Aśvin

AŠVIN. – The “masters of horses” (Alvin) and horsemen, who, awakened by the Dawn, appear together in the morning sky, are the subject of 54 hymns in the Rgveda (v.). They are invoked as a pair, but 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 horses that fly or even by birds, they make the circuit of heaven and earth in a single day. Honey drips from their whip, 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 A., mounts their chariot and chooses them as husbands. From then on, the A. make their daily journey in the company of the bride, also called the “daughter of the sun.” Although comparison with the Greek Dioscuri, who were likewise celebrated riders and benefactors of mankind, allows one to affirm that the myth is of Indo-European origin, the natural phenomenon personified by the A. is not clear. The most common interpretation is that they represent the planet Venus in its twofold aspect as Lucifer and Hesperus, and that the two personifications are invoked together at dawn because evening worship is not acceptable to the gods. The A. are also miraculous bestowers of favors, minutely enumerated in hymn I, 116 of the Rgveda. As divine physicians, they cure diseases, restore sight to the blind and youth to the aged and, like the Dioscuri, rescue sailors in danger of shipwreck. The A. are also called nāsatya, an epithet of obscure meaning, traditionally interpreted as “the truthful ones” (na-asatya).