Hymn to Agni
Rigveda II.10 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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, much invoked, first, like a father, at the seat of Iḷā, when kindled by man — clothed in splendor, immortal, discerning, worthy to be adorned, eager for glory, the vigorous one.
2. May Agni of brilliant light hear my call, with all my songs — immortal, discerning one — whom the dark horses draw in his chariot, or the ruddy ones, or the tawny ones: he who is borne far and wide.
3. In the outstretched one they engendered him, well-born; Agni became the germ in the many-formed ones. Even in the flowing one, by night, with his greatnesses, uncovered he dwells, the foreseeing one.
4. I anoint Agni with the oblation, with ghee — him who dwells over all the worlds: broad, spreading crosswise with his vigor, lofty, most far-reaching, vehement, appearing amid the food-offerings.
5. From every side I anoint him who faces me, with a mind free of malice — may he accept this. Agni, beautiful as a young man, of enviable hue — I cannot grasp him with my hand, so restlessly he quivers.
6. Being your messengers, mighty one, may we speak by your favor of the portion that is to be known, as Manu spoke. With tongue and eloquent speech I invoke again and again Agni, flawless, honey-mingled, the winner of wealth.
Translator's note: verse 3's "śiriṇāyām" is an obscure feminine locative — likely a name or epithet for a body of water or a plant in which Agni's birth is imagined; it is rendered conservatively as "the flowing one." Verse 6's "jñeyā bhāgam" (the portion/share to be known or recognized) is condensed and ritually allusive; it is kept close to the Sanskrit rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda II.10 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 II.10
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.
johūtro agniḥ prathamaḥ piteveḻas pade manuṣā yat samiddhaḥ |
śriyaṁ vasāno amṛto vicetā marmṛjenyaḥ śravasya1ḥ sa vājī || 1 ||
śrūyā agniś citrabhānur havam me viśvābhir gīrbhir amṛto vicetāḥ |
śyāvā rathaṁ vahato rohitā votāruṣāha cakre vibhṛtraḥ || 2 ||
uttānāyām ajanayan suṣūtam bhuvad agniḥ purupeśāsu garbhaḥ |
śiriṇāyāṁ cid aktunā mahobhir aparīvṛto vasati pracetāḥ || 3 ||
jigharmy agniṁ haviṣā ghṛtena pratikṣiyantam bhuvanāni viśvā |
pṛthuṁ tiraścā vayasā bṛhantaṁ vyaciṣṭham annai rabhasaṁ dṛśānam || 4 ||
ā viśvataḥ pratyañcaṁ jigharmy arakṣasā manasā taj juṣeta |
maryaśrīḥ spṛhayadvarṇo agnir nābhimṛśe tanvā3 jarbhurāṇaḥ || 5 ||
jñeyā bhāgaṁ sahasāno vareṇa tvādūtāso manuvad vadema |
anūnam agniṁ juhvā vacasyā madhupṛcaṁ dhanasā johavīmi || 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).