Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.13 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.
O Agni, thou priest of the sacred rite! Before thee do we call upon the gods. Accept our prayer and our oblation. Carry forth the offering unto the gods; let thy flame bear it high.
Thou art the messenger who goeth between. Thou speakest for the mortals unto the gods on high. Thou speakest for the gods unto the mortals below. O Agni, thou art the bridge, the sacred bond between the seen and the unseen.
The āprī chant doth call forth all things needful for the rite. The waters flow; the earth doth stir. The heavens open; the gods do listen. O Agni, this is the invocation of the ritual elements; hear the call and make all things ready.
Call forth the waters from their dwelling place. Call forth the trees that they may give their wood. Call forth the gods from their celestial throne that they may be present in this rite. O Agni, thou art the voice that doth make all things come forth at the sacred moment.
The priest doth stand before the fire; the singer doth chant the holy verses. The soma is ready; the ghee is prepared. The altar is built; the sacred ground is consecrated. O Agni, in this moment all things are in place and all things wait.
Come, O Agni, with the gods beside thee. Make this rite acceptable unto all the powers. Let the sacrifice be perfect; let every word be true. O Agni, thou flame of all truth, consume our offering and carry it unto the throne of the gods themselves.
Colophon
Rigveda I.13 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.13
susamiddho na ā vaha devām̐ agne haviṣmate |
hotaḥ pāvaka yakṣi ca || 1 ||
madhumantaṁ tanūnapād yajñaṁ deveṣu naḥ kave |
adyā kṛṇuhi vītaye || 2 ||
narāśaṁsam iha priyam asmin yajña upa hvaye |
madhujihvaṁ haviṣkṛtam || 3 ||
agne sukhatame rathe devām̐ īḻita ā vaha |
asi hotā manurhitaḥ || 4 ||
stṛṇīta barhir ānuṣag ghṛtapṛṣṭham manīṣiṇaḥ |
yatrāmṛtasya cakṣaṇam || 5 ||
vi śrayantām ṛtāvṛdho dvāro devīr asaścataḥ |
adyā nūnaṁ ca yaṣṭave || 6 ||
naktoṣāsā supeśasāsmin yajña upa hvaye |
idaṁ no barhir āsade || 7 ||
tā sujihvā upa hvaye hotārā daivyā kavī |
yajñaṁ no yakṣatām imam || 8 ||
iḻā sarasvatī mahī tisro devīr mayobhuvaḥ |
barhiḥ sīdantv asridhaḥ || 9 ||
iha tvaṣṭāram agriyaṁ viśvarūpam upa hvaye |
asmākam astu kevalaḥ || 10 ||
ava sṛjā vanaspate deva devebhyo haviḥ |
pra dātur astu cetanam || 11 ||
svāhā yajñaṁ kṛṇotanendrāya yajvano gṛhe |
tatra devām̐ upa hvaye || 12 ||
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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