Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.19 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.
Turn thee back—go no further.
Dwell awhile in our fellowship, ye richly laden.
O Agni and Soma, bringers of the bounty returned, keep fast our wealth within your keeping.
Call them again, turn them hither once more.
Let Indra bar their flight, let Agni draw them near.
Let them not stray afar, but circle round once more.
May they return to us, and flourish under the ward of this man, lord of the herds.
Here, O Agni, bind them firm.
Here, let our treasure abide.
And the herdsman too—him I summon to the way of return:
to the way of the homeward path, the accord made whole, to the turning hence, and the turning back again.
He who hath loosed them, who hath driven them out— who turned them astray and scattered their way— let him also now turn again,
let the herdsman make his way back.
O thou who turnest, turn them to us again.
Give back the kine, O Indra, grant them once more to our hands.
Let us rejoice among them, while yet they live and breathe.
On every side I hedge you in with plenty— with milk and the golden flow of ghee.
Whichever gods are fit to receive this rite, let them be joined with us in wealth and blessing.
Thou who turnest, turn them here.
Thou who turnest, turn them back again.
The earth is fourfold in her corners—
from each of these, bring them back to us.
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.19
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.
ni vartadhvam mānu gātāsmān siṣakta revatīḥ |
agnīṣomā punarvasū asme dhārayataṁ rayim || 1 ||
punar enā ni vartaya punar enā ny ā kuru |
indra eṇā ni yacchatv agnir enā upājatu || 2 ||
punar etā ni vartantām asmin puṣyantu gopatau |
ihaivāgne ni dhārayeha tiṣṭhatu yā rayiḥ || 3 ||
yan niyānaṁ nyayanaṁ saṁjñānaṁ yat parāyaṇam |
āvartanaṁ nivartanaṁ yo gopā api taṁ huve || 4 ||
ya udānaḍ vyayanaṁ ya udānaṭ parāyaṇam |
āvartanaṁ nivartanam api gopā ni vartatām || 5 ||
ā nivarta ni vartaya punar na indra gā dehi |
jīvābhir bhunajāmahai || 6 ||
pari vo viśvato dadha ūrjā ghṛtena payasā |
ye devāḥ ke ca yajñiyās te rayyā saṁ sṛjantu naḥ || 7 ||
ā nivartana vartaya ni nivartana vartaya |
bhūmyāś catasraḥ pradiśas tābhya enā ni vartaya || 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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