Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.4 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. You, Agni, lord of goods among all goods — in you I exult at the rites, O king. With you, striving for the prize, may we win it; may we overcome the battle-onsets of mortal foes.
2. Agni the oblation-bearer, unaging, our father, far-reaching, brilliant, fair to look upon among us — shine abundant food fit for good housekeeping toward us; measure out glories to us.
3. They have installed Agni as the all-knowing hotṛ-priest — seer of the clans, lord of the peoples of men, bright, purifying, his back anointed with ghee. He wins desirable things among the gods.
4. Take pleasure, Agni, in accord with Iḷā, joining with the rays of the sun; take pleasure in our kindling-wood, O Jātavedas, and bring the gods here to eat the offering.
5. Beloved house-friend, guest in the house, come knowingly to this sacrifice of ours. Striking down all assaults of those who play the enemy, Agni, bring us food.
6. Drive off the dasyu with your deadly weapon, making strength for your own body. Since you, son of might, carry the gods safely through, so protect us too, Agni, most manly one, in the contest for the prize.
7. May we honor you, Agni, with hymns of praise; may we honor you with oblations, O purifier of blessed flame. Send to us wealth holding every good thing; bestow on us every kind of riches.
8. Take pleasure in our rite, Agni; take pleasure in the offering, O son of might, you of the threefold seat. May we be counted doers of good among the gods; protect us with a threefold shelter.
9. Carry us across all our hard places, O Jātavedas, across dangers as by boat over a river. Agni, praised with homage as for Atri, be mindful — be the protector of our persons.
10. I, mortal, thinking of you with a devoted heart, call again and again on you, the immortal. O Jātavedas, place glory in us; may I attain immortality through offspring, Agni.
11. For whomever you make a comfortable place, Jātavedas, Agni — for that doer of good — he attains, in safety, wealth rich in horses, in sons, in heroes, in cattle.
Translator's note: "dasyu" (v. 6) is left untranslated — a term for hostile/non-Vedic peoples or demonic foes whose exact referent is debated. "Atri" (v. 9) names a Ṛgvedic sage associated with fire-hymns; the verse likens the praise offered here to praise given for/by him.
Colophon
Rigveda V.4 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.4
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.
tvām agne vasupatiṁ vasūnām abhi pra mande adhvareṣu rājan |
tvayā vājaṁ vājayanto jayemābhi ṣyāma pṛtsutīr martyānām || 1 ||
havyavāḻ agnir ajaraḥ pitā no vibhur vibhāvā sudṛśīko asme |
sugārhapatyāḥ sam iṣo didīhy asmadrya1k sam mimīhi śravāṁsi || 2 ||
viśāṁ kaviṁ viśpatim mānuṣīṇāṁ śucim pāvakaṁ ghṛtapṛṣṭham agnim |
ni hotāraṁ viśvavidaṁ dadhidhve sa deveṣu vanate vāryāṇi || 3 ||
juṣasvāgna iḻayā sajoṣā yatamāno raśmibhiḥ sūryasya |
juṣasva naḥ samidhaṁ jātaveda ā ca devān haviradyāya vakṣi || 4 ||
juṣṭo damūnā atithir duroṇa imaṁ no yajñam upa yāhi vidvān |
viśvā agne abhiyujo vihatyā śatrūyatām ā bharā bhojanāni || 5 ||
vadhena dasyum pra hi cātayasva vayaḥ kṛṇvānas tanve3 svāyai |
piparṣi yat sahasas putra devānt so agne pāhi nṛtama vāje asmān || 6 ||
vayaṁ te agna ukthair vidhema vayaṁ havyaiḥ pāvaka bhadraśoce |
asme rayiṁ viśvavāraṁ sam invāsme viśvāni draviṇāni dhehi || 7 ||
asmākam agne adhvaraṁ juṣasva sahasaḥ sūno triṣadhastha havyam |
vayaṁ deveṣu sukṛtaḥ syāma śarmaṇā nas trivarūthena pāhi || 8 ||
viśvāni no durgahā jātavedaḥ sindhuṁ na nāvā duritāti parṣi |
agne atrivan namasā gṛṇāno3 'smākam bodhy avitā tanūnām || 9 ||
yas tvā hṛdā kīriṇā manyamāno 'martyam martyo johavīmi |
jātavedo yaśo asmāsu dhehi prajābhir agne amṛtatvam aśyām || 10 ||
yasmai tvaṁ sukṛte jātaveda u lokam agne kṛṇavaḥ syonam |
aśvinaṁ sa putriṇaṁ vīravantaṁ gomantaṁ rayiṁ naśate svasti || 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).