Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.12 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. Agni, the invoking priest at the center of the dwelling, ruler of the sacred grass, is here to worship the two world-halves, heaven and earth. This same son of strength, true to the sacred order, has stretched himself out from afar with his flame, like the sun.
2. In you, worthy of worship and king, though far off, let the offering be made, as now all-encompassing heaven itself is worshiped. You of the three seats, with the strides of one who has crossed beyond — come to receive the human offerings and gifts.
3. Brightest is his moving power, the ruler of the wood, the impeller, who has shone forth like one growing along the path. Free of deceit, like a swift runner, the immortal one perceives by himself, moving unobstructed among the plants.
4. That Agni, by our vigorous strengthenings, like a swift courser, is praised in the house — the knower of all things born. Running, winning by his power like a ruddy steed, he is made to blaze, like a father, through the sacrifices.
5. Then indeed they admire his splendors, which he freely fashions as he follows along the earth — he who at once, rushing, unleashed, swifter than others, like a thief fleeing his debt, speeds the ruler across the dry land.
6. You, our courser, O Agni, kindled with all the fires when laid on the altar — you win us wealth and drive away misfortune. May we rejoice a hundred winters, rich in good sons.
Translator's note: this hymn uses several rare and disputed Rigvedic words whose precise sense is uncertain — among them todasya ("impeller/driver," verses 1 and 3), apāke ("far off/hidden," verse 2), jaṁho ("stride," verse 2), avartra ("unobstructed," verse 3), osraḥ ("ruddy one," verse 4), and jārayāyi ("is made to blaze," verse 4). These are rendered conservatively, following the most literal sense of their roots rather than any settled scholarly consensus.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.12 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.12
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.
madhye hotā duroṇe barhiṣo rāḻ agnis todasya rodasī yajadhyai |
ayaṁ sa sūnuḥ sahasa ṛtāvā dūrāt sūryo na śociṣā tatāna || 1 ||
ā yasmin tve sv apāke yajatra yakṣad rājan sarvatāteva nu dyauḥ |
triṣadhasthas tataruṣo na jaṁho havyā maghāni mānuṣā yajadhyai || 2 ||
tejiṣṭhā yasyāratir vanerāṭ todo adhvan na vṛdhasāno adyaut |
adrogho na dravitā cetati tmann amartyo 'vartra oṣadhīṣu || 3 ||
sāsmākebhir etarī na śūṣair agniḥ ṣṭave dama ā jātavedāḥ |
drvanno vanvan kratvā nārvosraḥ piteva jārayāyi yajñaiḥ || 4 ||
adha smāsya panayanti bhāso vṛthā yat takṣad anuyāti pṛthvīm |
sadyo yaḥ syandro viṣito dhavīyān ṛṇo na tāyur ati dhanvā rāṭ || 5 ||
sa tvaṁ no arvan nidāyā viśvebhir agne agnibhir idhānaḥ |
veṣi rāyo vi yāsi ducchunā madema śatahimāḥ suvīrāḥ || 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).