Tr. Therefore, be easy of access to us as a father upto his son, cling to us for our happy state.
agne Agni; sa tvam such as Thou art; sūnave to the son; piteva like a father; naḥ our; sūpā yanaḥ he who is easily approachable, easy of access; bhava be; naḥ our; svastaye for good ; sacasva serve, cling to us, be contained in us.
A fine summary of this Sukta by the present commentator is to be found in his Sidelights in Sanskrit Literature:
Because his natural movement is one of power and brilliance, his name agni is derived by the wise from the root ang.
In works of the worship of the Gods, Agni is sought after; he is the summoner in the sacrifice, carrier of felicities, the Ritvik and the Priest.
This adorative waiting upon Agni is an ancient science. Capable of bringing the Gods, he is adorable too by the new.
The treasure obtained from Agni, full of Hearing and Strength, increases day by day; it is not subject to decay like the wealth of the world.
It is only the sacrifice which is environed by the Lord Agni, who is invoked, that reaches the Gods, guarded on the way from the evil spirits.
The sacrifice is called adhvara because, arising from the yajamana, he sets out to the world of svar; because he creates, gives, rāti, the path, adhva, to the Heaven, he is known as adhvara.
To such a sacrifice Agni comes with the Gods. He comes in the form of Vision, Will-Power; hence he is spoken of as Seer-Will, kavikralu.
The happy good avorting the False that he, full of varied listenings of the Truth, bears for the yajamana is held to be his special truth.
Shining bright in his own abode, the Supreme Truth, for the yajamana, increasing, guardian of Truth, Lord of the Sacrifices, he is ever adored and waited upon by the Rishis steadfast, engaged in austerities and meditation with daily obeisances carrying full surrender.
Like the father who clings to the son, and is easy of access to him, so is Agni to the devoted Rishi.
Thus lauds the great sage.
We have commented upon this hymn of Madhucchandas on Agni. In this very first hymn of the Rig Veda of ten Books, is revealed the Secret of the Veda, with a certain clarity. While commenting upon it, we have shown briefly as far as necessary, the line of high thought in the Mantras. Though in the case of certain Riks in the hymn, a ritualistic meaning can be somehow extracted, the line is not clear and straight for a ritualistic interpretation throughout. In the ritualistic interpretation a common-place meaning is brought out after a great deal of difficulty in case of words like kavikratuḥ, satyaḥ, citraśravastamaḥ, dhiyā namo bharantaḥ, sve dame vardhamānam, etc. The meaning derived by them of the Mantra 'yadanga dāśuşe' is ridiculous in the extreme. The direct meaning is : "To him who offers to Agni what he has or what he is himself, Agni effects the happy good-denoted by the term bhadra-which eliminates the false consciousness and the misery born out of it. And the truth that is this good is founded in Agni only."
This is the argument that runs through the Mantras of the hymn, as seen through this direct opening on the Secret of the Veda. Thus, Rik by Rik:
First: God Agni himself is waited upon as the Vicar, the Ritvik, for the carrying out of the sacrifice of the Yajamana.
Second: This discipline of adoration of Agni is not something new adopted by Madhucchandas but what has come down in the tradition of the Rishis from a long past and by which Agni, the foremost of the Gods, brings the other Gods.
Third: The wealth obtained by the grace of Agni is not tainted by fear of decay like the worldly variety, but given to increase more and more.
Fourth : It is not the sacrifice performed by human effort unaided that can reach to the Gods, but only the sacrifice which is guarded in every way from all evil spirits by Agni.
Fifth: Endowed with vision and audition, wise, firm of will, Agni is the helper of the Gods.
Sixth: The giving of the special good which lies in Truth-Consciousness as opposed to the False is the truth of Agni.
Seventh : Every day, in all conditions, firm in meditation, weighted with obeisances, the Rishis wait upon Agni.
Eighth: Truth (the Vast Truth) is the own Home of Agni; there he increases for the Yajamana. That he protects.
Ninth: To such Agni who is realised or in order to realise him, does the Rishi pray with great trust: "Cling unto us like a father to the son, be easy of access to us.'
Certainly an Agni of this kind cannot be only the sacrificial fire which is but an external symbol. Neither can he be only the deity presiding over the material principle of heat. The Agni adored in this first hymn, whose prowess has been brought out by us and whose features set forth in the hymn, is truly the Truth, the Lord auspicious, our Seer-Will.
This is the Agni hymn, which gives a foretaste of the essence of the Secret of the Veda and which, in the tradition of the study of the thousand-hymned Veda, is called the epitome of all Vedic study; and it is to emphasise this feature that the ancients say: “Repeat the sūkta agnimiļe, destroyer of sin, creator of prosperity; the fruit of the study of all the Vedas is obtained thereby."
In the famous Soma sacrifice' known as agniştoma, this hymn is recited by the Hotṛ prior to the pouring of the Soma in the morning recitation.
Here ends the second group in the first Chapter of the first Eighth.