Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.11 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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, god of sacrifice, thou whom mortals kindle with their hands! Hear now the hymn of praise that riseth from the priest's own heart.
Thou art the face of Varuna; thou art the will of all the gods made manifest in flame. When the sacred wood is laid and butter floweth, thou dost come as one expected unto a feast.
The rays of Agni spread throughout the world. None can escape the might and splendor of his light. He pierceth through the darkness with his brilliant tongue; the demons flee before his glowing face.
O guest divine, accept our offering! The soma floweth for thy pleasure; the hymns are sung to make thee glad. Come hither to the house of men, and let thy blessing rest upon us all.
Let not the evil-doer do us harm, O Agni. Let not the demons find their way into our dwelling. Burn thou away all wickedness and malice; purify us with thy sacred flame.
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 VII.11
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.
mahām̐ asy adhvarasya praketo na ṛte tvad amṛtā mādayante |
ā viśvebhiḥ sarathaṁ yāhi devair ny agne hotā prathamaḥ sadeha || 1 ||
tvām īḻate ajiraṁ dūtyāya haviṣmantaḥ sadam in mānuṣāsaḥ |
yasya devair āsado barhir agne 'hāny asmai sudinā bhavanti || 2 ||
triś cid aktoḥ pra cikitur vasūni tve antar dāśuṣe martyāya |
manuṣvad agna iha yakṣi devān bhavā no dūto abhiśastipāvā || 3 ||
agnir īśe bṛhato adhvarasyāgnir viśvasya haviṣaḥ kṛtasya |
kratuṁ hy asya vasavo juṣantāthā devā dadhire havyavāham || 4 ||
āgne vaha haviradyāya devān indrajyeṣṭhāsa iha mādayantām |
imaṁ yajñaṁ divi deveṣu dhehi yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 5 ||
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).
🌲