Page 333

Alexandr Korol
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Page 333

Post by Alexandr Korol »

Puranas
Agni is the eldest son of Brahma. The Vishnu Purana states that Agni, also called Abhimani, emerged from the mouth of Virat Purusha, the Cosmic Primeval Man. According to another version, Agni appeared from the ritual fire produced by the wife of Dharma (eternal law) named Vasubharya (literally — “daughter of Light”).

Buddhism
Agni appears in many Buddhist canonical texts both as a god and as the personification of the heart or fire”. And for me personally, the association is that this is love. Fire is the heart, it is love. “In Pali literature, he is also called Aggibhaga, Jatavedas, and Vessanara. The Agghi-Vacchagotta Sutta is a philosophical dialogue between the Buddha and a wandering ascetic named Shrenika Vatsagotra. The conversation between the Buddha and Shrenika remains part of a debate that continues in modern Buddhism. This is called the heresy of Shrenika. Shrenika proposed that there exists an eternal Self (Atman) that lives in a temporary physical body and participates in rebirth. In Buddhist traditions, the Buddha taught that there is rebirth and anatman, and that there is no eternal Self. In Pali texts, it is said that Shrenika disagreed and asked the Buddha many questions, to which the Buddha refused to respond, calling the questions indeterminate. The Buddha explained that if he were to answer Shrenika’s questions, it would “confuse” him. The Buddha explains the Dharma using Agni as a metaphor, stating that just as fire is extinguished and no longer exists after being put out, in the same way all skandhas that constitute a person are extinguished after death. Various versions of this dispute are found in the Scriptures of different traditions, such as the Mahaparinibbana Sutta and the Mahaprajnaparamitopadesa.”

“In Tibet, he is one of the fifty-one Buddhist deities found in the mandala of the Medicine Buddha. He also appears in the mandalas of Tibetan Manjushri, where he is depicted alongside Brahma and Indra. Tibetan iconography of Agni closely resembles that of the Hindu tradition, with elements such as red-colored skin, a goat-drawn chariot, conical hair and crown, a beard, a pot with water or fire in one hand, and prayer beads in the other. Such depictions often include Buddhist themes such as the dharma wheel, white conch, golden fish, elephant,