What is Agni??? - Part 5

In the previous blog, we talked about the nature of mahabhootas, indriyas and the basic concept of samkhya darshan, ayurveda and their controversy.

In this blog, let us focus on the less talked about transformation process of bhootagni which is superlatively important in our life.

The human body consists of gyanendriyas or senses of perception, which are Shabda, Sparsha, Roopa, Rasa and Gandha as given in the chart below.

These Indriyas, as discussed earlier are present in the cortices of the brain. These indriya’s potency is dependant on the amount of activation of the cortex of the brain, the preciseness of the adhistan and the clarity of the pathway through which is the impulse travels.

Prana or the life force energizes these cortices and thus strengthens the indriays so that perceptibility increases. This prana is obtained from a combination of food and breath (as we all know that it is the inhalation of air containing oxygen that helps in the breakdown of food eventually).

Food, as we have seen, undergoes digestion in 3 general stages,
1. The gross digestion of food which is done by jatharagni
2. The subtle digestion, done by 7 different dhatvagnis and
3. The atisukshma digestion, done by bhootagni.

These digestive processes occur in specific sequences. Jatharagni digests the food first. It divides the food into useful and non-useful parts (sara-kitta vibhajana). The dhatvagni converts the useful protion (ahara rasa) into different tissues, hence nourishing them.

But the bhootagni not only works on the ‘sara’ part, but also on the ‘kitta’ part, or the useless portion. It tries to use these sara and kitta potions to energize the sense organs.

According to Acharya Charak, the indriyas become capable to receive information of the objects only due to energy of shakti. This shakti to the cortices of the brain is provided by further conversion of faecal matter into higher energies using bhootagni. Bhootagni is generally somewhat opposite of jatharagni as it works differently. Jatharagni tries to remove as much of ‘sara’ portion as possible so as to nourish the body, whereas bhootagni tries to convert it to energy for nourishment of these brain cortices.

The types of bhootagni are categorized according to 2 parameters:

According to the time of action:

1. Pre-digestive entrainment: Here, the word “pre-digestive” is taken because it works before the digestion by the dhatvagni starts . It uses up a portion of ahara rasa and converts it into the 5 types of bio-energies that stimulate all the cortices of the brain.

2. Post-digestive entrainment: Here, the word “post-digestive” is used because it works on the faecal matter.

This type of bhootagni is only an extension of the previous one and very difficult to activate and requires lots of sadhana to activate and control.

According to the Indriya it activates:

1. The first one is the grossest one which activates the ghranendriya and or the cortex for olfaction. (pruthwi mahabhoota, earth element)
2. The second one is a bit more subtle and activates the rasanendriya or the cortex for taste. (Jala mahabhoota, liquid element)
3. The third one being subtler, activates the roopa or the visual cortex. (Agni mahabhoota, fire element)
4. The fourth one activates the sparshanendriya or the cortex responsible for tactile sensation. (Vayu mahabhoota, air element)
5. The fifth one is even subtler and activates the shrotrendriya which is responsible for hearing.(Akash mahabhoota, space)

Thus, the bhootagni activates and supplies nourishment to each of our indriyas so that perceptibility can maintained and increased.

This is a very tricky concept to present and I have tried to explain it in a very simplistic manner. In my next blog, I will try and explain the manipulation of bhootagni and its usage in spiritual sciences like yoga, tantra etc. and its practical use.