Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.180 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.
Hail to the Aśvins, the divine healers and the harbingers of dawn,
Who ride forth at the breaking of the day with forms most radiant and beautiful,
Who bring the blessings of the morning light unto all the worlds awakening.
The Aśvins are the ancient ones, born at the very beginning of creation,
They emerged from the cosmic waters when the sun first did arise,
They are the physicians of the gods, the masters of all healing arts divine,
And they do ride their golden chariot across the sky at break of day.
Come, O Aśvins, come forth now in this early morning hour,
We do invoke you with our voices raised in hymns of welcome and of praise,
Grant unto us your blessings on this day that is now dawning,
That we might be strengthened and renewed by your presence holy.
The Aśvins do restore the broken and the maimed unto their wholeness,
They do heal the sick and the afflicted with their knowledge of the healing herbs,
They do cure the diseases manifest and those that are invisible to mortal sight,
They do bring back the life to those who are close unto death's embrace.
They are the rescuers of those in peril, the saviors of the lost and wandering,
Many are the tales of their deeds rescuing mortals from the depths of danger,
They do ride their chariot swiftly to the aid of those who call upon their name,
And none are too lowly nor too wretched for their compassionate assistance.
The Aśvins do bestow the gifts of youth and vitality eternal,
They do strengthen the limbs and sharpen the senses and the faculties,
They do grant unto us the energy and the vigor for the tasks that lie before us,
They do preserve us from the ravages of age and the decay of time.
They are the lords of beauty and of grace, the patrons of the fair and the lovely,
Their own forms are most perfect, most radiant, most pleasing to behold,
And they do share their beauty with those who do honor them sincerely,
That mortals might reflect in their lives some portion of the gods' own radiance.
The Aśvins are companions to all who do journey through the night of ignorance,
They do light the way with the torch of knowledge and of understanding,
They do guide the wanderer safely through the darkness and the confusion,
Until at last the dawn doth break and the truth is manifest to all.
Come, O Aśvins, come forth now with your chariot gleaming gold,
Come with your healing powers and your gifts of restoration,
Come with your beauty and your grace, come with your compassion deep,
Accept our hymn of praise and grant unto us your favor and your blessing eternal.
May the Aśvins ever ride at dawn to bring their healing light,
May their presence ever be felt by those who call upon their name,
May their blessings ever flow like a river unto all the worlds,
And may we mortals ever be grateful for their constant care and vigilance.
Colophon
Rigveda I.180 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.180
yuvo rajāṁsi suyamāso aśvā ratho yad vām pary arṇāṁsi dīyat |
hiraṇyayā vām pavayaḥ pruṣāyan madhvaḥ pibantā uṣasaḥ sacethe || 1 ||
yuvam atyasyāva nakṣatho yad vipatmano naryasya prayajyoḥ |
svasā yad vāṁ viśvagūrtī bharāti vājāyeṭṭe madhupāv iṣe ca || 2 ||
yuvam paya usriyāyām adhattam pakvam āmāyām ava pūrvyaṁ goḥ |
antar yad vanino vām ṛtapsū hvāro na śucir yajate haviṣmān || 3 ||
yuvaṁ ha gharmam madhumantam atraye 'po na kṣodo 'vṛṇītam eṣe |
tad vāṁ narāv aśvinā paśvaïṣṭī rathyeva cakrā prati yanti madhvaḥ || 4 ||
ā vāṁ dānāya vavṛtīya dasrā gor oheṇa taugryo na jivriḥ |
apaḥ kṣoṇī sacate māhinā vāṁ jūrṇo vām akṣur aṁhaso yajatrā || 5 ||
ni yad yuvethe niyutaḥ sudānū upa svadhābhiḥ sṛjathaḥ puraṁdhim |
preṣad veṣad vāto na sūrir ā mahe dade suvrato na vājam || 6 ||
vayaṁ cid dhi vāṁ jaritāraḥ satyā vipanyāmahe vi paṇir hitāvān |
adhā cid dhi ṣmāśvināv anindyā pātho hi ṣmā vṛṣaṇāv antidevam || 7 ||
yuvāṁ cid dhi ṣmāśvināv anu dyūn virudrasya prasravaṇasya sātau |
agastyo narāṁ nṛṣu praśastaḥ kārādhunīva citayat sahasraiḥ || 8 ||
pra yad vahethe mahinā rathasya pra syandrā yātho manuṣo na hotā |
dhattaṁ sūribhya uta vā svaśvyaṁ nāsatyā rayiṣācaḥ syāma || 9 ||
taṁ vāṁ rathaṁ vayam adyā huvema stomair aśvinā suvitāya navyam |
ariṣṭanemim pari dyām iyānaṁ vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 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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