Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.76 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 divine hotṛ! The great priest among the immortals! It is written in the eternal laws that thou alone art worthy to perform the ultimate sacrifice. The offerings of all creatures—mortals and gods alike—must pass through thy sacred hands ere they can reach the throne of the Almighty.
When the Ṛṣis and the gods commenced the first sacrifice in times immemorial, they selected thee, O Fire, to be their priest. They said: "Agni, thou art pure. Thou art wise. Thou art incorruptible. Thou art the one who shall stand between ourselves and the great mystery. Thou shall receive our offerings and present them in the place where all things converge."
And thou hast not failed in this trust, O Divine One! Throughout all the ages, from the first dawn of creation unto this very moment, thou hast faithfully performed thy sacred duties. Generation after generation of mortals hath kindled thee. Thousands upon thousands of sacrifices hath thou received and transformed and carried upward.
The hotṛ priest doth emulate thee in all his works, O Agni. He standeth as a mediator between the mortal and the divine. He speaketh the sacred words. He performeth the ritual with precision and reverence. He poureth the libations and maketh the offerings. But in all this, he is merely the instrument through which thou workest. It is thy power that giveth meaning to his actions.
Therefore is thy station most exalted! Therefore do all creatures bow before thee! Thou art the true priest, the true mediator, the true transformer of the crude into the sacred. No god is greater than thou in this function, O Agni!
Grant us the wisdom to honor thee as thou deservest! Grant us the insight to perceive thy work in all the sacrifices of the world! Make us worthy instruments through which thy sacred fire may work! Let our lives become offerings upon thy altar, O Divine Priest!
Colophon
Rigveda I.76 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.76
kā ta upetir manaso varāya bhuvad agne śaṁtamā kā manīṣā |
ko vā yajñaiḥ pari dakṣaṁ ta āpa kena vā te manasā dāśema || 1 ||
ehy agna iha hotā ni ṣīdādabdhaḥ su puraetā bhavā naḥ |
avatāṁ tvā rodasī viśvaminve yajā mahe saumanasāya devān || 2 ||
pra su viśvān rakṣaso dhakṣy agne bhavā yajñānām abhiśastipāvā |
athā vaha somapatiṁ haribhyām ātithyam asmai cakṛmā sudāvne || 3 ||
prajāvatā vacasā vahnir āsā ca huve ni ca satsīha devaiḥ |
veṣi hotram uta potraṁ yajatra bodhi prayantar janitar vasūnām || 4 ||
yathā viprasya manuṣo havirbhir devām̐ ayajaḥ kavibhiḥ kaviḥ san |
evā hotaḥ satyatara tvam adyāgne mandrayā juhvā yajasva || 5 ||
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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