Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.142 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, this song-weaver draweth nigh to dwell in thee, for no truer friendship is found elsewhere, O Son of Strength— thy shelter is a blessed one, a shield thrice-fold. Turn thou aside the wounding shaft; cast it afar.
Thy birth, O Agni, is as a headlong rush, in thine hunger for feed.
Thou fallest upon all creatures in one sweeping motion.
Our bands, our seeing thoughts shall take the lead— they go before, as herdsmen stray, needing no guide.
Lo, thou curlest round and lashest at the thick brush, O flame with will thine own, and barren lie the fields behind thee. Let us stir not thy wrath, nor draw upon us thy burning hand.
To the heights and the hollows thou runnest, snapping and flaring, in every path, as warriors chasing spoil.
When the wind doth kiss thy flame, thou scarest the earth bare, as the shaver trimeth the beard.
A host standeth against thee—many wains in a single plummet path— yet thou, O Agni, ever plying thy twin limbs, goest low along the upreaching land.
Raise thy blasts; let thy beam be lifted. Let thy gifts, O Agni, be for him who toilèth in thy name.
Arch high, bow low, grow great and bold.
Let all the Vasus wait upon thee this day.
Here falleth the waters, here sinketh the sea.
Choose thee a fresh way from this same path; go forth as thou wilt.
On thy going hither and thy going hence, let dūrvā bloom and ponds swell, and lotuses open.
Here lieth the house of the sea.
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.142
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.
ayam agne jaritā tve abhūd api sahasaḥ sūno nahy a1nyad asty āpyam |
bhadraṁ hi śarma trivarūtham asti ta āre hiṁsānām apa didyum ā kṛdhi || 1 ||
pravat te agne janimā pitūyataḥ sācīva viśvā bhuvanā ny ṛñjase |
pra saptayaḥ pra saniṣanta no dhiyaḥ puraś caranti paśupā iva tmanā || 2 ||
uta vā u pari vṛṇakṣi bapsad bahor agna ulapasya svadhāvaḥ |
uta khilyā urvarāṇām bhavanti mā te hetiṁ taviṣīṁ cukrudhāma || 3 ||
yad udvato nivato yāsi bapsat pṛthag eṣi pragardhinīva senā |
yadā te vāto anuvāti śocir vapteva śmaśru vapasi pra bhūma || 4 ||
praty asya śreṇayo dadṛśra ekaṁ niyānam bahavo rathāsaḥ |
bāhū yad agne anumarmṛjāno nyaṅṅ uttānām anveṣi bhūmim || 5 ||
ut te śuṣmā jihatām ut te arcir ut te agne śaśamānasya vājāḥ |
uc chvañcasva ni nama vardhamāna ā tvādya viśve vasavaḥ sadantu || 6 ||
apām idaṁ nyayanaṁ samudrasya niveśanam |
anyaṁ kṛṇuṣvetaḥ panthāṁ tena yāhi vaśām̐ anu || 7 ||
āyane te parāyaṇe dūrvā rohantu puṣpiṇīḥ |
hradāś ca puṇḍarīkāṇi samudrasya gṛhā ime || 8 ||
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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