Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VII.69 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. May your golden chariot, filling the two world-halves, come here drawn by bull-like horses — its track laid with ghee, shining with its wheel-rims, bearing nourishment, a lord of men, rich in strength.
2. Spreading out over the five lands, three-seated, yoked by thought, may it go forth — the chariot by which you two travel to the god-seeking peoples, O Aśvins, directing your course wherever you will.
3. Come hither, you of good horses, glorious, wondrous ones — drink the honeyed store. Your chariot, moving along with the bride, presses to the ends of heaven with its two wheel-tracks.
4. The young woman, the daughter of the Sun, chose your splendor at the critical moment. When you help the god-seeking one with your powers, your strength attends you through the heat, with favor.
5. That charioteer of yours, wrapped in the ruddy light, yoking the chariot, goes around its circuit. By that, bring us well-being and safety at the shining-forth of dawn — bring it down, O Aśvins, to this sacrifice.
6. O men, like a thirsty bull longing for the lightning-flash, come today to our pressed libation. For in many places they call to you with their prayers — let not other god-seeking people draw you down elsewhere.
7. You two carried Bhujyu, cast away in the sea, up out of the flood with unerring means — with winged, tireless, unfaltering steeds, O Aśvins, bearing him across by your wondrous powers.
8. Now hear my call, you young ones. Come, O Aśvins, on your refreshment-bringing round. Bestow treasures, and grant long life to our patrons. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: verse 3's "vadhvā" (with the bride) refers to Sūryā, the Sun's daughter, who rides with the Aśvins — made explicit in verse 4. Verse 5's "rathirā" is read as an epithet of the charioteer/chariot-driver; the phrase describing it as "wrapped in the ruddy light" renders "vasta usrā" conservatively. Verse 7 recalls the well-known Aśvin myth of rescuing the shipwrecked Bhujyu from the ocean.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.69 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.69
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 vāṁ ratho rodasī badbadhāno hiraṇyayo vṛṣabhir yātv aśvaiḥ |
ghṛtavartaniḥ pavibhī rucāna iṣāṁ voḻhā nṛpatir vājinīvān || 1 ||
sa paprathāno abhi pañca bhūmā trivandhuro manasā yātu yuktaḥ |
viśo yena gacchatho devayantīḥ kutrā cid yāmam aśvinā dadhānā || 2 ||
svaśvā yaśasā yātam arvāg dasrā nidhim madhumantam pibāthaḥ |
vi vāṁ ratho vadhvā3 yādamāno 'ntān divo bādhate vartanibhyām || 3 ||
yuvoḥ śriyam pari yoṣāvṛṇīta sūro duhitā paritakmyāyām |
yad devayantam avathaḥ śacībhiḥ pari ghraṁsam omanā vāṁ vayo gāt || 4 ||
yo ha sya vāṁ rathirā vasta usrā ratho yujānaḥ pariyāti vartiḥ |
tena naḥ śaṁ yor uṣaso vyuṣṭau ny aśvinā vahataṁ yajñe asmin || 5 ||
narā gaureva vidyutaṁ tṛṣāṇāsmākam adya savanopa yātam |
purutrā hi vām matibhir havante mā vām anye ni yaman devayantaḥ || 6 ||
yuvam bhujyum avaviddhaṁ samudra ud ūhathur arṇaso asridhānaiḥ |
patatribhir aśramair avyathibhir daṁsanābhir aśvinā pārayantā || 7 ||
nū me havam ā śṛṇutaṁ yuvānā yāsiṣṭaṁ vartir aśvināv irāvat |
dhattaṁ ratnāni jarataṁ ca sūrīn yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 8 ||
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).