Hymn to Agni
Rigveda II.9 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 purifier of all offerings! The ghee we pour, the grain we scatter, the soma we press, the flesh we burn — all these are impure until thou consumest them with thy sacred flame. In thy mouth they are transformed, made perfect and worthy of the gods.
The mortal who brings his offering knoweth not whether his gift is acceptable. He may bring the finest ghee, the richest grain, the most precious soma — yet if his heart is unworthy, his offering shall be rejected. But thou, O Agni, thou seest into the very depths of his spirit. Thy flame discerneth between the genuine and the false, the pure and the defiled.
When the righteous man poureth forth his offering with a devoted heart, thy flame riseth straight and bright, ascending like the prayers of heaven itself! The gods accept it gladly. But when the deceiver bringeth his false gift, thy fire dulleth and sputters; it refuseth to consume what is unworthy. Thus dost thou protect the sacred realm from the pollution of hypocrisy.
This is thy greatest gift, O flame — that through thee, the humble man's meager offering becometh more precious than a kingdom's treasure. The widow's single handful of grain, offered with pure intention, is exalted in thy flame above the rich man's gold. Thou art the judge and the perfecter, the refiner and the glorifier.
Purify us, O Agni, as thou purifiest our offerings! Burn away our sins and deceits! Let thy flame consume all that is unworthy in us! Transform us, as thou transformest the offerings, into vessels fit for the gods to use. Accept our gifts not as they are, but as thy purifying fire maketh them — perfect, whole, and radiant with the light of heaven.
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.9
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 hotā hotṛṣadane vidānas tveṣo dīdivām̐ asadat sudakṣaḥ |
adabdhavratapramatir vasiṣṭhaḥ sahasrambharaḥ śucijihvo agniḥ || 1 ||
tvaṁ dūtas tvam u naḥ paraspās tvaṁ vasya ā vṛṣabha praṇetā |
agne tokasya nas tane tanūnām aprayucchan dīdyad bodhi gopāḥ || 2 ||
vidhema te parame janmann agne vidhema stomair avare sadhasthe |
yasmād yoner udārithā yaje tam pra tve havīṁṣi juhure samiddhe || 3 ||
agne yajasva haviṣā yajīyāñ chruṣṭī deṣṇam abhi gṛṇīhi rādhaḥ |
tvaṁ hy asi rayipatī rayīṇāṁ tvaṁ śukrasya vacaso manotā || 4 ||
ubhayaṁ te na kṣīyate vasavyaṁ dive-dive jāyamānasya dasma |
kṛdhi kṣumantaṁ jaritāram agne kṛdhi patiṁ svapatyasya rāyaḥ || 5 ||
sainānīkena suvidatro asme yaṣṭā devām̐ āyajiṣṭhaḥ svasti |
adabdho gopā uta naḥ paraspā agne dyumad uta revad didīhi || 6 ||
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).
🌲