Rig Veda · 696 of 1027
Mandala 8: HYMN LXXVI. Aśvins.
1.SPLENDID, O Aśvins, is your praise. Come fountain-like, to pour the stream. Of the sweet juice effused-dear is it, Chiefs, in heaven-drink like two wild bulls at a pool.
2.Drink the libation rich in sweets, O Aśvins Twain: sit. Heroes, on the sacred grass. Do ye with joyful heart in the abode of man preserve his life by means of wealth.
3.The Priyamedhas bid you come with all the succours that are yours. Come to his house whose holy grass is trimmed, to dear sacrifice at the morning rites.
4.Drink ye the Soma rich in meath, ye Aśvins Twain: sit gladly on the sacred grass. So, waxen mighty, to our eulogy from heaven come ye as wild-bulls to the pool.
5.Come to us, O ye Aśvins, now with steeds of many a varied hue, Ye Lords of splendour, wondrous, borne on paths of gold, drink Soma, ye who strengthen Law.
6.For we the priestly singers, fain tohymn your praise, invoke you for the gain of strength. So, wondrous, fair, and famed for great deeds come to us, through our hymn, Aśvins, when ye hear.
Asked of Guide
Why do the poets keep calling the Aśvins to 'drink Soma' and sit on the 'sacred grass' repeatedly?
The hymn stages a ritual invitation: the poets summon the Aśvins to join the human sacrifice, to “drink the Soma” and “sit…on the sacred grass,” so the gods participate in the sacrificial moment and transmit power back to the worshippers. Repetition of those lines works like liturgical choreography, marking the divine arrival and the transfer of blessing that will “preserve his life by means of wealth.”
This is a practical theology of presence: inviting the Aśvins into the ritual brings their healing, strength, and prosperity into the household—hence the calls from Priyamedhas and the image of the gods coming “as wild-bulls to the pool.” The pattern resembles other Vedic hymns where gods are urged to partake in Soma to bless the sacrificer, as in many hymns of Mandala 1 and 10 that link divine drinking with bestowal of riches.
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