Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.119 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 bright, whose chariot doth shine with gold and light most radiant and divine! Ye ride upon the pathways of the air, and bring to mortals blessing everywhere.
What makes thy chariot glow with such great light? What power propels it through the starry night? The wheels do spin with such a perfect grace, yet swiftly carry thee from place to place.
O Aśvins, ye are sweet as honeycomb, ye are the refuge of the weary home. The gifts ye bring are sweeter than the mead, and all the world doth thank you for each deed.
Ye bear to mortals treasures manifold, more precious far than all the hoarded gold. Ye bring the healing salve unto the wound, ye bring the joy that healeth all around.
Ye wear the flowers in your hair so bright, and scatter them throughout the morning light. Ye are the gods of sweetness and of song, the ones to whom the grateful ones belong.
Your chariot hath wheels of golden hue, with honey-voiced deeds that ye ever do. We hear of thee and our hearts leap with cheer, for we know that the Aśvins doth draw near.
What mortal hath not felt thy gentle care? What wounded heart hath not known thy repair? Ye come to those who suffer and who grieve, and grant to them the power to believe.
In the sweetness of the morning dew, in all the gifts that nature giveth true, we see thy hand and know thy love so vast. Ye are the blessing that forever shall last.
O Aśvins sweet, accept our humble prayer, and grant unto our lives thy honeyed care.
Colophon
Rigveda I.119 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.119
ā vāṁ ratham purumāyam manojuvaṁ jīrāśvaṁ yajñiyaṁ jīvase huve |
sahasraketuṁ vaninaṁ śatadvasuṁ śruṣṭīvānaṁ varivodhām abhi prayaḥ || 1 ||
ūrdhvā dhītiḥ praty asya prayāmany adhāyi śasman sam ayanta ā diśaḥ |
svadāmi gharmam prati yanty ūtaya ā vām ūrjānī ratham aśvināruhat || 2 ||
saṁ yan mithaḥ paspṛdhānāso agmata śubhe makhā amitā jāyavo raṇe |
yuvor aha pravaṇe cekite ratho yad aśvinā vahathaḥ sūrim ā varam || 3 ||
yuvam bhujyum bhuramāṇaṁ vibhir gataṁ svayuktibhir nivahantā pitṛbhya ā |
yāsiṣṭaṁ vartir vṛṣaṇā vijenya1ṁ divodāsāya mahi ceti vām avaḥ || 4 ||
yuvor aśvinā vapuṣe yuvāyujaṁ rathaṁ vāṇī yematur asya śardhyam |
ā vām patitvaṁ sakhyāya jagmuṣī yoṣāvṛṇīta jenyā yuvām patī || 5 ||
yuvaṁ rebham pariṣūter uruṣyatho himena gharmam paritaptam atraye |
yuvaṁ śayor avasam pipyathur gavi pra dīrgheṇa vandanas tāry āyuṣā || 6 ||
yuvaṁ vandanaṁ nirṛtaṁ jaraṇyayā rathaṁ na dasrā karaṇā sam invathaḥ |
kṣetrād ā vipraṁ janatho vipanyayā pra vām atra vidhate daṁsanā bhuvat || 7 ||
agacchataṁ kṛpamāṇam parāvati pituḥ svasya tyajasā nibādhitam |
svarvatīr ita ūtīr yuvor aha citrā abhīke abhavann abhiṣṭayaḥ || 8 ||
uta syā vām madhuman makṣikārapan made somasyauśijo huvanyati |
yuvaṁ dadhīco mana ā vivāsatho 'thā śiraḥ prati vām aśvyaṁ vadat || 9 ||
yuvam pedave puruvāram aśvinā spṛdhāṁ śvetaṁ tarutāraṁ duvasyathaḥ |
śaryair abhidyum pṛtanāsu duṣṭaraṁ carkṛtyam indram iva carṣaṇīsaham || 10 ||
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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