अङ्गिरः [aṅgirḥ] अङ्गिरस् [aṅgiras] अङ्गिरस् m. [अङ्गति-अङ्ग् गतौ असि इरुट्;
[Uṇ 4.] 235; according to Ait. Br. अङ्गिरस् is from अङ्गार; ये अङ्गारा आसंस्तेऽङ्गिरसोऽभवन्; so Nir.; अङ्गारेषु यो बभूव सोऽङ्गिराः] N. of a celebrated sage to whom many hymns of the Rigveda (ix) are ascribed. Etymologically Aṅgira is connected with the word Agni and is often regarded as its synonym (शिवो भव प्रजाभ्यो मानुषीभ्यस्त्व- मङ्गिरः; अङ्गिरोभिः ऋषिभिः संपादितत्वात् अङ्गसौष्ठवाद्वा अङ्गिरा अग्निरूपः) According to Bhārata he was son of Agni. When Agni began to practise penance, Aṅgiras himself became Agni and surpassed him in power and lustre, seeing which Agni came to the sage and said: निक्षिपाम्यहमग्नित्वं त्वमग्निः प्रथमो भव । भविष्यामि द्वितीयोऽहं प्राजा- पत्यक एव च ॥ Aṅgiras said: कुरु पुण्यं प्रजासर्गं भवाग्निस्तिमि- रापहः । मां च देव कुरुष्वाग्ने प्रथमं पुत्रमञ्जसा ॥ तत्श्रुत्वाङ्गिरसो वाक्यं जातवेदास्तथाऽकरोत्. He was one of the 1 mind-born sons of Brahmā. His wife was Śraddhā, daughter of Kardama and bore him three sons, Bṛhaspati, Utathya and Saṁvarta, and 4 daughters Kuhū, Sinīvālī, Rākā and Anumati. The Matsya Purāṇa says that Aṅgiras was one of the three sages produced from the sacrifice of Varuṇa and that he was adopted by Agni as his son and acted for some time as his regent. Another account, however, makes him father of Agni. He was one of the seven great sages and also one of the 1 Prajāpatis or progenitors of mankind. In latter times Aṅgiras was one of the inspired lawgivers, and also a writer on Astronomy. As an astronomical personification he is Bṛhaspati, regent of Jupiter or Jupiter itself. शिष्यैरुपेता आजग्मु: कश्यपाङ्गिरसादयः (Bhāg. 1.9.8.) He is also regarded as the priest of the gods and the lord of sacrifices. Besides Śraddhā his wives were Smṛti, two daughters of Maitreya, some daughters of Dakṣa, Svadhā and Satī. He is also regarded as teacher of Brahmavidyā. The Vedic hymns are also said to be his daughters. According to the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Aṅgiras begot sons possessing Brahmanical glory on the wife of Rāthītara, a Kṣatriya who was childless and these persons were afterwards called descendants of Aṅgiras. The principal authors of vedic hymns in the family of Aṅgiras were 33. His family has three distinct branches केवलाङ्गिरस, गौतमाङ्गिरस and भारद्वाजाङ्गिरस each branch having a number of subdivisions.
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Descendants of Aṅgiras, [Aṅgiras being father of Agni they are considered as descendants of Agni himself who is called the first of the Aṅgirasas. Like Aṅgiras they occur in hymns addressed to luminous objects, and at a later period they became for the most part personifications of light, of luminous bodies, of divisions of time, celestial phenomena and fires adapted to peculiar occasions, as the full moon and change of the moon, or to particular rites, as the अश्वमेध, राजसूय &c.]
Hymns of the Atharvaveda.
Priests, who, by using magical formulas of the Atharvaveda, protect the sacrifice against the effects of inauspicious accidents.