Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.162 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.
In union with holy speech, let Agni, smiter of fiends, drive hence all ill-named blight that lieth upon thy seed, within thy womb.
Whatso foul-named harm doth rest upon thy child unborn, Agni hath cast it out with hallowed word; he hath driven off the flesh-devourer.
Whoso striketh thy seed as it soareth, as it is set, as it stirreth within—
whoso seeketh to smite thy young at birth— we cast him out from this place.
Whoso sunders thy thighs, lies in wait betwixt man and wife,
whoso licketh within thy womb—
we drive him hence.
Whoso, as brother, husband, or lewd lover, descendeth upon thee, and seeketh harm for thy young— from here, we cast him out.
Whoso, having dulled thee with slumber and shadow, descendeth upon thee, and seeketh to smite thy fruit— we cast him out from this place.
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.162
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.
brahmaṇāgniḥ saṁvidāno rakṣohā bādhatām itaḥ |
amīvā yas te garbhaṁ durṇāmā yonim āśaye || 1 ||
yas te garbham amīvā durṇāmā yonim āśaye |
agniṣ ṭam brahmaṇā saha niṣ kravyādam anīnaśat || 2 ||
yas te hanti patayantaṁ niṣatsnuṁ yaḥ sarīsṛpam |
jātaṁ yas te jighāṁsati tam ito nāśayāmasi || 3 ||
yas ta ūrū viharaty antarā dampatī śaye |
yoniṁ yo antar āreḻhi tam ito nāśayāmasi || 4 ||
yas tvā bhrātā patir bhūtvā jāro bhūtvā nipadyate |
prajāṁ yas te jighāṁsati tam ito nāśayāmasi || 5 ||
yas tvā svapnena tamasā mohayitvā nipadyate |
prajāṁ yas te jighāṁsati tam ito nāśayāmasi || 6 ||
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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