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 I IN FOCUS
A love-spell: with a sweet herb
This plant is honey-(mádhu-)born; with honey we dig thee; forth from honey art thou engendered; ⌊so⌋ do thou make us possessed of honey.
At the tip of my tongue honey, at the root of my tongue honeyedness; mayest thou be altogether in my power (krátu), mayest thou come unto my intent (cittá).
Honeyed (mádhumant) [is] my in-stepping, honeyed my forth-going; with my voice I speak what is honeyed; may I be of honey-aspect.
Than honey am I sweeter (mádhu), than the honey-plant more honeyed; of me verily shalt thou be fond (? van), as of a honeyed branch.
Read the remaining 1 verse of I.34
About thee with an encompassing (paritatnú) sugar-cane have I gone, in order to absence of mutual hatred; that thou mayest be one loving me, that thou mayest be one not going away from me.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read I.34 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VI ALSO CITED
To win a man's love
Read comparison hymn VI.130 (4 verses)
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 ↗
III.30 makes agreeable speech social
The concord hymn addresses parents, spouses, siblings, and a larger household. Verse 2 wishes beneficial, honeyed words between husband and wife; verse 3 asks siblings to avoid hatred and speak auspiciously; verse 5 asks a working group to say what is agreeable to one another. Its grammar is plural and relational, not a private service question aimed at one person. The household's ancient hierarchy remains part of it. Still, the phrase about speaking agreeably to one another suggests that words depend on an audience and a shared life. That differs from a demand that someone prioritize the speaker's pleasures without asking what the other person needs.
I.34 makes the speaker appealing
In I.34 the honey plant's sweetness moves to the speaker's tongue, voice, approach, departure, and appearance. The poem's path is from material to self-presentation. Its verse 2 asks that another person come into the speaker's intent, while its final verse wants love and nondeparture. The hymn thus does not simply celebrate attentive curiosity; it pursues an effect. Whitney records later uses in debate and marriage, showing that sweetness could serve several social aims. Compared with III.30's group concord, I.34 centers the attractiveness of one speaker. Neither text actually asks the addressee what would please them and then waits for a free answer.
VI.130 exposes a one-sided possibility
VI.130 repeats a request that gods make a man burn with love for the speaker. In verse 3 she even wishes that his love not be matched by her own. This is a vivid historical expression of desire, but not a model of reciprocal attention. The desired man's voice is absent, and the speaker's goal is stated without asking about his wants. Setting it beside III.30 and I.34 prevents all favorable feeling from being called the same thing. A relationship can include pleasing language, an effort to appear pleasing, and a demand to be desired; they have different directions of care and power.
The Pleasure Question is new
“Make a target person ask how they can please me” and The Pleasure Question are modern original content. No cited hymn promises that a particular person will ask this question, and the exact benefit is a contemporary imaginative extension. A current reader may find the question appealing because it invites articulation rather than guessing, but that response must be voluntary and can lead to negotiation rather than immediate compliance. The ancient verses illuminate the difference between speaking pleasantly and listening for another's preference. They cannot establish that the target will display attentiveness, know what the speaker enjoys, or offer to act on it.
WORKED READING
Follow the direction of pleasing
Read I.34.3, where the speaker's voice and movement become honeyed. Read III.30.5, where members of a household are to speak agreeably to one another. Then read VI.130.3, where the speaker asks for a man's love without equal love from her. The first directs pleasing outward from the speaker; the second distributes it among a group; the third makes another person's devotion the desired result. None has the modern target ask for the speaker's stated preferences. The comparison gives the contemporary question its real novelty and prevents one-sided passion from masquerading as thoughtful attention.