Hymn to Indra and Agni
Rigveda I.21 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed jointly to Indra and Agni, invoked together as a single dual pair rather than separately — a common pattern in the Rigveda that binds two gods into one address. 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. Here I call Indra and Agni. Of the two of them we desire the hymn of praise — the two best drinkers of Soma among Soma-drinkers.
2. Proclaim them at the sacrifices, Indra and Agni — adorn them, you men. Sing them in the gāyatrī songs.
3. For the praise of the ally, we call upon Indra and Agni, the two Soma-drinkers, to the drinking of Soma.
4. Mighty as they are, we call them to this pressed offering, right here. Let Indra and Agni come to this place.
5. The two of them, great lords of the seat of sacrifice, Indra and Agni — crush the demons. Let the devouring ones be left without offspring.
6. By that truth, keep watch over the wise/foreseeing station. Indra and Agni, grant shelter.
Translator's note: verse 6's "pracetune pade" (the wise or foreseeing place/station) is a compact, somewhat opaque phrase; rendered conservatively here rather than expanded. Verse 3's "mitrasya praśastaye" (for the praise/glory of the ally or friend) is likewise terse in the Sanskrit and kept close to the literal sense.
Colophon
Rigveda I.21 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.21
ihendrāgnī upa hvaye tayor it stomam uśmasi |
tā somaṁ somapātamā || 1 ||
tā yajñeṣu pra śaṁsatendrāgnī śumbhatā naraḥ |
tā gāyatreṣu gāyata || 2 ||
tā mitrasya praśastaya indrāgnī tā havāmahe |
somapā somapītaye || 3 ||
ugrā santā havāmaha upedaṁ savanaṁ sutam |
indrāgnī eha gacchatām || 4 ||
tā mahāntā sadaspatī indrāgnī rakṣa ubjatam |
aprajāḥ santv atriṇaḥ || 5 ||
tena satyena jāgṛtam adhi pracetune pade |
indrāgnī śarma yacchatam || 6 ||
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).