Hymn to the Aśvins, Savitṛ, and Viṣṇu
Rigveda I.22 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) that moves through several deities in turn: it opens by summoning the Aśvins, the twin divine horsemen, to the soma-pressing (1–4); turns to Savitṛ, the impelling sun-god (5–8); calls on Agni to bring the wives of the gods and Tvaṣṭṛ to the rite (9–12); addresses Heaven and Earth (13–15); and closes with the celebrated verses on Viṣṇu's three strides across the cosmos (16–21). 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. Awaken the two Aśvins, yoked at dawn — let them come here, to drink this soma.
2. We call on the two Aśvins, gods with a fine chariot, the best of charioteers, who touch the sky.
3. Aśvins, with the honeyed whip you carry, rich with generous bounty — with it sprinkle our sacrifice.
4. No distance is far for you, Aśvins, when you drive your chariot to the soma-presser's house.
5. I call upon golden-handed Savitṛ for help; he, the discerning one, marks out the place among the gods.
6. Praise Savitṛ, child of the waters, for protection — we long for his ordinances.
7. We call on Savitṛ, apportioner of bright and wondrous wealth, who watches over men.
8. Friends, sit down here — Savitṛ is now to be praised by us; the giver makes his gifts splendid.
9. Agni, bring here the eager wives of the gods, and Tvaṣṭṛ too, to drink the soma.
10. Agni, youngest god, bring the goddesses here for our help — Bhāratī the invoker, and Dhiṣaṇā the protectress.
11. May the goddesses, consorts of the gods, unbroken of wing, attend us with great help and shelter.
12. Here I call Indrāṇī, and Varuṇānī for our welfare, and Agnāyī to drink the soma.
13. May great Heaven and Earth bless this sacrifice of ours; may they fill us with sustaining gifts.
14. Their ghee-rich milk the inspired poets taste with their hymns, at the firm seat of the Gandharva.
15. Earth, be gentle to us, free of harm, a place to rest — grant us wide shelter.
16. From there may the gods protect us — from where Viṣṇu strode forth, with the seven domains of the earth.
17. Viṣṇu strode across this world; he set his step down in three places — all creation gathered in the dust of his footprint.
18. Viṣṇu strode three steps, the guardian who cannot be deceived, upholding his laws thereby.
19. Behold the deeds of Viṣṇu, by which he watches over his ordinances — the trusted companion, yoked to Indra.
20. That highest step of Viṣṇu the wise ever see, like an eye spread out across the sky.
21. That highest step of Viṣṇu — wakeful poets, eager to praise, kindle it brightly.
Translator's note: verse 5's "sa cettā devatā padam" is compressed and admits more than one reading; it is rendered here conservatively as Savitṛ "marking out the place among the gods." Verse 14's "gandharvasya dhruve pade," "the firm seat of the Gandharva," names a figure (the celestial Gandharva) without further elaboration in the verse itself, so the phrase is kept literal rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda I.22 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.22
prātaryujā vi bodhayāśvināv eha gacchatām |
asya somasya pītaye || 1 ||
yā surathā rathītamobhā devā divispṛśā |
aśvinā tā havāmahe || 2 ||
yā vāṁ kaśā madhumaty aśvinā sūnṛtāvatī |
tayā yajñam mimikṣatam || 3 ||
nahi vām asti dūrake yatrā rathena gacchathaḥ |
aśvinā somino gṛham || 4 ||
hiraṇyapāṇim ūtaye savitāram upa hvaye |
sa cettā devatā padam || 5 ||
apāṁ napātam avase savitāram upa stuhi |
tasya vratāny uśmasi || 6 ||
vibhaktāraṁ havāmahe vasoś citrasya rādhasaḥ |
savitāraṁ nṛcakṣasam || 7 ||
sakhāya ā ni ṣīdata savitā stomyo nu naḥ |
dātā rādhāṁsi śumbhati || 8 ||
agne patnīr ihā vaha devānām uśatīr upa |
tvaṣṭāraṁ somapītaye || 9 ||
ā gnā agna ihāvase hotrāṁ yaviṣṭha bhāratīm |
varūtrīṁ dhiṣaṇāṁ vaha || 10 ||
abhi no devīr avasā mahaḥ śarmaṇā nṛpatnīḥ |
acchinnapatrāḥ sacantām || 11 ||
ihendrāṇīm upa hvaye varuṇānīṁ svastaye |
agnāyīṁ somapītaye || 12 ||
mahī dyauḥ pṛthivī ca na imaṁ yajñam mimikṣatām |
pipṛtāṁ no bharīmabhiḥ || 13 ||
tayor id ghṛtavat payo viprā rihanti dhītibhiḥ |
gandharvasya dhruve pade || 14 ||
syonā pṛthivi bhavānṛkṣarā niveśanī |
yacchā naḥ śarma saprathaḥ || 15 ||
ato devā avantu no yato viṣṇur vicakrame |
pṛthivyāḥ sapta dhāmabhiḥ || 16 ||
idaṁ viṣṇur vi cakrame tredhā ni dadhe padam |
samūḻham asya pāṁsure || 17 ||
trīṇi padā vi cakrame viṣṇur gopā adābhyaḥ |
ato dharmāṇi dhārayan || 18 ||
viṣṇoḥ karmāṇi paśyata yato vratāni paspaśe |
indrasya yujyaḥ sakhā || 19 ||
tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ |
divīva cakṣur ātatam || 20 ||
tad viprāso vipanyavo jāgṛvāṁsaḥ sam indhate |
viṣṇor yat paramam padam || 21 ||
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).