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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 361 of 1027

Mandala 5: HYMN VII. Agni.

1.OFFER to Agni, O my friends, your seemly food, your seemly praise; To him supremest o’er the folk, the Son of Strength, the mighty Lord:

2.Him in whose presence, when they meet in full assembly, men rejoice; Even him whom worthy ones inflame, and living creatures bring to life.

3.When we present to him the food and sacrificial gifts of men, He by the might of splendour grasps the holy Ordinance’s rein.

4.He gives a signal in the night even to him who is afar, When he, the Bright, unchanged by eld, consumes the sovrans of the wood.

5.He in whose service on the ways they offer up their drops of sweat, On him is their high kin have they mounted, as ridges on the earth.

6.Whom, sought of many, mortal man hath found to be the Stay of all; He who gives flavour to our food, the home of every man that lives.

7.Even as a herd that crops the grass he shears the field and wilderness, With flashing teeth and beard of gold, deft with his unabated might.

8.For him, to whom, bright as an axe he, as to Atri, hath flashed forth, Hath the well-bearing Mother borne, producing when her time is come.

9.Agni to whom the oil is shed by him thou lovest to support, Bestow upon these mortals fame and splendour and intelligence.

10.Such zeal hath he, resistless one: he gained the cattle given by thee. Agni, may Atri overcome the Dasyus who bestow no gifts, subdue the men who give no food.

Asked of Guide

Why does this hymn call Agni both a bright axe and a giver of flavour to food?

The hymn portrays Agni as a fierce tool and a domestic presence to capture two roles he holds: the bright axe (“bright as an axe”) describes Agni’s cutting, consuming power in the fire that transforms and conquers—his ability to “shear the field” and “consume the sovrans of the wood.” The same figure who destroys also makes food edible and sacred; lines like “He who gives flavour to our food, the home of every man that lives” show Agni as the life‑granting mediator between raw matter and nourishing meal.

This double image appears across Vedic hymns where ritual fire is both warrior and householder; see earlier Mandala hymns that celebrate Agni’s role in both sacrifice and daily life. The hymn asks for Agni’s help—fame, splendour, intelligence—and for protection in conflict (Atri’s overcoming of the Dasyus), tying his domestic beneficence to social and martial power.

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