Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.36 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. We entreat with well-spoken hymns your mighty Agni, of the many god-seeking clans — him whom others too invoke.
2. The people have set up Agni, the strengthener of power; with oblations may we worship you. Be here today, well-disposed, our helper, O true one, in the contests for strength.
3. We choose you as our messenger, the priest who possesses all things. Being great, your flames spread wide; your rays touch the sky.
4. The gods — Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman — kindle you together, the ancient messenger. Through you, Agni, the mortal who makes offering to you wins all wealth.
5. You are the joyful priest, the lord of the house, Agni; you are the messenger of the peoples. In you are gathered all the firm ordinances that the gods established.
6. In you alone, fortunate Agni, youngest one, all oblation is poured. Be well-disposed to us today and hereafter; sacrifice to the gods on our behalf, for our good strength.
7. Thus the reverent ones sit near him, the self-ruling one. With their offerings the sons of Manu kindle Agni together, having overcome all mischance.
8. Slaying Vṛtra, they crossed the two worlds and opened the wide realm for dwelling. For Kanva, the invoked Agni became a bull, brilliant, neighing like a horse in the raids for cattle.
9. Settle down; you are great — blaze forth, best inviter of the gods. Send out your red smoke, Agni, worthy of the offering; O praised one, send forth what is fair to see.
10. You whom the gods set here for Manu, best sacrificer, carrier of oblations — you whom Kanva Medhyātithi kindled, winner of wealth, you the bull, you the praised one.
11. The Agni whom Medhyātithi Kanva kindled in accord with the order of truth — his flames shine bright; these verses glorify him; we exalt that Agni.
12. Fill us with wealth, O self-sustaining one; for you, Agni, have kinship among the gods. You rule over renowned strength and prize — be gracious to us; you are great.
13. Stand up, indeed, for our help, like the god Savitṛ standing upright. Stand upright as winner of the prize, when we call on you together with our adorned priests.
14. Standing upright, protect us from distress; with your blazing light burn down every devouring demon. Make us stand upright, for vigorous activity and for life; make our devotion known among the gods.
15. Protect us, Agni, from the demon; protect us from the deceit of the malicious one. Protect us from the one who would injure us, or from the one who wishes to kill — O widely radiant, youngest one.
16. Strike down the malicious ones on every side like a club, O you with burning jaws, whoever is hostile to us. Whatever mortal sharpens himself through the nights against us — may that foe not gain mastery over us.
17. Agni has won heroic strength; Agni has won good fortune for Kanva. Agni, together with Mitra, has aided Medhyātithi; Agni has aided the praised one in gaining his prize.
18. With Agni's help we call from afar Turvaśa, Yadu, and Ugradeva. Agni, leading them, brings Navavāstva, Bṛhadratha, and Turvīti as strength against the Dasyu.
19. Manu has established you, Agni, as a light for humankind forever. You have shone, born of the sacred order, grown strong — you whom the peoples revere.
20. The flashing, powerful flames of Agni are fearsome, not to be withstood. Burn up forever every devouring demon, along with the sorcerers who harbor the rakṣas.
Translator's note: verse 10 is elliptical in the Sanskrit — a string of relative clauses ("whom the gods established... whom Kanva Medhyātithi... whom the bull... whom the praised one") without a repeated main verb, likely carrying forward the sense of "kindled" from verse 11. Verse 18 names clan leaders (Turvaśa, Yadu, Ugradeva, Navavāstva, Bṛhadratha, Turvīti) called on for aid against the Dasyu; these are kept as proper names rather than translated. In verse 19, "kaṇva" is read as a further descriptor of Agni (born of ṛta, grown strong) rather than as a vocative address to the seer, since the verse's subject throughout is Agni.
Colophon
Rigveda I.36 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.36
pra vo yahvam purūṇāṁ viśāṁ devayatīnām |
agniṁ sūktebhir vacobhir īmahe yaṁ sīm id anya īḻate || 1 ||
janāso agniṁ dadhire sahovṛdhaṁ haviṣmanto vidhema te |
sa tvaṁ no adya sumanā ihāvitā bhavā vājeṣu santya || 2 ||
pra tvā dūtaṁ vṛṇīmahe hotāraṁ viśvavedasam |
mahas te sato vi caranty arcayo divi spṛśanti bhānavaḥ || 3 ||
devāsas tvā varuṇo mitro aryamā saṁ dūtam pratnam indhate |
viśvaṁ so agne jayati tvayā dhanaṁ yas te dadāśa martyaḥ || 4 ||
mandro hotā gṛhapatir agne dūto viśām asi |
tve viśvā saṁgatāni vratā dhruvā yāni devā akṛṇvata || 5 ||
tve id agne subhage yaviṣṭhya viśvam ā hūyate haviḥ |
sa tvaṁ no adya sumanā utāparaṁ yakṣi devān suvīryā || 6 ||
taṁ ghem itthā namasvina upa svarājam āsate |
hotrābhir agnim manuṣaḥ sam indhate titirvāṁso ati sridhaḥ || 7 ||
ghnanto vṛtram ataran rodasī apa uru kṣayāya cakrire |
bhuvat kaṇve vṛṣā dyumny āhutaḥ krandad aśvo gaviṣṭiṣu || 8 ||
saṁ sīdasva mahām̐ asi śocasva devavītamaḥ |
vi dhūmam agne aruṣam miyedhya sṛja praśasta darśatam || 9 ||
yaṁ tvā devāso manave dadhur iha yajiṣṭhaṁ havyavāhana |
yaṁ kaṇvo medhyātithir dhanaspṛtaṁ yaṁ vṛṣā yam upastutaḥ || 10 ||
yam agnim medhyātithiḥ kaṇva īdha ṛtād adhi |
tasya preṣo dīdiyus tam imā ṛcas tam agniṁ vardhayāmasi || 11 ||
rāyas pūrdhi svadhāvo 'sti hi te 'gne deveṣv āpyam |
tvaṁ vājasya śrutyasya rājasi sa no mṛḻa mahām̐ asi || 12 ||
ūrdhva ū ṣu ṇa ūtaye tiṣṭhā devo na savitā |
ūrdhvo vājasya sanitā yad añjibhir vāghadbhir vihvayāmahe || 13 ||
ūrdhvo naḥ pāhy aṁhaso ni ketunā viśvaṁ sam atriṇaṁ daha |
kṛdhī na ūrdhvāñ carathāya jīvase vidā deveṣu no duvaḥ || 14 ||
pāhi no agne rakṣasaḥ pāhi dhūrter arāvṇaḥ |
pāhi rīṣata uta vā jighāṁsato bṛhadbhāno yaviṣṭhya || 15 ||
ghaneva viṣvag vi jahy arāvṇas tapurjambha yo asmadhruk |
yo martyaḥ śiśīte aty aktubhir mā naḥ sa ripur īśata || 16 ||
agnir vavne suvīryam agniḥ kaṇvāya saubhagam |
agniḥ prāvan mitrota medhyātithim agniḥ sātā upastutam || 17 ||
agninā turvaśaṁ yadum parāvata ugrādevaṁ havāmahe |
agnir nayan navavāstvam bṛhadrathaṁ turvītiṁ dasyave sahaḥ || 18 ||
ni tvām agne manur dadhe jyotir janāya śaśvate |
dīdetha kaṇva ṛtajāta ukṣito yaṁ namasyanti kṛṣṭayaḥ || 19 ||
tveṣāso agner amavanto arcayo bhīmāso na pratītaye |
rakṣasvinaḥ sadam id yātumāvato viśvaṁ sam atriṇaṁ daha || 20 ||
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).