A Hymn of Maṇḍala 4
Rigveda IV.7 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 Vaiśvānara! Universal fire! Thou art not the god of one people alone, but of all peoples. Thou art the fire in the Āryan's hearth, and also the fire in the foreigner's home. In every land, in every tribe, in every family beneath the sun—there thou dwellest.
The man in the mountain cave kindleth thee. The woman in the valley speaketh thy name. The child in the distant kingdom learneth to make offerings to thee. Thou dost not ask: "Art thou worthy?" Thou dost not refuse thy warmth to the poor man. Thou dost not abandon the wicked. Thou art the democratic fire, the universal god.
Vaiśvānara! Thou art the fire of all beings. In the belly of every creature thou dwellest, the internal heat that burneth away the food, that giveth strength and life. The cow hath thee. The horse possesseth thee. The bird flieth because of thee. The worm crawleth forward impelled by thy warmth. All flesh carrieth thee.
O fire of all peoples! When the Pañcālas kindle thee, and when the Yamuna peoples kindle thee, and when the Kurus kindle thee—all are equal before thy throne. Thou hearest the prayer of the rich man's elaborate sacrifice, and also the prayer of the poor widow who hath but a handful of barley to offer. All smoke rises equal. All prayers rise equal. All men are thy children.
This is thy glory, O Vaiśvānara! That thou knowest no borders. That thou burnest in every heart. That thou art the fire of humanity itself, uniting all peoples in the sacred act of kindling the altar, of making offerings, of seeking the gods. In thy flames, all mankind is one. All tribes are brothers. All languages speak the same tongue of fire. Be the unifier, O Vaiśvānara! Let thy light shine on all the world without distinction.
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.7
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.
ayam iha prathamo dhāyi dhātṛbhir hotā yajiṣṭho adhvareṣv īḍyaḥ |
yam apnavāno bhṛgavo virurucur vaneṣu citraṁ vibhvaṁ viśe-viśe || 1 ||
agne kadā ta ānuṣag bhuvad devasya cetanam |
adhā hi tvā jagṛbhrire martāso vikṣv īḍyam || 2 ||
ṛtāvānaṁ vicetasam paśyanto dyām iva stṛbhiḥ |
viśveṣām adhvarāṇāṁ haskartāraṁ dame-dame || 3 ||
āśuṁ dūtaṁ vivasvato viśvā yaś carṣaṇīr abhi |
ā jabhruḥ ketum āyavo bhṛgavāṇaṁ viśe-viśe || 4 ||
tam īṁ hotāram ānuṣak cikitvāṁsaṁ ni ṣedire |
raṇvam pāvakaśociṣaṁ yajiṣṭhaṁ sapta dhāmabhiḥ || 5 ||
taṁ śaśvatīṣu mātṛṣu vana ā vītam aśritam |
citraṁ santaṁ guhā hitaṁ suvedaṁ kūcidarthinam || 6 ||
sasasya yad viyutā sasminn ūdhann ṛtasya dhāman raṇayanta devāḥ |
mahām̐ agnir namasā rātahavyo ver adhvarāya sadam id ṛtāvā || 7 ||
ver adhvarasya dūtyāni vidvān ubhe antā rodasī saṁcikitvān |
dūta īyase pradiva urāṇo viduṣṭaro diva ārodhanāni || 8 ||
kṛṣṇaṁ ta ema ruśataḥ puro bhāś cariṣṇv a1rcir vapuṣām id ekam |
yad apravītā dadhate ha garbhaṁ sadyaś cij jāto bhavasīd u dūtaḥ || 9 ||
sadyo jātasya dadṛśānam ojo yad asya vāto anuvāti śociḥ |
vṛṇakti tigmām ataseṣu jihvāṁ sthirā cid annā dayate vi jambhaiḥ || 10 ||
tṛṣu yad annā tṛṣuṇā vavakṣa tṛṣuṁ dūtaṁ kṛṇute yahvo agniḥ |
vātasya meḻiṁ sacate nijūrvann āśuṁ na vājayate hinve arvā || 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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