Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.20 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 3 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 enricher, thou lord of abundance and increase, to whom we turn when the granary runs low and the herds grow thin—we sing thy praise with grateful voices. For thou dost transmute the wood into warmth, the seed into the growing stalk, the raw offering into the sacred smoke that ascendeth to the gods.
Thou art the alchemist of the heavens, O fire most generous. Through thy agency, butter becomes prayer. Grain becomes sustenance for body and soul alike. The wood of the tree, which would else remain mere timber, become a path unto the divine realm. Thou dost take that which is earthly and raise it to the celestial, that the gods might partake and, being satisfied, do turn their faces toward us in blessing.
The man who honoreth thee with proper rite waxeth prosperous. His herds multiply like stars in the firmament. His fields yield grain in abundance, so that his storehouses overflow and his children cry out for joy at the plenty surrounding them. His wealth floweth forth not from theft or cunning, but from thy hand, pure and righteous, the fruit of his faithful service unto thee.
Thou dost not hoard thy bounty, but scatterest it freely unto all who approach thee with clean hands and honest intention. The widow's pot is filled when she turneth to thee. The orphan's hunger is satisfied. The wanderer findeth shelter and warmth at thy hearth.
Grant unto us, O Agni, the prosperity that endureth, the wealth that cannot be stolen, the abundance that floweth from righteous living and faithful ritual. Let our lands be fertile, our herds be fruitful, our children be healthy and strong. Make us rich not in greed, but in sufficiency and generosity, that we might share our bounty with all who hunger.
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 III.20
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.
agnim uṣasam aśvinā dadhikrāṁ vyuṣṭiṣu havate vahnir ukthaiḥ |
sujyotiṣo naḥ śṛṇvantu devāḥ sajoṣaso adhvaraṁ vāvaśānāḥ || 1 ||
agne trī te vājinā trī ṣadhasthā tisras te jihvā ṛtajāta pūrvīḥ |
tisra u te tanvo devavātās tābhir naḥ pāhi giro aprayucchan || 2 ||
agne bhūrīṇi tava jātavedo deva svadhāvo 'mṛtasya nāma |
yāś ca māyā māyināṁ viśvaminva tve pūrvīḥ saṁdadhuḥ pṛṣṭabandho || 3 ||
agnir netā bhaga iva kṣitīnāṁ daivīnāṁ deva ṛtupā ṛtāvā |
sa vṛtrahā sanayo viśvavedāḥ parṣad viśvāti duritā gṛṇantam || 4 ||
dadhikrām agnim uṣasaṁ ca devīm bṛhaspatiṁ savitāraṁ ca devam |
aśvinā mitrāvaruṇā bhagaṁ ca vasūn rudrām̐ ādityām̐ iha huve || 5 ||
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).
🌲