To understand the nature of RV, there is no better beginning than the first hymn. In the Indian spiritual tradition, the meditation and japa of the first hymn, is the beginning for the understanding of the secret.

It is a hymn of nine verses in the gāyatri metre. It is made of three parts each of eight syllables. Rişhi is Madhuchchhandas. We will give the paraphrase of each verse:

1. I adore Agni, placed in front, the deva of the yajňa, the invoker or the summoner in the yajňa and carrier of felicities.
2. Agni, adorable by the ancient seers, is adorable by the later ones also. He brings here the devās.
3. The treasure obtained from Agni is full of hearing and strength, Increasing day by day; not subject to dwindling like ordinary wealth.
4. Only the yajňa, which is guarded by Agni, all round reaches the devās.
5. Endowed with Vision and Audition, wise and firm of will Agni is the associate of the gods.
6. Agni's special Truth is his power of conferring happy and good bhadra, which averts falsehood.
7. We approach thee day by day, in the night and in the light, carrying our surrender by our thought.
8. The (vast) Truth is the own Home of Agni. There he increases for the yajamāna; That he protects.
9. O Agni, cling to us like a father to the son, be easy of access to us.

This hymn employs very little symbolism. The ninth verse indicates that Agni is not a mere flame or even the deity of flame. He is a special aspect of the Divine whom the rişhi loves with an intensity comparable to the supreme Bhakti described in later devotional literature. The development of a personal relationship with the Divine, is one of the key ideas of Bhakti Yoga, developed in the books Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad Gīta. Agni is approached as if he were a father, son, spouse, friend and so on.

The seventh verse indicates that the rişhis were familiar with the techniques of meditation, i.e., directing the thoughts. The idea of surrender, developed later in the bhakti literature, is already present here. Here we see the mingling of Knowledge and bhakti.

The first verse merits careful attention. Here there is no mention of the ritual performed by human priests on behalf of a human patron. Agni carries out all the functions of the priests which are mainly psychological in character. If we study all the verses in RV where the word “kindling” occurs, we see that the kindling of Agni is not done by human beings but by the Gods themselves, often by the pair Mitra and Varuņa. Thus, the yajňa in RV is not a mere rite. RV uses ritualistic words to describe spiritual practices and experiences.

The third verse clearly indicates that the affluence bestowed upon by Agni increases day by day and thus it is non-physical.

The fourth verse refers to the travel done by yajňa. An enigmatic phrase, it stands for the occult in the yajňa.

The fifth verse clearly declares that Agni is the power of Divine Will endowed with wisdom and vision.

The sixth verse indicates the special truth of Agni. He bestows the auspicious power Bhadra which discriminates between Truth and Falsehood. Some may object that this interpretation of Bhadra is not in the text. But this conclusion is inescapable if we study all the verses involving the word Bhadra, namely (5.82.4), (5.82.5), (4.19.20), (5.1.10), (10.25.1), (10.104.9) etc.

The first hymn of RV establishes the spiritual character of Rigveda.

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