Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.8 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.
Behold the yūpa, the post that standeth at the center of the sacrifice, unmoving, eternal, the axis around which all the sacred action turneth! And thou, O Agni, art this post. Thou art the stable center, the immovable center, the point upon which the whole world doth pivot and revolve.
The sacrificial animal is bound unto the yūpa, and there it standeth dignified and still, prepared to give its life that the world might be sustained. Even so dost thou stand unmoved at the center of all sacrifice, receiving the oblations that mortals bring, transforming them, lifting them upward. Thou art both the post and the fire, the vessel and the contents.
'Tis not the wood that holdeth meaning in the sacrifice, nor is it merely the beast that doth fulfil the sacred work. 'Tis the standing, the constancy, the unwavering dedication to the cosmic order that giveth power to the ritual. And thou, O Agni, embodiest this principle most perfectly. Thou dost not waver or fade. Thou dost not tire or complain. Thou standest.
Through the yūpa the entire universe is bound together. From the base it reacheth downward to the netherworlds, and from the summit it stretcheth upward unto the highest heavens. And thou, O fire, art this cosmic pillar incarnate! Through thee the earth and heaven are joined, through thee the gods and mortals do commune.
O Agni, stand thou forever at the center of our rites! Let us be as devoted to thee as the sacrificial animal is devoted to the yūpa. Let our hearts be as steady as the post, our faith as unshakeable, our dedication as complete. For in this constancy, in this unwavering commitment to truth, doth lie the power of all sacrifice and the salvation of all worlds.
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 III.8
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.
añjanti tvām adhvare devayanto vanaspate madhunā daivyena |
yad ūrdhvas tiṣṭhā draviṇeha dhattād yad vā kṣayo mātur asyā upasthe || 1 ||
samiddhasya śrayamāṇaḥ purastād brahma vanvāno ajaraṁ suvīram |
āre asmad amatim bādhamāna uc chrayasva mahate saubhagāya || 2 ||
uc chrayasva vanaspate varṣman pṛthivyā adhi |
sumitī mīyamāno varco dhā yajñavāhase || 3 ||
yuvā suvāsāḥ parivīta āgāt sa u śreyān bhavati jāyamānaḥ |
taṁ dhīrāsaḥ kavaya un nayanti svādhyo3 manasā devayantaḥ || 4 ||
jāto jāyate sudinatve ahnāṁ samarya ā vidathe vardhamānaḥ |
punanti dhīrā apaso manīṣā devayā vipra ud iyarti vācam || 5 ||
yān vo naro devayanto nimimyur vanaspate svadhitir vā tatakṣa |
te devāsaḥ svaravas tasthivāṁsaḥ prajāvad asme didhiṣantu ratnam || 6 ||
ye vṛkṇāso adhi kṣami nimitāso yatasrucaḥ |
te no vyantu vāryaṁ devatrā kṣetrasādhasaḥ || 7 ||
ādityā rudrā vasavaḥ sunīthā dyāvākṣāmā pṛthivī antarikṣam |
sajoṣaso yajñam avantu devā ūrdhvaṁ kṛṇvantv adhvarasya ketum || 8 ||
haṁsā iva śreṇiśo yatānāḥ śukrā vasānāḥ svaravo na āguḥ |
unnīyamānāḥ kavibhiḥ purastād devā devānām api yanti pāthaḥ || 9 ||
śṛṅgāṇīvec chṛṅgiṇāṁ saṁ dadṛśre caṣālavantaḥ svaravaḥ pṛthivyām |
vāghadbhir vā vihave śroṣamāṇā asmām̐ avantu pṛtanājyeṣu || 10 ||
vanaspate śatavalśo vi roha sahasravalśā vi vayaṁ ruhema |
yaṁ tvām ayaṁ svadhitis tejamānaḥ praṇināya mahate saubhagāya || 11 ||
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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