Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.77 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 generous giver! Thou dost distribute thy bounty unto all creatures without stinting, without measure, without end. From thy flames floweth forth the energy that sustaineth all life. From thy heat cometh the warmth that alloweth growth and increase. From thy light cometh the vision by which all things are seen and known.
Those who honor thee are never left in want, O Fire. The family that tendreth thy household flame hath always food to eat, always warmth against the cold, always light in the darkness. Thou dost multiply their prosperity. Thou dost increase their cattle. Thou dost grant them many sons. Thou dost give them victory in their struggles.
But thy generosity extendeth beyond the mortal realm, O Agni. Thou dost give also to the gods! When the sacrifice is made, thou receivest the offerings and transformest them into something worthy of the divine palate. The soma becometh more intoxicating in thy flames. The butter becometh more fragrant. The meat becometh more nourishing. Through thy power, the mortal gift is elevated unto celestial worth.
Even to the plants and the animals dost thou give generously, O Fire. The tree that hath grown great and strong—hath it not benefited from thy warmth and light throughout its years? The beast that hath grown sleek and powerful—hath it not been nourished by the fruits and grasses that grew under thy blessing?
Yet thy giving is not mindless profusion. Thou dost give what is deserved. Thou dost increase the worthy and diminish the wicked. Thou dost reward the righteous and punish the evil. Thy generosity is coupled with justice. Thy abundance floweth to those who honor the eternal order.
We mortals make our appeals to thee, O Generous One! Open thy hand unto us! Let thy blessings flow like water in the monsoon! Grant us prosperity, grant us increase, grant us the joy of sharing thy abundance with all whom we love!
Colophon
Rigveda I.77 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.77
kathā dāśemāgnaye kāsmai devajuṣṭocyate bhāmine gīḥ |
yo martyeṣv amṛta ṛtāvā hotā yajiṣṭha it kṛṇoti devān || 1 ||
yo adhvareṣu śaṁtama ṛtāvā hotā tam ū namobhir ā kṛṇudhvam |
agnir yad ver martāya devān sa cā bodhāti manasā yajāti || 2 ||
sa hi kratuḥ sa maryaḥ sa sādhur mitro na bhūd adbhutasya rathīḥ |
tam medheṣu prathamaṁ devayantīr viśa upa bruvate dasmam ārīḥ || 3 ||
sa no nṛṇāṁ nṛtamo riśādā agnir giro 'vasā vetu dhītim |
tanā ca ye maghavānaḥ śaviṣṭhā vājaprasūtā iṣayanta manma || 4 ||
evāgnir gotamebhir ṛtāvā viprebhir astoṣṭa jātavedāḥ |
sa eṣu dyumnam pīpayat sa vājaṁ sa puṣṭiṁ yāti joṣam ā cikitvān || 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).
🌲