In a celebrated hymn of the Rig-veda attributed to Vasishtha, Indra and other gods are called upon to destroy the Kravyads `the flesh-eaters,' or Rakshas enemies of the gods. Agni himself is also a Kravyad, and as such he takes an entirely different character. He is represented under a form as hideous as the beings he is invoked to devour. He sharpens his two iron tusks, puts his enemies into his mouth and swallows them. He heats the edges of his shafts and sends them into the hearts of the Rakshas.

        "He appears in the progress of mythological personification as a son of Angiras, as a king of the Pitris or Manes, as a Marut, as a grandson of Sandila, as one of the seven sages or Rishis, during the reign of Tamasa the fourth Manu," and as a star. In the Maha-bharata Agni is represented as having exhausted his vigour by devouring too many oblations, and desiring to consume the whole Khindava forest as a means of recruiting his strength. He was prevented by Indra, but having obtained the assistance of Krishna and Arjuna, he baffled Indra and accomplished his object. In the Vishnu Purana he is called Abhimani, and the eldest son of Brahma. His wife was Swaha; by her he had three sons, Pavaka, Pavamana, and Suchi, and these had forty-five sons; altogether forty-nine persons, identical with the forty-nine fires, which forty-nine fires the Vayu Purana endeavours to discriminate. He is described in the Hari-vansa as clothed in black, having smoke for his standard and headpiece, and carrying a flaming javelin. He has four hands, and is borne in a chariot drawn by red horses, and the seven winds are the wheels of him car. He is accompanied by a ram, and sometimes he is represented riding on that animal. The representations of him vary. 

        The names and epithets of Agni are many - Vahni, Anala, Pavaka. Vaiswanara, son of Viswanara, the sun; Abja-hasta, `lotus in hand;’ Dhuma-ketu, 'whose sign is smoke;’ Hutasa or Huta-bhuj, `devourer of offerings;’ Suchi or Sukra, 'the bright;’ Rohitaswa, `having red horses;’ Chhaga-ratha, `ram rider;' Jata vedas (q.v.); Sapta-jihva, 'seven-tongued;' Tomara - dhara, `javelin-bearer.'  

AGNI-DAGDHAS Pitris, or Manes, who when alive kept up the household flame and presented oblations with fire. Those who did not do so were called An-agni dagdhas. See Pitris. 

AGNI PURANA This Purana derives it a name from it having been communicated originally by Agni, the deity of fire, to the Muni Vasishtha, for the purpose of instructing him in the twofold knowledge of Brahma. Its contents are variously specified as " sixteen thousand, fifteen thousand, and fourteen thousand stanzas. " This work is devoted to the glorification of Siva, but its contents are of a very varied and cyclopaedical character. It has portions on ritual and mystic worship, cosmical descriptions, chapters on the duties of kings and the art of war, which have the appearance of being extracted from Some older work, a Chapter on law from the text-book of Yajnawalkya, some chapters on medicine from the Susruta, and some treatises on rhetoric, prosody, and grammar according to the rules of Pingala and panini Its motley contents " exclude it from any legitimate claims to be regarded as a purana, and prove that it a origin cannot be very remote:" The text of this purana is now in course of publication in the Bibliotheca Indica, edited by Rajendra Lal Mitra.  

AGNISHW ATTAS Pitris or Manes of the gods, who when living upon earth did not maintain their domestic fires or offer burnt-sacrifices. According to some authorities they were descendants of Marichi. They are also identified with the seasons. See Pitris. 

AGNIVESA A sage, the son of Agni, and an early writer on medicine. 

AHALYA Wife of the Rishi Gautama, and a very beautiful woman. In the Ramayana it is stated that she was the first woman made by Brahma, and that he gave her to Gautama. She was seduced by Indra, who had to suffer for his adultery. One version of the Ramayana represents her as knowing the god and being flattered by his condescension; but another version states that the god assumed the form of her husband, and so deceived her. Another story is that Indra secured the help of the moon, who assumed the form of a cock and crowed at midnight. This roused Gautama to his morning's devotions, when Indra went in and took his place. Gautama expelled Ahalya from his hermitage, and deprived her of her prerogative of being the most beautiful woman in the world, or, according to another statement, he rendered her invisible. She was restored to her natural state by Rama and reconciled to .her husband. This seduction is explained mythically by Kumarila Bhatta as Indra (the sun's) carrying away the shades of night-the name Ahalya, by a strained etymology, being made to signify `night;'  

AHI `A serpent.’ A name of Vritra, the Vedic demon of drought: but Ahi and Vritra are sometimes " distinct, and mean, most probably, differently formed clouds."-Wilson. 

AHI-CHHATRA, AHI-KSHETRA A city mentioned in the Mahabharata as lying north of the Ganges, and as being the capital of Northern PanchaIa. It is apparently the Adisadra of Ptolemy, and its remains are visible near Ram-nagar. 

AINDRL 'Son of Indra.' An appellation of Arjuna. AIRAVATA. 'A fine elephant' An elephant produced at the churning of the ocean, and appropriated by the god Indra. The derivation of this name is referred to the word lravat, signifying, produced from water.' He is guardian of one of the points of the compass. See Loka-paIa. 

AlTAREYA The name of a Brahmana, an Aranyaka, and an Upanishad" of the Rig-veda. The Brahmana has been edited and translated by Dr. Haug; the text of the Aranyaka has been published in the Bibliotheca Indica by Rajendra LaIa, and there is another edition. The Upanishad has been translated by Dr. Roer in the same series. " The Aitareya Aranyaka consists of five books, each of which is called Aranyaka. The second and third books form a separate Upanishad, and a still further subdivision here takes place, inasmuch as the four last sections of the second book, which are particularly consonant with the doctrines of the Vedanta system, pass as the Aitareyopanishad. "-Weber. 

AJA 'Unborn.' An epithet applied to many of the gods. A prince of the Solar race, sometimes said to be the son of Raghu, at others the son of Dilipa, son of Raghu. He was the husband chosen at her swayam-vara by Indumati, daughter of the Raja of Vidarbha, and was the father of Dasaratha and grandfather of Rama. The Raghu-vansa relates how on his way to the swayam-vara he was annoyed by a wild elephant and ordered it to be shot. When the elephant was mortally wounded, a beautiful figure issued from it, which declared itself a gandharva who had been transformed into a mad elephant for deriding a holy man. The gandharva was delivered, as it had been foretold to him, by Aja, and he gave the prince some arrows, which enabled him to excel in the contest at the swayam-vara. When Dasaratha grew up, Aja ascended to Indra's heaven.  

AJAGAVA The 'primitive bow' of Siva, which fell from heaven at-the birth of Prithu. 

AJAMILA A Brahman of Kanauj, who married a slave and had children, of whom he was very fond.  

AJATA-SATRU ' One whose enemy is unborn.' I. A king of Kasi, mentioned in the Upanishads, who was very learned, and, although a Kshatriya, instructed the Brahmin Gargya-balaki. 2. A name of Siva. 3. Of Yudhi-shthira. 4. A king of Mathura who reigned in the time of Buddha. 

AJAYA-PALA Author of a Sanskrit vocabulary of some repute.  

AJIGARTTA A Brahman Rishi who sold his son Sunah- Sephas to be a sacrifice. 

AJITA ' Unconquered'. A title given to Vishnu, Siva, and many others. There were classes of gods bearing this name in several Manwantaras.  

AKRURA A Yadava and uncle of Krishna. He was son of Swa-phalka and Gandini. It was he who took Krishna and Rama to Mathura when the former broke the great bow. He is chiefly noted as being the holder of the Syamantaka gem.  

AKSHA The eldest son of Ravana, slain by Hanuman. Also a name of Garuda.  

AKSHAMALA A name of Arundhati (q.v.) 

AKULI An Asura priest. See Kilatakuli  

A KUPARA A tortoise or turtle. The tortoise on which the earth rests. 

AKUTI A daughter of Manu Swayambhuva and Sata-rupa, whom he gave to the patriarch Ruchi. She bore twins, Yajna and Dakshi11A, who became husband and wife and had twelve sons, the deities called Yamas.  

ATAKA The capital of Kuvera and the abode of the gandharvas on Mount Meru. It is also called Vasu-dhara, Vasu-sthalf, and Prabha.

ALAKA-NANDA One of the four branches of the river Ganga, which flows south to the country of Bharata. This is said by the Vaishnavas to be the terrestrial Ganga, which Siva received upon his head.  

ALAMBUSHA A great Rakshasa worsted by Satyaki in the great war of the Maha-bharata, -and finally killed by Ghatotkacha. He is said to be a son of Rishyasringa..  

ALAYUDHA A Rakshasa killed after a fierce combat by Ghatotkacha in the war of the Maha-bharata (Fauche, ix. 278).

AMARA-KANTAKA 'Peak of the immortals.' A place of pilgrimage in the tableland east of the Vindhyas.  

AMARA-KOSHA This title may be read in two ways- 'the immortal vocabulary,' or, more appropriately, 'the vocabulary of Amara or Amara Sinha.'  "The oldest vocabulary hitherto known, and one of the most celebrated vocabularies of the classical Sanskrit. " It has been the subject of a great number of commentaries. The text has been often printed. There is an edition published in India with an English interpretation and annotations by Colebrooke, and the text with a French translation has been printed by Deslongchamps. 

AMARA SINHA The author of the vocab1ilary called Amara-kosha. He was one of the nine gems of the court of Vikrama. (See Nava-ratna.) Wilson inclines to place him in the first century B.C. Lassen places him about the middle of the third century A. D., and others incline to bring him down later. 

AMARAVATI The capital of Indra's heaven, renowned for its greatness and splendour. It is situated somewhere in the vicinity of Meru. It is sometimes called Deva-pura, `city of the gods,' and Pusha-bhasa, `sun-splendour.' 

AMARESWARA 'Lord of the immortals.' A title of Vishnu, Siva, and Indra. Name of one of the twelve great lingas.

Previous     Next