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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 3 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN III. Aśvins

1.YE Aśvins, rich in treasure, Lords of splendour, having nimble hands, Accept the sacrificial food.

2.Ye Aśvins, rich in wondrous deeds, ye heroes worthy of our praise, Accept our songs with mighty thought.

3.Nāsatyas, wonder-workers, yours are these libations with clipt grass: Come ye whose paths are red with flame.

4.O Indra marvellously bright, come, these libations long for thee, Thus by fine fingers purified.

5.Urged by the holy singer, sped by song, come, Indra, to the prayers, Of the libation-pouring priest.

6.Approach, O Indra, hasting thee, Lord of Bay Horses, to the prayers. In our libation take delight.

7.Ye Viśvedevas, who protect, reward, and cherish men, approach Your worshipper’s drink-offering.

8.Ye Viśvedevas, swift at work, come hither quickly to the draught, As milch-kine hasten to their stalls.

9.The Viśvedevas, changing shape like serpents, fearless, void of guile, Bearers, accept the sacred draught

10.Wealthy in spoil, enriched with hymns, may bright Sarasvatī desire, With eager love, our sacrifice.

11.Inciter of all pleasant songs, inspirer of all gracious thought, Sarasvatī accept our rite

12.Sarasvatī, the mighty flood,—she with her light illuminates, She brightens every pious thought.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call different gods—Aśvins, Indra, Viśvedevas, Sarasvatī—each to drink the libation?

The hymn lists each deity because each carries a specific role in the ritual economy: Aśvins are “rich in treasure” and “wonder-workers,” Indra is the great warrior who the libations “long for,” the Viśvedevas are collective protectors summoned as “bearers,” and Sarasvatī is the inspirer of “pleasant songs” and pious thought. Naming them maps the community’s needs — healing, victory, protection, and speech — onto the sacrifice so the rite addresses those distinct powers.

This technique appears elsewhere in the Vedas where specialists are invoked by their functions; compare Rig Veda Mandala 1, Hymn 1, which similarly enumerates deities to cover the ritual’s aims. The poem strings titles and epithets into an economy of gifts and returns: the worshipper offers libations, the named gods bring bounty appropriate to their character.

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