Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.79 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. Golden-haired, in the spreading expanse of the atmosphere, a serpent, roaring, gliding like the wind; purely blazing, herald of the dawns, like the glorious, active, true dawns.
2. To you the fair-winged ones come by their unfailing courses; the black bull has bellowed, when this happened. He came as though with the gracious, smiling ones; the mists fall, the clouds thunder.
3. When, swelling with the milk of the cosmic order, leading him along the straightest paths of that order, Aryaman, Mitra, Varuṇa the far-ranging moisten the hide in the womb of the lower world.
4. O Agni, ruler of the prize rich in cattle, O son of strength — grant us, O Jātavedas, great fame.
5. He, kindled, the good one, the seer, Agni, worthy to be praised with song — shine forth wealth for us, O many-faced one.
6. By night, O king, and by yourself, O Agni, and by day and at dawn — you of the sharp teeth, burn back the demons.
7. Help us, O Agni, with your aids at the offering of the gāyatra hymn, you who are to be praised in all our thoughts.
8. Bring to us, O Agni, wealth ever-victorious, desirable, unconquerable in all battles.
9. Bring to us, O Agni, with good insight, wealth that sustains throughout life; grant us mercy, that we may live.
10. Bring forth purified words, O Gotama, to Agni of the sharp flame; bring, seeking his favor, songs of praise.
11. Whoever, O Agni, seeks to harm us, near or far, let him fall; be indeed for our furthering.
12. Thousand-eyed, far-ranging, Agni drives off the demons; the priest, worthy of praise, is being praised.
Translator's note: Verses 1–3 describe Agni under storm/lightning imagery (the "golden-haired serpent," the bellowing black bull, the mist and thundering clouds) before the hymn turns, from verse 4 on, to Agni as the kindled sacrificial fire. The seer's own name, Gotama, appears in verse 10. The "fair-winged ones" of verse 2 and the "gracious, smiling ones" he arrives with are left undetermined rather than identified by guess — the Sanskrit does not name them.
Colophon
Rigveda I.79 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.79
hiraṇyakeśo rajaso visāre 'hir dhunir vāta iva dhrajīmān |
śucibhrājā uṣaso navedā yaśasvatīr apasyuvo na satyāḥ || 1 ||
ā te suparṇā aminantam̐ evaiḥ kṛṣṇo nonāva vṛṣabho yadīdam |
śivābhir na smayamānābhir āgāt patanti mihaḥ stanayanty abhrā || 2 ||
yad īm ṛtasya payasā piyāno nayann ṛtasya pathibhī rajiṣṭhaiḥ |
aryamā mitro varuṇaḥ parijmā tvacam pṛñcanty uparasya yonau || 3 ||
agne vājasya gomata īśānaḥ sahaso yaho |
asme dhehi jātavedo mahi śravaḥ || 4 ||
sa idhāno vasuṣ kavir agnir īḻenyo girā |
revad asmabhyam purvaṇīka dīdihi || 5 ||
kṣapo rājann uta tmanāgne vastor utoṣasaḥ |
sa tigmajambha rakṣaso daha prati || 6 ||
avā no agna ūtibhir gāyatrasya prabharmaṇi |
viśvāsu dhīṣu vandya || 7 ||
ā no agne rayim bhara satrāsāhaṁ vareṇyam |
viśvāsu pṛtsu duṣṭaram || 8 ||
ā no agne sucetunā rayiṁ viśvāyupoṣasam |
mārḍīkaṁ dhehi jīvase || 9 ||
pra pūtās tigmaśociṣe vāco gotamāgnaye |
bharasva sumnayur giraḥ || 10 ||
yo no agne 'bhidāsaty anti dūre padīṣṭa saḥ |
asmākam id vṛdhe bhava || 11 ||
sahasrākṣo vicarṣaṇir agnī rakṣāṁsi sedhati |
hotā gṛṇīta ukthyaḥ || 12 ||
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).