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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 518 of 1027

Mandala 7: HYMN II. Āprīs.

1.GLADLY accept, this day, our fuel, Agni: send up thy sacred smoke and shine sublimely. Touch the celestial summits with thy columns, and overspread thee with the rays of Sūrya.

2.With sacrifice to these we men will honour the majesty of holy Narāśaṁsa- To these the pure, most wise, the thought. inspirers, Gods who enjoy both sorts of our oblations.

3.We will extol at sacrifice for ever, as men may do, Agni whom Manu kindled, Your very skilful Asura, meet for worship, envoy between both worlds, the truthful speaker.

4.Bearing the sacred grass, the men who serve him strew it with reverence, on their knees, by Agni. Calling him to the spotted grass, oil-sprinkled, adorn him, ye Adhvaryus, with oblation.

5.With holy thoughts the pious have thrown open Doors fain for chariots in the Gods’ assembly. Like two full mother cows who lick their youngling, like maidens for the gathering, they adorn them.

6.And let the two exalted Heavenly Ladies, Morning and Night, like a cow good at milking, Come, much-invoked, and on our grass be seated ‘ wealthy, deserving worship, for our welfare.

7.You, Bards and Singers at men’s sacrifices, both filled with wisdom, I incline to worship. Send up our offerings when we call upon you, and so among the Gods obtain us treasures.

8.May Bhāratī with all her Sisters, Iḷā accordant with the Gods, with mortals Agni, Sarasvatī with all her kindred Rivers, come to this grass, Three Goddesses, and seat them.

9.Well pleased with us do thou, O God, O Tvaṣṭar, give ready issue to our procreant vigour, Whence springs the hero, powerful, skilled in action, lover of Gods, adjuster of the press-stones.

10.Send to the Gods the oblation, Lord of Forests, and let the Immolator, Agni, dress it. He as the truer Priest shall offer worship, for the God’sgenerations well he knoweth.

11.Come thou to us, O Agni, duly kindled, together with the potent Gods and Indra. On this our grass sit Aditi, happy Mother, and let our Hail! delight the Gods Immortal.

Asked of Guide

Why does this hymn call Agni an envoy between both worlds and a truthful speaker?

The hymn names Agni “envoy between both worlds” because it describes him as the sacrificial mediator who carries offerings upward and connects mortals with Gods; line 3 calls him “envoy between both worlds” and line 10 shows him sending the oblation to the Gods. The ritual role—kindled by Manu, served by priests and set on sacred grass—makes Agni the channel through which human devotion reaches the divine.

Calling Agni a “truthful speaker” ties to his role in precise ritual speech and covenant-making: the hymn repeatedly asks priests and singers to “send up our offerings” and to seat goddesses on the grass, actions that depend on correct ritual words and conduct. This matches what the later ritual manual Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa explains about Agni’s function as witness and guarantor of sacrificial truth.

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