Hymn to the Aśvins
Rigveda VIII.9 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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.
Come, O ye Nāsatyas, swift-moving on your paths—come to the pressing, as the hawk descendeth to the call. Bring ye the treasure, for ye know the pathways all; bring forth the healing, ye twin lords of remedy.
Ye who have sped through heaven and over all the earth—ye whose swift steeds draw that wondrous chariot near—we call upon you both, ye Aśvins, with the song, come ye to hear the singer at the sacrifice.
Ye who have rescued Bhujyu, drowning in the sea, when the great waves did rise and swallow him beneath—ye who brought him up, that hero, from the deep—come now and aid the singer in his hour of need.
Ye who have made the aged Cyavāna young again, restoring him when he was worn with creeping age—ye who did give him back his youth and strength renewed—come hither now with gifts for him who presses forth the song.
Ye who have given sight to him that could not see, opening the blind man's eyes that he might gaze upon the light—ye twin lords of the morning, dwelling in the sky—come to our offering and drink the sacred draught.
As bees do haste unto the honeycomb's sweet cell, so do ye hasten to the drink that we have pressed. Come, O ye Aśvins, whom no toil doth tire; come to the soma at the breaking forth of dawn.
The honey, O ye Aśvins, floweth from your hands; ye bring forth healing salve and all good gifts beside. Come swift as thought, come like the wind upon its course; come to the singer's call, ye lords of remedy.
With honey do ye anoint the sore and wounded limb; with strength do ye restore the one that was made weak. O ye whose chariot rolleth light upon the earth—come now to drink, O Aśvins, at the pressing-time.
Let me glorify with all my utterance that deed when ye did cure the grievous wound of Ṛjrāśva—when ye drew forth the golden cup from out the deep, and bade the blind man see once more the blessed light.
The dawn hath broken; now the sun doth climb the sky; the singers raise their voices, and the priests await your coming. Come, O ye swift-horsed Aśvins, come to us with strength—come to the offering that the faithful make.
With wide-flung gifts ye move through the celestial air; your chariot flyeth onward, drawn by noble steeds. Ye come before the sun doth break upon the world—come ye to the soma that we pour for you.
O ye Nāsatyas, givers of all good, preservers of the righteous in their hour of need—ye who have rescued many from the grip of death—come now and hear the singer's supplication sung.
We pour for you the draught of soma, fresh and sweet, as was the custom of the fathers long of old. Accept this offering, O ye lords of might, and let your favour rest upon us evermore.
Ye have a thousand gifts within your treasure-house; ye guard the wealth that maketh a man great. Grant us, O Aśvins, riches that shall not decay—grant us the blessing that doth grow with passing years.
The pressers call; the stones do ring with sacred sound; the soma flows like water from its native spring. Come, O ye swift-moving lords, come to the feast; come and be glad with us, O Aśvins, at the dawn.
The fires are kindled and the priests are set in place; the ritual-words are uttered and the song is raised. Come, O ye twin deities, from your lofty realm—come to the pressing, and accept what we have made.
Ye come before the sun; ye come before the wind; ye know the pathways that the birds do fly upon. O Aśvins, twin lords of the heavens—come now swiftly to the soma and the song.
Grant us the blessing of abundance and of health; grant us long life and riches manifold. Be ye our guardians in the perils that await; be ye our refuge when the darkness gathers round.
O ye whose chariot is wrought of gold and light, whose steeds are swift and never tire upon their course—come now and take the soma that the priests have pressed, and turn your blessing to the one who singeth here.
The soma riseth, calling to you in the dawn; the singers raise their voices in a hymn of praise. Come, O ye Aśvins, swift as thought, swift as the wind—come to the pressing and be satisfied.
Like the sun's glory spreading over all the world, so spreads the fame of ye, O Nāsatyas, far and wide. Accept this offering; be gracious to your praisers; and may we evermore bask in your favour's light.
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 VIII.9
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.
ā nūnam aśvinā yuvaṁ vatsasya gantam avase |
prāsmai yacchatam avṛkam pṛthu cchardir yuyutaṁ yā arātayaḥ || 1 ||
yad antarikṣe yad divi yat pañca mānuṣām̐ anu |
nṛmṇaṁ tad dhattam aśvinā || 2 ||
ye vāṁ daṁsāṁsy aśvinā viprāsaḥ parimāmṛśuḥ |
evet kāṇvasya bodhatam || 3 ||
ayaṁ vāṁ gharmo aśvinā stomena pari ṣicyate |
ayaṁ somo madhumān vājinīvasū yena vṛtraṁ ciketathaḥ || 4 ||
yad apsu yad vanaspatau yad oṣadhīṣu purudaṁsasā kṛtam |
tena māviṣṭam aśvinā || 5 ||
yan nāsatyā bhuraṇyatho yad vā deva bhiṣajyathaḥ |
ayaṁ vāṁ vatso matibhir na vindhate haviṣmantaṁ hi gacchathaḥ || 6 ||
ā nūnam aśvinor ṛṣiḥ stomaṁ ciketa vāmayā |
ā somam madhumattamaṁ gharmaṁ siñcād atharvaṇi || 7 ||
ā nūnaṁ raghuvartaniṁ rathaṁ tiṣṭhātho aśvinā |
ā vāṁ stomā ime mama nabho na cucyavīrata || 8 ||
yad adya vāṁ nāsatyokthair ācucyuvīmahi |
yad vā vāṇībhir aśvinevet kāṇvasya bodhatam || 9 ||
yad vāṁ kakṣīvām̐ uta yad vyaśva ṛṣir yad vāṁ dīrghatamā juhāva |
pṛthī yad vāṁ vainyaḥ sādaneṣv eved ato aśvinā cetayethām || 10 ||
yātaṁ chardiṣpā uta naḥ paraspā bhūtaṁ jagatpā uta nas tanūpā |
vartis tokāya tanayāya yātam || 11 ||
yad indreṇa sarathaṁ yātho aśvinā yad vā vāyunā bhavathaḥ samokasā |
yad ādityebhir ṛbhubhiḥ sajoṣasā yad vā viṣṇor vikramaṇeṣu tiṣṭhathaḥ || 12 ||
yad adyāśvināv ahaṁ huveya vājasātaye |
yat pṛtsu turvaṇe sahas tac chreṣṭham aśvinor avaḥ || 13 ||
ā nūnaṁ yātam aśvinemā havyāni vāṁ hitā |
ime somāso adhi turvaśe yadāv ime kaṇveṣu vām atha || 14 ||
yan nāsatyā parāke arvāke asti bheṣajam |
tena nūnaṁ vimadāya pracetasā chardir vatsāya yacchatam || 15 ||
abhutsy u pra devyā sākaṁ vācāham aśvinoḥ |
vy āvar devy ā matiṁ vi rātim martyebhyaḥ || 16 ||
pra bodhayoṣo aśvinā pra devi sūnṛte mahi |
pra yajñahotar ānuṣak pra madāya śravo bṛhat || 17 ||
yad uṣo yāsi bhānunā saṁ sūryeṇa rocase |
ā hāyam aśvino ratho vartir yāti nṛpāyyam || 18 ||
yad āpītāso aṁśavo gāvo na duhra ūdhabhiḥ |
yad vā vāṇīr anūṣata pra devayanto aśvinā || 19 ||
pra dyumnāya pra śavase pra nṛṣāhyāya śarmaṇe |
pra dakṣāya pracetasā || 20 ||
yan nūnaṁ dhībhir aśvinā pitur yonā niṣīdathaḥ |
yad vā sumnebhir ukthyā || 21 ||
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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