Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.72 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. He has set down the poetic wisdom of the many ancient ordainers, holding many manly gifts in his hand. Agni has become the lord of riches among riches, continually creating all immortal works.
2. Among us, not finding the calf that wandered about, though all the wise immortals sought it — toiling, tracking its steps, holding the thought in mind — they took their place at Agni's highest, beautiful station.
3. When, Agni, for three autumns the pure ones served you, the pure one, with ghee, they also took on sacrificial names; the well-born ones readied their own bodies.
4. Knowing well the two vast worlds, the sacrificing kin of Rudra brought their offerings forward. The perceiving mortal found Agni standing in the midst, at his highest station.
5. Agreeing among themselves, they sat down on bent knee together with their wives, honoring the one worthy of honor. Having given up their bodies, they made new bodies their own; friend watching over friend even in the blink of an eye.
6. When the worshippers found the thrice-seven hidden things laid up in you alone, with these, united in one accord, they guard the immortal. Protect the standing herds and the roaming creatures.
7. Knowing the ways of the settled peoples, Agni, you set out gifts of food in order for their living; knowing the paths that lead to the gods, tireless, you became the messenger who carries the offering.
8. The seven young rivers, well-disposed, knowing the truth, threw open the doors of wealth from heaven. Saramā found the firm, deep cattle-pen, by which the human tribe now finds its enjoyment.
9. Those who stand over all things that bear good offspring, making a path toward immortality — by their greatness, together with the great, Earth spread herself wide; the mother Aditi, with her sons, spread wide for the nourishment of the bird.
10. They set a beautiful glory upon this one, when the immortals made the two eyes of heaven. Then the rivers flow like ones let loose; the red, downward-flowing streams became known, Agni.
Translator's note: This hymn is dense with the riddling, allusive language typical of Vedic hymns on Agni's hidden nature. Several images resist certain rendering: the "calf" sought in verse 2 and the "thrice-seven hidden things" of verse 6 are traditional figures for Agni's concealed forms and secret names; "the two eyes of heaven" in verse 10 likely refers to sun and moon; "the bird" (veḥ) in verse 9 most likely names Agni himself, born and nourished within the spread of earth and the goddess Aditi; and "the seven young rivers" of verse 8 may equally be read as seven flames. These are rendered conservatively, following the Sanskrit word order and image, rather than resolved into a single confident interpretation.
Colophon
Rigveda I.72 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.72
ni kāvyā vedhasaḥ śaśvatas kar haste dadhāno naryā purūṇi |
agnir bhuvad rayipatī rayīṇāṁ satrā cakrāṇo amṛtāni viśvā || 1 ||
asme vatsam pari ṣantaṁ na vindann icchanto viśve amṛtā amūrāḥ |
śramayuvaḥ padavyo dhiyaṁdhās tasthuḥ pade parame cārv agneḥ || 2 ||
tisro yad agne śaradas tvām ic chuciṁ ghṛtena śucayaḥ saparyān |
nāmāni cid dadhire yajñiyāny asūdayanta tanva1ḥ sujātāḥ || 3 ||
ā rodasī bṛhatī vevidānāḥ pra rudriyā jabhrire yajñiyāsaḥ |
vidan marto nemadhitā cikitvān agnim pade parame tasthivāṁsam || 4 ||
saṁjānānā upa sīdann abhijñu patnīvanto namasyaṁ namasyan |
ririkvāṁsas tanvaḥ kṛṇvata svāḥ sakhā sakhyur nimiṣi rakṣamāṇāḥ || 5 ||
triḥ sapta yad guhyāni tve it padāvidan nihitā yajñiyāsaḥ |
tebhī rakṣante amṛtaṁ sajoṣāḥ paśūñ ca sthātṝñ carathaṁ ca pāhi || 6 ||
vidvām̐ agne vayunāni kṣitīnāṁ vy ānuṣak churudho jīvase dhāḥ |
antarvidvām̐ adhvano devayānān atandro dūto abhavo havirvāṭ || 7 ||
svādhyo diva ā sapta yahvī rāyo duro vy ṛtajñā ajānan |
vidad gavyaṁ saramā dṛḻham ūrvaṁ yenā nu kam mānuṣī bhojate viṭ || 8 ||
ā ye viśvā svapatyāni tasthuḥ kṛṇvānāso amṛtatvāya gātum |
mahnā mahadbhiḥ pṛthivī vi tasthe mātā putrair aditir dhāyase veḥ || 9 ||
adhi śriyaṁ ni dadhuś cārum asmin divo yad akṣī amṛtā akṛṇvan |
adha kṣaranti sindhavo na sṛṣṭāḥ pra nīcīr agne aruṣīr ajānan || 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).