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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 843 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN VI. Agni.

1.THIS is that Agni, he by whose protection, favour, and help. the singer is successful; Who with the noblest flames of glowing fuel comes forth encompassed with far-spreading lustre.

2.Agni, the Holy One, the everlasting, who shines far beaming with celestial splendours; He who hath come unto his friends with friendship, like a fleet steed who never trips or stumbles.

3.He who is Lord of all divine oblation, shared by all living men at break of morning, Agni to whom our offerings are devoted, in whom rests he whose car, through might, is scatheless.

4.Increasing by his strength. while lauds content him, with easy flight unto the Gods he travels. Agni the cheerful Priest, best Sacrificer, balms with his tongue the Gods with whom he mingles.

5.With songs and adorations bring ye hither Agni who stirs himself at dawn like Indra, Whom sages laud with hymns as Jātavedas of those who wield the sacrificial ladle.

6.In whom all goodly treasures meet together, even as steeds and riders for the booty. Inclining hither bring us help, O Agni, even assistance most desired by Indra.

7.Yea, at thy birth, when thou hadst sat in glory, thou, Agni, wast the aim of invocations. The Gods came near, obedient to thy sunimons, and thus attained their rank as chief Protectors.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call Agni 'Jātavedas' and praise him as a priestly sacrificer?

The hymn calls Agni “Jātavedas” to name him as the one who knows and embodies all sacrificial fire; verse 5 links that title to his stirring at dawn and to sages who laud him. The poem presents Agni as the active priest — “the cheerful Priest, best Sacrificer” (v.4) — who carries offerings, “balms with his tongue the Gods” and binds worshippers to the gods by conveying oblations.

That role explains why gods answer his summons at his birth (v.7): Agni organizes the ritual world so sacrifices reach the divine, and thus “the Gods came near, obedient to thy summons.” This description matches the portrayal in other Rigveda hymns and in later Brāhmaṇa texts where Agni is the ritual mediator and knower of the sacral secret.

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