He appears to have originally represented an aspect of Agni, as a divine priest presiding over devotion, an aspect that had already taken on an independent personality by the beginning of the Rigvedic period. He appears to have been the prototype of Brahma, the chief of the later Hindu triad, as the divine brahman priest.

This god is mentioned in eleven hymns, two of which are shared with Indra. He is also known as Brahmanas páti, or "Lord of Prayer," a doublet that alternates in the same hymn. His physical characteristics are few: he has a sharp horn and blue back; he is golden-colored and ruddy. He wields a golden hatchet or an iron axe and is armed with a bow and arrows. He has a car drawn by ruddy steeds that kills goblins and wins the light. He is known as the father of the gods and is said to have blown forth their births like a blacksmith.

He, like Agni, is both a domestic and a brahman. He is the source of all prayers, and without him, sacrifice fails. His music is heard in heaven, and he is associated with singers. He is identified with Agni in several passages, but he is much more frequently distinguished from him. He is frequently invoked alongside Indra, with whom he shares some epithets such as maghávan bountiful and vajrin welder of the bolt. As a result, he has been drawn into the Indra myth of cow release. He rends Vala with a roar, accompanied by his singing host, and drives out the cows. In doing so, he dispels the darkness and discovers the light. In terms of his relationship with his worshippers, he is said to aid and protect the religious man, to prolong life, and to cure disease.