The Seventh Hymn to Agni
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The Divine Will, Desirer, Enjoyer, Progressive from the Animal to Bliss and Knowledge
[Agni is hymned as the divine Force that brings the bliss and the ray of the truth into the human being and light into the night of our darkness. He leads men in their labour to his own infinite levels; he enjoys and tears up the objects of earthly enjoyment, but all his multitude of desires are for the building of an
universality, an all-embracing enjoyment in the divine home of the human being. He is the animal moving as the enjoyer by the progressive movement of Nature, as with an axe through the forest, to the achievement and the bliss. This passionate, emotional, animal being of man is given by him to be purified into the peace and bliss; in it he establishes a divine light and knowledge and the awakened state of the soul.]
5.7.1
सखा॑य॒: सं वः॑ स॒म्यञ्च॒मिषं॒ स्तोमं॑ चा॒ग्नये॑ ।
वर्षि॑ष्ठाय क्षिती॒नामू॒र्जो नप्त्रे॒ सह॑स्वते ॥१॥
sakhāyaḥ sam vaḥ samyañcam iṣam stomam ca agnaye
varṣiṣṭhāya kṣitīnām ūrjaḥ naptre sahasvate
O comrades, in you an absolute force of impulsion and an utter affirming for the Strength that lavishes all his abundance on the worlds of our dwelling,2 for the master of Force, for the son of Energy.
5.7.2
कुत्रा॑ चि॒द्यस्य॒ समृ॑तौ र॒ण्वा नरो॑ नृ॒षद॑ने ।
अर्ह॑न्तश्चि॒द्यमि॑न्ध॒ते सं॑ज॒नय॑न्ति ज॒न्तवः॑ ॥२॥
kutra cit yasya sam-ṛtau raṇvāḥ naraḥ nṛ-sadane
arhantaḥ cit yam indhate sam-janayanti jantavaḥ
Wheresoever man’s soul comes to the utter meeting with him, it becomes full of delight in its dwelling-place. Even they who are adepts in the strength continue to kindle the flame of him and all creatures born work to bring him to perfect birth.
5.7.3
सं यदि॒षो वना॑महे॒ सं ह॒व्या मानु॑षाणाम् ।
उ॒त द्यु॒म्नस्य॒ शव॑स ऋ॒तस्य॑ र॒श्मिमा द॑दे ॥३॥
sam yat iṣaḥ vanāmahe sam havyā mānuṣāṇām
uta dyumnasya śavasā ṛtasya raśmim ā dade
When wholly we possess and enjoy our strengths of impulsion, wholly all that men offer as a sacrifice, then I receive the ray of the Truth in its illumination and shining energy.3
5.7.4
स स्मा॑ कृणोति के॒तुमा नक्तं॑ चिद्दू॒र आ स॒ते ।
पा॒व॒को यद्वन॒स्पती॒न्प्र स्मा॑ मि॒नात्य॒जरः॑ ॥४॥
saḥ sma kṛṇoti ketum ā naktam cit dūre ā sate
pāvakaḥ yat vanaspatīn pra sma mināti ajaraḥ
Verily he creates the light of perception even for one who sits far off in the night, when himself undecaying the 
purifier
compresses the lords4 of the woodland of delight.
5.7.5
अव॑ स्म॒ यस्य॒ वेष॑णे॒ स्वेदं॑ प॒थिषु॒ जुह्व॑ति ।
अ॒भीमह॒ स्वजे॑न्यं॒ भूमा॑ पृ॒ष्ठेव॑ रुरुहुः ॥५॥
ava sma yasya veṣaṇe svedam pathiṣu juhvati
abhi īm aha sva-jenyam bhūma pṛṣṭā-iva ruruhuḥ
When in his circling men cast the sweat5 of their toil as an offering on the paths, then they ascend to him where he sits self-joyous6 like climbers who arrive upon large levels.7
5.7.6
यं मर्त्य॑: पुरु॒स्पृहं॑ वि॒दद्विश्व॑स्य॒ धाय॑से ।
प्र स्वाद॑नं पितू॒नामस्त॑तातिं चिदा॒यवे॑ ॥६॥
yam martyaḥ puru-spṛham vidat viśvasya dhāyase
pra svādanam pitūnām asta-tātim cit āyave
Him shall mortal man come to know as the godhead who has this multitude of his desires that he may establish in us the all; for he reaches forward to the sweet taste of all foods and he builds a home8 for this human being.
5.7.7
स हि ष्मा॒ धन्वाक्षि॑तं॒ दाता॒ न दात्या प॒शुः ।
हिरि॑श्मश्रु॒: शुचि॑दन्नृ॒भुरनि॑भृष्टतविषिः ॥७॥
saḥ hi sma dhanva ā-kṣitam dātā na dāti ā paśuḥ
hiri-śmaśruḥ śuci-dan ṛbhuḥ anibhṛṣṭa-taviṣiḥ
Yea, he teareth to pieces this desert9 in which we dwell as the Animal that teareth its food; the beard of this Beast is of the golden light, his fang is a purity and the force in him is not afflicted by his heats.
5.7.8
शुचि॑: ष्म॒ यस्मा॑ अत्रि॒वत्प्र स्वधि॑तीव॒ रीय॑ते ।
सु॒षूर॑सूत मा॒ता क्रा॒णा यदा॑न॒शे भग॑म् ॥८॥
śuciḥ sma yasmai atri-vat pra svadhitiḥ-iva rīyate
su-sūḥ asūta mātā krāṇā yat ānaśe bhagam
Pure indeed is he for whom as for the eater of things there is the flowing progression by Nature10 as by an axe, and with a happy travail she, his Mother, brought him forth that he may accomplish her works and taste of the enjoyment.11
5.7.9
आ यस्ते॑ सर्पिरासु॒तेऽग्ने॒ शमस्ति॒ धाय॑से ।
ऐषु॑ द्यु॒म्नमु॒त श्रव॒ आ चि॒त्तं मर्त्ये॑षु धाः ॥९॥
ā yaḥ te sarpiḥ-āsute agne śam asti dhāyase
ā eṣu dyumnam uta śravaḥ ā cittam martyeṣu dhāḥ
O
strength, O presser out on us of the running richness, when thou findest one who
is a glad peace12 for the establishing of thy works, in such mortals illumination establish and inspired knowledge and the conscious soul.
5.7.10
इति॑ चिन्म॒न्युम॒ध्रिज॒स्त्वादा॑त॒मा प॒शुं द॑दे ।
आद॑ग्ने॒ अपृ॑ण॒तोऽत्रि॑: सासह्या॒द्दस्यू॑नि॒षः सा॑सह्या॒न्नॄन् ॥१०॥
iti cit manyum adhrijaḥ tvā-dātam ā paśum dade
āt agne apṛṇataḥ atriḥ sasahyāt dasyūn iṣaḥ sasahyāt nṝn
For to this end I born in the material existence receive as thy gift the emotional mind and the animal being.13 Yea, O Will, may the eater of things overpower the Dividers14 who minister not to his fullness; these souls that rush upon him with their impulsions may he overcome.
1 CWSA, volume 15: a
“an” in original text in Arya, vol. 2, No 6, p.357.
2 Or, “on the dwellers in the world”.
3 Or, “of the light, the luminous force, the truth”.
4 Vanaspatīn, in its double sense, the trees, the lords of the forest, growths of the earth, our material existence, and lords of delight. Soma, producer of the immortalising wine, is the typical vanaspati.
5 An equivoque on the double sense of the word, sweat and the rich droppings of the food-offering.
6 Or, “self-victorious”.
7 These are the wide free infinite planes of existence founded on the Truth, the open levels opposed elsewhere to the uneven crookednesses which shut in men limiting their vision and obstructing their journey.
8 The home of man, the higher divine world of his existence which is being formed by the gods in his being through the sacrifice. This home is the complete Beatitude into which all human desires and enjoyings have to be transformed and lose themselves. Therefore Agni, the purifier, devours all the forms of material existence and enjoyment in order to reduce them to their divine equivalent.
9 The material existence not watered by the streams or rivers which descend from the superconscient Bliss and Truth.
10 Again an equivoque on the double sense of svadhiti, an axe or other cleaving instrument and the self-ordering power of Nature, svadhā. The image is of the progress of the divine Force through the forests of the material existence as with an axe. But the axe is the natural self-arranging progression of Nature, the World-Energy, the Mother from whom this divine Force, son of Energy, is born.
11 The divine enjoyment, bhaga, typified by the god Bhaga, the Enjoyer in the power of the Truth.
12 Śam and śarma in the Veda express the idea of peace and joy, the joy that comes of the accomplished labour, śamī, or work of the sacrifice: the toil of the battle and the journey find their rest, a foundation of beatitude is acquired which is already free from the pain of strife and effort.
13 Literally, passion-mind and the animal; but the word paśu may also mean, as it does oftenest in the Veda, the symbolic Cow of light; in that case the sense will be the emotional mind and the illumined mind. But the first rendering agrees better with the general sense of the hymn and with its previous use of the word.
14 The Dasyus who hack and cut up the growth and unity of the soul and seek to assail and destroy its divine strength, joy and knowledge. They are powers of Darkness, the sons of Danu or Diti the divided being.