Hymn to Agni, Protector of the Embryo
Rigveda X.162 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. Agni, joined with the sacred formula, slayer of demons — let him drive from here the ill-named affliction that lies upon your embryo, in the womb.
2. That ill-named affliction, the flesh-eater, which lay upon your embryo, in the womb — Agni, together with the sacred formula, has driven it out.
3. Whoever strikes at your child as it stirs, as it lies still, as it creeps — whoever seeks to kill your child once it is born, we banish him from here.
4. Whoever forces apart your thighs and lies between husband and wife, whoever licks within the womb — we drive him from here.
5. Whoever, having become your brother, your husband, or your lover, lies down upon you, whoever seeks to kill your offspring — we drive him from here.
6. Whoever, having bewildered you with sleep and darkness, lies down upon you, whoever seeks to kill your offspring — we drive him from here.
Translator's note: "durṇāmā" (verses 1–2), literally "ill-named" or "of evil name," names a class of disease-demon by euphemism rather than by a proper term; it is rendered here as "affliction" to keep the sense without inventing a specific ailment. "kravyādam" (verse 2), "flesh-eater," is a standing epithet for demons hostile to the unborn and is kept literal.
Colophon
Rigveda X.162 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.162
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.
brahmaṇāgniḥ saṁvidāno rakṣohā bādhatām itaḥ |
amīvā yas te garbhaṁ durṇāmā yonim āśaye || 1 ||
yas te garbham amīvā durṇāmā yonim āśaye |
agniṣ ṭam brahmaṇā saha niṣ kravyādam anīnaśat || 2 ||
yas te hanti patayantaṁ niṣatsnuṁ yaḥ sarīsṛpam |
jātaṁ yas te jighāṁsati tam ito nāśayāmasi || 3 ||
yas ta ūrū viharaty antarā dampatī śaye |
yoniṁ yo antar āreḻhi tam ito nāśayāmasi || 4 ||
yas tvā bhrātā patir bhūtvā jāro bhūtvā nipadyate |
prajāṁ yas te jighāṁsati tam ito nāśayāmasi || 5 ||
yas tvā svapnena tamasā mohayitvā nipadyate |
prajāṁ yas te jighāṁsati tam ito nāśayāmasi || 6 ||
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).