Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VIII.75 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. Yoke your most god-summoning horses, Agni, like a charioteer — and sit down as the ancient priest.
2. And, god, speak to the gods on our behalf, you who know better than we do; make good on all that is desirable.
3. For you, youngest one, son of strength, are invoked with offerings; you hold the truth and are worthy of worship.
4. This Agni is lord of thousandfold, hundredfold spoils — the foremost one, the sage of riches.
5. Bow to him, as the Ṛbhus bow to the wheel-rim, with united calls — bring the sacrifice nearer, Aṅgiras.
6. To him now, the sky-facing one, with speech ever-changing yet everlasting — to the bull, send forth a strong hymn of praise.
7. Whom, then, with this Agni's own force of far-seeing sight, shall we strike down — the miser who withholds the cattle?
8. May the peoples of the gods not forsake us, as bathing cows return from the water; may the inviolable cows not abandon us as they would a weak one.
9. May the violence of the malicious one, the hater who surrounds us, not strike us down, as a wave strikes a boat.
10. Homage to your power, Agni; the peoples praise you, god. With your forces, crush the enemy.
11. Will you indeed grant us wealth for the seeking of cattle, Agni? You who make room — make room for us.
12. Do not turn away from us in this great contest, as a burden-bearer might; win us combined plunder, win us riches together.
13. Let this calamity pass by us in fear and fall on someone else, Agni; build up for us your forceful strength.
14. Whoever's labor Agni has favored — the reverent one's, or the one free of ill intent — that one he helps to prosper.
15. Cross over from the farther path to the nearer ones; where I am, protect what is there.
16. For we have known you before, Agni, as one knows a father's care; so now we ask for your favor.
Translator's note: several words resist confident rendering — apākacakṣasaḥ (v.7, "far-seeing sight") is uncertain in force; dūḍhyaḥ (v.9, "malicious one") and ducchunā (v.13, "calamity") are rendered by their general sense of harm/misfortune rather than a precise technical meaning; vṛdhāvati (v.14, "helps to prosper") and the geographic sense of saṃvataḥ/avarān (v.15, "farther path"/"nearer ones") are kept deliberately plain rather than over-specified.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.75 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.75
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.
yukṣvā hi devahūtamām̐ aśvām̐ agne rathīr iva |
ni hotā pūrvyaḥ sadaḥ || 1 ||
uta no deva devām̐ acchā voco viduṣṭaraḥ |
śrad viśvā vāryā kṛdhi || 2 ||
tvaṁ ha yad yaviṣṭhya sahasaḥ sūnav āhuta |
ṛtāvā yajñiyo bhuvaḥ || 3 ||
ayam agniḥ sahasriṇo vājasya śatinas patiḥ |
mūrdhā kavī rayīṇām || 4 ||
taṁ nemim ṛbhavo yathā namasva sahūtibhiḥ |
nedīyo yajñam aṅgiraḥ || 5 ||
tasmai nūnam abhidyave vācā virūpa nityayā |
vṛṣṇe codasva suṣṭutim || 6 ||
kam u ṣvid asya senayāgner apākacakṣasaḥ |
paṇiṁ goṣu starāmahe || 7 ||
mā no devānāṁ viśaḥ prasnātīr ivosrāḥ |
kṛśaṁ na hāsur aghnyāḥ || 8 ||
mā naḥ samasya dūḍhya1ḥ paridveṣaso aṁhatiḥ |
ūrmir na nāvam ā vadhīt || 9 ||
namas te agna ojase gṛṇanti deva kṛṣṭayaḥ |
amair amitram ardaya || 10 ||
kuvit su no gaviṣṭaye 'gne saṁveṣiṣo rayim |
urukṛd uru ṇas kṛdhi || 11 ||
mā no asmin mahādhane parā varg bhārabhṛd yathā |
saṁvargaṁ saṁ rayiṁ jaya || 12 ||
anyam asmad bhiyā iyam agne siṣaktu ducchunā |
vardhā no amavac chavaḥ || 13 ||
yasyājuṣan namasvinaḥ śamīm adurmakhasya vā |
taṁ ghed agnir vṛdhāvati || 14 ||
parasyā adhi saṁvato 'varām̐ abhy ā tara |
yatrāham asmi tām̐ ava || 15 ||
vidmā hi te purā vayam agne pitur yathāvasaḥ |
adhā te sumnam īmahe || 16 ||
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).