Anupam- The Dreamer

One of the five constituents of nature

In ancient Indian philosophy, the human body (or infact the nature itself) is considered as made up of five basic elements, viz.- Air (Vayu), Water (Apas), Earth (Pritvi), Fire (Agni) and Ether/space (Akash). Lest, we forget, repeat in that order- Air, Water, Earth, Fire and Ether! Not just in the Indian philosophy, but also in the Greek philosophy, most of these elements are considered as the building blocks of nature.

Sometime back, I wrote about the “Ether” or “space” inside the atoms, whether in a human body or outside human body. For those who are interested, here is the link:

Beyond the obvious- the invisible reality! – Anupam- The Dreamer

Now, taking the next step forward, here we dwell upon the enigmatic nature of the most surprising yet interesting element called “fire”! Firstly, how do you define fire? See, the simplest things are the hardest to explain! One could say- fire is energy. Others could say- fire is heat, fire is combustion, fire is divine, and so on….Fire is something we can see and feel, but can never touch. Fire as we see, is not made up of any matter. It exists in the space as it is, carving out its own path, unhindered and incontrollable. We cannot create fire, as it is beyond the domain of humans to create something as basic as “fire”, we can just create/remove the conditions for initiation, sustenance and extinguishment of fire- fuel, oxygen and heat. All 3 are needed for the fire, remove any of the three and it will vanish!

Arguably, nothing in the world is hotter than fire. The temperature in the vicinity reaching thousands and millions of degree Celsius. One can assume “Sun” as a hot ball of fire/energy, with temperatures of the surface reaching as high as 5000-6000^oC. Now, can you imagine what is the temperature of the sun’s core- it is 15,000,000°C i.e. 15 million degrees Celsius!!! To put that in perspective, we on earth, can’t even bear above 50^oC and sun’s core is about 3 lakh times hotter than that! It is difficult to even imagine how much energy is stored in there! This energy is THE ONLY source of energy that is sustaining life 150 million km away on the Earth. Every other source of energy that we use today, like crude oil, gas, wood, etc. has been derived from this source only, in one way or the other. The basic building block of life i.e. food prepared by plants through photosynthesis is also sustained by the “fire energy” that can travel through empty space in the universe!

Probably, this might be the reason why our ancestors considered fire (Agni) as sacred and performed “Yagnas” with it. As renowned author Devdutt Patnaik writes in his book “My Gita”, Yagna was a form of exchange. The “yajamana” offers something to the fire, and then expects something from the deity in return. It is the mechanism of exchange only that sustains life around us. According to him, “yagna” is a reminder of our humanity, because when humans began exchanging, we stepped out of the animal world, because from exchange came ideas of mutuality, reciprocity, expectation, obligation, that shaped culture.

There is one more dimension of the “Yagna” that our forefathers used to believe about, that it is performed for the benefit of the world at large. How could that be so? Isn’t this mind boggling? Think for a while….Because firstly, you have to “give” your best things as offerings like ghee, sweets, food etc. in belief that the benefits of these will multiply manifold and come back to us in bountiful measure. It is because of the simple scientific and logical reason that- Whatever is put into fire, its properties multiply manifold. For example, a red chilli kept in a room in one corner, may not have effect on you like sneezing in the other corner of the same room. But, once you put the same chilli in fire, forget about the room, even people living 2 houses away will start to sneeze frantically (and will utter some “great” words about you 😀 ). A simple fire can enhance the properties of a small red chilli, so if you offer good and pure things to the fire, the benefits will multiply into the environment. Take another example, why do we prepare food in fire or heat it before eating? Again, the reason is the same, because fire enhances the qualities or properties of the ingredients and that’s why it tastes better. Fire is the energy that permeates to the core of the ingredients!

Now, you may wonder that if our body is made up of fire as one of the core ingredients, where is the fire actually? In Ayurveda, it is believed that there is a “jatharagni” that ignites in our stomach when we eat food and which helps to digest the food. I am not kidding, you can go and read more about his stuff online. Even, the soul is often represented by a burning fire inside us! It is difficult to locate the fire, but it is certainly there. You may call that energy or motivation to do great things or inner strength or anything. Kuch to hai….Even there are songs about the same:

ए साला
अभी-अभी हुआ यक़ीन
की आग है मुझमें कही
हुई सुबाह, मैं जल गया
सूरज को मैं निगल गया
रूबरू रोशनी
रूबरू रोशनी….

Fire is an enigma, and it will always remain so…..But, certainly is a something that sustains life in the nature. So, remember that- you are always on fire 😀