Agni, thou mighty summoner, thou herald whose voice doth pierce through all the realms, whose message reacheth unto the gods themselves—we invoke thee now as the gatherer of the divine assembly. When thou risest upon the altar at dawn, the immortals hear thy call and begin their journey toward the place of sacrifice.

Thou art the messenger who beareth our invitation unto Indra in his heaven, unto Mitra and Varuṇa in their throne-halls of light, unto Agni's own kin the Maruts who ride the wind and bring the storms. Thou dost cry out with a voice that none of the gods can ignore or turn aside. Thy flames are the heralds' insignia, thy smoke is the ceremonial trumpet.

Come ye gods, come ye immortals, come ye beings of radiance and power—thus thou callest, and they cannot but respond. For in thy voice is the memory of a thousand sacrifices, in thy flames the sweetness of burnt offerings, in thy smoke the fragrance of pressed soma juice and clarified butter. The gods know thee and cannot resist thy summons.

When thou speakest, Indra layeth down his great thunderbolt and attendeth to thy word. When thou risest in splendor, Varuṇa himself doth turn his gaze earthward to see what mortals call him forth. Yama, the lord of death, respecteth thy authority. Vāyu, the lord of wind, doth blow gentle upon thy flames that they might carry the prayers yet higher.

O Agni, thou summoner of the gods, thou gatherer of the divine feast, thou herald between mortals and immortals—accept this our invocation. Gather unto this place all the powers that might aid us, all the deities who hear our prayer. Let thy voice ring out across the cosmos, summoning aid and blessing down upon our heads. Be thou the bridge upon which the gods traverse down to meet us, and upon which our prayers ascend to reach them in their distant realms.