Hymn to the sacred horse
Rigveda I.162 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the sacred horse, the aśvamedha (horse sacrifice), the ritual horse consecrated to the cosmic order. 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.
Behold the horse most swift and noble, whom we lead unto the stake,
That sacred beast whose hooves do thunder 'cross the field of sacrifice,
Whose mane doth flow like molten gold, whose breath doth shake the earth beneath.
This horse, born of the cosmic order in the days when all was young,
Did spring forth from the primordial waters at the Word's unfolding.
His nostrils flare wide open to the winds of heaven's compass,
And his eyes do see the farthest reaches of the earth and sky combined.
We lead thee, O most noble steed, unto the altar waiting,
Where priests in white do gather 'round with stone and fire and soma,
Where all the gods do witness what the sacrifice shall render.
The horse that runs before the chariot, the leader of the battle,
Now stands upon the sacred ground, his glory not diminished,
For in this death he liveth eternal in the cosmic order.
His strength hath carried warriors through the clash of many peoples,
His speed hath borne the kings to conquest over far domains,
His body, stamped with the seal of heaven, shall unite the earth and sky.
We give thee forth, O radiant beast, with honor and with reverence,
That from thy flesh and bone shall grow the cattle and the crops,
That from thy sacrifice shall spring forth blessing upon all the lands,
And the rains shall fall abundant, and the sun shall shine eternal.
The Aśvins ride beside thee in this final, glorious journey,
The Maruts gather 'round thy path, their storm-winds singing loud,
And Indra, mightiest of the gods, doth bless thy sacrifice complete.
O horse of heaven, bearer of the cosmic wheel of time,
Thy death is not an ending, but a transformation vast,
For thou dost bind the mortal realm unto the gods eternal.
Accept this hymn of praise that we do sing with voices raised,
Accept this offering with grace, and grant us thy protection.
Colophon
Rigveda I.162 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 sacred horse, the aśvamedha (horse sacrifice), the ritual horse consecrated to the cosmic order. 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.162
mā no mitro varuṇo aryamāyur indra ṛbhukṣā marutaḥ pari khyan |
yad vājino devajātasya sapteḥ pravakṣyāmo vidathe vīryāṇi || 1 ||
yan nirṇijā rekṇasā prāvṛtasya rātiṁ gṛbhītām mukhato nayanti |
suprāṅ ajo memyad viśvarūpa indrāpūṣṇoḥ priyam apy eti pāthaḥ || 2 ||
eṣa cchāgaḥ puro aśvena vājinā pūṣṇo bhāgo nīyate viśvadevyaḥ |
abhipriyaṁ yat puroḻāśam arvatā tvaṣṭed enaṁ sauśravasāya jinvati || 3 ||
yad dhaviṣyam ṛtuśo devayānaṁ trir mānuṣāḥ pary aśvaṁ nayanti |
atrā pūṣṇaḥ prathamo bhāga eti yajñaṁ devebhyaḥ prativedayann ajaḥ || 4 ||
hotādhvaryur āvayā agnimindho grāvagrābha uta śaṁstā suvipraḥ |
tena yajñena svaraṁkṛtena sviṣṭena vakṣaṇā ā pṛṇadhvam || 5 ||
yūpavraskā uta ye yūpavāhāś caṣālaṁ ye aśvayūpāya takṣati |
ye cārvate pacanaṁ sambharanty uto teṣām abhigūrtir na invatu || 6 ||
upa prāgāt suman me 'dhāyi manma devānām āśā upa vītapṛṣṭhaḥ |
anv enaṁ viprā ṛṣayo madanti devānām puṣṭe cakṛmā subandhum || 7 ||
yad vājino dāma saṁdānam arvato yā śīrṣaṇyā raśanā rajjur asya |
yad vā ghāsya prabhṛtam āsye3 tṛṇaṁ sarvā tā te api deveṣv astu || 8 ||
yad aśvasya kraviṣo makṣikāśa yad vā svarau svadhitau riptam asti |
yad dhastayoḥ śamitur yan nakheṣu sarvā tā te api deveṣv astu || 9 ||
yad ūvadhyam udarasyāpavāti ya āmasya kraviṣo gandho asti |
sukṛtā tac chamitāraḥ kṛṇvantūta medhaṁ śṛtapākam pacantu || 10 ||
yat te gātrād agninā pacyamānād abhi śūlaṁ nihatasyāvadhāvati |
mā tad bhūmyām ā śriṣan mā tṛṇeṣu devebhyas tad uśadbhyo rātam astu || 11 ||
ye vājinam paripaśyanti pakvaṁ ya īm āhuḥ surabhir nir hareti |
ye cārvato māṁsabhikṣām upāsata uto teṣām abhigūrtir na invatu || 12 ||
yan nīkṣaṇam mām̐spacanyā ukhāyā yā pātrāṇi yūṣṇa āsecanāni |
ūṣmaṇyāpidhānā carūṇām aṅkāḥ sūnāḥ pari bhūṣanty aśvam || 13 ||
nikramaṇaṁ niṣadanaṁ vivartanaṁ yac ca paḍbīśam arvataḥ |
yac ca papau yac ca ghāsiṁ jaghāsa sarvā tā te api deveṣv astu || 14 ||
mā tvāgnir dhvanayīd dhūmagandhir mokhā bhrājanty abhi vikta jaghriḥ |
iṣṭaṁ vītam abhigūrtaṁ vaṣaṭkṛtaṁ taṁ devāsaḥ prati gṛbhṇanty aśvam || 15 ||
yad aśvāya vāsa upastṛṇanty adhīvāsaṁ yā hiraṇyāny asmai |
saṁdānam arvantam paḍbīśam priyā deveṣv ā yāmayanti || 16 ||
yat te sāde mahasā śūkṛtasya pārṣṇyā vā kaśayā vā tutoda |
sruceva tā haviṣo adhvareṣu sarvā tā te brahmaṇā sūdayāmi || 17 ||
catustriṁśad vājino devabandhor vaṅkrīr aśvasya svadhitiḥ sam eti |
acchidrā gātrā vayunā kṛṇota paruṣ-parur anughuṣyā vi śasta || 18 ||
ekas tvaṣṭur aśvasyā viśastā dvā yantārā bhavatas tatha ṛtuḥ |
yā te gātrāṇām ṛtuthā kṛṇomi tā-tā piṇḍānām pra juhomy agnau || 19 ||
mā tvā tapat priya ātmāpiyantam mā svadhitis tanva1 ā tiṣṭhipat te |
mā te gṛdhnur aviśastātihāya chidrā gātrāṇy asinā mithū kaḥ || 20 ||
na vā u etan mriyase na riṣyasi devām̐ id eṣi pathibhiḥ sugebhiḥ |
harī te yuñjā pṛṣatī abhūtām upāsthād vājī dhuri rāsabhasya || 21 ||
sugavyaṁ no vājī svaśvyam puṁsaḥ putrām̐ uta viśvāpuṣaṁ rayim |
anāgāstvaṁ no aditiḥ kṛṇotu kṣatraṁ no aśvo vanatāṁ haviṣmān || 22 ||
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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