Hymn to Agni
Rigveda II.6 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.
Agni, thou art the radiant destroyer of all darkness! When the night descendeth black and terrible upon the earth, thou alone dost stand unafraid, burning with the light of a thousand suns. The shadows flee before thee; the spirits of malice dare not approach thy glowing altar. In thee burneth the courage of heaven itself.
Thy light pierceth the thickest gloom. Thy flame riseth above the mountains, visible from great distances, a beacon of hope and safety. Those who are lost seek thee out. Those who are afraid gather near thy warmth. Thou art the dispeller of nightmares, the slayer of phantom-terrors, the guardian against all things that prowl in darkness.
The rākṣasas tremble at thy coming! The demons shriek and scatter like frightened birds! The spirits of the dead flee back to their shadowy realms! Thou art the weapon with which the gods themselves smote down the forces of chaos. Thy power is not of the mortal world — it is the very essence of cosmic order made manifest in flame.
When the storm-clouds gather and the thunder speaketh, thou art there, wrestling with the darkness, refusing to be extinguished. The rain doth not quench thee; the wind doth not scatter thy flame. Thou burnest ever brighter, ever more fierce, until the darkness taketh flight and the stars emerge once more in the clearing sky.
O Agni, be our protector! Stand eternal at the threshold of our homes! Let no shadow approach us unheeded! Let no evil find harbor where thy light falleth! Burn away our sins as thou burnest away the darkness! Through thy radiance, let us walk without fear. Through thy flame, let us know ourselves to be blessed and guarded by the gods.
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 II.6
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.
imām me agne samidham imām upasadaṁ vaneḥ |
imā u ṣu śrudhī giraḥ || 1 ||
ayā te agne vidhemorjo napād aśvamiṣṭe |
enā sūktena sujāta || 2 ||
taṁ tvā gīrbhir girvaṇasaṁ draviṇasyuṁ draviṇodaḥ |
saparyema saparyavaḥ || 3 ||
sa bodhi sūrir maghavā vasupate vasudāvan |
yuyodhy a1smad dveṣāṁsi || 4 ||
sa no vṛṣṭiṁ divas pari sa no vājam anarvāṇam |
sa naḥ sahasriṇīr iṣaḥ || 5 ||
īḻānāyāvasyave yaviṣṭha dūta no girā |
yajiṣṭha hotar ā gahi || 6 ||
antar hy agna īyase vidvāñ janmobhayā kave |
dūto janyeva mitryaḥ || 7 ||
sa vidvām̐ ā ca piprayo yakṣi cikitva ānuṣak |
ā cāsmin satsi barhiṣi || 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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