Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VII.6 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.
Agni, thou sharp-tongued drinker of the soma! Thy tongues taste the sweetness of the offering; thy flames lick upward toward the sky. With each taste, thou art strengthened; with each draught, thy power increaseth.
The priests arrange the offering upon thy altar. The butter is poured; the grain is scattered; the soma is pressed and presented. Thy tongues dart forth, red and gold, reaching for each morsel. Thy hunger is insatiable; thy appetite is mighty.
Yet thy hunger is not merely for food, O Agni. Thou hungerest for the devotion that lieth behind the offering. Thou dost taste not merely the butter but the love with which it was made. Thou dost drink not merely the soma but the faith of the worshipper.
The poor widow who brings her handful of grain honoreth thee more greatly than the wealthy king who brings his treasured store, if her heart is pure. The humble prayer that springeth from a faithful heart is sweeter to thee than the elaborate ritual performed by one whose mind is elsewhere.
Thy tongues are many, O all-consuming one! Some are red like the glow of dawn; some are gold like sunlight upon water; some are blue like the very heart of the flame. Each tongue hath its own flavor; each possesseth its own burning intensity.
We watch as thy flames dance and leap. We hear the crackle and hiss as thou consumest the offering. We see the smoke rise upward, carrying our prayers toward the heavens. In this moment, we know that the gods are hearing us; we know that they are pleased.
The offering is consumed; the ceremony is complete. Yet thy hunger remaineth. Each day we shall kindle thee anew; each day we shall bring thee fresh offerings. This is the covenant between mortals and gods—we give unto thee; thou givest unto us. The cycle continueth, unbroken and eternal.
Come, O Agni! Taste our offering! Be satisfied! Accept our devotion! In return, grant us health, grant us strength, grant us the blessings that we seek!
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.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 samrājo asurasya praśastim puṁsaḥ kṛṣṭīnām anumādyasya |
indrasyeva pra tavasas kṛtāni vande dāruṁ vandamāno vivakmi || 1 ||
kaviṁ ketuṁ dhāsim bhānum adrer hinvanti śaṁ rājyaṁ rodasyoḥ |
puraṁdarasya gīrbhir ā vivāse 'gner vratāni pūrvyā mahāni || 2 ||
ny akratūn grathino mṛdhravācaḥ paṇīm̐r aśraddhām̐ avṛdhām̐ ayajñān |
pra-pra tān dasyūm̐r agnir vivāya pūrvaś cakārāparām̐ ayajyūn || 3 ||
yo apācīne tamasi madantīḥ prācīś cakāra nṛtamaḥ śacībhiḥ |
tam īśānaṁ vasvo agniṁ gṛṇīṣe 'nānataṁ damayantam pṛtanyūn || 4 ||
yo dehyo3 anamayad vadhasnair yo aryapatnīr uṣasaś cakāra |
sa nirudhyā nahuṣo yahvo agnir viśaś cakre balihṛtaḥ sahobhiḥ || 5 ||
yasya śarmann upa viśve janāsa evais tasthuḥ sumatim bhikṣamāṇāḥ |
vaiśvānaro varam ā rodasyor āgniḥ sasāda pitror upastham || 6 ||
ā devo dade budhnyā3 vasūni vaiśvānara uditā sūryasya |
ā samudrād avarād ā parasmād āgnir dade diva ā pṛthivyāḥ || 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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