Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.6 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.
In every dwelling place, O Agni, thou art present. In the morning when the household stirreth, it is thy warmth that first meeteth the inhabitants. In winter it is thy flame that keepeth back the bitter cold. In the cooking of food, in the warming of the hearth, in the light that banneth darkness — thou art there, faithful and ever-attending.
Thou comest as a guest, yet thou art more constant than any kinsman. The friend may depart and return as seasons turn. The mother may pass into the realm of the ancestors. But thou remainest, age after age, tended by successive generations in the same hearth, in the same sacred space. Thou art the continuity, the thread that bindeth one generation to the next.
How gentle thy presence in the evening! How kind thy crackling voice. The family gathereth around thee — the old telling stories, the young listening with wide eyes, the mother preparing the evening meal. Thou art the center, the gathering place, the source of comfort and security. Who would not love thee, O Agni?
Yet thou art also fierce. When the darkness groweth deep and the night speaketh with alien voices, it is thy light that keepeth back the rākṣasas, the demons, the forces that would devour the unwary. The evil spirits dare not approach where thy flames burn bright. Thou art the protector of the threshold, the guardian of the family, the sentinel against harm.
We tend thee with reverence, feeding thee wood and ghee, honoring thee with our attention and our gratitude. In return, thou hast never abandoned us. Through famine and plenty, through prosperity and hardship, through war and peace — thy flame hath endured. Blessed art thou, O Agni, guest eternal in the hearth of home.
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 VI.6
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.
pra navyasā sahasaḥ sūnum acchā yajñena gātum ava icchamānaḥ |
vṛścadvanaṁ kṛṣṇayāmaṁ ruśantaṁ vītī hotāraṁ divyaṁ jigāti || 1 ||
sa śvitānas tanyatū rocanasthā ajarebhir nānadadbhir yaviṣṭhaḥ |
yaḥ pāvakaḥ purutamaḥ purūṇi pṛthūny agnir anuyāti bharvan || 2 ||
vi te viṣvag vātajūtāso agne bhāmāsaḥ śuce śucayaś caranti |
tuvimrakṣāso divyā navagvā vanā vananti dhṛṣatā rujantaḥ || 3 ||
ye te śukrāsaḥ śucayaḥ śuciṣmaḥ kṣāṁ vapanti viṣitāso aśvāḥ |
adha bhramas ta urviyā vi bhāti yātayamāno adhi sānu pṛśneḥ || 4 ||
adha jihvā pāpatīti pra vṛṣṇo goṣuyudho nāśaniḥ sṛjānā |
śūrasyeva prasitiḥ kṣātir agner durvartur bhīmo dayate vanāni || 5 ||
ā bhānunā pārthivāni jrayāṁsi mahas todasya dhṛṣatā tatantha |
sa bādhasvāpa bhayā sahobhiḥ spṛdho vanuṣyan vanuṣo ni jūrva || 6 ||
sa citra citraṁ citayantam asme citrakṣatra citratamaṁ vayodhām |
candraṁ rayim puruvīram bṛhantaṁ candra candrābhir gṛṇate yuvasva || 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).
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