This light, the best of lights, the most excellent -- Rigveda

Many millennia before recorded history -- in the Eolithic, Palaeolithic and the Neolithic eras -- man, like the other species, lived in caves and forests. He wandered about hunting and, when no game was killed, he ate such wild fruits and roots as were available to satisfy his hunger. He seldom could venture out after sunset. Darkness was to him a demon, and the Sun, the giver of light, a deity.

With the passage of time, he made another discovery, fire. Fire, he found, was light-giving and life-sustaining. Man, therefore, saw fire as a deity, as Agni.

The Rigveda gives the greatest importance to Agni. He is next only to Indra, his twin brother. The terrestrial flame, the aerial flash and the celestial globe are the three forms of Agni. Born of aranees, i.e. igniting sticks, this god banishes darkness, frightens the demons and invokes the light. He is the supreme counsellor, ancient but eternally young.

I glorify Agni, the high priest of sacrifice -- Rigveda

The Rigveda describes Agni as the only master of the house and village and of sacrifice. He has flaming teeth; ghee and wood are his food. He is omniscient (jatavedasa); a poet; an immortal mediator (duta) between man and the Gods. He conveys to them the yajna offerings and he upholds domestic life. Vedic literature is full of reverent prayers to Agni.

We similarly find a number of hymns devoted to the Sun-God, Agni’s celestial form. The Vedas credit Bhrigu with the discovery of Agni around whom was built the sacrificial altar.

This is the light immortal amongst mortals -- Rigveda

The flaming sacrificial altar in the ashramas of the rishis was the focus of faith during the Vedic times. It has witnessed great philosophic seminars which produced the Brahmanas, the Upanishads and the Sanhitas. The cultural tradition of ancient India has thus its genesis in the spark of the yajna-vedi. This spark later assumed the form of a lamp.

Among the light of fire, the light of the Sun, the light of the Moon, this lamp is the best of lights -- Skandapurana

With the deepa, the lamp, begins a new chapter in civilization, that which may be called the Deepa-yuga.

The lamp is born from the Sun. As a symbol of Surya and Agni, the lamp has always been deemed auspicious. It was dutifully and religiously offered to Him who bestowed it upon mankind. The lamp was indispensable for prayer. It was a sacred token of devotion, supplication and benediction. The gods were believed to dwell by the light of the holy lamp. Its very existence helped man to shed the fear of the dark. To man, light was knowledge.

The lamp was sacred; and once its august function was gratefully accepted my man. It was but natural that he should try to adorn it with beauty and grace, that he should make Sundara what was Siva. The body of the lamp, to begin with, was of stone or shell. Later came the innovation of terracotta lamps and then metal lamps. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, our two great epics, make extensive reference to lamps of gold and of precious stones.

It is but natural that the lamp should be mentioned in the ancient scriptures and secular writing. Reference to the Vedic and post-Vedic literature has already been made.

(To be continued)