Rig Veda · 66 of 1027
Mandala 1: HYMN LXVI. Agni.
1.LIKE the Sun’s glance, like wealth of varied sort, like breath which is the life, like one’s own son, Like a swift bird, a cow who yields her milk, pure and refulgent to the wood he speeds.
2.He offers safety like a pleasant home, like ripened corn, the Conqueror of men. Like a Seer lauding, famed among the folk; like a steed friendly he vouchsafes us power.
3.With flame insatiate, like eternal might; caring for each one like a dame at home; Bright when he shines forth, whitish mid the folk, like a car, gold-decked, thundering to the fight.
4.He strikes with terror like a dart shot forth, e’en like an archer’s arrow tipped with flame; Master of present and of future life, the maidens’ lover and the matrons’ Lord.
5.To him lead all your ways: may we attain the kindled God as cows their home at eve. He drives the flames below as floods their swell: the rays rise up to the fair place of heaven.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call Agni both a household caretaker and a warlike conqueror?
The hymn shows Agni as an active, sustaining presence: “caring for each one like a dame at home,” offering “safety like a pleasant home” and everyday blessings such as wealth, sons, and ripened corn. The same Agni is a mobilizing force in public life—“the Conqueror of men,” “thundering to the fight,” an archer’s fiery arrow—so the poem treats him as the single power that secures domestic well‑being and public victory.
This blending comes from the Vedic habit of identifying one deity with multiple social roles tied to fire: household hearth and sacrificial flame bind family and community to the divine. Compare Rig Veda Mandala 1 hymns elsewhere, where Agni repeatedly links private rites and communal success, making service to him the route to both home and heroism.
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