Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.27 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.
Come, Agni, thou protector fierce against all evil and all harm.
Guard us from the demon's curse; keep from us the sorcerer's spell.
Thou hast the power to consume the dark; thy flames do drive away all dread.
Be thou a fortress 'round about our home; be thou our shield in battle.
The man possessed by evil spirits—cast him out! The witch who worketh curses—
Burn away her poisoned craft! The thief who creepeth in the night—
Smite him with thy blazing wrath! O Agni, thou art matchless in thy power.
No demon hideth from thy sight; no evil spirit can withstand thy flame.
We call upon thee, O pure fire, as guardian of our hearth and hall.
The mother who doth nurse her child beneath thy watchful radiant eye
Shall never see her babe fall prey to sickness or to sudden death.
Thou art the closest of the gods to mortal men; thou hearest every prayer.
The offerings we place upon thy coals—receive them gladly, burning bright.
The butter melts within thy heat; the smoke doth rise to heaven's gate.
Each sacrifice we make to thee doth strengthen thee and all the gods.
Thou art the altar and the priest; thou art the bridge 'tween earth and sky.
Against all evil do we call upon thy name, O sacred flame.
The poison in the cup—consume it! The blade that seeketh our destruction—
Shatter it to dust! The curse that followeth our family line—
Burn it away forever, Agni, in thy purifying, holy fire.
Grant us thy protection, lord; keep watch throughout the darkest night.
Let no harm come nigh unto our dwelling; let no enemy prevail.
Thou art our fortress and our strength; thou art our hope, our shield, our friend.
Accept this praise and this oblation; dwell forever in our hearts.
Colophon
Rigveda I.27 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.27
aśvaṁ na tvā vāravantaṁ vandadhyā agniṁ namobhiḥ |
samrājantam adhvarāṇām || 1 ||
sa ghā naḥ sūnuḥ śavasā pṛthupragāmā suśevaḥ |
mīḍhvām̐ asmākam babhūyāt || 2 ||
sa no dūrāc cāsāc ca ni martyād aghāyoḥ |
pāhi sadam id viśvāyuḥ || 3 ||
imam ū ṣu tvam asmākaṁ saniṁ gāyatraṁ navyāṁsam |
agne deveṣu pra vocaḥ || 4 ||
ā no bhaja parameṣv ā vājeṣu madhyameṣu |
śikṣā vasvo antamasya || 5 ||
vibhaktāsi citrabhāno sindhor ūrmā upāka ā |
sadyo dāśuṣe kṣarasi || 6 ||
yam agne pṛtsu martyam avā vājeṣu yaṁ junāḥ |
sa yantā śaśvatīr iṣaḥ || 7 ||
nakir asya sahantya paryetā kayasya cit |
vājo asti śravāyyaḥ || 8 ||
sa vājaṁ viśvacarṣaṇir arvadbhir astu tarutā |
viprebhir astu sanitā || 9 ||
jarābodha tad viviḍḍhi viśe-viśe yajñiyāya |
stomaṁ rudrāya dṛśīkam || 10 ||
sa no mahām̐ animāno dhūmaketuḥ puruścandraḥ |
dhiye vājāya hinvatu || 11 ||
sa revām̐ iva viśpatir daivyaḥ ketuḥ śṛṇotu naḥ |
ukthair agnir bṛhadbhānuḥ || 12 ||
namo mahadbhyo namo arbhakebhyo namo yuvabhyo nama āśinebhyaḥ |
yajāma devān yadi śaknavāma mā jyāyasaḥ śaṁsam ā vṛkṣi devāḥ || 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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