Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.112 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Aśvins, the twin divine horsemen, healers of the gods and bringers of dawn. Nearly every verse repeats a refrain — "with those aids, come well, O Aśvins" — after naming one or more of the many sages, kings, and unfortunates the twins are said to have helped in the old stories: Rebha bound in the waters, the swallowed quail set free, Viśpalā quickened in the great race, and many more. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. I call on Heaven and Earth for first regard, and on Agni, the bright gharma-flame, on your journey, for the offering. With the powers by which you spur our effort in the contest to win our share — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
2. For your giving, the unfailing, well-laden [gifts] have mounted your chariot, as if to weigh a spoken word. With the powers by which you further our insight in the ritual work, for the offering's sake — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
3. You two rule, by the might of the immortal, over the heavenly realm, over these settlements. With the powers by which you swell the milk-cow, O men, and the horse — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
4. By the powers with which the wide-ranging one, twice-born of two mothers, the swift overcomer, arms himself with generative might; by which the thrice-wise one became clear-sighted — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
5. By which powers you raised up Rebha, bound and confined in the waters, and Vandana, to see the sunlight; by which you helped Kaṇva as he sought to win his desire — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
6. By which powers you quickened Antaka, perishing in the wild place, and by which unfailing powers you quickened Bhujyu; by which you quicken Karkandhu and Vayya — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
7. By which powers you helped Śucanti, the wealth-winner of good company, and made the heated gharma-vessel a source of relief for Atri; by which you helped Pṛśnigu and Purukutsa — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
8. By which powers, O mighty ones, you made Parāvṛj, blind and lame, able to see and to walk again; by which you freed the quail that had been swallowed — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
9. By which powers you made the river sweet and unfailing, and by which, ageless ones, you quickened Vasiṣṭha; by which you helped Kutsa, Śrutarya, and Narya — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
10. By which powers you quickened Viśpalā, the wealth-winner, descendant of Atharvan, in the race worth a thousand prizes; by which you helped Vaśa, kin to the horse, and Preṇi — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
11. By which powers, O bounteous ones, the vessel flowed with honey for the trader Auśija, called Dīrghaśravas; by which you helped Kakṣīvant, the singer of praise — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
12. By which powers you made the river Rasā swell with rushing water, and by which you helped the horseless chariot on to victory; by which powers Triśoka drove out the ruddy cows — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
13. By which powers you travel around the sun in the distant region, and helped Mandhātṛ to lordship over the land; by which you helped the inspired singer Bharadvāja — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
14. By which powers you helped the great Atithigva, swift as a lash — that is, Divodāsa — in the slaying of Śambara; by which you helped Trasadasyu in the breaking of strongholds — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
15. By which powers you helped Vamra, drinking deep, when praised, and by which you favor Kali, who recovered his wife; by which you helped Vyaśva and Pṛthi — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
16. By which powers, O heroes, you sought out a path of old for Śayu, for Atri, for Manu; by which you drove the dappled cows for Syūmaraśmi — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
17. By which powers, by the might of the belly-fire, Paṭharvan — Agni, heaped and kindled — roared forth on his course; by which you helped Śaryāta in the contest for the great prize — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
18. By which powers you gladden the Aṅgirases in mind, and go foremost into the opening of the flood of cows; by which you helped Manu the hero with nourishment — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
19. By which powers you brought home wives for Vimada, or by which you favored the ruddy ones; by which you brought to Sudās the favor of the gods — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
20. By which powers you bring lasting well-being to the worshiper who has given offerings, and by which you help Bhujyu, by which you help Adhrigu, with a help that is protective, well-sustaining, and true-sounding — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
21. By which powers you favor Kṛśānu in the contest of the bow, and by which you helped the young man's horse in the race; and the dear mead that you bring for the saraḍs — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
22. By which powers you quicken the man who fights for cattle in the contest among men, in the winning of land and offspring; by which you help chariots, by which you help horses — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
23. By which powers, O hundred-mighty ones, you helped Kutsa, son of Arjuna, and helped forth Turvīti and Dabhīti; by which you helped Dhvasanti and Puruṣanti — with those aids, come well, O Aśvins.
24. O Aśvins, make our speech rich in gain, and make our thought so too, O wonder-workers, O mighty bulls. I call on you two for help that will not fail, and be for our furtherance in the winning of the prize.
25. By day and by night, protect us all around, O Aśvins, with your unfailing blessings of good fortune. May Mitra and Varuṇa grant us this — Aditi, the River, Earth, and Heaven as well.
Translator's note: this hymn is a dense catalogue of Aśvin rescue-legends, most named in a single word each; the underlying stories (as with Rebha, Vandana, or Viśpalā) are known from later tradition, not spelled out in the verse itself, and are not supplied here beyond what the Sanskrit states. A few terms resist confident rendering: verse 17's "paṭharvā" (rendered as a proper name, possibly an epithet of the digestive/kindled fire) and verse 21's "saraḍbhyaḥ" (rendered literally; sometimes read as referring to bees) are translated conservatively rather than guessed at.
Colophon
Rigveda I.112 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation rendered verse by verse from the Sanskrit text printed below. Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.112
īḻe dyāvāpṛthivī pūrvacittaye 'gniṁ gharmaṁ surucaṁ yāmann iṣṭaye |
yābhir bhare kāram aṁśāya jinvathas tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 1 ||
yuvor dānāya subharā asaścato ratham ā tasthur vacasaṁ na mantave |
yābhir dhiyo 'vathaḥ karmann iṣṭaye tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 2 ||
yuvaṁ tāsāṁ divyasya praśāsane viśāṁ kṣayatho amṛtasya majmanā |
yābhir dhenum asva1m pinvatho narā tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 3 ||
yābhiḥ parijmā tanayasya majmanā dvimātā tūrṣu taraṇir vibhūṣati |
yābhis trimantur abhavad vicakṣaṇas tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 4 ||
yābhī rebhaṁ nivṛtaṁ sitam adbhya ud vandanam airayataṁ svar dṛśe |
yābhiḥ kaṇvam pra siṣāsantam āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 5 ||
yābhir antakaṁ jasamānam āraṇe bhujyuṁ yābhir avyathibhir jijinvathuḥ |
yābhiḥ karkandhuṁ vayyaṁ ca jinvathas tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 6 ||
yābhiḥ śucantiṁ dhanasāṁ suṣaṁsadaṁ taptaṁ gharmam omyāvantam atraye |
yābhiḥ pṛśnigum purukutsam āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 7 ||
yābhiḥ śacībhir vṛṣaṇā parāvṛjam prāndhaṁ śroṇaṁ cakṣasa etave kṛthaḥ |
yābhir vartikāṁ grasitām amuñcataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 8 ||
yābhiḥ sindhum madhumantam asaścataṁ vasiṣṭhaṁ yābhir ajarāv ajinvatam |
yābhiḥ kutsaṁ śrutaryaṁ naryam āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 9 ||
yābhir viśpalāṁ dhanasām atharvyaṁ sahasramīḻha ājāv ajinvatam |
yābhir vaśam aśvyam preṇim āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 10 ||
yābhiḥ sudānū auśijāya vaṇije dīrghaśravase madhu kośo akṣarat |
kakṣīvantaṁ stotāraṁ yābhir āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 11 ||
yābhī rasāṁ kṣodasodnaḥ pipinvathur anaśvaṁ yābhī ratham āvataṁ jiṣe |
yābhis triśoka usriyā udājata tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 12 ||
yābhiḥ sūryam pariyāthaḥ parāvati mandhātāraṁ kṣaitrapatyeṣv āvatam |
yābhir vipram pra bharadvājam āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 13 ||
yābhir mahām atithigvaṁ kaśojuvaṁ divodāsaṁ śambarahatya āvatam |
yābhiḥ pūrbhidye trasadasyum āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 14 ||
yābhir vamraṁ vipipānam upastutaṁ kaliṁ yābhir vittajāniṁ duvasyathaḥ |
yābhir vyaśvam uta pṛthim āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 15 ||
yābhir narā śayave yābhir atraye yābhiḥ purā manave gātum īṣathuḥ |
yābhiḥ śārīr ājataṁ syūmaraśmaye tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 16 ||
yābhiḥ paṭharvā jaṭharasya majmanāgnir nādīdec cita iddho ajmann ā |
yābhiḥ śaryātam avatho mahādhane tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 17 ||
yābhir aṅgiro manasā niraṇyatho 'graṁ gacchatho vivare goarṇasaḥ |
yābhir manuṁ śūram iṣā samāvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 18 ||
yābhiḥ patnīr vimadāya nyūhathur ā gha vā yābhir aruṇīr aśikṣatam |
yābhiḥ sudāsa ūhathuḥ sudevya1ṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 19 ||
yābhiḥ śaṁtātī bhavatho dadāśuṣe bhujyuṁ yābhir avatho yābhir adhrigum |
omyāvatīṁ subharām ṛtastubhaṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 20 ||
yābhiḥ kṛśānum asane duvasyatho jave yābhir yūno arvantam āvatam |
madhu priyam bharatho yat saraḍbhyas tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 21 ||
yābhir naraṁ goṣuyudhaṁ nṛṣāhye kṣetrasya sātā tanayasya jinvathaḥ |
yābhī rathām̐ avatho yābhir arvatas tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 22 ||
yābhiḥ kutsam ārjuneyaṁ śatakratū pra turvītim pra ca dabhītim āvatam |
yābhir dhvasantim puruṣantim āvataṁ tābhir ū ṣu ūtibhir aśvinā gatam || 23 ||
apnasvatīm aśvinā vācam asme kṛtaṁ no dasrā vṛṣaṇā manīṣām |
adyūtye 'vase ni hvaye vāṁ vṛdhe ca no bhavataṁ vājasātau || 24 ||
dyubhir aktubhiḥ pari pātam asmān ariṣṭebhir aśvinā saubhagebhiḥ |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 25 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).