Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.20 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.
O Agni, most beloved by the Atri clan! Our ancestors knew thee first among the gods. They poured the soma into thy flames. They called upon thee when the darkness pressed close and fear whispered in their ears. Thou didst answer them then; thou dost answer us now.
We are the sons and daughters of Atri. We carry in our blood the memory of his first encounter with thee, O sacred fire. We have inherited not merely his seed, but his wisdom and his covenant with the flame. What he established in the distant past, we maintain in the present age.
Thou art the delight of the Atri household. Our women sing thy praises as they kindle the morning fire. Our children gather round thy altar and hear the stories of thy mighty deeds. Our priests pour the butter and the sacred grains, preserving the ancient rite without alteration or diminishment.
There is between our clan and thee, O Agni, a bond deeper than words can express. We are not merely thy worshippers; we are thy kinfolk. Thou livest in our homes. Thou art present at every significant moment of our lives—at our births, our coming-of-age, our marriages, our deaths. Thou transformest our food into nourishment; thou transformest our offerings into immortal blessing.
If we should wander, O Agni, call us back. If we should falter in our devotion, strengthen us. If we should forget the ancient ways, remind us. Keep us true to the Atri covenant. Let our line not perish; let our fire never be extinguished.
O flame of our forefathers! O light of our future! Accept our eternal gratitude and our pledge of unfailing loyalty. Thou art the keeper of our family's fate. Thou art the sacred center of all that we hold dear.
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.20
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.
yam agne vājasātama tvaṁ cin manyase rayim |
taṁ no gīrbhiḥ śravāyyaṁ devatrā panayā yujam || 1 ||
ye agne nerayanti te vṛddhā ugrasya śavasaḥ |
apa dveṣo apa hvaro 'nyavratasya saścire || 2 ||
hotāraṁ tvā vṛṇīmahe 'gne dakṣasya sādhanam |
yajñeṣu pūrvyaṁ girā prayasvanto havāmahe || 3 ||
itthā yathā ta ūtaye sahasāvan dive-dive |
rāya ṛtāya sukrato gobhiḥ ṣyāma sadhamādo vīraiḥ syāma sadhamādaḥ || 4 ||
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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