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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 917 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN LXXX. Agni.

1.AGNI bestows the fleet prize-winning courser: Agni, the hero famed and firm in duty. Agni pervades and decks the earth and heaven, and fills the fruitful dame who teems with heroes.

2.Blest be the wood that feeds the active Agni: within the two great worlds hath Agni entered. Agni impels a single man to battle, and with him rends in pieces many a foeman.

3.Agni rejoiced the car of him who praised lim, and from the waters burnt away jarutha. Agni saved Atri in the fiery cavem, and made Nrmedha rich with troops of children.

4.Agni hath granted wealth that decks the hero, and sent the sage who wins a thousand cattle. Agni hath made oblations rise to heaven: to every place are Agni’s laws extended.

5.With songs of praise the Ṛṣis call on Agni; on Agni, heroes worsted in the foray. Birds flying in the region call on Agni around a thousand cattle Agni wanders.

6.Races of human birth pay Agni worship, men who have sprung from Nahus’ line adore him. Stablished in holy oil is Agni’s pasture, on the Gandharva path of Law and Order.

7.The Ṛbhus fabricated prayer for Agni, and we with mighty hymns have called on Agni. Agni, Most Youthful God, protect the singer: win us by worship, Agni, great possessions.

Asked of Guide

Why do the Ṛṣis keep invoking Agni for wealth, victory, and descendants?

The hymn presents Agni as the cosmic mediator whose presence secures concrete goods: he “bestows the fleet prize‑winning courser,” makes oblations “rise to heaven,” and “has made Nrmedha rich with troops of children.” The Ṛṣis invoke Agni because he connects the sacrificial flame to social prosperity, martial success, and fertility; worshiping Agni is how communities aim to translate ritual speech into material and dynastic results.

This view matches how the Rig Veda treats gods as functional forces tied to worldly aims rather than abstract metaphysics. For a parallel treatment of ritual efficacy, see R.G. Collingwood’s readings and Jan Gonda’s studies of Vedic ritual, which emphasize the ritual agent (here Agni) as the effective channel between human petitions and realized benefits.

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