Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.10 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 6 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.
Thou wast appointed priest before all priests, O Agni! In the beginning, when the cosmos was young and the gods had not yet chosen their stations, Manu the lawgiver placed the sacred fire upon the earth and said: "Thou shalt be the hotṛ of all sacrifices. Thou shalt offer the oblation on behalf of mortals. Thou shalt speak the ancient word to the gods in heaven."
Since that time immemorial, Agni, thou hast stood first in the ritual order. No god enters the sacrifice before thee. No offering reaches the heavenly realm save through thy voice. Thou art the mediator between the mortal and the immortal, the bridge that no other can cross.
We behold thee seated upon the altar, thy flames rising as the smoke of a thousand offerings. Thy tongue is the golden spoon that lifts each mortal gift and carries it to the celestial throne. The gods themselves await thy word. Indra listens for thy call. Varuṇa bends his ear to thy message.
O ancient priest, appointed by Manu himself! We know that thou wast priest before time began. The Bhāradvājas kindle thee and speak thy office anew: Be thou our voice before the gods. Carry our prayer beyond the seven heavens. Make our oblation acceptable.
Agni, in thy priesthood lies the power of the sacrifice. Without thy sacred word, our offerings fall to earth like ash. With thy word, they ascend as incense to the infinite. We honor thee as the first priest, the eternal hotṛ, the intermediary between worlds.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VI.10
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.
puro vo mandraṁ divyaṁ suvṛktim prayati yajñe agnim adhvare dadhidhvam |
pura ukthebhiḥ sa hi no vibhāvā svadhvarā karati jātavedāḥ || 1 ||
tam u dyumaḥ purvaṇīka hotar agne agnibhir manuṣa idhānaḥ |
stomaṁ yam asmai mamateva śūṣaṁ ghṛtaṁ na śuci matayaḥ pavante || 2 ||
pīpāya sa śravasā martyeṣu yo agnaye dadāśa vipra ukthaiḥ |
citrābhis tam ūtibhiś citraśocir vrajasya sātā gomato dadhāti || 3 ||
ā yaḥ paprau jāyamāna urvī dūredṛśā bhāsā kṛṣṇādhvā |
adha bahu cit tama ūrmyāyās tiraḥ śociṣā dadṛśe pāvakaḥ || 4 ||
nū naś citram puruvājābhir ūtī agne rayim maghavadbhyaś ca dhehi |
ye rādhasā śravasā cāty anyān suvīryebhiś cābhi santi janān || 5 ||
imaṁ yajñaṁ cano dhā agna uśan yaṁ ta āsāno juhute haviṣmān |
bharadvājeṣu dadhiṣe suvṛktim avīr vājasya gadhyasya sātau || 6 ||
vi dveṣāṁsīnuhi vardhayeḻām madema śatahimāḥ suvīrāḥ || 7 ||
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).
🌲