The Ashvins

Twin Horsemen of the Dawn

The Ashvins are always paired and almost never distinguished. Their name means 'horsemen'; they are also called the Nasatyas. They drive a golden three-wheeled chariot and appear with the dawn, which ties them to Usha in the morning rites.

Divine Physicians

The hymns praise them above all as rescuers and healers. They restore the aged sage Chyavana to youth, give an iron leg to the warrior-woman Vishpala, save Bhujyu from drowning at sea, and give sight to the blind. Because they heal, later tradition names them physicians of the gods.

Parentage

Rigveda 10.17 says that Saranyu, wife of the sun god Vivasvat, bore the Ashvins and then abandoned both pairs of twins, meaning the Ashvins and Yama and Yami. Later texts elaborate that she had taken the form of a mare.

Indo-European Twins

Comparative mythologists have long set the Ashvins beside the Greek Dioscuri and the Baltic sons of God: youthful divine twins linked to horses, to the dawn and the sun-maiden, and to rescue. In the Mahabharata, the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva are their sons.