Hymn to Agni Vaiśvānara
Rigveda IV.5 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. How, in one accord, shall we offer great radiance to Vaiśvānara Agni, the bountiful god? With his unstinting, mighty growth he propped it up, as a pillar props a bank.
2. Do not reproach me for this gift which the self-sustaining god gave to a mortal — to the simple one, the wise, immortal, discerning Vaiśvānara, most manly, mighty Agni.
3. The great, twofold chant, sharp-flamed, of a thousand seeds, the powerful bull — having found it like the hidden track of a cow, Agni declared this insight to me.
4. Sharp-toothed Agni, the very bountiful one, consumed with his hottest flame those who violate the fixed ordinances of Varuṇa, the dear, steadfast laws of wise Mitra.
5. Like brotherless women wandering about, like wives who deceive their husbands, evil-minded — being sinful, untrue, false, they have made this deep, hidden place.
6. This thought of mine, O purifying, unfailing Agni, is like a heavy burden. Boldly you have set in place the great, deep, mighty ridge, of seven elements, with your delight.
7. May the purifying insight now, at this very gathering, reach him by its power — upon the hide of the grass, the dear form of the dappled one, the shape mounted at the front, swift-moving.
8. What is there of this speech of mine to be proclaimed, hidden and placed in secret, that the covering utters near it — as the ruddy cows' [enclosure] opens like a floodgate — he guards the dear track, the foremost mark of the bird.
9. This indeed is that great face of the mighty ones, which the ancient ruddy cow follows — shining upon the seat of Truth, swift and hidden, he found the swift-moving one.
10. Then, shining together with his two parents, he discerned the dear, secret [nature] of the dappled mother — being near, in the mother's highest place, [where] is the tongue of the outstretched flame of the bull.
11. I have spoken the truth, being questioned with reverence, through your favor, O Jātavedas — since you rule over all this, whatever is in heaven, and whatever wealth is on earth.
12. What is our share of this, what indeed our treasure? Declare it to us, O knowing Jātavedas — the hidden, farthest point of the path that is ours: we have come to an empty track, without finding its bond.
13. What is the boundary, the mark? What indeed the precious thing we should reach, like swift steeds racing to the prize? When will the goddesses, wives of the immortal, the Dawns, spread forth for us with the sun's own hue?
14. With feeble, worthless, halting speech, unsatisfied — what, then, O Agni, do they say here? Let the unarmed sit and keep their place.
15. For the glory of this kindled bull, the face of the Good One has shone forth in the house. Clothed in brightness, of beautiful form, the much-desired one has shone like a wealthy dwelling.
Translator's note: verses 3, 6–10, and 13–14 are among the most obscure riddle-verses in the Rigveda, built on compressed cow/dawn/light imagery (the "hidden track of the cow," the "dappled one," Pṛśni) whose referents are debated by scholars. The Sanskrit is rendered conservatively, word for word, rather than resolved into a confident narrative; several nouns (e.g. jabāru in verse 7) have no settled meaning and are left close to their root sense.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.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 IV.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.
vaiśvānarāya mīḻhuṣe sajoṣāḥ kathā dāśemāgnaye bṛhad bhāḥ |
anūnena bṛhatā vakṣathenopa stabhāyad upamin na rodhaḥ || 1 ||
mā nindata ya imām mahyaṁ rātiṁ devo dadau martyāya svadhāvān |
pākāya gṛtso amṛto vicetā vaiśvānaro nṛtamo yahvo agniḥ || 2 ||
sāma dvibarhā mahi tigmabhṛṣṭiḥ sahasraretā vṛṣabhas tuviṣmān |
padaṁ na gor apagūḻhaṁ vividvān agnir mahyam pred u vocan manīṣām || 3 ||
pra tām̐ agnir babhasat tigmajambhas tapiṣṭhena śociṣā yaḥ surādhāḥ |
pra ye minanti varuṇasya dhāma priyā mitrasya cetato dhruvāṇi || 4 ||
abhrātaro na yoṣaṇo vyantaḥ patiripo na janayo durevāḥ |
pāpāsaḥ santo anṛtā asatyā idam padam ajanatā gabhīram || 5 ||
idam me agne kiyate pāvakāminate gurum bhāraṁ na manma |
bṛhad dadhātha dhṛṣatā gabhīraṁ yahvam pṛṣṭham prayasā saptadhātu || 6 ||
tam in nv e3va samanā samānam abhi kratvā punatī dhītir aśyāḥ |
sasasya carmann adhi cāru pṛśner agre rupa ārupitaṁ jabāru || 7 ||
pravācyaṁ vacasaḥ kim me asya guhā hitam upa niṇig vadanti |
yad usriyāṇām apa vār iva vran pāti priyaṁ rupo agram padaṁ veḥ || 8 ||
idam u tyan mahi mahām anīkaṁ yad usriyā sacata pūrvyaṁ gauḥ |
ṛtasya pade adhi dīdyānaṁ guhā raghuṣyad raghuyad viveda || 9 ||
adha dyutānaḥ pitroḥ sacāsāmanuta guhyaṁ cāru pṛśneḥ |
mātuṣ pade parame anti ṣad gor vṛṣṇaḥ śociṣaḥ prayatasya jihvā || 10 ||
ṛtaṁ voce namasā pṛcchyamānas tavāśasā jātavedo yadīdam |
tvam asya kṣayasi yad dha viśvaṁ divi yad u draviṇaṁ yat pṛthivyām || 11 ||
kiṁ no asya draviṇaṁ kad dha ratnaṁ vi no voco jātavedaś cikitvān |
guhādhvanaḥ paramaṁ yan no asya reku padaṁ na nidānā aganma || 12 ||
kā maryādā vayunā kad dha vāmam acchā gamema raghavo na vājam |
kadā no devīr amṛtasya patnīḥ sūro varṇena tatanann uṣāsaḥ || 13 ||
anireṇa vacasā phalgvena pratītyena kṛdhunātṛpāsaḥ |
adhā te agne kim ihā vadanty anāyudhāsa āsatā sacantām || 14 ||
asya śriye samidhānasya vṛṣṇo vasor anīkaṁ dama ā ruroca |
ruśad vasānaḥ sudṛśīkarūpaḥ kṣitir na rāyā puruvāro adyaut || 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).