Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.45 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, worship here the Vasus, the Rudras, and the Ādityas. Sacrifice for the people born of Manu, well-performing of rites, sprinkled with ghee.
2. For the gods are quick to hear the one who gives offering, and discerning, O Agni. Bring them here, red-horsed one, lover of praise-songs — the thirty-three.
3. As you heard Priyamedha, as Atri, as Virūpa, as Aṅgiras — knower of all beings, great in ordinance — so hear now the call of Praskaṇva.
4. The mighty-voiced Priyamedhas have called out for help to Agni, ruler of the sacred rites, with his bright flame.
5. O you into whom ghee is poured, true one — listen well to these songs, by which the sons of Kaṇva call you for help.
6. You, most wondrously renowned — the peoples call you among the clans, flame-haired one, much-beloved, O Agni, to carry the offering.
7. The inspired poets have set you down as hotṛ-priest, the seasonal priest, best finder of wealth, attentive-eared, most far-renowned, O Agni, at the rites that seek heaven.
8. The inspired poets, having pressed the soma, bearing lofty radiance and the oblation, have set you moving toward the feast, O Agni, for the mortal giver of offerings.
9. Made mighty for the soma-drinking of those who come early, true one — seat the divine people here today on the sacred grass, good one.
10. Bring hither the divine people, turned toward us, O Agni, with our joined calls. Here is the soma — drink it, bounteous ones, the soma kept from the day before.
Translator's note: "trayastriṁśatam" (verse 2) names the traditional group of thirty-three Vedic gods. Verse 3's four names (Priyamedha, Atri, Virūpa, Aṅgiras) carry the suffix "-vat," meaning Agni is asked to hear Praskaṇva's call as he once heard theirs. "Tiroahnyam" (verse 10), literally "across-the-day," refers to soma pressed and kept from the previous day.
Colophon
Rigveda I.45 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.45
tvam agne vasūm̐r iha rudrām̐ ādityām̐ uta |
yajā svadhvaraṁ janam manujātaṁ ghṛtapruṣam || 1 ||
śruṣṭīvāno hi dāśuṣe devā agne vicetasaḥ |
tān rohidaśva girvaṇas trayastriṁśatam ā vaha || 2 ||
priyamedhavad atrivaj jātavedo virūpavat |
aṅgirasvan mahivrata praskaṇvasya śrudhī havam || 3 ||
mahikerava ūtaye priyamedhā ahūṣata |
rājantam adhvarāṇām agniṁ śukreṇa śociṣā || 4 ||
ghṛtāhavana santyemā u ṣu śrudhī giraḥ |
yābhiḥ kaṇvasya sūnavo havante 'vase tvā || 5 ||
tvāṁ citraśravastama havante vikṣu jantavaḥ |
śociṣkeśam purupriyāgne havyāya voḻhave || 6 ||
ni tvā hotāram ṛtvijaṁ dadhire vasuvittamam |
śrutkarṇaṁ saprathastamaṁ viprā agne diviṣṭiṣu || 7 ||
ā tvā viprā acucyavuḥ sutasomā abhi prayaḥ |
bṛhad bhā bibhrato havir agne martāya dāśuṣe || 8 ||
prātaryāvṇaḥ sahaskṛta somapeyāya santya |
ihādya daivyaṁ janam barhir ā sādayā vaso || 9 ||
arvāñcaṁ daivyaṁ janam agne yakṣva sahūtibhiḥ |
ayaṁ somaḥ sudānavas tam pāta tiroahnyam || 10 ||
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).