Hymn to Agni
Rigveda II.2 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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.
Each dawn, O Agni, thou art born anew from the womb of the dry wood! The mortal kindler striketh spark from stone; the flame riseth, tiny at first, then mighty and devouring. Thou art the child of the waters, the son of the lightning, the eternal youth who never groweth old.
When the wood is laid, thou comest forth golden-tongued and bright. Thy light filleth the hut; thy warmth driveth back the cold and the terror of the night. The cattle gather near thy glow; the birds settle upon the roof-beam. All creatures seek thee out, for thou art the comfort of the living world.
Yet thou art also the destroyer. When thou runnest wild through the forest, the trees flee before thee in ash and cinder. The wild beasts scatter; the grass withereth. Thou art both the nurture and the dread, the gentle flame and the consuming fire.
Morning after morning, the priest kindleth thee anew. Each time thou art born, thou art born the same — unchanged and eternal, though thy body is ever young. This is thy mystery, O Agni: that thou diest every night in ash and smoke, yet risest again with the dawn, ever fresh, ever pure.
We praise thy coming! Thou art the herald of day. Thou art the breath of the sacrifice. Accept our offerings of ghee and grain, and carry them to the gods on high. Guard us through the dark hours. Kindle us with thy strength that we too may be reborn, day after day, immortal in thy flame.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda II.2
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.
yajñena vardhata jātavedasam agniṁ yajadhvaṁ haviṣā tanā girā |
samidhānaṁ suprayasaṁ svarṇaraṁ dyukṣaṁ hotāraṁ vṛjaneṣu dhūrṣadam || 1 ||
abhi tvā naktīr uṣaso vavāśire 'gne vatsaṁ na svasareṣu dhenavaḥ |
diva ived aratir mānuṣā yugā kṣapo bhāsi puruvāra saṁyataḥ || 2 ||
taṁ devā budhne rajasaḥ sudaṁsasaṁ divaspṛthivyor aratiṁ ny erire |
ratham iva vedyaṁ śukraśociṣam agnim mitraṁ na kṣitiṣu praśaṁsyam || 3 ||
tam ukṣamāṇaṁ rajasi sva ā dame candram iva surucaṁ hvāra ā dadhuḥ |
pṛśnyāḥ pataraṁ citayantam akṣabhiḥ pātho na pāyuṁ janasī ubhe anu || 4 ||
sa hotā viśvam pari bhūtv adhvaraṁ tam u havyair manuṣa ṛñjate girā |
hiriśipro vṛdhasānāsu jarbhurad dyaur na stṛbhiś citayad rodasī anu || 5 ||
sa no revat samidhānaḥ svastaye saṁdadasvān rayim asmāsu dīdihi |
ā naḥ kṛṇuṣva suvitāya rodasī agne havyā manuṣo deva vītaye || 6 ||
dā no agne bṛhato dāḥ sahasriṇo duro na vājaṁ śrutyā apā vṛdhi |
prācī dyāvāpṛthivī brahmaṇā kṛdhi sva1r ṇa śukram uṣaso vi didyutaḥ || 7 ||
sa idhāna uṣaso rāmyā anu sva1r ṇa dīded aruṣeṇa bhānunā |
hotrābhir agnir manuṣaḥ svadhvaro rājā viśām atithiś cārur āyave || 8 ||
evā no agne amṛteṣu pūrvya dhīṣ pīpāya bṛhaddiveṣu mānuṣā |
duhānā dhenur vṛjaneṣu kārave tmanā śatinam pururūpam iṣaṇi || 9 ||
vayam agne arvatā vā suvīryam brahmaṇā vā citayemā janām̐ ati |
asmākaṁ dyumnam adhi pañca kṛṣṭiṣūccā sva1r ṇa śuśucīta duṣṭaram || 10 ||
sa no bodhi sahasya praśaṁsyo yasmin sujātā iṣayanta sūrayaḥ |
yam agne yajñam upayanti vājino nitye toke dīdivāṁsaṁ sve dame || 11 ||
ubhayāso jātavedaḥ syāma te stotāro agne sūrayaś ca śarmaṇi |
vasvo rāyaḥ puruścandrasya bhūyasaḥ prajāvataḥ svapatyasya śagdhi naḥ || 12 ||
ye stotṛbhyo goagrām aśvapeśasam agne rātim upasṛjanti sūrayaḥ |
asmāñ ca tām̐ś ca pra hi neṣi vasya ā bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 13 ||
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).
🌲