Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.31 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. You, Agni, were the first Aṅgiras, the seer; you became a god, the kindly friend of the gods. In your ordinance the poets, skilled through their work of wisdom, were born — the Maruts with gleaming spears.
2. You, Agni, first and most Aṅgiras-like, the poet, watch over the ordinance of the gods on every side. Far-reaching, wise for every world, having two mothers, a resting-place, in however many forms for living man.
3. You, Agni, first became manifest to Mātariśvan through good intent, for Vivasvat. The two world-halves trembled at the choosing of the priest; unassailed, you bore the great burden, unconquerable, O great good one.
4. You, Agni, for Manu made the sky stand firm; for Purūravas, the good doer, you were a still better doer. When by nourishment you are freed from around your two parents, they led you, the earlier one, and again the later one.
5. You, Agni, are the bull who increases prosperity; you are worthy of fame to the one who lifts the ladle. Whoever knows the oblation joined with the vaṣaṭ-call, him, sole in life, you draw forward at the head of the people.
6. You, Agni, carry the man of crooked path safely through, in the gathering, at the wise and watchful assembly. He who, in the winning of heroes, in the perilous stake, slays the many even with few, in the clash of arms.
7. You, Agni, set that mortal in the highest immortality, for fame, day after day — he who, thirsting, reaches toward both kinds of birth; you make joy and delight for the generous patron.
8. You, Agni, being praised, make our singer glorious, for the winning of riches. May we prosper in our work with new labor; O Heaven and Earth, together with the gods, favor us.
9. You, Agni, came into the lap of your two parents, a god among gods, blameless, ever wakeful. Be a shaper of bodies and a forethought for the singer; you, gracious one, bestow every good thing.
10. You, Agni, are forethought, you are our father; you are the maker of vigor, we are your kin. To you come riches by the hundred, by the thousand, rich in good heroes, to you, undeceivable guardian of the ordinance.
11. You, Agni — the gods made you the first Āyu for living man, lord of the people of Nahuṣa. They made Iḷā the instructress of Manu, when the son of my own father is born.
12. You, Agni, praiseworthy god, guard us and the generous patron's own bodies with your protections. You are the protector of offspring and children and of cattle, watching unblinking within your ordinance.
13. You, Agni, are the inner protector for the one who sacrifices, though he goes without a quiver; four-eyed, you are kindled. Whoever gives the oblation for his own sustenance, unravaged — even the poor man's prayer you win over wholeheartedly.
14. You, Agni, for the wide-praising priest win that longed-for, highest wealth. You are called forethought and father even to the poor man; you instruct the simple one, you point out the directions, being the wiser.
15. You, Agni, protect on every side, like stitched armor, the man who extends his sacrificial gift. He whose fare is sweet, who makes his dwelling comfortable, who offers the sacrifice of the living — he is the equal of heaven.
16. Do not forget, Agni, this shelter of ours, this road that we have traveled from afar. You are kinsman, father, forethought of those worthy of Soma; you are the restless one, the seer-maker among mortals.
17. As for Manu, Agni, as for the Aṅgirases, O Aṅgiras, as for Yayāti, in your seat as of old, O bright one — come here, bring the divine people, seat them on the sacred grass, and worship the beloved one.
18. With this prayer, Agni, grow strong — whatever we have done for you by strength or by knowledge. And lead us on toward greater well-being; unite us with your good favor, rich in strength.
Translator's note: several phrases resist a single confident rendering — "dvimātā" (v.2, "having two mothers," an epithet for fire kindled from two sticks), "bhṛmiḥ" (v.16, rendered "the restless one"), and "caturakṣa" (v.13, literally "four-eyed") are translated conservatively and left close to the Sanskrit rather than smoothed into a confident paraphrase.
Colophon
Rigveda I.31 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.31
tvam agne prathamo aṅgirā ṛṣir devo devānām abhavaḥ śivaḥ sakhā |
tava vrate kavayo vidmanāpaso 'jāyanta maruto bhrājadṛṣṭayaḥ || 1 ||
tvam agne prathamo aṅgirastamaḥ kavir devānām pari bhūṣasi vratam |
vibhur viśvasmai bhuvanāya medhiro dvimātā śayuḥ katidhā cid āyave || 2 ||
tvam agne prathamo mātariśvana āvir bhava sukratūyā vivasvate |
arejetāṁ rodasī hotṛvūrye 'saghnor bhāram ayajo maho vaso || 3 ||
tvam agne manave dyām avāśayaḥ purūravase sukṛte sukṛttaraḥ |
śvātreṇa yat pitror mucyase pary ā tvā pūrvam anayann āparam punaḥ || 4 ||
tvam agne vṛṣabhaḥ puṣṭivardhana udyatasruce bhavasi śravāyyaḥ |
ya āhutim pari vedā vaṣaṭkṛtim ekāyur agre viśa āvivāsasi || 5 ||
tvam agne vṛjinavartaniṁ naraṁ sakman piparṣi vidathe vicarṣaṇe |
yaḥ śūrasātā paritakmye dhane dabhrebhiś cit samṛtā haṁsi bhūyasaḥ || 6 ||
tvaṁ tam agne amṛtatva uttame martaṁ dadhāsi śravase dive-dive |
yas tātṛṣāṇa ubhayāya janmane mayaḥ kṛṇoṣi praya ā ca sūraye || 7 ||
tvaṁ no agne sanaye dhanānāṁ yaśasaṁ kāruṁ kṛṇuhi stavānaḥ |
ṛdhyāma karmāpasā navena devair dyāvāpṛthivī prāvataṁ naḥ || 8 ||
tvaṁ no agne pitror upastha ā devo deveṣv anavadya jāgṛviḥ |
tanūkṛd bodhi pramatiś ca kārave tvaṁ kalyāṇa vasu viśvam opiṣe || 9 ||
tvam agne pramatis tvam pitāsi nas tvaṁ vayaskṛt tava jāmayo vayam |
saṁ tvā rāyaḥ śatinaḥ saṁ sahasriṇaḥ suvīraṁ yanti vratapām adābhya || 10 ||
tvām agne prathamam āyum āyave devā akṛṇvan nahuṣasya viśpatim |
iḻām akṛṇvan manuṣasya śāsanīm pitur yat putro mamakasya jāyate || 11 ||
tvaṁ no agne tava deva pāyubhir maghono rakṣa tanvaś ca vandya |
trātā tokasya tanaye gavām asy animeṣaṁ rakṣamāṇas tava vrate || 12 ||
tvam agne yajyave pāyur antaro 'niṣaṅgāya caturakṣa idhyase |
yo rātahavyo 'vṛkāya dhāyase kīreś cin mantram manasā vanoṣi tam || 13 ||
tvam agna uruśaṁsāya vāghate spārhaṁ yad rekṇaḥ paramaṁ vanoṣi tat |
ādhrasya cit pramatir ucyase pitā pra pākaṁ śāssi pra diśo viduṣṭaraḥ || 14 ||
tvam agne prayatadakṣiṇaṁ naraṁ varmeva syūtam pari pāsi viśvataḥ |
svādukṣadmā yo vasatau syonakṛj jīvayājaṁ yajate sopamā divaḥ || 15 ||
imām agne śaraṇim mīmṛṣo na imam adhvānaṁ yam agāma dūrāt |
āpiḥ pitā pramatiḥ somyānām bhṛmir asy ṛṣikṛn martyānām || 16 ||
manuṣvad agne aṅgirasvad aṅgiro yayātivat sadane pūrvavac chuce |
accha yāhy ā vahā daivyaṁ janam ā sādaya barhiṣi yakṣi ca priyam || 17 ||
etenāgne brahmaṇā vāvṛdhasva śaktī vā yat te cakṛmā vidā vā |
uta pra ṇeṣy abhi vasyo asmān saṁ naḥ sṛja sumatyā vājavatyā || 18 ||
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).