Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.16 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, thy flames are like the spears of warriors! With thy bright sword thou smashest the strongholds of the demons.
The darkness fleeth before thy oncoming. The demons and the evil spirits do scatter like a cowardly host when they perceive thy terrible approach. Thy fire is a weapon sharper than any sword; thy heat is a wall against which no wickedness can stand.
Come forth, O bright and terrible Agni! Burn thou away all evil from the world. Let thy fierce flame consume the hate and malice of those who work mischief. Burn thou away the lies and deceits; burn away all cruelty and wrong.
With thy tongue of fire, thou lickest up the darkness. With thy rays thou piercest through the night. The powers of evil tremble when thy presence draweth near. No demon doth dare to stand before thee; no sorcery can withstand thy might.
The warriors call upon thee before they go to battle. They drink the soma and they raise their voice in hymn unto thee, O Agni. And thou dost fill their hearts with courage and with strength beyond all measure.
O god of fire, be thou our defender against all forces of evil! Guard us with thy terrible and radiant power. Let thy flames ever burn brightly for the protection of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked.
Thou art the terror of all demons; thou art the hope of every righteous man. We sing thy praises, O Agni, thou god of 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.
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Source Text: ṛgveda VII.16
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.
enā vo agniṁ namasorjo napātam ā huve |
priyaṁ cetiṣṭham aratiṁ svadhvaraṁ viśvasya dūtam amṛtam || 1 ||
sa yojate aruṣā viśvabhojasā sa dudravat svāhutaḥ |
subrahmā yajñaḥ suśamī vasūnāṁ devaṁ rādho janānām || 2 ||
ud asya śocir asthād ājuhvānasya mīḻhuṣaḥ |
ud dhūmāso aruṣāso divispṛśaḥ sam agnim indhate naraḥ || 3 ||
taṁ tvā dūtaṁ kṛṇmahe yaśastamaṁ devām̐ ā vītaye vaha |
viśvā sūno sahaso martabhojanā rāsva tad yat tvemahe || 4 ||
tvam agne gṛhapatis tvaṁ hotā no adhvare |
tvam potā viśvavāra pracetā yakṣi veṣi ca vāryam || 5 ||
kṛdhi ratnaṁ yajamānāya sukrato tvaṁ hi ratnadhā asi |
ā na ṛte śiśīhi viśvam ṛtvijaṁ suśaṁso yaś ca dakṣate || 6 ||
tve agne svāhuta priyāsaḥ santu sūrayaḥ |
yantāro ye maghavāno janānām ūrvān dayanta gonām || 7 ||
yeṣām iḻā ghṛtahastā duroṇa ām̐ api prātā niṣīdati |
tām̐s trāyasva sahasya druho nido yacchā naḥ śarma dīrghaśrut || 8 ||
sa mandrayā ca jihvayā vahnir āsā viduṣṭaraḥ |
agne rayim maghavadbhyo na ā vaha havyadātiṁ ca sūdaya || 9 ||
ye rādhāṁsi dadaty aśvyā maghā kāmena śravaso mahaḥ |
tām̐ aṁhasaḥ pipṛhi partṛbhiṣ ṭvaṁ śatam pūrbhir yaviṣṭhya || 10 ||
devo vo draviṇodāḥ pūrṇāṁ vivaṣṭy āsicam |
ud vā siñcadhvam upa vā pṛṇadhvam ād id vo deva ohate || 11 ||
taṁ hotāram adhvarasya pracetasaṁ vahniṁ devā akṛṇvata |
dadhāti ratnaṁ vidhate suvīryam agnir janāya dāśuṣe || 12 ||
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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