Rig Veda · 77 of 1027
Mandala 1: HYMN LXXVII. Agni.
1.How shall we pay oblation unto Agni? What hymn, Godloved, is said to him refulgent? Who, deathless, true to Law, mid men a herald, bringeth the Gods as best of sacrificers?
2.Bring him with reverence hither, most propitious in sacrifices, true to Law, the herald; For Agni, when he seeks the Gods for mortals, knows them full well and worships them in spirit.
3.For he is mental power, a man, and perfect; he is the bringer, friend-like, of the wondrous. The pious Āryan tribes at sacrifices address them first to him who doeth marvels.
4.May Agni, foe-destroyer, manliest Hero, accept with love our hymns and our devotion. So may the liberal lords whose strength is strongest, urged by their riches, stir our thoughts with vigour.
5.Thus Agni Jātavedas, true to Order, hath by the priestly Gotamas been lauded. May he augment in them splendour and vigour: observant, as he lists, he gathers increase.
Asked of Guide
Why do the rishis call Agni a 'herald' who 'brings the Gods' at sacrifice?
The hymn says Agni serves as the priestly envoy: “he bringeth the Gods as best of sacrificers,” so offerings and hymns are carried to the gods through him. The text treats Agni as conscious mediator—“when he seeks the Gods for mortals, knows them full well and worships them in spirit”—which makes him both priest and bridge between human ritual and divine presence.
Calling him Jātavedas and a manlike mental power ties his roles together: witness, sacrificer, and inspirer of strength among the Āryan tribes. This portrait echoes the Bhagavad Gītā’s idea of divine agents who reveal the divine through action, where action links mortal duty and cosmic order.
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