Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda V.78 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. O Aśvins, come here, O Nāsatyas — do not delay. Fly here like two swans, to the pressed soma.
2. O Aśvins, like two tawny deer, like two wild oxen following the pasture — fly here like two swans, to the pressed soma.
3. O Aśvins, rich in strength, take pleasure in this sacrifice, for its fulfillment — fly here like two swans, to the pressed soma.
4. When Atri, descending into the pit, called out to you again and again, like a woman in distress — you came, O Aśvins, with the fresh speed of a falcon, most kindly.
5. Open wide, O lord of the forest, like the womb of a woman about to give birth. Hear my call, O Aśvins, and release Saptavadhri.
6. For the frightened sage Saptavadhri, crying for help, you two, O Aśvins, split open the tree and closed it again by your powers.
7. As the wind stirs the lotus-pond on every side, so let your embryo stir — let the ten-month child come forth.
8. As the wind, as the forest, as the ocean moves, so may you, ten-month one, come forth together with the caul.
9. The boy who has lain ten months within his mother — let him come out alive and unharmed, alive from the living mother.
Translator's note: verses 1–3 are an invocation calling the Aśvins to the soma-offering. Verse 4 recalls the rescue of the sage Atri from a pit. Verses 5–6 recall the rescue of the sage Saptavadhri, trapped inside a tree, whom the Aśvins free by their occult power (māyā); the tree's opening is likened to a womb opening in birth. Verses 7–9 turn that image into a direct charm for safe, easy childbirth, addressed to the unborn child ("the ten-month one") rather than to the Aśvins.
Colophon
Rigveda V.78 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.78
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.
aśvināv eha gacchataṁ nāsatyā mā vi venatam |
haṁsāv iva patatam ā sutām̐ upa || 1 ||
aśvinā hariṇāv iva gaurāv ivānu yavasam |
haṁsāv iva patatam ā sutām̐ upa || 2 ||
aśvinā vājinīvasū juṣethāṁ yajñam iṣṭaye |
haṁsāv iva patatam ā sutām̐ upa || 3 ||
atrir yad vām avarohann ṛbīsam ajohavīn nādhamāneva yoṣā |
śyenasya cij javasā nūtanenāgacchatam aśvinā śaṁtamena || 4 ||
vi jihīṣva vanaspate yoniḥ sūṣyantyā iva |
śrutam me aśvinā havaṁ saptavadhriṁ ca muñcatam || 5 ||
bhītāya nādhamānāya ṛṣaye saptavadhraye |
māyābhir aśvinā yuvaṁ vṛkṣaṁ saṁ ca vi cācathaḥ || 6 ||
yathā vātaḥ puṣkariṇīṁ samiṅgayati sarvataḥ |
evā te garbha ejatu niraitu daśamāsyaḥ || 7 ||
yathā vāto yathā vanaṁ yathā samudra ejati |
evā tvaṁ daśamāsya sahāvehi jarāyuṇā || 8 ||
daśa māsāñ chaśayānaḥ kumāro adhi mātari |
niraitu jīvo akṣato jīvo jīvantyā adhi || 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).