Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.17 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, thou art the guest divine in every dwelling of mankind. From the eastern horizon to the western reaches of the earth, in every home where hearth-fire burneth, there dost thou dwell.
The mother kindle thee when she prepareth the meal for her children. The father calleth upon thee when he cometh home weary from the labors of the day. In the home of the rich man thou shinest bright; in the humble dwelling of the poor thou art equally honored.
Thou art present at the birth of the child; thou art present when the warrior prepareth for battle. At the wedding feast thou art honored guest; at the funeral pyre thou receivest the gift of the body. In every moment of joy and in every time of sorrow, thou art there, O Agni.
The travelers carry thee with them on their journeys. When they make camp beneath the stars, they kindle thee to warm their bodies and to protect themselves from the wild beasts and the darkness. Thou art never absent from the side of those who believe in thee.
We welcome thee, O Agni, into our home. Come thou with all thy brightness and thy warmth. Sit thou beside our hearth and be the guardian of our dwelling. Eat thou of the offerings we make with gladness in our hearts.
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.17
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.
agne bhava suṣamidhā samiddha uta barhir urviyā vi stṛṇītām || 1 ||
uta dvāra uśatīr vi śrayantām uta devām̐ uśata ā vaheha || 2 ||
agne vīhi haviṣā yakṣi devān svadhvarā kṛṇuhi jātavedaḥ || 3 ||
svadhvarā karati jātavedā yakṣad devām̐ amṛtān piprayac ca || 4 ||
vaṁsva viśvā vāryāṇi pracetaḥ satyā bhavantv āśiṣo no adya || 5 ||
tvām u te dadhire havyavāhaṁ devāso agna ūrja ā napātam || 6 ||
te te devāya dāśataḥ syāma maho no ratnā vi dadha iyānaḥ || 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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