); that which is but one they
call variously," etc. So x. 114. 5 and the late passage iii. 38. 7,
have reference to various forms of Agni.

Indra had a twofold nature in producing the union of lightning and
Agni; and this made him mysteriously great. But in Agni is found the
first triality, which, philosophically, is interpreted as a trinity.
The fire of the altar is one with the lightning, and, again, one with
the sun. This is Agni's threefold birth; and all the holy character of
three is exhausted in application where he is concerned. It is the
highest mystery until the very end of the Vedic age. This Agni it is
that is the real Agni of the Rig Veda--the new Agni; for there was
probably an Agni cult (as simple fire) long before the _soma_ cult.
Indra and Agni are one, and both are called the slayers of the
demons[1]. They are both united as an indissoluble pair (iii. 12,
etc.). Agni, with, perhaps, the exception of Soma, is the most
important god in the Rig Veda; and it is no chance that gives him the
first place in each family hymn-book; for in him are found, only in
more fortunate circumstances, exactly the same conditions as obtain in
the case of Indra. He appealed to man as the best friend among divine
beings; he was not far off, to be wondered at; if terrible, to be
propitiated. He was near and kind to friends. And as he seemed to the
vulgar so he appealed to the theosophy which permeates the spirit of
the poets; for he is mysterious; a mediator between god and man (in
carrying to heaven the offerings); a threefold unity, typical of
earth, atmosphere, and heaven. From this point of view, as in the case
of Indra, so in the case of Agni, only to a greater extent, it becomes
impossible to interpret Agni as one element, one phenomenon. There is,
when a distinction is made, an _agni_ which is single, the altar-fire,
separate from other fires; but it is seldom that Agni is not felt as
the threefold one.

And now for the interpretation of the modern ritualists. The Hindu
ritual had 'the three fires,' which every orthodox believer was taught
to keep up. The later literature of the Hindus themselves very
correctly took these three fires as types of the three forms of Agni
known in the Rig Veda. But to the ritualists the historical precedence
is inverted, and they would show that the whole Vedic mythological
view of an Agni triad is the result of identifying Agni with the three
fires of the ritual. From this crass method