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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 448 of 1027

Mandala 6: HYMN VII. Agni.

1.Him, messenger of earth and head of heaven, Agni Vaiśvānara, born in holy Order, The Sage, the King, the guest of men, a vessel fit for their mouths, the Gods have generated.

2.Him have they praised, mid-point of sacrifices, great cistern of libations, seat of riches. Vaiśvānara, conveyer of oblations, ensign of worship, have the Gods engendered.

3.From thee, O Agni, springs the mighty singer, from thee come heroes who subdue the foeman. O King, Vaiśvānara, bestow thou on us excellent treasures worthy to belonged fo r.

4.To thee, Immortal! when to life thou springest, all the Gods sing for joy as to their infant. They by thy mental powers were made immortal, Vaiśvānara, when thou shonest from thy Parents.

5.Agni Vaiśvānara, no one hath ever resisted these thy mighty ordinances, When thou, arising from thy Parents’ bosom, foundest the light for days’ appointed courses.

6.The summits of the heaven are traversed through and through by the Immortal’s light, Vaiśvānara’s brilliancy. All creatures in existence rest upon his head. The Seven swift-flowing Streams have grown like branches forth,

7.Vaiśvānara, who measured out the realms of air, Sage very wise who made the lucid spheres of heaven, The Undeceivable who spread out all the worlds, keeper is he and guard of immortality.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call Agni 'Vaiśvānara' and describe him as born from 'Parents' and an infant the gods rejoice over?

The hymn uses Vaiśvānara — “all-man” or “universal fire” — to personify Agni as both cosmic presence and household flame; calling him born from “Parents” and rejoiced over as an infant frames fire as a recurring, generated life-principle that renews the world. The poet ties domestic ritual and cosmic order together: Agni is a “vessel fit for their mouths” and “mid-point of sacrifices,” so his birth signals the reestablishment of sacrificial life and divine communication.

Describing Agni as sprung from parents and making the gods immortal emphasizes his role as origin and mediator: “by thy mental powers were made immortal” says the hymn, crediting Agni with transmitting divine power. This treatment echoes themes in the Upanishads, where cosmic fire or inner light functions as source and link between human practice and immortality.

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