Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.140 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.
Agni, thou that burnest mysteriously! Agni, thou that comest forth from the hidden places! Thou art enigmatic and profound, thy nature understood by few. Yet all do depend upon thee, and all do come to worship at thy shrine.
O Dīrghatamas speaketh of thee now! Thou art the fire that dwelleth within the wood, secret and concealed until the friction of two sticks doth awaken thee. Thou art the fire that dwelleth within the belly of every creature, the inner heat that giveth us warmth and life. Thou art the fire that cometh down from the heavens as lightning, a visible manifestation of the divine power.
Agni, thou art the transformer! Nothing remaineth unchanged in thy presence! The raw doth become the cooked! The dead doth become the immortal through thy flames! The earthly doth become the divine! Thou art the crucible in which all things are refined and perfected.
Yet thou art also gentle and approachable! In every home there burneth a small fire in the hearth, the same Agni that burneth upon the sacred altar! Thou art both the cosmic power and the neighbor's flame! Thou art both terrible and beloved, fearsome and intimate!
O Agni, accept our invocation! Reveal to us thy mysteries! Let us understand the hidden wisdom that thou dost contain! Transform us as thou dost transform all things! Purify us in thy flames! Lift us up from the earthly realm to the divine! Be thou our guide through all the hidden passages of existence! Let thy light shine forth eternally!
Colophon
Rigveda I.140 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.140
vediṣade priyadhāmāya sudyute dhāsim iva pra bharā yonim agnaye |
vastreṇeva vāsayā manmanā śuciṁ jyotīrathaṁ śukravarṇaṁ tamohanam || 1 ||
abhi dvijanmā trivṛd annam ṛjyate saṁvatsare vāvṛdhe jagdham ī punaḥ |
anyasyāsā jihvayā jenyo vṛṣā ny a1nyena vanino mṛṣṭa vāraṇaḥ || 2 ||
kṛṣṇaprutau vevije asya sakṣitā ubhā tarete abhi mātarā śiśum |
prācājihvaṁ dhvasayantaṁ tṛṣucyutam ā sācyaṁ kupayaṁ vardhanam pituḥ || 3 ||
mumukṣvo3 manave mānavasyate raghudruvaḥ kṛṣṇasītāsa ū juvaḥ |
asamanā ajirāso raghuṣyado vātajūtā upa yujyanta āśavaḥ || 4 ||
ād asya te dhvasayanto vṛtherate kṛṣṇam abhvam mahi varpaḥ karikrataḥ |
yat sīm mahīm avanim prābhi marmṛśad abhiśvasan stanayann eti nānadat || 5 ||
bhūṣan na yo 'dhi babhrūṣu namnate vṛṣeva patnīr abhy eti roruvat |
ojāyamānas tanvaś ca śumbhate bhīmo na śṛṅgā davidhāva durgṛbhiḥ || 6 ||
sa saṁstiro viṣṭiraḥ saṁ gṛbhāyati jānann eva jānatīr nitya ā śaye |
punar vardhante api yanti devyam anyad varpaḥ pitroḥ kṛṇvate sacā || 7 ||
tam agruvaḥ keśinīḥ saṁ hi rebhira ūrdhvās tasthur mamruṣīḥ prāyave punaḥ |
tāsāṁ jarām pramuñcann eti nānadad asum paraṁ janayañ jīvam astṛtam || 8 ||
adhīvāsam pari mātū rihann aha tuvigrebhiḥ satvabhir yāti vi jrayaḥ |
vayo dadhat padvate rerihat sadānu śyenī sacate vartanīr aha || 9 ||
asmākam agne maghavatsu dīdihy adha śvasīvān vṛṣabho damūnāḥ |
avāsyā śiśumatīr adīder varmeva yutsu parijarbhurāṇaḥ || 10 ||
idam agne sudhitaṁ durdhitād adhi priyād u cin manmanaḥ preyo astu te |
yat te śukraṁ tanvo3 rocate śuci tenāsmabhyaṁ vanase ratnam ā tvam || 11 ||
rathāya nāvam uta no gṛhāya nityāritrām padvatīṁ rāsy agne |
asmākaṁ vīrām̐ uta no maghono janām̐ś ca yā pārayāc charma yā ca || 12 ||
abhī no agna uktham ij juguryā dyāvākṣāmā sindhavaś ca svagūrtāḥ |
gavyaṁ yavyaṁ yanto dīrghāheṣaṁ varam aruṇyo varanta || 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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