Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VII.74 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. These at daybreak, longing for you, call on you, O Aśvins. I too have called you for help, you two rich in power — for you go to every clan.
2. You two, O men, have given wondrous nourishment; you have roused the truthful, generous one. Turn your chariot this way, of one mind, and drink the sweet soma.
3. Come, draw near, drink of the sweet drink, O Aśvins. Drink the milked milk, you two bulls of noble wealth — do not fail us, come.
4. The horses that carry you two to the worshipper's house fly swiftly, bearing you on. With your swift horses, O men, O divine Aśvins, come, desiring us.
5. Then indeed, going forth, O Aśvins, the patrons follow after nourishment. Grant firm glory and shelter to the generous givers, and to us, O Nāsatyas.
6. They who have gone forth, doing no harm, like chariots, protectors of the peoples — they have grown mighty by their own strength, these heroes, and they dwell in a good dwelling.
Translator's note: "diviṣṭayaḥ" (v.1) is rendered "longing for you" — the word literally suggests those eager or reaching toward heaven/day; its precise sense as applied to worshippers is debated, and the rendering here is conservative. In v.6, "avṛkāsaḥ" ("wolf-less," i.e. harmless or unassailed) is rendered "doing no harm" for clarity.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.74 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.74
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.
imā u vāṁ diviṣṭaya usrā havante aśvinā |
ayaṁ vām ahve 'vase śacīvasū viśaṁ-viśaṁ hi gacchathaḥ || 1 ||
yuvaṁ citraṁ dadathur bhojanaṁ narā codethāṁ sūnṛtāvate |
arvāg rathaṁ samanasā ni yacchatam pibataṁ somyam madhu || 2 ||
ā yātam upa bhūṣatam madhvaḥ pibatam aśvinā |
dugdham payo vṛṣaṇā jenyāvasū mā no mardhiṣṭam ā gatam || 3 ||
aśvāso ye vām upa dāśuṣo gṛhaṁ yuvāṁ dīyanti bibhrataḥ |
makṣūyubhir narā hayebhir aśvinā devā yātam asmayū || 4 ||
adhā ha yanto aśvinā pṛkṣaḥ sacanta sūrayaḥ |
tā yaṁsato maghavadbhyo dhruvaṁ yaśaś chardir asmabhyaṁ nāsatyā || 5 ||
pra ye yayur avṛkāso rathā iva nṛpātāro janānām |
uta svena śavasā śūśuvur nara uta kṣiyanti sukṣitim || 6 ||
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).