Rig Veda · 245 of 1027
Mandala 3: 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.
Asked of Guide
Why does this hymn call Agni the priest and 'ensign of sacrifice'?
The hymn presents Agni as the ritual mediator: “Priest, the great High Priest of sacrifice” who carries offerings and knows the rite, so Agni stands between humans and gods and delivers oblations. Calling him the “ensign of sacrifice” emphasizes his role as the visible, guiding symbol of the sacrificial act—he is the sacrament’s banner and its active agent.
The text links that role to benefits: Agni is “an eager messenger” who brings thought, grants a “home” and “all things that bring happiness,” and is “Strength of the Gods.” This reading aligns with other Vedic passages that make Agni the conveyer of offerings and favors, as similarly argued in scholarly readings of Mandala 1 where Agni and Soma perform complementary ritual functions.
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