Origin and etymology of the Latin word 'Ignis'.

The Sanskrit word Agni अग्नि meaning fire is the origin of Latin word "ignis" and also a number of other words in different languages round the world having same or derived meanings.

It has been already stated in my previous blogs that the Sanskrit root words known as dhatus are the building blocks of thousands of words in almost all the languages of the world.  It is on these basic building blocks that all these languages have developed over the years. The very basic words denoting the close human relationships like mother, father, brother, sister etc, the countable numbers like one, two, three, four and so on, and the words used to denote very basic human necessities like water, fire etc are all derived from these Sanskrit dhatus.

Sanskrit is an eternal language.  It has no aadi ( beginning).  When this language was first started to be used is not known precisely.  The development of the later languages round the world from the eternal Sanskrit language, the language of the Devas (Deities), suggests that the entire world has a Sanatana past.  At one time, not too long ago, and in some parts of the world till a few centuries back, Vedic Sanatana civilizations existed round the world.

The people inhabiting these civilizations were polytheistic, pluralistic, all encompassing and all accommodating people.  They knew that the Supreme Divine, described as Brahma in the Vedas and Upanishads,  though being one, manifests in its innumerable diverse forms for the the benefit and well being of the seekers. So these people worshiped the forces of nature like the Sun, the Earth, the Fire, the rivers, the mountains, the trees knowing them to be the different forms of that one Supreme Brahma.  They worshiped the Nirguna or attributeless Supreme in Saguna (having attributes) forms representing various authorities of that Supreme presiding over the different aspects of creation, sustenance and dissolution of this created infinite universe.  The Vedas which are four in number tell us that the un-manifested existence is infinite.  The manifested existence which we commonly call the universe is also infinite.  From that un-manifested infinite has sprung this manifested universe which is also infinite.  The Vedas further tell us that after the infinite universe has been manifested out of the infinite existence, what still remains is the infinite existence.  So even after taking out some infinite figure from an infinite, what remains is still infinite.  The modern mathematicians were probably inspired from the wisdom contained in the Vedas when they postulated that infinity minus infinity is not zero but infinity itself.  So coming back to the main subject, the people of the classical civilizations worshiped the forces of nature in the Saguna form in the vigraha murtis.  These natural forces are essential for the existence of life on this earth.  They sang in their praise, they offered them various upcharas (material items) like incense, deepa (candle), naivaidya or food.  They performed yajna (sacrifices) regularly and offerred oblations (ahutis) of ghruta (clarified butter) in the yajna and sought well being, happiness, prosperity, spiritual upliftment and welfare of this whole universe from these invoked deities.  This was the philosophy for existence and survival on this earth. Since this practice is used since the time immemorial, so it is called Sanatana. The word Sanatana in Sanskrit means eternal, which has no beginning or end.  Their scheme of existence by these polytheistic people accommodated all beings and was all inclusive and all encompassing.   

To fully understand the philosophy of these classical civilizations, we have to understand certain basic concepts that are the foundation of the Sanatana philosophy.  Without being familiar with these concepts, the essence of the Sanatana philosophy can not be understood and neither we can understand the philosophy of these diverse classical civilizations round the world.  They are inter-related with one another.

It is true that now these classical civilizations across the world have almost been wiped out.  Their customs and practices are all forgotten.  Their philosophical and practical books no longer exist.  But in many parts of the world, there are significant number of people who still practice the old traditions and practices that were used by their ancestors.  They have been able to retain these practices through an oral system communicated from one generation to other.  In this way they have somewhat been able to be in connections with the thought and actions practiced by their forefathers not so long back.

Out of all the old classical civilizations, here in India, people were able to retain the legacy  of their forefathers.  The Vedas, the upanishads, the puranas and a lot more classical scriptures remained preserved here. The guru-shisya (master-disciple) tradition, the yajna as a means of spiritual upliftment of the self and welfare of the entire universe is still practiced in this part of the world.

The Supreme Brahma is sat chit ananda.  It is sheer existence free from any vicara (distortions).  It is formless, taintless, unblemished, free from good or bad, light and dark.  It is at the base of this entire universe living and non-living.  The degree varies.  In the living being, the portion of the Supreme Brahma is highest.  It is called Atma. In the lower forms of life, the degree of consciousness is low and in the non living matter, the degree of consciousness is still lower.  It is not absent but is very less. In the insentient and lifeless beings the Supreme Paramatama exists but in a lesser degree.  So it has been said that this whole universe is body of the Supreme Brahma.

In the human beings, the Atma is the fraction of the Brahma.  Brahma is also known as Paramatma.  The Atma has many attributes similar to the Paramatma.  At the time of creation, the Atma got separated from the Paramatma.  Now it is in this mortal world undergoing through the cycles of birth, death and re-birth, again and again.  Its aim is to meet that Paramatma again, from where it got separated.  For this purpose, it is ever working life after life.  The death of a person who is born on this earth is certain and so is the birth of that person.  In a different body, in a different family at a different place.  The body dies and not the Atma.  The Atma takes another birth in the next life.  This cycle of birth, then death, again birth and dealth and so on continues.  That is why this world is called Samsara in Sanskrit meaning which is continuously flowing around.   This cycle of death and birth continues till the Atma trapped in the physical body through some good Karma again meets the Paramatma and becomes a part of it.  It was separated at the time of creation and Moksha is the name given to the stage when it again meets its source.  So these  are some basic concepts which one has to be familiar with to understand the Sanatana dharma.

Now coming to the main title of this blog, we will explore the origin and etymology of the Latin word "Ignis" and also see how the word "Agni अग्नि" is origin of a number of other words in different languages round the world having the same or derived meanings.

Agni is the very first word uttered and used by the human beings.  The very first Veda, Rigveda has its first word Agni.  Below is given the first sloka of Rigveda. 

In the Vedas, the Agni अग्नि (fire, sacrificial fire) is described of three kinds i.e.  gārhapatya-, āhavanīya-, and dakṣiṇa-.

The first sloka of the Rigveda beigns with the word "Agni". So 'Agni' is the very first linguistic sound pronounced in this creation. This sloka praises the Supreme divine in its manifested form "Agnideva" .

Fire,  agnis

igneous; ignescent; ignite, ignition; compound formation Latin ignis fatuus (a flitting phosphorescent light seen at night, chiefly over marshy ground, and believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of gas).  Latin ignis fatuus also  meaning foolish [compound formation FATUITY].  Latin ignis fatuus became fire’, the gleam that arising from marshy ground, tends to mislead travelers.

Sanskrit agnís, fire becomes Latin ignis having the same meaning "fire" ;

Ak/gniš is also an Hittite deity of fire or destruction described in a Hittite text found at Bogazköy, Turkey on excavations.

Old Slavic ogni, Lithuanian ugnis, Latvian uguns, fire. Derivative adjective igneus becomes English igneous; derivative ignītus, on fire, leads to Late Latin ignīre, to set on fire, past participle ignītus, whence ‘to ignite’; (from ignis) inch Late Latin ignescere, to become hot, catch fire, English ignescent. Ignition.