Funeral Hymn to Agni

Rigveda X.16 is the cremation hymn of the Veda, spoken at the pyre itself. It asks the fire not to destroy but to ripen — "do not burn him through, Agni… when you have made him ripe, send him on to the fathers" — releases the eye to the sun and the breath to the wind, distinguishes the flesh-eating fire that must be sent away from the offering-bearing fire that stays, and ends astonishingly with water-plants and a frog: the pyre-ground asked to grow green and cool again.

This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.

1. Do not burn him through, Agni; do not scorch him utterly; do not tear his skin or his body. When you have made him ripe, O Jātavedas, then send him on to the fathers.

2. When you have made him ripe, O Jātavedas, then hand him over to the fathers. When he goes on this path of the life-breath, then let him come under the will of the gods.

3. Let his eye go to the sun, his breath to the wind. Go to heaven and to earth, as is right for you. Or go to the waters, if that is your place there. Take your stand again in the plants, with your limbs.

4. The goat is your share — heat it with your heat; let your flame heat it, let your blaze heat it. With those kindly forms of yours, O Jātavedas, carry him to the world of those who do good deeds.

5. Release him again, Agni, to the fathers — he who, offered to you, now moves on by his own power. Clothed in life, let what remains of him come forward; let it join together with its body, O Jātavedas.

6. What the black bird has pecked at, or the ant, the serpent, or the beast of prey — let Agni who devours all make that whole, and Soma too, who has entered into the priests.

7. Wrap yourself round with Agni's armor, made of the cow's fat — cover yourself well with fat and marrow, so that the bold one, bristling with fierce heat, daring, meaning to burn, does not close around you.

8. Do not overturn this cup, Agni — it is dear to the gods and to those fit for soma. This is the cup the gods drink from; in it the immortal gods find their joy.

9. The flesh-eating Agni I send far away; let him go, carrying off what is impure, to the kingdom of Yama. Let this other Agni, Jātavedas, remain right here, and carry the offering to the gods, knowing the way.

10. That Agni the flesh-eater, who has entered your house — seeing this other Jātavedas — that god I lead out for the sacrifice to the fathers; let him send the hot oblation to the highest gathering-place.

11. That Agni who carries off the flesh, strengthened by truth, shall do honor to the fathers; he shall proclaim the offerings forth to the gods and to the fathers.

12. Eager, we set you down; eager, we kindle you. Eager one, bring here the eager fathers, to eat the offering.

13. Whom you, Agni, have burned up — him make whole again. Let the kiyāmbu plant spring up here, and the pākadūrvā, and the vyalkaśā.

14. O cool one, full of coolness, O soothing one, full of soothing — join well with the frog-goddess, and rouse this fire well.

Translator's note: verse 2's "vaśanīr bhavāti" is a rare and difficult form; rendered conservatively as coming "under the will" of the gods. Verse 13's "nir vāpayā" can mean either "cool/quench" or "sow forth/make sprout"; both senses fit a verse about plants growing again after cremation, so the rendering here ("make whole again... let the plant spring up") holds both readings together rather than forcing one. Verse 14's plant names (kiyāmbu, pākadūrvā, vyalkaśā) and the closing address to a frog-goddess are kept as proper names/epithets, following the Sanskrit directly.

Colophon

Rigveda X.16 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.

🌲

Source Text: ṛgveda X.16

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.

mainam agne vi daho mābhi śoco māsya tvacaṁ cikṣipo mā śarīram |
yadā śṛtaṁ kṛṇavo jātavedo 'them enam pra hiṇutāt pitṛbhyaḥ || 1 ||

śṛtaṁ yadā karasi jātavedo 'them enam pari dattāt pitṛbhyaḥ |
yadā gacchāty asunītim etām athā devānāṁ vaśanīr bhavāti || 2 ||

sūryaṁ cakṣur gacchatu vātam ātmā dyāṁ ca gaccha pṛthivīṁ ca dharmaṇā |
apo vā gaccha yadi tatra te hitam oṣadhīṣu prati tiṣṭhā śarīraiḥ || 3 ||

ajo bhāgas tapasā taṁ tapasva taṁ te śocis tapatu taṁ te arciḥ |
yās te śivās tanvo jātavedas tābhir vahainaṁ sukṛtām u lokam || 4 ||

ava sṛja punar agne pitṛbhyo yas ta āhutaś carati svadhābhiḥ |
āyur vasāna upa vetu śeṣaḥ saṁ gacchatāṁ tanvā jātavedaḥ || 5 ||

yat te kṛṣṇaḥ śakuna ātutoda pipīlaḥ sarpa uta vā śvāpadaḥ |
agniṣ ṭad viśvād agadaṁ kṛṇotu somaś ca yo brāhmaṇām̐ āviveśa || 6 ||

agner varma pari gobhir vyayasva sam prorṇuṣva pīvasā medasā ca |
net tvā dhṛṣṇur harasā jarhṛṣāṇo dadhṛg vidhakṣyan paryaṅkhayāte || 7 ||

imam agne camasam mā vi jihvaraḥ priyo devānām uta somyānām |
eṣa yaś camaso devapānas tasmin devā amṛtā mādayante || 8 ||

kravyādam agnim pra hiṇomi dūraṁ yamarājño gacchatu ripravāhaḥ |
ihaivāyam itaro jātavedā devebhyo havyaṁ vahatu prajānan || 9 ||

yo agniḥ kravyāt praviveśa vo gṛham imam paśyann itaraṁ jātavedasam |
taṁ harāmi pitṛyajñāya devaṁ sa gharmam invāt parame sadhasthe || 10 ||

yo agniḥ kravyavāhanaḥ pitṝn yakṣad ṛtāvṛdhaḥ |
pred u havyāni vocati devebhyaś ca pitṛbhya ā || 11 ||

uśantas tvā ni dhīmahy uśantaḥ sam idhīmahi |
uśann uśata ā vaha pitṝn haviṣe attave || 12 ||

yaṁ tvam agne samadahas tam u nir vāpayā punaḥ |
kiyāmbv atra rohatu pākadūrvā vyalkaśā || 13 ||

śītike śītikāvati hlādike hlādikāvati |
maṇḍūkyā3 su saṁ gama imaṁ sv a1gniṁ harṣaya || 14 ||

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).