Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.7 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, grant us well-being from heaven and from earth, grant us a full lifespan for our worship, god. May we follow your wondrous signs, o marvel-worker; protect us, god, with our far-reaching praises.
2. These thoughts, Agni, are born for you; with cattle and horses they sing of your bounty. When a mortal has gained enjoyment through you, granting wealth through his devotions, o well-born one.
3. I think of Agni as father, Agni as kinsman, Agni as brother, always as friend. I honor the face of great Agni, bright in heaven, worthy of worship, like the sun's.
4. May our thoughts be effective and rewarding for us, Agni — whoever you protect in his house as the constant Hotar-priest, that man of truth, with ruddy horses, rich in cattle, let good things come to him by day and by night.
5. Established through the days like a friend set at the fore, the ancient priest, lover of the sacrifice — with their arms the sons of Āyu kindled Agni, and set him down as Hotar-priest among the tribes.
6. Worship the gods in heaven yourself, o god — what could a simple, unknowing mortal do for you? Just as you have worshipped the gods with the seasons, o god, so worship your own self, o well-born one.
7. Be our helper, Agni, and our protector; be the maker of vigor and the giver of vigor to us. Grant us, o mighty one, the giving of offerings, and protect our bodies without fail.
Translator's note: verse 5's "sons of Āyu" (āyavaḥ) is a standard Rigvedic term for early humankind/the ancestral worshippers, rendered here literally rather than expanded. Verse 6's address — asking Agni to "worship himself" — reflects Agni's double role in Vedic ritual as both the priest who carries offerings to the gods and a god who receives them; the line is translated literally rather than smoothed over.
Colophon
Rigveda X.7 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.7
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.
svasti no divo agne pṛthivyā viśvāyur dhehi yajathāya deva |
sacemahi tava dasma praketair uruṣyā ṇa urubhir deva śaṁsaiḥ || 1 ||
imā agne matayas tubhyaṁ jātā gobhir aśvair abhi gṛṇanti rādhaḥ |
yadā te marto anu bhogam ānaḍ vaso dadhāno matibhiḥ sujāta || 2 ||
agnim manye pitaram agnim āpim agnim bhrātaraṁ sadam it sakhāyam |
agner anīkam bṛhataḥ saparyaṁ divi śukraṁ yajataṁ sūryasya || 3 ||
sidhrā agne dhiyo asme sanutrīr yaṁ trāyase dama ā nityahotā |
ṛtāvā sa rohidaśvaḥ purukṣur dyubhir asmā ahabhir vāmam astu || 4 ||
dyubhir hitam mitram iva prayogam pratnam ṛtvijam adhvarasya jāram |
bāhubhyām agnim āyavo 'jananta vikṣu hotāraṁ ny asādayanta || 5 ||
svayaṁ yajasva divi deva devān kiṁ te pākaḥ kṛṇavad apracetāḥ |
yathāyaja ṛtubhir deva devān evā yajasva tanvaṁ sujāta || 6 ||
bhavā no agne 'vitota gopā bhavā vayaskṛd uta no vayodhāḥ |
rāsvā ca naḥ sumaho havyadātiṁ trāsvota nas tanvo3 aprayucchan || 7 ||
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).