Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.5 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.
O Agni, thou hidden god! Concealed in the waters yet unquenched. Hidden in the plant yet ever burning. Dwelling within the stone yet eternal. Thou art everywhere and nowhere at once. Mortals see thee not in thy true form, yet thou art the life in all that liveth.
In the ocean deeps thou dwellest, and the waters know thee. The sea-god Varuṇa guardeth thee in his palace. Yet no wave can drown thy fire. No depth can extinguish thy flame. Thou art the secret warmth that maketh the waters dance. Thou art the life-breath of every creature born from the womb of the sea.
In the grass and the grain thou hidest thy glory. In the roots of the tree, in the seed that is cast, in the leaf that unfoldeth toward the sun—there thou burnest in secret. The plant knoweth thee not by name, yet it riseth toward the sky because thou pushest it upward with thy hidden fire.
In the mountain stone thou sleepest. For ages thou hast dwelt within the rock, and none hath discovered thee. The stone is hard and cold to touch, yet within it burneth the immortal flame. When the sage striketh two stones together, a spark leapeth forth—the secret revealed, the god brought forth from his long concealment.
O Agni, why hidest thou thyself? Why dwellest thou in such darkness? The answer is: So that all things might contain the divine. So that every creature beareth thee within itself. So that the humble man and the mighty king both carry thee in their bodies without knowing. Thou art the secret fire at the heart of all being. When a man loveth, thou art his burning. When he striveth for the right, thou art his heat. O hidden god! Make thyself known to us. Let us feel thy warmth. Let us kindle thee in our own hearts.
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.5
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.
vaiśvānarāya mīḻhuṣe sajoṣāḥ kathā dāśemāgnaye bṛhad bhāḥ |
anūnena bṛhatā vakṣathenopa stabhāyad upamin na rodhaḥ || 1 ||
mā nindata ya imām mahyaṁ rātiṁ devo dadau martyāya svadhāvān |
pākāya gṛtso amṛto vicetā vaiśvānaro nṛtamo yahvo agniḥ || 2 ||
sāma dvibarhā mahi tigmabhṛṣṭiḥ sahasraretā vṛṣabhas tuviṣmān |
padaṁ na gor apagūḻhaṁ vividvān agnir mahyam pred u vocan manīṣām || 3 ||
pra tām̐ agnir babhasat tigmajambhas tapiṣṭhena śociṣā yaḥ surādhāḥ |
pra ye minanti varuṇasya dhāma priyā mitrasya cetato dhruvāṇi || 4 ||
abhrātaro na yoṣaṇo vyantaḥ patiripo na janayo durevāḥ |
pāpāsaḥ santo anṛtā asatyā idam padam ajanatā gabhīram || 5 ||
idam me agne kiyate pāvakāminate gurum bhāraṁ na manma |
bṛhad dadhātha dhṛṣatā gabhīraṁ yahvam pṛṣṭham prayasā saptadhātu || 6 ||
tam in nv e3va samanā samānam abhi kratvā punatī dhītir aśyāḥ |
sasasya carmann adhi cāru pṛśner agre rupa ārupitaṁ jabāru || 7 ||
pravācyaṁ vacasaḥ kim me asya guhā hitam upa niṇig vadanti |
yad usriyāṇām apa vār iva vran pāti priyaṁ rupo agram padaṁ veḥ || 8 ||
idam u tyan mahi mahām anīkaṁ yad usriyā sacata pūrvyaṁ gauḥ |
ṛtasya pade adhi dīdyānaṁ guhā raghuṣyad raghuyad viveda || 9 ||
adha dyutānaḥ pitroḥ sacāsāmanuta guhyaṁ cāru pṛśneḥ |
mātuṣ pade parame anti ṣad gor vṛṣṇaḥ śociṣaḥ prayatasya jihvā || 10 ||
ṛtaṁ voce namasā pṛcchyamānas tavāśasā jātavedo yadīdam |
tvam asya kṣayasi yad dha viśvaṁ divi yad u draviṇaṁ yat pṛthivyām || 11 ||
kiṁ no asya draviṇaṁ kad dha ratnaṁ vi no voco jātavedaś cikitvān |
guhādhvanaḥ paramaṁ yan no asya reku padaṁ na nidānā aganma || 12 ||
kā maryādā vayunā kad dha vāmam acchā gamema raghavo na vājam |
kadā no devīr amṛtasya patnīḥ sūro varṇena tatanann uṣāsaḥ || 13 ||
anireṇa vacasā phalgvena pratītyena kṛdhunātṛpāsaḥ |
adhā te agne kim ihā vadanty anāyudhāsa āsatā sacantām || 14 ||
asya śriye samidhānasya vṛṣṇo vasor anīkaṁ dama ā ruroca |
ruśad vasānaḥ sudṛśīkarūpaḥ kṣitir na rāyā puruvāro adyaut || 15 ||
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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