Agni :
According to Vedic pantheon, Agni , the god of fire, is a terrestrial deity . He makes up the Vedic triad with Indra and Surya . According to the Vishnu Purana, he is Brahma ‘ s offspring . As per the Puranas , he is son of Angiras . He occupies a position of equal importance for the householder as well as the religious priest, as he warms the homely hearth and also fuels
the sacrificial flame . Agni appears before us in three forms, as the heavenly sun, the lightning in the sky and the fire on earth . He is the scintillating light flickering inside each one of us . His presence removes the evil spirits of fear and darkness, illuminates everything, and brings warmth, prosperity and happiness . He controls heaven and earth because he symbolises the glowing, as well as the burning energy . As the sacrificial fire, Agni purifies and grants immortality to all those who embrace him fearlessly . This quality of Agni relates him to Soma , the Vedic god symbolising amrita , the drink of immortality . It is said that he consumed his parents when he was born because they could not provide for him . This is symbolic of the fire born, when two sticks are rubbed together and then burnt out in the fire itself . Shiva ‘ s son Kartikeya could be born, because Agni alone could carry his seed across the waters .
Agni is reddish in color, has three flaming heads, three legs and seven arms . A garland of fruits adorns his neck and his vehicle is the ram . His three legs denote the three fires, ceremonial, nuptial and sacrificial fires, the three worlds, the divine, the terrestrial and the infernal . He has dark eyes and a black neck . He has flamy red hair and a fiery tongue . Dressed in black, he has a rosary, a sacrificial spoon, and a flaming spear in his hands . The seven winds are the wheels of his chariot which is drawn by red horses . Vayu , the god of the winds is his friend because he provides the breeze needed to fan the flames of Agni. Agni assumes the qualities of other deities too . Like the Sun, he provides light and warmth . He takes on the role of Rudra or Shiva , the destroyer, when he mercilessly burns everything to embers . As Krayavada, armed with two tusks of iron, he lords over the cremation pyre . Agni is also the link between man and god because he receives all divine oblations .
In the Mahabharata, his energy is fully exhausted because of the rich, yagna sacrifices . In the Ramayana , he bears witness to Sita ‘ s chastity . In the Vishnu Purana, he is called Abhimani and is said to be the eldest son of Brahma , married to Swaha and has three sons Pavak , Pavaman and Suchi. Swadha was another wife . Both his wives are invoked while pouring oblations in the fire or making offerings for the Pitris or ancestors . Agni is known some more other names like , Pavak, Anala, Aag,Vaishwanara, etc.