Fire-worshipping
Why do people worship Fire? What does it mean when we look upon Fire as a religious preacher(Purohit) and worship it? And how does the worshipping of Fire shape the lives of some people? Fire worshipping can be a daily practice by anyone. People worship Fire for the many aspects of greatness it portrays, leading people onto the right path in live, displaying the good and intense qualities of Fire. What are the qualities of Fire people should follow? To light someone’s path: Fire is always manifesting the useful qualities(heat and light) of itself, inspiring people to persevere, be determined, and to work hard to become as brilliant as itself. It is selfless to others and lives for only a good cause: to light up someone’s way. The Upward March: One may try to pin the flame of the fire downwards and yet it will slide along the edges gently and smoothly, to continue its upward march. It inspires people to ignore pressure which tries to induce us to lead a lowly life of solely merrying. Whatever be the temptations and provocations, we must ignore it and continue our upward march in the direction of living for good causes. Fire-to-Fire: Any object thrown into fire merges into fire. We should aim to be as great at the Fire such that we can we can be good enough to influence anyone whom we meet along life’s path, to inspire them to live a life of helping others. In this way, a cascading effect of the greatness can be passed on for a greater cause. In the Rising Air: Whenever anything is thrown into the flames of Fire, it will spread itself via a gaseous state in all directions of the atmosphere. Similarly, how much talent and wealth we possess must be used for the well-being of the world, without any discrimination or biasness. Our character should be that of an upright, generous and selfless individual. Genuine concern for the welfare of every sentient being and our environment is what we should be working towards.Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust: The remnants of fire are in the form of fire ash. The ash of Yajna fire applied to the forehead to teach the being of the concept of impermanence in life. Hence, we must use our precious lives for wholesome and selfless tasks, which will not only uplift our moral characters, but also ensures that the wheel of good world welfare activities will continue to spin. These 5 teachings come under the 5 fold Science of Fire (Panchagni Vidya). Thus, man is exhorted to deeply understand these precepts and actually manifest them in his day-to-day dealings with the world True Agnihotra (fire sacrifice ritual) means self-control, sense of service, good behavior, generosity, integrity, ethics and self-creation. In a sense, Agnihotra is a spiritual ‘drama’ which on viewing inspires people to imbibe the above listed virtues. Selfish activities would then be replaced by selfless endeavors for world peace. However, in recent times, it is rare in the world to find Yajna doers and priests performing Agnihotra.
