Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.182 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. Now this rite has arisen. Adorn the mighty chariot well, and rejoice, you thoughtful ones. The two who quicken devotion, the attentive ones, givers of wealth to all, twin sons of heaven, pure in their ways — they come for the righteous man.
2. Most like Indra, attentive ones, most like the Maruts, wondrous, mightiest in deeds, charioteers, best of charioteers — you two drive a chariot filled full with honey; with it you approach the one who brings offerings, O Aśvins.
3. What are you doing here, wondrous ones? Why do you linger, while some person without offering is exalted? Pass beyond and consume the life-breath of the miser; make light for the inspired singer, the eloquent one.
4. Crush the barking dogs on every side; strike down the scorners — you know how to do this, Aśvins. Make each word of the singer rich as a jewel; both of you, Nāsatyas, favor my praise.
5. You two made for the son of Tugra a boat upon the waters, living and winged; with it, your minds turned toward the gods, you carried him out; flying well, you sped him from the great flood.
6. The son of Tugra was cast down within the waters, flung into darkness with nothing to hold onto; four ships, dear to him, sent forth by the two Aśvins, carried him across.
7. What tree indeed stood in the middle of the flood, which the son of Tugra, in his distress, clasped tight, holding to it as if it were the wings of a flying bird? The Aśvins bore him up, to renown.
8. May that praise attend you, O men, O Nāsatyas — the hymn that mortals have spoken to you. From this soma-session, today, may we obtain nourishment, strength, and ready bounty.
Translator's note: "jaṭhalasya" in verse 6 (describing the four ships) is an obscure word of uncertain sense; it has been rendered conservatively as "dear to him." Verses 5–7 refer to the Rigvedic story of Bhujyu, son of Tugra, cast into the sea and rescued by the Aśvins — a narrative alluded to elsewhere in the Rigveda but not spelled out in full here.
Colophon
Rigveda I.182 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.182
abhūd idaṁ vayunam o ṣu bhūṣatā ratho vṛṣaṇvān madatā manīṣiṇaḥ |
dhiyaṁjinvā dhiṣṇyā viśpalāvasū divo napātā sukṛte śucivratā || 1 ||
indratamā hi dhiṣṇyā maruttamā dasrā daṁsiṣṭhā rathyā rathītamā |
pūrṇaṁ rathaṁ vahethe madhva ācitaṁ tena dāśvāṁsam upa yātho aśvinā || 2 ||
kim atra dasrā kṛṇuthaḥ kim āsāthe jano yaḥ kaś cid ahavir mahīyate |
ati kramiṣṭaṁ juratam paṇer asuṁ jyotir viprāya kṛṇutaṁ vacasyave || 3 ||
jambhayatam abhito rāyataḥ śuno hatam mṛdho vidathus tāny aśvinā |
vācaṁ-vācaṁ jaritū ratninīṁ kṛtam ubhā śaṁsaṁ nāsatyāvatam mama || 4 ||
yuvam etaṁ cakrathuḥ sindhuṣu plavam ātmanvantam pakṣiṇaṁ taugryāya kam |
yena devatrā manasā nirūhathuḥ supaptanī petathuḥ kṣodaso mahaḥ || 5 ||
avaviddhaṁ taugryam apsv a1ntar anārambhaṇe tamasi praviddham |
catasro nāvo jaṭhalasya juṣṭā ud aśvibhyām iṣitāḥ pārayanti || 6 ||
kaḥ svid vṛkṣo niṣṭhito madhye arṇaso yaṁ taugryo nādhitaḥ paryaṣasvajat |
parṇā mṛgasya pataror ivārabha ud aśvinā ūhathuḥ śromatāya kam || 7 ||
tad vāṁ narā nāsatyāv anu ṣyād yad vām mānāsa ucatham avocan |
asmād adya sadasaḥ somyād ā vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 8 ||
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).