Agni, whom the Vasiṣṭhas kindle! Thou art the priest of all the gods. Come, O shining one, to this sacrifice that we have spread before thee. Let thy flames leap upward, carrying our praises to the heavens.

The wood is laid; the butter is poured; the soma floweth into the vessel. Thou art born anew, O Agni, each time the stick is turned. Thou who didst exist before the sky was formed, thou who dwellest in every hearth—come hither and rejoice in our offering.

Thou art the mouth of the gods, the drinker of the soma, the eater of the oblation. None other can convey our prayers to Indra, to Mitra, to the Aśvins. All the divine powers attend upon thy will.

We praise thee, O Agni, for thou art the friend of Vasiṣṭha. In former days, when this great seer came upon thee hidden in the wood, thou didst reveal thyself unto him, and he became thy most faithful servant. Even now, his descendants call upon thee with trust.

Be thou our champion in the press of battle! Be thou our guardian in the house! Ward off the evil spirits that lurk in darkness; scatter the demons that would do us harm. Let thy flames be a wall of protection around all who honor thee.

The dawn comes forth, and with it comes thy light, O Agni. Thou pushest back the darkness of the night; thy glow spreads across the earth. The creatures of the day awaken; the birds begin to sing. Thou art the sign of renewal, the promise of life.

Thou hidest thyself in the logs, yet when called forth, thou roarest like the wind. Thy tongues flicker red and gold; thy heat is mighty and terrible. Yet to the faithful, thou art gentle as a mother's touch. Thou knowest the secret names of all things; thou hearest the prayers that mortals whisper in the dark.

Our fathers kindled thee long ago, O Agni. Thy flame hath burned upon a thousand altars. The greatest kings have sung thy praises; the wisest seers have called upon thee. Yet thou art not haughty; thou dost favor the humble worshipper as much as the mighty king.

We bring thee the offering of ghee and grain. We bring thee the soma, pressed from the sacred plant. We bring thee our words, our songs, our hearts full of devotion. Accept these gifts, O radiant one, and make us worthy of thy grace.

Blaze forth, O Agni! Summon the gods to our feast! Let Indra come with his thunder, strong and mighty. Let Mitra come with his justice, watchful and true. Let the Aśvins come in their golden chariot, swift as thought. Let all the divine powers assemble here, drawn by thy flames.

We shall feast together, gods and mortals joined in one joyous gathering. The soma shall flow freely; the meat shall be roasted upon thy flames; the hymns shall rise up in great waves of sound. This is the bond that holds the cosmos together—the gods giving forth their power, the mortals giving forth their praise.

Thou alone hast the power to transform, O Agni. The raw grain becomes the cooked grain; the crude timber becomes the glowing coal. The physical becomes the spiritual; the earthly becomes the divine. Through thy agency, all things are purified and made new.

We mortals are frail; our lives are brief as the flickering of a candle. Yet when we kindle thee in our hearts, we partake of thy immortality. Thy essence is eternal; thy flame shall never be extinguished. Help us to approach that eternal flame, O mighty one.

In the beginning, before the sky was stretched out, before the earth was formed, thou wast already burning, O Agni. Thou art primordial fire, the fire that still smolders at the heart of all creation. When the world ends and all things pass away, thy flame shall still be burning.

We feel thy presence in the sun that warms our fields; we see thy face in the lightning that tears the clouds. Thou hast ten thousand forms, yet thou art always the same—the eternal consumer, the eternal transformer, the eternal bridge between the divine and the human.

Make us strong, O Agni! Make us wise and fearless! When we face our enemies, let thy fire burn within our breasts. When we face our trials, let thy light guide us. When we face the mysteries of life and death, let thy flame illumine the way.

Grant us health, grant us cattle, grant us offspring! Make our fields fertile and our harvests rich. Make our children brave and our women fruitful. Make our songs sweet and our homes peaceful. All these gifts we ask through the power of thy flames.

O Agni, whom the Vasiṣṭhas honor! We kindle thee now as our ancestors kindled thee in ages past. We pour the butter; we recite the sacred words; we kindle the holy fire. Hear our prayers, O radiant one! Accept our offering! Come unto us with all the gods!

We sing thy praises, O Agni. Thou art the greatest, the mightiest, the most worthy of honor. From the eastern dawn to the western dusk, all living things depend upon thee. Accept this hymn from the lips of the Vasiṣṭha singers. Be propitious unto us, O shining one! Let thy flames leap up to the heavens!