Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.71 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 present in all things! Art thou not the cosmic fire that burneth in the heart of the sun? Is not the sun itself a manifestation of thy eternal flame? And doth not the heat of the sun penetrate unto every corner of this world, warming all creatures, giving life to all things that grow?
Thou art in the lightning that splitteth the sky! When the storm clouds gather and the thunder rolleth across the heavens, it is thy energy that maketh manifest the fury of the gods. The lightning bolt is thy arrow, thy weapon, thy signature written upon the face of heaven itself.
Thou art in the friction that awaketh heat! When two pieces of wood are rubbed together, when one object is dragged against another, when the materials of this world clash and struggle—there art thou, emerging from the conflict, transforming the energy of struggle into the energy of flame.
Thou art in the digestion of food within the belly! The heat that burneth within us, the inner fire that transformeth what we eat into the substance of our bodies—is this not Agni? Art not all living creatures fires unto themselves, burning with the eternal flame?
Thou art in the passion that flameth within the human heart! When love burneth, when anger surgeth forth, when desire consumeth all thought—these are the manifestations of thy cosmic fire within the microcosm of the human soul.
Thus art thou everywhere, O Fire! In the sun above, in the lightning of the storm, in the friction and heat of the world, in the depths of every creature's belly, in the fire of every mortal heart. Nothing escapeth thee. Nothing existeth without thy presence. Thou art the cosmic principle underlying all transformation and all being.
We are but sparks of thy eternal flame, O Agni! Grant us understanding of this truth! Make us worthy vessels for thy sacred fire!
Colophon
Rigveda I.71 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.71
upa pra jinvann uśatīr uśantam patiṁ na nityaṁ janayaḥ sanīḻāḥ |
svasāraḥ śyāvīm aruṣīm ajuṣrañ citram ucchantīm uṣasaṁ na gāvaḥ || 1 ||
vīḻu cid dṛḻhā pitaro na ukthair adriṁ rujann aṅgiraso raveṇa |
cakrur divo bṛhato gātum asme ahaḥ svar vividuḥ ketum usrāḥ || 2 ||
dadhann ṛtaṁ dhanayann asya dhītim ād id aryo didhiṣvo3 vibhṛtrāḥ |
atṛṣyantīr apaso yanty acchā devāñ janma prayasā vardhayantīḥ || 3 ||
mathīd yad īṁ vibhṛto mātariśvā gṛhe-gṛhe śyeto jenyo bhūt |
ād īṁ rājñe na sahīyase sacā sann ā dūtya1m bhṛgavāṇo vivāya || 4 ||
mahe yat pitra īṁ rasaṁ dive kar ava tsarat pṛśanyaś cikitvān |
sṛjad astā dhṛṣatā didyum asmai svāyāṁ devo duhitari tviṣiṁ dhāt || 5 ||
sva ā yas tubhyaṁ dama ā vibhāti namo vā dāśād uśato anu dyūn |
vardho agne vayo asya dvibarhā yāsad rāyā sarathaṁ yaṁ junāsi || 6 ||
agniṁ viśvā abhi pṛkṣaḥ sacante samudraṁ na sravataḥ sapta yahvīḥ |
na jāmibhir vi cikite vayo no vidā deveṣu pramatiṁ cikitvān || 7 ||
ā yad iṣe nṛpatiṁ teja ānaṭ chuci reto niṣiktaṁ dyaur abhīke |
agniḥ śardham anavadyaṁ yuvānaṁ svādhyaṁ janayat sūdayac ca || 8 ||
mano na yo 'dhvanaḥ sadya ety ekaḥ satrā sūro vasva īśe |
rājānā mitrāvaruṇā supāṇī goṣu priyam amṛtaṁ rakṣamāṇā || 9 ||
mā no agne sakhyā pitryāṇi pra marṣiṣṭhā abhi viduṣ kaviḥ san |
nabho na rūpaṁ jarimā mināti purā tasyā abhiśaster adhīhi || 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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