Hymn to the Sacrificial Horse
Rigveda I.162 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the sacred horse, the aśvamedha (horse sacrifice), the ritual horse consecrated to the cosmic order. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
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. Let not Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman, Āyu, Indra Ṛbhukṣan, or the Maruts find fault with us, when we proclaim in the assembly the powers of the vigorous, god-born steed.
2. When they lead forth, by its head, the accepted offering — the horse covered with a costly cloth — the many-colored, well-fronted goat that goes before it bleats, going toward the beloved realm of Indra and Pūṣan.
3. This goat, belonging to all the gods, is led before the vigorous horse, as the share of Pūṣan; Tvaṣṭar himself urges it on, together with the beloved offering-cake that accompanies the steed, toward glorious renown.
4. When men lead the horse three times, in due season, around the oblation that travels to the gods, then the goat — the first share, belonging to Pūṣan — goes forth, announcing the sacrifice to the gods.
5. The hotṛ, the adhvaryu, the purifying priest, the fire-kindler, the presser of the pressing-stones, and the eloquent reciter — with this well-ordered, well-performed sacrifice, fill yourselves full.
6. Those who cut the sacrificial post, those who carry the post, those who carve the crown-piece for the horse's post, and those who prepare the cooking-vessel for the steed — let their approving praise also further this rite.
7. He has come forth well-disposed; my thought has been set toward the gods' quarter, his back made ready. The inspired seers rejoice, following after him; in the gods' increase we have made him a good kinsman.
8. Whatever rope or tether of the vigorous steed, whatever headstall, rein, or cord of his, or whatever fodder-grass was placed in his mouth — let all of that, too, be among the gods.
9. Whatever of the horse's raw flesh the flies have touched, or whatever clings to the spit or to the axe, whatever is on the slaughterer's hands or under his nails — let all of that, too, be among the gods.
10. Whatever stench rises from the undigested matter of the belly, whatever odor there is of the raw flesh — let the slaughterers make that well-prepared, and let them cook the offering to full doneness.
11. Whatever runs down onto the spit from your limb as it is cooked by the fire, from you who have been struck down — let that not fall on the ground or on the grass; let it be given to the eager gods.
12. Those who look upon the vigorous one now cooked, who say "it is fragrant, take it out," and those who wait for a share of the horse's flesh — let their approving praise also further this rite.
13. The fork for the flesh-cooking pot, the vessels for pouring out the broth, the heat-holding covers of the pots, the hooks, the carving-boards — all these adorn the horse round about.
14. Your stepping forth, your sitting down, your rolling on the ground, and the horse's foot-shackle, and whatever you drank, and whatever fodder you ate — let all of that, too, be among the gods.
15. May the smoke-smelling fire not crackle harshly against you; may the glowing pot not give off a burnt smell over you. Offered, welcomed, approved, hallowed with the vaṣaṭ-call — such a horse the gods receive.
16. The garment they spread beneath the horse, the covering-cloth, the golden ornaments for him, the tether, the steed himself, the foot-shackle — these dear things they send onward, halted among the gods.
17. Whatever, in your seat, the rider of the mighty one struck you with heel or with whip — all of that, as with the ladle over the offerings at the rites, I set right for you with sacred speech.
18. The axe now meets the thirty-four ribs of the vigorous horse, kinsman of the gods. Keep the limbs unbroken, shape them according to the plan; joint by joint, calling out as you go, cut them apart.
19. One is the carver of Tvaṣṭar's horse; two are the guides, and the season too makes a third. Whatever of your limbs I prepare, each in its order, those portions, one by one, I offer into the fire.
20. May the departing dear life-breath not burn you; may the axe not linger in your body. Let no greedy, unskilled cutter, missing his stroke, hack your limbs wrongly and make gashes with the knife.
21. You do not die by this, you are not harmed; you go to the gods by easy paths. The two bay steeds have become your yoke-mates, and the dappled mares; the vigorous horse has taken his place at the pole beside the donkey.
22. May the vigorous horse win for us good cattle, good horses, sons for our men, and wealth that nourishes all. May Aditi grant us freedom from wrongdoing. May the horse, bearing the offering, win us dominion.
Translator's note: several ritual-implement terms in verses 6, 13, and 18 (e.g. the exact form of the "crown-piece," the "fork," and the carving order) name objects whose precise shape is uncertain outside specialist ritual manuals; they are rendered conservatively by their general function. Verse 21's "donkey" (rāsabha) may refer to a team-animal in the Aśvins' chariot rather than a literal ass; the Sanskrit is kept literal here rather than resolved by conjecture.
Colophon
Rigveda I.162 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.162
mā no mitro varuṇo aryamāyur indra ṛbhukṣā marutaḥ pari khyan |
yad vājino devajātasya sapteḥ pravakṣyāmo vidathe vīryāṇi || 1 ||
yan nirṇijā rekṇasā prāvṛtasya rātiṁ gṛbhītām mukhato nayanti |
suprāṅ ajo memyad viśvarūpa indrāpūṣṇoḥ priyam apy eti pāthaḥ || 2 ||
eṣa cchāgaḥ puro aśvena vājinā pūṣṇo bhāgo nīyate viśvadevyaḥ |
abhipriyaṁ yat puroḻāśam arvatā tvaṣṭed enaṁ sauśravasāya jinvati || 3 ||
yad dhaviṣyam ṛtuśo devayānaṁ trir mānuṣāḥ pary aśvaṁ nayanti |
atrā pūṣṇaḥ prathamo bhāga eti yajñaṁ devebhyaḥ prativedayann ajaḥ || 4 ||
hotādhvaryur āvayā agnimindho grāvagrābha uta śaṁstā suvipraḥ |
tena yajñena svaraṁkṛtena sviṣṭena vakṣaṇā ā pṛṇadhvam || 5 ||
yūpavraskā uta ye yūpavāhāś caṣālaṁ ye aśvayūpāya takṣati |
ye cārvate pacanaṁ sambharanty uto teṣām abhigūrtir na invatu || 6 ||
upa prāgāt suman me 'dhāyi manma devānām āśā upa vītapṛṣṭhaḥ |
anv enaṁ viprā ṛṣayo madanti devānām puṣṭe cakṛmā subandhum || 7 ||
yad vājino dāma saṁdānam arvato yā śīrṣaṇyā raśanā rajjur asya |
yad vā ghāsya prabhṛtam āsye3 tṛṇaṁ sarvā tā te api deveṣv astu || 8 ||
yad aśvasya kraviṣo makṣikāśa yad vā svarau svadhitau riptam asti |
yad dhastayoḥ śamitur yan nakheṣu sarvā tā te api deveṣv astu || 9 ||
yad ūvadhyam udarasyāpavāti ya āmasya kraviṣo gandho asti |
sukṛtā tac chamitāraḥ kṛṇvantūta medhaṁ śṛtapākam pacantu || 10 ||
yat te gātrād agninā pacyamānād abhi śūlaṁ nihatasyāvadhāvati |
mā tad bhūmyām ā śriṣan mā tṛṇeṣu devebhyas tad uśadbhyo rātam astu || 11 ||
ye vājinam paripaśyanti pakvaṁ ya īm āhuḥ surabhir nir hareti |
ye cārvato māṁsabhikṣām upāsata uto teṣām abhigūrtir na invatu || 12 ||
yan nīkṣaṇam mām̐spacanyā ukhāyā yā pātrāṇi yūṣṇa āsecanāni |
ūṣmaṇyāpidhānā carūṇām aṅkāḥ sūnāḥ pari bhūṣanty aśvam || 13 ||
nikramaṇaṁ niṣadanaṁ vivartanaṁ yac ca paḍbīśam arvataḥ |
yac ca papau yac ca ghāsiṁ jaghāsa sarvā tā te api deveṣv astu || 14 ||
mā tvāgnir dhvanayīd dhūmagandhir mokhā bhrājanty abhi vikta jaghriḥ |
iṣṭaṁ vītam abhigūrtaṁ vaṣaṭkṛtaṁ taṁ devāsaḥ prati gṛbhṇanty aśvam || 15 ||
yad aśvāya vāsa upastṛṇanty adhīvāsaṁ yā hiraṇyāny asmai |
saṁdānam arvantam paḍbīśam priyā deveṣv ā yāmayanti || 16 ||
yat te sāde mahasā śūkṛtasya pārṣṇyā vā kaśayā vā tutoda |
sruceva tā haviṣo adhvareṣu sarvā tā te brahmaṇā sūdayāmi || 17 ||
catustriṁśad vājino devabandhor vaṅkrīr aśvasya svadhitiḥ sam eti |
acchidrā gātrā vayunā kṛṇota paruṣ-parur anughuṣyā vi śasta || 18 ||
ekas tvaṣṭur aśvasyā viśastā dvā yantārā bhavatas tatha ṛtuḥ |
yā te gātrāṇām ṛtuthā kṛṇomi tā-tā piṇḍānām pra juhomy agnau || 19 ||
mā tvā tapat priya ātmāpiyantam mā svadhitis tanva1 ā tiṣṭhipat te |
mā te gṛdhnur aviśastātihāya chidrā gātrāṇy asinā mithū kaḥ || 20 ||
na vā u etan mriyase na riṣyasi devām̐ id eṣi pathibhiḥ sugebhiḥ |
harī te yuñjā pṛṣatī abhūtām upāsthād vājī dhuri rāsabhasya || 21 ||
sugavyaṁ no vājī svaśvyam puṁsaḥ putrām̐ uta viśvāpuṣaṁ rayim |
anāgāstvaṁ no aditiḥ kṛṇotu kṣatraṁ no aśvo vanatāṁ haviṣmān || 22 ||
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).