Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VII.72 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, Nāsatyas, with your chariot rich in cattle, rich in horses, richly gleaming. All your yoked teams follow after you, your bodies adorned in splendor to be desired.
2. Come here to us, together with the gods, Nāsatyas, of one accord, turning your chariot hither. For our friendships with you are ancestral; the bond is shared between us — know it well.
3. The praise-songs to the two Aśvins have risen up, the kindred sacred formulas, and the divine Dawns with them. These two firm world-halves seek to win your favor; the inspired poet speaks out toward the Nāsatyas.
4. When the Dawns shine forth, O Aśvins, the singers carry their sacred formulas to you. God Savitar has raised his light on high; the fires roar loud with the kindling wood.
5. Come, Nāsatyas, from behind, from in front, O Aśvins, from below, from above; come from every side with wealth belonging to the five peoples. Protect us always with your blessings of well-being.
Translator's note: "pāñcajanyena" (verse 5) is rendered literally as "belonging to the five peoples," the standard Vedic term for the whole of humankind (the five tribes); "dhiṣṇyeme" (verse 3) describing the two world-halves (heaven and earth) is rendered "firm," reflecting its sense of steadfast or well-founded.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.72 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.72
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 gomatā nāsatyā rathenāśvāvatā puruścandreṇa yātam |
abhi vāṁ viśvā niyutaḥ sacante spārhayā śriyā tanvā śubhānā || 1 ||
ā no devebhir upa yātam arvāk sajoṣasā nāsatyā rathena |
yuvor hi naḥ sakhyā pitryāṇi samāno bandhur uta tasya vittam || 2 ||
ud u stomāso aśvinor abudhrañ jāmi brahmāṇy uṣasaś ca devīḥ |
āvivāsan rodasī dhiṣṇyeme acchā vipro nāsatyā vivakti || 3 ||
vi ced ucchanty aśvinā uṣāsaḥ pra vām brahmāṇi kāravo bharante |
ūrdhvam bhānuṁ savitā devo aśred bṛhad agnayaḥ samidhā jarante || 4 ||
ā paścātān nāsatyā purastād āśvinā yātam adharād udaktāt |
ā viśvataḥ pāñcajanyena rāyā yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 5 ||
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).