Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.13 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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.
Rise up, O Agni! This is the morning!
The dew still gleams upon the grass and clover,
The birds are singing their awakening hymns,
And all the world doth stir from sleep's embrace.
We come to thee with offerings most precious,
With clarified butter, with grain, with words of praise.
The wood is dry and ready for thy kindling,
The altar waiteth for thy sacred flame.
O Agni, be the witness of our worship!
Receive our morning prayer with gracious heart,
And carry it to Indra and to Varuṇa,
To all the gods who dwell in heights of heaven.
The sun riseth now, but thou art greater,
Thy flame is holier than that distant fire.
We honor thee before all other deities,
Thee first we greet when morning breaketh forth.
Accept our gratitude for all thy blessings,
For the warmth thou gavest through the bitter night,
For protecting us while we did sleep defenseless,
From all the demons wandering in the dark.
And grant us now the grace to spend this day
In ways that honor thee and serve the truth.
Let all our actions be an offering to thee,
Let all our words ring out like bells of praise.
May we be mindful of thy constant presence,
As we do labor in our fields and homes.
May we remember that in every fire,
In every moment of our lives, thou art there.
And when the day is done and evening cometh,
When we return again to thy great altar,
May we be able to report that we have lived
In ways most worthy of thy sacred flame.
Accept this morning prayer, O Agni, glory!
Let it ascend on wings of smoke and prayer,
And bring unto us all we have requested—
Thy blessing and thy light throughout 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 V.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.
arcantas tvā havāmahe 'rcantaḥ sam idhīmahi |
agne arcanta ūtaye || 1 ||
agneḥ stomam manāmahe sidhram adya divispṛśaḥ |
devasya draviṇasyavaḥ || 2 ||
agnir juṣata no giro hotā yo mānuṣeṣv ā |
sa yakṣad daivyaṁ janam || 3 ||
tvam agne saprathā asi juṣṭo hotā vareṇyaḥ |
tvayā yajñaṁ vi tanvate || 4 ||
tvām agne vājasātamaṁ viprā vardhanti suṣṭutam |
sa no rāsva suvīryam || 5 ||
agne nemir arām̐ iva devām̐s tvam paribhūr asi |
ā rādhaś citram ṛñjase || 6 ||
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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