Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VIII.72 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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 is the Light! The Fire hath sprung forth from the churning of the wood,
As a child from the womb, as dawn breaketh from the darkness of the night.
Agni is born! The sticks do rub and groan, and from their friction leapeth up
The flame that was not, and lo, it is—bright, burning, alive with sacred power.
The two that gave him birth do stand amazed at what they have created,
The wooden male and wooden mate, who knew not of the fire they bore within.
But now the flame doth burn and roar, and all the world is filled with light.
How marvellous is thy coming forth, O Fire! Thou runnest swift as deer,
Thou climbest up toward heaven; thy smoke doth reach unto the gods on high.
Not slow, not weak, but fleet and strong—such is thy nature from the very hour of thy birth.
The colour of thy flame is gold; thy tongue is red as blood of sacrifice,
Thy roar is like the voice of bulls when they do bellow in the feld at morn.
All creatures hear and tremble; all the earth doth know that thou hast come.
O Light-Bringer, thou shinest where the darkness did hold sway before,
In dwelling-places dark and cold, thou kickest up thy light and warmth.
The children gather nigh to thee; the old folk draw their bones up close to catch thy blessed heat.
No creature would deny thee now, though many sought to keep thee bound,
For thou hast power to escape all bonds, and thou art mightier than all restraint.
The gods themselves do bow before thy glory, O thou Fire Supreme.
Praise be unto thee! From thy birth thou rulest over all the earth,
Thy kingdom is both wide and deep; thy dominion hath no end.
We mortals sing thy praises and we call upon thy sacred name with joy and reverence.
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 VIII.72
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.
haviṣ kṛṇudhvam ā gamad adhvaryur vanate punaḥ |
vidvām̐ asya praśāsanam || 1 ||
ni tigmam abhy a1ṁśuṁ sīdad dhotā manāv adhi |
juṣāṇo asya sakhyam || 2 ||
antar icchanti taṁ jane rudram paro manīṣayā |
gṛbhṇanti jihvayā sasam || 3 ||
jāmy atītape dhanur vayodhā aruhad vanam |
dṛṣadaṁ jihvayāvadhīt || 4 ||
caran vatso ruśann iha nidātāraṁ na vindate |
veti stotava ambyam || 5 ||
uto nv asya yan mahad aśvāvad yojanam bṛhad |
dāmā rathasya dadṛśe || 6 ||
duhanti saptaikām upa dvā pañca sṛjataḥ |
tīrthe sindhor adhi svare || 7 ||
ā daśabhir vivasvata indraḥ kośam acucyavīt |
khedayā trivṛtā divaḥ || 8 ||
pari tridhātur adhvaraṁ jūrṇir eti navīyasī |
madhvā hotāro añjate || 9 ||
siñcanti namasāvatam uccācakram parijmānam |
nīcīnabāram akṣitam || 10 ||
abhyāram id adrayo niṣiktam puṣkare madhu |
avatasya visarjane || 11 ||
gāva upāvatāvatam mahī yajñasya rapsudā |
ubhā karṇā hiraṇyayā || 12 ||
ā sute siñcata śriyaṁ rodasyor abhiśriyam |
rasā dadhīta vṛṣabham || 13 ||
te jānata svam okya1ṁ saṁ vatsāso na mātṛbhiḥ |
mitho nasanta jāmibhiḥ || 14 ||
upa srakveṣu bapsataḥ kṛṇvate dharuṇaṁ divi |
indre agnā namaḥ svaḥ || 15 ||
adhukṣat pipyuṣīm iṣam ūrjaṁ saptapadīm ariḥ |
sūryasya sapta raśmibhiḥ || 16 ||
somasya mitrāvaruṇoditā sūra ā dade |
tad āturasya bheṣajam || 17 ||
uto nv asya yat padaṁ haryatasya nidhānyam |
pari dyāṁ jihvayātanat || 18 ||
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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