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 VI IN FOCUS
To win a man's love
Of the Apsarases, chariot-conquering, belonging to the chariot-conquering, [is] this the love (smará): ye gods, send forth love; let yon [man] burn for (anu-çuc) me.
Let yon [man] love (smṛ) me; being dear, let him love me: ye gods, send etc. etc.
That yon [man] may love me, not I him at any time, ye gods, send etc. etc.
Craze (un-māday-) [him], O Maruts; O atmosphere, craze [him]; O Agni, do thou craze [him]; let yon [man] burn for me.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VI.130 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III ALSO CITED
For concord
Read comparison hymn III.30 (7 verses)
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).
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 VI ALSO CITED
To win a woman's love
Read comparison hymn VI.8 (3 verses)
As the creeper (líbujā) has completely embraced the tree, so do thou embrace me—that thou mayest be one loving me, that thou mayest be one not going away from me.
As the eagle, flying forth, beats down his wings upon the earth, so do I beat down thy mind—that thou etc. etc.
As the sun goeth at once about heaven-and-earth here, so do I go about thy mind—that thou etc. etc.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VI.8 at Wikisource ↗
VI.130 does not give the man a reply
The speaker of VI.130 repeatedly asks divine powers to send love so that a man burn for her. The hymn is organized by that returning plea, not by an exchange between two speakers. Its third verse even wishes that he love her while she does not love him, a strikingly unequal arrangement. The final appeal to Maruts, atmosphere, and Agni intensifies the petition rather than opening a conversation. A modern reader may recognize the feeling of wanting company, but the hymn seeks an effect in someone who is not heard. Whitney notes that it belongs to a cluster absent from the Paippalāda recension and later used together in a women's rite. Those details identify this particular textual tradition, not a model of freely chosen companionship.
A household is more than a pair
III.30 has a wider audience. Its first verse wants like-heartedness and non-hostility; the following verses mention child and parent, spouses, siblings, and the household as a working group. Verse 5 imagines people pulling together, and verse 6 asks them to share food, drink, and worship. This is a social ideal organized around life in common, not a single person deciding whether to visit an admirer. The hymn's references to submission within family roles also prevent a sentimental equation with modern equality. Still, it makes a useful contrast: sustained company requires many repeated acts and relationships, whereas VI.130 concentrates on one person's intense desire.
A vine does not ask for privacy
VI.8 begins with a creeper embracing a tree and asks the beloved to love the speaker without departing. Its next two verses add an eagle beating its wings down and the sun circling heaven and earth, preserving the same refrain. Such metaphors make nearness persistent and extensive. They do not imagine the beloved choosing solitude for a while and returning later. The poem's refusal of departure is therefore different from a contemporary hope to spend time together without erasing separate lives. Read alongside VI.130, it shows two ways ancient love petitions can press against absence: repeated clinging and repeated calls for burning passion.
The modern chosen company
“Make a target person choose my company over solitude” and The Chosen Company are project-created, contemporary intentions. Neither a Vedic household nor a vine image establishes that a present-day person will prefer company on any particular evening. Solitude is not depicted in those ancient passages as the modern personal need implied by the benefit. The productive comparison is between kinds of closeness: compulsory desire, collective harmony, and the wish that someone never go away. A contemporary relationship may prize shared time while allowing separate time. That interpretation belongs to readers now; it is not an ancient promise or a recovered ritual from the cited hymns.
WORKED READING
Set one absent voice beside many voices
In VI.130.3, the desired man is asked to love more than the speaker loves him, but he never answers. In III.30.3, siblings are urged to speak auspiciously to each other, and verse 5 addresses people who work together. VI.8 then adds a beloved imagined as never departing. Each passage represents closeness, but one makes it unequal passion, one shared household conduct, and one permanent nearness. The modern question “Would you like my company tonight?” belongs to none of them. Its possible yes or no is exactly what lets the choice of company remain a choice.