Rig Veda · 530 of 1027
Mandala 7: HYMN XIV Agni.
1.WITH reverence and with offered gifts serve we the God whose flame is bright: Let us bring Jātavedas fuel, and adore Agni when we invoke the Gods.
2.Agni, may we perform thy rites with fuel, and honour thee, O Holy one, with praises: Honour thee, Priest of sacrifice! with butter, thee, God of blessed light! with our oblation.
3.Come, Agni, with the Gods to our invoking, come, pleased, to offerings sanctified with Vaṣaṭ. May we be his who pays thee, God, due honour. Ye Gods, preserve us evermore with blessings.
Asked of Guide
Why does this hymn speak to Agni as both priest and God of light?
The hymn addresses Agni as “Priest of sacrifice” and “God of blessed light” because he mediates between humans and the other gods, receiving offerings and carrying them into the divine presence. It calls him Jātavedas and asks him to come “with the Gods to our invoking,” stressing his role as the sacrificial flame that sanctifies rites and makes ritual efficacy possible.
By naming Agni priest and luminous deity the rishis link technique and presence: Agni is the ritual expert who turns fuel into sacred action and the bright divine recipient of praise and oblation. This treatment matches themes in the Brāhmaṇa layer of Vedic literature, which also insists the fire both effects the sacrifice and embodies the deity who blesses the worshippers.
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