Ashwini kumara

The Ashwini twins are Vedic gods who were once held in high esteem but have been all but forgotten in the faith of the people. They were however, the prototype for the notion of Kumara, the eternal youth, which is how both Skanda and the Buddha would be represented in future so at least in the field of sculpture they left an impact. Those who have more than a reasonable smattering of knowledge about the culture know that the Ashwinis were also the first physicians, doctors to both humanity as well as the gods. They were also one of the many Solar Deities present in the Vedas and many of their attributes were taken over by Vishnu when his cult, by a process of osmosis, engulfed all the solar gods in his vast embrace. For all these reasons the Ashwinis are worth consideration, but especially for the fact that they seem to be the most energetically joyful of all the gods known to man.

They hurtle through the cosmos in a dizzying effervescence of joy. They are the Lords of Speed, "the swift movers, the falcons of light, the riders of the fleet horse, agile and brilliant" as the Rig-Veda says. Speed is indeed the keynote of the Ashwinis. They are in a tremendous rush, bouncing off the walls of heaven with energy as befits young colts like them. They are also the most dazzlingly handsome personages in the universe and they know it too. Not for nothing were they described as "the swift footed lords of bliss, much enjoying." They were sensual gods, as later stories would elaborate upon. In some versions they marry, jointly, (they did every thing together), Savitri the daughter of Surya, the Sun God. She was nominally supposed to marry Soma, the Lord of the Moon and the sacred drink, but the Ashwinis were so much more handsome and cut such a spectacular dash! Other myths say that they married the ten rays of the Sun, Surya's daughters again. Obviously for some people polygamy was preferred to polyandry, though the Ashwinis, with one unique exception, did not lech like the other gods. They had no time for it and this one wife was the only one who could keep up with their rapidity.

The Ashwinis were not effete dandies or the equivalents of Regency bucks, careering across the cosmos in solar powered Ferraris (their golden chariot). They were that rarest of heroes, intellectuals who could act decisively and swiftly. They were described as "effectual in action, the powers of movement, fierce-moving in their paths." The Ashwinis were the embodiment of the samurai dictum, "To think and to act are one and the same." It is interesting that they are the power of movement itself, so speedy and firm were they perceived to be. They used their great knowledge to help not only the gods - which was appreciated, but also to alleviate the sufferings of Humanity - which was not. Like Prometheus they had to face an angry Indra, leader of the gods, who punished them by depriving them of the right to drink Soma, the sacred drink of the gods which conferred strength and immortality. Soma was of course only too pleased; they had cost him a wife. The angry gods could not punish the Ashwinis as Prometheus was, they moved too fast to be caught and anyway they were no pushovers. Nobody knew the extent of the strength of the Ashwinis and nobody really wanted to risk finding out either.

The Ashwinis did not care too much about being so excluded from the sacred drink. They were so caught up with their experiments and always on the move, living embodiments of an active life principle. One of their early acts of experimentation was to make an iron leg for a warrior named Vispala who lost it in battle. They were physicians and worked tirelessly at their craft. The jealous gods said that they had forfeited divine honors by too much association with humans! (In later medieval times the physician's job was regarded as greatly polluting as it was interfering with the evil karma that had produced sickness and disease in the first place, a terrible and cruel doctrine.) It is greatly to the Ashwinis' credit that they chose compassion over the approbation of their fellows and continued to do what they had always done. They healed countless numbers of the lame and restored sight to many that were blind. That last is obviously an apt action for the lords of the light. The similarities with events that were supposed to have transpired in Palestine many thousand years later are also obvious. One of their most coveted boons was the ability to restore youth and vigor to the aged and decrepit. That might explain why they did not need the Soma like the other gods did. This ability of theirs got them into some small trouble once but it also restored their position amongst the gods and their share of the Soma.

The rishi Chyavana was old, feeble and ugly. Constant immersion in meditation had covered his body with vegetation until an anthill arose around him. The beautiful Sukanya thought his still visible eyes were some exotic species of glow-worm and poked them out with a stick in an attempt to capture them. Instantly the people of that region were cursed with terrible pain and the only way out of this was to marry her off to the sage she had wronged. She accepted the situation as only being fair, as the blind sage needed somebody to care for him. She was however not unaware of the grotesque aspect of the situation. One day, at the riverbank, (a liminal, threshold site) she observed the Ashwinis frolicking in the water and sighed for her lack of such joys. The Twins had a rare moment of lust and propositioned her, confident that their youth and beauty would be enough to persuade her to give in. She however gave them a severe rebuke and abashed them. However they still had their hats in the ring and offered to cure her husband of blindness as well as senility and even give him a handsome form exactly like their own. Which was the catch; she had to pick out her husband correctly from this identical trio or agree to go with them. Sukanya consults her husband who decides to teach these presumptuous gods that he may be old and blind but did not become a rishi for nothing. When they emerge from the water in which the gods had dipped the old man, Sukanya instantly recognizes her husband by acting on his instructions. The gods do not blink, sweat, cast shadows, or leave footprints and the human was easily found out. The Twins were sporting about it and Chyavana, grateful for his rejuvenation, instructs them in a special esoteric part of the Vedic sacrifice that even the gods have forgotten. Armed with this new knowledge they march back into the divine company, and trade off the right to drink Soma for this new rite in the fire sacrifice. They had come full circle, rejected for their love of humanity and restored by it too.

Some people have mistakenly translated their name to be Horsemen from Ashwa the horse, which they ride. The horse is a symbol of the life breath energy or prana, and it indicates the Ashwinis' perfect control over the breath as well as explains their dazzling speed. The word Ashwini was explained by the ancient commentator, Yaska, as being derived from a root word which means, "to fill everything". One of the twins pervades the universe with Light, the other with Moisture. This is yet another indication that the Ashwinis are proto-Vishnu as the very word Vishnu means, 'He who pervades'.One of the stories about them also deals with their rescue of a great sage from a flood that threatened to drown his learned life. The Ashwinis sent him a log he could clamber up onto and float around until he realized who was responsible for this providential intervention. Then they appear before him and bless him, apart from instructing him in spiritual matters. This is extremely like the story of the Matsya Avatar, told elsewhere on our site, and again the connection with Vishnu is evident.

The Twins were the heralds of the dawn, lords of the fleetingly transient state between night and dawn, again an attribute of their great speed. There are also thus firmly placed as liminal or threshold deities, guardians of the sacred and rare times when higher levels of consciousness may be accessed by crossing over the boundaries that limit. This peculiar aspect of their potent power is acknowledged in verses where the Ashwinis are addressed as the children of the sun, of the earth, as well as the waters and even as "sons of the submarine fire". All are conjunctions, especially the horizon where one space interacts with another, forming a natural threshold, and are key areas for the Ashwinis to act. They are the great facilitators of transition, but only to the Light. They simply do not have the time for anything else. The scripture by the way is absolutely clear about the threshold-transition-facilitation nature of their divinity. Says the Rig-Veda.

The Ashwinis represent a glorious phase of Indian culture and there are very few gods indeed who are so reverberant with light. They are action incarnate, joyful graspers of life and laughter, quick to act and determined in their courses, intelligent and compassionate. The thrill they get out of being alive is magnificent and it is a great pity that India has lost the ability to be in sympathy with such an exultant use of talent, ability and power. This is life lived to the fullest, to delight in action and glory in the mind ("taking joy in the Word, the holders in the intellect, by the luminously energetic thought") and it was a sad time when India forsook the speedy gods of light for more sedate worship.