Hymn to Agni
Rigveda II.2 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 hymn calls Agni to the sacrifice as Hotar, the officiating priest who carries offerings between the human and divine worlds. The poet praises him as kindled fire, as king among the clans, and as a guest welcome in every house, and asks him for wealth, strong sons, and standing above rival peoples.
1. Strengthen Jātavedas with the sacrifice; worship Agni with oblation, with a sustained hymn — kindled, richly fed, radiant as the sun, dwelling in heaven, the priest who sits at the head among the gathered clans.
2. The nights and dawns have cried out to you, Agni, as cows call to their calf at milking time. Like the driver of heaven through the ages of humankind, you shine through the nights, held close, O giver of many blessings.
3. The gods have set him at the base of the middle realm, the skillful one, the driver between heaven and earth — like a chariot worth knowing, bright-flaming Agni, to be praised among the settlements as a friend.
4. They have set him, waxing strong in the atmosphere, in his own house — bright as the moon in his hidden place — the winged one of the dappled cloud, watching with his eyes, like a guardian of the path, following both races of beings.
5. May he, the priest, encompass the whole rite; men press him onward with offerings and with song. Golden-jawed, he flickers amid the rising flames; like the sky with its stars, he lights up both worlds.
6. Kindled for our well-being, giving freely, shine down wealth upon us richly. Turn both heaven and earth toward us for our good, O Agni, god, so that you may enjoy the offerings of men.
7. Give us, Agni, great gifts; give us gifts by the thousand; open up strength for us like doors, through your renown. Turn heaven and earth toward us with our sacred word; blaze out bright as the sun through the dawns.
8. Kindled, through the lingering hours of the dawns, he shines like the sun with reddish light — Agni, with the priestly rites, good in his ceremonies for men, king of the clans, a welcome guest to humankind.
9. So, Agni, first among the immortal ones, our human prayer has swelled toward the high heavenly gods. Like a milking cow among the herds, for the singer, send forth of yourself a hundredfold gift, many in its forms.
10. May we, Agni, through a swift horse or through sacred speech, make our valor known above other peoples. May our glory blaze up high over the five tribes, like the sun, unsurpassable.
11. Be mindful of us, mighty and praiseworthy one, in whom the well-born patrons prosper — the sacrifice to which the vigorous ones draw near, you, Agni, shining in your own house among lasting offspring.
12. May we — both the singers of praise and the patrons — be in your shelter, O Jātavedas, Agni. Grant us wealth that is good, richly shining, abundant, filled with children, blessed with fine offspring.
13. Those patrons, Agni, who grant to their praisers a gift headed by cattle, adorned with horses — lead both us and them forward to prosperity. May we, blessed with strong sons, speak grandly at the gathering.
Translator's note: Verse 4 is textually obscure — "pṛśnyāḥ pataram" (rendered "the winged one of the dappled cloud") and "hvāra" ("hidden place, hiding-curve") admit more than one reading; the rendering above is conservative rather than confident. "Jātavedas" (v. 1, 9, 12) is kept untranslated as an epithet of Agni ("knower of births" / "possessor of all created things").
Colophon
Rigveda II.2 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.2
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.
yajñena vardhata jātavedasam agniṁ yajadhvaṁ haviṣā tanā girā |
samidhānaṁ suprayasaṁ svarṇaraṁ dyukṣaṁ hotāraṁ vṛjaneṣu dhūrṣadam || 1 ||
abhi tvā naktīr uṣaso vavāśire 'gne vatsaṁ na svasareṣu dhenavaḥ |
diva ived aratir mānuṣā yugā kṣapo bhāsi puruvāra saṁyataḥ || 2 ||
taṁ devā budhne rajasaḥ sudaṁsasaṁ divaspṛthivyor aratiṁ ny erire |
ratham iva vedyaṁ śukraśociṣam agnim mitraṁ na kṣitiṣu praśaṁsyam || 3 ||
tam ukṣamāṇaṁ rajasi sva ā dame candram iva surucaṁ hvāra ā dadhuḥ |
pṛśnyāḥ pataraṁ citayantam akṣabhiḥ pātho na pāyuṁ janasī ubhe anu || 4 ||
sa hotā viśvam pari bhūtv adhvaraṁ tam u havyair manuṣa ṛñjate girā |
hiriśipro vṛdhasānāsu jarbhurad dyaur na stṛbhiś citayad rodasī anu || 5 ||
sa no revat samidhānaḥ svastaye saṁdadasvān rayim asmāsu dīdihi |
ā naḥ kṛṇuṣva suvitāya rodasī agne havyā manuṣo deva vītaye || 6 ||
dā no agne bṛhato dāḥ sahasriṇo duro na vājaṁ śrutyā apā vṛdhi |
prācī dyāvāpṛthivī brahmaṇā kṛdhi sva1r ṇa śukram uṣaso vi didyutaḥ || 7 ||
sa idhāna uṣaso rāmyā anu sva1r ṇa dīded aruṣeṇa bhānunā |
hotrābhir agnir manuṣaḥ svadhvaro rājā viśām atithiś cārur āyave || 8 ||
evā no agne amṛteṣu pūrvya dhīṣ pīpāya bṛhaddiveṣu mānuṣā |
duhānā dhenur vṛjaneṣu kārave tmanā śatinam pururūpam iṣaṇi || 9 ||
vayam agne arvatā vā suvīryam brahmaṇā vā citayemā janām̐ ati |
asmākaṁ dyumnam adhi pañca kṛṣṭiṣūccā sva1r ṇa śuśucīta duṣṭaram || 10 ||
sa no bodhi sahasya praśaṁsyo yasmin sujātā iṣayanta sūrayaḥ |
yam agne yajñam upayanti vājino nitye toke dīdivāṁsaṁ sve dame || 11 ||
ubhayāso jātavedaḥ syāma te stotāro agne sūrayaś ca śarmaṇi |
vasvo rāyaḥ puruścandrasya bhūyasaḥ prajāvataḥ svapatyasya śagdhi naḥ || 12 ||
ye stotṛbhyo goagrām aśvapeśasam agne rātim upasṛjanti sūrayaḥ |
asmāñ ca tām̐ś ca pra hi neṣi vasya ā bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 13 ||
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).