Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VII.70 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 to us, O Aśvins, possessors of every boon. That station of yours has been proclaimed here on earth, where, like a strong horse with an unhurt back, it stood, when the two of you sat down as if toward a firm resting place.
2. That most welcome favor of yours attends us, and also the heated milk-offering, in the house of man — the favor that carries you across the seas and the rivers, like Etagva harnessed with well-matched teams.
3. Whatever stations you two, O Aśvins, have established among the young daughters of heaven, among the plants, among the peoples — sitting down on the peak of the mountain, you bring nourishment to the man who offers worship.
4. Delight, O gods, in the plants and in the waters, when you reach the yoking-hour of the seers, granting us many treasures; you have watched over the generations that came before.
5. Having heard the many sacred words of the seers, O Aśvins, you look upon them; come forward now to meet the man of your choosing — may your most welcome favor be ours.
6. Whatever sacrifice of yours, O Nāsatyas, bearing oblations and made with sacred formulation, takes place at the gathering — come near to excellent Vasiṣṭha; these sacred words are being chanted for the two of you.
7. This is the thought, this the song, O Aśvins; may you two mighty ones delight in this well-wrought praise. These sacred words meant for you have gone forth. Protect us always with blessings.
Translator's note: "Etagva" (v.2) is a proper name, likely a legendary steed or patron associated with the Aśvins' swiftness, kept untranslated. "Gharma" (v.2) is the heated milk-offering of the Pravargya rite, rendered descriptively. "Samaryaḥ" (v.6) — the setting where the sacrifice occurs — is ambiguous between "contest" and "gathering"; "gathering" is used here as the more conservative choice.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.70 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.70
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 viśvavārāśvinā gataṁ naḥ pra tat sthānam avāci vām pṛthivyām |
aśvo na vājī śunapṛṣṭho asthād ā yat sedathur dhruvase na yonim || 1 ||
siṣakti sā vāṁ sumatiś caniṣṭhātāpi gharmo manuṣo duroṇe |
yo vāṁ samudrān saritaḥ piparty etagvā cin na suyujā yujānaḥ || 2 ||
yāni sthānāny aśvinā dadhāthe divo yahvīṣv oṣadhīṣu vikṣu |
ni parvatasya mūrdhani sadanteṣaṁ janāya dāśuṣe vahantā || 3 ||
caniṣṭaṁ devā oṣadhīṣv apsu yad yogyā aśnavaithe ṛṣīṇām |
purūṇi ratnā dadhatau ny a1sme anu pūrvāṇi cakhyathur yugāni || 4 ||
śuśruvāṁsā cid aśvinā purūṇy abhi brahmāṇi cakṣāthe ṛṣīṇām |
prati pra yātaṁ varam ā janāyāsme vām astu sumatiś caniṣṭhā || 5 ||
yo vāṁ yajño nāsatyā haviṣmān kṛtabrahmā samaryo3 bhavāti |
upa pra yātaṁ varam ā vasiṣṭham imā brahmāṇy ṛcyante yuvabhyām || 6 ||
iyam manīṣā iyam aśvinā gīr imāṁ suvṛktiṁ vṛṣaṇā juṣethām |
imā brahmāṇi yuvayūny agman yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 7 ||
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).