Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VIII.73 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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. The hymn is addressed to the Aśvins, the divine twin horsemen who ride a swift chariot across the sky, and calls on them to hasten to the sage Atri's aid and to bring gifts of cattle and horses.
1. Arise for the one devoted to the sacred order; yoke your chariot, O Aśvins. May your help be near.
2. Come, O Aśvins, with a chariot swifter than the blink of an eye. May your help be near.
3. Spread cold over the hot vessel for Atri, O Aśvins. May your help be near.
4. Where are you? Where have you gone? Where have you flown, like a falcon? May your help be near.
5. Whenever today, at whatever hour, may you hear this call of mine. May your help be near.
6. O Aśvins, most invoked on the road, I seek the nearest bond of friendship. May your help be near.
7. Make a sheltering house for Atri, you two, O Aśvins. May your help be near.
8. You shield him from the fire's heat; the pleasant one speaks on behalf of Atri. May your help be near.
9. Saptavadhri lay down in hope within the stream of the fire. May your help be near.
10. Come here, O you of abundant, bull-like wealth; hear this call of mine. May your help be near.
11. What is this that is recited to you two, as of old, as if from an aged one? May your help be near.
12. Common is your kinship, common your bond, O Aśvins. May your help be near.
13. Your chariot, O Aśvins, which travels through the realms, crosses the two worlds. May your help be near.
14. Approach us with a thousand gifts of cattle and horses. May your help be near.
15. Do not pass us over when thousands of cattle and horses are given out. May your help be near.
16. Dawn of ruddy form has arisen; she who holds the sacred order has made the light. May your help be near.
17. O Aśvins, it shines forth clearly, as one bearing an axe eyes a tree. May your help be near.
18. Break it open, O bold one, like a stronghold — him who is oppressed by the dark tribe. May your help be near.
Translator's note: verses 8, 9, 16–18 refer to episodes in the legends of the sages Atri and Saptavadhri that are compressed to the point of obscurity in the Sanskrit itself; the renderings above are kept close to the literal sense of each word rather than resolved into a smooth narrative. In verse 17, "vicākaśad" (it shines forth / becomes visible) has no stated subject in the Sanskrit; it is left unspecified here rather than supplied.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.73 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 VIII.73
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.
ud īrāthām ṛtāyate yuñjāthām aśvinā ratham |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 1 ||
nimiṣaś cij javīyasā rathenā yātam aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 2 ||
upa stṛṇītam atraye himena gharmam aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 3 ||
kuha sthaḥ kuha jagmathuḥ kuha śyeneva petathuḥ |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 4 ||
yad adya karhi karhi cic chuśrūyātam imaṁ havam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 5 ||
aśvinā yāmahūtamā nediṣṭhaṁ yāmy āpyam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 6 ||
avantam atraye gṛhaṁ kṛṇutaṁ yuvam aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 7 ||
varethe agnim ātapo vadate valgv atraye |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 8 ||
pra saptavadhrir āśasā dhārām agner aśāyata |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 9 ||
ihā gataṁ vṛṣaṇvasū śṛṇutam ma imaṁ havam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 10 ||
kim idaṁ vām purāṇavaj jarator iva śasyate |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 11 ||
samānaṁ vāṁ sajātyaṁ samāno bandhur aśvinā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 12 ||
yo vāṁ rajāṁsy aśvinā ratho viyāti rodasī |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 13 ||
ā no gavyebhir aśvyaiḥ sahasrair upa gacchatam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 14 ||
mā no gavyebhir aśvyaiḥ sahasrebhir ati khyatam |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 15 ||
aruṇapsur uṣā abhūd akar jyotir ṛtāvarī |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 16 ||
aśvinā su vicākaśad vṛkṣam paraśumām̐ iva |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 17 ||
puraṁ na dhṛṣṇav ā ruja kṛṣṇayā bādhito viśā |
anti ṣad bhūtu vām avaḥ || 18 ||
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).