Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.71 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. Urging forward the eager ones toward the eager one, the sisters who share one home approach him as wives approach a lasting husband. The sisters cherish the dark one and the ruddy one, as cows delight in the wondrous dawn breaking into light.
2. Even the firm, solid rock the Aṅgirases split open with a roar, like fathers with their chants. They made from high heaven a path for us; they found the day, the sun, the shining herds, the beacon of light.
3. They hold fast to the sacred order, making his purpose flourish. Then the suitors of the noble one, sustained and active, go forward unwearied, nourishing the birth of the gods with their offerings.
4. When far-borne Mātariśvan churned him into being, he became, house after house, the bright and nobly-born one. Then, present at hand, he performed the messenger's task for the mightier king; the Bhṛgus wove that office for him.
5. When he made the sap of life for the great father, Heaven, the knowing one crept down from the dappled one. The bold archer let fly his shaft at him; the god set his blazing power in his own daughter.
6. He who shines for you in his own house, or who offers homage, eager, day upon day—increase his strength twofold, O Agni. May he go forth with wealth, as your yoke-companion, whom you drive onward.
7. All nourishing powers converge upon Agni, as the seven young rivers flow to the sea. Our strength is not to be known through kinship alone; grant us, wise one, foresight among the gods.
8. When, for his desire, splendor reached the lord of men—pure seed poured out by heaven close at hand—Agni brought forth the blameless young host, devoted, and drove it onward.
9. He who, like thought, travels the roads in a single day, alone rules wholly over wealth like the sun; the two kings Mitra and Varuṇa, fair of hand, guard the dear immortal thing among the cattle.
10. Do not forget, O Agni, our ancestral bonds of friendship, though you are the wise seer who knows all. Old age wears away our form as a cloud fades; before that curse comes, take thought for it.
Translator's note: Verses 1, 3, 5, and 8 compress old, allusive mythic imagery (fire-kindling by hand, the birth of Agni through Mātariśvan, and a difficult passage involving Heaven, a "dappled" figure, and a "daughter") that the Sanskrit itself leaves elliptical. These have been rendered conservatively, keeping the images and grammar of the source rather than resolving their mythological references.
Colophon
Rigveda I.71 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.71
upa pra jinvann uśatīr uśantam patiṁ na nityaṁ janayaḥ sanīḻāḥ |
svasāraḥ śyāvīm aruṣīm ajuṣrañ citram ucchantīm uṣasaṁ na gāvaḥ || 1 ||
vīḻu cid dṛḻhā pitaro na ukthair adriṁ rujann aṅgiraso raveṇa |
cakrur divo bṛhato gātum asme ahaḥ svar vividuḥ ketum usrāḥ || 2 ||
dadhann ṛtaṁ dhanayann asya dhītim ād id aryo didhiṣvo3 vibhṛtrāḥ |
atṛṣyantīr apaso yanty acchā devāñ janma prayasā vardhayantīḥ || 3 ||
mathīd yad īṁ vibhṛto mātariśvā gṛhe-gṛhe śyeto jenyo bhūt |
ād īṁ rājñe na sahīyase sacā sann ā dūtya1m bhṛgavāṇo vivāya || 4 ||
mahe yat pitra īṁ rasaṁ dive kar ava tsarat pṛśanyaś cikitvān |
sṛjad astā dhṛṣatā didyum asmai svāyāṁ devo duhitari tviṣiṁ dhāt || 5 ||
sva ā yas tubhyaṁ dama ā vibhāti namo vā dāśād uśato anu dyūn |
vardho agne vayo asya dvibarhā yāsad rāyā sarathaṁ yaṁ junāsi || 6 ||
agniṁ viśvā abhi pṛkṣaḥ sacante samudraṁ na sravataḥ sapta yahvīḥ |
na jāmibhir vi cikite vayo no vidā deveṣu pramatiṁ cikitvān || 7 ||
ā yad iṣe nṛpatiṁ teja ānaṭ chuci reto niṣiktaṁ dyaur abhīke |
agniḥ śardham anavadyaṁ yuvānaṁ svādhyaṁ janayat sūdayac ca || 8 ||
mano na yo 'dhvanaḥ sadya ety ekaḥ satrā sūro vasva īśe |
rājānā mitrāvaruṇā supāṇī goṣu priyam amṛtaṁ rakṣamāṇā || 9 ||
mā no agne sakhyā pitryāṇi pra marṣiṣṭhā abhi viduṣ kaviḥ san |
nabho na rūpaṁ jarimā mināti purā tasyā abhiśaster adhīhi || 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).