Angiras is an author of many Vedic hymns, who married Daksha`s daughter Smriti. He is a Prajapati but his name is also mentioned in a subsequent period as one of the inspired legislators of India, and as the author of an astronomical work. There are various legends related to the name Angiras. According one of such legends, it is said that the word Angiras is derived from the Agni i, e, fire. Sometimes, Angiras is referred as an epithet or as the father of Agni. Angiras himself connected with hymns addressed to Agni. The Atharvan also reports him as a teacher of the Bramhavidya or the sacred knowledge that had been imparted to him by Satyavaha, a descendant of Bharadvaja.

Angiras was connected with the authorship of a great portion of the sacred Hindu literature. But there is no historical date obtained from the epic or puranic literature where the Vaidic legends of his life are merely cited. Some scholars have named as one of the Prajapatis or progenitors of mankind.

Angiras is also considered as one of the seven Rishis who preside over the reign of the first Manu or Svayambhuva. Apart from this, he is also called the priest of the Gods, the Lord of the Sacrifice etc. He is also considered as a son of Uru by Agneyi, the daughter of Agni. The Richas (or Vaidic hymns), Sasvati, Sinivali, Kuhu, Raka, Anumati are the daughters of Angiras and his sons are Samvarta, Havishmats, Utathaya, Brihaspati and Markandeya. His wives are Smriti (traditional science), Sati, two daughters of Daksha and Sraddha, the daughter of the sage Kardama.

Again, as per astronomical personification, he is Brihaspati himself or the regent of the planet Jupiter and presides over the sixth year of the cycle of sixty years.