
The Rig Veda Book 3 - Verses 10 to 20

HYMN X. Agni.
1. THEE Agni, God, Imperial Lord of all mankind,
do mortal men
With understanding kindle at thesacrifice.
2 They laud thee in their solemn rites, Agni, as Minister and
Priest,
Shine forth in thine own home as guardian of the
Law.
3 He, verily, who honours thee with fuel, Knower of
all life,
He, Agni! wins heroic might, he prospers well.
4 Ensign of sacrifices, he, Agni, with Gods is come to us,
Decked by the seven priests, to him who bringeth gifts.
5
ToAgni, the Invoking Priest, offer your best, your lofty speech,
To him Ordainer-like who brings the light of songs.
6 Let
these our hymns make Agni grow, whence, meet for laud, he springs
to life,
To mighty strength and great possession, fair to
see.
7 Best Sacrificer, bring the Gods, O Agni, to the pious
man:
A joyful Priest, thy splendour drive our foes afar
8 As such, O Purifier, shine on us heroic glorious might:
Be nearest Friend to those who laud thee, for their weal.
9 So, wakeful, versed in sacred hymns, the holy singers kindly
thee.
Oblation-bearer, deathless, cherisher of strength.
HYMN Xl. Agni.
1. Agni is Priest, the great High Priest of sacrifice,
most swift in act:
He knows the rite in constant course.
2 Oblation-bearer, deathless, well inclined, an eager messenger,
Agni comes nigh us with the thought.
3 Ensign of sacrifice
from of old, Agni well knoweth with his thought
To prosper
this man's aim and hope.
4 Agni, illustrious from old time,
the Son of Strength who knows all life,
The Gods have made
to their Priest.
5 Infallible is Agni, he who goes before
the tribes of men,
A chariot swift and ever new.
6 Strength
of the Gods which none may harm, subduing all his enemies,
Agni is mightiest in fame.
7 By offering sacred food to him
the mortal worshipper obtains.
A home from him whose light
makes pure.
8 From Agni, by our hymns, may we gain all things
that bring happiness,
Singers of him who knows all life.
9 O Agni, in our deeds of might may we obtain all precious things:
Tle Gods are centred all in thee.
HYMN XII. Indra-Agni.
1. MOVED, Indra-Agni, by our hymn, come to the
juice, the precious dew:
Dr.ink ye thereof, impelled by song.
2 O Indra-Agni, with the man who lauds you comes the wakening
rite:
So drink ye both this juice assured.
3 Through force
of sacrifice I choose Indra-Agni who love the wise:
With
Sorna let these sate them here.
4 Indra and Agni I invoke,
joint-victors, bounteous, unsubdued,
Foe-slayers, best to
win the spoil.
5 Indra and Agni, singers skilled in melody
hymn you, bringing lauds:
I choose you for the sacred food.
6 Indra and Agni, ye cast down the ninety forts which DAsas
held,
Together, with one mighty deed.
7 To Indra-Agni
eeverent thoughts go forward from the holy task
Along the
path of sacred Law.
8 O Indra-Agni, powers are yours, and
dwellings and delightful food
Good is your readiness to act.
9 Indra and Agni, in your deeds of might ye deck heaven's lucid
realms:
Famed is that hero strength of yours.
HYMN XIII. Agni.
1. To Agni, to this God of yours I sing aloud
with utmost power.
May he come to us with the Gods, and sit,
best Offerer, on the grass.
2 The Holy, whose are earth and
heaven, and succour waits upon his strength;
Him men who
bring oblations laud, and they who wish to gain, for grace.
3 He is the Sage who guides these men, Leader of sacred rites
is he.
Him your own Agni, serve ye well, who winneth and
bestoweth wealth.
4 So may the gracious Agni grant most goodly
shelter for our use;
Whence in the heavens or in the floods
he shall pour wealth upon our lands.
5 The singers kindle
him, the Priest, Agni the Lord of tribes of men,
Resplendent
and without a peer through his own excellent designs.
6 Help
us, thou Brahman, best of all invokers of the Gods in song.
Beam, Friend of Maruts, bliss on us, O Agni, a most liberal
God.
7 Yea, grant us treasure thousandfold with children
and with nourishment,
And, Agni, splendid hero strength,
exalted, wasting not away.
HYMN XIV. Agni.
1 THE pleasant Priest is come into the synod,
true, skilled in sacrifice, most wise, Ordainer.
Agni, the
Son of Strength, whose car is lightning, whose hair is flame,
hath shown on earth his lustre.
2 To thee I offer reverent
speech: accept it: to thee who markest it, victorious, faithful!
Bring, thou who knowest, those who know, and seat thee amid
the sacred grass, for help, O Holy.
3 The Two who show their
vigour, Night and Morning, by the wind's paths shall haste to
thee O Agni.
When men adorn the Ancient with oblations, these
seek, as on two chariot-seats, the dwelling.
4 To thee, strong
Agni! Varuna and Mitra and all the Maruts sang a song of triumph,
What time unto the people's lands thou camest, spreading them
as the Sun of men, with lustre.
5 Approaching with raised
hands and adoration, we have this day fulfilled for thee thy
longing.
Worship the Gods with most devoted spirit, a Priest
with no unfriendly thought, O Agni.
6 For, Son of Strength,
from thee come many succours, and powers abundant that a God
possesses.
Agni, to us with speech that hath no falsehood
grant riches, real, to be told in thousands.
7 Whatever,
God, in sacrifice we mortals have wrought is all for thee, strong,
wise of purpose!
Be thou the Friend of each good chariot's
master. All this enjoy thou here, immortal Agni.
HYMN XV. Agni.
1. RESPLENDENT with thy wide-extending lustre,
dispel the terrors of the fiends who hate us
May lofty Agni
be my guide and shelter, the easily-invoked, the good Protector.
2 Be thou To us, while now the morn is breaking, be thou a guardian
when the Sun hath mounted..
Accept, as men accept a true-born
infant, my laud, O Agni nobly born in body.
3 Bull, who beholdest
men, through many mornings, among the dark ones shine forth
red, O Agni.
Lead us, good Lord, and bear us over trouble:
Help us who long, Most Youthful God, to riches.
4 Shine forth,
a Bull invincible, O Agni, winning by conquest all the forts
and treasures,
Thou Jatavedas who art skilled in guiding,
the chief high saving sacrifice's Leader.
5 Lighting Gods
hither, Agni, wisest Singer, bring thou to us many and flawless
shelters.
Bring vigour, like a car that gathers booty: bring
us, O Agni, beauteous.Rarth and Heaven.
6 Swell, O thou Bull
and give those powers an impulse, e'en Earth and Heaven who
yield their milk in plenty,
Shining, O God, with Gods in
clear effulgence. Let not a mortal's evil will obstruct us.
7 Agni, as holy food to thine invoker, give wealth in cattle,
lasting, rich in marvels.
To us be born a son and spreading
ofrspring. Agni, be this thy gracious will to us-ward.
HYMN XVI. Agni.
1. THIS Agni is the Lord of great felicity and
hero Strength;
Lord of wealth in herds of kine; Lord of the
battles with the foe.
2 Wait, Maruts, Heroes, upon him the
Prosperer in whom is bliss-increasing wealth;
Who in fights
ever conquer evil-hearted men, who overcome the enemy.
3
As such, O Agni, deal us wealth and hero might, O Bounteous
One!
Most lofty, very glorious, rich in progeny, free from
disease and full of power.
4 He who made all that lives,
who passes all in might, who orders service to the Gods,
He works among the Gods, he works in hero strength, yea, also
in the praise of men.
5 Give us not up to indigence, Agni,
nor want of hero sons,
Nor, Son of Strength, to lack of cattle,
nor to blame. Drive. thou our enemies away.
6 Help us to
strength, blest Agni! rich in progeny, abundant, in our sacrifice.
Flood us with riches yet more plenteous, bringing weal, with
high renown, most Glorious One!
HYMN XVII. Agni.
1. DULY enkindled after ancient customs, bringing
all treasures, he is balmed with unguents,-
Flame-haired,
oil-clad, the purifying Agni, skilled in fair rites, to bring
the Gods for worship.
2 As thou, O Agni, skilful Jatavedas,
hast sacrificed as Priest of Earth, of Heaven,
So with this
offering bring the Gods, and prosper this sacrifice today as
erst for Manu.
3 Three are thy times of life, O Jatavedas,
and the three mornings are thy births, O Agni.
With these,
well-knowing, grant the Gods' kind favour, and help in stir
aiid stress the man who worships.
4 Agni most bright and
fair with song we honour, yea, the adorable, O Jatavedas.
Thee, envoy, messenger, oblation-bearer, the Gods have made
centre of life eternal.
5 That Priest before thee, yet more
skilled in worship, stablished of old, healthgiver by his nature,-
After his custom offer, thou who knowest, and lay our sacrifice
where Gods may taste it.
HYMN XVIII. Agni.
1. Agni, be kind to us when we approach thee
good as a friend to friend, as sire and mother.
The races
of mankind are great oppressors burn up malignity that strives
against us.
2 Agni, burn up the unfriendly who are near us,
burn thou the foeman's curse who pays no worship.
Burn, Vasu,
thou who markest well, the foolish: let thine eternal nimble
beams surround thee.
3 With fuel, Agni, and with oil, desirous,
mine offering I present for strength and conquest,
With prayer,
so far as I have power, adoring-this hymn divine to gain a hundred
treasures.
4 Give with thy glow, thou Son of Strength, when
lauded, great vital power to those who toil to serve thee.
Give richly, Agni, to the Visvamitras in rest and stir. Oft
have we decked thy body.
5 Give us, O liberal Lord, great
gtore of riches, for, Agni, such art thou when duly kindled.
Thou in the happy singer's home bestowest, amply with arms extended,
things of beauty.
HYMN XIX. Agni.
1. Aow, quick, sage, infallible, all-knowing,
I choose to be our Priest at this oblation.
In our Gods'
service he, best skilled, shall worship: may he obtain us boons
for strength and riches.
2 Agni, to thee I lift the oil-fed
ladle, bright, with an offering, bearing our oblation.
From
the right hand, choosing the Gods' attendance, he with rich
presents hath arranged the worship.
3 Of keenest spirit is
the man thou aidest give us good offspring, thou who givest
freely.
In power of wealth most rich in men. O Agni, of thee,
the Good, may we sing forth fair praises.
4 Men as they worship
thee the God, O Agni, have set on thee full many a brilliant,
aspect.
So bring Most Youthful One, the Gods' asserrigly,
the Heavenly Host which thou to-day shalt honour.
5 When
Gods anoint thee Priest at their oblation, and seat thee for
thy task as Sacrificer,
O Agni, be thou here our kind defender,
and to ourselves vouchsafe the gift of glory.
HYMN XX Agni.
1. WITH lauds at break of morn the priest invoketh
Agni, Dawn, Dadhikras, and both the Asvins.
With one consent
the Gods whose light is splendid, longing to taste our sacrifice,
shall hear us.
2 Three are thy powers, O Agni, three thy
stations, three are thy tongues, yea, many, Child of Order!
Three bodies hast thou which the Gods delight in: with these
protect our hymns with care unceasing.
3 O Agni, many are
the names thou bearest, immortal, God, Divine, and Jatavedas.
And many charms of charmers, All-Inspirer! have they laid in
thee, Lord of true attendants!
4 Agni, like Bhaga, leads
the godly people, he who is true to Law and guards the seasons.
Ancient, all-knowing, he the Vrtra-slayer shall bear the singer
safe through every trouble.
5 I call on Savitar the God,
on Morning, Brhaspati, and Dadhikras, and Agni,
On Varuna
and Mitra, on the Asvins, Bhaga, the Vasus, Rudras and Adityas.
Suggestions for Further Reading
- The Rig Veda translation by Griffith, Introduction
- Hymns of the Sama veda translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
- Yajur Veda: The Veda Of The Black Yajus School
- Hymns Of The Atharva-Veda
- Anugita English Translation
- THE Sanatsugâtîya, A Spiritual Dialogue
- Dharmashastras, the Sacred Law Books of Hindus
- The Hindu Dharmashastras, Subject Index
- The Grihya Sutras, The Vedic Domestic Ritual Texts
- The Sankhya Sutras of Kapila, Index page
- Translation of Upanishads by Swami Paramananda, Index
- A History Of Indian Philosophy - Chapter Index
- The Upanishads translated by Max Muller
- Vedic Reader for Students
- The Bhagavad-gita in a nutshell
- Essays On Dharma
- Esoteric Mystic Hinduism
- Introduction to Hinduism
- Hindu Way of Life
- Essays On Karma
- Hindu Rites and Rituals
- The Origin of The Sanskrit Language
- Symbolism in Hinduism
- Essays on The Upanishads
- Concepts of Hinduism
- Essays on Atman
- Hindu Festivals
- Spiritual Practice
- Right Living
- Yoga of Sorrow
- Happiness
- Mental Health
- Concepts of Buddhism
- General Essays
Source: An English translation of the Vedas by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.