Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.23 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.
Agni is churned into being at the gathering-place and set down at the sacred ground where the rivers Dṛṣadvatī, Āpayā, and Sarasvatī meet — the traditional site of Kuru-Bhārata sacrifice. Two princes of the Bharata line, Devaśravas and Devavāta, are named as the ones who kindle him. The hymn asks the fire, once established there, to look upon its worshippers with favor, to bring wealth and cattle, and to grant a son.
1. Churned forth, well-set in the gathering-place, the young seer, leader of the rite — Agni, ageless amid the aging wood, here Jātavedas has placed the immortal.
2. The two Bharatas, Devaśravas and Devavāta, churned forth wealth-giving, skillful Agni. Agni, look far with your great light toward riches; be our leader day after day.
3. Ten fingers gave birth to the ancient one, well-born, dear among his mothers. Praise Agni, Devavāta's fire, O Devaśravas — he who shall rule over the people.
4. I have set you down in the choicest spot of the earth, at the place of Iḷā, in the fair shining of days. At Dṛṣadvatī, at Āpayā of Manu, at Sarasvatī — shine richly, Agni.
5. Agni, grant to the one who calls you Iḷā of manifold power, the most lasting gain of cattle. May we have a son, an offspring rich in progeny — Agni, may that favor of yours be ours.
Translator's note: verse 3's "ten fingers" (daśa kṣipaḥ) refers to the fire-kindler's hands as the mothers who "give birth" to the fire through friction; "Iḷā" (verses 4–5) is both the goddess of ritual offering and the sacrificial ground named for her.
Colophon
Rigveda III.23 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.23
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.
nirmathitaḥ sudhita ā sadhasthe yuvā kavir adhvarasya praṇetā |
jūryatsv agnir ajaro vaneṣv atrā dadhe amṛtaṁ jātavedāḥ || 1 ||
amanthiṣṭām bhāratā revad agniṁ devaśravā devavātaḥ sudakṣam |
agne vi paśya bṛhatābhi rāyeṣāṁ no netā bhavatād anu dyūn || 2 ||
daśa kṣipaḥ pūrvyaṁ sīm ajījanan sujātam mātṛṣu priyam |
agniṁ stuhi daivavātaṁ devaśravo yo janānām asad vaśī || 3 ||
ni tvā dadhe vara ā pṛthivyā iḻāyās pade sudinatve ahnām |
dṛṣadvatyām mānuṣa āpayāyāṁ sarasvatyāṁ revad agne didīhi || 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).