Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda X.106 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. You two indeed now aim at this very thing: you stretch out your thoughts like weavers stretch cloth. It has roused you both to go forth together; like a fine day, you draw near to abundance.
2. Like draft-oxen you rest in the harness-straps; like the lead ox you go swiftly at the driver's command. For you are truly like messengers, famed among people—do not hold back, like buffaloes shying from the watering-place.
3. Joined together like the two wings of a bird, bright as a dappled pair of cattle, come to our offering. Shining like the fire of the god-seeking one, like wanderers you are worshipped in many places.
4. You are kin to us, as a father to a son; mighty in splendor like two kings bent on victory. Like a strong lord for our thriving, like a beam of light for our enjoyment—come to our call like one quick to listen.
5. Like a bull nourished, budding forth; like true comrades bound fast in the sacred order; like prizes raised high with vigor, standing in the heat; like rams, eager and full, richly furnished.
6. Like a hook, ever bearing, swiftly carrying; like another such thing, ever carrying, ever bringing across; like one born of the waters, victorious, exhilarating—these two are for me: aging yet unaging, undying.
7. Like the restless Pajra, ever stirring, the beloved, undying; like a rightful share in every matter, you two, mighty ones, prevail. Sons of skill, swift runners over the plain, swift as the wind—may it speed on, ruling over riches.
8. Like the heated vessel, sweetness within the belly, ever gaining; like Bhaga attained, richly furnished; like a bird ever flying, moon-bright in its gleam; minds turned inward, as if not stirring, held fast in thought.
9. Like the lofty ones, you find firm footing in the depths; like a foot, you find the ford for crossing, you who know. Like ears, you truly heed the ruler's bidding; like a due share, grant us wondrous riches.
10. Like bees you pour out sweetness, like a bee at the cow's low-hung udder-gate. Sweating profusely like a plowman at his toil, you are joined with strength like the earth fed on good pasture.
11. May we prosper in this hymn of praise, may we win the prize; come here together in one chariot to our prayer. Like glory, like ripened sweetness within the milk-cows—Bhūtāṃśa has fulfilled the desire of the Aśvins.
Translator's note: verses 5–8 are among the most linguistically obscure passages in the Rigveda. They are built from rare and often hapax reduplicated forms (e.g. jarbharī, turpharītū, parpharīkā, marāyu) whose precise referents are uncertain even to specialists. These verses are rendered conservatively here, preserving the simile chain and grammatical structure of the Sanskrit without supplying specific meanings the text itself does not make clear. Bhūtāṃśa, named in verse 11, is the hymn's traditional ṛṣi (seer).
Colophon
Rigveda X.106 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 X.106
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
ubhā u nūnaṁ tad id arthayethe vi tanvāthe dhiyo vastrāpaseva |
sadhrīcīnā yātave prem ajīgaḥ sudineva pṛkṣa ā taṁsayethe || 1 ||
uṣṭāreva pharvareṣu śrayethe prāyogeva śvātryā śāsur ethaḥ |
dūteva hi ṣṭho yaśasā janeṣu māpa sthātam mahiṣevāvapānāt || 2 ||
sākaṁyujā śakunasyeva pakṣā paśveva citrā yajur ā gamiṣṭam |
agnir iva devayor dīdivāṁsā parijmāneva yajathaḥ purutrā || 3 ||
āpī vo asme pitareva putrogreva rucā nṛpatīva turyai |
iryeva puṣṭyai kiraṇeva bhujyai śruṣṭīvāneva havam ā gamiṣṭam || 4 ||
vaṁsageva pūṣaryā śimbātā mitreva ṛtā śatarā śātapantā |
vājevoccā vayasā gharmyeṣṭhā meṣeveṣā saparyā3 purīṣā || 5 ||
sṛṇyeva jarbharī turpharītū naitośeva turpharī parpharīkā |
udanyajeva jemanā maderū tā me jarāyv ajaram marāyu || 6 ||
pajreva carcaraṁ jāram marāyu kṣadmevārtheṣu tartarītha ugrā |
ṛbhū nāpat kharamajrā kharajrur vāyur na parpharat kṣayad rayīṇām || 7 ||
gharmeva madhu jaṭhare sanerū bhagevitā turpharī phārivāram |
patareva cacarā candranirṇiṅ manaṛṅgā mananyā3 na jagmī || 8 ||
bṛhanteva gambhareṣu pratiṣṭhām pādeva gādhaṁ tarate vidāthaḥ |
karṇeva śāsur anu hi smarātho 'ṁśeva no bhajataṁ citram apnaḥ || 9 ||
āraṅgareva madhv erayethe sāragheva gavi nīcīnabāre |
kīnāreva svedam āsiṣvidānā kṣāmevorjā sūyavasāt sacethe || 10 ||
ṛdhyāma stomaṁ sanuyāma vājam ā no mantraṁ sarathehopa yātam |
yaśo na pakvam madhu goṣv antar ā bhūtāṁśo aśvinoḥ kāmam aprāḥ || 11 ||
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).