Agni

Quick Facts

About Agni

The carrier of oblations, mouth of the gods and eater of every sacrifice. Surfeited by Swetaki's twelve-year rite he begged to consume the Khandava forest, and when Indra's rains defeated him he obtained Krishna and Arjuna as his protectors, repaying them with the Gandiva, an inexhaustible pair of quivers and the ape-bannered car.

In Their Words

Feed me this forest whole, and I shall arm you both for every war to come.

Agni

Traits

• Ravenous
• Radiant
• Bargaining
• Tireless

Story Appearances

• When Gods Made WarThe fire that ate the forest with Arjuna and Krishna as guards❧ 18 min
• When Fire Hid From the WorldThe god who fled into the waters when outshone
• The Birth of the War-GodBearer of the terrible seed❧ 10 min

Stories Featuring Agni

32 further tales on this site name Agni, in canonical reading order.

• The Elephant and the TortoiseTwo brothers who could not divide a houseAdi Parva ‧ 16 min
• The King Who Made Fire SickTwelve years of butter and the appetite it ruinedAdi Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Bow Out of the WaterWhat Varuna kept until two men needed itAdi Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Fire That Loved a PrincessWhy no army could take MahishmatiSabha Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Blind King Counts the OddsA father adds up his enemies and hears whose fault it wasVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Damayanti Alone in the ForestHalf a garment, a hunter, and a road out through strangersVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• Rudra's Share and the Sinking EarthTwo quarrels over what may be given away, on the Kalinga shoreVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Road to Yama's CountryWhat each gift becomes on the walk after deathVana Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Fire That ResignedTwo gods each insisting the other keep the officeVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Devasena and the Husband Not Yet BornA rescue on the Manasa hills and a promise the gods had to invent someone to keepVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• Swaha and the Six DisguisesThe wives who were punished for a child that was never theirsVana Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Thunderbolt and the Seizers of ChildrenWhat came out of the wound, and the bargain that followedVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Boons of Visrava's SonsThree brothers ask Brahma for different thingsVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Testimony of the ElementsWhat Rama said when she was brought back to himVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Consecration of the GrandsireBhishma takes command on two conditions, and the sky rains bloodUdyoga Parva ‧ 16 min
• One Man Against an Army of the NightAshwatthama burns a full akshauhini of Ghatotkacha's rakshasasDrona Parva ‧ 16 min
• Kurukshetra Day 15: The Day the Teacher DiedFrom the Dawn Prayers to the Half-Truth at NoonDrona Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Weapon That Would Not Burn ThemAshwatthama's fire, and why it left two men standingDrona Parva ‧ 21 min
• The One Who Walked Ahead of the ChariotArjuna finally asks who has been winning his battlesDrona Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Anointing of the War GodEvery god brings a gift to a six-day-old commanderShalya Parva ‧ 21 min
• Why Rudra Broke the SacrificeKrishna explains who really emptied the campSauptika Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Day the Rod VanishedWhat happened to the world when Chastisement disappearedShanti Parva ‧ 20 min
• Bali in the Nooses of VarunaThe prisoner who would not be mocked, and the god who let him beShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• Fortune Changes SidesWhy Sri deserted the asuras, told on a bank of the GangaShanti Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Four Shares of a SinWho agreed to carry a quarter of Indra's guilt, and what it cost themShanti Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Wind Answers the Thousand-Armed KingKartavirya boasts, and an invisible voice begins to argueAnushasana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Naked Priest of VaranasiHow a king outbid Indra for a brother nobody wantedAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 31 min
• The Fires Inside the BodyA wife asks what her husband's stillness is worthAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Eight Who Questioned BrahmaThe ladder from the Unmanifest down to a bodyAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Earrings of MadayantiA pupil grown old, and a bargain with a man-eating kingAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Fire That Was Not UnholyYudhishthira Accuses Agni of IngratitudeAshramavasika Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Omens of DwarakaA City Watches Its Own Death ApproachMausala Parva ‧ 17 min

Character Arc

1. 1The SurfeitTwelve years of clarified butter leave him sick with pallor
2. 2The Brahmana at the DoorHe begs two mortals to hold off the king of the gods
3. 3The GiftGandiva, the quivers and the celestial car pass to Arjuna

Key Relationships

• Consort➝Swaha
• Benefactor➝Arjuna
• Suppliant of➝Krishna
• Father➝Skanda

Places in Agni's Story

Drawn from the stories Agni appears in.

• Khandava Forestखाण्डव वन
• Indraprasthaइंद्रप्रस्थ
• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• Kshira Sagaraक्षीरसागर
• Alamva Lakeआलम्ब
• Gandhamadanaगन्धमादन
• Banks of the Yamunaयमुना तट
• Forest Hermitageवन आश्रम
• Mount Kailasaकैलास
• Brahmalokaब्रह्मलोक
• Takshashilaतक्षशिला
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र

Related Characters

Others counted among the Divine Beings.

• ❉Krishna
• ◭Hanuman
• ❧Kacha
• ≈Goddess Ganga
• ★The Eight Vasus
• ॐSage Vyasa