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Rig Veda · 256 of 1027
Mandala 3: HYMN XXII. Agni.
1.THIS is that Agni whence the longing Indra took the pressed Soma deep within his body. Winner of spoils in thousands, like a courser, with praise art thou exalted, Jātavedas.
2.That light of thine in heaven and earth, O Agni, in plants, O Holy One, and in the waters, Wherewith thou hast spread wide the air’s mid-region-bright is that splendour, wavy, man-beholding.
3.O Agni, to the sea of heaven thou goest: thou hast called hither Gods beheld in spirit. The waters, too, come hither, those up yonder in the Sun’s realm of light, and those beneath it.
4.Let fires that dwell in mist, combined with those that have their home in floods, Guileless accept our sacrifice, great viands free from all disease.
5.Agni, as holy food to thine invoker give wealth in cattle, lasting, rich in marvels. To us be born a son and spreading offspring. Agni, be this thy gracious will to us-ward.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call Agni present in plants, waters, and the sea of heaven?
The hymn presents Agni as a pervasive sacred presence: “that light of thine in heaven and earth, O Agni, in plants… and in the waters.” It treats Agni as the visible, moving form of sacred power that reaches into sky, earth, vegetation, and waters so the sacrificial flame links all realms.
Because sacrifice aims to join human action to that widespread sacred force, the poet asks Agni to accept offerings and to bring gods and waters together—“thou hast called hither Gods beheld in spirit.” This mirrors the sacrificial logic in the Gṛhyasūtras and later Upanishads, where fire mediates between humans and gods and transmits blessings like progeny and cattle.
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