Hymn to Agni
Rigveda V.25 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, thou wealthy one! Riches and prosperity flow from thy flames like water from a spring. Those who honor thee become rich; those who neglect thee fall into poverty. Thy favor is the secret of all abundance.
The man who poureth butter upon thy altar doth not thereby impoverish himself. Nay, rather, his generosity is repaid a hundredfold. His herds multiply; his fields yield abundant grain; his coffers fill with precious metals and stones. He who giveth to thee, O Agni, receiveth in return a blessing without measure.
The miser who grudgeth the smallest offering unto thy flames findeth that his wealth wasteth away despite his efforts to hoard it. His cattle sicken; his crops wither; his gold turneth to dust in his hands. Such is the justice of the cosmos. Generosity toward the sacred bringeth abundance; stinginess bringeth only loss.
We, the faithful ones, offer unto thee gladly and without reservation. We know that what we give to thee shall return to us multiplied and transfigured. Thou art the true merchant, the supreme trader who taketh our earthly offerings and returneth to us the currency of heaven.
O Agni, clothe us in the garments of prosperity! Let our children never go hungry. Let our women never lack adornment. Let our men never be ashamed of the smallness of their possessions. Grant us the wealth that cometh not from theft or deceit, but from righteous work and divine favor.
The wealthy man who forgeteth to honor thee loseth everything in the end. But the poor man who serveth thee with a sincere heart possesseth a treasure that no thief can steal. Make us rich in thy blessing, O Agni, whether our coffers be full or empty. Let us never lack for what we truly need. Thou art the source of all true wealth.
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.25
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.
acchā vo agnim avase devaṁ gāsi sa no vasuḥ |
rāsat putra ṛṣūṇām ṛtāvā parṣati dviṣaḥ || 1 ||
sa hi satyo yam pūrve cid devāsaś cid yam īdhire |
hotāram mandrajihvam it sudītibhir vibhāvasum || 2 ||
sa no dhītī variṣṭhayā śreṣṭhayā ca sumatyā |
agne rāyo didīhi naḥ suvṛktibhir vareṇya || 3 ||
agnir deveṣu rājaty agnir marteṣv āviśan |
agnir no havyavāhano 'gniṁ dhībhiḥ saparyata || 4 ||
agnis tuviśravastamaṁ tuvibrahmāṇam uttamam |
atūrtaṁ śrāvayatpatim putraṁ dadāti dāśuṣe || 5 ||
agnir dadāti satpatiṁ sāsāha yo yudhā nṛbhiḥ |
agnir atyaṁ raghuṣyadaṁ jetāram aparājitam || 6 ||
yad vāhiṣṭhaṁ tad agnaye bṛhad arca vibhāvaso |
mahiṣīva tvad rayis tvad vājā ud īrate || 7 ||
tava dyumanto arcayo grāvevocyate bṛhat |
uto te tanyatur yathā svāno arta tmanā divaḥ || 8 ||
evām̐ agniṁ vasūyavaḥ sahasānaṁ vavandima |
sa no viśvā ati dviṣaḥ parṣan nāveva sukratuḥ || 9 ||
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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