The Ashvins are Vedic twin gods whose Sanskrit name means possessors of horses. Also called the Ashvini Kumaras, they are individually named Nasatya and Dasra and are associated with medicine, health, healing and the twilight. In the Rigveda they appear as youthful divine horsemen who travel in a chariot drawn by tireless horses, acting as guardian deities who rescue and safeguard people in distress. They are generally described as sons of the sun god Surya and his wife Sanjna, and in the Mahabharata the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva are said to have been fathered by them. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 4 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Function
Domain / Function Sources
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
2. Vedic Mythology
Arthur Anthony Macdonell, Karl J. Trubner, Strassburg
3. The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India
Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton, Oxford University Press, 2014Ashvins, RigvedaView the Source 4. Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge
Wikipedia, "Ashvins"
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