Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.108 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Agni, the divine fire, messenger between mortals and gods, the eternal priest of the sacred rite. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
Indra and Agni! Mighty pair combine, together reign in splendor most divine. The king of storms and he of sacred flame, together they do bear a fearful name.
O thou, O Indra, master of the sky, whose thunderbolt doth make the demons die! And thou, O Agni, bright and fierce and hot, who burnest up all evil in thy plot. Together ye do rule the vast expanse, ye turn the chaos back and make it dance.
We call upon you both with one voice loud, to come and join us here, a mortal crowd. Accept the offerings that we lay before thee — the soma pressed, the butter pure and hoary.
Indra, thy stallions race across the sky; Agni, thy flames reach upward ever high. Indra, thy thunder shaketh all the earth; Agni, thy heat giveth to creatures birth.
Together ye stand at the edge of every fray, the protectors of the sacrificial way. Where ye two go, the demons flee in fear; where ye two stand, all blessing draweth near.
O mighty pair, most honored of the gods, who turn away the foes and their dark rods, grant us the victory in our coming war. Let our great enemies be troubled sore.
Give us the herds of cattle, strong and wide; the harvests golden spread from side to side. Let our great tribe grow mighty through the years, and may our children never know such fears.
Accept this prayer, accept this sacred fire, accept the offerings that we do aspire to bring unto thy altar, year by year. Know that we honor thee above all here.
Indra and Agni, eternal in thy power, ye are our strength in every mortal hour.
Colophon
Rigveda I.108 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses Agni, the divine fire, messenger between mortals and gods, the eternal priest of the sacred rite. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation session to be documented during Kshatriya Blood Rule audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.108
ya indrāgnī citratamo ratho vām abhi viśvāni bhuvanāni caṣṭe |
tenā yātaṁ sarathaṁ tasthivāṁsāthā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 1 ||
yāvad idam bhuvanaṁ viśvam asty uruvyacā varimatā gabhīram |
tāvām̐ ayam pātave somo astv aram indrāgnī manase yuvabhyām || 2 ||
cakrāthe hi sadhrya1ṅ nāma bhadraṁ sadhrīcīnā vṛtrahaṇā uta sthaḥ |
tāv indrāgnī sadhryañcā niṣadyā vṛṣṇaḥ somasya vṛṣaṇā vṛṣethām || 3 ||
samiddheṣv agniṣv ānajānā yatasrucā barhir u tistirāṇā |
tīvraiḥ somaiḥ pariṣiktebhir arvāg endrāgnī saumanasāya yātam || 4 ||
yānīndrāgnī cakrathur vīryāṇi yāni rūpāṇy uta vṛṣṇyāni |
yā vām pratnāni sakhyā śivāni tebhiḥ somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 5 ||
yad abravam prathamaṁ vāṁ vṛṇāno3 'yaṁ somo asurair no vihavyaḥ |
tāṁ satyāṁ śraddhām abhy ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 6 ||
yad indrāgnī madathaḥ sve duroṇe yad brahmaṇi rājani vā yajatrā |
ataḥ pari vṛṣaṇāv ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 7 ||
yad indrāgnī yaduṣu turvaśeṣu yad druhyuṣv anuṣu pūruṣu sthaḥ |
ataḥ pari vṛṣaṇāv ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 8 ||
yad indrāgnī avamasyām pṛthivyām madhyamasyām paramasyām uta sthaḥ |
ataḥ pari vṛṣaṇāv ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 9 ||
yad indrāgnī paramasyām pṛthivyām madhyamasyām avamasyām uta sthaḥ |
ataḥ pari vṛṣaṇāv ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 10 ||
yad indrāgnī divi ṣṭho yat pṛthivyāṁ yat parvateṣv oṣadhīṣv apsu |
ataḥ pari vṛṣaṇāv ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 11 ||
yad indrāgnī uditā sūryasya madhye divaḥ svadhayā mādayethe |
ataḥ pari vṛṣaṇāv ā hi yātam athā somasya pibataṁ sutasya || 12 ||
evendrāgnī papivāṁsā sutasya viśvāsmabhyaṁ saṁ jayataṁ dhanāni |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 13 ||
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).
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