Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.124 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.
Come thou forth to our sacrifice, O Agni, where five paths stretch, three rings encircle, and seven threads are drawn.
Be thou our bearer of gifts, our forerunner on the path.
Long hast thou lain shrouded in darkness.
In hidden ways I move, in secret I pass— a god fleeing from the ungodly, seeking life without end.
Though he bears me goodwill, I depart unkindly, leaving my own kindred for a foreign line.
I beheld him as a guest among another branch, and I measured out the vast domains of truth.
I hailed him as gentle toward the lordly sire, and I turned away from one who offered no rites, toward a rightful share of offering.
Many years have I dwelt within him—yet now I choose Indra, and leave the sire behind.
Agni is stirred, and Soma, and the Watcher of Vows; the crown is cast anew, and I come to lend it force.
Their might is spent, those lofty lords; their spells no longer bind.
And thou, watcher of law, if thou wilt favor me— sift truth from lies, O king, and come unto my throne and lordship.
Lo, the sun was once the sole thing prized, but now the spacious sky breaks forth in light.
Let us strike down Vṛtra, together—
come, Soma, though thou art thyself a gift, we give to thee an offering.
The bard, with sacred song, has set the shape in heaven.
Without wildness or wrath, the law-keeper loosed the waters.
At peace with one another like wedded wives, the rivers flow— each bearing his hue in her own clear course.
They follow his power, bright and prime among all; he dwelleth in quiet among them that rejoice in their own strength.
When they chose him, as tribes choose their king, they turned their backs on Vṛtra in scorn.
A goose, they say, is yoked with those who fled; a goose that glideth in the heavenly streams.
He who roams the skies in quest of praise— him the seers, in rapture, knew to be Indra.
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.124
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.
imaṁ no agna upa yajñam ehi pañcayāmaṁ trivṛtaṁ saptatantum |
aso havyavāḻ uta naḥ purogā jyog eva dīrghaṁ tama āśayiṣṭhāḥ || 1 ||
adevād devaḥ pracatā guhā yan prapaśyamāno amṛtatvam emi |
śivaṁ yat santam aśivo jahāmi svāt sakhyād araṇīṁ nābhim emi || 2 ||
paśyann anyasyā atithiṁ vayāyā ṛtasya dhāma vi mime purūṇi |
śaṁsāmi pitre asurāya śevam ayajñiyād yajñiyam bhāgam emi || 3 ||
bahvīḥ samā akaram antar asminn indraṁ vṛṇānaḥ pitaraṁ jahāmi |
agniḥ somo varuṇas te cyavante paryāvard rāṣṭraṁ tad avāmy āyan || 4 ||
nirmāyā u tye asurā abhūvan tvaṁ ca mā varuṇa kāmayāse |
ṛtena rājann anṛtaṁ viviñcan mama rāṣṭrasyādhipatyam ehi || 5 ||
idaṁ svar idam id āsa vāmam ayam prakāśa urv a1ntarikṣam |
hanāva vṛtraṁ nirehi soma haviṣ ṭvā santaṁ haviṣā yajāma || 6 ||
kaviḥ kavitvā divi rūpam āsajad aprabhūtī varuṇo nir apaḥ sṛjat |
kṣemaṁ kṛṇvānā janayo na sindhavas tā asya varṇaṁ śucayo bharibhrati || 7 ||
tā asya jyeṣṭham indriyaṁ sacante tā īm ā kṣeti svadhayā madantīḥ |
tā īṁ viśo na rājānaṁ vṛṇānā bībhatsuvo apa vṛtrād atiṣṭhan || 8 ||
bībhatsūnāṁ sayujaṁ haṁsam āhur apāṁ divyānāṁ sakhye carantam |
anuṣṭubham anu carcūryamāṇam indraṁ ni cikyuḥ kavayo manīṣā || 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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