Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VI.8 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.
Born at the first light of dawn, O Agni, thou dost spring forth with urgent purpose. The night hath held thee captive in its darkness, but now thou art free. Thy flames leap with joy at the return of the sun. Thou art the herald of the new day, the messenger of the light that banisheth all fear.
Swift dost thou move between the realms! The gods in heaven have need of us, and we mortals have need of the gods. Who shall carry our words upward? Who shall interpret our yearning, our sacrifice, our prayer? Thou alone, O Agni, speakest both languages. Thou knowest the voices of the immortals and the voices of men.
At dawn thou risest with purpose. Thy smoke carriageth prayers to the high reaches where Indra ruleth. Where Viṣṇu watcheth. Where the Maruts ride their wild chariots. Thou art the divine messenger, the dūta, the one appointed to carry messages of grave import. The gods trust thee. They wait for thy coming each morning.
But thou bringest blessings downward as well. When the gods have heard our prayers and taken pity upon us, it is through thee that their grace descendeth again to earth. In the warmth of thy flames, in the light of thy presence, in the healing power of thy heat — this is the answer to our pleading. This is the gods' reply.
Messenger between worlds! Herald of the dawn! Thou art the liaison, the ambassador, the sacred intermediary who honoreth both those above and those below. Carry our gratitude to the immortals. Bring their blessings back to us. In thy flames, O Agni, all that is separated is made whole. Through thee, dūta divine, earth and heaven are joined forever.
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.8
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.
pṛkṣasya vṛṣṇo aruṣasya nū sahaḥ pra nu vocaṁ vidathā jātavedasaḥ |
vaiśvānarāya matir navyasī śuciḥ soma iva pavate cārur agnaye || 1 ||
sa jāyamānaḥ parame vyomani vratāny agnir vratapā arakṣata |
vy a1ntarikṣam amimīta sukratur vaiśvānaro mahinā nākam aspṛśat || 2 ||
vy astabhnād rodasī mitro adbhuto 'ntarvāvad akṛṇoj jyotiṣā tamaḥ |
vi carmaṇīva dhiṣaṇe avartayad vaiśvānaro viśvam adhatta vṛṣṇyam || 3 ||
apām upasthe mahiṣā agṛbhṇata viśo rājānam upa tasthur ṛgmiyam |
ā dūto agnim abharad vivasvato vaiśvānaram mātariśvā parāvataḥ || 4 ||
yuge-yuge vidathyaṁ gṛṇadbhyo 'gne rayiṁ yaśasaṁ dhehi navyasīm |
pavyeva rājann aghaśaṁsam ajara nīcā ni vṛśca vaninaṁ na tejasā || 5 ||
asmākam agne maghavatsu dhārayānāmi kṣatram ajaraṁ suvīryam |
vayaṁ jayema śatinaṁ sahasriṇaṁ vaiśvānara vājam agne tavotibhiḥ || 6 ||
adabdhebhis tava gopābhir iṣṭe 'smākam pāhi triṣadhastha sūrīn |
rakṣā ca no daduṣāṁ śardho agne vaiśvānara pra ca tārīḥ stavānaḥ || 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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