Rig Veda · 49 of 1027
Mandala 1: HYMN XLIX. Dawn.
1.E’EN from above the sky’s bright realm come, Uṣas, by auspicious ways: Let red steeds bear thee to the house of him who pours the Soma, juice.
2.The chariot which thou mountest, fair of shape, O Uṣas light to move,— Therewith, O Daughter of the Sky, aid men of noble fame today.
3.Bright Uṣas, when thy times return, all quadrupeds and bipeds stir, And round about flock winged birds from all the boundaries of heaven.
4.Thou dawning with thy beams of light illumest all the radiant realm. Thee, as thou art, the Kaṇvas, fain for wealth, have called with sacred songs.
Asked of Guide
Why does this hymn call Uṣas “Daughter of the Sky” and ask her to help those who pour Soma?
The hymn names Uṣas “Daughter of the Sky” to personify dawn as kin to the heavens and as an active guest: she comes “from above the sky’s bright realm” and mounts a chariot, so dawn is both celestial and intimate. Calling her daughter frames her entry as a blessed arrival that renews life—beasts and birds “stir” when “thy times return.”
The appeal for aid to those who pour Soma links dawn to ritual vitality; the Kaṇvas “have called” her with sacred songs because her light sanctifies the rite and brings auspiciousness. The image of red steeds and the chariot echoes later Vedic ritual poetry where cosmic events and sacrificial action mirror and sustain one another, as in other Rig Veda hymns addressing Agni and Soma.
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