Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.16 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. This Agni rules over strong heroism, over great good fortune. He rules over wealth that brings good offspring, he rules over wealth in cattle, over the smiting of foes.
2. Men, O Maruts, follow this strengthener, in whom are riches that bring joy — you who overcome the hostile-minded in battles, who always overpower the enemy.
3. You, bounteous Agni, sharpen us toward wealth and good heroism, O mighty and radiant one — toward the highest wealth, rich in offspring, free of sickness, full of vigor.
4. He who has overpowered all beings, who has brought devotion among the gods — let him extend toward the gods, toward good heroism, and toward the praise of men.
5. Do not give us over, Agni, to lack of thought, nor to lack of heroic strength, nor to lack of cattle, O son of might; nor to reproach — drive hostilities away from us.
6. Grant us strength rich in offspring, O fortunate one, great strength at the sacrifice, O Agni. Join us with abundant wealth, delightful and glorious, O mighty and radiant one.
Translator's note: verse 2 addresses "men" and "Maruts" together (naraḥ marutaḥ); the relative clause describing them as overcoming the hostile-minded in battle is rendered conservatively, as the syntax linking the two vocatives to the relative pronoun admits more than one reading. "amati" (verse 5) is rendered "lack of thought," its more common Rigvedic sense, though it can also carry a nuance of poverty or helplessness.
Colophon
Rigveda III.16 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.16
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.
ayam agniḥ suvīryasyeśe mahaḥ saubhagasya |
rāya īśe svapatyasya gomata īśe vṛtrahathānām || 1 ||
imaṁ naro marutaḥ saścatā vṛdhaṁ yasmin rāyaḥ śevṛdhāsaḥ |
abhi ye santi pṛtanāsu dūḍhyo viśvāhā śatrum ādabhuḥ || 2 ||
sa tvaṁ no rāyaḥ śiśīhi mīḍhvo agne suvīryasya |
tuvidyumna varṣiṣṭhasya prajāvato 'namīvasya śuṣmiṇaḥ || 3 ||
cakrir yo viśvā bhuvanābhi sāsahiś cakrir deveṣv ā duvaḥ |
ā deveṣu yatata ā suvīrya ā śaṁsa uta nṛṇām || 4 ||
mā no agne 'mataye māvīratāyai rīradhaḥ |
māgotāyai sahasas putra mā nide 'pa dveṣāṁsy ā kṛdhi || 5 ||
śagdhi vājasya subhaga prajāvato 'gne bṛhato adhvare |
saṁ rāyā bhūyasā sṛja mayobhunā tuvidyumna yaśasvatā || 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).