Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.2 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, holds glory fit for a settlement, as a friend rules his own. You, the vigorous one, foster fame, good lord, as you foster increase.
2. The peoples call to you with sacrifices and songs. You go forth strong as a racer, doing no harm, crossing the middle realm, visible to every people.
3. The men of heaven together kindle you, the banner of the sacrifice, when mortal folk, seeking your favor, call out to you at the rite.
4. The mortal who prospers for you, generous one, laboring with devotion and insight — through the help of lofty heaven he crosses beyond hatred and distress.
5. The mortal who reaches you with kindling-wood and a well-prepared offering fosters a vigorous household, Agni, one of a hundred years.
6. Your fierce smoke, bright, stretches into the reaching sky. Indeed you shine, purifier, with splendor and beauty like the sun.
7. And indeed you are to be praised among the clans, our dear guest — delightful like an enduring stronghold, to be cherished like a son.
8. With power you are anointed in the wooden vat, Agni, like a strong horse fit for action. By your own nature you roam like the wandering wind, a young one turning swift like a racehorse.
9. You, unshaken Agni, feed on those woods like a beast in the pasture, when the skilled ones cut the woods — your ageless dwelling places.
10. Indeed you attend, Agni, as invoking priest of those performing the rite, in the house of the clans. Make us prosper, lord of the clan; accept the oblation, Aṅgiras.
11. Speak for us to the gods, Agni, god of Mitra-like glory — proclaim the good will of the two world-halves. Grant well-being, a good dwelling, and the favor of the men of heaven. May we cross over hatreds, distresses, and troubles — may we cross them, may we cross them by your help.
Translator's note: verses 8–9 contain compressed, difficult phrasing (droṇe ajyase, parijmeva svadhā, paśur na yavase) describing Agni anointed in the sacrificial vessel and consuming wood like a grazing animal; the images are kept close to the Sanskrit rather than smoothed into fluent paraphrase. In verse 4, "aṁho na tarati" is rendered as a straightforward crossing-over of distress; the particle na there may carry a comparative rather than purely negative force, and the line admits more than one reading.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.2 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.2
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 hi kṣaitavad yaśo 'gne mitro na patyase |
tvaṁ vicarṣaṇe śravo vaso puṣṭiṁ na puṣyasi || 1 ||
tvāṁ hi ṣmā carṣaṇayo yajñebhir gīrbhir īḻate |
tvāṁ vājī yāty avṛko rajastūr viśvacarṣaṇiḥ || 2 ||
sajoṣas tvā divo naro yajñasya ketum indhate |
yad dha sya mānuṣo janaḥ sumnāyur juhve adhvare || 3 ||
ṛdhad yas te sudānave dhiyā martaḥ śaśamate |
ūtī ṣa bṛhato divo dviṣo aṁho na tarati || 4 ||
samidhā yas ta āhutiṁ niśitim martyo naśat |
vayāvantaṁ sa puṣyati kṣayam agne śatāyuṣam || 5 ||
tveṣas te dhūma ṛṇvati divi ṣañ chukra ātataḥ |
sūro na hi dyutā tvaṁ kṛpā pāvaka rocase || 6 ||
adhā hi vikṣv īḍyo 'si priyo no atithiḥ |
raṇvaḥ purīva jūryaḥ sūnur na trayayāyyaḥ || 7 ||
kratvā hi droṇe ajyase 'gne vājī na kṛtvyaḥ |
parijmeva svadhā gayo 'tyo na hvāryaḥ śiśuḥ || 8 ||
tvaṁ tyā cid acyutāgne paśur na yavase |
dhāmā ha yat te ajara vanā vṛścanti śikvasaḥ || 9 ||
veṣi hy adhvarīyatām agne hotā dame viśām |
samṛdho viśpate kṛṇu juṣasva havyam aṅgiraḥ || 10 ||
acchā no mitramaho deva devān agne vocaḥ sumatiṁ rodasyoḥ |
vīhi svastiṁ sukṣitiṁ divo nṝn dviṣo aṁhāṁsi duritā tarema tā tarema tavāvasā tarema || 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).