Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.148 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! Bearer of the sacred oblation! Upon thy tongue the offering is placed, and by thy power it is transformed and conveyed to the realm of the gods. Thou art the priest's most faithful helper, the intermediary who speaketh on our behalf.
The butter that melteth upon thy flame is not mere butter—it becometh something else, something transformed, something that journeyeth to the ears of Indra and Varuṇa, to Mitra and the Aśvins, to all the deathless ones. Thou makest this transformation possible, O sacred fire.
We trust thee with our most precious offerings. What we cannot give directly to the gods, we give to thee, knowing that thou wilt faithfully bear it upward. Thou askest nothing in return but our respect and our gratitude.
O flame! How patient art thou with our fumbling rites! We priests are clumsy in our movements, uncertain in our words, yet thou acceptest what we offer with grace and dignity. Thou takest the flawed gift and in thy heat makest it perfect.
Thou knowest the secret words that the gods understand. When we speak our prayers, thou speakest them again in the language of heaven. Thou art more eloquent than we are, O Agni, for thou speakest the truth of transformation, the language of becoming.
We have placed in thy charge the hopes of our people. The warrior needeth thy blessing ere he goeth to battle. The merchant needeth thy blessing ere he travelleth. The woman who wisheth to bear a child calleth upon thee. The sick who seeketh healing placeth his hope in the offering thou carriest.
O faithful servant! O noble intermediary! Thou art the bridge between the world of mortals and the eternal realm. Without thee we would be severed from the gods, unable to communicate, alone. Through thee we are connected, we are remembered, we are blessed.
Accept our gratitude, O Agni! Carry our offerings with honor and speed!
Colophon
Rigveda I.148 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.148
mathīd yad īṁ viṣṭo mātariśvā hotāraṁ viśvāpsuṁ viśvadevyam |
ni yaṁ dadhur manuṣyāsu vikṣu sva1r ṇa citraṁ vapuṣe vibhāvam || 1 ||
dadānam in na dadabhanta manmāgnir varūtham mama tasya cākan |
juṣanta viśvāny asya karmopastutim bharamāṇasya kāroḥ || 2 ||
nitye cin nu yaṁ sadane jagṛbhre praśastibhir dadhire yajñiyāsaḥ |
pra sū nayanta gṛbhayanta iṣṭāv aśvāso na rathyo rārahāṇāḥ || 3 ||
purūṇi dasmo ni riṇāti jambhair ād rocate vana ā vibhāvā |
ād asya vāto anu vāti śocir astur na śaryām asanām anu dyūn || 4 ||
na yaṁ ripavo na riṣaṇyavo garbhe santaṁ reṣaṇā reṣayanti |
andhā apaśyā na dabhann abhikhyā nityāsa īm pretāro arakṣan || 5 ||
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).
🌲