Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.75 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. Accept this speech, spread widest, most pleasing in form to the gods, while oblations are poured into your mouth.
2. Then, Agni, most Aṅgiras-like, most wise ordainer, let us speak to you a dear prayer that wins its reward.
3. Who among the people is your kinsman, Agni? Who is the one who honors you with worship? In whom indeed do you dwell?
4. You, Agni, are the kinsman of the people, a dear friend, a companion to be praised among companions.
5. Worship Mitra and Varuṇa for us; worship the gods, the vast cosmic order. Agni, worship your own house.
Translator's note: "aṅgirastama" (2) is a superlative meaning something like "most Aṅgiras-like" — closest in nature to the Aṅgiras seers/fire-priests; rendered literally rather than expanded. "sānasi" (2) carries the sense of a prayer that "wins" or "gains" (a reward, favor); rendered as "wins its reward." "dāśvadhvaraḥ" (3) names one who performs the sacrificial rite with devotion; rendered as "the one who honors you with worship."
Colophon
Rigveda I.75 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.75
juṣasva saprathastamaṁ vaco devapsarastamam |
havyā juhvāna āsani || 1 ||
athā te aṅgirastamāgne vedhastama priyam |
vocema brahma sānasi || 2 ||
kas te jāmir janānām agne ko dāśvadhvaraḥ |
ko ha kasminn asi śritaḥ || 3 ||
tvaṁ jāmir janānām agne mitro asi priyaḥ |
sakhā sakhibhya īḍyaḥ || 4 ||
yajā no mitrāvaruṇā yajā devām̐ ṛtam bṛhat |
agne yakṣi svaṁ damam || 5 ||
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).