Āprī Hymn
Rigveda X.70 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 hymn belongs to the class of Āprī hymns — a fixed liturgical sequence recited at the animal sacrifice, moving verse by verse through Agni, Narāśaṃsa, the sacred grass, the Doors, Night and Dawn, the officiating priests, the three goddesses, Tvaṣṭṛ, the sacrificial post, and finally the gods gathered by the call of svāhā. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. Take pleasure, Agni, in this kindling wood of mine; welcome the ghee-soaked offering at Iḷā's place. On the high ground of the earth, on the finest of days, stand upright, wise one, for sacrifice to the gods.
2. Let Narāśaṃsa come here, foremost among the gods, with horses of every form; by the path of truth, with reverence, may that most godlike one, rich in offerings, prepare the feast well for the gods.
3. Oblation-bearing men call again and again on Agni to serve as messenger: "With your finest-carrying horses, on a smooth-turning chariot, bring the gods here; sit down as our Hotar."
4. Let the god-favored grass spread wide and crosswise, long in its reach, fragrant for us. O divine barhis, with a mind free of anger, make sacrifice to the eager gods, with Indra foremost among them.
5. Reach the wide ridge of heaven, or spread yourselves by the measure of the earth. O eager Doors, by your greatness, together with the great ones, hold the divine chariot steady, you who long for its coming.
6. Let the two goddesses, daughters of heaven, fair in form — Dawn and Night — take their seat in the womb of the rite. May the eager gods settle, you two eager ones, into your wide and gracious lap.
7. The pressing-stone stands upright, the great fire is kindled; dear dwellings lie in the lap of Aditi. You two priests set over this sacrifice, more skilled than others, win wealth through worship.
8. Three goddesses, sit here upon this wide sacred grass; we have made it soft and pleasant for you. As in the days of Manu, let the well-laid oblations, and the ghee-footed goddess Iḷā, take joy in our rite.
9. O god Tvaṣṭṛ, since you have won your fair form, since you became a companion of the Aṅgirases, you who know the gods' path — willingly make offering, wealth-giver, rich in treasures.
10. O Lord of the Forest, led forward by the halter, bring the offering to the gods' path, knowing one. The god shall sweeten the offerings and prepare the feast; let Heaven and Earth favor my call.
11. O Agni, bring Varuṇa here as we desire, and Indra, and the Maruts from the midair sky. Let all who deserve worship take their seat on the sacred grass; let the deathless gods rejoice at the cry of svāhā.
Translator's note: "Iḷā's place" (v. 1) and "Lord of the Forest" (v. 10, vanaspati) both refer to elements of the sacrificial apparatus — the ritual ground and the sacrificial post/wood respectively — rather than to independent narrative settings; they are kept literal here rather than expanded. The "two priests" of verse 7 (purohitau ṛtvijā) are the pair of officiants presiding over this stage of the rite; the Sanskrit does not name them further, so no names are supplied.
Colophon
Rigveda X.70 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.70
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.
imām me agne samidhaṁ juṣasveḻas pade prati haryā ghṛtācīm |
varṣman pṛthivyāḥ sudinatve ahnām ūrdhvo bhava sukrato devayajyā || 1 ||
ā devānām agrayāveha yātu narāśaṁso viśvarūpebhir aśvaiḥ |
ṛtasya pathā namasā miyedho devebhyo devatamaḥ suṣūdat || 2 ||
śaśvattamam īḻate dūtyāya haviṣmanto manuṣyāso agnim |
vahiṣṭhair aśvaiḥ suvṛtā rathenā devān vakṣi ni ṣadeha hotā || 3 ||
vi prathatāṁ devajuṣṭaṁ tiraścā dīrghaṁ drāghmā surabhi bhūtv asme |
aheḻatā manasā deva barhir indrajyeṣṭhām̐ uśato yakṣi devān || 4 ||
divo vā sānu spṛśatā varīyaḥ pṛthivyā vā mātrayā vi śrayadhvam |
uśatīr dvāro mahinā mahadbhir devaṁ rathaṁ rathayur dhārayadhvam || 5 ||
devī divo duhitarā suśilpe uṣāsānaktā sadatāṁ ni yonau |
ā vāṁ devāsa uśatī uśanta urau sīdantu subhage upasthe || 6 ||
ūrdhvo grāvā bṛhad agniḥ samiddhaḥ priyā dhāmāny aditer upasthe |
purohitāv ṛtvijā yajñe asmin viduṣṭarā draviṇam ā yajethām || 7 ||
tisro devīr barhir idaṁ varīya ā sīdata cakṛmā vaḥ syonam |
manuṣvad yajñaṁ sudhitā havīṁṣīḻā devī ghṛtapadī juṣanta || 8 ||
deva tvaṣṭar yad dha cārutvam ānaḍ yad aṅgirasām abhavaḥ sacābhūḥ |
sa devānām pātha upa pra vidvām̐ uśan yakṣi draviṇodaḥ suratnaḥ || 9 ||
vanaspate raśanayā niyūyā devānām pātha upa vakṣi vidvān |
svadāti devaḥ kṛṇavad dhavīṁṣy avatāṁ dyāvāpṛthivī havam me || 10 ||
āgne vaha varuṇam iṣṭaye na indraṁ divo maruto antarikṣāt |
sīdantu barhir viśva ā yajatrāḥ svāhā devā amṛtā mādayantām || 11 ||
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).