Sanatan Vaidik Hindu Dharma

What is Dharma?

Sanatan Dharma stands for a system of orderly principles, rules, and laws derived from the theories of truth which were highlighted in the Vedas over thousands of years. It was and is a democratic system of governance that intellectual minds made. There was never a beginning but has a progression of human minds that synthesized this methodical thinking into a way of life. The truth was evaluated in the physical and the philosophical world. With the development of the human mind, the mind in this transformation became a citizen of two worlds, the world of inner ambitions and the world of outer circumstances. The evolutionary process of human habitation stimulated the intellect and started to engage with the universal consciousness in the hope to identify the creator and its creation. The Vedas has placed before society the highest ideals of human life based on virtues and guided the entire humanity by achieving perfect coordination of thoughts and behavior.

This was later called Dharma.

·         The word ‘dharma’ (धर्म) in Sanskrit is derived from the root धृ meaning ‘to hold’, ‘to bear’, ‘to carry’, ‘to support’ or to "sustain.”(धारणात् ) And’ is Mama means ‘my’

·         Hence dharma means; ( Mera Dharan Karna) my upholding, my support, my protection , my  safeguarding my sustenance, my continuation and my preservation.

·         To an average Hindu Dharma then means my upholding, my support, my protection , my  safeguarding my sustenance, my continuation and my preservation of the truth in the Vedas.

·         In the Vedas Dharma is righteousness

To summarize the knowledge of Vedanta, every Hindu as finally adopted the teachings and call it his own Dharma. Therefore no Hindu is the same for the follows his Dharma by the ancestral gene that dictated his decision.  He is given that democratic right to select his dharma according to the standing order in a social group. Therefore Hinduism is not a religion that commands a social order but establishes a choice that can be manipulated according to one's needs.

Hindu Prayers

Once Sanatan Dharma found its roots in the Vedic era, rituals became a norm. This ritualistic tradition finally was called Hinduism by the west. Traditionally we are Vedanta’s. Rituals played a very important role in all religions and Vedanta had a mark influence on Hindus. Ultimately prayers had been nominated as a necessity by all religions of the world. Some religions are based on a social order, a few are for values of life that one should live for in harmony with fellow humans and various others are philosophy of life based on the theory of truth. Prayers accordingly had different approaches to one's believes. Some prayers are recited in the praise of the lord while a number of them are based on a request for desires. Intellectuals prayed to the creator to stimulate their intellects so that they could take the right action at the right time and the thinkers asked for knowledge with the aim of finding salvation, moksha or mukti from their creator. Hindus have a ritualistic prayer incorporating a basic ceremony passed on from generation to generation.

The five main Vedic deities who are mainly Nature gods and who have touched the cycle of life of man are:

1.     Surya- Sun God
2.   Varuna- God of Water
3.     Indra- king of Gods
4.   Vayu- God of Winds
5.     Agni- God of Fire

Hindu prayer ritual

Hindus of today worship the five Vedic Nature gods in a prayer ritual, invoking the Soul (Jivatman). The faith and respect in the worship of these Vedic gods go as far back as 12 000 years.

•        Hindus always face the east to acknowledge the rising Sun.
•       By making a tiluck on the foreheads of idols or pictures of a family deity (Ishtadev)          Idradevs power is evoked.
•        In lighting the lamp (Deepak) one evokes Agnidev, the true spirit.
•       We also confirm the presence of Vayudev by lighting an agaratti, loban or camphor,      evoking his ability to take our day’s message to the Lord.
•      By putting a tiluk, swastika or Aum on the container of water one evokes Varunadev. This is to confirm the truth that Vedas worship. Truth is infinite and timeless

By doing these rituals, we evoke the supreme Soul (Paramatma) or the one God who is ageless, formless and sexless. With praises to the Lord, repeating mantras and approaching to the end of the ritualistic worship of the Lord we perform the aarti.

Life on planet earth is biological excellence, terraforming a lonely planet to designed parameters of a creator that produced self-replicating creations. The human life is created in its image hence it represents the creators objective to obtain the desired purpose.

• Life on earth is made up of intelligence, energy and matter, the mortal or physical plane. 
• In the absence of matter i.e. Intelligence and energy, life is defined in the the immortal or astral plane
• In the absence of energy and matter i.e. intelligence only, life is defined in the divine or celestial plane
• Life can only exist if consciousness is activated giving intelligence a platform to interact

 Having translated the prayer ritual to the scientific world. The repetitions of names, obedience to rituals and meditation on symbols, reading of scriptures or holy books are for the purification of our soul (Jivatman). With a purified soul, our consciousness is activated reaching the expanded form of consciousness in becoming one with Parabrahma or Paramatma

Lighting a Deya has become a ritual in all Hindu prayers.

Candlelight imitates the Deya

Candlelight 

Many religions of the world lights a candle for numerous reasons on various occasions or by ritualistic traditions. It is becoming synonymous with the Hindu lamp (Deya) which has symbolized sacrifice, energy, knowledge and a medium of communication with our creator. A flame, then, represents the energy vibration which will ultimately communicate with our creator for its final verdict or blessing. Hence, this tradition contains a wealth of intellectual and spiritual significance. The world will unite with a candle light which simply contains the matter that mother earth had been formed with. The candle has grown up to be a symbol of enlightenment; it illuminates spirits, minds and hearts in every culture, scripture and mythology. Candles emit positive energy and convey to the universe your intentions.  It is composed of mineral wax and the cotton fiber.

Candles

A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax or another flammable solid substance such as tallow that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. It can also be used to provide heat, or used as a method of keeping time. Candles have evolved parallel to the human settlements and finally science has given it a more acceptable place in history.

In the mid-1850s, James Young succeeded in distilling paraffin wax from coal and oil shales at Bathgate in West Lothian and developed a commercially viable method of production. Paraffin could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish-white wax, burned cleanly, and left no unpleasant odour, unlike tallow candles. By the end of the 19th century, most candles being manufactured consisted of paraffin wax and stearic acid.

It is employed to birthdays, romantic dinner parties, death rituals, worshiping of the Lord, light in darkness and in celebrations like Christmas and other religious holidays. The burning of candles for religious causes goes back to ancient times.  Many spiritual worshipers believe that the flame of the candle pierces the veil between the physical and the spiritual world and creates a passageway that allows the participants to be more readily received by those from whom assistance is requested. A candle has been the witness of Religion, Rituals and Romance with the beginning of time.

Birthday cake candles

The candle found its rightful position in the western world on a birthday cake. The birthday celebration is a yearly event that has been enjoyed with a very interesting ritualistic act. On a cake stood a candle or candles and to commence the ritual act, the candle was lit and all the well-wishers singing a wishing lyric for the birthday. The candle or candles were blown out by the birthday celebrator with a huge applause; cheering sounds were echoed for the birthday celebrator by the party gatherers. With the happy cheers, a piece of the cake was given as an offering to the well-wishers and then the rest of the party continued.

One of the Vedic students pointed out as a statistic that the western birthday celebration was a perfect ritual to have acknowledged Agni dev, having taken the blessings of the creator on a birthday. The candle gave out photons and produced a protective aura around the candle having blessed a longer and happier life for the birthday celebrator. The cake then became a blessed offering or Prasad as it stood right under it or in its aura (Urja). The cake was given out as Prasad or blessed offering to all the well-wishers. The only thing he did not agree with was the blowing out of the candle. If the western way of celebrating the birthday was more appealing, then he recommends to all Vedic and Indian followers to leave the candle on the table without blowing it out. Once lit, you must not blow on Agni deva to put it out but let it burn out.

The Vedic way of celebrating a birthday is to invite Agni deva via a Havan or a Yagna and thus Agni deva blesses the birthday celebrator with many types of photons produced by the offering to Agni Deva, called Ahuti. Agni Deva is thus the witness of your auspicious occasion as it leaves a protective aura around its surrounding and for the one who performs the ritual. The candle has now taken the place of the Havan or Yagnas in the contemporary society.

This would allow a portrayal of the creator itself in all our celebrations and performances. The Hindu ritual of lighting a lamp was inherited from Sanatan Vaidik Hindu Dharma and has convinced the populace of a heavenly force which is the custodian of this planet earth and still by lighting a candle makes the world obey the ancient customs and the cosmic reality, in the technologically advanced world. Ceremonies and celebrations are in a man’s blood. A celebration, sacrifice, worship or a ritual when turned inward means cosmic identification and awareness.

The light of a Hindu lamp (Deya) or a candle is a divine messenger of our creator, devoted to spiritual energy (Urja). Lighting a Deya or a candle daily in your homes, will invite the messenger who would be waiting to take the days massages to your creator or god. This will empower the sadness and happiness that you are to face with, giving you peace and joy for the day.

The Scientific Reality of a Flame

Flame

In quantum physics, light is described in a wave and a particle form. The wave particle duality has been contested and experimented by many physicist and have excepted the resulting results that light behaves in both forms, as waves and particles. Consciousness is the only witness to this reality.

If we were to find the different frequencies of light generated by different mediums then we will be able to find the different energies of the photons. It will be interesting to compare the ancient Hindu believe of different lamps and as to why?

 Formula: E = h f where: E = Energy of the photon (in Joules) h = Constant, actually known as Planck's constant, equals 6.62606957 × 10-34 m2 kg / s.. f = frequency of the light in units of per seconds (1/seconds)

Science of a flame

The candle flame is studied the most, and it is important to know its attributes as they are similar to the Deya or Deepam

Symbolism in Hinduism of a flame in a Deya

The Deya is the central theme of Hindu prayers and each part of the Deya is symbolised with the Vedic Deities and the Panchmahaboot. It is interesting to note how traditions and rituals promoted these Vedic teachings in symbolism. The Deya or Deepam or the Hindu lamp stood the test of time in the continuation of the Vedic teachings. In the study of the Deya it takes me back in the mystic past. The Indians knew some amazing things but just dint knows how to pass it on scientifically to the common man. So they made them into mythological stories .Mythology creates faith and makes the mind practical .Now it is just the way you look at it, Religious or Scientific.

 The five  tatvas, which we experience as qualities in the body and in all matter, are: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether (Panchmahaboot). These five earthly tattvas are qualities in our senses and in the world. A Tattva is vibration of ether. Pancha Bhoota or Pancha Maha-Bhoota (Sanskrit: पञ्चभूत, पञ्चमहाभूत ) , five great elements, also five physical elements, is a group of five basic elements, which, according to Hinduism, is the basis of all cosmic creation.

In Hinduism, Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति; from Sanskrit shak, "to be able"), also spelled as Sakthi, meaning "power" or "empowerment" is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe. Ghee or clarified butter is an element of Shakti and as a consistent energy source which is used as a fuel in the Deya

Prakṛti. Prakṛti, also Prakṛiti or Prakṛuti (from Sanskrit language प्रकृति,prakṛti), means "nature". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by its Samkhya School, and refers to the primal matter with three different innate qualities (Guṇas) whose equilibrium is the basis of all observed empirical reality. All plants store energy and that stored energy can be used by burning it. The cotton fiber also has that stored energy which burns when lighted. The cotton fiber is thus an element of nature.

 Conduction Convection and Radiation is thermal energy and the flame persuades its scientific reality. The Hindus regarded this energy as Spiritual energy termed as URJA and is ritualistically dedicated to Agni Deva. The Deya or the Hindu lamp personifies a spiritual worship by representing the aura of the flame that would occupy the conscious mind, body and soul with the universal consciences.

URJA means Spiritual energy. The term energy has been widely accepted by writers and thinkers of various forms of spirituality and alternative medicine. Many references are made in conceiving this as   “fields” surrounding the earth, any living thing or energy and matter, supposed to be directly visible and accessible to the human mind as “auras”, “rays”, “fields” or “vibrations 

The original homogeneous energy from creation is often called Akasha in Indian philosophy and modern occult circles. This is the residence of Urja. In alchemy and other incarnations of the Perennial Tradition it is termed the Secret Fire ( Agni Deva). This elemental psychic energy is completely instinctual and unconscious and is heavily influenced by spiritual, psychic, and psychological phenomena. One of the major functions of the Secret fire is to increase human self-awareness. At the lowest level, this is the ego, at its highest, it is the Higher Self.

Meditation on a Flame in Jewish Mysticism

Nefesh , Ruach, Neshama Chaya and Yechida  describes the divine soul that involves in five ascending levels of consciousness

An ideal Hindu Deya

Diya

A Diya, Diyo, Deya, divaa, deepa, deepam, or deepak is an oil lamp used in Nepal and India, usually made from clay, with a cotton wick dipped in ghee or vegetable oils.

The Deya (Hindu lamp) thus consisted of three major components,

·         Cotton fiber,

·         Clarified butter or ghee, oil and

·         Earthen container

1 Cotton fibers

It is a vegetable fiber obtained from the mature capsule of the cotton plant. Science has confirmed that all plants have bio photons.  Cotton cultivation first spread from India to Egypt, China and the South Pacific. It was the only versatile vegetable fiber, then existing in India. The fiber has good absorbency, good durability, comfort and soft, cool retention and many more properties that were useful to mankind. The fiber of cotton can be also mounded into a wick. Virtually all parts of the cotton plant are used in some way, including the lint, cottonseed, linters, stalks and seed hulls. It was the single resourceful plant in the liveliness of the Hindus in the early stages of development.

2 Clarified butter or ghee

The clarified butter or ghee is a kind of oil (fat) used for religious purposes and for food. Ghee is made by melting butter, cooking off the water and separating the pure, golden butter fat from the milk solids. Another advantage of ghee is that it is under a longer shelf life than ordinary butter. Traditionally, ghee is always made from cow's milk. Milk is the most sacred liquid serviceable to mankind. The mammals produce milk for their offspring’s and it’s so nutritious that we are farming milk from cows feeding many undernourished people and children. Milk substitutes meat in all its values without killing the animals.

When the milk is kept longer, it goes sour following the law of nature. The curdled milk is used to produce butter. In olden days, the milk maids use to hand churn and collected the butter from the summit. It was the fat in the milk that was collected as cream. At every stage, the milk is good for mankind. A cow has remained a frequent companion throughout the civilization of mankind and many spiritual attributes are given to the cow in the Hindu religion. Ghee has served in every stage of Hindus life and the most recommended oil for devotional prayers and food.

From practical experiences Hindus concluded that different oils had dissimilar flames and held the ghee lamp to be the best that had divine qualities. Very convincing according to science, those atoms of different molecules will give dissimilar photons or light produced by different matter is not the same.

The oil lamp generates subtle armour of inferior quality around the worshipper while ghee lamp generates subtle armour of superior quality. The subtle frequencies emitted from the oil lamp activate the Mind-energy (Manashakti) of the worshipper whereas the subtle frequencies emanating from the ghee lamp activates soul energy of the worshipper.

 Though the use of ghee is recommended because of its capacity to emit maximum sattva frequencies, we can use sesame oil lamp if the use of ghee is not possible. The lamp with sesame oil is comparatively more sattvik. Sattvik is a quality of nature or matter or of components in the universe signified by purity to balance an action which is guided by cosmic wisdom and that which is of goodness developing real knowledge or truth.

3. Clay

Clay was the leading resourceful material used by early humans in their everyday life. Life on earth depends on matter and the use of matter in human life is not just the continuation but also of existence.  Potters accumulates the clay, removes all the gems and shapes it into the required pattern on the potter’s wheel. When sun dried, it is baked in a kiln at a high temperature, which removes all the water from the clay, inducing reactions that lead to enduring changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape. Around 5000 B.C., the potter's wheel was invented, probably by the Sumerians in the Tigris-Euphrates basin or the Chinese. Hindus picked up this art and made numerous useful artifacts that were used for worshipping the creator. Clay was the principal matter that again touched the lives of early humans. The Hindus believed that the finished shape of the clay lamp is blessed with the sun (Surya deva) and fire ( Agni deva)

The clay is replaced by pure metals like gold, silver or copper. Copper is the recommended metal for Hindu ritual ceremonies and prayers, alloys of cooper like brass is also used to give it the imitation look of gold. 

The birth of a Deya (Hindu lamp) 

   

When an individual chooses the three most informative and Sattvic ingredient, the cotton fiber, the ghee and rested in the earthenware, a lamp is fixed. With the help of Agni Deva, the tip of the wig will burn into a bright flame giving light. This flame is so unique and pure or sattvic that it has taken a place of God’s altar in worshiping the Creator. This ritual has stood the test of time and the Hindus confirm this, by lighting the lamp, as the most auspicious unit in their lives. The photons that are produced in this combination have many divine powers and it became a messenger to god or our creator. The aura of this flame is divine and is created as a blessed messenger of the creator.

Different Wicks made of Cotton, Lotus steam thread and Banana stem are also used for a Deya. It is prescribed to light up the lamp with cow ghee but  Sesame Oil ,Coconut Oil , Til oil and some mixtures of oils is also used to fix a lamp. Clay lamps are widely used for spiritual rituals and the significance of clay lamp is extreme in all kinds of prayers and devotional religious customs. Silver lamp, gold lamp, brass lamp and copper lamps are also commonly used.  But none of them use Iron and steel

With the pure cotton fiber, pure ghee (it still represents animal fat) and a vessel made with the element of mother earth, the purest of all is copper, would produce an illumination which will vibrate the universal consciousness with the Sattvic reality linking our creator to its life on earth (matter). Ghee lamp has also an ability to attract the sattvik vibrations present in the surrounding atmosphere and gives spiritual experience of all the Tatvas (Akasha Tattva, Vayu Tattva, Tejas Tattva,  Apas Tattva , Pritvi Tattva) to the worshipper motivating them to higher planes of consciousness.

Philosophy of the Deya (Lamp)

                                  

The Deya is philosophized to inspire the worshipers of its creation, preservation and dissolution. The cotton fiber and the ghee scarified themselves, giving light to many a dark night. Clay pot witnesses this sacrifice. It seemed as though only the mother earth's lap was available to receive the final abode with such a sacrifice.  It was this pure light that eradicated the darkness, offering services to those in need. Taking note of the fact that a lamp made of pure ghee gives a flame without soot and considered the most sattvic (spiritually pure) entity. The lamp is the greatest symbol of scarifies, instructing our lives that the true sacrifice springs from the recognition of the ego with the ultimate and thus represents the universal vibration recognized as AUM or OM arising from the voids of an agitated atoms by the heat of the fire.

Light

Every major world religion speaks a language of light.

In the Brahmarahasya Upanisha it is pronounced;

• Brahma is the Light of lights.
• He is self-luminous.
• He is Supreme Light. 
• He is the ultimate light. 
• He is just an embodiment of light. 
• By His light all else shines.

Light in Hinduism is revered as a God. Diwali is the festival of lights when a billion Hindus. Sikhs and Jains light lanterns and small earthen lamps; lights awaken awareness of God and the triumph of good over evil

.

Genesis 1:3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

"God is light and in Him there is no darkness." (1 John 1:5)

Muslims speak of Allah as the source of light — inspiring, motivating and leading God's people. (Sarah A-Nur 24:35 one of the most beautiful passages in the Qur'an)

The ancients understood that light was the purest form of energy.  Light not only reveals and measures, but light energizes too, hence a lamp, candle or any form of light is cherished in ceremonies and celebrations within all religions of this modern world.

Light is knowledge 

The brightness of the Deya is further philosophized as knowledge and darkness as ignorance. Knowledge eradicates ignorance. To worship knowledge one stimulates the intellect in the activated consciousness to recognize the creator and its creation. A lamp serves no purpose with the rising sun yet the Hindus light a lamp for all religious ceremonies and rituals. The burning of the lamp is submitted to the true spirit of existence, sustenance, sacrifice, knowledge and cosmic reality. Hence we light the lamp to submit down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of wealth. Knowledge backs all our actions whether good or bad. We therefore have a lamp lit during all auspicious occasions as a witness to our thoughts and actions. In death, it follows us to the cremation grounds and witnesses the final farewell.

 Science of light

A triangular prism dispersing a beam of white light. The longer wavelengths (red) and the shorter wavelengths (blue) are separated.

What is light in simple terms?

Light is a type of energy. It is a form of electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength which can be detected by the human eye. It is a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum and radiation given off by stars like the sun. ... Light exists in tiny energy packets called photons.

What makes light light?

Light is made up of little packets of energy called photons. ... Heat “excites” the electrons inside the atoms and they gain extra energy. This extra energy is then released as a photon. The hotter an object gets, the more photons it gives out.

Fire the sacred mystic element

Fire 

It has been noted that in Hinduism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism’s; the three oldest faiths, are not fire-worshipers, as some westerners wrongly believe. They believe that the elements are pure and that fire represents the cosmic reality, a soul or God's light and wisdom. Hindus through rituals are finite believers in the mysticism and reality of a fire. A study at MIT is still in a process of defining a fire.

Is fire a solid, a liquid, or a gas? By Sarah Jensen

Classical Western philosophers divided the world into four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Early Babylonian astrologers thought so highly of their classification that they assigned one of the elements to each house of the zodiac, designating Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius as fire signs whose members — like their ruling element — were prone to the occasional flare-up.

Though we now recognize not four but 118 elements, the ancients were onto something. “Their system corresponds more or less to our modern concepts of matter: solids, liquids, and gases,” says Jiahao Chen, a postdoctoral associate in chemistry at MIT. “But fire is something else altogether. It is a chemical reaction that happens in a mixture of gases.”

Simply defined, fire is a chemical reaction in a mixture of incandescent gases, typically luminous with intense heat. But candle flames, wood fires, and propane fires aren’t created equal. “What constitutes fire depends on the fuel being burned,” says Chen. “The chemistry of each type of fire is different.” They’re similar to the extent that all fires release energy stored in fuels, and if supplied with enough oxygen and enough time, eventually produce carbon dioxide and water. “That’s the end game,” says Chen. “You can’t get more energy out of it without putting more energy in. All fires eventually burn themselves out, unlike solids, liquids, and gases, which can exist indefinitely in the same state.”

And continuous to say….

Science has come a long way since the early metaphysicists’ attempts to define matter, but the exact nature of fire is not yet completely understood. The unknowns provide atmospheric chemists and engineers research opportunities to isolate the precise chemical processes involved in combustion — and the prospect of impacting the economy and the environment.

FIRE AS A SYMBOL OF EVERYTHING SACRED

According to some records, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism are the two oldest religions of our modern humanity. The Iranians, in their first migration into Iran, were led by the great teacher Zoroaster, who belonged to the same mighty Brotherhood as Manu of the Indic tradition and was a high Initiate of the same Great Lodge, taught by the same primordial Teachers, called the Sons of the Fire.

In ancient times, when Zoroastrians built no temples, possessed no religious imagery and had no books on the teachings of the faith, light served as the focus of their religious practices. Fire (athra / atarsh /atash) was a means of producing light.

Agni Deva (God of fire)

The five main Vedic deities who are mainly Nature gods and who have touched the cycle of life of man are:

1. ·         Surya- Sun God
2. ·         Indra- King of Gods
3. ·         Agni- God of fire
4. ·         Vayu- God of Winds
5. ·         Varuna- God of water

God is conceivably one, but its dimensions are numerous. The various Vedic gods( Deities or Deva) are nothing but the different manifestation of the same reality; of the five Vedic deities, namely Agni Deva is the fire on earth, representing the material or mortal plane. As fire, he is the mouth of the gods and lord of the home (grhapati). It is Agni Deva that is the giver of life, wealth, energy, light warmth and wisdom. In recognition of its role, the Vedas has given Agni the status of a Deva or God, worthy of worship. The Hindu lamp also represents Agni Deva as the prime source of light attached to its use as the premier energy supply for creation. Deya is just an honest representation of Agni Deva.

 Logically concluding that Agni became the prime deity and one would find the first shloka of the Rig Vedas dedicated to Agni.

The first sloka of rig veda:
अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवं रत्वीजम |
होतारं रत्नधातमम ||
अग्निः पूर्वेभिर्र्षिभिरीड्यो नूतनैरुत |

स देवानेह वक्षति ||
अग्निना रयिमश्नवत पोषमेव दिवे-दिवे |
यशसं वीरवत्तमम ||
अग्ने यं यज्ञमध्वरं विश्वतः परिभूरसि |
स इद्देवेषु गछति ||
अग्निर्होता कविक्रतुः सत्यश्चित्रश्रवस्तमः |
देवो देवेभिरा गमत ||
यदङग दाशुषे तवमग्ने भद्रं करिष्यसि |
तवेत तत सत्यमङगिरः ||
उप तवाग्ने दिवे-दिवे दोषावस्तर्धिया वयम |
नमो भरन्त एमसि ||
राजन्तमध्वराणां गोपां रतस्य दीदिविम |
वर्धमानंस्वे दमे ||
स नः पितेव सूनवे.अग्ने सूपायनो भव |
सचस्वा नः सवस्तये ||

 Religious expansion: 

1 I Laud Agni, the chosen Priest, God, minister of sacrifice,
The hotar, lavishest of wealth.
2 Worthy is Agni to be praised by living as by ancient seers.
He shall bring hitherward the Gods.
3 Through Agni man obtaineth wealth, yea, plenty waxing day by day,
Most rich in heroes, glorious.
4 Agni, the perfect sacrifice which thou encompassest about
Verily goeth to the Gods.
5 May Agni, sapient-minded Priest, truthful, most gloriously great,
The God, come hither with the Gods.
6 Whatever blessing, Agni, thou wilt grant unto thy worshipper,
That, Aṅgiras, is indeed thy truth.
7 To thee, dispeller of the night, O Agni, day by day with prayer
Bringing thee reverence, we come
8 Ruler of sacrifices, guard of Law eternal, radiant One,
Increasing in thine own abode.
9 Be to us easy of approach, even as a father to his son: Agni, be with us for our weal.

The element of nature- worship is a marked feature in most of the hymns in the Vedas, which are invocations of different deities. Indra was the favourite god of the Vedic Aryans; almost one fourth of all the hymns in the Rig-Veda are addressed to him and they are among the best in the collection. Next to Indra stands Agni.

The Vedic sages created the institution of sacrificial fires (yadnya) as the point of union of God and man, on the earth. Later that very institution became the central focus of the spread of Vedic culture (sanskruti). A sacrificial fire is the very core of social life and the formation of social organisations. According to the Vedic sages The Supreme God exists in the form of a sacrificial fire. Performing sacrificial fires was their sole code of Righteousness. Somyâg is a sacrifice which is accorded the central focus in the Rugveda. Som represents vision and fire symbolises light. It is because of the sun and the rain that all living beings survive. Food too is generated from them. This being the attitude of Vedic sages towards sacrificial fires .They linked every important action of life to them.

Why we continue lighting a Deya or a candle.

These powers up the final frontier of our creation, preservation and termination on the earthly planet,

·         In the mortal plane, we depend upon matter, intelligence and energy.

·         In the absence of matter, there exists immortality or the astral plane and

·         In the absence of energy and matter its divinity or the divine plane.

 It is another form of energy that takes us closer to our creator. Fire or Agni Deva is one that represents the energy of the finest order for mankind. Shakti is also the manifestation of energy in the female form. The lamp in its optimum brilliance represents Agni Deva as a meaningful entity of worship