Hymn to Uṣas and the Aśvins
Rigveda I.92 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed chiefly to Uṣas, the goddess of dawn, daughter of heaven — verses 1 through 15 describe her arrival, her chariot and cattle, and ask her for prosperity and offspring. The final three verses (16–18) shift to a short invocation of the Aśvins, the twin horsemen gods, asking them to bring their chariot near and share in the soma-drinking. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books, traditionally attributed to the ṛṣi Gotama Rāhūgaṇa.
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. These dawns have set up their sign; in the eastern reach of the sky they adorn their light. Making themselves ready like bold ones baring their weapons, the ruddy cows, the mothers, come forward to meet us.
2. The ruddy rays have flown up freely; the self-yoked ones have yoked their ruddy cows. The dawns have made their markers as before; the ruddy ones have put on their bright light.
3. The women shine like workers at their tasks, coming from a distance with the same yoking. Carrying nourishment for the one who acts well, the generous giver — every single day, for the sacrificer who presses the soma.
4. She spreads her adorned forms over herself like a dancer; she bares her breast as a cow bares her flank. Making light for every creature, Uṣas has opened up the darkness as one opens a cattle-pen.
5. Her bright gleam has been seen facing us; it spreads out, driving back the black formless dark. Adorning herself like an ornament set on the sacrificial post at the rites, the daughter of heaven has put forth her wondrous light.
6. We have crossed to the far shore of this darkness; Uṣas, shining out, sets her familiar signs in place. Shining forth for beauty, fair-faced, she smiles like a bride adorning herself; she has awakened for our good will.
7. Shining, the leader of true and generous words, the daughter of heaven is praised by the Gotamas. O Uṣas, grant us abundance rich in offspring, rich in men, founded on horses, headed by cattle.
8. O Uṣas, may I attain that glorious wealth, rich in good sons, abounding in servants, founded on horses — the great wealth which, fortunate one, you make shine forth with fine deeds and fame, driven on by the desire for strength.
9. The goddess, to be looked on by all beings, faces them like an eye and shines forth widely. Waking every living thing to stir and move, she has found the speech of every thoughtful one.
10. Being born again and again, though ancient, adorning herself always in the same form — like a skilled player casting the dice — the goddess wears away the lifespan of the mortal.
11. Uncovering the ends of the sky, she has awakened; she drives her sister, Night, far away. Wearing down the generations of humankind, the young woman shines forth under the eye of her lover.
12. Brilliant, fortunate, spreading out like herds of cattle, she has spread wide like the flood of a river. Not diminishing the ordinances set by the gods, she is seen, made visible by the rays of the sun.
13. O Uṣas rich in swift steeds, bring us that wondrous gift by which we may sustain our children and our offspring.
14. O Uṣas, rich in cattle, rich in horses, shining wide — shine forth wealth for us today, here, you who are rich in generous, true words.
15. Yoke your ruddy horses today, O Uṣas rich in swift steeds; then bring to us every form of good fortune.
16. O Aśvins, wondrous ones, rich in cattle, rich in gold — turn your circuit toward us; hold your chariot here, of one mind together.
17. You two who so made the resounding call and the light of heaven for humankind — bring us vigor, you two Aśvins.
18. Here, may the two gods who bring delight, the wondrous ones with paths of gold, who wake at dawn, be brought to drink the soma.
Translator's note: a few phrases resist certainty. In verse 4, "barjaham" (the thing bared or uncovered) is an obscure word rendered conservatively as "flank." In verse 9, "manāyoḥ" is translated as "of every thoughtful one," though it may instead mean "of every one who speaks" or refer to a specific worshipper. In verse 10, "śvaghnīva kṛtnur vija āminānā" (the dice-image for Uṣas's action on mortal life) is genuinely difficult; the rendering given here follows the most common construal of a gambler diminishing his stake with each throw, but the image remains uncertain.
Colophon
Rigveda I.92 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.92
etā u tyā uṣasaḥ ketum akrata pūrve ardhe rajaso bhānum añjate |
niṣkṛṇvānā āyudhānīva dhṛṣṇavaḥ prati gāvo 'ruṣīr yanti mātaraḥ || 1 ||
ud apaptann aruṇā bhānavo vṛthā svāyujo aruṣīr gā ayukṣata |
akrann uṣāso vayunāni pūrvathā ruśantam bhānum aruṣīr aśiśrayuḥ || 2 ||
arcanti nārīr apaso na viṣṭibhiḥ samānena yojanenā parāvataḥ |
iṣaṁ vahantīḥ sukṛte sudānave viśved aha yajamānāya sunvate || 3 ||
adhi peśāṁsi vapate nṛtūr ivāporṇute vakṣa usreva barjaham |
jyotir viśvasmai bhuvanāya kṛṇvatī gāvo na vrajaṁ vy u1ṣā āvar tamaḥ || 4 ||
praty arcī ruśad asyā adarśi vi tiṣṭhate bādhate kṛṣṇam abhvam |
svaruṁ na peśo vidatheṣv añjañ citraṁ divo duhitā bhānum aśret || 5 ||
atāriṣma tamasas pāram asyoṣā ucchantī vayunā kṛṇoti |
śriye chando na smayate vibhātī supratīkā saumanasāyājīgaḥ || 6 ||
bhāsvatī netrī sūnṛtānāṁ divaḥ stave duhitā gotamebhiḥ |
prajāvato nṛvato aśvabudhyān uṣo goagrām̐ upa māsi vājān || 7 ||
uṣas tam aśyāṁ yaśasaṁ suvīraṁ dāsapravargaṁ rayim aśvabudhyam |
sudaṁsasā śravasā yā vibhāsi vājaprasūtā subhage bṛhantam || 8 ||
viśvāni devī bhuvanābhicakṣyā pratīcī cakṣur urviyā vi bhāti |
viśvaṁ jīvaṁ carase bodhayantī viśvasya vācam avidan manāyoḥ || 9 ||
punaḥ-punar jāyamānā purāṇī samānaṁ varṇam abhi śumbhamānā |
śvaghnīva kṛtnur vija āminānā martasya devī jarayanty āyuḥ || 10 ||
vyūrṇvatī divo antām̐ abodhy apa svasāraṁ sanutar yuyoti |
praminatī manuṣyā yugāni yoṣā jārasya cakṣasā vi bhāti || 11 ||
paśūn na citrā subhagā prathānā sindhur na kṣoda urviyā vy aśvait |
aminatī daivyāni vratāni sūryasya ceti raśmibhir dṛśānā || 12 ||
uṣas tac citram ā bharāsmabhyaṁ vājinīvati |
yena tokaṁ ca tanayaṁ ca dhāmahe || 13 ||
uṣo adyeha gomaty aśvāvati vibhāvari |
revad asme vy uccha sūnṛtāvati || 14 ||
yukṣvā hi vājinīvaty aśvām̐ adyāruṇām̐ uṣaḥ |
athā no viśvā saubhagāny ā vaha || 15 ||
aśvinā vartir asmad ā gomad dasrā hiraṇyavat |
arvāg rathaṁ samanasā ni yacchatam || 16 ||
yāv itthā ślokam ā divo jyotir janāya cakrathuḥ |
ā na ūrjaṁ vahatam aśvinā yuvam || 17 ||
eha devā mayobhuvā dasrā hiraṇyavartanī |
uṣarbudho vahantu somapītaye || 18 ||
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).