Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.144 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. The Hotṛ priest goes forth, upholding his office by his skill, a hymn bright-adorned held high. He strides toward the ladles, turned sunwise, toward those forms of his that first are touched.
2. Toward him the streaming milk of order has roared out, gathered in the womb, in the god's own seat. When, borne apart, he dwelt in the lap of the waters, then he drank the inherent power by which he is set in motion.
3. Two of like age, seeking to be joined — that indeed is the marvel — of one common purpose, carrying each other across. Then he, to be called on like Bhaga, together from us — as a charioteer draws in the reins like one who bears a yoke.
4. Whom two of like age, a pair sharing one dwelling, serve in the one womb — by day as by night the gray-haired one is born young, wandering, ageless, through many generations of men.
5. Him the ten thoughts speed onward, the bull, the god; we mortals call on him for help. From the ridge, down the slopes, he presses forward, newly kindled, with those who march on, by the known paths.
6. For you, O Agni, rule the heavenly realm; you rule the earthly one too, alone, like a herdsman over his herd. These two great and radiant flames of yours, dark and golden, winding, have reached the sacred grass.
7. O Agni, take pleasure, delight in this speech, O joyous one, of inherent power, born of order, of good will — you who face us from every side, fair to see, delightful to behold, like a dwelling stocked with food.
Translator's note: Verse 3 is among the most syntactically compressed in the hymn — the identity of the "two of like age" (possibly two ritual fires, or two priestly roles) and the exact force of "bhago na havyaḥ" and the charioteer simile are uncertain; the rendering above stays close to the Sanskrit word order rather than resolving the ambiguity. "Ten thoughts" in verse 5 (daśa dhītayaḥ) most likely refers to the ten fingers of the officiating priest, a common Rigvedic idiom, rendered literally here.
Colophon
Rigveda I.144 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.144
eti pra hotā vratam asya māyayordhvāṁ dadhānaḥ śucipeśasaṁ dhiyam |
abhi srucaḥ kramate dakṣiṇāvṛto yā asya dhāma prathamaṁ ha niṁsate || 1 ||
abhīm ṛtasya dohanā anūṣata yonau devasya sadane parīvṛtāḥ |
apām upasthe vibhṛto yad āvasad adha svadhā adhayad yābhir īyate || 2 ||
yuyūṣataḥ savayasā tad id vapuḥ samānam arthaṁ vitaritratā mithaḥ |
ād īm bhago na havyaḥ sam asmad ā voḻhur na raśmīn sam ayaṁsta sārathiḥ || 3 ||
yam īṁ dvā savayasā saparyataḥ samāne yonā mithunā samokasā |
divā na naktam palito yuvājani purū carann ajaro mānuṣā yugā || 4 ||
tam īṁ hinvanti dhītayo daśa vriśo devam martāsa ūtaye havāmahe |
dhanor adhi pravata ā sa ṛṇvaty abhivrajadbhir vayunā navādhita || 5 ||
tvaṁ hy agne divyasya rājasi tvam pārthivasya paśupā iva tmanā |
enī ta ete bṛhatī abhiśriyā hiraṇyayī vakvarī barhir āśāte || 6 ||
agne juṣasva prati harya tad vaco mandra svadhāva ṛtajāta sukrato |
yo viśvataḥ pratyaṅṅ asi darśato raṇvaḥ saṁdṛṣṭau pitumām̐ iva kṣayaḥ || 7 ||
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).