Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.182 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.
Behold! The Aśvins come. They ride upon the wind, swifter than thought itself, swifter than the eagle's flight. Their chariot is not drawn by horses of common breed, but by stallions born of the stars, whose manes stream with golden fire. The sky opens before them; the darkness breaks.
Where are they riding? To the aid of mortals. To the bedside of the wounded. To the heart of the sorrowful. They have no time for tarrying, these twin brothers — every moment brings new suffering to one whom they might ease. And so they gallop, gallop through the dawn, and none can match their speed save the wind itself.
See how they shine! Their bodies gleam like burnished gold. Their eyes are bright as the morning star. Their hands are skilled in healing, their voices strong in blessing. The very earth trembles beneath their passage. The rivers turn to look upon them. The birds cry out in wonder at their swiftness.
In that moment between night and day, when all the world hangs poised between darkness and light, there come the Aśvins. They are the harbingers of the dawn, the guardians of the threshold. They ride at the edge of time itself, witnessing the birth of each new day. Blessed are they who call upon them in that sacred hour!
O swift ones, twin horsemen of the sky! Your coming brings hope to the hopeless. Your touch makes whole what was broken. You are the first to answer prayer, the first to bring relief. And so we sing thy praises, O Aśvins, as long as the sun shall rise and the stars shall shine!
Colophon
Rigveda I.182 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.182
abhūd idaṁ vayunam o ṣu bhūṣatā ratho vṛṣaṇvān madatā manīṣiṇaḥ |
dhiyaṁjinvā dhiṣṇyā viśpalāvasū divo napātā sukṛte śucivratā || 1 ||
indratamā hi dhiṣṇyā maruttamā dasrā daṁsiṣṭhā rathyā rathītamā |
pūrṇaṁ rathaṁ vahethe madhva ācitaṁ tena dāśvāṁsam upa yātho aśvinā || 2 ||
kim atra dasrā kṛṇuthaḥ kim āsāthe jano yaḥ kaś cid ahavir mahīyate |
ati kramiṣṭaṁ juratam paṇer asuṁ jyotir viprāya kṛṇutaṁ vacasyave || 3 ||
jambhayatam abhito rāyataḥ śuno hatam mṛdho vidathus tāny aśvinā |
vācaṁ-vācaṁ jaritū ratninīṁ kṛtam ubhā śaṁsaṁ nāsatyāvatam mama || 4 ||
yuvam etaṁ cakrathuḥ sindhuṣu plavam ātmanvantam pakṣiṇaṁ taugryāya kam |
yena devatrā manasā nirūhathuḥ supaptanī petathuḥ kṣodaso mahaḥ || 5 ||
avaviddhaṁ taugryam apsv a1ntar anārambhaṇe tamasi praviddham |
catasro nāvo jaṭhalasya juṣṭā ud aśvibhyām iṣitāḥ pārayanti || 6 ||
kaḥ svid vṛkṣo niṣṭhito madhye arṇaso yaṁ taugryo nādhitaḥ paryaṣasvajat |
parṇā mṛgasya pataror ivārabha ud aśvinā ūhathuḥ śromatāya kam || 7 ||
tad vāṁ narā nāsatyāv anu ṣyād yad vām mānāsa ucatham avocan |
asmād adya sadasaḥ somyād ā vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 8 ||
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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