Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.66 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.
Hidden thou wert in the wood, O Agni, unknown to all creatures. Like a thief in the darkness, like a secret kept within the heart of the mountain, thou didst dwell invisible. No eye beheld thee. No ear heard thy voice. Yet thou wert ever present, waiting to be revealed.
Then did the Ṛṣis discover thee! With sacred knowledge they drew thee forth from thy concealment. The two sticks were rubbed together—friction born of devotion—and lo! Thou didst burst forth in flames of glory! The hidden became manifest. The secret was made known to all.
Now thou art revealed, O Fire Most Wondrous! Now thou shinest upon the earth and the sky. Thou art hidden no longer. All creatures know thee. All creatures fear thee. All creatures honor thee. The birds fly to thee seeking warmth. The beasts gather at thy light. Men kindle thee in their homes and sing thy praises without ceasing.
But is there not something terrible in thy revelation? Didst thou not wish to remain concealed, O Agni? Didst thou not prefer the peace of hiddenness, the security of the unknown? Yet now that thou art revealed, thou must serve—must transform, must mediate, must sacrifice thy very self upon the altar of creation.
And we—we mortal creatures—we are the ones who draw thee forth. We are the ones who force the revelation. We are the ones who kindle thee and command thee to our purposes. Is this not a kind of violence? A violation of thy sacred solitude?
Yet we do this with reverence. We kindle thee with prayers. We make the offering with sincere hearts. And thou art willing, O Agni, for in thy revelation thou findest also thy glory. Come now! Shine forth in all thy majesty! Be thou revealed in our hearts!
Colophon
Rigveda I.66 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.66
rayir na citrā sūro na saṁdṛg āyur na prāṇo nityo na sūnuḥ || 1 ||
takvā na bhūrṇir vanā siṣakti payo na dhenuḥ śucir vibhāvā || 2 ||
dādhāra kṣemam oko na raṇvo yavo na pakvo jetā janānām || 3 ||
ṛṣir na stubhvā vikṣu praśasto vājī na prīto vayo dadhāti || 4 ||
durokaśociḥ kratur na nityo jāyeva yonāv araṁ viśvasmai || 5 ||
citro yad abhrāṭ chveto na vikṣu ratho na rukmī tveṣaḥ samatsu || 6 ||
seneva sṛṣṭāmaṁ dadhāty astur na didyut tveṣapratīkā || 7 ||
yamo ha jāto yamo janitvaṁ jāraḥ kanīnām patir janīnām || 8 ||
taṁ vaś carāthā vayaṁ vasatyāstaṁ na gāvo nakṣanta iddham || 9 ||
sindhur na kṣodaḥ pra nīcīr ainon navanta gāvaḥ sva1r dṛśīke || 10 ||
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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