Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.91 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. He is kindled together by the wakeful ones, house-lord in the house, giving strength at the place of refreshment. The hotar of every oblation, most excellent, far-reaching, radiant, a good friend to one who seeks friendship.
2. He of visible splendor, a guest in house after house, has settled in wood after wood like a swift falcon. Kinsman to every people, he scorns none; a dweller among the clans, he dwells in clan after clan.
3. Skillful through your skills, of good purpose through your insight, O Agni, poet — through poetic wisdom you are all-knowing. Best of the good, you alone rule over whatever heaven and earth foster.
4. Knowing well, Agni, your timely birthplace, you have settled at the ghee-rich seat of Iḍā. Your approaches shine like the comings of the dawns, spotless like the rays of the sun.
5. Your glories, like the lightnings of the rain-cloud, shine bright like the signal-flames of the dawns — when, unleashed upon the plants and the forests, you gather food all around into your own mouth.
6. The plants have carried him as their timely seed; the waters, as mothers, give birth to that Agni. That same one — the trees and the creeping plants, being pregnant, bring him forth every day, always.
7. Fanned by the wind, driven on at your own will, eagerly, when you spread out busy among the food — your bands range themselves apart like teams of chariot-horses, your ageless hosts, O Agni, as you burn.
8. Maker of sacred wisdom, accomplisher of the ritual assembly, Agni the hotar, foremost in insight — him alone, the same one, they choose at the small offering, and him alone at the great one — none other than you.
9. You indeed, here, the sages choose as hotar at the sacred gatherings, longing for you, O Agni — when men, seeking the gods, bearing oblations, having strewn the sacred grass, offer their gifts to you.
10. Yours, Agni, is the office of Hotar; yours the timely office of Potar; yours the office of Neṣṭar — you are the fire-kindler for one who follows truth. Yours is the office of Praśāstar; you act as Adhvaryu; you are both the Brahman-priest and the house-lord in our home.
11. Whatever mortal gives to you, immortal Agni, with kindling-wood or with the offering he prepares — for him you become the hotar, you go as messenger, you speak on his behalf, you sacrifice, you serve as Adhvaryu.
12. These thoughts and words from us have come to him — the verses, the songs, the fair praises — seeking wealth, to the bountiful one, to Jātavedas, who, though himself a strengthener, delights even in songs already grown great.
13. May I speak this newest praise to the ancient one; may he, longing for it, hear us. May it come close, touching within his heart, like a loving wife, beautifully arrayed, coming to her husband.
14. He in whom horses, bulls, oxen, cows, and rams are offered, poured forth as oblation — for him, the drinker of kīlāla, whose back bears soma, the ordainer, I fashion with my heart a lovely hymn, for Agni.
15. The oblation has been poured, Agni, into your mouth, like ghee in the ladle, like soma in the cup. Grant to us prize-winning wealth, rich in good sons, renowned, glorious, and vast.
Translator's note: "kīlāla" (14) is a Vedic term for a sweet milk-mixture offered with soma; it has no exact modern equivalent and is left untranslated. The priestly titles in verses 10–11 (Hotar, Potar, Neṣṭar, Praśāstar, Adhvaryu, Brahman) name the distinct officiants of the Vedic sacrifice; the verses' point is that Agni alone performs all of these roles at once, so the titles are kept as proper names rather than translated into approximate English equivalents.
Colophon
Rigveda X.91 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.91
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.
saṁ jāgṛvadbhir jaramāṇa idhyate dame damūnā iṣayann iḻas pade |
viśvasya hotā haviṣo vareṇyo vibhur vibhāvā suṣakhā sakhīyate || 1 ||
sa darśataśrīr atithir gṛhe-gṛhe vane-vane śiśriye takvavīr iva |
janaṁ-janaṁ janyo nāti manyate viśa ā kṣeti viśyo3 viśaṁ-viśam || 2 ||
sudakṣo dakṣaiḥ kratunāsi sukratur agne kaviḥ kāvyenāsi viśvavit |
vasur vasūnāṁ kṣayasi tvam eka id dyāvā ca yāni pṛthivī ca puṣyataḥ || 3 ||
prajānann agne tava yonim ṛtviyam iḻāyās pade ghṛtavantam āsadaḥ |
ā te cikitra uṣasām ivetayo 'repasaḥ sūryasyeva raśmayaḥ || 4 ||
tava śriyo varṣyasyeva vidyutaś citrāś cikitra uṣasāṁ na ketavaḥ |
yad oṣadhīr abhisṛṣṭo vanāni ca pari svayaṁ cinuṣe annam āsye || 5 ||
tam oṣadhīr dadhire garbham ṛtviyaṁ tam āpo agniṁ janayanta mātaraḥ |
tam it samānaṁ vaninaś ca vīrudho 'ntarvatīś ca suvate ca viśvahā || 6 ||
vātopadhūta iṣito vaśām̐ anu tṛṣu yad annā veviṣad vitiṣṭhase |
ā te yatante rathyo3 yathā pṛthak chardhāṁsy agne ajarāṇi dhakṣataḥ || 7 ||
medhākāraṁ vidathasya prasādhanam agniṁ hotāram paribhūtamam matim |
tam id arbhe haviṣy ā samānam it tam in mahe vṛṇate nānyaṁ tvat || 8 ||
tvām id atra vṛṇate tvāyavo hotāram agne vidatheṣu vedhasaḥ |
yad devayanto dadhati prayāṁsi te haviṣmanto manavo vṛktabarhiṣaḥ || 9 ||
tavāgne hotraṁ tava potram ṛtviyaṁ tava neṣṭraṁ tvam agnid ṛtāyataḥ |
tava praśāstraṁ tvam adhvarīyasi brahmā cāsi gṛhapatiś ca no dame || 10 ||
yas tubhyam agne amṛtāya martyaḥ samidhā dāśad uta vā haviṣkṛti |
tasya hotā bhavasi yāsi dūtya1m upa brūṣe yajasy adhvarīyasi || 11 ||
imā asmai matayo vāco asmad ām̐ ṛco giraḥ suṣṭutayaḥ sam agmata |
vasūyavo vasave jātavedase vṛddhāsu cid vardhano yāsu cākanat || 12 ||
imām pratnāya suṣṭutiṁ navīyasīṁ voceyam asmā uśate śṛṇotu naḥ |
bhūyā antarā hṛdy asya nispṛśe jāyeva patya uśatī suvāsāḥ || 13 ||
yasminn aśvāsa ṛṣabhāsa ukṣaṇo vaśā meṣā avasṛṣṭāsa āhutāḥ |
kīlālape somapṛṣṭhāya vedhase hṛdā matiṁ janaye cārum agnaye || 14 ||
ahāvy agne havir āsye te srucīva ghṛtaṁ camvīva somaḥ |
vājasaniṁ rayim asme suvīram praśastaṁ dhehi yaśasam bṛhantam || 15 ||
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).