Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.1 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 3 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. Carry me, strong with soma, O Agni — you have made me a bearer to worship at the rite. Shining toward the gods, I yoke the pressing-stone; for our peace, O Agni, take pleasure in this body.
2. We have set the sacrifice moving forward; let our hymn grow. Worshipping Agni with kindling and reverence, they have ordained from heaven the rites of the sages; they have sought a path even for the skilled, strong one.
3. The wise one, pure in power, has granted joy — by birth a good kinsman of heaven and earth. The gods found the beautiful one within the waters, Agni, at the labor of the sisters.
4. The seven young waters nourished the fortunate one, the white one born ruddy, by their greatness. As at a newborn child, the mares drew near; the gods marveled at Agni's form at his birth.
5. With bright limbs he stretches across the sky's expanse, purifying his power through the sages' filters. Clothed in flame, encircling the life of the waters, he fashions splendors, vast and without flaw.
6. He moved among them — the untouched ones who eat not, the young daughters of heaven, unclothed, without fire. Here of old, maidens of one womb, the seven streams bore a single embryo.
7. His scattered forms, gathered together, all-shaped, lie in the womb of ghee, in the streaming of sweet waters. There the milk-cows stood, swelling with milk — the two great mothers of the wondrous one, joined as one.
8. Bearing himself, O son of strength, he blazed forth, taking on bright, vigorous forms. Streams of honey and ghee drip down, where the bull has grown mighty through his wise power.
9. From his very birth he found the father's udder; he released his streams, released the milk-cows. Though moving in hiding with kindly companions, he was not hidden from the young daughters of heaven.
10. He bore within him the embryo of both father and mother; alone he drank the many streams as they swelled. Two kindred ones, rival as wives, belong to the bright bull — guard them both, here among humankind.
11. Great, he grew in the wide, unconfined space; the many glorious waters nourished Agni together. As lord of the house he lay in the womb of cosmic order — Agni, at the labor of the kindred sisters.
12. Like the tawny one, unwavering, amid the meeting of the great waters, worth seeing, radiant, ready for his offspring — the begetter who brought forth the ruddy cows: Agni, embryo of the waters, most virile, ever young.
13. The fair embryo of the waters and of the plants — the fortunate woods brought forth the many-shaped one. The gods themselves came together in spirit, worshipping the most wondrous, strong one at his birth.
14. Vast rays, bright as lightning-flashes, accompany the radiant one, following Agni — grown great as if in hiding within his own dwelling, milking out the immortal drink in the boundless expanse.
15. The one who sacrifices calls on you with oblations; I, longing, call on your friendship and favor. Grant help to your singer, together with the gods, and guard us with your household flames.
16. May we, your neighbors, O well-guiding Agni, holding every kind of wealth, pressing forward with abundant strength and fame, overcome the godless ones who seek war against us.
17. You have become the ensign of the gods, O Agni, joyous, knowing all forms of wisdom. As lord of the house you have settled mortals in their homes; as charioteer you go among the gods, accomplishing your task.
18. The immortal has settled in the dwelling of mortals; the king has taken his seat, carrying out the rites. Ghee-faced, he has blazed forth far and wide — Agni, who knows every wise art.
19. Come to us with kindly friendship, great one, hastening with mighty help. Grant us abundant wealth that carries us safely through, and make our share glorious and well-praised.
20. These, O Agni, are your ancient births; I have declared the new ones to the ancient one. These mighty libations are made for the bull — Jātavedas, set down anew in every birth.
21. Set down in birth after birth, the unceasing Jātavedas is kindled by the Viśvāmitras. May we abide in the good favor of him who is worthy of worship, and in his blessed goodwill.
22. You, O powerful one, set this our sacrifice among the gods, being generous, wise in will. Extend to us, O priest, abundant nourishment; O Agni, win for us great wealth through your worship.
23. O Agni, grant, to one who calls on you, the ever-lasting gift of many wonders — the winning of cattle. May we have a son, an heir, and thriving offspring. O Agni, may that favor of yours rest upon us.
Translator's note: this hymn (attributed to Viśvāmitra Gāthina) is one of the Rigveda's most compressed and riddling texts. Verses 3–14 describe Agni's hidden birth among "the waters" and "the seven sisters" — likely the rivers, or the fingers/streams of the ritual, or both at once — using deliberately layered, ambiguous imagery (mothers, milk-cows, embryo, hiding) that Vedic poetry uses elsewhere for cosmogonic riddles. Verse 10's "two kindred ones, rival as wives" and verse 6's "seven streams" resist a single settled reading; the rendering above keeps the literal images (embryo, udder, milk-cows, sisters) rather than resolving them into one interpretation.
Colophon
Rigveda III.1 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 III.1
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.
somasya mā tavasaṁ vakṣy agne vahniṁ cakartha vidathe yajadhyai |
devām̐ acchā dīdyad yuñje adriṁ śamāye agne tanvaṁ juṣasva || 1 ||
prāñcaṁ yajñaṁ cakṛma vardhatāṁ gīḥ samidbhir agniṁ namasā duvasyan |
divaḥ śaśāsur vidathā kavīnāṁ gṛtsāya cit tavase gātum īṣuḥ || 2 ||
mayo dadhe medhiraḥ pūtadakṣo divaḥ subandhur januṣā pṛthivyāḥ |
avindann u darśatam apsv a1ntar devāso agnim apasi svasṝṇām || 3 ||
avardhayan subhagaṁ sapta yahvīḥ śvetaṁ jajñānam aruṣam mahitvā |
śiśuṁ na jātam abhy ārur aśvā devāso agniṁ janiman vapuṣyan || 4 ||
śukrebhir aṅgai raja ātatanvān kratum punānaḥ kavibhiḥ pavitraiḥ |
śocir vasānaḥ pary āyur apāṁ śriyo mimīte bṛhatīr anūnāḥ || 5 ||
vavrājā sīm anadatīr adabdhā divo yahvīr avasānā anagnāḥ |
sanā atra yuvatayaḥ sayonīr ekaṁ garbhaṁ dadhire sapta vāṇīḥ || 6 ||
stīrṇā asya saṁhato viśvarūpā ghṛtasya yonau sravathe madhūnām |
asthur atra dhenavaḥ pinvamānā mahī dasmasya mātarā samīcī || 7 ||
babhrāṇaḥ sūno sahaso vy adyaud dadhānaḥ śukrā rabhasā vapūṁṣi |
ścotanti dhārā madhuno ghṛtasya vṛṣā yatra vāvṛdhe kāvyena || 8 ||
pituś cid ūdhar januṣā viveda vy asya dhārā asṛjad vi dhenāḥ |
guhā carantaṁ sakhibhiḥ śivebhir divo yahvībhir na guhā babhūva || 9 ||
pituś ca garbhaṁ janituś ca babhre pūrvīr eko adhayat pīpyānāḥ |
vṛṣṇe sapatnī śucaye sabandhū ubhe asmai manuṣye3 ni pāhi || 10 ||
urau mahām̐ anibādhe vavardhāpo agniṁ yaśasaḥ saṁ hi pūrvīḥ |
ṛtasya yonāv aśayad damūnā jāmīnām agnir apasi svasṝṇām || 11 ||
akro na babhriḥ samithe mahīnāṁ didṛkṣeyaḥ sūnave bhāṛjīkaḥ |
ud usriyā janitā yo jajānāpāṁ garbho nṛtamo yahvo agniḥ || 12 ||
apāṁ garbhaṁ darśatam oṣadhīnāṁ vanā jajāna subhagā virūpam |
devāsaś cin manasā saṁ hi jagmuḥ paniṣṭhaṁ jātaṁ tavasaṁ duvasyan || 13 ||
bṛhanta id bhānavo bhāṛjīkam agniṁ sacanta vidyuto na śukrāḥ |
guheva vṛddhaṁ sadasi sve antar apāra ūrve amṛtaṁ duhānāḥ || 14 ||
īḻe ca tvā yajamāno havirbhir īḻe sakhitvaṁ sumatiṁ nikāmaḥ |
devair avo mimīhi saṁ jaritre rakṣā ca no damyebhir anīkaiḥ || 15 ||
upakṣetāras tava supraṇīte 'gne viśvāni dhanyā dadhānāḥ |
suretasā śravasā tuñjamānā abhi ṣyāma pṛtanāyūm̐r adevān || 16 ||
ā devānām abhavaḥ ketur agne mandro viśvāni kāvyāni vidvān |
prati martām̐ avāsayo damūnā anu devān rathiro yāsi sādhan || 17 ||
ni duroṇe amṛto martyānāṁ rājā sasāda vidathāni sādhan |
ghṛtapratīka urviyā vy adyaud agnir viśvāni kāvyāni vidvān || 18 ||
ā no gahi sakhyebhiḥ śivebhir mahān mahībhir ūtibhiḥ saraṇyan |
asme rayim bahulaṁ saṁtarutraṁ suvācam bhāgaṁ yaśasaṁ kṛdhī naḥ || 19 ||
etā te agne janimā sanāni pra pūrvyāya nūtanāni vocam |
mahānti vṛṣṇe savanā kṛtemā janmañ-janman nihito jātavedāḥ || 20 ||
janmañ-janman nihito jātavedā viśvāmitrebhir idhyate ajasraḥ |
tasya vayaṁ sumatau yajñiyasyāpi bhadre saumanase syāma || 21 ||
imaṁ yajñaṁ sahasāvan tvaṁ no devatrā dhehi sukrato rarāṇaḥ |
pra yaṁsi hotar bṛhatīr iṣo no 'gne mahi draviṇam ā yajasva || 22 ||
iḻām agne purudaṁsaṁ saniṁ goḥ śaśvattamaṁ havamānāya sādha |
syān naḥ sūnus tanayo vijāvāgne sā te sumatir bhūtv asme || 23 ||
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).