Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.4 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. Make your blaze spread wide like a snare; go like a mighty king with his elephant. Rushing on along the swift snare, you are the archer — pierce the demons with your hottest shafts.
2. Your whirling flames fly swiftly; blazing boldly, reach out and touch them. Agni, with your tongue hurl hot flying sparks — unfettered, cast your firebrands out on every side.
3. Send out your scouts, swiftest one; be the unfailing guardian of this people. Whoever curses us from far away, whoever curses us close by — Agni, let no harm ever come near you.
4. Rise up, Agni; stretch yourself out against them. Burn down the enemies, sharp-weaponed one. Whoever has kindled hatred against us — burn him down like a dry shrub.
5. Stand upright; shoot your arrows away from us, toward them. Reveal your godly powers, Agni. Slacken the firm bows of the sorcerers; crush the enemies, whether kin or stranger.
6. He knows your favor, youngest god, who has made a way for such a prayer. All the good days of wealth are his, all the splendors of the pious man — he has shone forth, throwing the doors wide open.
7. Let him indeed be fortunate and generous, Agni, who seeks to please you with a steady offering and with hymns, in his own house, throughout his life. May his devotion bring him nothing but good days.
8. I sing to win your favor — let it sound out toward us. Let this cherished song of ours grow strong together with you. With good horses and good chariots may we serve you well; may you uphold strength and dominion for us, day after day.
9. Here may much worship come to you of itself, Agni, lighter of the darkness, shining day after day. Playful, glad in mind, may we wait upon you, standing above the splendors of rival peoples.
10. Whoever comes to you, Agni, with good horses, rich in gold, in a chariot loaded with goods — you become his protector, his friend, whoever steadily delights in offering you welcome.
11. By kinship I break forth greatly with these words; this has come down to me from my father Gotama. Take notice of this speech of ours, O priest, youngest one, of good skill, lord of the household.
12. Sleepless, vigorous, most kindly, untiring, harmless, most unwearied — may these guardians of yours, Agni, sitting close together, protect us, unerring one.
13. Your guardians, Agni, who watched over Māmateya, seeing him, protected the blind man from misfortune. The righteous, all-knowing one protected them; the enemies, though bent on harm, could not deceive them.
14. Through you, sharing in wealth, aided by you, may we win prizes under your guidance. Make both our claims come true, in truthfulness — carry them out fittingly, unashamed one.
15. With this kindling-wood, Agni, may we worship you; accept the praise-hymn now being recited. Burn the scheming rakshasas; guard us from treachery, from reproach, from blame — O you whose friendship is great.
Translator's note: verse 11's "maho rujāmi bandhutā vacobhiḥ" (roughly "by kinship I break forth greatly with words") is compressed and grammatically terse in the Sanskrit; the rendering above keeps the literal sense conservatively. "Māmateya" in verse 13 is a patronymic (son of Mamatā) traditionally identified with the sage Dīrghatamas, said to have been blind; the verse is kept literal ("the blind man") rather than expanded with that identification.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.4 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.4
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.
kṛṇuṣva pājaḥ prasitiṁ na pṛthvīṁ yāhi rājevāmavām̐ ibhena |
tṛṣvīm anu prasitiṁ drūṇāno 'stāsi vidhya rakṣasas tapiṣṭhaiḥ || 1 ||
tava bhramāsa āśuyā patanty anu spṛśa dhṛṣatā śośucānaḥ |
tapūṁṣy agne juhvā pataṁgān asaṁdito vi sṛja viṣvag ulkāḥ || 2 ||
prati spaśo vi sṛja tūrṇitamo bhavā pāyur viśo asyā adabdhaḥ |
yo no dūre aghaśaṁso yo anty agne mākiṣ ṭe vyathir ā dadharṣīt || 3 ||
ud agne tiṣṭha praty ā tanuṣva ny a1mitrām̐ oṣatāt tigmahete |
yo no arātiṁ samidhāna cakre nīcā taṁ dhakṣy atasaṁ na śuṣkam || 4 ||
ūrdhvo bhava prati vidhyādhy asmad āviṣ kṛṇuṣva daivyāny agne |
ava sthirā tanuhi yātujūnāṁ jāmim ajāmim pra mṛṇīhi śatrūn || 5 ||
sa te jānāti sumatiṁ yaviṣṭha ya īvate brahmaṇe gātum airat |
viśvāny asmai sudināni rāyo dyumnāny aryo vi duro abhi dyaut || 6 ||
sed agne astu subhagaḥ sudānur yas tvā nityena haviṣā ya ukthaiḥ |
piprīṣati sva āyuṣi duroṇe viśved asmai sudinā sāsad iṣṭiḥ || 7 ||
arcāmi te sumatiṁ ghoṣy arvāk saṁ te vāvātā jaratām iyaṁ gīḥ |
svaśvās tvā surathā marjayemāsme kṣatrāṇi dhārayer anu dyūn || 8 ||
iha tvā bhūry ā cared upa tman doṣāvastar dīdivāṁsam anu dyūn |
krīḻantas tvā sumanasaḥ sapemābhi dyumnā tasthivāṁso janānām || 9 ||
yas tvā svaśvaḥ suhiraṇyo agna upayāti vasumatā rathena |
tasya trātā bhavasi tasya sakhā yas ta ātithyam ānuṣag jujoṣat || 10 ||
maho rujāmi bandhutā vacobhis tan mā pitur gotamād anv iyāya |
tvaṁ no asya vacasaś cikiddhi hotar yaviṣṭha sukrato damūnāḥ || 11 ||
asvapnajas taraṇayaḥ suśevā atandrāso 'vṛkā aśramiṣṭhāḥ |
te pāyavaḥ sadhryañco niṣadyāgne tava naḥ pāntv amūra || 12 ||
ye pāyavo māmateyaṁ te agne paśyanto andhaṁ duritād arakṣan |
rarakṣa tān sukṛto viśvavedā dipsanta id ripavo nāha debhuḥ || 13 ||
tvayā vayaṁ sadhanya1s tvotās tava praṇīty aśyāma vājān |
ubhā śaṁsā sūdaya satyatāte 'nuṣṭhuyā kṛṇuhy ahrayāṇa || 14 ||
ayā te agne samidhā vidhema prati stomaṁ śasyamānaṁ gṛbhāya |
dahāśaso rakṣasaḥ pāhy a1smān druho nido mitramaho avadyāt || 15 ||
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).