Hymn to Indra and Agni

Rigveda VI.60 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 hymn is addressed to Indra and Agni together (Indrāgni), the paired deities invoked as joint recipients of a single sacrifice. It calls on them as the two who together won the cattle, waters, sun, and dawns in the ancient contest, and asks them to come to the offering, drink the pressed soma, and grant wealth, horses, and protection from enemies. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.

1. He who worships Indra and Agni, the two mighty ones, slays Vṛtra and wins the prize — the two who rule over abundant wealth, most powerful, spurring him on with their might.

2. You two have fought now for the cattle, O Indra; the waters, the sun, the dawns, O Agni, were carried off and won. The bright regions, the sun, the wondrous dawns, O Indra; the waters and the cattle, O Agni, you yoke to your team.

3. Come here, O Vṛtra-slayers, with your Vṛtra-slaying furies, O Indra and Agni, in answer to our homage. Be to us, Indra and Agni, with your best and most unstinting gifts.

4. I call on those two by whom all this, made long ago, was won. Indra and Agni do not fail us.

5. We call on mighty Indra and Agni, smiters of the scornful. May the two be gracious to us in such need.

6. You two true lords have slain the Ārya foes, slain the Dāsa hordes; you have driven off all who hate us.

7. O Indra and Agni, these hymns of praise have sounded out toward you. Drink the pressed soma, you two bringers of blessing.

8. With those much-desired teams of yours, O heroes, that you bring for the one who offers — with those, Indra and Agni, come here.

9. With those teams come, O heroes, to this pressed libation, Indra and Agni, to drink the soma.

10. Praise him who with his flame embraces all the woods, who makes his track black with his tongue.

11. The mortal who, through the kindled fire, seeks to win the favor of Indra gains waters easier to cross, for splendor.

12. Bring us strength-giving food and swift horses, you who carry Indra and Agni here.

13. I call you both, Indra and Agni, to be invoked, both to rejoice together with your bounty, both givers of food and riches — I call you both for the winning of strength.

14. Come near to us with wealth of cattle and horses, you two divine friends, for friendship's sake. We call on Indra and Agni, the two bringers of blessing.

15. O Indra and Agni, hear the call of the sacrificer who presses the soma. Partake of the offerings, come here, drink the sweet soma-honey.

Translator's note: Verse 2's syntax (two subjects, four objects, split across the verse halves) is compressed even by Vedic standards; the rendering above keeps the word order rather than resolving the ambiguity of which deity acts on which object. Verse 10 shifts abruptly to a singular subject describing Agni alone as fire spreading through the forest — this shift is in the Sanskrit, not an error introduced here. Verse 11's "sutarā apaḥ" (waters easier to cross) is rendered literally; the intended sense (safe passage, or a metaphor for ease of life) is not fully certain. Verse 12's "voḻhave" (an infinitive, "to carry/bring") is rendered as describing the horses' function.

Colophon

Rigveda VI.60 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.60

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.

śnathad vṛtram uta sanoti vājam indrā yo agnī sahurī saparyāt |
irajyantā vasavyasya bhūreḥ sahastamā sahasā vājayantā || 1 ||

tā yodhiṣṭam abhi gā indra nūnam apaḥ svar uṣaso agna ūḻhāḥ |
diśaḥ svar uṣasa indra citrā apo gā agne yuvase niyutvān || 2 ||

ā vṛtrahaṇā vṛtrahabhiḥ śuṣmair indra yātaṁ namobhir agne arvāk |
yuvaṁ rādhobhir akavebhir indrāgne asme bhavatam uttamebhiḥ || 3 ||

tā huve yayor idam papne viśvam purā kṛtam |
indrāgnī na mardhataḥ || 4 ||

ugrā vighaninā mṛdha indrāgnī havāmahe |
tā no mṛḻāta īdṛśe || 5 ||

hato vṛtrāṇy āryā hato dāsāni satpatī |
hato viśvā apa dviṣaḥ || 6 ||

indrāgnī yuvām ime3 'bhi stomā anūṣata |
pibataṁ śambhuvā sutam || 7 ||

yā vāṁ santi puruspṛho niyuto dāśuṣe narā |
indrāgnī tābhir ā gatam || 8 ||

tābhir ā gacchataṁ naropedaṁ savanaṁ sutam |
indrāgnī somapītaye || 9 ||

tam īḻiṣva yo arciṣā vanā viśvā pariṣvajat |
kṛṣṇā kṛṇoti jihvayā || 10 ||

ya iddha āvivāsati sumnam indrasya martyaḥ |
dyumnāya sutarā apaḥ || 11 ||

tā no vājavatīr iṣa āśūn pipṛtam arvataḥ |
indram agniṁ ca voḻhave || 12 ||

ubhā vām indrāgnī āhuvadhyā ubhā rādhasaḥ saha mādayadhyai |
ubhā dātārāv iṣāṁ rayīṇām ubhā vājasya sātaye huve vām || 13 ||

ā no gavyebhir aśvyair vasavyai3r upa gacchatam |
sakhāyau devau sakhyāya śambhuvendrāgnī tā havāmahe || 14 ||

indrāgnī śṛṇutaṁ havaṁ yajamānasya sunvataḥ |
vītaṁ havyāny ā gatam pibataṁ somyam madhu || 15 ||

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).