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 IX IN FOCUS
Accompanying the gift of a bull
The bright bull of a thousand, rich in milk, bearing all forms in his bellies, desiring to accomplish (? çikṣ) what is excellent for his giver, the sacrificer—he, the ruddy one of Brihaspati, hath stretched ⌊ā-tan⌋ the line (tántu).
He who in the beginning became the counterpart (pratimā́) of the waters, prevailing (prabhū́) for everything, like the divine earth, father of young (vatsá), lord of the inviolable [kine]—let him set (kṛ) us in thousandfold prosperity.
A male (púmāṅs), [yet] pregnant, big (sthávira), rich in milk, the bull bears a trunk (kábandha) of good (vásu); him, sacrificed to Indra, let Agni Jātavedas carry by the roads traveled by the gods.
Father of calves, lord of the inviolable [kine], also father of great gulfs (gárgara); calf, afterbirth, fresh milk, beestings, curd, ghee—that [is] his seed.
Read the remaining 20 verses of IX.4
The gods' portion [was] that load, the sap of waters, of plants, of ghee; the mighty one (çakrá) chose a drink of soma; a great stone became what [was his] body.
Thou bearest a vessel filled with soma, shaper (tvástṛ) of forms, generator of cattle; propitious to thee be these pudenda (? prajanū́) that are here; to us, O ax, confirm those that are yonder.
Sacrificial butter he bears; ghee [is] his seed; thousandfold prosperity—that they call the sacrifice; the bull, clothing himself in Indra's form—let him, O gods, come propitious to us, being given.
Indra's force, Varuṇa's two arms, the Açvins' two shoulders, of the Maruts this hump; they who are wise, poets, who are skilful (manīṣín), call him Brihaspati brought together.
Rich in milk, thou stretchest unto the people (víç) of the gods; thee they call Indra, thee Sarasvant; he gives a thousand [kine] with one face who makes offering (ā-hu) of a bull to a Brahman.
Brihaspati, Savitar bestowed on thee vigor (váyas); from Tvashṭar, from Vāyu was brought forth thy soul (ātmán); with mind in the atmosphere I make offering (hu) of thee; let heaven-and-earth both be thy barhís.
He who goes speaking out greatly among the kine, like Indra among the gods—of that bull let the worshiper (brahmán) praise together the members excellently.
His sides were Anumati's; his flanks (? anūvṛ́j) were Bhaga's; of his knees (aṣṭhīvánt) Mitra said: those are wholly mine.
His rump was the Ādityas'; his two thighs were Brihaspati's; his tail [was] the heavenly wind's; therewith he shakes the herbs.
His intestines (gúdā) were Sinīvālī's; they called his skin Sūryā's; they called his feet (pl.) the upstander's (utthātṛ́), when they prepared (kalpay-) the bull.
His breast (kroḍá) was Jāmiçaṅsa's; his vessel [was] maintained as Soma's, when all the gods, coming together, distributed (vi-kalpay-) the bull.
Those dew-claws (kúṣṭhikā) [were] Saramā's; they assigned the hoofs to the tortoises (kūrmá); the content of his bowels they maintained for the worms, the çavartás.
With his horns he pushes the demon; with his eye he slays ruin; with his ears he hears what is excellent—he who is the inviolable lord of kine.
With a hundred-fold sacrifice he sacrifices; the fires burn him not; all the gods quicken him, who makes offering of a bull to a Brahman.
Having given a bull to Brahmans, one makes his mind wider; he beholds (ava-paç) prosperity of the inviolable [kine] in his own stall.
Let there be kine, let there be progeny, also let there be own strength; let the gods approve all that for the giver of a bull.
Let this burly (pípāna) one, a very Indra, bestow conspicuous wealth; let this one [bestow] a well-milking cow, constantly with calf; let him yield (duh) inspired will beyond the sky.
Of reddish form, clouded (? nabhasá), vigor-giving, vehemence of Indra, all-formed, he hath come to us, assigning to us life-time and progeny; and with abundances of wealth let him attach himself to (abhi-sac) us.
Here in this stall, O closeness (upapárcana), be thou close unto us; unto [us] what seed the bull has; unto [us], O Indra, thy heroism.
This young male we set toward you here; with him go ye (fem.) playing according to your wills; abandon us not with birth, ye wellportioned ones; and with abundances of wealth attach yourselves to us.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read IX.4 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VII ALSO CITED
Prayer to Dhātar for blessings
Read comparison hymn VII.17 (18) (4 verses)
Let Dhātar assign (dhā) to us wealth, [he] being master (īç), lord of the moving creation; let him yield to us with fulness.
Let Dhātar assign to his worshiper an unexhausted further life; may we obtain the favor of the all-bestowing god.
Let Dhātar assign all desirable things unto the progeny-wishing worshiper in his home; for him let the gods wrap up immortality (amṛ́ta)—all the gods, Aditi, in unison.
Let Dhātar, Rāti, Savitar enjoy this, let Prajāpati, Agni our treasure-lord; let Tvashṭar, Vishṇu, sharing (rā) together with progeny, assign wealth to the sacrificer.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.17 (18) at Wikisource ↗
The first seven verses enlarge one animal
The opening calls the bull bright, milk-rich, and capable of bringing good to its giver. Verse 2 asks that it establish the beneficiary in thousandfold prosperity. Verse 3 paradoxically calls the male animal pregnant with goods, while verse 4 names calves, milk, curd, and ghee as his seed. These images do not describe biological fact in a narrow sense. They turn one breeding animal into a figure for the entire future yield of a herd.
Verse 7 says sacrificial butter and ghee belong to the bull's generative force and again calls the sacrifice thousandfold prosperity. The repetition links animal fertility, food production, and ritual value. A modern reading that sees only a “wealth spell” misses the material ground of the wish: breeding cattle and dairy products sustained households. The cosmic language magnifies an economic fact already visible on a farm.
The bull becomes a body of gods
Verse 8 assigns Indra's force, Varuṇa's arms, the Aśvins' shoulders, and the Maruts' hump to the bull. A later passage maps still more body parts to divine beings and powers. This is correspondence used to elevate the gift. A concrete animal becomes a world of relationships, so giving it can be imagined as a far larger act than transferring livestock.
Whitney notes that Pāippalāda preserves this hymn in a different order, including a swap between its fourth and fifth verses and later rearrangements. The sequence of body and gift language was not fixed in every witness. Yet the purpose remains legible: the poem makes the bull worthy of offering by describing it as assembled from many divine presences. Its symbolic scale supports the social weight of the gift.
The recipient is part of the mechanism
Verse 9 says a person gives a thousand cattle with one face by offering a bull to a Brahman. Verse 18 repeats the importance of the giver, and verse 19 states that giving a bull to Brahmans broadens the mind and lets one see prosperity in one's own stall. These are not private wishes detached from a recipient. The poem's benefit travels through a public gift to a recognized ritual specialist.
Verse 20 asks for cattle, progeny, and the giver's own strength; the gods are asked to approve those goods for the person who makes the gift. The wording does not mean a donor has purchased a guaranteed rate of return. It describes a religious economy in which generosity, cattle wealth, and divine favor are verbally joined. An expert reading must keep the recipient visible, because without the transfer there is no occasion for this hymn.
Prosperity continues beyond the first transaction
Near the end the bull is asked to bestow visible wealth, a well-milking cow always with calf, life, and progeny. The gift is paradoxical only if wealth is counted as the immediate number of animals retained. The hymn imagines prosperity as reproductive continuity, social credit, and divine recognition following a valuable offering. The bull leaves one set of hands while the giver's household hopes to grow.
The paired benefit deliberately says prosperity associated with a bull gift, which is closer to the text than a promise of instant money. The six-phase member ritual is original contemporary symbolic writing; it does not stage animal sacrifice or claim to reproduce a Vedic donation. The historical insight is the exchange's asymmetry: a tangible animal goes to another person, and the hoped-for return is a whole future of herds, descendants, and strength.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: count the gift twice
Read IX.4.2, which asks for thousandfold prosperity, and then IX.4.9, which says a bull offered to a Brahman amounts to a thousand cattle with one face. Those verses use number differently: one wishes for future increase, the other magnifies the value of a single gift. Continue to verses 19–20, where the giver is pictured seeing cattle prosper in his own stall and receiving progeny and strength. The worked sequence shows that the poem does not describe finding a bull as a talisman. Its economy begins with giving away an animal and imagines the household flourishing afterward. The difference is essential to the benefit's meaning.