Hymn to Agni
Rigveda I.98 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 luminous one! O dispeller of darkness! Thou shinest forth in thy eternal splendor. The night doth flee at thy approach. The shadows do shrink and disappear. Thou art the eternal enemy of all that is dark and hidden.
Agni, thy light reacheth to the uttermost corners of creation. No concealment can hide from thee. The demons that dwell in darkness do tremble at thy coming. They do flee to their hidden lairs and cower there, hoping to escape thy penetrating gaze. But thy light followeth them even into the deepest caves and the darkest dungeons.
Yet art thou not merely a destroyer of darkness. Thou art also a revealer of truth. In thy light, all things do appear as they truly are. Deception cannot stand before thee. Lies are burned away like chaff before the wind. In thy presence, the hidden is made manifest. The secret is brought to light.
Thou givest sight to those who grope in darkness. When the mortal world doth seem bleak and hopeless, thy light doth shine forth and illumine the path ahead. When despair threateneth to overwhelm us, thy brightness doth give us hope and courage to continue.
O radiant and luminous Agni! We sing thy praises. We kindle thy flames in gratitude. Thou art the banner of light eternal, the ever-burning beacon in the darkness. Stand guard against all that would harm us. Illuminate the pathways we must walk. Give us the light to see truth. Give us the courage to face reality without fear. Let thy eternal flame burn within our hearts.
Colophon
Rigveda I.98 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.98
vaiśvānarasya sumatau syāma rājā hi kam bhuvanānām abhiśrīḥ |
ito jāto viśvam idaṁ vi caṣṭe vaiśvānaro yatate sūryeṇa || 1 ||
pṛṣṭo divi pṛṣṭo agniḥ pṛthivyām pṛṣṭo viśvā oṣadhīr ā viveśa |
vaiśvānaraḥ sahasā pṛṣṭo agniḥ sa no divā sa riṣaḥ pātu naktam || 2 ||
vaiśvānara tava tat satyam astv asmān rāyo maghavānaḥ sacantām |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 3 ||
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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