Agni: archetypal image of the creative force

Agni and his consort, circa 1800. US public domain via wikimediaIt is said that Agni is the
first-born; that Agni is the God of fire. Agni is an image of the creative force.Agni is the first-born
and beginning, his consort Svaha is an expression of release. Svaha is called out during a fire
(Agni) sacrifice to express release. Conze says Svaha is an ecstatic shout of joy, expressive of
a feeling of complete release (2001).
The word Agni may have originated from the Proto-Indo-European languages. In its Latin
forms we see the variations: igni to ignite, ignsc to kindle, burn, igneus fiery, ignifer
bearing fire (from Wikipedia).
Carl Jung sees Agni as an emanation of the inner libido-fire and at the same time the
sacrificial flame (Cw 5, para. 246). Mythically, the fire of Agni is said to appear in three forms: in
heaven as the sun, in mid-air as lightning, on earth as fire (Dowson, 1879). Agni is the divine
mediator (Jung, CW 5). Max Muller says:
It was a familiar idea with the Brahmans to look upon the fire both as the subject and
the object of a sacrifice. The fire embraced the offering, and was thus a kind of priest; it
carried it to the gods, and was thus a kind of mediator between gods and men. But the
fire represented also something divine, a god to whom honor was due, and thus it
became both the subject and the object of the sacrifice. Hence the idea that Agni
sacrifices himself, that he offers a sacrifice to himself, and likewise that he offers himself
as a sacrifice (cited in Jung CW5).
We might say that the inner libido-fire acts as a mediator between men and gods. In this role
Agni may exhaust his vigor by devouring too many oblations ( Mahabharata cited in Dowson,
1879).
As first born, Agni is the child of the great parents; and in being so, Agni assists humanity in
Self-realization:
The representations of [Agni] vary. We have met previously the greatest parents of
them all: Heaven and Earth. Their union was conceived in early Indo-European times as
the fruitful source of the heavenly gods (Dowson, 1879, see footnote)
Agni holds a relation to the primal couple, to the primal scene as source of creation. From this
primal scene arises the fire. Dowson continues:
God Agni, Fire, is occasionally regarded as the progenitor of men. There is in this
some vague symbolic connection with the process of obtaining fire by friction. This is the
Vedic process : the two sticks which are rubbed are conceived as parents. Agni is their
child, the first progeny, and, next, possibly, the first man (ibid).

Agni is born of the parental couple, both in eternal form and temporal, both symbolic and
literal. He emerges from the relation between container and contained, from the friction of
vessel and staff. Agni occurs in the three manifestations of being: pure source, emanation,
manifestation. And in each of these forms he is the creative force. Carl Jung speaks of the fire
sacrifice in Indian thought:
The pramantha instrument of the manthana (fire sacrifice), is conceived under a purely sexual
aspect in India, the fire-stick being the phallus or man, and the bored wood under-neath the
vulva or woman. The fire that results from the boring is the child, the divine son Agni. The two
pieces of wood are ritually known as pururavas urvasi, and, when personified, are thought of as
man and woman. The fire is born from the genitals of the woman (CW 5, para. 210). Weber
describes the ritual is as follows:
A sacrificial fire is kindled by rubbing two fire-sticks together. One of the fire-sticks is
taken up with the words: Thou art the birth-place of fire, and two blades of grass are
placed upon it: Ye are the two testicles. The priest then places on them the adhararani
(the underlying piece of wood), saying: Thou art Urvasi, and anoints the uttargrani
(uppermost piece) with butter: Thou art the power (semen). This is then placed on the
adhararani, with the words: Thou art Pururavas. Rubbing them together three times the
priest says: I rub thee with the Gayatrimetrum: I rub thee with the Trishtubhmetrum: I
rub thee with the Jagatimetrum (cited in Jung CW5, para 210).
In this regard Jung also cites the Rig Veda:
Here is the gear for friction, here tinder is made ready for the spark. Bring the mistress
of the people: we will rub Agni in ancient fashion forth. In the two fire-sticks lies
Jatavedas, safe as the seed in pregnant women; Daily let Agni be praised by men who
watch and worship with oblations. Let this (staff) enter into her as she lies there
outstretched, 0 you skilled ones; Straightway she conceives, has given birth to the
fructifier: With his red pillar lighting his path, the son of Ila is born from the precious
wood (para. 211)
Agni is the fructifier, the giver of light and warmth, the child that is born from divine coupling, in
both literal and symbolic fire. Agni is the creative force, but he is also the destructive force. Fire
both ignites and consumes, and through this Agni offers transformation through both creation
and sacrifice. Dawson (1879) says:
Agni can be devouring element and intelligent god at one and the same time. Even the Epic
poet in the Mahabharata stops to wonder: There is but one Agni, yet is he kindled manifold;
and Agni himself is made to say : Because I can multiply myself by the power of mental
concentration (yoga), therefore am I present in the bodies (of men, as vital fire).
Agni is both within and without. Jung says:

The Brahmans to look upon the fire both as the subject and the object of a sacrifice.
The fire embraced the offering, and was thus a kind of priest; it carried it to the gods, and
was thus a kind of mediator between gods and men. But the fire represented also
something divine, a god to whom honour was due, and thus it became both the subject
and the object of the sacrifice. Hence the idea that Agni sacrifices himself, that he offers
a sacrifice to himself, and likewise that he offers himself as a sacrifice (CW 5).
This whole idea of creator-created, container-contained is related to speech and the capacity for
symbolization. Carl Jung cites the Aitareya Upanishad:
Then he drew forth a Person (purusha) from the waters and shaped him. He brooded
upon him, and when he had brooded him forth, a mouth split open like an egg. From the
mouth came speech, and from speech fire.
And again in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
Yajfiavalkya, what is the light of man?
The sun is his light, he answered. It is by the light of the sun that a man rests, goes
forth, does his work and returns.
Quite so, Yajfiavalkya. But when the sun is set, what then is the light of man?
The moon is his light, he answered. It is by the light of the moon that a man rests;
goes forth, does his work and returns.
Quite so, Yajfiavalkya. But when the sun is set, and the moon is set, what then is the
light of man?
Fire is his light, he answered. It is by the light of the fire that a man rests, goes forth,
does his work and returns.
Quite so, Yajfiavalkya. But when the sun is set, and the moon is set, and the fire has
gone out, what then is the light of man?
Speech is his light, he answered. It is by the light of speech that a man rests, goes
forth, does his work and returns.
Quite so, Yajfiavalkya. But when the sun is set, and the moon is set, and the fire has
gone out, and speech is hushed, what then is the light of man?
Self is his light, he answered. It is by the light of the Self that a man rests, goes forth,
does his work and returns (cited in Carl Jung CW 5, para 231).
Agni is the inner fire, igniting the light of Self-awareness. Agni is the passionate child-flame of
Self-awareness, lighting the darkness even when there is no other source of light.
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