Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.34 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. Be attentive to us today, thrice indeed — your course and your gift are far-reaching, O Aśvins. For your harness is like a winter garment: let it be grasped by the wise.
2. Three rims are on your honey-bearing chariot; all indeed know it, following the longing for soma. Three pillars stand fixed to hold it fast. Thrice by night you travel, and thrice by day, O Aśvins.
3. On the same day, thrice — concealers of blame — thrice today mix the sacrifice with honey. Thrice, O Aśvins, pour out for us the strengthening food, at evening and at dawn.
4. Thrice you make your round; thrice to the people loyal to your law; thrice, as if threefold, you grant help to the one easily aided. Thrice you bring gladness, O Aśvins; thrice pour out for us unfailing strength.
5. Thrice bring us wealth, O Aśvins, you two; thrice in worship, thrice protect our prayers. Thrice give us good fortune, and thrice fame. The daughter of the Sun mounts your three-seated chariot.
6. Thrice, O Aśvins, grant us heavenly remedies; thrice earthly ones; thrice too give remedies drawn from the waters. Bring help and well-being to my own son; bring threefold shelter, O lords of splendor.
7. Thrice for us, O worshipful Aśvins, day by day, you have encompassed the threefold earth. Three chariot-roads, O Nāsatyas, from far away — go to your resting places, like the wind moving by its own will.
8. Thrice, O Aśvins, with the seven-mothered rivers, three vessels of pouring, the oblation made threefold. Three earths above, streaming down from heaven — you two guard the vault of the sky, set in place by days and nights.
9. Where are the three wheels of your three-hubbed chariot? Where the three seats joined as one? When is the yoking of the swift donkey, by which you come to the sacrifice, O Nāsatyas?
10. Come, O Nāsatyas; the oblation is offered; drink the sweet draught with your honey-drinking mouths. For Savitṛ sends forth your chariot before that of Dawn — the wondrous chariot, rich with ghee, for the sake of order.
11. Come here, O Nāsatyas, with the thrice-eleven gods, to the honey-drinking feast, O Aśvins. Extend our lifespan; wipe away our faults; drive off hostility; be our close companions.
12. Bring to us, O Aśvins, with your three-hubbed chariot, wealth turned our way, rich in fine sons. I call loudly on you two who hear, for help; be with us for our growth in the winning of strength.
Translator's note: This hymn builds its praise almost entirely on the recurring particle "tri-/triḥ" ("three, thrice"), a numerological refrain kept in the English wherever the Sanskrit repeats it. Several images resist certainty: "himyeva vāsasaḥ" (verse 1, "like [that] of a winter garment") is an obscure simile for the Aśvins' harness or rein; "sanīḻāḥ" (verse 9, rendered "joined as one") literally suggests seats "of a single nest"; and "rāsabhasya" (verse 9) names the donkey associated with the Aśvins' team, kept literally rather than softened to a generic steed.
Colophon
Rigveda I.34 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.34
triś cin no adyā bhavataṁ navedasā vibhur vāṁ yāma uta rātir aśvinā |
yuvor hi yantraṁ himyeva vāsaso 'bhyāyaṁsenyā bhavatam manīṣibhiḥ || 1 ||
trayaḥ pavayo madhuvāhane rathe somasya venām anu viśva id viduḥ |
trayaḥ skambhāsaḥ skabhitāsa ārabhe trir naktaṁ yāthas trir v aśvinā divā || 2 ||
samāne ahan trir avadyagohanā trir adya yajñam madhunā mimikṣatam |
trir vājavatīr iṣo aśvinā yuvaṁ doṣā asmabhyam uṣasaś ca pinvatam || 3 ||
trir vartir yātaṁ trir anuvrate jane triḥ suprāvye tredheva śikṣatam |
trir nāndyaṁ vahatam aśvinā yuvaṁ triḥ pṛkṣo asme akṣareva pinvatam || 4 ||
trir no rayiṁ vahatam aśvinā yuvaṁ trir devatātā trir utāvataṁ dhiyaḥ |
triḥ saubhagatvaṁ trir uta śravāṁsi nas triṣṭhaṁ vāṁ sūre duhitā ruhad ratham || 5 ||
trir no aśvinā divyāni bheṣajā triḥ pārthivāni trir u dattam adbhyaḥ |
omānaṁ śaṁyor mamakāya sūnave tridhātu śarma vahataṁ śubhas patī || 6 ||
trir no aśvinā yajatā dive-dive pari tridhātu pṛthivīm aśāyatam |
tisro nāsatyā rathyā parāvata ātmeva vātaḥ svasarāṇi gacchatam || 7 ||
trir aśvinā sindhubhiḥ saptamātṛbhis traya āhāvās tredhā haviṣ kṛtam |
tisraḥ pṛthivīr upari pravā divo nākaṁ rakṣethe dyubhir aktubhir hitam || 8 ||
kva1 trī cakrā trivṛto rathasya kva1 trayo vandhuro ye sanīḻāḥ |
kadā yogo vājino rāsabhasya yena yajñaṁ nāsatyopayāthaḥ || 9 ||
ā nāsatyā gacchataṁ hūyate havir madhvaḥ pibatam madhupebhir āsabhiḥ |
yuvor hi pūrvaṁ savitoṣaso ratham ṛtāya citraṁ ghṛtavantam iṣyati || 10 ||
ā nāsatyā tribhir ekādaśair iha devebhir yātam madhupeyam aśvinā |
prāyus tāriṣṭaṁ nī rapāṁsi mṛkṣataṁ sedhataṁ dveṣo bhavataṁ sacābhuvā || 11 ||
ā no aśvinā trivṛtā rathenārvāñcaṁ rayiṁ vahataṁ suvīram |
śṛṇvantā vām avase johavīmi vṛdhe ca no bhavataṁ vājasātau || 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).