Hymn to the Aśvins, Indra, the Viśvedevas, and Sarasvatī

Rigveda I.3 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) built from four groups of three verses, each addressed to a different set of deities in turn: the Aśvins, the twin horsemen-healers (1–3); Indra, the storm-king (4–6); the Viśvedevas, "all the gods" together (7–9); and Sarasvatī, goddess of the river and of inspired speech (10–12). 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. O Aśvins, quick-handed lords of splendor, delight in the sacrificial offerings, you who enjoy so much.

2. O Aśvins of many wondrous deeds, O heroes, attentive ones — with your powerful insight, take pleasure in our songs of praise.

3. O wondrous Nāsatyas, the pressed soma is here for you, the sacred grass is strewn for you; come, you whose path is red.

4. Come, Indra, O brilliant one — these pressed soma drops long for you, purified all along through fine filters.

5. Come, Indra, impelled by our devotion, roused by the inspired poets, to the sacred prayers of the priest who has pressed the soma.

6. Come, Indra, hastening to our prayers, O lord of the bay horses; take your delight in our pressed soma.

7. Come, gracious gods, sustainers of the peoples, all you gods — you who give freely, come to the pressed offering of the one who gives.

8. All you gods, swift ones who cross the waters, come quickly to the pressed soma, like cows hurrying to their stalls.

9. May all the gods, unfailing, arriving with their powers, free of deceit, the bearers of the offering, delight in our sacrifice.

10. May Sarasvatī, purifying, rich in rewards, our Sarasvatī of the bounties, rich in insight, desire our sacrifice.

11. Sarasvatī, who impels truthful words, who awakens good thoughts, upholds our sacrifice.

12. Sarasvatī, the great flood, makes all known with her banner of light; she shines out over all our thoughts.

Translator's note: "rudravartanī" (v. 3, "whose path is red") is a compact epithet of the Aśvins' swift, ruddy course; rendered conservatively rather than expanded. "Apturaḥ" (v. 8, "who cross the waters") and "vahnayaḥ" (v. 9, "the bearers") are terse epithets for the gods' movement and their role conveying the offering; rendered literally rather than paraphrased.

Colophon

Rigveda I.3 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.3

aśvinā yajvarīr iṣo dravatpāṇī śubhas patī |
purubhujā canasyatam || 1 ||

aśvinā purudaṁsasā narā śavīrayā dhiyā |
dhiṣṇyā vanataṁ giraḥ || 2 ||

dasrā yuvākavaḥ sutā nāsatyā vṛktabarhiṣaḥ |
ā yātaṁ rudravartanī || 3 ||

indrā yāhi citrabhāno sutā ime tvāyavaḥ |
aṇvībhis tanā pūtāsaḥ || 4 ||

indrā yāhi dhiyeṣito viprajūtaḥ sutāvataḥ |
upa brahmāṇi vāghataḥ || 5 ||

indrā yāhi tūtujāna upa brahmāṇi harivaḥ |
sute dadhiṣva naś canaḥ || 6 ||

omāsaś carṣaṇīdhṛto viśve devāsa ā gata |
dāśvāṁso dāśuṣaḥ sutam || 7 ||

viśve devāso apturaḥ sutam ā ganta tūrṇayaḥ |
usrā iva svasarāṇi || 8 ||

viśve devāso asridha ehimāyāso adruhaḥ |
medhaṁ juṣanta vahnayaḥ || 9 ||

pāvakā naḥ sarasvatī vājebhir vājinīvatī |
yajñaṁ vaṣṭu dhiyāvasuḥ || 10 ||

codayitrī sūnṛtānāṁ cetantī sumatīnām |
yajñaṁ dadhe sarasvatī || 11 ||

maho arṇaḥ sarasvatī pra cetayati ketunā |
dhiyo viśvā vi rājati || 12 ||

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).