Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.150 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. Even once kindled, you are kindled again, O carrier of the offering to the gods. Come to us with the Ādityas, the Rudras, the Vasus — come to us for grace, come to us for grace.
2. Delighting in this sacrifice, in this word, come near. We mortals call on you, kindled one; we call on you for grace.
3. You, Jātavedas, knower of all births, granter of every desire — I praise you with my thought. O Agni, bring us the gods whose ways are dear to us, for grace, whose ways are dear to us.
4. Agni the god became the household priest of the gods; Agni the human seers have kindled. Agni, the great one, I call at the winning of the prize — for grace, for the winning of the prize.
5. Agni aided Atri, Bharadvāja, Gaviṣṭhira; he aided our Kaṇva, Trasadasyu, in the contest. Agni is called by Vasiṣṭha the household priest — for grace, by the household priest.
Translator's note: "mṛḻīkāya" (grace, mercy) is repeated at the end of nearly every verse-half in the Sanskrit, a refrain structure kept here as "for grace." "Purohita" (verses 4–5) is a household priest who tends the sacred fire and officiates rites; it is rendered plainly rather than transliterated. The proper names in verse 5 (Atri, Bharadvāja, Gaviṣṭhira, Kaṇva, Trasadasyu, Vasiṣṭha) are Vedic seers and a patron traditionally associated with Agni's aid; they are left untranslated as names.
Colophon
Rigveda X.150 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.150
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.
samiddhaś cit sam idhyase devebhyo havyavāhana |
ādityai rudrair vasubhir na ā gahi mṛḻīkāya na ā gahi || 1 ||
imaṁ yajñam idaṁ vaco jujuṣāṇa upāgahi |
martāsas tvā samidhāna havāmahe mṛḻīkāya havāmahe || 2 ||
tvām u jātavedasaṁ viśvavāraṁ gṛṇe dhiyā |
agne devām̐ ā vaha naḥ priyavratān mṛḻīkāya priyavratān || 3 ||
agnir devo devānām abhavat purohito 'gnim manuṣyā3 ṛṣayaḥ sam īdhire |
agnim maho dhanasātāv ahaṁ huve mṛḻīkaṁ dhanasātaye || 4 ||
agnir atrim bharadvājaṁ gaviṣṭhiram prāvan naḥ kaṇvaṁ trasadasyum āhave |
agniṁ vasiṣṭho havate purohito mṛḻīkāya purohitaḥ || 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).