Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.3 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. Together with the fires, make Agni the god your most worthy offering-priest, the messenger at the rite — he who abides steadfastly among mortals, truthful, flame-headed, fed on ghee, the purifier.
2. He snorts like a horse eager for pasture, when he breaks forth from his great confinement; then the wind blows on after his flame, and then your track becomes black.
3. O Agni, when you are newly born, bull-like, your unaging flames rise up, kindled; the ruddy smoke goes toward heaven, and you journey as messenger, Agni, to the gods.
4. Your might has spread over the earth, when you have eagerly devoured the food with your jaws; your onslaught goes forth like an army let loose; like barley, O wondrous one, you winnow it with your tongue.
5. That very one, at evening and at dawn, the youngest — men groom Agni like a racehorse; whetting him, the guest, in his own place, the flame of the bull has blazed forth once fed with oblation.
6. Fair to see is your face, O bright-faced one, when you shine nearby like a golden ornament; your power goes forth like heaven's roar of thunder; brilliant as the sun, I gaze upon your radiance.
7. So may we offer to Agni for you all, with the cry svāhā, with wrapped cakes and ghee-laden oblations; with these, Agni, by your immeasurable greatness, guard us with a hundred forts of iron.
8. With those unassailable protections that are yours for the worshipper, or with those songs of praise, rich in men, by which you save far and wide — with these protect us, son of strength, together with our patrons and our singers, O Jātavedas.
9. When he went forth pure like a cleansed axe-blade, bright, shining in his own beautiful form — he who was born, desirable, from his two mothers, for the worship of the gods, wise in action, the purifier.
10. Shine these blessings upon us, Agni; may we also win a wise purpose; may all this be for the praisers and for the one who sings. Protect us always, you gods, with your blessings.
Translator's note: "his two mothers" (v. 9) is the standard Vedic image of the fire born from the two kindling-sticks (or, by extension, heaven and earth); "the guest" (v. 5) is a standing epithet for Agni as the fire welcomed into every home. Verse 10's closing line shifts to plural address ("you gods, protect us always"), matching a stock refrain used across many Rigvedic hymns.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.3 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.3
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 vo devam agnibhiḥ sajoṣā yajiṣṭhaṁ dūtam adhvare kṛṇudhvam |
yo martyeṣu nidhruvir ṛtāvā tapurmūrdhā ghṛtānnaḥ pāvakaḥ || 1 ||
prothad aśvo na yavase 'viṣyan yadā mahaḥ saṁvaraṇād vy asthāt |
ād asya vāto anu vāti śocir adha sma te vrajanaṁ kṛṣṇam asti || 2 ||
ud yasya te navajātasya vṛṣṇo 'gne caranty ajarā idhānāḥ |
acchā dyām aruṣo dhūma eti saṁ dūto agna īyase hi devān || 3 ||
vi yasya te pṛthivyām pājo aśret tṛṣu yad annā samavṛkta jambhaiḥ |
seneva sṛṣṭā prasitiṣ ṭa eti yavaṁ na dasma juhvā vivekṣi || 4 ||
tam id doṣā tam uṣasi yaviṣṭham agnim atyaṁ na marjayanta naraḥ |
niśiśānā atithim asya yonau dīdāya śocir āhutasya vṛṣṇaḥ || 5 ||
susaṁdṛk te svanīka pratīkaṁ vi yad rukmo na rocasa upāke |
divo na te tanyatur eti śuṣmaś citro na sūraḥ prati cakṣi bhānum || 6 ||
yathā vaḥ svāhāgnaye dāśema parīḻābhir ghṛtavadbhiś ca havyaiḥ |
tebhir no agne amitair mahobhiḥ śatam pūrbhir āyasībhir ni pāhi || 7 ||
yā vā te santi dāśuṣe adhṛṣṭā giro vā yābhir nṛvatīr uruṣyāḥ |
tābhir naḥ sūno sahaso ni pāhi smat sūrīñ jaritṝñ jātavedaḥ || 8 ||
nir yat pūteva svadhitiḥ śucir gāt svayā kṛpā tanvā3 rocamānaḥ |
ā yo mātror uśenyo janiṣṭa devayajyāya sukratuḥ pāvakaḥ || 9 ||
etā no agne saubhagā didīhy api kratuṁ sucetasaṁ vatema |
viśvā stotṛbhyo gṛṇate ca santu yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 10 ||
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).