Hymn to Agni
Rigveda VIII.73 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.
O Agni, many-formed, thou takest shape in every living thing,
In the house, in the wood, in the hearts of men—everywhere thy presence burneth bright.
Thou art the fire that dwelleth in the cloud, the lightning's tongue,
Thou art the heat that giveth life to all the growing things that spring from earth.
Thou art the very core of the sun's far-ranging rays.
In the waters thou dost hide thy form; beneath the surface deep thou sleepest still,
Yet when the waters are agitated, thou risest up and showest thy sacred face.
None can contain thee; none can stay thy coming when the time is ripe.
O Purifier, thou cleansest all that is unclean with thy transforming touch,
The sacrifice made impure by careless hand doth become pure again when thou dost take it up.
The guilty one who feeleth thy forgiving flame goeth forth made whole.
In every dwelling dost thou burn—the palace of the king, the hut of the poor,
The merchant's house, the warrior's shield, the scholar's book—all bear thy mark.
Nowhere on earth is free from thee; nowhere is hidden from thy watchful eye.
The messenger of gods art thou, the one who carriest their will to mortal men,
The one who beareth up the prayers and songs of all the world unto the throne on high.
Swift as the swallow art thou, sure as the eagle, gentle as the dove.
Thy forms are numberless as the stars that dot the evening sky,
Each flame doth have its own true nature, yet all are thou, O Agni, the One.
The priest knoweth thy thousand names; the wise do meditate upon thy forms without end.
O Holy Fire, accept our worship and the praises that we sing,
Receive the gift of ghee and grain, the meat of cattle slain in sacrifice.
Carry them to the gods on high; make them content with our devotion.
The enemy that standeth against the righteous doth flee before thy power,
For thou art the weapon of the just, the shield of all that love the truth.
No evil spirit can withstand thy burning, O thou Flame of Truth.
To thee do we commit our sorrows and our sins, O Purifying Fire,
Thou burnest them to ashes fine; thou transformest them to smoke that riseth to the sky.
Light and unburden'd, we go forth to live our lives in peace and honour.
The sacrifice that pleaseth the gods is ever that which thou receivest with delight,
Therefore the priest must kindle thee with care, must speak thy names in right order.
For thou art the gateway between the world of men and the realm of the Immortals.
O Agni, thou that dwellest in two worlds at once—above and below,
In heaven and on earth, in light and in the darkness of the womb,
Grant us the wisdom to know thee truly, and the strength to serve thee all our days.
The man who honoureth thee with faithful heart shall never lack for anything,
His children shall be healthy and strong; his cattle shall multiply beyond counting.
His enemies shall fall before him; his name shall be remember'd in the halls of fame.
Therefore, O Fire Most Bright, we kindle thee at every sacred time,
We honour thee with voice and hand, with heart and with every part of our being.
Accept our worship; grant us thy blessing; remain with us forevermore.
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.73
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.
ud īrāthām ṛtāyate yuñjāthām aśvinā ratham |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 1 ||
nimiṣaś cij javīyasā rathenā yātam aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 2 ||
upa stṛṇītam atraye himena gharmam aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 3 ||
kuha sthaḥ kuha jagmathuḥ kuha śyeneva petathuḥ |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 4 ||
yad adya karhi karhi cic chuśrūyātam imaṁ havam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 5 ||
aśvinā yāmahūtamā nediṣṭhaṁ yāmy āpyam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 6 ||
avantam atraye gṛhaṁ kṛṇutaṁ yuvam aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 7 ||
varethe agnim ātapo vadate valgv atraye |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 8 ||
pra saptavadhrir āśasā dhārām agner aśāyata |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 9 ||
ihā gataṁ vṛṣaṇvasū śṛṇutam ma imaṁ havam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 10 ||
kim idaṁ vām purāṇavaj jarator iva śasyate |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 11 ||
samānaṁ vāṁ sajātyaṁ samāno bandhur aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 12 ||
yo vāṁ rajāṁsy aśvinā ratho viyāti rodasī |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 13 ||
ā no gavyebhir aśvyaiḥ sahasrair upa gacchatam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 14 ||
mā no gavyebhir aśvyaiḥ sahasrebhir ati khyatam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 15 ||
aruṇapsur uṣā abhūd akar jyotir ṛtāvarī |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 16 ||
aśvinā su vicākaśad vṛkṣam paraśumām̐ iva |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 17 ||
puraṁ na dhṛṣṇav ā ruja kṛṣṇayā bādhito viśā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 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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