Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.2 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.
Born thou art from the two fire-sticks rubbed together in darkness! Hidden in the wood like a god in hiding, thou sleepest until the friction wakes thee. Then thou leapest forth, invisible, yet shining. The mystery of thy birth none comprehend. The gods themselves were amazed when first thou springest from the kindling.
Where dwellest thou before the sticks are struck? In the plant? In the stone? In the sky above? None knoweth. Thou art everywhere and nowhere. Thou art younger than the morning, yet older than time itself. The very first priests did not create thee—they only called thee forth from thy long sleep.
O hidden fire! Thou art in the bamboo, in the bamboo's heart. When the sage rubs stick against stick, thou answerest. The friction is but the cry that summons thee from thy secret dwelling. And thou comest, O Agni, swiftly as a lover to his beloved. The wood trembles at thy touch. The smoke is thy breath, sweet and ascending.
In the waters thou hidest also. Not visible, yet burning. In the plants thou dwellest. In the stone thou waitest. In every creature's body the sacred fire burneth, though none see it. Only the wise man knoweth that Agni is all-pervading, that the whole world is aflame with the hidden god.
O Agni, thou mystery! Thou terrible secret! When the sticks are rubbed, thou art called forth from the void. When the offering is made, thou descendest from thy high throne to consume it. Thou goest between the worlds, carrying the prayers of men to the immortal gods. Without thee, there would be no sacrifice. Without thee, no covenant between heaven and earth.
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 IV.2
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.
yo martyeṣv amṛta ṛtāvā devo deveṣv aratir nidhāyi |
hotā yajiṣṭho mahnā śucadhyai havyair agnir manuṣa īrayadhyai || 1 ||
iha tvaṁ sūno sahaso no adya jāto jātām̐ ubhayām̐ antar agne |
dūta īyase yuyujāna ṛṣva ṛjumuṣkān vṛṣaṇaḥ śukrām̐ś ca || 2 ||
atyā vṛdhasnū rohitā ghṛtasnū ṛtasya manye manasā javiṣṭhā |
antar īyase aruṣā yujāno yuṣmām̐ś ca devān viśa ā ca martān || 3 ||
aryamaṇaṁ varuṇam mitram eṣām indrāviṣṇū maruto aśvinota |
svaśvo agne surathaḥ surādhā ed u vaha suhaviṣe janāya || 4 ||
gomām̐ agne 'vimām̐ aśvī yajño nṛvatsakhā sadam id apramṛṣyaḥ |
iḻāvām̐ eṣo asura prajāvān dīrgho rayiḥ pṛthubudhnaḥ sabhāvān || 5 ||
yas ta idhmaṁ jabharat siṣvidāno mūrdhānaṁ vā tatapate tvāyā |
bhuvas tasya svatavām̐ḥ pāyur agne viśvasmāt sīm aghāyata uruṣya || 6 ||
yas te bharād anniyate cid annaṁ niśiṣan mandram atithim udīrat |
ā devayur inadhate duroṇe tasmin rayir dhruvo astu dāsvān || 7 ||
yas tvā doṣā ya uṣasi praśaṁsāt priyaṁ vā tvā kṛṇavate haviṣmān |
aśvo na sve dama ā hemyāvān tam aṁhasaḥ pīparo dāśvāṁsam || 8 ||
yas tubhyam agne amṛtāya dāśad duvas tve kṛṇavate yatasruk |
na sa rāyā śaśamāno vi yoṣan nainam aṁhaḥ pari varad aghāyoḥ || 9 ||
yasya tvam agne adhvaraṁ jujoṣo devo martasya sudhitaṁ rarāṇaḥ |
prīted asad dhotrā sā yaviṣṭhāsāma yasya vidhato vṛdhāsaḥ || 10 ||
cittim acittiṁ cinavad vi vidvān pṛṣṭheva vītā vṛjinā ca martān |
rāye ca naḥ svapatyāya deva ditiṁ ca rāsvāditim uruṣya || 11 ||
kaviṁ śaśāsuḥ kavayo 'dabdhā nidhārayanto duryāsv āyoḥ |
atas tvaṁ dṛśyām̐ agna etān paḍbhiḥ paśyer adbhutām̐ arya evaiḥ || 12 ||
tvam agne vāghate supraṇītiḥ sutasomāya vidhate yaviṣṭha |
ratnam bhara śaśamānāya ghṛṣve pṛthu ścandram avase carṣaṇiprāḥ || 13 ||
adhā ha yad vayam agne tvāyā paḍbhir hastebhiś cakṛmā tanūbhiḥ |
rathaṁ na kranto apasā bhurijor ṛtaṁ yemuḥ sudhya āśuṣāṇāḥ || 14 ||
adhā mātur uṣasaḥ sapta viprā jāyemahi prathamā vedhaso nṝn |
divas putrā aṅgiraso bhavemādriṁ rujema dhaninaṁ śucantaḥ || 15 ||
adhā yathā naḥ pitaraḥ parāsaḥ pratnāso agna ṛtam āśuṣāṇāḥ |
śucīd ayan dīdhitim ukthaśāsaḥ kṣāmā bhindanto aruṇīr apa vran || 16 ||
sukarmāṇaḥ suruco devayanto 'yo na devā janimā dhamantaḥ |
śucanto agniṁ vavṛdhanta indram ūrvaṁ gavyam pariṣadanto agman || 17 ||
ā yūtheva kṣumati paśvo akhyad devānāṁ yaj janimānty ugra |
martānāṁ cid urvaśīr akṛpran vṛdhe cid arya uparasyāyoḥ || 18 ||
akarma te svapaso abhūma ṛtam avasrann uṣaso vibhātīḥ |
anūnam agnim purudhā suścandraṁ devasya marmṛjataś cāru cakṣuḥ || 19 ||
etā te agna ucathāni vedho 'vocāma kavaye tā juṣasva |
uc chocasva kṛṇuhi vasyaso no maho rāyaḥ puruvāra pra yandhi || 20 ||
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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