Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda V.77 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. Worship first the two morning-travelers, before the greedy, ungenerous one can drink. For the Aśvins hold their sacrifice at dawn; the poets who claim the first share praise them.
2. Worship at dawn — urge the Aśvins on. It is not that evening worship displeases the devout. But should another among us sacrifice and press ahead, whoever worships first gains the most.
3. Golden-skinned, honey-colored, dripping with ghee, bearing nourishment — your chariot turns here, O Aśvins, swift as thought, swift as the wind, by which you two pass beyond every danger.
4. Whoever serves the Nāsatyas most and gives them the choicest portion of food in the offering — he shall carry his offspring through safely by his ritual labors; that one, ever unfailing, shall prevail.
5. May we come together with the fresh help of the Aśvins, the joy-bringers, the good guides. Bring us wealth and strong sons, and all imperishable blessings, O immortal ones.
Translator's note: "Nāsatyas" (v. 4) is a standing epithet of the Aśvins, kept untranslated as a proper name. The phrase rendered "ever unfailing" (Skt. anūrdhvabhāsaḥ) is obscure — its literal sense ("not upward-shining" or similar) is uncertain, and the rendering here is conservative rather than confident.
Colophon
Rigveda V.77 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.77
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.
prātaryāvāṇā prathamā yajadhvam purā gṛdhrād araruṣaḥ pibātaḥ |
prātar hi yajñam aśvinā dadhāte pra śaṁsanti kavayaḥ pūrvabhājaḥ || 1 ||
prātar yajadhvam aśvinā hinota na sāyam asti devayā ajuṣṭam |
utānyo asmad yajate vi cāvaḥ pūrvaḥ-pūrvo yajamāno vanīyān || 2 ||
hiraṇyatvaṅ madhuvarṇo ghṛtasnuḥ pṛkṣo vahann ā ratho vartate vām |
manojavā aśvinā vātaraṁhā yenātiyātho duritāni viśvā || 3 ||
yo bhūyiṣṭhaṁ nāsatyābhyāṁ viveṣa caniṣṭham pitvo rarate vibhāge |
sa tokam asya pīparac chamībhir anūrdhvabhāsaḥ sadam it tuturyāt || 4 ||
sam aśvinor avasā nūtanena mayobhuvā supraṇītī gamema |
ā no rayiṁ vahatam ota vīrān ā viśvāny amṛtā saubhagāni || 5 ||
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).