Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VII.67 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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. To wake your chariot, O lords of men, I come with an oblation-bearing, worshipful mind. Like a messenger who has roused you two attentive ones, I speak out to you as a son speaks to his parents.
2. Agni has blazed, kindled among us; even the borders of darkness have become visible. The banner of dawn has been perceived in the east, the daughter of heaven being born for splendor.
3. Now, O Aśvins, the eloquent good priest attends you with praise-hymns, O Nāsatyas. Come hither by your many paths, with your sun-finding, wealth-laden chariot.
4. Longing for your help, desiring wealth, I call you now, O Aśvins, honey-sweet ones, when the soma is pressed for you. Let your strong horses bring you here; drink among us the well-pressed sweet draughts.
5. O divine Aśvins, favor my forward prayer, unfailing, wealth-seeking, made for gain. Protect all our insights in the contest for the prize; grant us this, O lords of power, with your powers.
6. Favor us, O Aśvins, in these our devotions; let there be for us offspring-bearing seed, without shame. Hastening to you for child and progeny, may we, rich in good gifts, come to the feast of the gods.
7. This, as in our former friendship, is a treasure set down, given to us, O honey-sweet ones. Come hither with a gracious, ungrudging mind, partaking of the offering among human tribes.
8. In one and the same yoking, O swift ones, your chariot has traveled around the seven flowing rivers. The strong horses yoked by the gods do not tire, those which carry you swiftly at the pole.
9. Be unfailing toward the bounteous patrons who speed the giving of gifts with wealth, who advance their kin with generous deeds, bestowing gifts rich in cattle and horses.
10. Now hear my call, O youthful pair; go your food-rich round, O Aśvins. Bestow treasures, and grant long life to our patrons. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: "avor vāṁ" in verse 4 and "aviṣṭaṁ...āsu" in verse 6 are terse imperative/desiderative constructions built on the root av- ("to favor, help"); rendered here conservatively as "favor" and "longing for your help" rather than committing to a more specific reading. The dual epithets for the Aśvins (lords of men, Nāsatyas, honey-sweet ones, youthful pair) are kept close to their Sanskrit sense rather than smoothed into a single recurring title.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.67 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 VII.67
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 vāṁ rathaṁ nṛpatī jaradhyai haviṣmatā manasā yajñiyena |
yo vāṁ dūto na dhiṣṇyāv ajīgar acchā sūnur na pitarā vivakmi || 1 ||
aśocy agniḥ samidhāno asme upo adṛśran tamasaś cid antāḥ |
aceti ketur uṣasaḥ purastāc chriye divo duhitur jāyamānaḥ || 2 ||
abhi vāṁ nūnam aśvinā suhotā stomaiḥ siṣakti nāsatyā vivakvān |
pūrvībhir yātam pathyābhir arvāk svarvidā vasumatā rathena || 3 ||
avor vāṁ nūnam aśvinā yuvākur huve yad vāṁ sute mādhvī vasūyuḥ |
ā vāṁ vahantu sthavirāso aśvāḥ pibātho asme suṣutā madhūni || 4 ||
prācīm u devāśvinā dhiyam me 'mṛdhrāṁ sātaye kṛtaṁ vasūyum |
viśvā aviṣṭaṁ vāja ā puraṁdhīs tā naḥ śaktaṁ śacīpatī śacībhiḥ || 5 ||
aviṣṭaṁ dhīṣv aśvinā na āsu prajāvad reto ahrayaṁ no astu |
ā vāṁ toke tanaye tūtujānāḥ suratnāso devavītiṁ gamema || 6 ||
eṣa sya vām pūrvagatveva sakhye nidhir hito mādhvī rāto asme |
aheḻatā manasā yātam arvāg aśnantā havyam mānuṣīṣu vikṣu || 7 ||
ekasmin yoge bhuraṇā samāne pari vāṁ sapta sravato ratho gāt |
na vāyanti subhvo devayuktā ye vāṁ dhūrṣu taraṇayo vahanti || 8 ||
asaścatā maghavadbhyo hi bhūtaṁ ye rāyā maghadeyaṁ junanti |
pra ye bandhuṁ sūnṛtābhis tirante gavyā pṛñcanto aśvyā maghāni || 9 ||
nū me havam ā śṛṇutaṁ yuvānā yāsiṣṭaṁ vartir aśvināv irāvat |
dhattaṁ ratnāni jarataṁ ca sūrīn yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 10 ||
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).