Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VIII.86 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.
1. You two wonder-working healers, bringers of joy — you two have mastered the word of skill. Viśvaka calls you two to restore his body: do not part from us, do not let go of our friendship.
2. How shall the troubled mind now praise you two? You have given insight for the search of good fortune. Viśvaka calls you two to restore his body: do not part from us, do not let go of our friendship.
3. For you two, generous ones, gave to this thriving Viṣṇāpū the means to prosper, for the search of good fortune. Viśvaka calls you two to restore his body: do not part from us, do not let go of our friendship.
4. And that hero, winner of wealth, rich in strength — even far away we call on him for help — he whose favor is sweetest, like a father's. Do not part from us, do not let go of our friendship.
5. By truth the god Savitar has come to rest; the horn of truth has spread out wide. Truth has overcome even the mighty who war against it. Do not part from us, do not let go of our friendship.
Translator's note: the dual forms throughout (ubhā, vām, yuvam) mark the Aśvins as addressees in verses 1–3 and 5; verse 4 shifts to a single "hero" figure (unnamed, described as dhanasām ṛjīṣiṇam, "winner of wealth, rich in strength") within the same refrain, consistent with the source. "Viṣṇāpū" (v. 3) is treated as a proper name, per the standard reading. "Ṛjīṣiṇam" (v. 4) is a compressed epithet of contested precise sense; rendered conservatively as "rich in strength" rather than guessing at a more specific meaning.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.86 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 VIII.86
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.
ubhā hi dasrā bhiṣajā mayobhuvobhā dakṣasya vacaso babhūvathuḥ |
tā vāṁ viśvako havate tanūkṛthe mā no vi yauṣṭaṁ sakhyā mumocatam || 1 ||
kathā nūnaṁ vāṁ vimanā upa stavad yuvaṁ dhiyaṁ dadathur vasyaïṣṭaye |
tā vāṁ viśvako havate tanūkṛthe mā no vi yauṣṭaṁ sakhyā mumocatam || 2 ||
yuvaṁ hi ṣmā purubhujemam edhatuṁ viṣṇāpve dadathur vasyaïṣṭaye |
tā vāṁ viśvako havate tanūkṛthe mā no vi yauṣṭaṁ sakhyā mumocatam || 3 ||
uta tyaṁ vīraṁ dhanasām ṛjīṣiṇaṁ dūre cit santam avase havāmahe |
yasya svādiṣṭhā sumatiḥ pitur yathā mā no vi yauṣṭaṁ sakhyā mumocatam || 4 ||
ṛtena devaḥ savitā śamāyata ṛtasya śṛṅgam urviyā vi paprathe |
ṛtaṁ sāsāha mahi cit pṛtanyato mā no vi yauṣṭaṁ sakhyā mumocatam || 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).