Sri Aurobindo
The Secret of the Veda
with Selected Hymns
The Sixteenth Hymn to Agni
A Hymn to the Bringer of all Desirable Good
[The Rishi affirms the Divine Will in man as the offering and representative priest who brings light and strength and inspired knowledge and every desirable good; for he is the aspirer by works in whom is the puissance of all the gods and the full plenitude of their force.]
5.16.1
बृ॒हद्वयो॒ हि भा॒नवेऽर्चा॑ दे॒वाया॒ग्नये॑ ।
यं मि॒त्रं न प्रश॑स्तिभि॒र्मर्ता॑सो दधि॒रे पु॒रः ॥१॥
bṛhat vayaḥ hi bhānave arca devāya agnaye
yam mitram na praśastibhiḥ martāsaḥ dadhire puraḥ
Sing thou out by the word a vast manifestation for the shining Light, for the divine, for the Will whom mortals by their expressions of his godhead as the Friend1 put in their front.
5.16.2
स हि द्युभि॒र्जना॑नां॒ होता॒ दक्ष॑स्य बा॒ह्वोः ।
वि ह॒व्यम॒ग्निरा॑नु॒षग्भगो॒ न वार॑मृण्वति ॥२॥
saḥ hi dyubhiḥ janānām hotā dakṣasya bāhvoḥ
vi havyam agniḥ ānuṣak bhagaḥ na vāram ṛṇvati
The Will is the priest of offering of the peoples; by the illuminations of the discerning mind he bears abroad in both his arms the continuous order2 of their offerings and as the divine enjoyer3 he moves to his good.
5.16.3
अ॒स्य स्तोमे॑ म॒घोनः॑ स॒ख्ये वृ॒द्धशो॑चिषः ।
विश्वा॒ यस्मि॑न्तुवि॒ष्वणि॒ सम॒र्ये शुष्म॑माद॒धुः ॥३॥
asya stome maghonaḥ sakhye vṛddha-śociṣaḥ
viśvā yasmin tuvi-svaṇi sam arye śuṣmam ā-dadhuḥ
In the affirmation of him and in his comradeship when he has increased his flame of purity are all the lords of the plenitude;4 for all things are in the sound of his many voices and on him, the aspirer in his works, they have laid the burden of their strength.
5.16.4
अधा॒ ह्य॑ग्न एषां सु॒वीर्य॑स्य मं॒हना॑ ।
तमिद्य॒ह्वं न रोद॑सी॒ परि॒ श्रवो॑ बभूवतुः ॥४॥
adha hi agne eṣām su-vīryasya maṃhanā
tam it yahvam na rodasī iti pari śravaḥ babhūvatuḥ
Even now, O Will, may there be the full plenitude of their utter force. Around this mighty Will earth and heaven have become as if one voice of inspired knowledge.5
5.16.5
नू न॒ एहि॒ वार्य॒मग्ने॑ गृणा॒न आ भ॑र ।
ये व॒यं ये च॑ सू॒रयः॑ स्व॒स्ति धाम॑हे॒ सचो॒तैधि॑ पृ॒त्सु नो॑ वृ॒धे ॥५॥
nu naḥ ā ihi vāryam agne gṛṇānaḥ ā bhara
ye vayam ye ca sūrayaḥ svasti dhāmahe sacā uta edhi pṛt-su naḥ vṛdhe
Even now come to us, O Will, hymned by our words and bring to us our desirable good. May we who are here and those luminous masters of knowledge together found that blissful state of our being. March with us in our battles that we may grow.
1 Mitra. Agni contains and is all the gods. Mortals have to discover in the action of the divine Will the light, love and harmony of the true knowledge and true existence, the Mitra-power; it is in this aspect that he has to be set in front of the human consciousness as the representative priest in the sacrifice.
2 As the Purohit, the representative priest in the sacrifice and the leader in the van of its march. He stands in front of our consciousness, leader of all our powers, to guide and carry on our Godward work, so that there shall be no interruption, no gap in the order of the sacrifice, the right stages of its march to the gods, the right placing of its works according to the times and seasons of the Truth.
3 The Divine Will becomes the Enjoyer Bhaga, brother power of Mitra, who enjoys all delight of existence but by Mitra’s power of pure discernment and according to the light, truth and harmony of the divine living.
4 The gods; the Divine Force contains and sustains all the other divine powers in their working; in him resides therefore the power of all the other godheads.
5 The whole physical and the whole mental consciousness become full of the knowledge which streams into them from the supramental plane and they, as it were, turn into the supramental light and action around the divine Seer-Will as he moves about in them at his work of transfiguration.