Hymn to Agni
Rigveda III.9 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.
Hidden in the waters dwellest thou, O Agni, concealed as a secret known only to the wise! The waters do not quench thee, nay, they do hide thee in their deepest chambers, and there thou burnest still — a fire invisible, a flame that requireth no fuel, an eternal light that no mortal eye may perceive.
The waters are thy dwelling-place, the womb in which thou art cradled. Just as the child doth rest within the mother's belly, unknown to the outer world yet alive and growing, so dost thou remain in the waters, growing in strength and knowledge, awaiting the moment of thy revelation.
The seers have known this mystery from the beginning of time. They have called upon thee in the hidden places, in the depths of the seas and in the rushing rivers. They have poured their oblations into the waters and called thee forth, and lo, thou didst emerge dripping with spray, more brilliant than before, thy power increased a thousandfold by thy sojourn in the sacred waters.
What mystery is this, that fire can dwell in water? What paradox is this, that the two should be companions rather than enemies? Thus doth the mind of mortals learn that the gods are not bound by the laws that govern us. They transcend all opposites, they reconcile all contradictions, they contain within themselves the truth that lieth beyond our understanding.
Come forth now from the waters, O hidden flame! Reveal thyself unto thy people who call upon thee with pure hearts! Rise up in brilliance, emerge with thy full power, and show unto us that thou hast grown in the sacred depths. Let thy revelation shine forth, let thy mystery become truth, let the hidden things of the waters now become manifest unto all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
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.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.
sakhāyas tvā vavṛmahe devam martāsa ūtaye |
apāṁ napātaṁ subhagaṁ sudīditiṁ supratūrtim anehasam || 1 ||
kāyamāno vanā tvaṁ yan mātṝr ajagann apaḥ |
na tat te agne pramṛṣe nivartanaṁ yad dūre sann ihābhavaḥ || 2 ||
ati tṛṣṭaṁ vavakṣithāthaiva sumanā asi |
pra-prānye yanti pary anya āsate yeṣāṁ sakhye asi śritaḥ || 3 ||
īyivāṁsam ati sridhaḥ śaśvatīr ati saścataḥ |
anv īm avindan nicirāso adruho 'psu siṁham iva śritam || 4 ||
sasṛvāṁsam iva tmanāgnim itthā tirohitam |
ainaṁ nayan mātariśvā parāvato devebhyo mathitam pari || 5 ||
taṁ tvā martā agṛbhṇata devebhyo havyavāhana |
viśvān yad yajñām̐ abhipāsi mānuṣa tava kratvā yaviṣṭhya || 6 ||
tad bhadraṁ tava daṁsanā pākāya cic chadayati |
tvāṁ yad agne paśavaḥ samāsate samiddham apiśarvare || 7 ||
ā juhotā svadhvaraṁ śīram pāvakaśociṣam |
āśuṁ dūtam ajiram pratnam īḍyaṁ śruṣṭī devaṁ saparyata || 8 ||
trīṇi śatā trī sahasrāṇy agniṁ triṁśac ca devā nava cāsaparyan |
aukṣan ghṛtair astṛṇan barhir asmā ād id dhotāraṁ ny asādayanta || 9 ||
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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