Agni is closely associated with Indra, and is sometimes said to be his twin brother. Thus Dyaus Pita and Prthivi are named as two of his parents. But he has many more. Sometimes Kasyapa and Aditi are his parents; another time he is the son of a queen who keeps his birth secret from her king. He was born, like Indra, in full power and vigor. Agni is also said to be the son of ten mothers who are all sisters; these are the ten fingers of man. Another story tells that he consumed his parents when he was born, as they could not provide for him; this is symbolic of the fire born when two sticks are rubbed together which quickly are burned up by it. Dawn and Night are his sisters, his wife is Svaha, and he is the father of Karttikeya.
When Agni was born, the gods conspired to establish a sacrifice. And they wanted Agni to became their priest, they wanted him to give this sacrifice. But he was afraid, "When I lift up the sacrifice and sacrificial fire burned down, then will end my life." And he ran and hid from the gods in the waters. But when Agni disappeared, cheered demons, because there wasn't any lights on the Earth, that overlocked the darkness of the night, and the night was given to the demons in undivided ownership. "We must find Agni", - said the gods leaded by Varuna, the lord and ruler of the night and water, and went in search of. A fish issued residence of the god Agni - she was concerned about the heat that spreaded in the water. In anger Agni cursed her - and by the power of his curse since that time the fish become the prey for people who use it as food. Varuna called Agni: "Come back! Manu, who had escaped from the flood, should accomplish the sacrifice to continue the human race on the Earth. Who besides you exalt his sacrifice to the gods? Come, O Agni! "Agni said:" There was sacrificial fires on Earth who died. I ran like a buffalo from the hunter's arrow because of fear of death. I'll be back, if you give me immortality. " The gods said, "You will our immortal priest, O Agni, Brahma is mercy. You will always be revered in rituals and the victim will belong to you. The universe will forever honor you. " Agni returned and along with his brother Soma he becomed the lord of sacrifices.
When Agni is described in anthropomorphic form, he sometimes has two faces which are smeared with butter. He has seven fiery tongues and sharpened, golden teeth. He is red in color, with black eyes and wild, black hair. He has seven arms and three legs, and seven rays of light emanate from his body. He either rides on a ram, or on a chariot, pulled by goats or sometimes parrots.
Agni loves all his worshipers equally, and so is loved in turn by all of them. He visits everyone's hearth, no matter if they are rich or poor. He is the mediator between the gods and mankind. He is a great consumer of Soma. When people use fire, they must face it toward the proper direction for different uses. When facing East, the fire should be used for sacrifices to the gods; when facing South, the fire should be used for sacrifices to the Manes or spirits of the dead; a cooking fire should always face toward the West. The proper offering to Agni, and hence all the gods, is ghee, which is clarified butter. Agni also had the power to impart immortality on mortals, as well as remove all sins at the time of one's death.
