THE TEXT · ATHARVAVEDA
Hymns discussed in this article
Begin with the verses shown here. Open the other cited hymns to compare their images and aims.
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III IN FOCUS
For concord
Like-heartedness, like-mindedness, non-hostility do I make for you; do ye show affection (hary) the one toward the other, as the inviolable [cow] toward her calf when born.
Be the son submissive to the father, like-minded with the mother; let the wife to the husband speak words (vā́c) full of honey, wealful.
Let not brother hate brother, nor sister sister; becoming accordant (samyáñc), of like courses, speak ye words auspiciously (bhadráyā).
That incantation in virtue of which the gods do not go apart, nor hate one another mutually, we perform in your house, concord for [your] men (púruṣa).
Read the remaining 3 verses of III.30
Having superiors (jyā́yasvant), intentful, be ye not divided, accomplishing together, moving on with joint labor (sádhura); come hither speaking what is agreeable one to another; I make you united (sadhrīcī́na), like-minded.
Your drinking (prapā́) [be] the same, in common your share of food; in the same harness (yóktra) do I join ⌊yuj⌋ you together; worship ye Agni united, like spokes about a nave.
United, like-minded I make you, of one bunch, all of you, by [my] conciliation; [be] like the gods defending immortality (amṛ́ta); late and early be well-willing yours.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.30 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VII ALSO CITED
For success in the assembly
Read comparison hymn VII.12 (13) (4 verses)
Let both assembly (sabhā́) and gathering (sámiti), the two daughters of Prajāpati, accordant, favor me; with whom I shall come together, may he desire to aid (? upa-çikṣ) me; may I speak what is pleasant among those who have come together, O Fathers.
We know thy name, O assembly; verily sport (naríṣṭā) by name art thou; whoever are thine assembly-sitters, let them be of like speech with me.
Of these that sit together I take to myself the splendor, the discernment (vijñā́na); of this whole gathering (saṁsád) make me, O Indra, possessor of the fortune (bhagín).
Your mind that is gone away, that is bound either here or here—that of you we cause to turn hither; in me let your mind rest.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.12 (13) at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III ALSO CITED
To command a woman's love
Read comparison hymn III.25 (6 verses)
Let the up-thruster thrust (tud) thee up; do not abide (dhṛ) in thine own lair; the arrow of love (kā́ma) that is terrible, therewith I pierce thee in the heart.
The arrow feathered with longing (ādhī́), tipped with love, necked with resolve (? saṁkalpá-)—having made that well-straightened, let love pierce thee in the heart.
The well-straightened arrow of love which dries the spleen, forward-winged, consuming (vyòṣa)—therewith I pierce thee in the heart.
Pierced with consuming pain (çúc), dry-mouthed, do thou come creeping to me, gentle, with fury allayed, entirely [mine], pleasant-spoken, submissive.
I goad thee hither with a goad (ā́janī), away from mother, likewise from father, that thou mayest be in my power (krátu), mayest come unto my intent.
Do ye, O Mitra-and-Varuṇa, cast out the intents from her heart; then, making her powerless, make her [to be] in my own control.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.25 at Wikisource ↗
III.30 does not address equal partners only
The hymn opens by asking for shared thought and an end to hostility. Verse 2 then names a son in relation to a father, a mother, and a wife speaking honeyed words to a husband. Verse 3 turns to siblings who should not hate and should speak auspiciously. Later verses draw the larger household into joint labor. This movement is not a lesson in modern advice-giving. It is a wish for concord within named roles, some explicitly hierarchical. A reader cannot simply lift like-mindedness from verse 1 and assume that every participant has equal authority to propose or refuse a course of action. Who is meant to listen, and to whom, changes across the hymn.
The assembly seeks a hearing in public
VII.12 (13) offers another setting for being taken seriously. The speaker asks assembly and gathering to favor him, wants to speak pleasantly among those present, and asks for compatible speech from seated members. A later ritual application concerns debate, according to Whitney. The hymn therefore concerns success before a public body, not one partner following private advice. Its fourth verse also wants wandering minds to turn back to the speaker, showing that public persuasion can press for attention rather than merely invite it. Compared with III.30, the assembly makes rank and audience visible in a different way: deliberation happens before a group instead of within family roles.
III.25 is the extreme of having one's way
III.25's speaker does more than ask to be heard. His arrow pierces the desired woman's heart; its later verses goad her toward him and ask divine powers to remove her own intentions. The poem makes control explicit. Using it as a contrast prevents a soft term like “take my advice seriously” from hiding the possible wish that another person simply do what the speaker says. III.30 seeks social concord, though its hierarchy should be acknowledged; VII.12 seeks favorable public hearing; III.25 seeks possession of a targeted will. These are three different relationships between words and power.
The Heard Advice is a contemporary wish
“Make a target person take my advice seriously” and The Heard Advice are project-created modern content. None of these hymns identifies a present-day problem, tests the quality of a proposed solution, or guarantees that its listener will adopt it. Advice can be considered carefully and still declined. The historical comparison is valuable for locating the desired kind of response: a fair hearing in a group, cooperation in an existing relationship, or obedience extracted from another person. The modern benefit belongs to that new ethical and practical setting; it should not be presented as a direct Atharvavedic result.
WORKED READING
Ask who has the floor
In III.30.2 a son's relation to his father and a wife's speech to her husband appear within household concord. In VII.12.1 the speaker asks to be heard pleasantly in an assembly. In III.25.6 the speaker asks gods to remove a woman's intentions. Reading those verses in sequence changes the question from “Will someone listen?” to “What position does each speaker claim?” A family member, a public advocate, and a coercive pursuer do not occupy the same role. A modern person seeking serious consideration of advice should not call all three passages equivalent ways to secure agreement.