Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.141 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. Truly the god's radiant splendor was set forth as a marvel — he who was born from Strength. When the winding thought approaches and attains him, the flowing streams of truth have led him on.
2. His vigorous, food-bearing form lies eternal in the wood; a second lies in the seven kindly mothers; and to milk this bull, the maidens brought forth a third form, of tenfold care.
3. When the powerful patrons, ruling by their might, drew him forth from the depths in his mighty form; when, as of old, for the pouring of the sweet oblation, Mātariśvan churns him out from where he lay hidden.
4. When he is led forth from his highest father, he wondrously grows up among the nourishing plants; when the two worlds together urge on his birth, then the youngest one becomes bright and pure with heat.
5. Then indeed he entered the mothers, in whom, pure and unharmed, he grew wide; when he had mounted the ancient, ever-flowing waters, he runs down again among the newest, the latest.
6. Then indeed they choose him as their priest at the sacred rites; joined with him, like Bhaga, they gain their share. When, much-praised, by his power and greatness he goes to the gods, he ever attends to the mortal's prayer as well, that he may be fed.
7. When the worshipful one, driven by the wind, rose up, winding like a serpent, restless with age; in the flight of him — the skillful one, whose track is black — the dust of the pure-born one spreads across the far paths.
8. Like a chariot set going, fashioned by the skillful ones, he moves to heaven with his ruddy limbs. Then his black trails, the wise ones grown to strength — as from a hero's fury, the birds fly off.
9. Through you, Agni, Varuṇa of firm ordinances, Mitra, and bountiful Aryaman have succeeded; since, following them with your power in every way, mighty, you were born all-encompassing, like the felloe around the spokes.
10. You, Agni, bring treasure and fellowship with the gods to the one who labors and presses the soma, O youngest one. You, ever new, O son of Strength — may we, in our work, hold you as we hold Bhaga, O you rich in treasures.
11. Grant us wealth that is truly ours, a kindly, house-abiding wealth, a portion like Bhaga's, firm and sustaining — you who, like reins, hold both worlds together, well-powered one, upholding both the praise of the gods and the truth.
12. And may he, brightly shining, swift-horsed, the priest, the joyous one of the gleaming chariot, hear us. May he, unerring Agni, lead us with his best guidance toward good things, toward safe passage, toward greater wealth.
13. Agni has been praised with vigorous hymns, extending his wide dominion. May those bounteous patrons, and we ourselves, shine forth beyond the mist, as the sun breaks through.
Translator's note: This hymn (traditionally attributed to the seer Dīrghatamas) is one of the Rigveda's riddling, image-dense compositions, and several phrases resist certainty. Verse 2's "seven mothers" and "tenfold care" likely allude to the waters and to the ten fingers of the kindling priest; verse 3's Mātariśvan is the figure who brings fire to humankind; verses 7–8 (hvāro na vakvā jaraṇā anākṛtaḥ, kṛṣṇāso dakṣi sūrayaḥ) describe Agni's smoke-trail and blackened path in terms whose exact sense is disputed among readers of the Sanskrit; they are rendered here conservatively, following the most literal sense of each word rather than any smoothing paraphrase.
Colophon
Rigveda I.141 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.141
baḻ itthā tad vapuṣe dhāyi darśataṁ devasya bhargaḥ sahaso yato jani |
yad īm upa hvarate sādhate matir ṛtasya dhenā anayanta sasrutaḥ || 1 ||
pṛkṣo vapuḥ pitumān nitya ā śaye dvitīyam ā saptaśivāsu mātṛṣu |
tṛtīyam asya vṛṣabhasya dohase daśapramatiṁ janayanta yoṣaṇaḥ || 2 ||
nir yad īm budhnān mahiṣasya varpasa īśānāsaḥ śavasā kranta sūrayaḥ |
yad īm anu pradivo madhva ādhave guhā santam mātariśvā mathāyati || 3 ||
pra yat pituḥ paramān nīyate pary ā pṛkṣudho vīrudho daṁsu rohati |
ubhā yad asya januṣaṁ yad invata ād id yaviṣṭho abhavad ghṛṇā śuciḥ || 4 ||
ād in mātṝr āviśad yāsv ā śucir ahiṁsyamāna urviyā vi vāvṛdhe |
anu yat pūrvā aruhat sanājuvo ni navyasīṣv avarāsu dhāvate || 5 ||
ād id dhotāraṁ vṛṇate diviṣṭiṣu bhagam iva papṛcānāsa ṛñjate |
devān yat kratvā majmanā puruṣṭuto martaṁ śaṁsaṁ viśvadhā veti dhāyase || 6 ||
vi yad asthād yajato vātacodito hvāro na vakvā jaraṇā anākṛtaḥ |
tasya patman dakṣuṣaḥ kṛṣṇajaṁhasaḥ śucijanmano raja ā vyadhvanaḥ || 7 ||
ratho na yātaḥ śikvabhiḥ kṛto dyām aṅgebhir aruṣebhir īyate |
ād asya te kṛṣṇāso dakṣi sūrayaḥ śūrasyeva tveṣathād īṣate vayaḥ || 8 ||
tvayā hy agne varuṇo dhṛtavrato mitraḥ śāśadre aryamā sudānavaḥ |
yat sīm anu kratunā viśvathā vibhur arān na nemiḥ paribhūr ajāyathāḥ || 9 ||
tvam agne śaśamānāya sunvate ratnaṁ yaviṣṭha devatātim invasi |
taṁ tvā nu navyaṁ sahaso yuvan vayam bhagaṁ na kāre mahiratna dhīmahi || 10 ||
asme rayiṁ na svarthaṁ damūnasam bhagaṁ dakṣaṁ na papṛcāsi dharṇasim |
raśmīm̐r iva yo yamati janmanī ubhe devānāṁ śaṁsam ṛta ā ca sukratuḥ || 11 ||
uta naḥ sudyotmā jīrāśvo hotā mandraḥ śṛṇavac candrarathaḥ |
sa no neṣan neṣatamair amūro 'gnir vāmaṁ suvitaṁ vasyo accha || 12 ||
astāvy agniḥ śimīvadbhir arkaiḥ sāmrājyāya prataraṁ dadhānaḥ |
amī ca ye maghavāno vayaṁ ca mihaṁ na sūro ati niṣ ṭatanyuḥ || 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).