Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.116 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Aśvins, the twin divine horsemen, healers of the gods and bringers of dawn. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
O Aśvins twain, ye riders swift and bright! Ye come to us at breaking of the light. Ye are the ones who go before the dawn, and harness all the magic of the morn.
What are thy deeds, O Aśvins? Who can tell the catalog of wonder, blessed, and celestial? Ye have performed such miracles unnumbered, that all the heavens with amazement have been slumbered.
Ye brought the sun to Savitṛ's gaze when he did lose his sight and wander all his days. Ye healed the aged Chyavana, made him whole, and restored to him his youthful, burning soul.
Ye took the daughter of the sun most fair, fair Sūryā, and ye loved her with such care. Ye rescued her from the great danger dire, and all the heavens sang with joy and fire.
Ye came to Bhujyu when he fell at sea, beneath the waves where no man could be free. Yet ye did dive beneath the waters deep, and brought him back from out that dark abyss so steep.
Ye made the blind man see with healing touch, ye cured the leper and the maimed so much. Ye are the physicians of the gods most kind, ye are the sweetness of the mortal mind.
The birds did flee before thy chariot bright, the winds did tremble at thy holy might. Ye go where mortals cannot ever go, and bring us blessings from the realms below.
O Aśvins blessed, we do sing thy praise, and lift to thee our voices through our days. Accept our offerings of butter, milk, and mead, and grant to us what we most surely need.
Come swift, come swiftly, hear our humble prayer, and grant unto our lives thy loving care.
Colophon
Rigveda I.116 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses the Aśvins, the twin divine horsemen, healers of the gods and bringers of dawn. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation session to be documented during Kshatriya Blood Rule audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.116
nāsatyābhyām barhir iva pra vṛñje stomām̐ iyarmy abhriyeva vātaḥ |
yāv arbhagāya vimadāya jāyāṁ senājuvā nyūhatū rathena || 1 ||
vīḻupatmabhir āśuhemabhir vā devānāṁ vā jūtibhiḥ śāśadānā |
tad rāsabho nāsatyā sahasram ājā yamasya pradhane jigāya || 2 ||
tugro ha bhujyum aśvinodameghe rayiṁ na kaś cin mamṛvām̐ avāhāḥ |
tam ūhathur naubhir ātmanvatībhir antarikṣaprudbhir apodakābhiḥ || 3 ||
tisraḥ kṣapas trir ahātivrajadbhir nāsatyā bhujyum ūhathuḥ pataṁgaiḥ |
samudrasya dhanvann ārdrasya pāre tribhī rathaiḥ śatapadbhiḥ ṣaḻaśvaiḥ || 4 ||
anārambhaṇe tad avīrayethām anāsthāne agrabhaṇe samudre |
yad aśvinā ūhathur bhujyum astaṁ śatāritrāṁ nāvam ātasthivāṁsam || 5 ||
yam aśvinā dadathuḥ śvetam aśvam aghāśvāya śaśvad it svasti |
tad vāṁ dātram mahi kīrtenyam bhūt paidvo vājī sadam id dhavyo aryaḥ || 6 ||
yuvaṁ narā stuvate pajriyāya kakṣīvate aradatam puraṁdhim |
kārotarāc chaphād aśvasya vṛṣṇaḥ śataṁ kumbhām̐ asiñcataṁ surāyāḥ || 7 ||
himenāgniṁ ghraṁsam avārayethām pitumatīm ūrjam asmā adhattam |
ṛbīse atrim aśvināvanītam un ninyathuḥ sarvagaṇaṁ svasti || 8 ||
parāvataṁ nāsatyānudethām uccābudhnaṁ cakrathur jihmabāram |
kṣarann āpo na pāyanāya rāye sahasrāya tṛṣyate gotamasya || 9 ||
jujuruṣo nāsatyota vavrim prāmuñcataṁ drāpim iva cyavānāt |
prātirataṁ jahitasyāyur dasrād it patim akṛṇutaṁ kanīnām || 10 ||
tad vāṁ narā śaṁsyaṁ rādhyaṁ cābhiṣṭiman nāsatyā varūtham |
yad vidvāṁsā nidhim ivāpagūḻham ud darśatād ūpathur vandanāya || 11 ||
tad vāṁ narā sanaye daṁsa ugram āviṣ kṛṇomi tanyatur na vṛṣṭim |
dadhyaṅ ha yan madhv ātharvaṇo vām aśvasya śīrṣṇā pra yad īm uvāca || 12 ||
ajohavīn nāsatyā karā vām mahe yāman purubhujā puraṁdhiḥ |
śrutaṁ tac chāsur iva vadhrimatyā hiraṇyahastam aśvināv adattam || 13 ||
āsno vṛkasya vartikām abhīke yuvaṁ narā nāsatyāmumuktam |
uto kavim purubhujā yuvaṁ ha kṛpamāṇam akṛṇutaṁ vicakṣe || 14 ||
caritraṁ hi ver ivācchedi parṇam ājā khelasya paritakmyāyām |
sadyo jaṅghām āyasīṁ viśpalāyai dhane hite sartave praty adhattam || 15 ||
śatam meṣān vṛkye cakṣadānam ṛjrāśvaṁ tam pitāndhaṁ cakāra |
tasmā akṣī nāsatyā vicakṣa ādhattaṁ dasrā bhiṣajāv anarvan || 16 ||
ā vāṁ rathaṁ duhitā sūryasya kārṣmevātiṣṭhad arvatā jayantī |
viśve devā anv amanyanta hṛdbhiḥ sam u śriyā nāsatyā sacethe || 17 ||
yad ayātaṁ divodāsāya vartir bharadvājāyāśvinā hayantā |
revad uvāha sacano ratho vāṁ vṛṣabhaś ca śiṁśumāraś ca yuktā || 18 ||
rayiṁ sukṣatraṁ svapatyam āyuḥ suvīryaṁ nāsatyā vahantā |
ā jahnāvīṁ samanasopa vājais trir ahno bhāgaṁ dadhatīm ayātam || 19 ||
pariviṣṭaṁ jāhuṣaṁ viśvataḥ sīṁ sugebhir naktam ūhathū rajobhiḥ |
vibhindunā nāsatyā rathena vi parvatām̐ ajarayū ayātam || 20 ||
ekasyā vastor āvataṁ raṇāya vaśam aśvinā sanaye sahasrā |
nir ahataṁ ducchunā indravantā pṛthuśravaso vṛṣaṇāv arātīḥ || 21 ||
śarasya cid ārcatkasyāvatād ā nīcād uccā cakrathuḥ pātave vāḥ |
śayave cin nāsatyā śacībhir jasuraye staryam pipyathur gām || 22 ||
avasyate stuvate kṛṣṇiyāya ṛjūyate nāsatyā śacībhiḥ |
paśuṁ na naṣṭam iva darśanāya viṣṇāpvaṁ dadathur viśvakāya || 23 ||
daśa rātrīr aśivenā nava dyūn avanaddhaṁ śnathitam apsv a1ntaḥ |
viprutaṁ rebham udani pravṛktam un ninyathuḥ somam iva sruveṇa || 24 ||
pra vāṁ daṁsāṁsy aśvināv avocam asya patiḥ syāṁ sugavaḥ suvīraḥ |
uta paśyann aśnuvan dīrgham āyur astam ivej jarimāṇaṁ jagamyām || 25 ||
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).
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