Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.1 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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 men, with their devotions and with the two fire-sticks moved by hand, generated Agni, the renowned one — visible from afar, lord of the house, ever active.
2. That Agni, well worth seeing, the Vasus set in his seat for our help from any quarter — he who, ever capable, dwells constant in the house.
3. Kindled, O Agni, shine forth before us with unceasing blaze, O youngest one; to you the constant streams of strength come.
4. Your fires blaze forth, brilliant, surpassing other fires, rich in good sons, where well-born men sit assembled.
5. Give us, Agni, through our devotion, wealth rich in good sons, in good offspring, renowned, O mighty one — wealth that no sorcerer-armed foe can overcome.
6. To whom the young woman, skillful, bearing the oblation, carrying ghee, comes evening and morning; to him, her own, comes Devotion, desiring wealth.
7. Burn away, O Agni, all hostilities, with the same fires by which you burned Jarūtha; drive far away the silent demon and disease.
8. He who kindles your flame-face, O Agni — O best one, bright, shining, purifying — and may you be here with us through these praises.
9. The mortal men, following the ways of the fathers, who in many places have shared in your flame, O Agni — and may you be gracious to us here.
10. May these heroic men overcome, in battles against foes, all the godless deceits — they who have praised my renowned hymn.
11. May we not settle, Agni, into desolation of men; may we not, through lack of sons, be left without remainder, apart from you, O house-lord — but in dwellings full of offspring.
12. The dwelling that the horseman constantly approaches for sacrifice — our dwelling, full of offspring, with good progeny, increased by its own generation, by its continuing line.
13. Protect us, Agni, from the hateful demon; protect us from the harm of the malicious niggard. With you as my ally may I overcome those who seek battle against us.
14. Let that very Agni surpass all other fires — Agni, where the strong, firm-handed son, having a thousand paths, the imperishable one, proceeds.
15. That is the Agni who guards against the malicious foe; may he deliver the kindler of the fire from distress. Well-born heroes attend around him.
16. This is that Agni, invoked in many places, whom the master of the house, bearing oblation, kindles well, around whom the priest moves at the rites.
17. In you, O Agni, may we, as lords of abundance, pour our constant oblations, performing both offerings at the sacrificial feast.
18. Carry these most-relished oblations, O tireless Agni, to the company of the gods; may fragrant gifts come back to us in return.
19. Do not abandon us, Agni, to lack of sons, to poverty, to folly — not us to that; not to hunger, not to the demon, O truthful one; do not lead us astray, whether in our house or in the wild.
20. Now, Agni, favor my sacred words; you, god, have furthered them for our bounteous patrons. May we, both patrons and singers, stand within your gift. Protect us always, all you gods, with blessings.
21. You, Agni, easily invoked, pleasant to see, shine with fair light, O son of strength; may no harm, O eternal one, touch our offspring while in your company; may no manly hero be lost from us.
22. Do not hand us over, Agni, to mismanagement among these god-kindled fires; may your displeasures, even from confusion, not reach us, O god, son of strength.
23. That mortal becomes wealthy, O fair-faced Agni, who offers oblation into you, the immortal one; through divine favor he gains the wealth-winning power — he whom the patron, in need, approaches asking.
24. Knowing great well-being, Agni, bring vast wealth to our patrons — wealth by which we, O powerful one, may rejoice, unimpaired, with full lifespan, rich in good sons.
25. Now, Agni, favor my sacred words; you, god, have furthered them for our bounteous patrons. May we, both patrons and singers, stand within your gift. Protect us always, all you gods, with blessings.
Translator's note: A few phrases resist certainty and are rendered conservatively. Verse 7's "Jarūtha" and "the silent demon" (nisvaram) are obscure adversary-names, kept close to the Sanskrit rather than interpreted. Verse 17's "lords of abundance... performing both offerings" (bhūrīśānāsa, ubhā kṛṇvantaḥ) is grammatically compressed in the source; the rendering keeps the sense of abundant, twofold offering without over-specifying what the "two" are. Verses 20 and 25 repeat the same Sanskrit refrain and are translated identically, as in the source.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.1 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 VII.1
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.
agniṁ naro dīdhitibhir araṇyor hastacyutī janayanta praśastam |
dūredṛśaṁ gṛhapatim atharyum || 1 ||
tam agnim aste vasavo ny ṛṇvan supraticakṣam avase kutaś cit |
dakṣāyyo yo dama āsa nityaḥ || 2 ||
preddho agne dīdihi puro no 'jasrayā sūrmyā yaviṣṭha |
tvāṁ śaśvanta upa yanti vājāḥ || 3 ||
pra te agnayo 'gnibhyo varaṁ niḥ suvīrāsaḥ śośucanta dyumantaḥ |
yatrā naraḥ samāsate sujātāḥ || 4 ||
dā no agne dhiyā rayiṁ suvīraṁ svapatyaṁ sahasya praśastam |
na yaṁ yāvā tarati yātumāvān || 5 ||
upa yam eti yuvatiḥ sudakṣaṁ doṣā vastor haviṣmatī ghṛtācī |
upa svainam aramatir vasūyuḥ || 6 ||
viśvā agne 'pa dahārātīr yebhis tapobhir adaho jarūtham |
pra nisvaraṁ cātayasvāmīvām || 7 ||
ā yas te agna idhate anīkaṁ vasiṣṭha śukra dīdivaḥ pāvaka |
uto na ebhiḥ stavathair iha syāḥ || 8 ||
vi ye te agne bhejire anīkam martā naraḥ pitryāsaḥ purutrā |
uto na ebhiḥ sumanā iha syāḥ || 9 ||
ime naro vṛtrahatyeṣu śūrā viśvā adevīr abhi santu māyāḥ |
ye me dhiyam panayanta praśastām || 10 ||
mā śūne agne ni ṣadāma nṛṇām māśeṣaso 'vīratā pari tvā |
prajāvatīṣu duryāsu durya || 11 ||
yam aśvī nityam upayāti yajñam prajāvantaṁ svapatyaṁ kṣayaṁ naḥ |
svajanmanā śeṣasā vāvṛdhānam || 12 ||
pāhi no agne rakṣaso ajuṣṭāt pāhi dhūrter araruṣo aghāyoḥ |
tvā yujā pṛtanāyūm̐r abhi ṣyām || 13 ||
sed agnir agnīm̐r aty astv anyān yatra vājī tanayo vīḻupāṇiḥ |
sahasrapāthā akṣarā sameti || 14 ||
sed agnir yo vanuṣyato nipāti sameddhāram aṁhasa uruṣyāt |
sujātāsaḥ pari caranti vīrāḥ || 15 ||
ayaṁ so agnir āhutaḥ purutrā yam īśānaḥ sam id indhe haviṣmān |
pari yam ety adhvareṣu hotā || 16 ||
tve agna āhavanāni bhūrīśānāsa ā juhuyāma nityā |
ubhā kṛṇvanto vahatū miyedhe || 17 ||
imo agne vītatamāni havyājasro vakṣi devatātim accha |
prati na īṁ surabhīṇi vyantu || 18 ||
mā no agne 'vīrate parā dā durvāsase 'mataye mā no asyai |
mā naḥ kṣudhe mā rakṣasa ṛtāvo mā no dame mā vana ā juhūrthāḥ || 19 ||
nū me brahmāṇy agna uc chaśādhi tvaṁ deva maghavadbhyaḥ suṣūdaḥ |
rātau syāmobhayāsa ā te yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 20 ||
tvam agne suhavo raṇvasaṁdṛk sudītī sūno sahaso didīhi |
mā tve sacā tanaye nitya ā dhaṅ mā vīro asman naryo vi dāsīt || 21 ||
mā no agne durbhṛtaye sacaiṣu deveddheṣv agniṣu pra vocaḥ |
mā te asmān durmatayo bhṛmāc cid devasya sūno sahaso naśanta || 22 ||
sa marto agne svanīka revān amartye ya ājuhoti havyam |
sa devatā vasuvaniṁ dadhāti yaṁ sūrir arthī pṛcchamāna eti || 23 ||
maho no agne suvitasya vidvān rayiṁ sūribhya ā vahā bṛhantam |
yena vayaṁ sahasāvan mademāvikṣitāsa āyuṣā suvīrāḥ || 24 ||
nū me brahmāṇy agna uc chaśādhi tvaṁ deva maghavadbhyaḥ suṣūdaḥ |
rātau syāmobhayāsa ā te yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 25 ||
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).