Hymn to Agni
Rigveda IV.9 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, invoker! Thou callest the gods to the sacrifice! Thou cryest out upon the altar, and from all the worlds the Devas do gather. Indra heareth thy voice and descendeth. Varuṇa listeneth and riseth from his throne. The Maruts hear and sweep down from the mountains. The Ādityas hear and draw near to the sacred place.
None of the gods would come were it not for thee! Thou art their herald. Thou art their messenger. Without thy call, the heavens would remain silent and distant. The gods would know not that mortals below have prepared the offering. The sacrifice would be in vain. But thou, O Agni, thou speakest in the language that all the gods understand—the language of fire, of smoke, of sacred flame rising toward the sky.
When thou callest, Indra cometh with his hundred thunders. He heareth the crack of thy flames as a warrior heareth the call to battle. When thou speakest, the god of the waters doth not delay but hasteth to the altar. Even the god Soma, hidden in the plant, leapeth forth at the sound of thy roaring.
O invoker supreme! Thou art the herald of all heaven! Thou standest at the boundary between the worlds and cryest out: "Come, O gods! Come and receive the offering of thy devotees! Come and grant them blessings!" And they come. Swiftly they come. Not because they must, but because thou callest with such power, such authority, such ancient right.
Make the gods hear us, O Agni! Let thy flames rise so high that they touch the throne of Indra himself. Let thy smoke be thick and sweet so that all heaven knoweth a sacrifice hath been made. Call them! Command them! Demand that they grant us sons, cattle, long life, and victory over our enemies. Thou hast the power, O invoker. Use it for us this day!
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.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.
agne mṛḻa mahām̐ asi ya īm ā devayuṁ janam |
iyetha barhir āsadam || 1 ||
sa mānuṣīṣu dūḻabho vikṣu prāvīr amartyaḥ |
dūto viśveṣām bhuvat || 2 ||
sa sadma pari ṇīyate hotā mandro diviṣṭiṣu |
uta potā ni ṣīdati || 3 ||
uta gnā agnir adhvara uto gṛhapatir dame |
uta brahmā ni ṣīdati || 4 ||
veṣi hy adhvarīyatām upavaktā janānām |
havyā ca mānuṣāṇām || 5 ||
veṣīd v asya dūtya1ṁ yasya jujoṣo adhvaram |
havyam martasya voḻhave || 6 ||
asmākaṁ joṣy adhvaram asmākaṁ yajñam aṅgiraḥ |
asmākaṁ śṛṇudhī havam || 7 ||
pari te dūḻabho ratho 'smām̐ aśnotu viśvataḥ |
yena rakṣasi dāśuṣaḥ || 8 ||
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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