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 hid from the gods sent to find Taraka's slayer
• The Birth of the War-GodBearer of the terrible seed❧ 10 min

Stories Featuring Agni

70 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
• Kunti Knows Her SonThe mother who recognised Karna in the arena and stayed silentAdi Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Boons After the BurningIndra comes down onto the ashes of Khandava and offers Arjuna and Krishna each a boon no man can obtainAdi Parva ‧ 12 min
• The Lineages of Gods and DemonsVaishampayana recites the descent of every creature from Brahma and the daughters of DakshaAdi Parva ‧ 22 min
• The Fire That Loved a PrincessWhy no army could take MahishmatiSabha Parva ‧ 16 min
• Nala and DamayantiThe King Who Lost Everything at Dice and Won It BackVana Parva ‧ 24 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 Feast Shibi CookedA brahmana demands the king's son as his meal, and Shibi obeys without changing colourVana Parva ‧ 15 min
• The Gods Ask for RamaAgni pleads before Brahma, and the answer is a king's son and an army of monkeys and bearsVana Parva ‧ 12 min
• Tarkshya Asks SaraswatiWhat a gift is worth, and the one merit a man with nothing can still earnVana Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Children of AgniMarkandeya names the whole family of fires, from the daughters of Angiras to the rivers who mothered themVana Parva ‧ 18 min
• How the Krittikas Took Abhijit's PlaceA star leaves the sky in envy of her elder sister, and the six Krittikas are raised into the empty stationVana Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Lineage of GandivaBrihannala names five sets of weapons and the six who held the great bowVirata Parva ‧ 12 min
• The Consecration of the GrandsireBhishma takes command on two conditions, and the sky rains bloodUdyoga Parva ‧ 16 min
• Arjuna's Message to the KurusSanjaya recites the message in open court, and names every man who will dieUdyoga Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Sacrifice of BattleDuryodhana makes the coming war his own rite, and his father disowns him for itUdyoga Parva ‧ 23 min
• Ghatotkacha and the Javelin of BhagadattaDuryodhana asks to kill a Rakshasa, and a Rakshasa breaks a javelin across his thighBhishma Parva ‧ 24 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
• Sword and Shield Against the PreceptorDhrishtadyumna, stripped of car and bow, dances the twenty-one motions to reach DronaDrona Parva ‧ 17 min
• The One Who Walked Before the CarVyasa tells Arjuna whose lance was breaking the ranks in front of himDrona Parva ‧ 24 min
• The King of the Fire CityAshwatthama kills Nila of Mahishmati, and Arjuna kills three of Karna's brothers in his sightDrona Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Brothers of AvantiTwo kings see Arjuna's horses tire, and one of them walks up to Krishna with a maceDrona Parva ‧ 16 min
• Bhima Carried From the FieldAshwatthama's afternoon after the Narayana weapon, and the shaft that took Bhima's charioteerDrona Parva ‧ 21 min
• The King Names the PairsYudhishthira assigns each Pandava his enemy as Karna's array comes onKarna Parva ‧ 16 min
• Arjuna Rides Out for KarnaThe car is yoked again, the omen birds go on ahead, and the field between Arjuna and Karna breaks into duelsKarna Parva ‧ 23 min
• Arjuna Cuts His Way to KarnaAn army ordered to tire one man before Karna kills himKarna Parva ‧ 21 min
• Karna's Tales of the MadrakasThe abducted woman's curse, the rakshasa's ranking of dirt, and a driver who cannot get off the chariotKarna Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Anointing of the War GodEvery god brings a gift to a six-day-old commanderShalya Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Lords of the Waters and the TreasuresBalarama walks the Sarasvati past the fords where Varuna, Kubera, Indra and Surya won what they holdShalya Parva ‧ 18 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 Road of WorksBrahman and the first Rishis stand a thousand years on the shore, and sacrifice is foundedShanti Parva ‧ 22 min
• The Sudra Who Gave a Hundred ThousandBhishma sets out the duties of the four orders, and names the servant whose sacrifice is still rememberedShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• Does Consciousness SurviveYudhishthira asks whether anyone is left awake in the emancipate state, and Bhishma answers out of the Sankhya of KapilaShanti Parva ‧ 22 min
• The Signs of Approaching DeathYajnavalkya tells the king of Mithila which door the soul leaves by, and how a man learns that his year has begunShanti Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Curses of the RishisKrishna names the marks that Brahmanas left on gods, seas and mountainsShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Three Born of the FireBhrigu, Angiras and Kavi rise from a libation, and three gods claim themAnushasana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Names That Cleanse SinAsked what destroys sin, Bhishma answers with a litany of gods, rivers, mountains, sages and kingsAnushasana Parva ‧ 15 min
• Tandi and the Ten Thousand YearsA rishi meditates for a hundred centuries, sees Mahadeva, and hymns him as the end of all five roadsAnushasana Parva ‧ 20 min
• What Sends a Man to Heaven or HellBhishma on gifts, the Sraddha, and the two lists of deedsAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Brahmanas Who Deserve WorshipNarada tells Krishna whom he bows to, and Bhishma tells a king what it costs to forgetAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• Gifts Under the Lunar MansionsNarada tells Devaki what to give under each star, and the gods ask Brahman for ground to stand onAnushasana Parva ‧ 23 min
• Flowers, Incense, and LampsThe goddess Earth tells Krishna what a household owes each day, and Shukra tells Bali which flowers belong to which beingsAnushasana Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Mysteries of Religion, Part OneThe deities, the Pitris and the Rishis each give up a duty whose reason is secretAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Child Who Stopped Indra's ArmA boy on Uma's lap holds the thunderbolt in the airAnushasana Parva ‧ 15 min
• Why Gold Is the Highest GiftThe metal born with the war godAnushasana Parva
• 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
• Kamyaka Forestकाम्यक वन
• Kundinapuraकुंडिनपुर
• Kosalaकोसल
• Himavatहिमवत्
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• The Oceanसमुद्र
• Alamva Lakeआलम्ब
• Gandhamadanaगन्धमादन
• Banks of the Yamunaयमुना तट

Related Characters

Others counted among the Divine Beings.

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