Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VIII.71 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. Agni, protect us with your mighty powers from every hostility, and from the hatred of a mortal enemy.
2. Human wrath has no power over you, dear-born one; you alone are lord of the nights.
3. You, with all the gods, son of strength, one of gracious flame — give us wealth that holds every good thing.
4. Agni, hostile powers do not deprive of wealth the mortal whom you protect — the one who makes offering.
5. Whom you, inspired Agni, spur on toward wealth in the winning of insight — he, with your help, will win cattle.
6. Agni, give wealth rich in many strong sons to the mortal who makes offering. Lead us onward, toward what is better.
7. Protect us — do not hand us over, Jātavedas, to the malicious one, to the evil-minded mortal.
8. Agni, let no godless one keep anyone from your gift, god that you are; you rule over treasures.
9. Measure out to us wealth, son of strength, of the mighty one; friend, good one, give it to your singers.
10. May our songs of praise go out to the bright-flaming, beautiful one. May the sacrifices, with homage, go to the one of abundant wealth, much-praised, for his help.
11. We praise Agni, son of strength, Jātavedas, for the giving of desirable things — he who has become, again, immortal among mortals, the most delightful invoking priest within the clan.
12. Agni for you, with worship of the gods; Agni at the advancing sacrifice; Agni first among our hymns; Agni at the contest; Agni for the accomplishing of our land.
13. May Agni, in friendship, give us food — he who rules over desirable things. For offspring and children we ever entreat Agni, the good one, protector of the body.
14. Praise Agni with songs for his help, the bright-flaming one. Praise Agni, bountiful, renowned one, for wealth, you men; praise Agni for the shelter of his good brightness.
15. We praise Agni to keep hatred away from us, Agni to give us peace and well-being. Among all peoples he is to be invoked like a protector; he has become the refuge of the swift ones.
Translator's note: verse 2's "kṣapāvān" (lit. "possessor of nights") is rendered "lord of the nights," an epithet for Agni's role as the fire kept burning through the night. Verse 11's "dvitā" (lit. "in two ways" / "again, doubly") is rendered "again," marking Agni's repeated appearance as immortal fire born anew among mortals — the precise sense is debated among grammarians. Verse 15's "ṛṣūṇām" ("of the swift ones") is kept literal rather than read as a proper name.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.71 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.71
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.
tvaṁ no agne mahobhiḥ pāhi viśvasyā arāteḥ |
uta dviṣo martyasya || 1 ||
nahi manyuḥ pauruṣeya īśe hi vaḥ priyajāta |
tvam id asi kṣapāvān || 2 ||
sa no viśvebhir devebhir ūrjo napād bhadraśoce |
rayiṁ dehi viśvavāram || 3 ||
na tam agne arātayo martaṁ yuvanta rāyaḥ |
yaṁ trāyase dāśvāṁsam || 4 ||
yaṁ tvaṁ vipra medhasātāv agne hinoṣi dhanāya |
sa tavotī goṣu gantā || 5 ||
tvaṁ rayim puruvīram agne dāśuṣe martāya |
pra ṇo naya vasyo accha || 6 ||
uruṣyā ṇo mā parā dā aghāyate jātavedaḥ |
durādhye3 martāya || 7 ||
agne mākiṣ ṭe devasya rātim adevo yuyota |
tvam īśiṣe vasūnām || 8 ||
sa no vasva upa māsy ūrjo napān māhinasya |
sakhe vaso jaritṛbhyaḥ || 9 ||
acchā naḥ śīraśociṣaṁ giro yantu darśatam |
acchā yajñāso namasā purūvasum purupraśastam ūtaye || 10 ||
agniṁ sūnuṁ sahaso jātavedasaṁ dānāya vāryāṇām |
dvitā yo bhūd amṛto martyeṣv ā hotā mandratamo viśi || 11 ||
agniṁ vo devayajyayāgnim prayaty adhvare |
agniṁ dhīṣu prathamam agnim arvaty agniṁ kṣaitrāya sādhase || 12 ||
agnir iṣāṁ sakhye dadātu na īśe yo vāryāṇām |
agniṁ toke tanaye śaśvad īmahe vasuṁ santaṁ tanūpām || 13 ||
agnim īḻiṣvāvase gāthābhiḥ śīraśociṣam |
agniṁ rāye purumīḻha śrutaṁ naro 'gniṁ sudītaye chardiḥ || 14 ||
agniṁ dveṣo yotavai no gṛṇīmasy agniṁ śaṁ yoś ca dātave |
viśvāsu vikṣv aviteva havyo bhuvad vastur ṛṣūṇām || 15 ||
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).