Sukta 146
Sukta 1.146
This short Agni hymn praises the Fire as a cosmic being—“three-headed” and “seven-rayed”—born in the lap of the two parents and filling the bright realms of heaven. It also hints at the hidden birth of Agni from the kindling-sticks and the nurturing “two cows” (dual powers) that move around one calf, suggesting the paired forces that sustain the sacrificial fire and the ordered path of the Vast.
In this hymn
Addressed to
Mantras
Mantra 1
त्रिमूर्धानं सप्तरश्मिं गृणीषेऽनूनमग्निं पित्रोरुपस्थे । निषत्तमस्य चरतो ध्रुवस्य विश्वा दिवो रोचनापप्रिवांसम् ॥
मैं अग्नि की स्तुति करता हूँ। उसके तीन सर हैं और सात किरण हैं। वो खराब नहीं हुआ, माँ-बाप की गोद में बैठा है। वो पक्की जगह पर बैठ के चलता है। वो आसमान के सारे चमकदार हिस्सों को भर देता है।
Mantra 2
उक्षा महाँ अभि ववक्ष एने अजरस्तस्थावितऊतिॠष्वः । उर्व्याः पदो नि दधाति सानौ रिहन्त्यूधो अरुषासो अस्य ॥
बड़ा बैल अपनी ताकतों के साथ फैलता है। वो बूढ़ा नहीं होता, ऊँचा खड़ा रहता है, सहायक ताकतों के साथ। वो ऊँची जगह पर बड़ा कदम रखता है। उसकी लाल ताकतें दूध पीती हैं और पोषण खींचती हैं।
Mantra 3
समानं वत्समभि संचरन्ती विष्वग्धेनू वि चरतः सुमेके । अनपवृज्याँ अध्वनो मिमाने विश्वान्केताँ अधि महो दधाने ॥
दो पालने वाली ताकतें एक बच्चे के साथ चलती हैं। वो अच्छी तरह जोड़ी हुई हैं और चारों तरफ फैलती हैं। वो उस रास्ते को नापते हैं जो कभी नहीं बदलता। वो बड़े बड़े निशान हर जगह लगाते हैं।
Mantra 4
धीरासः पदं कवयो नयन्ति नाना हृदा रक्षमाणा अजुर्यम् । सिषासन्तः पर्यपश्यन्त सिन्धुमाविरेभ्यो अभवत्सूर्यो नॄन् ॥
जिन रिशि पक्के इरादे वाले हैं, वो सच्चे रास्ते पे ले जाते हैं। हर किसी का दिल अलग तरीके से काम करता है, लेकिन सब मिलकर उस शक्ति की रक्षा करते हैं जो कभी पुरानी नहीं होती। वो ढूंढते-ढूंढते नदी को देख पाए। फिर उनके लिए सूरज दिख गया, और लोगों के लिए भी।
Mantra 5
दिदृक्षेण्यः परि काष्ठासु जेन्य ईळेन्यो महो अर्भाय जीवसे । पुरुत्रा यदभवत्सूरहैभ्यो गर्भेभ्यो मघवा विश्वदर्शतः ॥
वो देखने लायक है, लकड़ी के टुकड़ों में घूमता है। बड़ा और पूजा लायक है, बच्चे की जान के लिए। जब वो कई जगह दिखने लगा, उस वक्त बड़ा दाता सबको दिखा दिया गया।
Inside Sukta 146
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
Agni is hailed in grand cosmic imagery—three-headed, seven-rayed, firmly seated in the parents’ lap and filling heaven’s luminous spaces.
- Development
The hymn turns to symbolic generation: paired nurturing powers move around a single calf, measuring an irreversible path and placing signs of the Vast (mahas).
- Climax
Agni’s hidden birth becomes revelation—he is ‘worthy to be seen’, moving within the wood and becoming manifest from many wombs.
- Where it settles
The vision settles into adoration: Agni stands visible and beneficent, sustaining life and order as the universally perceivable divine fire.
The deity: Agni
- In the VedaHe is praised as visible, adorable (īḻenya), and mysteriously multi-formed as he kindles from many ‘wombs’.
- Cosmic functionMediator between gods and humans, carrier of offerings, establisher of ṛta (ordered truth), and the luminous principle that pervades and activates the worlds.
- Inner significanceThe awakening of aspiration and discernment: the inner fire that turns inert fuel (habit, ignorance) into light, will, and right movement on the ‘path that cannot be turned aside’.
The seer
- Dīrghatamas Āucathya (traditional attribution)Āucathya (Angirasa-related tradition; exact gotra uncertain in this sukta’s notices) · Renowned for cryptic, symbolic hymns on cosmic order (ṛta), the Sun, and the hidden origins of Agni; celebrated as a master of Vedic riddling imagery.
Famous verses
trimūrdhānaṃ saptaraśmim
समानं वत्समभि संचरन्ती विष्वग्धेनू वि चरतः सुमेके । अनपवृज्याँ अध्वनो मिमाने विश्वान्केताँ अधि महो दधाने ॥dिदṛkṣeṇyaḥAttributes of the deity
- Hotṛ/priest and messenger
- Born of ‘two parents’ (dual sources)
- Seven-rayed/light-bearing
- Hidden in wood yet universally manifest
- Upholder of ṛta and the straight path
- Protector and life-giver for the ‘child’ (the sacrificer/inner being)
Also by this seer
- Several enigmatic hymns in Rigveda Mandala 1 (traditionally linked with Dīrghatamas), especially cosmological and Agni/Sūrya-themed verses
- Later Vedic tradition frequently cites him as a paradigmatic seer of ‘guhya’ (hidden) meanings
The rite, step by step
- Prepare the vedi (altar space) and arrange kindling-sticks (samidh).
- Invoke Agni with praise as the established, unmoving foundation of the rite.
- Kindle fire by friction or ignition, recognizing Agni ‘seated in the parents’ (fire-sticks/Heaven-Earth).
- Offer initial oblations while reciting the key verses, asking Agni to pervade the luminous regions and set right ‘signs’ (ketu) of the Vast.
- Conclude with a stabilizing offering and silent contemplation of Agni’s visible presence arising from hidden wombs.
Offerings
- Ghee (ājya) oblations
- Kindling-sticks (samidh)
- Optional: grains or milk in domestic settings
Frequently Asked Questions
These are symbolic epithets: “three-headed” can suggest Agni’s presence in three realms (earth, midspace, heaven) or three ritual forms, while “seven-rayed” points to his complete radiance—light spreading in all directions and through the ordered powers often counted as seven.
The phrase can mean Heaven and Earth as cosmic parents, and also the two fire-sticks used to kindle the sacrificial fire. The sukta intentionally allows both the cosmic and the ritual reading.
It is a riddle-like image for paired nurturing forces that sustain Agni—such as Heaven and Earth, day and night, or two complementary ritual powers—moving around the one ‘calf’, the newly born fire, as it is established on the straight path of order (ṛta).
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