Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.17 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. O Agni, be well kindled with good kindling wood, and let the sacred grass be spread out wide.
2. And let the willing doors swing open, and bring the willing gods here.
3. O Agni, receive the offering, worship the gods, make the rite go well, O Jātavedas.
4. Jātavedas will make the rite go well; he will worship the immortal gods and gladden them.
5. Win for us all desirable things, O wise one; may our prayers be fulfilled today.
6. The gods themselves have made you, Agni, the carrier of their offerings, the child of strength.
7. May we be the ones who offer worship to you, the god; grant us, as we ask, great treasures.
Translator's note: "ūrjaḥ napātam" (verse 6) is a fixed epithet of Agni, literally "child/grandchild of strength" or "of nourishment," rendered here as "child of strength." "Iyānaḥ" (verse 7) is a present participle meaning "asking" or "approaching," rendered as "as we ask."
Colophon
Rigveda VII.17 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.17
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.
agne bhava suṣamidhā samiddha uta barhir urviyā vi stṛṇītām || 1 ||
uta dvāra uśatīr vi śrayantām uta devām̐ uśata ā vaheha || 2 ||
agne vīhi haviṣā yakṣi devān svadhvarā kṛṇuhi jātavedaḥ || 3 ||
svadhvarā karati jātavedā yakṣad devām̐ amṛtān piprayac ca || 4 ||
vaṁsva viśvā vāryāṇi pracetaḥ satyā bhavantv āśiṣo no adya || 5 ||
tvām u te dadhire havyavāhaṁ devāso agna ūrja ā napātam || 6 ||
te te devāya dāśataḥ syāma maho no ratnā vi dadha iyānaḥ || 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).