ASVINS. — To the “lords of horses” (*Asvin*) and knights, who, awakened by the Dawn, appear together in the morning sky, the *Rgveda* dedicates 54 hymns. They are invoked as a pair, but they are not twins because “they were born in different places” (*Rg.*, I, 181, 4; V, 73, 4). On their swift golden chariot, with three wheels and three seats, drawn by flying horses or even by birds, they complete in a single day the circuit of heaven and earth. Honey drips from their whip, a dispenser of gifts, with which the pious sacrificer prays that his offering may be sprinkled. Suryā, the feminine personification of the sun, attracted by the youthful beauty of the Asvins, mounts their chariot and chooses them as her spouses. From then on, the Asvins travel daily in the company of their bride, also called “daughter of the sun.” Although comparison with the Greek Dioscuri—also renowned horsemen and benefactors of mankind—permits the assertion that the myth is of Indo-European origin, the natural phenomenon they personify remains unclear. The most common interpretation is that they represent the planet Venus in its dual aspect as both Morning Star and Evening Star, and that the two personifications are invoked together at dawn because evening worship is not acceptable to the gods. The Asvins are also wonder-working dispensers of favors, minutely described in hymn I, 116 of the *Rgveda*. Divine physicians, they heal diseases, restore sight to the blind, youth to the aged, and, like the Dioscuri, save sailors from shipwreck.
They are also called *nāstaya*, an epithet of obscure meaning, traditionally interpreted as “the truthful ones” (*na-asatya*).