Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.68 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, thou art the radiant priest! More honored than all the Brahmin sages, more exalted than the king upon his throne! For thou art the one who alone standeth between the mortal realm and the immortal gods. Thou alone canst carry our offerings to the heavens on wings of flame and smoke.
We kindle thee with reverence and with prayer. We adorn thy altar with sacred plants. We pour the soma into thy flames. We place the butter at thy mouth. And thou—O holy one—thou acceptest our offerings and transformest them. The crude becomes the sacred. The earthly becomes the divine. Through thy mediation, that which is mortal ascendeth to the eternal.
What priest among men could perform such a work? What Brahmin priest possesseth thy power? They chant the mantras, they kindle the fire, they perform the ritual with precision—yet without thee, O Agni, all their work would be in vain! The gods would not hear. The heavens would not open. The blessing would not descend.
Thou art the hotṛ, the offerer of the sacrifice. Thou art Agni, the priest among the immortals, the one who speaketh for mortals before the throne of Indra and the other gods. When thou dost ascend in the smoke of the offering, thou carriest with thee the prayers and the hopes of all creatures.
Therefore is thy station most exalted! Therefore do we honor thee above all else! Thou art not a servant—nay, thou art a king among gods, honored and revered by all.
Come now, O Divine Priest! Mount thy chariot of flame! Ascend to the realms of light and glory! Carry our offerings to the throne of the Almighty! Speak on our behalf before the assembly of the gods! Grant us their favor, their blessing, their eternal protection! Be thou our mediator, our advocate, our savior from all harm!
Colophon
Rigveda I.68 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.68
śrīṇann upa sthād divam bhuraṇyuḥ sthātuś caratham aktūn vy ūrṇot || 1 ||
pari yad eṣām eko viśveṣām bhuvad devo devānām mahitvā || 2 ||
ād it te viśve kratuṁ juṣanta śuṣkād yad deva jīvo janiṣṭhāḥ || 3 ||
bhajanta viśve devatvaṁ nāma ṛtaṁ sapanto amṛtam evaiḥ || 4 ||
ṛtasya preṣā ṛtasya dhītir viśvāyur viśve apāṁsi cakruḥ || 5 ||
yas tubhyaṁ dāśād yo vā te śikṣāt tasmai cikitvān rayiṁ dayasva || 6 ||
hotā niṣatto manor apatye sa cin nv āsām patī rayīṇām || 7 ||
icchanta reto mithas tanūṣu saṁ jānata svair dakṣair amūrāḥ || 8 ||
pitur na putrāḥ kratuṁ juṣanta śroṣan ye asya śāsaṁ turāsaḥ || 9 ||
vi rāya aurṇod duraḥ purukṣuḥ pipeśa nākaṁ stṛbhir damūnāḥ || 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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