Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda II.39 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
Hark! The Aśvins come! The divine Twins approach upon their swift chariot, drawn by horses or by birds, or by the winds themselves — for who can truly say how they move, the Aśvins who dwell at the boundary between night and day?
O ye twin lords of the dawn! O ye healers divine, ye physicians of gods and men! Ye come before the sun riseth, in that sweet hour when the stars yet linger and the first light toucheth the eastern sky. Ye drink the sweet Soma with care, sipping daintily, as befits those of exquisite refinement.
O golden-wheeled Aśvins, ye have healed the blind. Ye have made the lame to walk. Ye have given to the aged their youth restored. Ye have fashioned new bodies for those thought beyond repair. What power is thine that thou canst remake the broken and the weak?
We call upon thee at the hour of dawn, when the world is young and all things are possible. We call upon thee in our sickness and in our suffering. We call upon thee when we are wounded in body or in spirit. Hear us, O Aśvins! Come swiftly to our aid, as ye have come to the aid of countless mortals in ages past.
Grant us health and strength. Grant us the wholeness that cometh from thy divine healing touch. Grant us long life and the vigor to enjoy it. Guard us from accident and from injury. Protect us from all ailments that might diminish our capacity to work and to love.
O divine Twins, ever young, ever beautiful, ever attentive to the needs of mortals — accept our Soma. Drink of the sweet juice we press. Let thy joy overflow upon us. Make us whole. Make us well. Make us ever grateful for thy tender care, O Aśvins, healers of the dawn.
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda II.39
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
grāvāṇeva tad id arthaṁ jarethe gṛdhreva vṛkṣaṁ nidhimantam accha |
brahmāṇeva vidatha ukthaśāsā dūteva havyā janyā purutrā || 1 ||
prātaryāvāṇā rathyeva vīrājeva yamā varam ā sacethe |
mene iva tanvā3 śumbhamāne dampatīva kratuvidā janeṣu || 2 ||
śṛṅgeva naḥ prathamā gantam arvāk chaphāv iva jarbhurāṇā tarobhiḥ |
cakravākeva prati vastor usrārvāñcā yātaṁ rathyeva śakrā || 3 ||
nāveva naḥ pārayataṁ yugeva nabhyeva na upadhīva pradhīva |
śvāneva no ariṣaṇyā tanūnāṁ khṛgaleva visrasaḥ pātam asmān || 4 ||
vātevājuryā nadyeva rītir akṣī iva cakṣuṣā yātam arvāk |
hastāv iva tanve3 śambhaviṣṭhā pādeva no nayataṁ vasyo accha || 5 ||
oṣṭhāv iva madhv āsne vadantā stanāv iva pipyataṁ jīvase naḥ |
nāseva nas tanvo rakṣitārā karṇāv iva suśrutā bhūtam asme || 6 ||
hasteva śaktim abhi saṁdadī naḥ kṣāmeva naḥ sam ajataṁ rajāṁsi |
imā giro aśvinā yuṣmayantīḥ kṣṇotreṇeva svadhitiṁ saṁ śiśītam || 7 ||
etāni vām aśvinā vardhanāni brahma stomaṁ gṛtsamadāso akran |
tāni narā jujuṣāṇopa yātam bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 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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