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{{Short description|Horses in Hinduism}}
[[File:Hamm-Hindu--090606 7861-Pferde.jpg|thumb|240px|Ashva and chariot]]
'''Ashva''' ({{Langx|sa|अश्व}}, {{IAST3|Aśva}}) is the [[Sanskrit]] word for a [[horse]], one of the significant animals finding references in the [[Veda]]s as well as later [[Hindu scriptures]]. The word is cognate to [[Avestan language|Avestan]] {{lang|ae|𐬀𐬯𐬞𐬀}} ({{transl|ae|aspa}}), [[Latin]] ''[[Equus (genus)|equus]]'', [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἵππος}} ({{transl|grc|hippos}}), [[Proto-Germanic]] *''[[ehwaz]]'', obsolete [[Prussian Lithuanians|Prussian]] [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] {{lang|lt|ašvà}} (from [[Proto-Balto-Slavic]] ''*éśwāˀ''), all from [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''{{PIE|*h₁éḱwos}}''.
==Usage in Vedas and Hindu mythology==
[[File:Uchchaihshravas1.jpg|thumb|[[Uchchaihshravas]]]]
{{further|History of the horse in the Indian subcontinent}}
===Vedas===
There are repeated references to the horse the [[Veda]]s (c. 1500 - 500 BC). In particular, the [[Rigveda]] has many equestrian scenes, often associated with [[chariot]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-08-27 |title=Rig Veda 10.75.8 [English translation] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/rig-veda-english-translation/d/doc839384.html |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-08-27 |title=Rig Veda 5.57.7 [English translation] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/rig-veda-english-translation/d/doc833430.html |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>
The [[Ashvin]]s are [[divine twins]] named for their horsemanship. Although the usual assumption has been that the [[Indo-Aryan migration]] relied heavily on riders, who may have introduced the domesticated horse to the subcontinent,
there are few clear references to actual horse riding in their earliest text, the [[Rigveda]], most clearly in [[Mandala 5|RV 5]].61.2-3, describing the [[Maruts]] as riders:
:''Where are your horses, where the reins? How came ye? how had ye the power? Rein was on nose and seat on back.''
:''The whip is laid upon the flank. The heroes stretch their thighs apart, like women when the babe is born.'' (trans. Griffith)
According to [[RV 7]].18.19,  [[Dasyu]] tribes (the Ajas, Shigrus and Yakshus) also had horses. McDonnell and Keith point out that the Rigveda does not describe people riding horses in battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryant|2001|p=117}})</ref> This is in accord with the usual dating of the Rigveda to the late Bronze Age, when horses played a role as means of transport primarily as draught animals (while the introduction of [[cavalry]] dates to the early [[Iron Age]], possibly an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] (specifically [[Parthia]]n) innovation of around the 9th century BC).
[[Mandala 1|RV 1]].163.2 mythologically alludes to the introduction of the horse and horseriding:
:''This Steed which [[Yama]] gave hath [[Trita]] harnessed, and him, the first of all, hath [[Indra]] mounted.''
:''His bridle the [[Gandharva]] grasped. O [[Vasus]], from out the [[Surya|Sun]] ye fashioned forth the [[Courser (horse)|Courser]].'' (trans. Griffith)
In [[Mandala 1|RV 1]].162.18, the [[Ashvamedha|sacrificial horse]] is described as having 34 (2x17) ribs:
:''The four-and-thirty ribs of the Swift Charger, kin to the Gods, the slayer's hatchet pierces.''
:''Cut ye with skill, so that the parts be flawless, and piece by piece declaring them dissect them.'' (trans. Griffith)
The [[Ashvamedha]] or horse sacrifice is a notable ritual of the [[Yajurveda]].
===Hindu mythology ===
One of the famous avatars of [[Vishnu]], Hayagriva, is depicted with a horse head. [[Hayagriva]] is worshipped as the God for Knowledge.
The legend of Uchchaihshravas states that the first horse emerged from the depth of the ocean during the [[Churning of the ocean of milk|churning of the oceans]]. It was a horse with white color and had two wings. It was known by the name of [[Uchchaihshravas]]. The legend continues that [[Indra]], one of the gods of the [[Hindu]]s, took away the [[Hindu mythology|mythical]] horse to his celestial abode, the [[svarga]] (heaven). Subsequently, Indra severed the wings of the horse and presented the same to the mankind. The wings were severed to ensure the horse remains on the earth ([[prithvi]]) and does not fly back to Indra's suvarga.
===Modern interpretations===
According to Aurobindo (Secret of the Veda, pp. 44), ''Asva'' may not always denote the horse. Aurobindo argued the words ''asva'' and ''asvavati'' symbolize energy.<ref>Aurobindo, Secret of the Veda, (Arya, December 1914)</ref> ''Asva'' or ''Ratha'' was also interpreted to be sometimes the "psycho-physical complex on which the Atman stands or in which it is seated".{{sfn|Coomaraswamy|1942}} In another symbolic interpretation based on RV 1.164.2 and Nirukta 4.4.27, ''asva'' may also sometimes symbolize the sun.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In ''Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy'', [[Helaine Selin]] (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref>
==See also==
* {{annotated link|Ashvamedha}}
* {{annotated link|Ashvins}}
* {{annotated link|Ratha}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
===Sources===
{{Commons category|Tempelwagen Hamm}}
*{{cite book |last=Bryant |first=Edwin |year=2001 |title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-513777-9}}
*''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' ({{ISBN|0-500-51088-1}}) by Anna Dallapiccola
*''[http://www.lkz.lt/startas.htm Lietuvių kalbos žodynas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309013608/http://www.lkz.lt/startas.htm |date=2010-03-09 }}''
*{{cite journal |last=Coomaraswamy |first=Ananda |title=Horse Riding in the Rgveda and Atharvaveda |author-link=Ananda Coomaraswamy |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=62 |issue=2 |date=1942}}
==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last1=Kak|first1=Subhash|authorlink=Subhash Kak|title=The Aśvamedha: The rite and its logic.|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|year=2004|isbn=9788120818774|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORuGLCLc7OkC}}
*Kazanas, N. Anatolian bull and Vedic horse in the Indo-European diffusion. 2005. Adyar Library Bulletin (2003)
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]
[[Category:Horses in Hinduism]]
[[es:Ashua]]