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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 46 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN XLVI. Aśvins.

1.Now Morning with her earliest light shines forth, dear Daughter of the Sky: High, Aśvins, I extol your praise,

2.Sons of the Sea, mighty to save discoverers of riches, ye Gods with deep thought who find out wealth.

3.Your giant coursers hasten on over the region all in flames, When your car flies with winged steeds.

4.He, liberal, lover of the flood, Lord of the House, the vigilant, Chiefs! with oblations feeds you full.

5.Ye have regard unto our hymns, Nāsatyas, thinking of our words: Drink boldly of the Soma juice.

6.Vouchsafe to us, O Aśvin Pair, such strength as, with attendant light, May through the darkness carry us.

7.Come in the ship of these our hymns to bear you to the hither shore O Aśvins, harness ye the car.

8.The heaven’s wide vessel is your own on the flood’s shore your chariot waits Drops, with the hymn, have been prepared.

9.Kaṇvas, the drops are in the heaven; the wealth is at the waters’ place: Where will ye manifest your form?

10.Light came to lighten up the branch, the Sun appeared as it were gold: And with its tongue shone forth the dark.

11.The path of sacrifice was made to travel to the farther goal: The road of heaven was manifest.

12.The singer of their praise awaits whatever grace the Aśvins give, who save when Soma gladdens them.

13.Ye dwellers with Vivasvān come, auspicious, as to Manu erst; come to the Soma and our praise.

14.O circumambient Aśvins, Dawn follows the brightness of your way: Approve with beams our solemn rites.

15.Drink ye of our libations, grant protection, O ye Aśvins Twain, With aids which none may interrupt.

Asked of Guide

Why do the Aśvins keep being asked to “drink of the Soma” in this hymn?

The hymn asks the Aśvins to “Drink boldly of the Soma juice” because the Aśvins respond to Soma’s offering with friendly presence and saving power; the poet links their favor to sacrificial libation and says “Ye have regard unto our hymns,” implying reciprocity. The ritual drinking frames the gods’ arrival — the Aśvins come “in the ship of these our hymns” and their chariot waits where “the drops are in the heaven.”

This appeal treats Soma as the means by which worshippers secure the Aśvins’ protection and strength — “vouchsafe to us…such strength” — and as the sacrificial tie that makes the gods manifest. That practical ritual logic matches what Sayana and later ritualists argue: offerings draw specific deities to perform promised deeds.

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