Indian Antiquary Vol 62

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

Page 247

DECEMBER, 1933 ]
NOTE ON A STONE IMAGE OF AGNI
231
and surrounding his head after the manner of a halo. The character, however, of Agni as the priest among the gods is clearly expressed in sculpture by his general appearance and attributes.
In the Rgveda, the god Agni is likened to, and sometimes identified with, various animals, particularly with a bull, a steed and a winged bird. But it is in the Great Epic that he appears 88 & goat. The explanation given by the American savant, the late Professor E. Washburn Hopkins is that Agni " is fond of women and is an adulterer, and for these reasons, he is presented as a goat ".10 Another explanation which I venture to advance is that up to the present day the he-goat and the ram are the animals generally used as victims in the animal sacrifice, the cow being excluded owing to its sacred character, and the pig on account of its being regarded as unclean. However this may be, the fact remains that in Hindu iconography the goat is both the cognizance and the vehicle of Agni. In the Mahābhārata Agni is called goat-faced (chagavaktra). This is of interest in connexion with the two goatheaded satellites in our sculpture.
Considering the great importance of Agni in the Vedic religion, it may at first secm surprising that images of the Fire-god are so very rare.
In the Calcutta Museum, which contains by far the largest collection of Indian sculptures, I can find only one specimen of an Agni image. It is No. 3914 which was described by Dr. Theodor Bloch as "a statue of Agni, riding on a ram (mepa), with two hands, one of which holds a rosary and the other a kamandalu [i.e., a gourd used as a water-pot.) Agni is represented as a corpulent dwarf, with a beard, and flames all around his body (From Bihar). 1'81' by 111' ".11
The Mathura (Muttra) Museum, too, contains only one example of an Agni figure (Plate II a).13 Here Agni has the usual pointed beard and halo of flames. He stands between two miniature attendants, one of whom has a goat's head. The upper corners of the sculpture are occupied by two garland-carriers hovering in the air. It is a curious circumstance that this image (height 2'7"), before being brought to the Museum, used to be worshipped by the Hindu villagers as the divine seer Nārada. On account of its style it may be assigned to the later Gupta period.
In the Indian collection of the British Museum I noticed two late medieval reliefs of blue stone representing Agni, which both belong to the Bridge Collection (Plate II c. d). In both these sculptures the Fire-god is seated on a lotus-throne. His raised right hand holds & rosary: his left, resting on the left knee, holds a vessel of some kind. He is bearded ; his head is surrounded by flames, and a goat is shown lying at his feet.
What I believe to be the earliest known image of Agni, is & sculpture in the Lucknow Museum (Plate II b), which seems to have been excavated by Dr. Führer and which was subsequently published by Mr. Vincent A. Smith. 18 It is made of red sandstone and measures 2'8' in height. Unfortunately it is badly damaged, the face, arms and legs being broken But there can be little doubt that it must belong to the Kuşāņa period (circa 50—250 A.D.
10 E, Washburn Hopkins, Epic Mythology, p. 103.
11 Theodor Bloch, Supplement Catalogue of the Archeological Collections in the Indian Museum Calcutta, 1911, p. 90.
12 J. Ph. Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum of Mathurd, p. 99. No. D24. 04. Brindave C. Bhattacharya, Indian Images, pp. 278.
13 V. A. Smith, The Jain Stúpa and other Antiquities of Mathurd. Allahabad, 1901, p. 44 pl. LXXXVIII. The museum number is J 123.