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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 432 of 1027

Mandala 5: HYMN LXXVIII. Aśvins.

1.YE Aśvins, hither come to us: Nāsatyas, be not disinclined. Fly hither like two swans unto the juice we shed.

2.O Aśvins, like a pair of deer, like two wild cattle to the mead: Fly hither like two swans unto the juice we shed.

3.O Aśvins rich in gifts, accept our sacrifice to prosper it: Fly hither like two swans unto the juice we shed.

4.As Atri when descending to the cavern called on you loudly like a wailing woman. Ye came to him, O Aśvins, with the freshest and most auspicious fleetness of a falcon.

5.Tree, part asunder like the side of her who bringeth forth a child. Ye Aśvins, listen to my call: loose Saptavadhri from his bonds.

6.For Saptavadhri, for the seer affrighted when he wept and wailed, Ye, Aśvins, with your magic powers rent up the tree and shattered it.

7.Like as the wind on every side ruffles a pool of lotuses, So stir in thee the babe unborn, so may the ten-month babe descend.

8.Like as the wind, like as the wood, like as the sea is set astir, So also, ten-month babe, descend together with the after-birth.

9.The child who hath for ten months’ time been lying in his mother’s side,— May he come forth alive, unharmed, yea, living from the living dame.

Asked of Guide

Why do the Aśvins get called like “two swans” and asked to help childbirth here?

The hymn summons the Aśvins as swift, beneficent twin gods who arrive like “two swans” to accept the offering and deliver aid; their swan image stresses gentle speed and grace in bringing life and healing. The seer recalls Atri’s story—Aśvins coming “with the freshest and most auspicious fleetness of a falcon”—and explicitly asks them to free Saptavadhri and stir the unborn child so the ten-month babe may “descend” alive and whole.

This is a practical ritual plea: the Aśvins are specialists in remedies and safe births, invoked to rupture the obstructing tree and bring the after-birth with the child. If you want a close parallel, the Atharva Veda contains similarly medical hymns calling gods to ease labor and preserve mother and infant.

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