Hymn to Agni Vaiśvānara
Rigveda VI.8 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. Now let me proclaim the power of the nourishing, mighty, ruddy one, the wise deeds of Jātavedas. A new, pure hymn flows forth for Vaiśvānara, lovely, like soma, for Agni.
2. He, being born in the highest heaven, Agni the guardian of the ordinances, watched over the ordinances. The wise Vaiśvānara measured out the mid-air, and by his greatness touched the vault of the sky.
3. The wondrous friend propped apart the two world-halves; through the space between he worked light upon the darkness. He unrolled the two vast realms like two hides, and Vaiśvānara took on all his bull-like strength.
4. The mighty ones seized him in the lap of the waters; the clans approached the king worthy of praise. Mātariśvan, the messenger, brought Agni Vaiśvānara of Vivasvat from a far-off place.
5. In every age, O Agni, grant to those who praise you glorious wealth, ever new, worthy of the sacred assembly. Like a wheel's rim, O king, ageless one, cut down the curse-speaker with your fiery edge, as one fells a tree.
6. Uphold among our bounteous patrons, O Agni, an unbending, ageless, heroic dominion. May we win a prize a hundredfold, a thousandfold, O Vaiśvānara Agni, through your aid.
7. With your unfailing guardians, O desired one, protect our patrons, you who dwell in three stations. And guard the strength of those who give to us, O Agni Vaiśvānara, and, being praised, carry us safely onward.
Translator's note: verse 3's "akṛṇoj jyotiṣā tamaḥ" (literally "made darkness with light") is rendered conservatively as "worked light upon the darkness," following the sense of light acting on or overcoming darkness rather than a fixed idiom. Verse 4's "mahiṣāḥ" ("the mighty ones," literally "buffaloes") is kept general rather than assigned to a specific identity, since the Sanskrit itself leaves the referent unnamed.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.8 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.8
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.
pṛkṣasya vṛṣṇo aruṣasya nū sahaḥ pra nu vocaṁ vidathā jātavedasaḥ |
vaiśvānarāya matir navyasī śuciḥ soma iva pavate cārur agnaye || 1 ||
sa jāyamānaḥ parame vyomani vratāny agnir vratapā arakṣata |
vy a1ntarikṣam amimīta sukratur vaiśvānaro mahinā nākam aspṛśat || 2 ||
vy astabhnād rodasī mitro adbhuto 'ntarvāvad akṛṇoj jyotiṣā tamaḥ |
vi carmaṇīva dhiṣaṇe avartayad vaiśvānaro viśvam adhatta vṛṣṇyam || 3 ||
apām upasthe mahiṣā agṛbhṇata viśo rājānam upa tasthur ṛgmiyam |
ā dūto agnim abharad vivasvato vaiśvānaram mātariśvā parāvataḥ || 4 ||
yuge-yuge vidathyaṁ gṛṇadbhyo 'gne rayiṁ yaśasaṁ dhehi navyasīm |
pavyeva rājann aghaśaṁsam ajara nīcā ni vṛśca vaninaṁ na tejasā || 5 ||
asmākam agne maghavatsu dhārayānāmi kṣatram ajaraṁ suvīryam |
vayaṁ jayema śatinaṁ sahasriṇaṁ vaiśvānara vājam agne tavotibhiḥ || 6 ||
adabdhebhis tava gopābhir iṣṭe 'smākam pāhi triṣadhastha sūrīn |
rakṣā ca no daduṣāṁ śardho agne vaiśvānara pra ca tārīḥ stavānaḥ || 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).