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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 47 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN XLVII. Aśvins.

1.AŚVINS, for you who strengthen Law this sweetest Soma hath been shed. Drink this expressed ere yesterday and give riches to him who offers it.

2.Come, O ye Aśvins, mounted on your triple car three-seated, beautiful of form To you at sacrifice the Kaṇvas send the prayer: graciously listen to their call.

3.O Aśvins, ye who strengthen Law, drink ye this sweetest Soma juice. Borne on your wealth-fraught car come ye this day to him who offers, ye of wondrous deeds.

4.Omniscient Aśvins, on the thrice-heaped grass bedew with the sweet juice the sacrifice. The sons of Kaṇva, striving heavenward, call on you with draughts of Soma juice out-poured.

5.O Aśvins, with those aids wherewith ye guarded Kaṇva carefully, Keep us, O Lords of Splendour: drink the Soma juice, ye strengtheners of holy law.

6.O Mighty Ones, ye gave Sudās abundant food, brought on your treasure-laden car; So now vouchsafe to us the wealth which many crave, either from heaven or from the sea.

7.Nāsatyas, whether ye be far away or close to Turvaśa, Borne on your lightly-rolling chariot come to us, together with the sunbeams come.

8.So let your coursers, ornaments of sacrifice, bring you to our libations here. Bestowing food on him who acts and gives aright, sit, Chiefs, upon the sacred grass.

9.Come, O Nāsatyas, on your car decked with a sunbright canopy, Whereon ye ever bring wealth to the worshipper, to drink the Soma’s pleasant juice.

10.With lauds and songs of praise we call them down to us, that they, most rich, may succour us; For ye have ever in the Kaṇvas’ well-loved house, O Aśvins, drunk the Soma juice.

Asked of Guide

Why do the Kaṇvas keep asking the Aśvins to drink the Soma in this hymn?

The Kaṇvas call the Aśvins to drink the Soma because inviting them into the sacrifice enacts blessing: the Aśvins arrive on a “treasure-laden car” and bring wealth, food, and protection—so their participation makes the ritual fruitful. The repeated invitations—“drink this sweetest Soma” and sit “upon the sacred grass”—stress that the gods’ literal reception of the offering secures prosperity and the strengthening of Ṛta (Law).

The hymn also links the Aśvins’ past help to Sudās and Turvaśa, so the appeal rests on remembered favors and on the gods’ role as active benefactors. This resembles other Rigvedic hymns where hospitality to deities (see Mandala 1 Hymn LI to Indra) produces concrete returns for the worshipper.

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