The Hymns of the Rigveda/Book 1/Hymn 1

THE HYMNS OF THE RIGVEDA.

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BOOK THE FIRST.

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I laud Agni, the chosen Priest, God, minister of sacrifice,
The Hotar, lavishest of wealth.

2 Worthy is Agni to be praised by living as by ancient seers^[2]:
He shall bring hitherward the Gods.

3 Through Agni man obtaineth wealth, yea, plenty waxing by day,
Most rich in heroes^[3], glorious.

4 Agni, the perfect^[4] sacrifice which thou encompassest about
Verily goeth to the Gods.

5 May Agni, sapient-minded Priest, truthful, most gloriously great,
The God, come hither with the Gods.

6 Whatever blessing, Agni, thou wilt grant unto thy worshipper,
That, Angiras^[5], is indeed thy truth.

7 To thee, dispeller of the night, O Agni, day by day with prayer
Bringing thee reverence, we come;

8 Ruler of sacrifices, guard of Law eternal^[6], radiant One,
Increasing in thine own abode.^[7]

9 Be to us easy of approach, even as a father to his son:
Agni, be with us for our weal.

1. The first two hymns of this Book are ascribed to the Ṛishi or seer Madhuchchhandas Vaiṣvâmitra, a son or descendant of the famous Viṣvâmitra. The deity to whom this hymn is addressed is Agni, the God of fire, the most prominent, next to Indra, of the deities of the Rigveda. Agni is the messenger and mediator between earth and heaven, announcing to the Gods the hymns, and conveying to them the oblations, of their worshippers, inviting them with the sound of his crackling flames and bringing them down to the place of sacrifice. As concentrating in himself the various sacrificial duties of different classes of human priests, Agni is called the Purohita or chosen priest, the præpositus or præses. He is a Ṛitvij, a priest or minister who sacrifices at the proper seasons, and a Hotar, an invoking priest, a herald who calls the Gods to enjoy the offering. All riches are at his disposal, and he is the most bountiful rewarder, both directly and indirectly, of the pious whose oblations he carries to the Gods.
2. 2 Ancient seers: said by Sâyaṇa to be Bhṛigu, Angiras, and others. The expression indicates the existence of earlier hymns.
3. 3 Most rich in heroes: the heroes here spoken of, who accompany the acquisition and increase of wealth, are brave sons and dependents.
4. 4 Perfect: uninterrupted by Râkshasas or fiends, who are unable to mar a sacrifice which Agni protects on all sides.
5. 6 Angiras: here a name of Agni. The Angirases appear to have been regarded as a race of higher beings between Gods and men, the typical first sacrificers, whose ritual is the pattern which later priests must follow.
6. 8 Law eternal. The word used to denote the conception of the order of the world is ṛitá. Everything in the universe which is conceived as showing regularity of action may be said to have the rita for its principle. In its most general application the conception expressed by the word occupied to some extent the place of natural and moral law, fate, or the will of a supreme God. See Wallis, The Cosmology of the Rigveda, p. 92.
7. In thine own abode: svê dâme, suâ domo, in the sacrificial hall or chamber in which fire-worship is performed, and in which the fire (Agni) increases as the oblations of clarified butter are poured upon it by the priest.