Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.72 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, born of heaven and earth! Thy father is the infinite sky that stretcheth beyond all measure. Thy mother is the eternal earth that beareth all creatures upon her breast. From this union—from the embracing of the boundless above and the solid below—thou didst spring forth.
In thee are married the opposites. Thou art both ethereal and material. Thou art spirit and substance. Thou risest upward in smoke toward the heavens from whence thy father cometh, yet thy roots are planted deep within the earth where thy mother dwelleth. Thou art the mediating principle, the bridge between the celestial and the terrestrial realms.
The heavens rejoice at thy presence, O Fire! The immortal gods gather round thy altar. They feast upon thy offerings. They are nourished and strengthened by the smoke that riseth from thy flames. Without thee, they would have no means of receiving the sacrifices of mortals. Without thee, they would be cut off from all communion with the world below.
And the earth also rejoiceth in thee! Thou warmest her bosom in winter. Thou givest light to all the creatures that crawl and walk and fly upon her surface. Thou art present in all the processes of growth and transformation that occur within her domain. Without thee, she would be a cold and lifeless sphere, devoid of all animation.
Thus art thou loved by both thy parents! Thus art thou honored in all the realms! Thou art the child of the highest union, the offspring of the marriage of opposites, the fruit of the eternal embrace between sky and earth.
Come now, and be kindled upon our altars! Rise from the wood in flames of glory! Ascend to thy father in the heavens while thy roots remain deep within thy mother's breast! Be thou our link between all worlds, our mediator between all states of being!
Colophon
Rigveda I.72 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.72
ni kāvyā vedhasaḥ śaśvatas kar haste dadhāno naryā purūṇi |
agnir bhuvad rayipatī rayīṇāṁ satrā cakrāṇo amṛtāni viśvā || 1 ||
asme vatsam pari ṣantaṁ na vindann icchanto viśve amṛtā amūrāḥ |
śramayuvaḥ padavyo dhiyaṁdhās tasthuḥ pade parame cārv agneḥ || 2 ||
tisro yad agne śaradas tvām ic chuciṁ ghṛtena śucayaḥ saparyān |
nāmāni cid dadhire yajñiyāny asūdayanta tanva1ḥ sujātāḥ || 3 ||
ā rodasī bṛhatī vevidānāḥ pra rudriyā jabhrire yajñiyāsaḥ |
vidan marto nemadhitā cikitvān agnim pade parame tasthivāṁsam || 4 ||
saṁjānānā upa sīdann abhijñu patnīvanto namasyaṁ namasyan |
ririkvāṁsas tanvaḥ kṛṇvata svāḥ sakhā sakhyur nimiṣi rakṣamāṇāḥ || 5 ||
triḥ sapta yad guhyāni tve it padāvidan nihitā yajñiyāsaḥ |
tebhī rakṣante amṛtaṁ sajoṣāḥ paśūñ ca sthātṝñ carathaṁ ca pāhi || 6 ||
vidvām̐ agne vayunāni kṣitīnāṁ vy ānuṣak churudho jīvase dhāḥ |
antarvidvām̐ adhvano devayānān atandro dūto abhavo havirvāṭ || 7 ||
svādhyo diva ā sapta yahvī rāyo duro vy ṛtajñā ajānan |
vidad gavyaṁ saramā dṛḻham ūrvaṁ yenā nu kam mānuṣī bhojate viṭ || 8 ||
ā ye viśvā svapatyāni tasthuḥ kṛṇvānāso amṛtatvāya gātum |
mahnā mahadbhiḥ pṛthivī vi tasthe mātā putrair aditir dhāyase veḥ || 9 ||
adhi śriyaṁ ni dadhuś cārum asmin divo yad akṣī amṛtā akṛṇvan |
adha kṣaranti sindhavo na sṛṣṭāḥ pra nīcīr agne aruṣīr ajānan || 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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