Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VII.68 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. Come here, O bright Aśvins with your good horses, O wonder-workers, delighting in the songs sung for you — and enjoy the offerings that have been brought forth for us.
2. Your intoxicating soma-draughts have been set out; come duly to partake of my oblation. Hear our calls, above and beyond the stranger's.
3. Your chariot, swift as thought, races across the realms, O Aśvins of a hundred powers of help, coming to us bringing goods bright as the sun.
4. When this god-devoted pressing-stone speaks out, raised up, pressing soma for the two of you, may the inspired singer turn the fair pair hither with offerings.
5. Wondrous indeed is the nourishment that is yours; you brought down abundance for Atri, who, being dear to you, holds your favor.
6. And this too is praised of you, Aśvins — how you were welcome to Cyavāna, the giver of oblations, when you granted him a new form, coming to his aid.
7. And that Bhujyu too, O Aśvins — his ill-meaning companions abandoned him in the middle of the sea; may the one bountiful and devoted to you carry him safely forth.
8. You had power even for Vṛka when he was perishing, and you were renowned, called upon for Śayu's sake; you two who made the barren cow flow with milk like waters — even the barren one — by your powers, O Aśvins, with your mighty deeds.
9. This singer here praises with well-formed hymns, waking at the forefront of the dawns, devout in mind; may the inviolable cow strengthen him with nourishment, with her milk. Protect us always with blessings.
Translator's note: verse 3's "sūryāvasū" (rendered here as "goods bright as the sun") and verse 5's "yuyotam" (rendered "brought down") are compact, ambiguous forms whose exact sense is debated; the renderings above are conservative. Verses 6–8 allude to well-known Aśvin rescue myths — Cyavāna restored to youth, Bhujyu saved from the sea, Vṛka and Śayu aided in distress — named directly in the Sanskrit.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.68 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VII.68
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.
ā śubhrā yātam aśvinā svaśvā giro dasrā jujuṣāṇā yuvākoḥ |
havyāni ca pratibhṛtā vītaṁ naḥ || 1 ||
pra vām andhāṁsi madyāny asthur araṁ gantaṁ haviṣo vītaye me |
tiro aryo havanāni śrutaṁ naḥ || 2 ||
pra vāṁ ratho manojavā iyarti tiro rajāṁsy aśvinā śatotiḥ |
asmabhyaṁ sūryāvasū iyānaḥ || 3 ||
ayaṁ ha yad vāṁ devayā u adrir ūrdhvo vivakti somasud yuvabhyām |
ā valgū vipro vavṛtīta havyaiḥ || 4 ||
citraṁ ha yad vām bhojanaṁ nv asti ny atraye mahiṣvantaṁ yuyotam |
yo vām omānaṁ dadhate priyaḥ san || 5 ||
uta tyad vāṁ jurate aśvinā bhūc cyavānāya pratītyaṁ havirde |
adhi yad varpa itaūti dhatthaḥ || 6 ||
uta tyam bhujyum aśvinā sakhāyo madhye jahur durevāsaḥ samudre |
nir īm parṣad arāvā yo yuvākuḥ || 7 ||
vṛkāya cij jasamānāya śaktam uta śrutaṁ śayave hūyamānā |
yāv aghnyām apinvatam apo na staryaṁ cic chakty aśvinā śacībhiḥ || 8 ||
eṣa sya kārur jarate sūktair agre budhāna uṣasāṁ sumanmā |
iṣā taṁ vardhad aghnyā payobhir yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 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).