Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.5 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.
The singer calls on Agni — the youthful "son of strength," guileless in speech, the wise giver of riches — invoking him with hymns offered morning and evening. Agni is asked to burn away any rival who assails the singer's people, whether from afar in secret or from close at hand, and is praised as the one who has always dwelt among the clans, distributing goods to his worshippers in due order.
The hymn closes with direct requests: may the singer obtain the desire he asks for through Agni's help, wealth with strong sons, strength won in contest, and splendor that does not age or fade.
1. I call on you with hymns — the son of strength, the youthful one, the youngest, whose word carries no deceit — the wise one who sends forth riches, all-desirable, rich in gifts, guileless.
2. In you, O many-faced one, O priest, the worshippers have set their treasures in motion by night and by day. In you, O purifying one, as upon the earth, all beings have placed their blessings together.
3. You have dwelt among the peoples from ancient times; by your will you became the charioteer of desirable things. From there, O wise one, O knower of all that is born, you duly bestow treasures on the worshipper, one after another.
4. Whoever, Agni, would assail us secretly from afar, whoever from close at hand would plot against us, O great friend — burn him, O most burning one, with your own unaging, bull-like flames, burning with your heat, full of fire.
5. Whoever has honored you with sacrifice, with kindling-wood, with hymns, with chants, O son of strength — he shines out among mortals, wise one, O immortal, with wealth, with splendor, with fame.
6. Do this at once, being roused to it, Agni: drive back the rivals with your strength, O strong one. What is proclaimed of you day after day, anointed, in words — accept that, the resounding hymn of your singer.
7. May we obtain that desire, Agni, through your help. May we obtain wealth, O wealthy one, with strong sons. May we obtain strength, striving for the prize. May we obtain your splendor, unaging, undecaying.
Translator's note: verse 6's "aktaḥ" (literally "anointed") is rendered conservatively — it likely refers to Agni as recipient of oblations poured on him with the daily praise, but the phrase is compressed and admits other readings. "Ghoṣi" ("resounding/proclaimed") describing the hymn is similarly kept close to its root sense rather than smoothed into a freer paraphrase.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.5 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.5
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.
huve vaḥ sūnuṁ sahaso yuvānam adroghavācam matibhir yaviṣṭham |
ya invati draviṇāni pracetā viśvavārāṇi puruvāro adhruk || 1 ||
tve vasūni purvaṇīka hotar doṣā vastor erire yajñiyāsaḥ |
kṣāmeva viśvā bhuvanāni yasmin saṁ saubhagāni dadhire pāvake || 2 ||
tvaṁ vikṣu pradivaḥ sīda āsu kratvā rathīr abhavo vāryāṇām |
ata inoṣi vidhate cikitvo vy ānuṣag jātavedo vasūni || 3 ||
yo naḥ sanutyo abhidāsad agne yo antaro mitramaho vanuṣyāt |
tam ajarebhir vṛṣabhis tava svais tapā tapiṣṭha tapasā tapasvān || 4 ||
yas te yajñena samidhā ya ukthair arkebhiḥ sūno sahaso dadāśat |
sa martyeṣv amṛta pracetā rāyā dyumnena śravasā vi bhāti || 5 ||
sa tat kṛdhīṣitas tūyam agne spṛdho bādhasva sahasā sahasvān |
yac chasyase dyubhir akto vacobhis taj juṣasva jaritur ghoṣi manma || 6 ||
aśyāma taṁ kāmam agne tavotī aśyāma rayiṁ rayivaḥ suvīram |
aśyāma vājam abhi vājayanto 'śyāma dyumnam ajarājaraṁ te || 7 ||
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).