Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.140 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Agni, the divine fire, messenger between mortals and gods, the eternal priest of the sacred rite. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. For Agni, who sits on the altar, dear in his dwelling, brightly shining — bring forth a resting-place as one brings an offering. Clothe the pure one, whose chariot is light, bright of hue, slayer of darkness, with your hymn as with a garment.
2. Twice-born, threefold, he reaches toward his food; in a year he has grown, and turns again to what he has eaten. With the mouth and tongue of one he is a noble bull; by another, the wild one of the forest is groomed down.
3. The two dark-moving companions of his tremble; both hasten toward the two mothers, toward the child — toward the forward-tongued one, the scatterer, the swiftly-rushing one, the near one, the quivering one, the increaser of his father.
4. Eager to break free, behaving as for Manu, swift-running, leaving a black track — the swift ones. Unmatched, quick, light-footed, wind-driven, the swift horses are yoked.
5. Then, scattering, your flames roam freely, making again and again a great, black, monstrous shape. When he sweeps over the great plain, breathing, thundering, he goes roaring.
6. Adorning himself, he who bends down over the tawny brush, goes roaring toward his mates like a bull. Growing mighty, he beautifies his body; like a fearsome one he brandishes his horns, hard to grasp.
7. He, the spreader, the coverer, gathers together, knowing the knowing ones; the eternal one lies down. Again they grow, they reach the divine; together with the two parents they make another form.
8. Him the unwed ones with loose hair, together with the singer, stood up for — they who had died, for the journey, once more. Freeing them from their decay he goes roaring, begetting a further breath of life, living, unconquered.
9. Licking around the mother's covering, indeed, with his mighty forces the onrush goes forth. Bestowing vigor on the footed one, licking again and again, the falcon-swift one always follows the tracks.
10. Shine among our bounteous patrons, Agni; then, panting, the bull, lord of the house. You have shone upon the young-bearing ones, quivering all around like armor in battles.
11. Let this well-set hymn, Agni, be dearer to you than an ill-set one, dearer even than a cherished thought. With that bright, pure radiance of your body that shines, win treasure for us.
12. Grant us, Agni, a boat for our chariot, and for our house one with lasting oars, one that has feet. Grant it for our heroes, for our bounteous patrons, and for our people — one that may carry us across, and shelter that may protect.
13. Accept our hymn, Agni; may heaven and earth, and the rivers that welcome it of themselves, accept it too. Going toward wealth in cattle and grain, toward long-lasting nourishment, may the ruddy ones choose the best.
Translator's note: this hymn belongs to the riddling style associated with the seer Dīrghatamas, describing Agni as forest fire under compressed, image-heavy language (dark racing horses, the two kindling-sticks as "mothers," dry wood as "dead" maidens who rise again in flame). Several phrases resist certainty: verse 4's "kṛṣṇasītāsa" (rendered "leaving a black track") and verse 10's "avāsyāḥ" (rendered cautiously as "unclothed" or left descriptive) are among the words where the Sanskrit admits more than one reading. These are translated conservatively rather than smoothed into confident prose.
Colophon
Rigveda I.140 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation rendered verse by verse from the Sanskrit text printed below. Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.140
vediṣade priyadhāmāya sudyute dhāsim iva pra bharā yonim agnaye |
vastreṇeva vāsayā manmanā śuciṁ jyotīrathaṁ śukravarṇaṁ tamohanam || 1 ||
abhi dvijanmā trivṛd annam ṛjyate saṁvatsare vāvṛdhe jagdham ī punaḥ |
anyasyāsā jihvayā jenyo vṛṣā ny a1nyena vanino mṛṣṭa vāraṇaḥ || 2 ||
kṛṣṇaprutau vevije asya sakṣitā ubhā tarete abhi mātarā śiśum |
prācājihvaṁ dhvasayantaṁ tṛṣucyutam ā sācyaṁ kupayaṁ vardhanam pituḥ || 3 ||
mumukṣvo3 manave mānavasyate raghudruvaḥ kṛṣṇasītāsa ū juvaḥ |
asamanā ajirāso raghuṣyado vātajūtā upa yujyanta āśavaḥ || 4 ||
ād asya te dhvasayanto vṛtherate kṛṣṇam abhvam mahi varpaḥ karikrataḥ |
yat sīm mahīm avanim prābhi marmṛśad abhiśvasan stanayann eti nānadat || 5 ||
bhūṣan na yo 'dhi babhrūṣu namnate vṛṣeva patnīr abhy eti roruvat |
ojāyamānas tanvaś ca śumbhate bhīmo na śṛṅgā davidhāva durgṛbhiḥ || 6 ||
sa saṁstiro viṣṭiraḥ saṁ gṛbhāyati jānann eva jānatīr nitya ā śaye |
punar vardhante api yanti devyam anyad varpaḥ pitroḥ kṛṇvate sacā || 7 ||
tam agruvaḥ keśinīḥ saṁ hi rebhira ūrdhvās tasthur mamruṣīḥ prāyave punaḥ |
tāsāṁ jarām pramuñcann eti nānadad asum paraṁ janayañ jīvam astṛtam || 8 ||
adhīvāsam pari mātū rihann aha tuvigrebhiḥ satvabhir yāti vi jrayaḥ |
vayo dadhat padvate rerihat sadānu śyenī sacate vartanīr aha || 9 ||
asmākam agne maghavatsu dīdihy adha śvasīvān vṛṣabho damūnāḥ |
avāsyā śiśumatīr adīder varmeva yutsu parijarbhurāṇaḥ || 10 ||
idam agne sudhitaṁ durdhitād adhi priyād u cin manmanaḥ preyo astu te |
yat te śukraṁ tanvo3 rocate śuci tenāsmabhyaṁ vanase ratnam ā tvam || 11 ||
rathāya nāvam uta no gṛhāya nityāritrām padvatīṁ rāsy agne |
asmākaṁ vīrām̐ uta no maghono janām̐ś ca yā pārayāc charma yā ca || 12 ||
abhī no agna uktham ij juguryā dyāvākṣāmā sindhavaś ca svagūrtāḥ |
gavyaṁ yavyaṁ yanto dīrghāheṣaṁ varam aruṇyo varanta || 13 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).