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Dhammapada · narration sample

A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.

Rig Veda · 180 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN CLXXX. Aśvins.

1.LIGHTLY your coursers travel through the regions when round the sea of air your car is flying. Your golden fellies scatter drops of moisture: drinking the sweetness ye attend the Mornings.

2.Ye as ye travel overtake the Courser who flies apart, the Friend of man, most holy. The prayer is that the Sister may convey you, all praised, meath-drinkers! to support and strengthen.

3.Ye have deposited, matured within her, in the raw cow the first milk of the milch-cow, Which the bright offerer, shining like a serpent mid trees, presents to you whose form is perfect.

4.Ye made the fierce heat to be full of sweetness for Atri at his wish, like streaming water. Fire-offering thence is yours, O Aśvins, Heroes: your car-wheels speed to us like springs of honey.

5.Like Tugra’s ancient son may I, ye Mighty, bring you to give your gifts with milk-oblations. Your greatness compasseth Earth, Heaven, and Waters: decayed for you is sorrow’s net, ye Holy.

6.When, Bounteous Ones, ye drive your yoked team downward, ye send, by your own natures, understanding. Swift as the wind let the prince please and feast you: he, like a pious man, gains strength for increase.

7.For verily we truthful singers praise you the niggard trafficker is here excluded. Now, even now do ye O blameless Aśvins, ye Mighty, guard the man whose God is near him.

8.You of a truth day after day, O Aśvins, that he might win the very plenteous torrent, Agastya, famous among mortal heroes, roused with a thousand lauds like sounds of music.

9.When with the glory of your car ye travel, when we go speeding like the priest of mortals, And give good horses to sacrificers, may we, Nāsatyas! gain our share of riches.

10.With songs of praise we call to-day, O Aśvins, that your new chariot, for our own well-being, That circles heaven with never-injured fellies. May we find strengthening food in full abundance.

Asked of Guide

Why are the Aśvins praised for bringing milk, horses, and a new chariot in this hymn?

The hymn thanks the Aśvins for granting vital, tangible gifts: they bring the first milk from the cow, give good horses to sacrificers, and provide a new chariot that “circles heaven with never-injured fellies.” These images show the Aśvins acting as benefactors who restore abundance, strength, and ritual efficacy to humans and priests.

Praising them for milk, horses, and a chariot marks their role as restorers of prosperity, healing, and cosmic order, traits also emphasized for divine helpers in later texts like the Mahabharata where divine intervention secures kingship and ritual success. The hymn frames gratitude as the proper human response to those restorations.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.