Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VIII.19 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. The gods have sent him forth eagerly — the sun-bright god, the divine envoy; they have carried the oblation to the gods.
2. Praise, O sage, Agni of abundant gifts, of wondrous flame, the guide — send him forth, O Sobhari, foremost for this rite of soma-offering.
3. We have chosen you, best of sacrificers, the immortal god, the priest among the gods, wise lord of this sacrifice.
4. Agni, son of strength, fortunate, brightly shining, of most excellent flame — may he win for us in heaven the favor of Mitra, of Varuna, of the Waters.
5. The mortal who has given to Agni with kindling-wood, with oblation, with sacred offering, who with homage performs the rite well —
6. his swift steeds speed on for him; his glory is the most brilliant. No distress, whether wrought by gods or wrought by mortals, from any quarter shall reach him.
7. May we, through your fires, have good fires ourselves, O son of strength, O lord of vigor; may you, rich in heroes, be favorable to us.
8. Being praised like a friendly guest, Agni, worth having like a chariot — in you dwell secure and righteous things; you are king of riches.
9. He indeed, O Agni, the mortal who performs the rite with offerings, O blessed one, is praiseworthy; may he win through his devout thoughts.
10. He for whom you stand upright at the sacrifice, ruling over heroes, prospers; he wins with his steeds, he wins with his eloquent singers, he wins the prize with his heroes.
11. In whose house Agni is a marvel, may he, granter of all boons, delight in the hymn — or actively partake of the oblations among the people.
12. Of the sage who praises, O youthful son of strength, in the gifts of the swiftest one — make [us], O bounteous one, superior to mortals through the word of the knowing one.
13. Whoever seeks to win Agni, the very able one, with gifts of oblation or with homage — seeks him, of the swift flame, with a hymn.
14. The mortal who, kindling Agni with fuel, worships Aditi through his ordinances — he, blessed through his devout thoughts, shall cross beyond all other people with his splendors, as one crosses water.
15. Bring, O Agni, that splendor which may overcome in the dwelling any devouring demon, and the wrath of the malicious man.
16. By the power by which Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman see, by which the Nāsatyas and Bhaga see — that power of yours, O best path-finder, aided by Indra, may we attain.
17. They indeed are devout, O Agni, O sage, who have kindled you, watcher over men — the sages have kindled you, O god of good power.
18. They indeed, O blessed one, have made their altar, their oblation, their soma-pressing reach heaven; they indeed have won great wealth with their strength — those who have set their desire on you.
19. Auspicious for us is Agni when he is offered oblations; auspicious, O blessed one, his gift; auspicious the rite; and auspicious his renown.
20. Make for yourself an auspicious mind in the battle against foes, by which you overcome in combats; lay low the many firm defenses of the arrogant. May we win through your favors.
21. I praise with a hymn him who was set for man's good, whom the gods have appointed as messenger and envoy, best of sacrificers, carrier of oblations.
22. You sing an offering to the sharp-toothed, youthful, shining Agni, who fashions heroic strength with gladdening gifts, Agni when offered with ghee.
23. When offered with ghee, Agni wields his blade up and down, like an Asura donning a shining robe.
24. The god, set for man's good, who has sent forth the oblations with his sweet-scented mouth, seeks to win desirable boons — the immortal divine priest, performer of the good rite.
25. If, O Agni, I, though mortal, were you — the immortal one of great glory, O invoked son of strength —
26. — I would not give you up to reproach, O bounteous one, nor to evil, O true one; my praiser should not be in distress, nor ill-fated, O Agni, nor given to evil.
27. Like a well-cherished son tended by his father in the house, let our oblation go forth to the gods.
28. May I, yours, O Agni, share in your nearest aids, to your delight, O bounteous one — I, a mortal, always belonging to the god.
29. By your power may I win, by your gifts, O Agni, by your renown; you indeed they call forethought, O bounteous one. Be eager, O Agni, to give to me.
30. He, O Agni, prospers through your aids rich in heroes, that bring strength — he whose friendship you have chosen.
31. Your dark, roaring spark, kindled in due season, is taken up bountifully. You are dear to the great Dawns; you reign at the break of the nights.
32. We, the Sobharis, have come to him for protection — of a thousandfold vigor, of gracious help, the sovereign king, Agni of Trasadasyu.
33. O Agni, of whom the other fires are subordinate, like branches of a tree — I have gathered their splendors like those of the sages, increasing your dominion over the peoples.
34. Whom you, O guileless Ādityas, lead across to safety — the mortal — you who are the most bounteous of all the generous ones.
35. You kings, O rulers of the peoples, guide whoever dwells, a mortal, among men; may we indeed be yours, O Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman — charioteers of the cosmic Order.
36. Trasadasyu, son of Purukutsa, has given me fifty women — the most bountiful, noble, true lord.
37. And to me, from Prayiyu and Vayiyu, on the Suvāstu at Tugvan, came three seventies of gifts; Śyāva became the leader, the bounteous lord of the gifts.
Translator's note: Verses 12, 23, and 31 contain genuinely obscure phrasing in the Sanskrit (respectively an unclear compound rendered here as "the word of the knowing one"; the image of Agni "wielding a blade" likened to an Asura donning a robe; and the description of Agni's "spark" as dark and roaring). These are rendered conservatively, staying close to the literal sense of the words rather than smoothing them into confident paraphrase. Verses 32–37 form a dānastuti (a praise of gifts) naming the patron king Trasadasyu, son of Purukutsa, and the poet's own clan, the Sobharis — a shift from hymn to Agni into an occasional record of patronage that is a common closing feature of Rigvedic hymns.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.19 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.19
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.
taṁ gūrdhayā svarṇaraṁ devāso devam aratiṁ dadhanvire |
devatrā havyam ohire || 1 ||
vibhūtarātiṁ vipra citraśociṣam agnim īḻiṣva yanturam |
asya medhasya somyasya sobhare prem adhvarāya pūrvyam || 2 ||
yajiṣṭhaṁ tvā vavṛmahe devaṁ devatrā hotāram amartyam |
asya yajñasya sukratum || 3 ||
ūrjo napātaṁ subhagaṁ sudīditim agniṁ śreṣṭhaśociṣam |
sa no mitrasya varuṇasya so apām ā sumnaṁ yakṣate divi || 4 ||
yaḥ samidhā ya āhutī yo vedena dadāśa marto agnaye |
yo namasā svadhvaraḥ || 5 ||
tasyed arvanto raṁhayanta āśavas tasya dyumnitamaṁ yaśaḥ |
na tam aṁho devakṛtaṁ kutaś cana na martyakṛtaṁ naśat || 6 ||
svagnayo vo agnibhiḥ syāma sūno sahasa ūrjām pate |
suvīras tvam asmayuḥ || 7 ||
praśaṁsamāno atithir na mitriyo 'gnī ratho na vedyaḥ |
tve kṣemāso api santi sādhavas tvaṁ rājā rayīṇām || 8 ||
so addhā dāśvadhvaro 'gne martaḥ subhaga sa praśaṁsyaḥ |
sa dhībhir astu sanitā || 9 ||
yasya tvam ūrdhvo adhvarāya tiṣṭhasi kṣayadvīraḥ sa sādhate |
so arvadbhiḥ sanitā sa vipanyubhiḥ sa śūraiḥ sanitā kṛtam || 10 ||
yasyāgnir vapur gṛhe stomaṁ cano dadhīta viśvavāryaḥ |
havyā vā veviṣad viṣaḥ || 11 ||
viprasya vā stuvataḥ sahaso yaho makṣūtamasya rātiṣu |
avodevam uparimartyaṁ kṛdhi vaso vividuṣo vacaḥ || 12 ||
yo agniṁ havyadātibhir namobhir vā sudakṣam āvivāsati |
girā vājiraśociṣam || 13 ||
samidhā yo niśitī dāśad aditiṁ dhāmabhir asya martyaḥ |
viśvet sa dhībhiḥ subhago janām̐ ati dyumnair udna iva tāriṣat || 14 ||
tad agne dyumnam ā bhara yat sāsahat sadane kaṁ cid atriṇam |
manyuṁ janasya dūḍhyaḥ || 15 ||
yena caṣṭe varuṇo mitro aryamā yena nāsatyā bhagaḥ |
vayaṁ tat te śavasā gātuvittamā indratvotā vidhemahi || 16 ||
te ghed agne svādhyo3 ye tvā vipra nidadhire nṛcakṣasam |
viprāso deva sukratum || 17 ||
ta id vediṁ subhaga ta āhutiṁ te sotuṁ cakrire divi |
ta id vājebhir jigyur mahad dhanaṁ ye tve kāmaṁ nyerire || 18 ||
bhadro no agnir āhuto bhadrā rātiḥ subhaga bhadro adhvaraḥ |
bhadrā uta praśastayaḥ || 19 ||
bhadram manaḥ kṛṇuṣva vṛtratūrye yenā samatsu sāsahaḥ |
ava sthirā tanuhi bhūri śardhatāṁ vanemā te abhiṣṭibhiḥ || 20 ||
īḻe girā manurhitaṁ yaṁ devā dūtam aratiṁ nyerire |
yajiṣṭhaṁ havyavāhanam || 21 ||
tigmajambhāya taruṇāya rājate prayo gāyasy agnaye |
yaḥ piṁśate sūnṛtābhiḥ suvīryam agnir ghṛtebhir āhutaḥ || 22 ||
yadī ghṛtebhir āhuto vāśīm agnir bharata uc cāva ca |
asura iva nirṇijam || 23 ||
yo havyāny airayatā manurhito deva āsā sugandhinā |
vivāsate vāryāṇi svadhvaro hotā devo amartyaḥ || 24 ||
yad agne martyas tvaṁ syām aham mitramaho amartyaḥ |
sahasaḥ sūnav āhuta || 25 ||
na tvā rāsīyābhiśastaye vaso na pāpatvāya santya |
na me stotāmatīvā na durhitaḥ syād agne na pāpayā || 26 ||
pitur na putraḥ subhṛto duroṇa ā devām̐ etu pra ṇo haviḥ || 27 ||
tavāham agna ūtibhir nediṣṭhābhiḥ saceya joṣam ā vaso |
sadā devasya martyaḥ || 28 ||
tava kratvā saneyaṁ tava rātibhir agne tava praśastibhiḥ |
tvām id āhuḥ pramatiṁ vaso mamāgne harṣasva dātave || 29 ||
pra so agne tavotibhiḥ suvīrābhis tirate vājabharmabhiḥ |
yasya tvaṁ sakhyam āvaraḥ || 30 ||
tava drapso nīlavān vāśa ṛtviya indhānaḥ siṣṇav ā dade |
tvam mahīnām uṣasām asi priyaḥ kṣapo vastuṣu rājasi || 31 ||
tam āganma sobharayaḥ sahasramuṣkaṁ svabhiṣṭim avase |
samrājaṁ trāsadasyavam || 32 ||
yasya te agne anye agnaya upakṣito vayā iva |
vipo na dyumnā ni yuve janānāṁ tava kṣatrāṇi vardhayan || 33 ||
yam ādityāso adruhaḥ pāraṁ nayatha martyam |
maghonāṁ viśveṣāṁ sudānavaḥ || 34 ||
yūyaṁ rājānaḥ kaṁ cic carṣaṇīsahaḥ kṣayantam mānuṣām̐ anu |
vayaṁ te vo varuṇa mitrāryaman syāmed ṛtasya rathyaḥ || 35 ||
adān me paurukutsyaḥ pañcāśataṁ trasadasyur vadhūnām |
maṁhiṣṭho aryaḥ satpatiḥ || 36 ||
uta me prayiyor vayiyoḥ suvāstvā adhi tugvani |
tisṝṇāṁ saptatīnāṁ śyāvaḥ praṇetā bhuvad vasur diyānām patiḥ || 37 ||
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).