ature emphasizing sacrificial rites. The
Rg Veda opens with a hymn to Agni and
describes him as “the household priest,
the god and officiant of the sacrifice,
[and].. .the giver of blessings.” Agni
remained important in the Brahmanas
since, as the sacrificial fire, he was
essential to all ritual. Agni’s importance
in these texts stems from his presence in
all three levels of the Vedic universe—on
the earthas fire, in the middle atmos-
pheric realm (antariksha) as lightning,
and in the sky as the sun. This ability to
move between these levels made Agni
the intermediary between the gods and
human beings. From above, Agni served
as the messenger of the gods, while as
the sacrificial fire on earth, Agni not only
consumed the offeringsbut conveyed
them in the smoke to the gods above.
Because of his role in bringing about the
sacrifice, another epithet for Agni is the
“mouth of the gods.”
Unlike many of the other Vedic
deities, Agni has retained a certain
prominence even in the present day.
Although Vedic sacrifices are uncom-
mon, sacrificial motifs have been incor-
porated into many contemporary rites.
Ceremonies often have a part in which
offerings (often of clarified butter) are
ladled into a sacrificial fire. Fire plays an
important role in many rituals, particu-
larly that of arati, in which lamps are
waved before the image of a divinity as
an offering of light. Agni also serves as
the divine witness to the single action
widely believed to seal a marriage. This
is agnipradakshinam, in which the
bride and groom make seven revolu-
tions around a lamp or fire. Even on the
most prosaic level, fire is still essential to
daily life since most Indians continue to
cook over an open flame—whether coal,
wood, dung, or bottled gas. This every-
day utility, combined with his abiding
ritual presence, have assured Agni a
continuing presence in Hindu life.Agni Akhara
The name of a particular subgroup of
the Naga class of the Dashanami
Sanyasis, a particular type of renunciant
ascetic. The Dashanami Nagas are devo-
tees (bhakta) of the god Shiva, orga-
nized into different akharas or
regiments on the model of an army.
Until the beginning of the nineteenth
century, the Nagas’ primary occupation
was as mercenary soldiers, although
they also had substantial trading inter-
ests; both of these occupations have
largely disappeared in contemporary
times. The Agni akhara is a subunit of
the Juna akhara, one of the largest and
oldest of the Naga akharas.
The Agni akhara’s membership is
very different from that of the other
established akharas. Whereas the other
Naga Sanyasi akharas will accept men
from all levels of society—in some cases
even the lowest status group, the shu-
dras—the Agni akhara admits only
unmarried brahminswho have been
lifelong celibates. Perhaps as a conse-
quence of their more exclusive member-
ship criteria, the Agni akhara is the only
Dashanami Naga akhara that has no
naked (naga) ascetics. All of its members
remain fully clothed during the proces-
sion for their bath at the Kumbha Mela.Agni AkharaDepiction of the god Agni. Agni is identified with
fire and is believed to be present in all fires,
along with lightning and the sun.