Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.13 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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.
At the breaking of the dawn, O Agni, we kindle thee! The night hath passed. The stars have faded. The sun is not yet risen. The world dwelleth in that sacred twilight where all is grey and still. Now is the time, O fire! Now we call thee forth!
Thou art born again this morning as thou art born again each morning since the beginning of time. The sticks are struck. The tinder gloweth. The first flame leapeth up, and the day beginneth. O newborn fire! O ancient and ever-young one! Come forth, come forth!
The morning prayer is the most sacred prayer. In the quiet of the dawn, when all the world sleepeth, the voice of the sacrificer is pure and unmixed. There is no distraction. There is no noise but the sound of thy crackling. There is no light but thy light. The gods themselves are nearer at dawn. They have not yet turned their faces away from the earth. They are listening.
O Agni, accept our morning offering! This is the time when the veil between heaven and earth is thin. This is the time when our prayers rise most swiftly to the throne of the immortals. We pour the butter. We speak the sacred words. Thou burnest brightly, hungrily. Thy smoke riseth straight up into the sky, and we know—we know—that the gods are bending down to listen.
O morning fire! O newly kindled one! Give us the strength to face the day. Give us the courage to meet whatever cometh. Give us the wisdom to speak truth and act justly. As thou greeteth the rising sun with thy flames, so let us greet this new day with open hearts and clear minds. Thou art the herald of the morning. Thou art the priest of the dawn. We honour thee, O Agni! Burn brightly! Burn eternal! Let this day be blessed.
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 IV.13
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.
praty agnir uṣasām agram akhyad vibhātīnāṁ sumanā ratnadheyam |
yātam aśvinā sukṛto duroṇam ut sūryo jyotiṣā deva eti || 1 ||
ūrdhvam bhānuṁ savitā devo aśred drapsaṁ davidhvad gaviṣo na satvā |
anu vrataṁ varuṇo yanti mitro yat sūryaṁ divy ārohayanti || 2 ||
yaṁ sīm akṛṇvan tamase vipṛce dhruvakṣemā anavasyanto artham |
taṁ sūryaṁ haritaḥ sapta yahvīḥ spaśaṁ viśvasya jagato vahanti || 3 ||
vahiṣṭhebhir viharan yāsi tantum avavyayann asitaṁ deva vasma |
davidhvato raśmayaḥ sūryasya carmevāvādhus tamo apsv a1ntaḥ || 4 ||
anāyato anibaddhaḥ kathāyaṁ nyaṅṅ uttāno 'va padyate na |
kayā yāti svadhayā ko dadarśa divaḥ skambhaḥ samṛtaḥ pāti nākam || 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).
🌲