Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.14 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. The mortal who, together with Agni, has taken delight in homage and in prayer through his devotions — let him, foremost from of old and ever active, choose nourishment for his protection.
2. Agni indeed is the wise one; Agni is the most skillful of ordainers, the seer. The clans of Manu praise Agni as the invoking priest at their sacrifices.
3. For in many ways, O Agni, they vie with one another for your help, seeking the wealth of the noble lord — the sons of Āyu, overpowering the Dasyu, striving by their own ordinances against the one who keeps none.
4. Agni gives a hero who withstands every onslaught, a true lord among the vigorous — one whose enemies tremble in fear at the mere sight of his might.
5. For Agni the god, through his knowledge, guards the mortal from reproach. Mighty is he, whose wealth stays unchecked and unhindered in the contests for strength.
6. O Agni, god as bountiful as Mitra, speak to the gods on our behalf for the goodwill of the two world-halves. Grant us well-being, a good dwelling, the favor of heaven's men. May we pass safely through hatred, distress, and danger — may we pass through them, may we pass through them with your help.
Translator's note: verse 1's "bhūṣan" and verse 3's "apsām" are read here in their attested Vedic senses (bhūṣan, "being active/attending"; apsām as a term for the vigorous/active ones) rather than forced into a single fixed gloss; both are somewhat compressed in the Sanskrit and are rendered conservatively.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.14 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.14
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.
agnā yo martyo duvo dhiyaṁ jujoṣa dhītibhiḥ |
bhasan nu ṣa pra pūrvya iṣaṁ vurītāvase || 1 ||
agnir id dhi pracetā agnir vedhastama ṛṣiḥ |
agniṁ hotāram īḻate yajñeṣu manuṣo viśaḥ || 2 ||
nānā hy a1gne 'vase spardhante rāyo aryaḥ |
tūrvanto dasyum āyavo vrataiḥ sīkṣanto avratam || 3 ||
agnir apsām ṛtīṣahaṁ vīraṁ dadāti satpatim |
yasya trasanti śavasaḥ saṁcakṣi śatravo bhiyā || 4 ||
agnir hi vidmanā nido devo martam uruṣyati |
sahāvā yasyāvṛto rayir vājeṣv avṛtaḥ || 5 ||
acchā no mitramaho deva devān agne vocaḥ sumatiṁ rodasyoḥ |
vīhi svastiṁ sukṣitiṁ divo nṝn dviṣo aṁhāṁsi duritā tarema tā tarema tavāvasā tarema || 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).