Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.1 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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 has awoken with the people's kindling-wood, toward the approaching dawn, as toward a milk-cow drawing near. Like young ones lifting themselves up on their wings, his rays stream forth toward the vault of heaven.
2. The priest has awoken to offer sacrifice to the gods; Agni stood up, well-disposed, at dawn. The bright form of the kindled one was seen; the great god was set free from the darkness.
3. When he stirred the bond of the [sacrificial] company, pure Agni anoints himself with pure milk. Then the sacrificial gift is yoked, seeking to win the prize; upright, he has drunk from the outstretched one with the ladles.
4. The minds of those devoted to the gods move together toward Agni, as eyes move together toward the sun, when the two dawns of differing form bring him forth — the white courser is born at the head of the days.
5. For the noble one was born at the head of the days, the ruddy one set among the kindling-woods set out for him. Holding the seven treasures in house after house, Agni the priest, most worthy of worship, has taken his seat.
6. Agni the priest, most worthy of worship, has sat down in the lap of his mother, in the fragrant place. The young seer, dwelling among the many, possessing truth, sustainer of the peoples, is kindled also in their midst.
7. Now they invoke with homage that inspired one, effective in the rites, Agni the priest, who has stretched out the two world-halves by his truth. They groom the strong courser continually with ghee.
8. Fit to be groomed, he is groomed in his own house, the house-lord, praised by seers, our kindly guest. Thousand-horned bull, that mighty one — O Agni, by your force you surpass all the others.
9. At once, O Agni, you pass beyond the others, manifest, to whoever you have become most beautiful. Worthy of invocation, wondrous, shining wide, dear guest of the human clans.
10. To you the settled peoples bring tribute, youngest one, O Agni, both from near and from far. Take notice of the good will of the most excellent worshipper; great, O Agni, is your lofty, auspicious shelter.
11. Today, O Agni, mount the radiant chariot of the radiant one, fitted all around with the worshipful powers. Knowing the paths, through the wide midair, bring the gods here to eat the offering.
12. We have spoken a word of praise to the wise one, fit for sacrifice, bull-like, mighty. Gaviṣṭhira has set the far-reaching hymn upon Agni with homage, like a bright ornament in the sky.
Translator's note: several phrases resist a fully certain rendering. In verse 3, "gaṇasya raśanām" (the rein/bond of the troop) and "uttānām... juhūbhiḥ" (drinking from the outstretched one with the ladles) are kept close to the Sanskrit rather than resolved into a confident narrative. In verse 1, "yahvā iva pra vayām ujjihānāḥ" is rendered as young birds lifting their wings, one plausible sense of "vayā" among several offered by tradition. "Gaviṣṭhira" in verse 12 is left as a proper name (a poet of the Atri family), following the Anukramaṇī attribution of this hymn.
Colophon
Rigveda V.1 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 V.1
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.
abodhy agniḥ samidhā janānām prati dhenum ivāyatīm uṣāsam |
yahvā iva pra vayām ujjihānāḥ pra bhānavaḥ sisrate nākam accha || 1 ||
abodhi hotā yajathāya devān ūrdhvo agniḥ sumanāḥ prātar asthāt |
samiddhasya ruśad adarśi pājo mahān devas tamaso nir amoci || 2 ||
yad īṁ gaṇasya raśanām ajīgaḥ śucir aṅkte śucibhir gobhir agniḥ |
ād dakṣiṇā yujyate vājayanty uttānām ūrdhvo adhayaj juhūbhiḥ || 3 ||
agnim acchā devayatām manāṁsi cakṣūṁṣīva sūrye saṁ caranti |
yad īṁ suvāte uṣasā virūpe śveto vājī jāyate agre ahnām || 4 ||
janiṣṭa hi jenyo agre ahnāṁ hito hiteṣv aruṣo vaneṣu |
dame-dame sapta ratnā dadhāno 'gnir hotā ni ṣasādā yajīyān || 5 ||
agnir hotā ny asīdad yajīyān upasthe mātuḥ surabhā u loke |
yuvā kaviḥ puruniṣṭha ṛtāvā dhartā kṛṣṭīnām uta madhya iddhaḥ || 6 ||
pra ṇu tyaṁ vipram adhvareṣu sādhum agniṁ hotāram īḻate namobhiḥ |
ā yas tatāna rodasī ṛtena nityam mṛjanti vājinaṁ ghṛtena || 7 ||
mārjālyo mṛjyate sve damūnāḥ kavipraśasto atithiḥ śivo naḥ |
sahasraśṛṅgo vṛṣabhas tadojā viśvām̐ agne sahasā prāsy anyān || 8 ||
pra sadyo agne aty eṣy anyān āvir yasmai cārutamo babhūtha |
īḻenyo vapuṣyo vibhāvā priyo viśām atithir mānuṣīṇām || 9 ||
tubhyam bharanti kṣitayo yaviṣṭha balim agne antita ota dūrāt |
ā bhandiṣṭhasya sumatiṁ cikiddhi bṛhat te agne mahi śarma bhadram || 10 ||
ādya ratham bhānumo bhānumantam agne tiṣṭha yajatebhiḥ samantam |
vidvān pathīnām urv a1ntarikṣam eha devān haviradyāya vakṣi || 11 ||
avocāma kavaye medhyāya vaco vandāru vṛṣabhāya vṛṣṇe |
gaviṣṭhiro namasā stomam agnau divīva rukmam uruvyañcam aśret || 12 ||
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).