Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.22 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 is that Agni in whose belly Indra, bellowing, placed the pressed soma. Having won a prize worth a thousand, like a racing steed, you are praised, O Jātavedas.
2. O Agni, the brilliance that is yours in heaven, on earth, that which is in the plants and in the waters, O worshipful one — by which you have stretched through the wide atmosphere — that is your glowing radiance, flood-like, watching over men.
3. O Agni, you go toward the flood of heaven; you speak to the gods, the devout ones, and to the waters that stand in the bright realm beyond the sun, and those that abide below.
4. The fires that dwell in the waters, at one with the streams, let them delight in the sacrifice — guileless, free from sickness, bringing great nourishment.
5. O Agni, grant to the one who calls on you the offering-food, the manifold and ever-constant winning of cattle. May there be for us a son, an offspring who begets offspring, O Agni. May that favor of yours be with us.
Translator's note: "nṛcakṣāḥ" (verse 2) is rendered "watching over men," a compound epithet meaning "having an eye toward men." "Dhiṣṇya" (verse 3) is rendered "devout," describing the gods as attentive or heedful; the word's precise nuance is debated. "Purīṣya" (verse 4) is rendered "dwelling in the waters," describing fires associated with moist ground or floodplain.
Colophon
Rigveda III.22 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.22
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.
ayaṁ so agnir yasmin somam indraḥ sutaṁ dadhe jaṭhare vāvaśānaḥ |
sahasriṇaṁ vājam atyaṁ na saptiṁ sasavān san stūyase jātavedaḥ || 1 ||
agne yat te divi varcaḥ pṛthivyāṁ yad oṣadhīṣv apsv ā yajatra |
yenāntarikṣam urv ātatantha tveṣaḥ sa bhānur arṇavo nṛcakṣāḥ || 2 ||
agne divo arṇam acchā jigāsy acchā devām̐ ūciṣe dhiṣṇyā ye |
yā rocane parastāt sūryasya yāś cāvastād upatiṣṭhanta āpaḥ || 3 ||
purīṣyāso agnayaḥ prāvaṇebhiḥ sajoṣasaḥ |
juṣantāṁ yajñam adruho 'namīvā iṣo mahīḥ || 4 ||
iḻām agne purudaṁsaṁ saniṁ goḥ śaśvattamaṁ havamānāya sādha |
syān naḥ sūnus tanayo vijāvāgne sā te sumatir bhūtv asme || 5 ||
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).