Indra gave the “air of life” to men; Agni symbolized the “vital spark”, the principle of life in animate and inanimate Nature; he was in man, in beast, and fish; he was in plants and trees; he was in butter and in intoxicating Soma. The gods partook of the nature of Agni. In one of the post-Vedic Creation myths he is identified with the Universal soul; Brahma existed in the form of Agni ere the worlds were framed and gods and men came to be. Agni was made manifest in lightning, in celestial sun flames, in the sacred blaze rising from the altar and in homely household fires. The fire god was the divine priest as contrasted with Indra, the divine warrior. In the Vedic invocations there are evidences that several myths had gathered round the fascinating and wonderful fire god. One hymn refers to him as a child whose birth was kept a secret; his mother, the queen, concealed him from his sire; he was born in full vigour as a youth, and was seen sharpening his weapons at a distance from his home which he had forsaken.[66] Sometimes he is said to have devoured his parents at birth: this seems to signify that he consumed the fire sticks from which holy fire was produced by friction. Another hymn says that “Heaven and Earth (Dyaus and Prithivi) fled away in fear of (the incarnation of) Twashtri when he was born, but they returned to embrace the lion”.[67] [66] _Rigveda_, v, 2. [67] _Rigveda_, i, 95. Agni was also given ten mothers who were “twice five sisters”,[68] but the reference is clearly explained in another passage: “The ten fingers have given him birth, the ancient, well-loved Agni, well born of his mothers”.[69] [68] _Rigveda_, iv, 6. 8. [69] _Rigveda_, iii, 23. 3. Dawn, with its darkness-consuming fires, and starry Night, are the sisters of Agni; “they celebrate his three births, one in the sea, one in the sky, one in the waters (clouds)”. Typical of the Oriental mind is the mysterious reference to Agni's “mothers” owing their origin to him. The poet sings: Who among you hath understood the hidden (god)? The calf has by itself given birth to its mothers. Professor Oldenberg, who suggests that the waters are the “mothers”, reasons in Oriental mode: “Smoke is Agni, it goes to the clouds, the clouds become waters”.[70] [70] _Rigveda_, _i_, 95. 4, and note, Oldenberg's _Vedic Hymns_ (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xlvi). [Illustration: AGNI, THE FIRE GOD _From a painting by Nanda Lall Bose_ (By permission of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta) 7]