Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.73 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 who, like wealth inherited from the fathers, bestows life-strength, of good guidance like the command of one who knows; pleasant to rest by like a welcomed guest — like the officiating priest, may he carry the worshiper's household safely across.
2. He who, true-minded like the god Savitṛ, guards all the settlements with his insight; praised by many, true as true insight itself, dear as one's own self, he has become one to be cherished.
3. He who, like the god who sustains the whole earth, dwells among us; like a king with well-disposed allies; like heroes seated secure in their stronghold; like a blameless wife cherished by her husband.
4. Men attend upon you, Agni, kindled continually in the house among settled dwellings; they have set abundant splendor in you. Live out your full span as the support of riches.
5. May the generous patrons obtain nourishment, O Agni; may the liberal givers obtain a full lifetime. May we win the prize in the contests against rivals, securing our share among the gods for glory.
6. For the lowing cows of cosmic order, full-uddered, allotted by heaven, swell with milk; seeking favor from afar, the rivers have flowed evenly past the rock.
7. Seeking your favor, Agni, the worshipers worthy of the rite have set their fame in heaven; they have made Night and Dawn of differing hue, and joined together the dark color and the ruddy.
8. Whatever mortals you have driven on toward wealth, O Agni, may we too be counted among those bounteous ones. Like a shadow you cling to the whole world, having filled the two worlds and the space between.
9. With our steeds, Agni, may we outmatch their steeds; with our men, their men; with our heroes, their heroes — aided by you, may we prevail. Masters of the wealth won by our fathers, may our patrons attain a hundred winters.
10. May these hymns of yours, O Agni, ordainer, be pleasing to your mind and heart. May we be able to hold the well-yoked rein of wealth that is yours, bearing the fame allotted by the gods.
Translator's note: Verse 6's rivers "flowing past the rock" (adrim) may instead picture the release of waters from a cloud-mountain, a recurring Vedic image; the line is rendered conservatively. Verse 7's joining of "the dark color and the ruddy" refers to night and dawn's contrasting hues, kept literal rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda I.73 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.73
rayir na yaḥ pitṛvitto vayodhāḥ supraṇītiś cikituṣo na śāsuḥ |
syonaśīr atithir na prīṇāno hoteva sadma vidhato vi tārīt || 1 ||
devo na yaḥ savitā satyamanmā kratvā nipāti vṛjanāni viśvā |
purupraśasto amatir na satya ātmeva śevo didhiṣāyyo bhūt || 2 ||
devo na yaḥ pṛthivīṁ viśvadhāyā upakṣeti hitamitro na rājā |
puraḥsadaḥ śarmasado na vīrā anavadyā patijuṣṭeva nārī || 3 ||
taṁ tvā naro dama ā nityam iddham agne sacanta kṣitiṣu dhruvāsu |
adhi dyumnaṁ ni dadhur bhūry asmin bhavā viśvāyur dharuṇo rayīṇām || 4 ||
vi pṛkṣo agne maghavāno aśyur vi sūrayo dadato viśvam āyuḥ |
sanema vājaṁ samitheṣv aryo bhāgaṁ deveṣu śravase dadhānāḥ || 5 ||
ṛtasya hi dhenavo vāvaśānāḥ smadūdhnīḥ pīpayanta dyubhaktāḥ |
parāvataḥ sumatim bhikṣamāṇā vi sindhavaḥ samayā sasrur adrim || 6 ||
tve agne sumatim bhikṣamāṇā divi śravo dadhire yajñiyāsaḥ |
naktā ca cakrur uṣasā virūpe kṛṣṇaṁ ca varṇam aruṇaṁ ca saṁ dhuḥ || 7 ||
yān rāye martān suṣūdo agne te syāma maghavāno vayaṁ ca |
chāyeva viśvam bhuvanaṁ sisakṣy āpaprivān rodasī antarikṣam || 8 ||
arvadbhir agne arvato nṛbhir nṝn vīrair vīrān vanuyāmā tvotāḥ |
īśānāsaḥ pitṛvittasya rāyo vi sūrayaḥ śatahimā no aśyuḥ || 9 ||
etā te agna ucathāni vedho juṣṭāni santu manase hṛde ca |
śakema rāyaḥ sudhuro yamaṁ te 'dhi śravo devabhaktaṁ dadhānāḥ || 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).