Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.6 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. Stand up straight for us, O Hotar of the rite, Agni — most worthy of worship in the service of the gods. For you surpass every thought; you excel even the wise ordainer's own insight.
2. The unerring priest has been seated among the clans: Agni, joyous, perceptive at the sacrificial gatherings. Like Savitar he lifts his radiance on high, and props his smoke up against the sky.
3. As the two well-blazing, bounteous, ghee-drenched flames move rightward, embracing the divine rite, the newly cut sacrificial post rises up unharmed, well-set and well-shaped, anointed with the fat of the offering.
4. When the barhis grass is strewn and Agni kindled, the upright Adhvaryu priest stood there, well pleased. Agni goes around like a herdsman-priest, running his threefold course, embracing it as he has from days of old.
5. Of himself, at his own measured pace, the priest goes forth — Agni, joyous, sweet-voiced, true to the sacred order. His flames run like racehorses; all beings tremble when he blazes forth.
6. Lovely is your appearance, O fair-faced Agni — pleasing even though you are terrible, reaching everywhere. Darkness cannot shut in your flame; no soiling stain sets a blemish on your body.
7. No one restrained his begetting — not his mother and father, not even at the offering itself. So, well-established like a trusted friend, purifying Agni has shone out among the tribes of men.
8. Whom the twice-five sisters, dwelling together, bore as Agni among the tribes of men — waking at dawn, sharp-toothed, bright, fair-mouthed, keen like a sharp axe.
9. These tawny, ghee-anointed flames of yours, Agni — ruddy, going straight, going well; ruddy bulls, vigorous, wondrous — have called all to the divine service.
10. Those tireless, overpowering flames of yours move on, blazing, O Agni — like falcons speeding to their goal, loud-roaring like the troop of the Maruts.
11. A sacred hymn has been made for you, O kindled one; he recites the praise, he offers worship — so grant abundance in turn. Men have seated Agni as their priest; the eager Uśij priests do him homage with the praise-song of Āyu.
Translator's note: Verse 2's middle line is textually uneven in the source transmission (the printed sequence "savitevāśren meteva" does not parse cleanly); it is rendered here conservatively as describing Agni's flame rising like Savitar's light and his smoke reaching the sky. Verse 3 involves technical ritual vocabulary (the sacrificial post, or svaru) whose exact ceremonial function is rendered conservatively. Verse 8's "twice-five sisters" likely refers to the ten fingers of the fire-kindler, and "atharyu" (rendered "sharp-toothed") is an obscure word of uncertain sense.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.6 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.6
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.
ūrdhva ū ṣu ṇo adhvarasya hotar agne tiṣṭha devatātā yajīyān |
tvaṁ hi viśvam abhy asi manma pra vedhasaś cit tirasi manīṣām || 1 ||
amūro hotā ny asādi vikṣv a1gnir mandro vidatheṣu pracetāḥ |
ūrdhvam bhānuṁ savitevāśren meteva dhūmaṁ stabhāyad upa dyām || 2 ||
yatā sujūrṇī rātinī ghṛtācī pradakṣiṇid devatātim urāṇaḥ |
ud u svarur navajā nākraḥ paśvo anakti sudhitaḥ sumekaḥ || 3 ||
stīrṇe barhiṣi samidhāne agnā ūrdhvo adhvaryur jujuṣāṇo asthāt |
pary agniḥ paśupā na hotā triviṣṭy eti pradiva urāṇaḥ || 4 ||
pari tmanā mitadrur eti hotāgnir mandro madhuvacā ṛtāvā |
dravanty asya vājino na śokā bhayante viśvā bhuvanā yad abhrāṭ || 5 ||
bhadrā te agne svanīka saṁdṛg ghorasya sato viṣuṇasya cāruḥ |
na yat te śocis tamasā varanta na dhvasmānas tanvī3 repa ā dhuḥ || 6 ||
na yasya sātur janitor avāri na mātarāpitarā nū cid iṣṭau |
adhā mitro na sudhitaḥ pāvako3 'gnir dīdāya mānuṣīṣu vikṣu || 7 ||
dvir yam pañca jījanan saṁvasānāḥ svasāro agnim mānuṣīṣu vikṣu |
uṣarbudham atharyo3 na dantaṁ śukraṁ svāsam paraśuṁ na tigmam || 8 ||
tava tye agne harito ghṛtasnā rohitāsa ṛjvañcaḥ svañcaḥ |
aruṣāso vṛṣaṇa ṛjumuṣkā ā devatātim ahvanta dasmāḥ || 9 ||
ye ha tye te sahamānā ayāsas tveṣāso agne arcayaś caranti |
śyenāso na duvasanāso arthaṁ tuviṣvaṇaso mārutaṁ na śardhaḥ || 10 ||
akāri brahma samidhāna tubhyaṁ śaṁsāty ukthaṁ yajate vy ū dhāḥ |
hotāram agnim manuṣo ni ṣedur namasyanta uśijaḥ śaṁsam āyoḥ || 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).