Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.28 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. Kindled, Agni has set his flame in the sky; he shines far and wide, facing the dawn. She comes forward, all-bounteous, with reverent offerings, invoking the gods with oblation, dripping with ghee.
2. Being kindled, you reign over the realm of the immortal; you accompany the one who makes the offering, for his well-being. He whom you favor holds all wealth; and, Agni, you set hospitality before him.
3. Agni, show your strength for great good fortune; may your splendors be the highest. Set our household union in good order; stand over and overcome the might of those who act as enemies.
4. I praise the splendor of you, kindled, greatly mighty Agni. You are a bull, full of splendor; you are kindled together at the rites.
5. Kindled Agni, invoked with oblation, worship the gods, you of the good rite — for you are the carrier of offerings.
6. Offer, honor Agni, as the rite proceeds; choose him as the bearer of offerings.
Translator's note: verse 3's "jāspatyam" (household/marital lordship) is rendered "household union" — the word covers the joint rule of husband and wife over a household, with no exact modern equivalent.
Colophon
Rigveda V.28 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.28
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.
samiddho agnir divi śocir aśret pratyaṅṅ uṣasam urviyā vi bhāti |
eti prācī viśvavārā namobhir devām̐ īḻānā haviṣā ghṛtācī || 1 ||
samidhyamāno amṛtasya rājasi haviṣ kṛṇvantaṁ sacase svastaye |
viśvaṁ sa dhatte draviṇaṁ yam invasy ātithyam agne ni ca dhatta it puraḥ || 2 ||
agne śardha mahate saubhagāya tava dyumnāny uttamāni santu |
saṁ jāspatyaṁ suyamam ā kṛṇuṣva śatrūyatām abhi tiṣṭhā mahāṁsi || 3 ||
samiddhasya pramahaso 'gne vande tava śriyam |
vṛṣabho dyumnavām̐ asi sam adhvareṣv idhyase || 4 ||
samiddho agna āhuta devān yakṣi svadhvara |
tvaṁ hi havyavāḻ asi || 5 ||
ā juhotā duvasyatāgnim prayaty adhvare |
vṛṇīdhvaṁ havyavāhanam || 6 ||
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).