Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda V.75 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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. The seer, your praiser, O Aśvins, comes forward with a hymn to greet your most dear chariot—mighty, bearing wealth. O sweet ones, hear my call!
2. Come across, O Aśvins, past all things of old—you wondrous ones with golden chariot-paths, gracious, borne along by the rivers. O sweet ones, hear my call!
3. Come to us, you two Aśvins, bringing treasures—fierce ones with golden paths, delighting, rich in swift strength. O sweet ones, hear my call!
4. Well-sung praises are yours, rich in might; the hymn-voice is set in your chariot. And the lofty antelope brings you nourishment of wondrous form. O sweet ones, hear my call!
5. With watchful minds, skilled charioteers, swift, hearers of the call—with your winged steeds you two Aśvins go down to Cyavāna, the guileless one. O sweet ones, hear my call!
6. O heroes, may your mind-yoked horses, dappled of body, carry you here for the drink, together with your blessings, O Aśvins. O sweet ones, hear my call!
7. Come here, O Aśvins; Nāsatyas, do not turn away elsewhere. Even across another's path, make your circuit here, you unfailing ones. O sweet ones, hear my call!
8. At this sacrifice, O unfailing lords of splendor, attend to the singer who seeks your help and sings your praise—you two Aśvins. O sweet ones, hear my call!
9. Dawn has appeared, bright with her herds; Agni, the timely one, has been kindled. Your chariot is yoked, you two rich in might, immortal, O wondrous ones. O sweet ones, hear my call!
Translator's note: the refrain "mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam" contains the uncertain epithet mādhvī, likely tied to the Aśvins' association with honey/mead (madhu); it is rendered here conservatively as "O sweet ones." Verse 4's "kakuho mṛgaḥ" (the "lofty/humped antelope") and verse 5's naming of the sage Cyavāna are kept literal rather than expanded, since the myths behind them are only gestured at in the text itself.
Colophon
Rigveda V.75 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 V.75
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.
prati priyatamaṁ rathaṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ vasuvāhanam |
stotā vām aśvināv ṛṣiḥ stomena prati bhūṣati mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 1 ||
atyāyātam aśvinā tiro viśvā ahaṁ sanā |
dasrā hiraṇyavartanī suṣumnā sindhuvāhasā mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 2 ||
ā no ratnāni bibhratāv aśvinā gacchataṁ yuvam |
rudrā hiraṇyavartanī juṣāṇā vājinīvasū mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 3 ||
suṣṭubho vāṁ vṛṣaṇvasū rathe vāṇīcy āhitā |
uta vāṁ kakuho mṛgaḥ pṛkṣaḥ kṛṇoti vāpuṣo mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 4 ||
bodhinmanasā rathyeṣirā havanaśrutā |
vibhiś cyavānam aśvinā ni yātho advayāvinam mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 5 ||
ā vāṁ narā manoyujo 'śvāsaḥ pruṣitapsavaḥ |
vayo vahantu pītaye saha sumnebhir aśvinā mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 6 ||
aśvināv eha gacchataṁ nāsatyā mā vi venatam |
tiraś cid aryayā pari vartir yātam adābhyā mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 7 ||
asmin yajñe adābhyā jaritāraṁ śubhas patī |
avasyum aśvinā yuvaṁ gṛṇantam upa bhūṣatho mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 8 ||
abhūd uṣā ruśatpaśur āgnir adhāyy ṛtviyaḥ |
ayoji vāṁ vṛṣaṇvasū ratho dasrāv amartyo mādhvī mama śrutaṁ havam || 9 ||
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).