Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.120 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, we call upon you now, and offer up to you our solemn vow. Come swift, come swift to hear our humble prayer, and grant unto our lives thy most devoted care.
We are the mortals weak and prone to pain; we are the ones who suffer and remain. The sickness cometh when we are not bold, the fever racketh us both young and old.
But thou, O Aśvins, hast the power to heal, to take away the pain that we do feel. Thy touch is soft yet mighty in its way, and ailments flee before thy healing ray.
We call to thee when darkness cometh near, we lift our voices and we make our prayer. We know that thou wilt answer to our cry, and come with swiftness from the starlit sky.
Grant us the healing of thy sacred hands, the grace that cometh from the highest lands. Let no disease take root within our frame, let fever not consume us all the same.
Protect our children, guard them through the night, and keep them ever in thy loving sight. Let no harm come unto the ones we hold most dear, and let them never know the touch of fear.
We offer thee the butter, milk, and mead, accept what we have labored for indeed. Accept our songs of praise and our devotion, accept the words that flow with true emotion.
O Aśvins swift, ye are the hope of all who call upon you when they fall. Come swift, come swift, we bid you ever nigh, and grant unto our lives thy healing sigh.
O blessed Aśvins, merciful and kind, accept our prayer and give us peace of mind.
Colophon
Rigveda I.120 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.120
kā rādhad dhotrāśvinā vāṁ ko vāṁ joṣa ubhayoḥ |
kathā vidhāty apracetāḥ || 1 ||
vidvāṁsāv id duraḥ pṛcched avidvān itthāparo acetāḥ |
nū cin nu marte akrau || 2 ||
tā vidvāṁsā havāmahe vāṁ tā no vidvāṁsā manma vocetam adya |
prārcad dayamāno yuvākuḥ || 3 ||
vi pṛcchāmi pākyā3 na devān vaṣaṭkṛtasyādbhutasya dasrā |
pātaṁ ca sahyaso yuvaṁ ca rabhyaso naḥ || 4 ||
pra yā ghoṣe bhṛgavāṇe na śobhe yayā vācā yajati pajriyo vām |
praiṣayur na vidvān || 5 ||
śrutaṁ gāyatraṁ takavānasyāhaṁ cid dhi rirebhāśvinā vām |
ākṣī śubhas patī dan || 6 ||
yuvaṁ hy āstam maho ran yuvaṁ vā yan niratataṁsatam |
tā no vasū sugopā syātam pātaṁ no vṛkād aghāyoḥ || 7 ||
mā kasmai dhātam abhy amitriṇe no mākutrā no gṛhebhyo dhenavo guḥ |
stanābhujo aśiśvīḥ || 8 ||
duhīyan mitradhitaye yuvāku rāye ca no mimītaṁ vājavatyai |
iṣe ca no mimītaṁ dhenumatyai || 9 ||
aśvinor asanaṁ ratham anaśvaṁ vājinīvatoḥ |
tenāham bhūri cākana || 10 ||
ayaṁ samaha mā tanūhyāte janām̐ anu |
somapeyaṁ sukho rathaḥ || 11 ||
adha svapnasya nir vide 'bhuñjataś ca revataḥ |
ubhā tā basri naśyataḥ || 12 ||
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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