Agni -- Part 3: Divine Darkness, or Light within the Darkness, or Divine Death, or Death before Life

If you are reading this before the articles "Agni - Part 1 and Part 2", it is strongly recommended that you read them first as they will prepare the way for ideas discussed here.

I must once again express my gratitude and reverence to Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (AKC), one of the pioneers of Perennial Philosophy, who was a true Vedic sage - a rishi - in his comprehensive and integral, but at the same time deep and genuine, understanding of Vedic metaphysics. I also continue his use of 'metaphysics' in preference to 'philosophy' or 'spirituality', as the former term accurately describes the system of ideas, concepts and teachings of the Vedic literature and deep enlightenment regarding the "non-physical" or "beyond-physical", i.e. "meta-physical" state that should result from the triple action of ṥravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana (learning, pondering and meditating) that is the famous classic path of Vedanta. Truly, there is no difference between what has been called "Rig Veda, etc.", i.e. the "Karma Kāṇḍa" and the "Upanishads", i.e. the "Jñāna Kāṇḍa" except the age of the language and turn of phrase. But then, there is the real difference that the older Rig Veda uses much more complex symbolism than the younger Upanishad. The trick to unraveling symbolism is that the same symbol can stand for many things at many levels.

At the outset, I would like to emphasize my shortcomings in comparison to the genius of AKC in his energetic synthesis of different verses of the Rig Veda and Upanishads. Although every essay of his has countless gems of interconnected deductions, the following essays in particular contain material that is pertinent to my present endeavor:
1. A New Approach to the Vedas
2. The Darker Side of Dawn
3. Angel and Titan: An Essay in Vedic Ontology
4. The Vedic doctrine of 'Silence'
5. The Tantric doctrine of divine biunity
6. Kha and other words denoting 'zero' in connection with the Indian metaphysics of space
7. On the one and only transmigrant
8. Vedic 'Monotheism'
9. Vedic Exemplarism

I shall proceed to list key ideas and concepts in as logical an order as I can think of, with references from the Rig Veda and other texts that AKC has used and also a few more that are obviously in context. The overarching goal is to show by interconnecting the texts, that the rishis of the Rig Veda had fathomed the deepest secret, the deepest and most profound truth about the nature of reality. They had experienced the ultimate, irreducible state of "enlightening darkness" which level of oxymoron is the only way to describe that supreme, absolute, irreducible state of Existence-Knowledge.

1. Agni and other "Gods of Light/Heaven" are in fact "dark" in their origin. Their original state, i.e. before creation and manifestation of the universe is described.

Pañcaviṁśa Brāhmaṇa 25.15.4: सर्प्या: वा आदित्याः   sarpyāḥ vā ādityāḥ   The Gods are really serpents.

AKC reiterates that the descriptions of Gods prior to "coming into the light" is ophidian (serpent-like). This should not connote any vicious, terrifying or repulsive images that one may have of real-world snakes. The deep significance of the intricate symbol of serpent is noteworthy.

The long and unsegmented body of the serpent symbolizes the totality of all Being or Existence in its undifferentiated state. In fact, the most prominent myth in the Rig Veda is that of Indra cutting up the serpent Vritra into pieces that become parts of the universe. However, the myth that precedes this shows Indra and Vritra as best friends before creation of the universe. Therefore, antecedent to separation of things in creation, all Existence was in the form of a serpent, so to speak.

2. Agni is in fact explicitly described as a serpent, or with actions of a serpent.

Gotama Rāhūgaṇa (RV 1.79.1): अहि: धुनिः  ahiḥ dhuniḥ    A raging serpent

 Aitareya Brāhmaṇa 3.36: एष ह वा अहिर्बुध्न्यो यदग्निर्गार्हपत्य:   eṣa ha vā ahirbudhnyo yad agnir gārhapatyaḥ   This Agni Gārhapatyaḥ (i.e. the foundational fire) is truly the serpent of the deep.

 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 7.3.2.14: अद्भ्य उपोदासृप्तं पुष्करपर्णे   adbhya upodāsṛptaṁ puṣkaraparṇe     He had crept out of the waters onto a lotus leaf. 

In the last reference, Agni is likened to a serpent slithering out from the water onto a lotus leaf. This description is loaded with several related doctrines. The lotus (puṣkara) is the symbol of an individual manifested world. As Agni is the First Manifested Principle (i.e. "God") in any world (prathamajā ṛtasya), it is consistent with other references linking Agni to the lotus (for example, RV 6.16.13: Atharvan churned Agni from the Lotus, from Viśva's head).


3. Agni is 'endless' or 'infinite' before manifestation or creation

The last reference tells us Agni was a slithering unsegmented Being until he crept up onto a lotus leaf, at which point, he is in a world that he created by virtue of his creeping up onto it. Before that, he is said to have no hands or feet. This is significant as the foot is a discrete mode of motion. A foot needs a solid distinct "ground" upon which to move in finite, discrete, measured "quanta". However, slithering needs no "ground" as it is a continuous, non-discrete motion that is non-differentiated or "unmeasured". Thus, the foot is the symbol for a distinct manifestation or a created world. Hence, the footless serpent is the symbol for the state prior to creation, prior to distinct entities.

Vāmadeva Gautama (RV 4.1.7): अनन्ते अन्तः परिवीत आगात्  anante antaḥ parivīta āgāt  Enveloped in the infinite, may he come to us. 

 Vāmadeva Gautama (RV 4.1.11): स जायत... बुध्ने रजसः अस्य योनौ ... अपादशीर्षा गुहमानो अन्ता   sa jāyata... budhne rajasaḥ asya yonau... apādaśīrṣā guhamāno antā   He is born in the depths of space (or waters - compare Ahi Budhnya, serpent of the deep, above) in his own womb... Without feet and without a head, he conceals his ends.

'Conceals his ends' essentially means infinite. Here again, the image of a serpent with its tail in its mouth comes to mind, such that the Being is continuous, unsegmented (without intervals or gaps), full of infinite potentialities prior to manifestation.

Because Agni is infinite, he is never exhausted after emptying out all the potentialities to manifest the universe. This is corroborated by Viśvāmitra Gāthina (RV 3.26.9): "शतधारमुत्समक्षीयमाणं  śatadhāram utsam akṣīyamāṇam  -  He is an inexhaustible fountain of a hundred streams."


4. Agni dwells in the Darkness prior to creation

The idea of Agni, the exemplar of worldly light, dwelling in darkness is very paradoxical and strange at first. However, this reveals the highest conception of the Vedic sages which they symbolized as Agni. Perhaps we might get a better understanding by looking at the instances in the Rig Veda:

Bharadvāja Bārhaspatya (RV 6.9.7): विश्वे देवा अनमस्यन् भियानाः त्वामग्ने तमसि तस्थिवांसम्  viśve devā anamasyan bhiyānāḥ tvām agne tamasi tasthivāṁsam  -  All the Gods bowed in fear to you, Agni, when you dwelt in the Darkness.


RV 10.51.5: एहि ... तमसि क्षेष्यग्ने सुगान्पथः कृणुहि देवयानान् वह हव्यानि सुमनस्यमानः  ehi ... tamasi kṣeṣi agne ... sugān pathaḥ kṛṇuhi devayānān vaha havyāni sumanasyamānaḥ  -  Come ... you are dwelling in the darkness ... make our paths easy-faring and carry sacred offerings, being of good will to us.

  
 RV 10.124.1: इमं ... यज्ञमेहि ... असो हव्यवाळुत नः पुरोगाः ज्योगेव दीर्घं तम आशयिष्ठाः  imam yajñamehi aso havyavāḍuta naḥ purogāḥ jyogeva dīrgham tama āśayiṣṭhāḥ  -  Come to this sacrifice, O Life-eternal, carrier of sacred offering and our leader. You have stayed too long in darkness.

These verses show the fundamental doctrine in the form of myth, i.e. by the use of Gods as personalities pleading Agni to come out of the darkness and set the sacrifice "rolling" by creating paths and carrying offerings between the worlds, which in effect causes the worlds to be created.

There is a more profound metaphysical doctrine hidden in those descriptions of Agni dwelling in the darkness. As already pointed out, it is a paradox that the paragon of light should stay in darkness. This should give us the clue that physical light is not meant here. Agni is the pure self-consciousness and existence that is the foundation of all empirical experience. Agni is the pure "I" that is the final and ultimate irreducible state of singular existence-consciousness from which worlds are created and into which they dissolve. Such a state is characterized by complete absence of multiplicity of names and forms, which implies absence of the Light of Creation that exposes, differentiates and defines the forms and names that constitute the universe.

In contrast, this "Agni dwelling in darkness" is a "Dark Light". Compare this to Chandogya Upanishad 1.6, "The white light of the sun is 'sa' and the extremely dark blue black light is 'ama' and together they make 'saama'." So Vedic tradition symbolizes a dark light that is behind the white light of the sun. This 'Dark Light' is the 'Agni dwelling in darkness' which is a Silent Observer existing alone in inaction. The same concept is found in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.6-7:

 

अस्तमित आदित्ये याज्ञवल्क्य चन्द्रमस्यस्तमिते शान्तेऽग्नौ शान्तायां वाचि किंज्योतिरेवायं पुरुष इत्यात्मैवास्य ज्योतिर्भवति … । ६। कतम आत्मेति योऽयं विज्ञानमयः प्राणेषु हृद्यन्तर्ज्योतिः … । ७।

astamita āditye yājñavalkya candramasyastamite śānte'gnau śāntāyāṃ vāci kiṃjyotirevāyaṃ puruṣa ityātmaivāsya jyotirbhavati … । 6। katama ātmeti yo'yaṃ vijñānamayaḥ prāṇeṣu hṛdyantarjyotiḥ … । 7।

When the sun has set, and the moon has set, and the fire is extinguished and speech is silent, what light is available to man? The Self is indeed his light… Who is this Self? The one who is full of consciousness, who is within the senses, the light within the heart…

 

In other words, this Self is the Light within the Darkness, which is also the symbolism of Agni as seen in the afore-quoted verses.

This is the state of Brahman of the Upanishads. The famous Nāsadīya Sūktam (RV 10.129) confirms the same concept: 

तम आसीत्तमसा गूळ्हमग्रे ... आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किञ्चनास   tama āsīt tamasā gūḷham agre ... ānīd avātam svadhayā tadekam tasmāddha anyan na paraḥ kiñcanāsa   In the beginning darkness was covered by darkness ... That One breathed without breath; other than That One there was nothing else.

The above Rig Veda verses depict the myth of creation where the "Gods" are eager for Agni to come out of the darkness, i.e. project the First Ray of Universal Light, which is also depicted in different myths. One of them is that Agni-Ahi Budhyna the Primordial Serpent crept up on a lotus leaf. Another one is  Indra slaying the Primordial Serpent under the name Vritra and cutting him up into parts that become the universe (along with releasing the waters of life). The true meaning of the Vedic yajna is to realize the original unity of the Serpent, and ritually effect the conjoining of the parts of Agni or Prajapati to make him whole. This is the true meaning of Agnicayana. This inner meaning of the ritual was adopted by Upanishad sages to various degrees, for example, as the Inner Fire Ritual (āntaram agnihotram) to be effected intellectually to realize the Primordial Unity.

Thus, it has been shown that Vedic metaphysics has always been consistent in its essential doctrine, while only changing in language and idiom.

The continuity has been carried on into Puranic symbolism. The most conspicuous example of Vedic serpent symbolism is the mythology of Vishnu resting on the thousand-hooded serpent Ananta Shesha.

The name of the serpent is variously Ananta (Infinite), Shesha (Remnant), Adi Shesha (Primordial Remnant). So obviously this is the same infinite Vedic serpent Agni-Ahi Budhnya. Shesha is what remains after creation. But he is Ananta Shesha, i.e. Infinite Remnant, which is an overstatement of the concept that what is infinite is never emptied out.

Vishnu is the Supreme God of the universe, whereas Ananta is the Godhead, the source of the God. This may come as a little shock to devout Hindus. Vishnu emerges out of Ananta, and rests on Ananta as his foundation. Vishnu is manifested in the universe, "visible" and active as the universal consciousness. Ananta is unmanifested, "invisible" as the Silent Observer existing alone in inaction. Of course, in the end Vishnu and Ananta are one and the same.

Essential nature of Agni in the Rig Veda

The general notion among most people who have heard of the Rig Veda, whether Hindu or non-Hindu, whether layperson or specialist, regarding the contents of the Rig Veda is that it is a collection of stutis, or "praises" of personified forces of nature. So, for example, Agni is the god of fire, Vāyu is the god of wind, Sūrya is the god of Sun, and so on.

While these descriptions of the gods are correct, it is a hundredfold more clear that that is not the end view of the hymns. The tangible forces of nature are seen as manifestations of the gods, so that the gods in and of themselves are something much more. Yāska, the author of the Nirukta the oldest commentary on the Rig Veda outside of the Brāhmaṇas, has it right when he explains the mantras at three levels: adhibhūtam, adhidaivatam, and adhyātmam. The first level is the physical phenomenon; the second level is the anthropomorphic theism; the third level is what I like to call the level of Existence. The conventional translation of "adhyātmam" is "spiritual". But what does it really mean to be spiritual or to talk of spirituality? Pure and absolute Existence or Being is meant. The Universal Spirit is the principle of pure Being and at the root of the mystery of creation. The usual descriptions of all-pervasiveness, absolute singularity and the principle of pure consciousness are remembered.

Agni in the Rig Veda is a symbol par excellence for this Universal Spirit. The use of a divine fire as a symbol for the Supreme One is well-known in many cultures, for example, in Greek philosophy (particularly Heracleitus) and Christian theology. Here, I intend to quote specific verses from the Rig Veda which plainly show what the sages envisioned as Agni.

1. Viśvāmitra Gāthina, RV 3.26.7

  अग्निरस्मि जन्मना जातवेदाः घृतं मे चक्षुरमृतं म आसन् ।

  अर्कस्त्रिधातू रजसो विमानो अजस्रो घर्मो हविरस्मि नाम ॥

agnirasmi janmanā jātavēdāḥ ghṛtaṁ me cakṣuramṛtaṁ ma āsan|  arkastridhātū rajaso vimāno ajasro gharmo havirasmi nāma||

 "I am Agni, by birth omniscient; the light is (or, emanates from) my eye and immortality is (or, originates from) my mouth. I am the three-fold light measuring the universe, I am inexhaustible heat, sacred offering is my name."

The very first phrase "I am Agni" says it all - the great sage Viśvāmitra is here expressing his realization of absolute unity with Agni, the realization that there is only one consciousness that is the essence of the individual and the universe. This is an exact paraphrase of "अहं ब्रह्मास्मि - aham brahmāsmi", "I am Brahman" of Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.

2. Bharadvāja Bārhaspatya, RV 6.9

   अयं होता प्रथमः पश्यतेममिदं ज्योतिरमृतं मर्त्येषु । 4a

ayaṁ hōtā prathamaḥ paśyatemamidaṁ jyotiramṛtaṁ martyeṣu 

"He is the first invoker. Look at him - this light immortal within mortals."

The Sanskrit words used here are significant. In the same breath Agni is called "इमम् - imam", "him" (male) and "इदम् - idam", "it" (neuter).  So Agni is at the same time, a god to be worshiped, and the One Existence to be internally realized.

  ध्रुवं ज्योतिर्निहितं दृशये कं मनो जविष्ठं पतयत्स्वन्तः । 5a

dhruvaṁ jyotirnihitaṁ dṛśaye kaṁ mano javiṣṭhaṁ patayatsvantaḥ

"The firm light, which is blissful and subtler than the mind, is hidden within the senses."

This compares with the "आत्माऽस्य जन्तोर्निहितो गुहायाम् - ātmā asya jantoh nihito guhāyām", "The Spirit is hidden within the creatures" of Kaṭha Upaniṣad.

  वि मे कर्णा पतयतो वि चक्षुर्वीदं ज्योतिर्ह्ृदय आहितं यत् ।

  वि मे मनश्चरति दूरआधीः किं स्विद् वक्ष्यामि किमु नू मनिष्ये ॥ 6

vi me karṇā patayato vi cakṣurvīdaṁ jyotirhṛdaya āhitaṁ yat  |

vi me manaścarati dūraādhīḥ kim svid vakṣyāmi kimu nū maniṣye ||

"My ears and my eye fly forth striving to see the light that is spread wide within the heart. My mind wanders far away - what can I speak of, and what can I think?"

This verse almost appears modern in its candid description of the internal processes when the sage is in rapture of his vision of the Light, when he has lost himself in the One Consciousness, such that he is beyond speech and thought. The last phrase "किं स्विद् वक्ष्यामि किमु नू मनिष्ये - kim svid vakṣyāmi kimu nū maniṣye" is an exact paraphrase of "यतो वाचो निवर्तन्ते अप्राप्य मनसा सह - yato vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha", "From which speech and mind turn back, not having reached" of Taittirīya Upaniṣad.

  विश्वे देवा अनमस्यन् भियानाः त्वामग्ने तमसि तस्थिवांसम् ।

  वैश्वानरोऽवतूतये नोऽमर्त्योऽवतूतये नः ॥ 7

viśve devā anamasyan bhiyānāḥ tvāmagne tamasi tasthivāmsam |  vaiśvānaro'vatūtaye no'martyo'vatūtaye naḥ ||

"All the gods bowed down to you in fear, O Agni, when you were dwelling in the darkness. May the Universal Man protect us, may the Immortal protect us for well-being."

Now, the curious part here is that Agni was dwelling in darkness. How can the paragon of light be in darkness? This opens up a whole discussion on the deeper Vedic metaphysics that Ananda K. Coomaraswamy has propounded. We shall see more on that in a future post. "Vaiśvānara", Universal Man, is a famous name of Agni. Yāska's Nirukta gives the etymology as "viśvebhyo narebhyaḥ jāyate, viśveṣu nareṣu vidyate iti va", "he is born from all men, or that he is within all men."

3. Trita Āptya, RV 10.5

   एकः समुद्रो धरुणो रयीणामस्मद्ध्ृदो भूरिजन्मा वि चष्टे ।

   सिषक्त्यूधर्निण्योरुपस्थे उत्सस्य मध्ये निहितं पदं वेः ॥

ekaḥ samudro dharuṇo rayīṇāmasmaddhṛdo bhūrijanmā vi caṣṭe |   siṣaktyūdharniṇyorupasthe utsasya madhye nihitaṁ padaṁ veḥ ||

"He is the One Ocean, container of all matter, having many births he sees inside our hearts. He suckles in the lap of the secret couple, the dwelling place of the Bird is within the fountain."

This one is very cryptic in its symbols. The four feet of the verse all seem disjointed. Ocean is a very common symbol in the Rig Veda for the all-encompassing and infinite Supreme Unity, and here it is enhanced by the word "Eka", one, which fortifies the concept. The meaning of "bird dwelling in the midst of a fountain" eludes me.

This entire hymn is full of intricate symbolism, most of which is at present beyond my understanding. But it only goes to prove that Agni (and other gods) are complex concepts with an advanced metaphysics behind them. I shall present a few fragments, and one or two full verses from this hymn.

  ऋतस्य पदं कवयो नि पान्ति गुहा नामानि दधिरे पराणि । 2b

ṛtasya padaṁ kavayo ni pānti guhā nāmāni dadhire parāṇi

"The sages protect the dwelling place of the Cosmic Order (or Motion), and take on higher secret names."

  ऋतायिनी मायिनी सं दधाते मित्वा शिशुं जज्ञतुर्वर्धयन्ती ।

  विश्वस्य नाभिं चरतो ध्रुवस्य कवेश्चित्तन्तुं मनसा वियन्तः ॥

ṛtāyinī māyinī saṁ dadhāte mitvā śiśum jajñaturvardhayantī |  viśvasya nābhim carato dhruvasya kaveścittantum manasā viyantaḥ ||

    

"The Cosmic moving pair, endowed with powers copulate and create the Baby, themselves growing. The Baby is the center of all that moves and moves not. They weave the thread of the Sage with deep insight."

Obviously the Baby is Agni as Kumǟra, the ever-newly born. That he is described as the center (hub or navel) of the universe (i.e., all that is stationary or moving) is significant as he is also described elsewhere as the First Manifested Principle. So he is the unaffected effector of all creation, the state of convergence of opposites.

  असच्च सच्च परमे व्योमन् दक्षस्य जन्मन्नदितेरुपस्थे ।

  अग्निर्ह नः प्रथमजा ऋतस्य पूर्व आयुनि वृषभश्च धेनुः ॥ 7

asacca sacca parame vyoman dakṣasya janmannaditerupasthe |  agnirha naḥ prathamajā ṛtasya pūrva āyuni vṛṣabhaśca dhenuḥ ||

"He is both non-existence and existence in the highest sphere ("parame vyoman"), Dakṣa's birth from Aditi's womb! Agni is surely our first-born of Cosmic Order, in the primeval state he is both the Bull and the Cow."

"Parame vyoman" is difficult to translate - another translation is "highest heaven or Empyrean, etc. But essentially the idea is that of a non-physical state, prior to creation and prior to space and time cognition. So, it is a state of unity, absence of opposites or multiplicity, but a state of potentiality from which all opposites come out. "Pūrve āyuni" is not a specific point in time, rather it is the cyclical state of undifferentiated existence before creation. Similarly, when Agni is called "first-born", it is in regard to his first manifestation after a new creation has emanated. "Both bull and cow" shows that Agni is the source of the principles of creation.

        Aditi is in mythology Dakṣa's daughter - Aditi Dākṣāyaṇī, and Dakṣa is the foremost progenitor (Prajāpati). However in this verse, the relations are reversed. When a duality emerges from an original singular unity, the two parts of the duality can only be seen as creating one another. In terms of metaphysics, the idea of a 'second' has meaning only in context of a pre-existing counterpart, the latter in turn presupposing the existence of the former. Yāska describes the gods as "itaretarajanmānaḥ", born from one another.

In this verse, we clearly see that Vedic Agni is identical to Brahman of the Upaniṣads, described in terms of opposites, and the ultimate state of unity from which come all opposites.

4. Vasuśruta  Ᾱtreya, RV 5.3.1

   त्वमग्ने वरुणो जायसे यत्त्वं मित्रो भवसि यत्समिद्धः ।

   त्वे विश्वे सहसस्पुत्र देवास्त्वमिन्द्रो दाशुषे मर्त्याय ॥

tvamagne varuṇo jāyase yattvaṁ mitro bhavasi yatsamiddhaḥ |

tve viśve sahasasputra devāstvamindro dāśuṣe martyāya ||

"You, Agni, are Varuṇa when born, and you are Mitra when kindled. O Son of Strength, in you are all the gods, and you are Indra to the mortal worshiper."

In this verse, it is clear that Agni is identified with all the other gods, and in fact is said to envelop all gods. The verses following this one elaborate on Agni's identity with other named gods. A similar theme is found in Gṛtsamada Bhārgava's hymn RV 2.1 where Agni is literally identified with nearly all the named gods of the Vedic pantheon. No other god is accorded this kind of universal description. 

An observation is that the concept of Agni preceded the use of fire as his symbol, rather than the other way around. Most modern scholars start with the physical fire and then attribute a "development" to an abstract god. However, the few verses quoted here show that fire is just one aspect of Agni even in the oldest hymns. In other words, physical fire and the act of offering in yajña were implemented as being the most excellent form of Agni, the Universal Spirit.

5. A few more verses:

    अग्ने कदा त आनुषग्भुवद्देवस्य चेतनम्  ।  RV 4.7.2a  Vāmadeva Gautama  

"O Agni, when shall I have a flash of insight (consciousness - cetanam) of you, God?

   मा निन्दत य इमां मह्यं रातिं देवो ददौ मर्त्याय स्वधावान् ।

  पाकाय गृत्सो अमृतो विचेता वैश्वानरो नृतमो यह्वो अग्निः ॥  RV 4.5.2  Vāmadeva Gautama

mā nindata ya imām mahyaṁ rātim devo dadau martyāya svadhāvān |

pākāya gṛtso amṛto vicetā vaiśvānaro nṛtamo yahvo agniḥ ||

"Don't criticize that the omnipotent God has given me, a mortal, this Bliss - to me, immature, Agni the Blissful, the Immortal, the Wisest, the Universal, the manliest, the youthful."

   त्रिरस्य ता परमा सन्ति सत्या स्पार्हा देवस्य जनिमान्यग्नेः ।

  अनन्ते अन्तः परिवीत आगाच्छुचिः शुक्रो अर्यो रोरुचानः ॥  RV 4.1.7  Vāmadeva Gautama

"There are three highest truths, the desirable births of the god Agni. He came clothed in the infinite, pure, white, benevolent, brightly shining."

          Saying that Agni is clothed in the infinite, is tantamount to saying he is infinite. The significance of the three births are explained in different ways: his 3 forms of fire, lightning and sun; the three sacrificial fires of Gārhapatya, Dakṣiṇa and Ᾱhavanīya; the Father, the Mother and the ever newly born Son. 

   

   शतधारमुत्समक्षीयमाणं विपश्चितं पितरं वक्त्वानाम्  ।

  मेळिं मदन्तं पित्रोरुपस्थे तं रोदसी पिपृतं सत्यवाचम्  ॥  RV 3.26.7  Viśvāmitra Gāthina

"The inexhaustible fount of a hundred streams, the wise, the father of all sacred speech, the sparkler, rejoicing in the parents' lap, him do you, Heaven and Earth, satiate, the speaker of truth."

  परि प्रजातः क्रत्वा बभूथ भुवो देवानां पिता पुत्रः सन्  ।   RV 1.69.2  Parāśara Śāktya

"You are born all around by your greatness, being the son of the gods, you are also their father."

This is very significant, that Agni is both the father and son of the gods. Further explanation will be needed to expand this metaphysics.

   क इमं वो निण्यमा चिकेत वत्सो मातृृर्जनयत स्वधाभिः ।

  बह्वीनां गर्भो अपसामुपस्थान्महान्कविर्निश्चरति स्वधावान् ॥   RV 1.95.4 Kutsa Ᾱṅgirasa 

"Who has seen him, the Hidden One? This child has generated his mothers by his power. The offspring of many, he the omnipotent, the great sage has come forth from the womb of the waters."

    विश्वेषामदितिर्यज्ञियानां विश्वेषामतिथिर्मानुषाणाम् ।

  अग्निर्देवानामव आवृणानः सुमृळीको भवतु जातवेदाः ॥   RV 4.1.20  Vāmadeva Gautama

   

"Aditi of all the gods, guest of all humans, Agni bringing here the protection of the gods, may he the Omniscient be benevolent to us."

         Here, Aditi in the primary sense of the word, is the mother of all the gods. Etymologically, "Aditi" means infinite. Both senses of the word are very appropriate in this verse - as seen from above, Agni has been called infinite, the father of the gods, and both male and female (Bull and Cow). It follows naturally that Aditi = Agni.

In the foregoing, some verses pertaining to Agni have been translated. These verses are in plain and simple language, without the use of intricate symbols. Although such verses form a small percentage of the hymns, they show the heart of the Rig Veda. This has also been an exercise in interpreting a coherent whole by stitching together parts taken from different verses. By ensuring to always keep the whole in view, each individual verse can be meaningfully explained. As seen above, a consistent metaphysical doctrine of Agni emerges naturally from the hymns.