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ONE FIRE, THREE
FIRES, FIVE FIRES:
VEDIC SYMBOLS IN
TRANSITION
In the famous "five-fire doctrine" of Chandogya-upanisad 5,1
Gautama, the conservatively learned father whose son, Svetaketu,
the establishment graduate, has just been put down in the local
assembly for his inability to answer five far-out questions, hears
for the first time about the journey of the self (purusa) after death.
He discovers that the cosmos is really five great sacrificial fires in
which the gods make a series of offerings. The gods offer "faith" in
the "heaven" fire in order to produce soma, then soma in the
Parjanya fire to produce "rain," then rain in the "earth" fire to
produce "food," then food in the "man" fire to produce "semen,"
and finally semen in the "woman" fire to complete the journey
with a new embryo. This final ritual product, the garbha, will be
born some ten months later and, Gautama is informed, will live
until it makes its appointment with the (funeral) fire "from which
he came."2
Now the curious thing about this teaching of the divine ritual
production of a new being is the matter of five sacrificial fires. Why
An earlier version of this article was presented as a paper to the Asian Religio
ns'
section of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in New York,
October 23, 1970.
* The following abbreviations will be employed for frequently cited Vedic texts:
AiB., Aitareya-brahmana; AV., Atharvaveda-samhita; BAU., Brhadaranyakaupaniaad; ChU., Chandogya-upanisad; KB., Kausltaki-brahmana; KS.,
Kathaka-samhita; MS., Maitrayanl^amhita; PB., Paficaviip&a-brahmana; RV.,
Rgveda-samhita; SB., Satapatha-brahmana; TB., Taittiriya-brahmana; TS.,
Taittirlya-saiphita; TU., Taittiriya-upanisad; and VS., Vajaaaneyi-sarphita.
2 ChU. 5.4-9. The five fires are loka, parjanya, prlhivi, purusa, and yosd. The
five offerings are sraddhd, soma, varsa, anna, and relas,
28
History of Religions
five, when the whole range of ancient Indian expressions demonstrates a predilection for triads modeled upon the triadic cosmos,
when the Vedic doctrine of sacrifice seems largely to be dependent
upon trivalent forms, and when the brahmanical system, ever
preoccupied with the creation of new beings from old and the
proper establishment of man in the universe, relies for its great
srauta ritual schema upon three fires that are at once the projection
of the sacrificer's single household fire, identical to his "self," and a
replication of the triadic cosmos, identical to his "Self-to-be"?
In fact, if we turn to the very next lesson of the Chandogya text,
we find the same Gautama, now transfigured to an articulate and
esoterically knowledgeable father-guru, categorically declaring
to Svetaketu an orthodox triad of elements as the essential basis of
all beings. Everything, insists ChU. 6.1-5, is of a threefold form
(rupa), although one in origin.
Does this suggest that the "five-fire doctrine" in ChU. 5 is a
unique statement, an innovation in upanisadic numerical symbolism ? On the contrary, pentadic expressions and systems are
present in most Vedic and upanisadic texts, if not equitably
distributed among them. The Taittkiy a-upanisad, for example,
propounds a different five-staged journey of the self after death.
On leaving this world, the selves (of man-)3 consisting of food,
breath, thought, knowledge, and bliss are attained in succession.4
Elsewhere (TU. 1.7), there is collected an aphoristic list of three
a resumption of the preexistent fivefold space-time. The marriage samskdra also has a sh
are
of pentadic symbols, some regional variants including the ascension of a fivestepped platform. In Samkhya-Yoga and in the ascetic traditions, the five breath
s
have ritual significance as do the five heating fires {panca-tapas) of the ascet
ic.
There are also the famous five "M's" of tantric ritual (pancamalcdra). The meditational division of the syllable om into a, u, and m, plus the pair ndda and bi
ndu,
creates a familiar mystical series. Pentads also occur in Sikh rites, and techni
cally
the Ichdlsa is said to exist "where five are gathered," a conception found elsew
here
as well. In the context of myth and iconography, there are the five faces {pancd
nana) of Siva and Brahma in a type of orientation padcavarga with the fifth face
toward the zenith, the five eyes (panca-caksus) of the Buddha, who is also frequ
ently
depicted with five rays of light emanating from his head, and the five Pandava
brothers of the Mahabharata as an expressive pancavarga. Most important in
sectarian Hinduism are the explanations for the five-staged manifestations of
supreme being (e.g., the vyuha doctrine of the Pancaratras) or the five actions
(pancafcrtya) by which the sacred projects itself. Architecturally, there are
pancdyatana temples with four shrines surrounding a fifth central one. The divin
e
31
One Fire9 Three Fires, Five Fires
pancavarga- are, of course, no more remarkable in themselves than
the triads, tetrads, or heptads so frequently encountered in the
same schools or sects and their literatures. What should be noteworthy, however, are the principles that operate in the growth and
formation of these symbols and the religious statements and
notions they seek to convey. It is imperative for historians of
religion to review the Vedic substrata and perceive essential
religious structures and meanings, especially since large and fertile
areas of the Vedic corpus have lain fallow, neglected by hermeneutics, after a rough century's harvesting with the implements of
the textual critics.
THE IMAGERY OF "x PLUS ONE"
It is remarkable, considering our foregoing review, that the
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics article on number symbolism
by Keith,10 who, along with his contemporary Caland, displayed
and/or brahmanical partition of the sacrificial body (animal, human, divine) int
o
five, as we have seen, is part of the background of upanisadic elaborations, and
these are continued with fivefold divisions of the subtle as well as the gross
elements, the organs of action and of sense (paHcendriya), the declaration of th
e
five colors (paHca-varna) corresponding to the five gross elements, and so forth
.
The five subtle elements (tanmdtra-) of the Samkhyan tradition (sdbda, spars'a,
rupa, rasa, and gandha) produce the five gross elements {mahabhuta-; see n. 6
above), while some Vedanta traditions explained the suksma-sdrira as a threefold
set of pentads {jnana-, karma-, and prana-) distinct from the ethuta-sarira's si
ngle
series of five bhuta-. Although the Buddhists did not include dkdsa among the
mahabhuta-, allowing but four, the five aggregates (skandha-) that make up what
the non-Buddhist calls the individual became a point of departure for every
language in which the numeral "five" is also the word for "whole." Sanskrit
paUca does not enter his discussion, but he does relate Hittite panku, "all, who
le,"
originally an adjective and often used substantively to express "totality." I am
indebted to Alfred Hiltebeitel for bringing this article to my attention.
11 H. Oldenberg, Vorwissenschaftlicke Wissenschajt: Die Weltanschauung der
Brahmana-Ttxte (Gottingcn: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1919), pp. 46-50.
12 H. Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, 4th ed. (Stuttgart: J. G. Cotta'sche,
1923), pp. 346-51.
13 Including P. Mus's remarks in the preface and elsewhere in his Barabudur
(Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1935).
14 A. Bergaigne, La religion vedigue d'apris les hymnes du Rig- Veda (Paris:
F. Vieweg, 1883), 2:114-56.
15 Ibid., p. 123. Among the familiar examples of the extension of the principle
into the brahmanas are the numbers thirteen (twelve plus one), as with the
thirteenth month being the "total" year (&B-); seventeen (sixteen plus one), the
sacred totality that is Prajapati (KB.); twenty-five (twenty-four plus one), as
with the transcendent half-month that again comprises a new, complete year.
33
One Fire, Three Fires, Five Fires
Rgveda establishes between the five directions and the "five
races."16
Among the few who have appreciated and utilized Bergaigne's
contributions at these points have been the prolific Vedic scholars
in the Netherlands, the successors to Caland.17 In his "Excursus on
the Symbolism of Numbers" it is Heesterman who ventures to say
that numbers are "neutral" and "have no specific value in themselves. ... As a number is in itself neutral, the size of the number
is irrelevant."18 Although his point is clear, that the formation of a
number (i.e., x plus one equals totality) is of greater significance
than its size, I beg to differ on the matter of neutrality. It is
apparent that a Vedic delight in numerical symbolism and the
doctrine of homologies combine to assure an incredible fluidity in
the application of numerology within the rites and speculations.
One need only consult the "offerings to the numbers" utilized in the
aSvamedha (TS. 7.2.11-20), where numbers from one to 100 and
1,000 to "ten hundred thousand million," with only moderate
omissions, are praised. But if all numbers are (neutrally) equal,
some are decidedly more "equal" than others. There is little doubt
that three, four, and five have priority in Vedic texts. It is the
point of our essay here that the major religious expressions of the
Vedic texts reveal these basic triads, tetrads, and pentads precisely
because they declare the ontology and cosmic orientations of
Vedic man. It is readily apparent that specific numbers have
special mythico-ritual spheres of influence; for example, Visnu
admits a mystical relationship to the series three, and the number
seventeen is the nearly private domain of Prajapati. "Die Zahlenreihe," as Oldenberg expressed it, "wurde als ein brdhman (heilige
Formel) geehrt." But we must also recognize that the series most
frequently resorted to in Vedic expression, the dyads through the
pentads and septads, have deliberately private experiences to
reveal. They are there because they are departures from unity,
16 Ibid., pp. 125-27, 129 ff.
17 See, for example, G. J. Held, The Mahdbharata: An Ethnological Study
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1935), pp. 123 ff.; J. C. Heesterman, The
Ancient Indian Royal Consecration (The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1957), pp. 34-39,
176-77; F. B. J. Kuiper, "The Three Strides of Visnu,*' in Indological Studies i
n
Honor of W. Norman Brown, ed. E. Bender (New Haven, Conn.: American
Oriental Society, 1962), pp. 137-51; J. A. B. van Buitenen, The Maitrdyaniya
Upanisad: A Critical Essay, with Text, Translation and Commentary (The Hague:
Mouton & Co., 1962), and "The Large Atman," History of Religions 4 (1964):
103-14; J. Gonda, "The Number Sixteen," in Change and Continuity in Indian
Religion (The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1965), pp. 115-30, and The Savayajnas,
Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd.
Letterkund, N.R. 71 (Amsterdam, 1965): 130-31, 240, and passim.
18 Heesterman, pp. 3435.
34
History of Religions
each in a special mode, and Indian expressions are a constant
reminder that this should be so.
It is our contention here that each of the basic triadic, tetradic,
and pentadic series makes a unique statement, still discernible
within the convolutions and contradictions of the texts. "Three" is
the vertical cosmos, the cosmos envisioned in elevation, reaching as
it does to the third and highest world; "four" is the horizontal
cosmos, the cosmos in plan, stretching to the four points of space;
and "five" is quite simply both at once and therefore the most
complete expression of all, one that provides transcendent closure
to the world view. The facility of five lies in this expansion and
comprehension: at its center it expands the verticality of the triad,
and by the very declaration of a protected and integrated center,
a navel (nabhi, a cynosure that four, reaching outward, cannot
precisely disclose), it surpasses the orientational values of the
tetrad. If the religious statement of three is ascension, and of four
orientation, then the true expression of five is, as we shall see,
orientation for ascension. The center of five then is in communication, and therefore correspondence (bandhu), with all three worlds
and all four quarters. At such a point of comprehension, no further
homology can be allowed.
Satapatha-brahmana 1.5.4.6-16 relates a myth to seize this
point exactly. The devas and asuras became engaged in a verbal
contest, having previously failed to decide a physical one, and the
competition took the form of matching numerical pairs. Indra,
gamesman for the gods, said eka, "one" (masculine), and the
asuras matched it with eka, "one" (feminine). Indra said dvau,
"two" (masculine), and the asuras doggedly countered with dve,
"two" (feminine). The match continued through "threes" and
"fours" until the moment when Indra uttered panca, "five"
(masculine and feminine), and the asuras, helpless without a
correspondent to panca, were forced to surrender.
TRANSCENDENCE OR SUBORDINATION
Three is of course the dyad plus one and, therefore, a totality
succeeding duality. "Wide-striding" Visnu's third step, after he
ranges from earth to heaven, is one into the zenith, into the total
mystery, the unitive source that lies beyond the pale of human
perception (RV. 1.155.5; 7.99.1).19 But it is also mythically true
19 See Kuiper, pp. 139-40, and, in the same volume, S. Kramrisch, "Two; Its
Significance in the Rgveda," pp. 109-36. On the "primordial totality" see also
M. Eliade, Mephistopheles and the Androgyne (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1966),
pp. 114^17.
36
One Fire, Three Fires, Five Fires
that, after That One (tadekam) became two, heaven and earth, there
occurred between this pair that was no longer one, between the
heaven that was "propped up" and the earth that was "spread
out," the mid-space, the atmosphere (antariksa). Now antariksa
can scarcely be a "totality" that encompasses, succeeds, and completes the duality of heaven and earth, in the same manner as
Visnu's third invisible stride. It is a gap, an interstice, a breathing
unitive structures. Yasna 17.1-10 (cf. the further elaboration in the Pahlavi
Bundahisn 18) opens with a standard invocation of Fire, d^ar, the son of Ahura
Mazda, then continues with the praise of the fires torozi&avah, vohufrydna,
urvaziSta, vdziSta, and spSniSta. Respectively, these are the fire that is befor
e the
Lord, i.e., in heaven; the fire in the bodies of men and animals; the fire in tr
ees and
plants; the fire of lightning in the clouds, the fire that strikes the demon spd
njagrya
who hinders rainfall (cf. Videvdat 19.135); and the fire that works on earth. It
requires no stretch of the imagination to see that we have here the five ingredi
ents
collected in the cosmogonic search for Agni in TS. 4.1.2 and the same pentadic
series, with parts rearranged, that we discussed in the agnicayana and the prava
rgya
myth-rites. The SB. pattern assigns gold (the sun) as the representative of the
atmospheric mid-space, while in the Yasna it is the rain clouds, the atmospheric
waters:
3. Heaven
bzrozisavah
5. Heave
n
urvaziSta
4. Plants
2. Atmosphere
vdziSta
3. Water
vohufrydna
2. Animals
1. Earth
spsniSta
1. Ea
rth
Thus, the statement here, unlike that well-known hierarchy of the amoSa sp9nta(in which fire is specifically in correspondence with asa, cosmic order, truth,
and
40
History of Religions
Again, to return to the Satapatha-brahmana and the agnicayana,
the former attempts to reconcile the hidden triad by declaring
that "they [the three parts of Agni] become five through the
correspondences [te panca sampadd bhamnti...]" (6.3.1.25). The
great rite dissolves then into a recognition that the "search" for
Agni, the "collecting" and reassembly of Agni (and the sacrificer
and the cosmos), amounts to an affirmation of his very presence
in every element. To realize his unity, the five seasons (time), the
five regions (space), the five victims (mankind), the five breaths,
the five elements, and the five bodily parts all were collected to
establish the one great fire signaling a return to the mystery of
unmanifest being. The sacrificer then has become one fire (Agni),
returned from his nature as Visnu with one body in three places
(VS. 23.50) and from his nature as Purusa with one spirit in five
places (VS. 23.52; cf. SB. 13.5.2.11 fF.). He has collected and controlled and transcended the fivefoldness, and there is no death for
him whose body is made of the one fire of yoga.28
justice), is that fire is in all the cosmic elements. This is precisely the Vedi
c statement regarding Agni. There is not space here to discuss other important dimensions such as the Iranian correspondence of three hierarchical fires and social
classes, with a highest "king of fires" that could be seen as transcendent fourt
h, or
the myth-ritual collecting of sixteen (or seventeen) fires, a drama as complicat
ed as
the agnicayana itself. See chap. 2 of my Tapas and Correspondence: The Religious
Significance of Heat in Ancient India (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1971;
University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Mich.).
28 Svetaivatara-upanisad 2.12: prthvyapyatejo'nilakhe eamutthite pancdtmake
yoga-gune pravrtte / na tasya rogo na jard na mrtyuh prdptasya yogagni-inayam
4artram,
41