Aśvinī Devatās

The Aśvinī Devatās are twin devas and the divine physicians. They are sons of Sūrya. They are also called Nāsatya and Dasra, or simply the Aśvins. In the body-deity teaching of the Varāha Purāṇa, they stand for prāṇa and apāna, the two main vital breaths.

Birth from the horse union (Varāha Purāṇa, Chapter 20)

The background

Saṃjñā was the wife of Sūrya and the daughter of the craftsman Tvaṣṭā. She found his radiance too strong to bear. She left a shadow-double, Chāyā, in her place. She fled to the northern Kurus as a mare (aśvī) and lived there unknown.

In time Sūrya found her. In the form of a stallion (aśva) he joined with her in the Prājāpatya manner. His semen fell and split in two.

These two were prāṇa and apāna, who had lived in the cosmic body. By the grace of a vara (boon) they received a form (mūrti) in Saṃjñā’s womb. They were born as twin sons, the Aśvinī Devatās.

Prāṇa and apāna in the body (Chapter 17)

In the teaching on the body-devatās, the body-devatās of Brahmā once argued about which of them was most needed. Prāṇa and Apāna, called Aśvinī, said:

“We are primary in this body. Without us, this body cannot remain.”

They left the body, yet the body stayed whole. Soma (Puruṣa) inside it protected it. So their claim was not complete. But they come back to the body as the forces that keep it alive.

Worship of Brahmā and the varas they received (Chapter 20)

On Sūrya’s advice, the Aśvins worshipped Nārāyaṇa-Brahmā for a long time with the Brahma-pārama stotra (hymn of praise). The Varāha Purāṇa gives these lines of it in summary:

“Salutation, O Niṣkriya, Niṣprapañca, Nirāśraya, Nirapekṣa, Nirālamba — O non-action, non-world, non-support, non-expectation, non-attachment…”

“O Brahma! O Mahābrahma! O Brāhmaṇa-priya! O Puruṣa! O Mahāpuruṣa! O Puruṣottama! O Deva! O Mahādeva! O Devottama! O Sthāṇu-sthitisthāpaka!…”

“O Bhūta-mahābhūta-bhūtādhipate! O Yakṣa-mahāyakṣa-yakṣādhipate! O Guhya-mahāguhya-guhyādhipate! O Saumya-mahāsaumya-saumyādhipate!…”

“O Pakṣī-mahāpakṣipate! O Daitya-mahādaityādhipate! O Rudra-mahārudrādhipate! O Viṣṇo-mahāviṣṇupate! O Parameśvara-Nārāyaṇa-Prajāpataye namaḥ…”

When Brahmā was pleased, he said:

“Ask for varas, even those that devas cannot get. Through these varas you will travel happily in the three worlds.”

The Aśvins asked for three things:

1. A share in the deva-bhāga (the devas’ portion of the yajña offerings).
2. The right to drink Soma (soma-pānam).
3. Lasting equality with the devas (sāmānyatvaṃ śāśvatam).

Brahmā gave them:

“Rūpa (beauty), kānti (radiance), being beyond compare, vaidya-tva (the skill of a divine physician), soma-pānam (the right to drink Soma in all worlds): all these you shall have.”

Dvitīyā, the day of the Aśvins

All these events, Brahmā’s gift of varas to the Aśvins, happened on a Dvitīyā (the second lunar day, tithi). So Dvitīyā is the sacred day of the Aśvins.

How to keep it: On Dvitīyā, eat only flowers (puṣpam) for one year.

Result (phala): The one who keeps it receives all the qualities of the Aśvinī devatās: beauty, healing power and divine companions. A man who hears this story of the birth of the Aśvins is freed from all pāpa (sin) and gets noble sons.

Their place in the cosmos

• The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 17) names the Aśvins among the devas saluted in the context of the list of the ten avatāras of Bhagavān Viṣṇu.
• They are the physicians (bhiṣak) of the devas. They heal, restore and renew.
• Together with Sūrya, Candra and the other devas, they form the body of the cosmic Bhagavān Viṣṇu.

Birth in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa

Chapters 74–75

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa gives its own account of the birth of the Aśvins. Viśvakarma reduced Sūrya’s tejas (radiance) to one-sixteenth. He took away the extra radiance to make divine weapons for the devas. Sūrya then went to Uttara-Kuru in the form of a horse (aśva). There he found his wife Saṃjñā. She had fled from his blinding radiance and was doing tapas (austerity) as a mare.

Their nostrils touched in Uttara-Kuru, and the twins were born from the mare’s mouth: Nāsatya and Daśra, the two Aśvins. They were born of Sūrya in horse form and Saṃjñā in mare form, in the holy northern land beyond the Himālaya.

Chapters 102–106 (Mārtāṇḍa Māhātmya)

The Mārtāṇḍa Māhātmya of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa tells more of the birth. Viśvakarma reduced Sūrya’s tejas on his divine lathe, and Sūrya’s form became bearable. Sūrya then travelled to Uttara-Kuru, the northern paradise, to find Saṃjñā, who had been doing tapas there as a mare. Sūrya came as a stallion, and his nostrils touched her nostrils. Two beings were born from this touch, Nāsatya and Daśra, the twin Aśvins. They came out of the mare’s mouth.

The Cyavana account: the Aśvins win the right to Soma (Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, Chapter 19)

The Brahma Parva of the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa tells how the Aśvins won the right to drink Soma and to take a share (bhāga) of the yajña. It says this happened on Dvitīyā tithi, which is why the tithi belongs to the Aśvins.

Cyavana Maharṣi had entered deep samādhi on the bank of the Gaṅgā. He stayed so for so many years that an anthill grew around him. The only sign of him was two faint lights shining from holes in the anthill. They were his half-closed eyes.

King Śaryāti was travelling with his army and his daughter Sukanyā. He camped nearby. The young and curious Sukanyā was drawn by the strange light. She pushed a kuśa stalk into the holes and so blinded Cyavana Maharṣi, who was deep in samādhi. At once the whole army was struck. Their bodily functions stopped and their sight failed.

Śaryāti understood the cause and went before Cyavana with great humility. The maharṣi, whose power had no limit, had already forgiven the act. But he asked for Sukanyā in marriage. Śaryāti agreed with joy. The army’s suffering ended, and Sukanyā gave herself fully to the service of the aged Cyavana.

One day Sukanyā was sitting alone near the āśrama. The two Aśvins passed by and saw her. They were struck by her beauty. They asked her to leave the old maharṣi and take one of them as her husband. Sukanyā was a faithful wife (pativratā) and refused firmly. Then the Aśvins offered to make Cyavana young and handsome again.

With Cyavana’s knowledge and consent, the three of them, the two Aśvins and Cyavana, went down into the Gaṅgā. When they came out, they stood before Sukanyā as three young men of the same shining form, with no mark to tell them apart. Sukanyā prayed to the Aśvins and looked carefully. Only one of the three blinked his eyes. Only one had feet that touched the ground. That one was Cyavana. She knew her husband and chose him. Flowers rained from the sky and divine drums sounded.

Cyavana now paid his debt to the Aśvins. He arranged a great yajña for King Śaryāti. At the right moment he formally invited the two Aśvins to take their yajña share along with the other devas. Indra opposed this:

“These two are deva-vaidyas (physicians of the devas). They are not entitled to a share in the yajña.”

Cyavana would not give way. Indra raised his vajra against the maharṣi. Cyavana held Indra still with his tapas, and great Indra stood without moving, vajra in hand. Then Brahmā came down and freed Indra. He declared that from then on the Aśvins would share in the yajña with the devas and would receive Soma in all worlds.

The Bhaviṣya Purāṇa says:

“On Dvitīyā tithi, the Aśvinī Kumāras obtained their deva-status and their yajña share. One who hears this narrative gets a beautiful form and is reborn for many lives in honoured dvija families.”

Sources

• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 17, 20
• Mārkaṇḍeya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 74–75, 102–106
• Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 19