Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.156 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.
Let our thoughts drive Agni forth, as a fleet yoke in the games of strength; with him may we gain prize upon prize, unwearied in our striving.
The shaft with which we shall win the kine, by thy aid, O Agni— set thou it speeding, that it may rain gifts upon us.
Bring us bold wealth, wide-spread and heavy with kine and steeds.
Grease thou the wheel's hub—make the hoarder roll.
Thou, Agni, dost make the sun arise, that ageless body bright in heaven, as thou sett’st light on high for all the folk below.
O Agni, thou art the torch of the kin, most beloved, fairest of hearth-born sons.
Awake now, and bestow breath and strength on the one who lifteth thee in praise.
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.156
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.
agniṁ hinvantu no dhiyaḥ saptim āśum ivājiṣu |
tena jeṣma dhanaṁ-dhanam || 1 ||
yayā gā ākarāmahe senayāgne tavotyā |
tāṁ no hinva maghattaye || 2 ||
āgne sthūraṁ rayim bhara pṛthuṁ gomantam aśvinam |
aṅdhi khaṁ vartayā paṇim || 3 ||
agne nakṣatram ajaram ā sūryaṁ rohayo divi |
dadhaj jyotir janebhyaḥ || 4 ||
agne ketur viśām asi preṣṭhaḥ śreṣṭha upasthasat |
bodhā stotre vayo dadhat || 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).
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