Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.169 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 the wind, joy itself, blow upon the ruddy kine; let them graze the green shoots full of strength and sap.
Let them drink the waters rich with fatness, that bring wealth unto the living.
Loose them forth, O Rudra, and in thy wrath be kind— spare the life upon the hoof.
They that are of one hue, or many, or none the same, whose names are known to Agni by the rite, whom the Aṅgirases called hither with their burning zeal— to these, O Parjanya, stretch forth a mighty shield.
They who lifted their flesh as gift before the gods, whose every shade is marked by Soma’s eye, full with milk and teeming with young—
grant these unto our byre, O Indra, strong in deed.
Prajāpati, in league with gods and sires of old, hath given them into my hand.
In favor he hath sent them hither to our fold.
May we dwell beside them, and their young, in peace.
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.169
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.
mayobhūr vāto abhi vātūsrā ūrjasvatīr oṣadhīr ā riśantām |
pīvasvatīr jīvadhanyāḥ pibantv avasāya padvate rudra mṛḻa || 1 ||
yāḥ sarūpā virūpā ekarūpā yāsām agnir iṣṭyā nāmāni veda |
yā aṅgirasas tapaseha cakrus tābhyaḥ parjanya mahi śarma yaccha || 2 ||
yā deveṣu tanva1m airayanta yāsāṁ somo viśvā rūpāṇi veda |
tā asmabhyam payasā pinvamānāḥ prajāvatīr indra goṣṭhe rirīhi || 3 ||
prajāpatir mahyam etā rarāṇo viśvair devaiḥ pitṛbhiḥ saṁvidānaḥ |
śivāḥ satīr upa no goṣṭham ākas tāsāṁ vayam prajayā saṁ sadema || 4 ||
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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