Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.12 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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. Whoever kindles you, Agni, ladle extended, who makes his offering to you three times in a single day — let him prevail gloriously, by your purpose, O Jātavedas, you who know.
2. Whoever brings you fuel, laboring, honoring your great flame, O Agni — kindling you at dusk and at dawn, he prospers, gains wealth, and strikes down his enemies.
3. Agni rules over great lordship; Agni rules over the highest strength and riches. The youngest god, master of his own power, gives treasure in due succession to the mortal who serves him.
4. Whatever offense against you, youngest one, we have committed among men through lack of understanding — make us free of guilt before Aditi; loosen our wrongs away on every side, Agni.
5. Even from grave wrong, Agni, in the sight of gods and of mortals — may we, your friends, never go on suffering for it; grant well-being and safety to our children and their children.
6. Just as you, O Vasus worthy of worship, once freed that gaurī caught by the foot — so free us too from distress; Agni, draw out our lifespan further still.
Translator's note: "gaurī" in verse 6 (a wild cow or gazelle) is kept untranslated as a proper term of uncertain identification; it names an animal caught by the foot and released, offered as the image for the freeing the hymn asks for.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.12 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 IV.12
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.
yas tvām agna inadhate yatasruk tris te annaṁ kṛṇavat sasminn ahan |
sa su dyumnair abhy astu prasakṣat tava kratvā jātavedaś cikitvān || 1 ||
idhmaṁ yas te jabharac chaśramāṇo maho agne anīkam ā saparyan |
sa idhānaḥ prati doṣām uṣāsam puṣyan rayiṁ sacate ghnann amitrān || 2 ||
agnir īśe bṛhataḥ kṣatriyasyāgnir vājasya paramasya rāyaḥ |
dadhāti ratnaṁ vidhate yaviṣṭho vy ānuṣaṅ martyāya svadhāvān || 3 ||
yac cid dhi te puruṣatrā yaviṣṭhācittibhiś cakṛmā kac cid āgaḥ |
kṛdhī ṣv a1smām̐ aditer anāgān vy enāṁsi śiśratho viṣvag agne || 4 ||
mahaś cid agna enaso abhīka ūrvād devānām uta martyānām |
mā te sakhāyaḥ sadam id riṣāma yacchā tokāya tanayāya śaṁ yoḥ || 5 ||
yathā ha tyad vasavo gauryaṁ cit padi ṣitām amuñcatā yajatrāḥ |
evo ṣv a1sman muñcatā vy aṁhaḥ pra tāry agne prataraṁ na āyuḥ || 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).