Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.5 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. Agni, watching toward the dawns, has awoken — the inspired one, the pathfinder of the sages. Broad-fronted, kindled by those who seek the gods, the bearer has opened the doors of darkness.
2. Forth Agni has grown strong through the praises, through the songs of the praisers, honored with hymns. Loving the many appearances of the cosmic order, the messenger has shone out together with the brightness of dawn.
3. Agni has been set among the tribes of men, the child of the waters, a friend accomplishing through the cosmic order. The desired one, worthy of worship, has mounted the ridge; he has become the inspired one, to be called upon by prayers.
4. Agni becomes Mitra when he is kindled; Mitra is the priest, Varuṇa, the knower of all beings. Mitra is the officiating priest, vigorous, lord of the house; Mitra belongs to the rivers and to the mountains.
5. He guards the dear, foremost place of the bird from deceit; the mighty young one guards the course of the sun. At the navel, Agni guards the seven-headed one; the lofty one guards the delight of the gods.
6. The skillful craftsman has made a lovely, praiseworthy name — the god who knows all the marks. The ghee-rich hide of the grain, the track of the bird — that indeed Agni guards, never failing.
7. Agni, desiring it, has mounted the ghee-rich womb, wide-spreading, itself desiring him. Shining, pure, lofty, purifying, again and again he makes the two mothers new.
8. As soon as he is born he grows strong through the plants, when the young shoots make him grow with ghee. Like waters adorning themselves as they flow downward, may Agni keep himself safe in the lap of his two parents.
9. Praised, the young one has blazed up with the kindling, at the height of heaven, upon the navel of the earth. Agni, Mitra, worthy of invocation, Mātariśvan, the messenger, shall bring the gods for worship.
10. With the kindling the lofty one has propped up the vault of heaven; Agni has become the highest of the luminous realms, when Mātariśvan kindled him, hidden away among the Bhṛgus, the carrier of offerings.
11. Agni, grant to the one who calls on you the refreshment, the manifold and wondrous gain of cattle, ever-continuing. May a son, an offspring, a prolific one, be ours, O Agni; may that be your favor toward us.
Translator's note: Verses 5–6 turn on compressed, riddling imagery (the "bird," its "track" and "hide," the "seven-headed one at the navel") whose precise referents are debated among Vedic interpreters; the rendering above stays close to the Sanskrit words rather than resolving the riddle. "Two mothers" (v. 7) and "two parents" (v. 8) refer to the two fire-sticks (araṇis) from which Agni is kindled.
Colophon
Rigveda III.5 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.5
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.
praty agnir uṣasaś cekitāno 'bodhi vipraḥ padavīḥ kavīnām |
pṛthupājā devayadbhiḥ samiddho 'pa dvārā tamaso vahnir āvaḥ || 1 ||
pred v agnir vāvṛdhe stomebhir gīrbhiḥ stotṝṇāṁ namasya ukthaiḥ |
pūrvīr ṛtasya saṁdṛśaś cakānaḥ saṁ dūto adyaud uṣaso viroke || 2 ||
adhāyy agnir mānuṣīṣu vikṣv a1pāṁ garbho mitra ṛtena sādhan |
ā haryato yajataḥ sānv asthād abhūd u vipro havyo matīnām || 3 ||
mitro agnir bhavati yat samiddho mitro hotā varuṇo jātavedāḥ |
mitro adhvaryur iṣiro damūnā mitraḥ sindhūnām uta parvatānām || 4 ||
pāti priyaṁ ripo agram padaṁ veḥ pāti yahvaś caraṇaṁ sūryasya |
pāti nābhā saptaśīrṣāṇam agniḥ pāti devānām upamādam ṛṣvaḥ || 5 ||
ṛbhuś cakra īḍyaṁ cāru nāma viśvāni devo vayunāni vidvān |
sasasya carma ghṛtavat padaṁ ves tad id agnī rakṣaty aprayucchan || 6 ||
ā yonim agnir ghṛtavantam asthāt pṛthupragāṇam uśantam uśānaḥ |
dīdyānaḥ śucir ṛṣvaḥ pāvakaḥ punaḥ-punar mātarā navyasī kaḥ || 7 ||
sadyo jāta oṣadhībhir vavakṣe yadī vardhanti prasvo ghṛtena |
āpa iva pravatā śumbhamānā uruṣyad agniḥ pitror upasthe || 8 ||
ud u ṣṭutaḥ samidhā yahvo adyaud varṣman divo adhi nābhā pṛthivyāḥ |
mitro agnir īḍyo mātariśvā dūto vakṣad yajathāya devān || 9 ||
ud astambhīt samidhā nākam ṛṣvo3 'gnir bhavann uttamo rocanānām |
yadī bhṛgubhyaḥ pari mātariśvā guhā santaṁ havyavāhaṁ samīdhe || 10 ||
iḻām agne purudaṁsaṁ saniṁ goḥ śaśvattamaṁ havamānāya sādha |
syān naḥ sūnus tanayo vijāvāgne sā te sumatir bhūtv asme || 11 ||
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).