Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.19 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 and Maruts, fire and storm! Ye are the twin powers of transformation. Agni burneth upon the earth; the Maruts roar across the sky. Together ye do cleanse all things and bring renewal.
O Agni, thou flame of the altar! Thou art gentle in the home but terrible in the forest fire. Thy heat giveth warmth and cooketh the food that sustaineth life. Yet thy wrath is fearful; thy power can consume all things.
O Maruts, ye storm-lords who ridest upon the winds! Your voices do thunder across the heavens. Your lightning doth split the sky. Your rains do water the earth. O Maruts, ye are wild and terrible; ye are strong and unyielding.
Come, ye two together, to this sacrifice! Let Agni consume the offerings and carry them unto the gods. Let the Maruts guard the rite from all that would harm it. O Agni and Maruts, ye are the guardians of this sacred moment.
The fire doth leap upward; the winds do blow fierce. Together they do dance in an eternal partnership. The fire cannot exist without the air; the storm cannot roar without the wind. O Agni and Maruts, ye are each other's complement.
We offer unto you both, O mighty pair! Accept our oblation and make it a vehicle for our prayer. Let Agni carry our words unto the heavens; let the Maruts guard them on their journey. O Agni and Maruts, bless us and make us strong.
Colophon
Rigveda I.19 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.19
prati tyaṁ cārum adhvaraṁ gopīthāya pra hūyase |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 1 ||
nahi devo na martyo mahas tava kratum paraḥ |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 2 ||
ye maho rajaso vidur viśve devāso adruhaḥ |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 3 ||
ya ugrā arkam ānṛcur anādhṛṣṭāsa ojasā |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 4 ||
ye śubhrā ghoravarpasaḥ sukṣatrāso riśādasaḥ |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 5 ||
ye nākasyādhi rocane divi devāsa āsate |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 6 ||
ya īṅkhayanti parvatān tiraḥ samudram arṇavam |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 7 ||
ā ye tanvanti raśmibhis tiraḥ samudram ojasā |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 8 ||
abhi tvā pūrvapītaye sṛjāmi somyam madhu |
marudbhir agna ā gahi || 9 ||
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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