Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.1 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 6 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. For you, Agni, were the first to conceive this hymn, O wondrous one, the priest of the offering. You, mighty bull, made this strength hard to overcome, strong enough to master every other strength.
2. Then you sat down as priest, most worthy of worship, giving strength in the seat of Iḷā, deserving praise. Men seeking the gods, aware of the great wealth to be won, followed after you, first of all.
3. Wakeful ones followed after the wealth in you, as one who moves amid many possessions, sought out. They followed Agni the bright, fair to see, lofty, rich in sacrificial fat, shining every day.
4. Seeking the god's place with homage, those who desired fame obtained unbroken fame. They took on names fit for worship, and rejoiced in the sight of your auspicious face.
5. The peoples on earth make you grow; the riches of both kinds of people make you grow. You have become a protector, notable in bringing us across, forever father and mother of humankind.
6. That Agni, worthy of worship, dear among the peoples, the joyful priest most fit for sacrifice, has taken his seat. May we sit close to you, shining in the house, bending the knee, with homage.
7. We, well-minded and seeking the gods, seeking your favor, beseech you, ever-new Agni. You have led the peoples, shining, Agni, with the vast light of heaven.
8. We call on Agni — the seer of the peoples, lord of all the clans, the bull who drives on the human races, who urges forth and gives strength, the purifying one, ruling, worthy of worship, lord of riches.
9. That mortal has sacrificed and labored, Agni, who has brought you the gift of oblation with kindling wood, who knows well how to offer with homage — he, helped by you, gains all good things.
10. To you, great one, let us offer greatly, with homage, Agni, with kindling wood and oblations. O wise son of strength, with songs and hymns may we strive toward your gracious favor.
11. You who have spread the two worlds wide with your light, and with your renown, conquering one eager for fame — shine further upon us, Agni, with lofty, enduring, wealth-bringing strength.
12. O good Agni, grant us always, with strong sons, abundant cattle for our children and their children. May we have many great means of nourishment, with evil kept far away — may glorious blessings be ours.
13. Many are the goods, Agni, in many ways, through you, O king; may I obtain your bounty. For many things are in you, O giver of many boons — wealth for the worshipper is in you, O king.
Translator's note: two words in verse 8, "nitośana" and "pretīṣaṇi," are rare and obscure in Vedic Sanskrit with no settled meaning; they are rendered conservatively here as "drives on" and "urges forth." "Vedī" in verse 10 (from the root "vid," to know) is taken as a vocative epithet, "O wise one," rather than the noun "altar."
Colophon
Rigveda VI.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 VI.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.
tvaṁ hy agne prathamo manotāsyā dhiyo abhavo dasma hotā |
tvaṁ sīṁ vṛṣann akṛṇor duṣṭarītu saho viśvasmai sahase sahadhyai || 1 ||
adhā hotā ny asīdo yajīyān iḻas pada iṣayann īḍyaḥ san |
taṁ tvā naraḥ prathamaṁ devayanto maho rāye citayanto anu gman || 2 ||
vṛteva yantam bahubhir vasavyai3s tve rayiṁ jāgṛvāṁso anu gman |
ruśantam agniṁ darśatam bṛhantaṁ vapāvantaṁ viśvahā dīdivāṁsam || 3 ||
padaṁ devasya namasā vyantaḥ śravasyavaḥ śrava āpann amṛktam |
nāmāni cid dadhire yajñiyāni bhadrāyāṁ te raṇayanta saṁdṛṣṭau || 4 ||
tvāṁ vardhanti kṣitayaḥ pṛthivyāṁ tvāṁ rāya ubhayāso janānām |
tvaṁ trātā taraṇe cetyo bhūḥ pitā mātā sadam in mānuṣāṇām || 5 ||
saparyeṇyaḥ sa priyo vikṣv a1gnir hotā mandro ni ṣasādā yajīyān |
taṁ tvā vayaṁ dama ā dīdivāṁsam upa jñubādho namasā sadema || 6 ||
taṁ tvā vayaṁ sudhyo3 navyam agne sumnāyava īmahe devayantaḥ |
tvaṁ viśo anayo dīdyāno divo agne bṛhatā rocanena || 7 ||
viśāṁ kaviṁ viśpatiṁ śaśvatīnāṁ nitośanaṁ vṛṣabhaṁ carṣaṇīnām |
pretīṣaṇim iṣayantam pāvakaṁ rājantam agniṁ yajataṁ rayīṇām || 8 ||
so agna īje śaśame ca marto yas ta ānaṭ samidhā havyadātim |
ya āhutim pari vedā namobhir viśvet sa vāmā dadhate tvotaḥ || 9 ||
asmā u te mahi mahe vidhema namobhir agne samidhota havyaiḥ |
vedī sūno sahaso gīrbhir ukthair ā te bhadrāyāṁ sumatau yatema || 10 ||
ā yas tatantha rodasī vi bhāsā śravobhiś ca śravasya1s tarutraḥ |
bṛhadbhir vājaiḥ sthavirebhir asme revadbhir agne vitaraṁ vi bhāhi || 11 ||
nṛvad vaso sadam id dhehy asme bhūri tokāya tanayāya paśvaḥ |
pūrvīr iṣo bṛhatīr āre-aghā asme bhadrā sauśravasāni santu || 12 ||
purūṇy agne purudhā tvāyā vasūni rājan vasutā te aśyām |
purūṇi hi tve puruvāra santy agne vasu vidhate rājani tve || 13 ||
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).