Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.118 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
O Agni, thou layest low the devourer as thou shinest forth among men, in thine own house, thou of the burning word and blazing will.
Thou risest up when thou art richly poured upon; thou takest joy in the ghee, when the ladles draw nigh in fellowship unto thee.
When richly anointed, thy light spreadeth afar.
Agni is to be called with reverent song; his face made bright with the gift of the ladle.
Honey-faced art thou, O Agni, when poured upon— fully anointed with ghee, thou bringest shining gifts as thy flame danceth.
Waking, thou art wholly aflame, thou bearer of gifts to the gods;
the sons of man lift their cry unto thee.
O children of earth, serve Agni with ghee— the undeceivable warden of the hearth and home.
With flame none may beguile, O Agni, burn away the might of the wicked;
shine forth as the herdsman of right and truth.
With thy burning countenance, O Agni, set upon the spell-weavers thy flame,
as thou shinest among the far-scattered dwellers.
By their hymns, the folk of many lands have kindled thee— O bearer of offering, thou best of priests, among the seed of Manu.
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda X.118
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
agne haṁsi ny a1triṇaṁ dīdyan martyeṣv ā |
sve kṣaye śucivrata || 1 ||
ut tiṣṭhasi svāhuto ghṛtāni prati modase |
yat tvā srucaḥ samasthiran || 2 ||
sa āhuto vi rocate 'gnir īḻenyo girā |
srucā pratīkam ajyate || 3 ||
ghṛtenāgniḥ sam ajyate madhupratīka āhutaḥ |
rocamāno vibhāvasuḥ || 4 ||
jaramāṇaḥ sam idhyase devebhyo havyavāhana |
taṁ tvā havanta martyāḥ || 5 ||
tam martā amartyaṁ ghṛtenāgniṁ saparyata |
adābhyaṁ gṛhapatim || 6 ||
adābhyena śociṣāgne rakṣas tvaṁ daha |
gopā ṛtasya dīdihi || 7 ||
sa tvam agne pratīkena praty oṣa yātudhānyaḥ |
urukṣayeṣu dīdyat || 8 ||
taṁ tvā gīrbhir urukṣayā havyavāhaṁ sam īdhire |
yajiṣṭham mānuṣe jane || 9 ||
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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