Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda IV.43 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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. Who indeed will hear us? Which of the gods worthy of worship, which one will delight in our praise? In whose heart shall we set this goddess-hymn, dearest among the immortals — our praise well sung, well worth the calling?
2. Who will show us mercy? Which is quickest to come? Which of the gods brings the greatest blessing? Which is the swift chariot, with running horses, that they say the daughter of the Sun chose for herself?
3. Swiftly you travel across so many days, like Indra with his power in the critical hour — born of heaven, heavenly, well-winged ones. By what power are you the mightiest among the mighty?
4. What has been your favor toward us? By what call, O Aśvins, do you come when invoked? Who can stand before even your great power in the encounter? Protect us, honey-sweet ones, wondrous ones, with your help.
5. Your wide chariot travels across the sky when it turns toward you from the ocean, sprinkling honey upon honey, O honey-sweet ones — as the ripened offerings stir eagerly for you.
6. The river Rasā sprinkled your horses; by its glow the ruddy steeds coursed round. That, truly, is known as your swift-moving chariot, by which you became the husbands of Sūryā.
7. Here and here again I have joined myself to you at every gathering — let this favor of yours toward us be rich with reward. Protect your singer, you two; my desire rests turned toward you, O Nāsatyas.
Translator's note: verse 6 names the river Rasā (rendered "the river Rasā" rather than a generic "the river"); "vayaḥ" ("birds" or, by extension, swift steeds) is rendered as "steeds" to match the chariot imagery of the verse. Verse 1's "devīm" (the hymn personified as a goddess) is kept as "goddess-hymn" to preserve the personification without overloading the English.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.43 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 IV.43
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.
ka u śravat katamo yajñiyānāṁ vandāru devaḥ katamo juṣāte |
kasyemāṁ devīm amṛteṣu preṣṭhāṁ hṛdi śreṣāma suṣṭutiṁ suhavyām || 1 ||
ko mṛḻāti katama āgamiṣṭho devānām u katamaḥ śambhaviṣṭhaḥ |
rathaṁ kam āhur dravadaśvam āśuṁ yaṁ sūryasya duhitāvṛṇīta || 2 ||
makṣū hi ṣmā gacchatha īvato dyūn indro na śaktim paritakmyāyām |
diva ājātā divyā suparṇā kayā śacīnām bhavathaḥ śaciṣṭhā || 3 ||
kā vām bhūd upamātiḥ kayā na āśvinā gamatho hūyamānā |
ko vām mahaś cit tyajaso abhīka uruṣyatam mādhvī dasrā na ūtī || 4 ||
uru vāṁ rathaḥ pari nakṣati dyām ā yat samudrād abhi vartate vām |
madhvā mādhvī madhu vām pruṣāyan yat sīṁ vām pṛkṣo bhurajanta pakvāḥ || 5 ||
sindhur ha vāṁ rasayā siñcad aśvān ghṛṇā vayo 'ruṣāsaḥ pari gman |
tad ū ṣu vām ajiraṁ ceti yānaṁ yena patī bhavathaḥ sūryāyāḥ || 6 ||
iheha yad vāṁ samanā papṛkṣe seyam asme sumatir vājaratnā |
uruṣyataṁ jaritāraṁ yuvaṁ ha śritaḥ kāmo nāsatyā yuvadrik || 7 ||
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).