Indian Antiquary Vol 62

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 246

230
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ DECEMBER, 1933
able feature of the figurine near Agni's left arm is the position of the hands which are crossed. Can it be the attitude adopted by the Indian devotee when offering an oblation to the manes or ancestral spirits (Sanskrit pitaras, lit., 'fathers')5 Judging from this detail, we may perhaps conclude that the four figures last described are sacrificers, possibly representing various forms of the Vedic sacrifice, that to the manes coming last. This assumption agrees very well with the chief function of Agni as god of the sacrifice.
Between the two sets of worshippers, we notice two groups each representing an emaciated bearded person seated on a solid stool or bench, and apparently addressing or teaching a youthful person sitting at his feet. The teacher with his hair tied in a top-knot has the appearance of an ascetic. Round his knees and waist we see the strip of cloth (paryanka) still used by Indian ascetics of the present day. In sculpture it is usually associated with the cross-legged posture.
The meaning of these two groups is not very clear, but it deserves notice that the stool or bench on which the gaunt personage is seated somewhat resembles the Vedic altar (vedi), which is described as being slender in the middle. Hence a maiden with a slender waist is compared by Indian poets to such an altar! Can it be that the ascetic seated on the bench is Agni again as the sacrificial fire and at the same time the teacher of wisdom?
In order to account for the characteristics of the image described above, it will be necessary to give a sketch of the Indian Fire-god according to Vedic and epic literature.
"The chief terrestrial deity [of Vedic mythology] is Agni, being naturally of primary importance as the personification of the sacrificial fire, which is the centre of the ritual poetry of the Veda. Next to Indra he is the most prominent of the Vedic gods. He is celebrated in at least 200 hymns of the Rg-Veda [the whole collection consisting of some 1000 hymns], and in several besides he is invoked conjointly with other deities.
Though essentially a terrestrial god, Agni is sometimes said to appertain likewise to the other two spheres of the Universe. For he is identified both with Sürya, the Sun-god, and with lightning. He is said to be born in the highest heaven, although as the Fire of Sacrifice he is produced by the rubbing together of the two fire-sticks (arani), which are considered to be his parents. He is the kinsman of man, " more closely connected with human life than any other god." He is both the spark of vitality and the goblin-slayer (rakso-han). But his chief function is that of transmitting, in the form of the sacrificial fire, the oblation of the worshippers to the gods. Hence Agni is considered to be "the divine counterpart of the earthly priesthood." He is both the priest and the seer.
In the Ṛgveda "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 aspects."9 Hence the epithets applied to Agni in the earliest Veda, such as "butter-backed," "butter-faced," "seven-tongued," "thousand-eyed," do not find expression in later iconography. Even the epithet "flame-haired" does not really apply to the sculptural representation, which shows the flame as quite distinct from Agni's hair
5 According to the Vedic ritual the worship of the ancestors requires acts opposed to those practised in the cult of the gods. In the former the circumambulation to the left is prescribed (prasavya), in the latter that to the right (pradakshina).
6 A. A. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 88.
7 Ibid, p. 95.
8 Ibid. p. 96.
9 Ibid. p. 88.