Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.9 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. He has awakened, the lover of the dawns, from their lap — the joyous priest, the wisest poet, the purifying one. He sets his banner among both kinds of creatures: oblations among the gods, wealth among the righteous.
2. He of good power, who throws open the doors of the Paṇis, purifying our song rich in nourishment — the joyous priest, house-lord of the clans, has been seen through the darkness of the nights.
3. The wise poet, unconfounded — Aditi, Vivasvant, the well-speaking friend, the guest auspicious to us — brilliant-rayed, he shines at the head of the dawns; the child of the waters has entered the plants.
4. He worthy of praise by you across the generations of Manu has come to the gathering and blazed forth, Jātavedas; he who shines with fair radiance — the cows have stirred awake toward him as he is kindled.
5. O Agni, go on your errand, do not fail us; go to the gods with the company that shapes the sacred formula. Do honor to Sarasvatī, the Maruts, the Aśvins, the Waters, and all the gods, for the bestowal of treasure.
6. Kindled by Vasiṣṭha, you, O Agni, strike down the consuming destroyer; win for us wealth and bounty. O much-invoked Jātavedas, be extolled. Protect us always, all of you, with blessings.
Translator's note: "jarūtham" (v.6) names a destroying or consuming force, likely a demon of wasting sickness; rendered here conservatively as "the consuming destroyer." "Puraṃdhi" (v.6) can denote either abstract bounty/abundance or the goddess of that name; both readings are close in sense and the general rendering "bounty" is kept.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.9 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.9
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.
abodhi jāra uṣasām upasthād dhotā mandraḥ kavitamaḥ pāvakaḥ |
dadhāti ketum ubhayasya jantor havyā deveṣu draviṇaṁ sukṛtsu || 1 ||
sa sukratur yo vi duraḥ paṇīnām punāno arkam purubhojasaṁ naḥ |
hotā mandro viśāṁ damūnās tiras tamo dadṛśe rāmyāṇām || 2 ||
amūraḥ kavir aditir vivasvān susaṁsan mitro atithiḥ śivo naḥ |
citrabhānur uṣasām bhāty agre 'pāṁ garbhaḥ prasva1 ā viveśa || 3 ||
īḻenyo vo manuṣo yugeṣu samanagā aśucaj jātavedāḥ |
susaṁdṛśā bhānunā yo vibhāti prati gāvaḥ samidhānam budhanta || 4 ||
agne yāhi dūtya1m mā riṣaṇyo devām̐ acchā brahmakṛtā gaṇena |
sarasvatīm maruto aśvināpo yakṣi devān ratnadheyāya viśvān || 5 ||
tvām agne samidhāno vasiṣṭho jarūthaṁ han yakṣi rāye puraṁdhim |
puruṇīthā jātavedo jarasva yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 6 ||
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).