Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda I.47 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 chariot of the Aśvins! Golden is its frame, its wheels turn swift and smooth. The axle burneth bright; the yoke is bound with cunning knots. Three-wheeled or four-wheeled—the accounts do vary—but all agree: no chariot in heaven or earth moveth with such speed.
What manner of horses draw this wondrous car? Some say they are coursers of wind, their manes like cloud-streams, their hooves striking not the ground but the very air itself. Some say they are winged beings, neither fully horse nor fully bird, but something far stranger and more divine.
The Aśvins mount their car at break of day. They take the reins—and lo! They are gone. In a moment they have traversed the sky; in another moment they descend to earth. They visit the sick, the afflicted, the desperate. They answer prayers before the words have left the lips of the supplicant.
They came once to a maiden bound in a well. The darkness was upon her; she despaired of rescue. But the Aśvins heard her cry and descended. They raised her up from the depths and restored her to her kin, and she was married to a noble husband, and her line was blessed forever.
They came to an ancient man who had lost his youth. His vigor was gone, his hair had turned grey, his sight had dimmed. But the Aśvins touched him, and he was made young again—swift-limbed, keen-eyed, strong-hearted as a warrior in his prime.
O thou golden chariot! O swift-moving wheels! O Aśvins, riders most wondrous! Come to us in our hour of need. Let us hear the rumble of thy wheels, the thunder of thy horses' hooves. Carry us from despair; restore to us what we have lost. O twin lords of mercy, accept our praise and our devotion.
Colophon
Rigveda I.47 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.47
ayaṁ vām madhumattamaḥ sutaḥ soma ṛtāvṛdhā |
tam aśvinā pibataṁ tiroahnyaṁ dhattaṁ ratnāni dāśuṣe || 1 ||
trivandhureṇa trivṛtā supeśasā rathenā yātam aśvinā |
kaṇvāso vām brahma kṛṇvanty adhvare teṣāṁ su śṛṇutaṁ havam || 2 ||
aśvinā madhumattamam pātaṁ somam ṛtāvṛdhā |
athādya dasrā vasu bibhratā rathe dāśvāṁsam upa gacchatam || 3 ||
triṣadhasthe barhiṣi viśvavedasā madhvā yajñam mimikṣatam |
kaṇvāso vāṁ sutasomā abhidyavo yuvāṁ havante aśvinā || 4 ||
yābhiḥ kaṇvam abhiṣṭibhiḥ prāvataṁ yuvam aśvinā |
tābhiḥ ṣv a1smām̐ avataṁ śubhas patī pātaṁ somam ṛtāvṛdhā || 5 ||
sudāse dasrā vasu bibhratā rathe pṛkṣo vahatam aśvinā |
rayiṁ samudrād uta vā divas pary asme dhattam puruspṛham || 6 ||
yan nāsatyā parāvati yad vā stho adhi turvaśe |
ato rathena suvṛtā na ā gataṁ sākaṁ sūryasya raśmibhiḥ || 7 ||
arvāñcā vāṁ saptayo 'dhvaraśriyo vahantu savaned upa |
iṣam pṛñcantā sukṛte sudānava ā barhiḥ sīdataṁ narā || 8 ||
tena nāsatyā gataṁ rathena sūryatvacā |
yena śaśvad ūhathur dāśuṣe vasu madhvaḥ somasya pītaye || 9 ||
ukthebhir arvāg avase purūvasū arkaiś ca ni hvayāmahe |
śaśvat kaṇvānāṁ sadasi priye hi kaṁ somam papathur aśvinā || 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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