Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.115 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. Wondrous indeed is the growth of the young child, who does not go to his two mothers to suckle. Though the udderless one gave birth to him, he grew at once, going forth on his great errand.
2. The name Agni was borne by the biting one, most skilled at his work, who binds the kindling wood together with his ash-making tooth — grinding with his tongue at the well-ordered rite, like a mighty bull snorting in the pasture.
3. Him I call for you — the god who sits on the wood like a bird, the drop drawn from the plant, snorting, scattering the flood, his mouth aflame like a carrier bearing the load, abundant and roaring, running the paths like one of great ordinance.
4. O ageless one, the unshaken winds of your burning spread out on every side. The joyous flames, like warriors eager for the fight approaching their champion, reach as far as Trita, and urge him on toward the offering.
5. That Agni is foremost among the Kaṇvas, friend of the Kaṇvas, the lord who overcomes the enemy both far and near. May Agni protect the singers, may Agni protect the patrons, may Agni grant us their favor.
6. To the most vigorous, the overpowering one, of noble lineage, hastening eagerly toward Jātavedas — to him who boldly wins what is desired even in a waterless place, to the greatest one, who driven by hunger rushes into the wilderness.
7. So is Agni, together with his mortal patrons, praised — the good one, praised by the generous sons of strength — who, like well-established friends devoted to right order, outshine other men with their splendor as the heavens outshine what lies below.
8. "O child of strength, O powerful one" — thus the mighty voice of Upastuta praises you. We shall sing your praise; through you, blessed with strong sons, we lay hold of a longer, further-reaching life.
9. So have the sons of Vṛṣṭihavya, the seers called Upastutas, spoken to you, O Agni. Protect them, and protect the praising patrons. Standing upright, they have cried out, "Vaṣaṭ, vaṣaṭ!" Standing upright, they have cried out, "Homage, homage!"
Translator's note: Verse 1's "udderless one" and "great errand" (dūtya) refer to the fire-sticks (araṇis) that bear Agni without nursing him, and to Agni's role as messenger between gods and men. Verse 6 is syntactically compressed in the Sanskrit; the rendering above follows the sense of a bold, hunger-driven Agni reaching even into waterless, desolate country most conservatively.
Colophon
Rigveda X.115 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 X.115
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
citra ic chiśos taruṇasya vakṣatho na yo mātarāv apyeti dhātave |
anūdhā yadi jījanad adhā ca nu vavakṣa sadyo mahi dūtya1ṁ caran || 1 ||
agnir ha nāma dhāyi dann apastamaḥ saṁ yo vanā yuvate bhasmanā datā |
abhipramurā juhvā svadhvara ino na prothamāno yavase vṛṣā || 2 ||
taṁ vo viṁ na druṣadaṁ devam andhasa indum prothantam pravapantam arṇavam |
āsā vahniṁ na śociṣā virapśinam mahivrataṁ na sarajantam adhvanaḥ || 3 ||
vi yasya te jrayasānasyājara dhakṣor na vātāḥ pari santy acyutāḥ |
ā raṇvāso yuyudhayo na satvanaṁ tritaṁ naśanta pra śiṣanta iṣṭaye || 4 ||
sa id agniḥ kaṇvatamaḥ kaṇvasakhāryaḥ parasyāntarasya taruṣaḥ |
agniḥ pātu gṛṇato agniḥ sūrīn agnir dadātu teṣām avo naḥ || 5 ||
vājintamāya sahyase supitrya tṛṣu cyavāno anu jātavedase |
anudre cid yo dhṛṣatā varaṁ sate mahintamāya dhanvaned aviṣyate || 6 ||
evāgnir martaiḥ saha sūribhir vasuḥ ṣṭave sahasaḥ sūnaro nṛbhiḥ |
mitrāso na ye sudhitā ṛtāyavo dyāvo na dyumnair abhi santi mānuṣān || 7 ||
ūrjo napāt sahasāvann iti tvopastutasya vandate vṛṣā vāk |
tvāṁ stoṣāma tvayā suvīrā drāghīya āyuḥ prataraṁ dadhānāḥ || 8 ||
iti tvāgne vṛṣṭihavyasya putrā upastutāsa ṛṣayo 'vocan |
tām̐ś ca pāhi gṛṇataś ca sūrīn vaṣaḍ vaṣaḻ ity ūrdhvāso anakṣan namo nama ity ūrdhvāso anakṣan || 9 ||
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).