Hymn to Agni
Rigveda X.5 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.
The sea is but one, the deep ground of wealth, yet he—born again and again—looketh forth from within us, out of our heart.
He draweth nigh to the udder that lieth in the lap of the hidden two.
The path of the bird is laid in the midst of the springing well.
Clad in one dwelling, the bold buffaloes, strong as bulls, are joined with the mares in harmony.
The wise seers guard the track of truth; they have hidden the highest names away.
The twain who bear both truth and craft have drawn together.
They gave him his measure and brought forth the babe, who waxed great— he that is the navel of all things, the moving and the still.
With their thoughts, they follow the thread the poet spins.
For the paths of truth cleave to the noble-born, and olden gifts of refreshment flow to him for the prize.
The two world-halves, wrapped in their mantle, have anointed their own with ghee and honeyed meats.
Crying aloud, the knower hath raised up the seven ruddy sisters from the honey to be beheld.
He held them fast—those born of old—in the space between.
Seeking a covering, he found the cloak of Pūṣan.
The wise singers have shaped seven bounds, yet only to one hath the narrow way led.
The pillar standeth firm on its root in the resting-place of the high-born Āyu, where all ways come to an end.
Yea, both being and unbeing are in the loftiest heaven, at the birth-place of skill in the lap of Aditi.
Agni is to us the first-born of truth—
a bull and a milk-giver in the days that came before.
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.5
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.
ekaḥ samudro dharuṇo rayīṇām asmad dhṛdo bhūrijanmā vi caṣṭe |
siṣakty ūdhar niṇyor upastha utsasya madhye nihitam padaṁ veḥ || 1 ||
samānaṁ nīḻaṁ vṛṣaṇo vasānāḥ saṁ jagmire mahiṣā arvatībhiḥ |
ṛtasya padaṁ kavayo ni pānti guhā nāmāni dadhire parāṇi || 2 ||
ṛtāyinī māyinī saṁ dadhāte mitvā śiśuṁ jajñatur vardhayantī |
viśvasya nābhiṁ carato dhruvasya kaveś cit tantum manasā viyantaḥ || 3 ||
ṛtasya hi vartanayaḥ sujātam iṣo vājāya pradivaḥ sacante |
adhīvāsaṁ rodasī vāvasāne ghṛtair annair vāvṛdhāte madhūnām || 4 ||
sapta svasṝr aruṣīr vāvaśāno vidvān madhva uj jabhārā dṛśe kam |
antar yeme antarikṣe purājā icchan vavrim avidat pūṣaṇasya || 5 ||
sapta maryādāḥ kavayas tatakṣus tāsām ekām id abhy aṁhuro gāt |
āyor ha skambha upamasya nīḻe pathāṁ visarge dharuṇeṣu tasthau || 6 ||
asac ca sac ca parame vyoman dakṣasya janmann aditer upasthe |
agnir ha naḥ prathamajā ṛtasya pūrva āyuni vṛṣabhaś ca dhenuḥ || 7 ||
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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