Hymn to the Aśvins

Rigveda I.181 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Aśvins, the twin divine horsemen, healers of the gods and bringers of dawn. 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. When, O dearest bringers of gifts and riches, performing your priestly rite, will you two raise up the waters? This sacrifice has won praise for you, bestowers of wealth, protectors of the people.

2. May your bright, milk-drinking horses — wind-swift, heavenly steeds, swift as thought, mighty, smooth-backed, self-ruling — carry you here, O Aśvins.

3. May your chariot, swift as a river in its course, with its gliding seat, come here for our well-being — you two mighty riders, swifter than thought, each eager to go first, worthy of worship, attentive to the rite.

4. Born in different places, the two of you cried out together, spotless in body, each by his own name. One of you, the victorious one, is held to be lord of a good sacrifice; the other, the fortunate one, is held to be a son of heaven.

5. Your lofty wanderer, tawny in form, goes forth at will and reaches the sacrificial seats. The bay horses of the other swell with strength; with churning force, O Aśvins, they make the regions resound with their roar.

6. Your long-enduring one goes forth like a triumphant bull, moving toward abundant nourishment, driving on the sweetness. By his swift courses the other's steeds swell with strength, like risen rivers rushing upward toward us.

7. A mighty hymn, shaped by the sage, has been sent forth to you two, O Aśvins, flowing out strongly in three streams. Being praised, protect the one who cries out in need — whether traveling or at rest, hear my call.

8. And this hymn of bright splendor swells for the men in the seat of the triple sacred grass. Your rain-cloud, mighty ones, has swelled for you like the milking of a cow, favoring mankind.

9. You two, O Aśvins, like Pūṣan, the bounteous one — the oblation-bearer praises you, as one praises Agni or Uṣas. When I call you, singing in homage, may we find nourishment, strength, and swift-giving bounty.

Translator's note: several words in this hymn are rare and their exact sense is debated — among them "niceru" (rendered here as "wanderer," possibly an epithet for an attendant or messenger figure), "kakuha" ("lofty"), "mathrā" ("with churning force"), and "śaradvān" ("long-enduring," literally "possessing many autumns"). These are translated conservatively, following their most literal roots, rather than resolved to a confident technical meaning.

Colophon

Rigveda I.181 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.

🌲

Source Text: ṛgveda I.181

kad u preṣṭāv iṣāṁ rayīṇām adhvaryantā yad unninītho apām |
ayaṁ vāṁ yajño akṛta praśastiṁ vasudhitī avitārā janānām || 1 ||

ā vām aśvāsaḥ śucayaḥ payaspā vātaraṁhaso divyāso atyāḥ |
manojuvo vṛṣaṇo vītapṛṣṭhā eha svarājo aśvinā vahantu || 2 ||

ā vāṁ ratho 'vanir na pravatvān sṛpravandhuraḥ suvitāya gamyāḥ |
vṛṣṇaḥ sthātārā manaso javīyān ahampūrvo yajato dhiṣṇyā yaḥ || 3 ||

iheha jātā sam avāvaśītām arepasā tanvā3 nāmabhiḥ svaiḥ |
jiṣṇur vām anyaḥ sumakhasya sūrir divo anyaḥ subhagaḥ putra ūhe || 4 ||

pra vāṁ niceruḥ kakuho vaśām̐ anu piśaṅgarūpaḥ sadanāni gamyāḥ |
harī anyasya pīpayanta vājair mathrā rajāṁsy aśvinā vi ghoṣaiḥ || 5 ||

pra vāṁ śaradvān vṛṣabho na niṣṣāṭ pūrvīr iṣaś carati madhva iṣṇan |
evair anyasya pīpayanta vājair veṣantīr ūrdhvā nadyo na āguḥ || 6 ||

asarji vāṁ sthavirā vedhasā gīr bāḻhe aśvinā tredhā kṣarantī |
upastutāv avataṁ nādhamānaṁ yāmann ayāmañ chṛṇutaṁ havam me || 7 ||

uta syā vāṁ ruśato vapsaso gīs tribarhiṣi sadasi pinvate nṝn |
vṛṣā vām megho vṛṣaṇā pīpāya gor na seke manuṣo daśasyan || 8 ||

yuvām pūṣevāśvinā puraṁdhir agnim uṣāṁ na jarate haviṣmān |
huve yad vāṁ varivasyā gṛṇāno vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 9 ||

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).