Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.150 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! Accept our praise! Thou art the mightiest of all the celestial powers, and we who are small and weak do call upon thee.
Grant us wealth, O flame! Let the cattle multiply. Let the fields bear grain in abundance. Let our children be born strong and our women fruitful. Let our enemies be cast down and our friends prosper.
We kindle thee now with reverence and offer unto thee the finest of our possessions. The clarified butter, the grain, the meat—all these we cast into thy devouring flame, trusting that thou wilt receive them and carry them to the gods on our behalf.
Ward off the evil spirits that seek to harm us! Destroy the sorcerers who would curse our families! Burn away the impurities that cling to us! Make us pure as the ashes that remain when the offering is consumed.
O Agni, hear us! Thou art mightier than death. Thou art more ancient than the mountains. Thou art more vast than the sky. Yet thou comest close to us in the humble flame, and we may speak to thee as one speaks to a king.
Grant us strength! Grant us courage! Grant us the knowledge we seek! Grant us offspring! Grant us long life and prosperity!
We praise thee, O sacred fire! Thou art first among all the gods, for without thee there is no sacrifice, no communion, no blessing. Accept our worship! Be pleased with our offerings! Dwell forever in our homes and in our hearts!
May thy flame burn eternal!
Colophon
Rigveda I.150 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.150
puru tvā dāśvān voce 'rir agne tava svid ā |
todasyeva śaraṇa ā mahasya || 1 ||
vy aninasya dhaninaḥ prahoṣe cid araruṣaḥ |
kadā cana prajigato adevayoḥ || 2 ||
sa candro vipra martyo maho vrādhantamo divi |
pra-pret te agne vanuṣaḥ syāma || 3 ||
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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