Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VIII.102 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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. You, Agni, god, give great vigor to the one who offers — you, the sage, the house-lord, ever young.
2. With our prayer, Agni, bring the gods here — you who serve them, wise and radiant, convey them to us.
3. With you as our ally, most urging one, youngest of gods, we press on to win the prize.
4. As Aurva did, as Bhṛgu did, as Apnavāna did, I call the pure one — Agni, robed in the ocean.
5. I call the sage who sounds like the wind, whose might roars like the rain-cloud — Agni, robed in the ocean.
6. As one calls on Savitṛ's urging, as on Bhaga's bounty, I call Agni, robed in the ocean.
7. Your Agni grows strong through the sacred rites, most abundant of all — toward the mighty offspring.
8. May he be present to help us, shaping forms like Tvaṣṭṛ, by the power of this glorious one.
9. This Agni rules over all glories among the gods — may he come to us bringing strength.
10. Praise here Agni, most glorious of all the invoking priests, first at the sacrifices.
11. Swift, of purifying flame — the eldest, who shines within the houses, most far-renowned.
12. Praise him, O poet, like a prize-winning racehorse, mighty — like Mitra, who sets people in their place.
13. Toward you the kindred songs of the oblation-makers point again and again, standing in the front rank of Vāyu.
14. Whose threefold sacred grass stands spread, unbound — even the waters have set their footprint there.
15. The bounteous god's place, guarded by unassailable help, is fair to see, like the sight of the sun.
16. O Agni, blazing with your flame through offerings of ghee — bring the gods here and worship them for us.
17. You the mothers bore, sage; the gods bore you, O Aṅgiras — immortal carrier of the offering.
18. They set you down, wise sage Agni, as their chosen messenger, the bearer of offerings.
19. I have no cow, no axe for cutting wood — so I bring you what I have, such as it is.
20. Whatever sticks of wood we lay upon you, Agni — accept them, youngest one.
21. Whatever your flame-tip devours, whatever the ant crawls over — let all of that be your ghee.
22. Kindling Agni with the mind, may the mortal gain right insight — I have kindled Agni with radiant offerings.
Translator's note: verse 7's "naptre sahasvate" ("to/toward the mighty offspring") is a compressed phrase whose referent is not fully clear from the verse alone and is rendered conservatively here. Verse 13's "vāyor anīke" ("in the front rank of Vāyu") and verse 22's "vivasvabhiḥ" ("with the shining/radiant ones") are likewise terse epithets translated literally rather than expanded with interpretive guesses.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.102 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 VIII.102
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.
tvam agne bṛhad vayo dadhāsi deva dāśuṣe |
kavir gṛhapatir yuvā || 1 ||
sa na īḻānayā saha devām̐ agne duvasyuvā |
cikid vibhānav ā vaha || 2 ||
tvayā ha svid yujā vayaṁ codiṣṭhena yaviṣṭhya |
abhi ṣmo vājasātaye || 3 ||
aurvabhṛguvac chucim apnavānavad ā huve |
agniṁ samudravāsasam || 4 ||
huve vātasvanaṁ kavim parjanyakrandyaṁ sahaḥ |
agniṁ samudravāsasam || 5 ||
ā savaṁ savitur yathā bhagasyeva bhujiṁ huve |
agniṁ samudravāsasam || 6 ||
agniṁ vo vṛdhantam adhvarāṇām purūtamam |
acchā naptre sahasvate || 7 ||
ayaṁ yathā na ābhuvat tvaṣṭā rūpeva takṣyā |
asya kratvā yaśasvataḥ || 8 ||
ayaṁ viśvā abhi śriyo 'gnir deveṣu patyate |
ā vājair upa no gamat || 9 ||
viśveṣām iha stuhi hotṝṇāṁ yaśastamam |
agniṁ yajñeṣu pūrvyam || 10 ||
śīram pāvakaśociṣaṁ jyeṣṭho yo dameṣv ā |
dīdāya dīrghaśruttamaḥ || 11 ||
tam arvantaṁ na sānasiṁ gṛṇīhi vipra śuṣmiṇam |
mitraṁ na yātayajjanam || 12 ||
upa tvā jāmayo giro dediśatīr haviṣkṛtaḥ |
vāyor anīke asthiran || 13 ||
yasya tridhātv avṛtam barhis tasthāv asaṁdinam |
āpaś cin ni dadhā padam || 14 ||
padaṁ devasya mīḻhuṣo 'nādhṛṣṭābhir ūtibhiḥ |
bhadrā sūrya ivopadṛk || 15 ||
agne ghṛtasya dhītibhis tepāno deva śociṣā |
ā devān vakṣi yakṣi ca || 16 ||
taṁ tvājananta mātaraḥ kaviṁ devāso aṅgiraḥ |
havyavāham amartyam || 17 ||
pracetasaṁ tvā kave 'gne dūtaṁ vareṇyam |
havyavāhaṁ ni ṣedire || 18 ||
nahi me asty aghnyā na svadhitir vananvati |
athaitādṛg bharāmi te || 19 ||
yad agne kāni kāni cid ā te dārūṇi dadhmasi |
tā juṣasva yaviṣṭhya || 20 ||
yad atty upajihvikā yad vamro atisarpati |
sarvaṁ tad astu te ghṛtam || 21 ||
agnim indhāno manasā dhiyaṁ saceta martyaḥ |
agnim īdhe vivasvabhiḥ || 22 ||
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).