Hymn to Agni and Soma
Rigveda I.93 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed jointly to Agni and Soma — invoked together throughout as a single dual deity, "Agnīṣomau." It recalls a shared exploit of the pair (freeing cows held by the Paṇis, and being brought down from heaven and rock), and asks their protection, vigor, and well-being for those who make offerings to them. 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. Agni and Soma, you two bulls, listen well to this call of mine. Delight in these hymns; be a joy to the one who gives offerings.
2. Agni and Soma, whoever today honors you with this speech — grant to him good vigor, abundance of cattle, and fine horses.
3. Agni and Soma, whoever offers you an oblation, who presents to you the prepared offering — may he, with his offspring, attain good vigor and a full lifespan.
4. Agni and Soma, that heroic deed of yours is known — how you stole away the cows guarded by the Paṇi. You swept away the remnant of Bṛsaya; you found the one light for the many.
5. You two, Agni and Soma, of one will, set these shining realms in the sky. You, Agni and Soma, freed the seized rivers from curse and reproach.
6. Mātariśvan brought one of you down from heaven; the falcon carried the other away from the rock. Agni and Soma, grown strong through the sacred word, you made wide room for the sacrifice.
7. Agni and Soma, enjoy the oblation set before you; delight in it, you desirable bulls. Be good shelterers, good protectors — and grant well-being and health to the one who sacrifices.
8. Agni and Soma, whoever honors you with oblation, with a mind turned toward the gods, with ghee — guard his rite, protect him from harm; grant great shelter to that person and his people.
9. Agni and Soma, sharing wealth in common, called together, take pleasure in these songs of praise — you two have become united among the gods.
10. Agni and Soma, whoever offers you ghee along with this — for him shine forth greatly.
11. Agni and Soma, take pleasure in these offerings of ours. Come here, together, to us.
12. Agni and Soma, carry us across like swift steeds; let the ruddy cows that speed the offering grow full. Place strength in us, among the bounteous ones; make our rite one that is readily heard.
Translator's note: verse 4 refers to a myth of cows hidden away by the Paṇis (traders/misers) and recovered through the pair's power, and names a figure, Bṛsaya, whose exact identity is not certain from the verse alone; the line is rendered conservatively. Verse 6 alludes to Agni being carried from heaven by Mātariśvan and Soma being brought from the mountain by a falcon — both familiar Vedic images kept here without embellishment.
Colophon
Rigveda I.93 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.93
agnīṣomāv imaṁ su me śṛṇutaṁ vṛṣaṇā havam |
prati sūktāni haryatam bhavataṁ dāśuṣe mayaḥ || 1 ||
agnīṣomā yo adya vām idaṁ vacaḥ saparyati |
tasmai dhattaṁ suvīryaṁ gavām poṣaṁ svaśvyam || 2 ||
agnīṣomā ya āhutiṁ yo vāṁ dāśād dhaviṣkṛtim |
sa prajayā suvīryaṁ viśvam āyur vy aśnavat || 3 ||
agnīṣomā ceti tad vīryaṁ vāṁ yad amuṣṇītam avasam paṇiṁ gāḥ |
avātiratam bṛsayasya śeṣo 'vindataṁ jyotir ekam bahubhyaḥ || 4 ||
yuvam etāni divi rocanāny agniś ca soma sakratū adhattam |
yuvaṁ sindhūm̐r abhiśaster avadyād agnīṣomāv amuñcataṁ gṛbhītān || 5 ||
ānyaṁ divo mātariśvā jabhārāmathnād anyam pari śyeno adreḥ |
agnīṣomā brahmaṇā vāvṛdhānoruṁ yajñāya cakrathur u lokam || 6 ||
agnīṣomā haviṣaḥ prasthitasya vītaṁ haryataṁ vṛṣaṇā juṣethām |
suśarmāṇā svavasā hi bhūtam athā dhattaṁ yajamānāya śaṁ yoḥ || 7 ||
yo agnīṣomā haviṣā saparyād devadrīcā manasā yo ghṛtena |
tasya vrataṁ rakṣatam pātam aṁhaso viśe janāya mahi śarma yacchatam || 8 ||
agnīṣomā savedasā sahūtī vanataṁ giraḥ |
saṁ devatrā babhūvathuḥ || 9 ||
agnīṣomāv anena vāṁ yo vāṁ ghṛtena dāśati |
tasmai dīdayatam bṛhat || 10 ||
agnīṣomāv imāni no yuvaṁ havyā jujoṣatam |
ā yātam upa naḥ sacā || 11 ||
agnīṣomā pipṛtam arvato na ā pyāyantām usriyā havyasūdaḥ |
asme balāni maghavatsu dhattaṁ kṛṇutaṁ no adhvaraṁ śruṣṭimantam || 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).