Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.23 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. O Agni, bring here overpowering wealth of splendor, by your superior force — wealth that, by its own mouth of flame, overcomes all peoples in the contests for prizes.
2. O Agni, conquer and bring that wealth which overcomes armies — for you are the true and wondrous giver of prize-wealth in cattle.
3. For all people, of one accord, having strewn the sacred grass, seek from you many choice gifts in their dwellings — you, their dear invoking priest.
4. He indeed, lord over all peoples, has taken on strength against the hostile power. O Agni, shine richly for us in these dwellings, O bright one; shine gloriously, O purifier.
Translator's note: verse 1's "abhy āsā" (literally "with/by the mouth") is rendered as Agni's flame acting on his own; verse 4's "abhimāti" (hostility, the hostile one) and "viśvacarṣaṇiḥ" (lord/overseer of all peoples) are terse epithets kept close to their literal sense rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda V.23 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.23
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.
agne sahantam ā bhara dyumnasya prāsahā rayim |
viśvā yaś carṣaṇīr abhy ā3sā vājeṣu sāsahat || 1 ||
tam agne pṛtanāṣahaṁ rayiṁ sahasva ā bhara |
tvaṁ hi satyo adbhuto dātā vājasya gomataḥ || 2 ||
viśve hi tvā sajoṣaso janāso vṛktabarhiṣaḥ |
hotāraṁ sadmasu priyaṁ vyanti vāryā puru || 3 ||
sa hi ṣmā viśvacarṣaṇir abhimāti saho dadhe |
agna eṣu kṣayeṣv ā revan naḥ śukra dīdihi dyumat pāvaka dīdihi || 4 ||
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).