "To attainment hail! - he makes an oblation in the fire and pours
the remaining in the mixed potion. A hail to the ear!"
"To the abode, hail!- he makes an
oblation in the fire and pours the remaining in the mixed potion. A hail to the
mind!"
To procreation, hail! - he makes an
oblation in the fire and pours the remaining in the mixed potion. A hail to the
semen!"
The interesting irony is that Agni consumes
everything and yet preserves his purity. The power to remain pure comes from the
metaphoric act of godhood to accept all that is there in the Universe. The consummation
can be symbolically interpreted as a divine acceptance of both good and evil, though
acceptance does not mean approving the both. Such divine purpose does not discard evil as
an alien. The consummation connotes that such act can purify everything, the good to the
level of perfection and the evil to good. Such consummation are referred in many other
mythical tales in the Hindu myths. The killing of the buffalo demon by Goddess Durga with
a smiling gesture, the playful dance of Lord Krishna over the hood of a huge snake who was
poisoning a pond and the lying demon in a privileged position under the dancing feet of
Shiva can be just a few examples of treating evil with a divine acceptance. The acceptance
itself transforms the evil into purity. That is why Durga smiles when she
"kills" or consumes the demon; Krishna plays and Shiva dances, and yet they
remain pure. Agni, too, consumes everything, and yet remains pure, purifying the other
simultaneously.
The ancient Hindu verses also refer to the
sound of fire that can be heard ,when one closes his or her ears. Fire, thus, closes off
the sound of the outside world, and creates a sound of fire that purifies thoughts.
Listening to the sound of the fire after silencing the external world, one engages oneself
in the act of inner purification.
(The essay on Nepali literature is
published in the first week of every month and is coordinated by the Literary Association
of Nepal)
Other Stories
|
