The Secret of the Veda

The Fourteenth Hymn to Agni

A Hymn of the Finder of Light and Truth

[The Rishi declares Agni as the Priest of the sacrifice, the slayer of the powers of Darkness, the finder of the world of the Sun of Truth, of his radiant herds and of his luminous waters; he is the seer in us who is increased by the clarities of right thought and speech.]

अग्निं स्तोमेन बोधय समिधानो अमर्त्यम् ।
हव्या देवेषु नो दधत् ॥१॥

1) Awaken the Flame by the word that affirms him, kindle high the Immortal; let him place our offerings in the godheads.

तमध्वरेष्वीळते देवं मर्ता अमर्त्यम् ।
यजिष्ठं मानुषे जने ॥२॥

2) Him in their pilgrim sacrifices mortal men desire and adore, the divine, the immortal, who is strongest for sacrifice in the human creature.

तं हि शश्वन्त ईळते स्रुचा देवं घृतश्चुता ।
अग्निं हव्याय बोळ्हवे ॥३॥

3) Him, the godhead, man's continuous generations adore with the ladle¹ dripping with the clarities; the Will they adore that he may bear their offering.

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अग्निर्जातो अरोचत घ्नन् दस्यूञ्ज्योतिषा तमः ।
अविन्दद् गा अपः स्वः ॥४॥

4) Born, the Flame shines out slaying the Destroyers,² yea, he smites the Darkness with the Light and he finds the shining Herds³ and those Waters and the luminous world.⁴

अग्निमीळेन्यं कविं घृतपृष्ठं सपर्यत ।
वेतु मे शृणवद़्धवम् ॥५॥

5) The Will serve and seek, the object of our adoration, the Seer with his surface of the clarities; may he come, may he hearken to my call.

अग्निं घृतेन वावृधुः स्तोमेभिर्विश्वचर्षणिम् ।
स्वाधीभिर्वचस्युभिः ॥६॥

6) The Will men increase by the offering of their clarities, they increase the universal doer of their works by their hymns of affirmation which place aright the thought, which find the revealing word.

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