Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.143 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. I offer a mightier, newer hymn of speech and thought to Agni, to the son of strength — the child of the waters, who, dear, together with the Vasus, seated himself as priest on the earth in due season.
2. Being born in the highest heaven, he became visible as Agni for Mātariśvan. By the power and might of him as he was kindled, he made heaven and earth shine with flame.
3. His flashes are ageless, his rays fair to behold — of him, the fair-faced, brightly shining one. Gleaming with vigor through the night, like rivers, O Agni, they quiver, unresting, ageless.
4. That Agni, the all-knowing, whom the Bhṛgus set at the navel of the earth by the might of creation — urge him on with songs in your own home, he who alone rules over riches like Varuṇa.
5. He who cannot be held back — like the roar of the Maruts, like an army let loose, like the heavenly thunderbolt — Agni devours with sharp teeth, he chews, like a warrior against enemies; he lays the forests low.
6. Will Agni indeed be the champion of our praise-song? Will the good one, together with the Vasus, grant our desire? Will he speed our prayer onward to its fulfillment? Him, the bright-faced one, I praise with this hymn.
7. Ghee-faced, seated at the pole of cosmic order — like a friend they kindle Agni and gain his favor. Kindled, the untiring one shines forth in the sacrificial gatherings; may he raise up our bright hymn for us.
8. Never failing, O Agni, with never-failing, kindly, effective guardians, protect us. With guardians unbetrayable, unerring, unwinking, protect our people all around at the offering.
Translator's note: Verse 3's compound rendered "gleaming with vigor through the night, like rivers" (bhātvakṣaso aty aktur na sindhavo) and verse 7's "seated at the pole of cosmic order" (ṛtasya dhūrṣadam) are difficult, densely compounded phrases; both are translated conservatively for sense rather than word-for-word certainty.
Colophon
Rigveda I.143 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.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.143
pra tavyasīṁ navyasīṁ dhītim agnaye vāco matiṁ sahasaḥ sūnave bhare |
apāṁ napād yo vasubhiḥ saha priyo hotā pṛthivyāṁ ny asīdad ṛtviyaḥ || 1 ||
sa jāyamānaḥ parame vyomany āvir agnir abhavan mātariśvane |
asya kratvā samidhānasya majmanā pra dyāvā śociḥ pṛthivī arocayat || 2 ||
asya tveṣā ajarā asya bhānavaḥ susaṁdṛśaḥ supratīkasya sudyutaḥ |
bhātvakṣaso aty aktur na sindhavo 'gne rejante asasanto ajarāḥ || 3 ||
yam erire bhṛgavo viśvavedasaṁ nābhā pṛthivyā bhuvanasya majmanā |
agniṁ taṁ gīrbhir hinuhi sva ā dame ya eko vasvo varuṇo na rājati || 4 ||
na yo varāya marutām iva svanaḥ seneva sṛṣṭā divyā yathāśaniḥ |
agnir jambhais tigitair atti bharvati yodho na śatrūn sa vanā ny ṛñjate || 5 ||
kuvin no agnir ucathasya vīr asad vasuṣ kuvid vasubhiḥ kāmam āvarat |
codaḥ kuvit tutujyāt sātaye dhiyaḥ śucipratīkaṁ tam ayā dhiyā gṛṇe || 6 ||
ghṛtapratīkaṁ va ṛtasya dhūrṣadam agnim mitraṁ na samidhāna ṛñjate |
indhāno akro vidatheṣu dīdyac chukravarṇām ud u no yaṁsate dhiyam || 7 ||
aprayucchann aprayucchadbhir agne śivebhir naḥ pāyubhiḥ pāhi śagmaiḥ |
adabdhebhir adṛpitebhir iṣṭe 'nimiṣadbhiḥ pari pāhi no jāḥ || 8 ||
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).