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 V IN FOCUS
Against niggardliness and its effects
Bring to us, stand not about, O niggard; do not prevent (? rakṣ) our sacrificial gift as led [away]; homage be to baffling (vīrtsā́), to ill-success; homage be to the niggard.
What wheedling (? parirāpín) man thou puttest forward, O niggard, to him of thine we pay homage: do not thou disturb my winning (vaní).
Let our god-made winning progress (pra-kḷp) by day and by night; we go forth after the niggard; homage be to the niggard.
Sarasvatī, Anumati, Bhaga, we going call on; pleasant (juṣṭá) honeyed speech have I spoken in the god-invocations of the gods.
Read the remaining 6 verses of V.7
Whomever I solicit (yāc) with speech, with Sarasvatī, mind-yoked, him may faith find today, given by the brown soma.
Do not thou baffle our winning nor speech. Let Indra and Agni both bring good things to us. De ye all, willing today to give to us, welcome the niggard.
Go thou far away, O ill-success; we conduct away thy missile; I know thee, O niggard, as one putting (? mīv) down, thrusting down.
Likewise, greatly making thyself naked, thou fastenest on (sac) a person in dreams, O niggard, baffling the plan and design of a man (púruṣa).
She that, being great, of great height (-unmāna), permeated all regions—to her, the golden-haired, to perdition have I paid homage.
Gold-colored, fortunate, gold-cushioned, great—to her, the golden-mantled, to the niggard have I paid homage.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read V.7 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III IN FOCUS
Morning invocation to various gods, especially Bhaga
Early (prātár) do we call Agni, early Indra, early Mitra-and-Varuṇa, early the (two) Açvins, early Bhaga, Pūshan, Brahmaṇaspati, early Soma and Rudra do we call.
The early-conquering formidable Bhaga do we call, the son of Aditi who is disposer (vidhartár), to whom every one that thinks himself weak [or] strong, ⌊to whom even the king⌋ says: "apportion [me] a portion."
O Bhaga, conductor, Bhaga, thou of true bestowal, Bhaga, help upward this prayer (dhī́), giving to us; O Bhaga, cause us to multiply with kine, with horses, O Bhaga, with men,—rich in men may we be.
Both now may we be fortunate (bhágavant), and in the advance (? prapitvá) and in the middle of the days; and, O bounteous one, at the up-going of the sun, may we be in the favor of the gods.
Read the remaining 3 verses of III.16
Let the god Bhaga himself be fortunate; through him may we be fortunate; on thee here, Bhaga, do I call entire; do thou, O Bhaga, be our forerunner here.
The dawns submit themselves (? sam-nam) to the sacrifice (adhvará), as Dadhikrāvan to the bright place; hitherward let them convey for me Bhaga, acquirer of good things, as vigorous (vājín) horses a chariot.
Let excellent dawns, rich in horses, rich in kine, rich in heroes, always shine for us, yielding (duh) ghee, on all sides drunk of: do ye protect us ever with well-beings.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.16 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 ↗
A portion is not another person's wallet
The second verse of III.16 imagines weak and strong people, even a king, asking Bhaga for a portion. This is a prayer to a divine disposer, not a demand addressed to a human donor. In verse 3 the desired increase is described in cattle, horses, and people, while the final verse seeks excellent dawns and continuing well-being. The hymn asks to be situated favorably within a world of life and resources. It does not identify a benefactor who must surrender personal property. That distinction matters when a modern intention singles out a target person: the target is added by the contemporary spell, not found in the historical prayer.
How V.7 handles a reluctant giver
V.7 is more directly concerned with the refusal to give, but its tone is unusual. The opening addresses a personified niggard with formal homage even while asking it not to obstruct a sacrificial gift. Verse 4 invokes Sarasvatī, Anumati, and Bhaga and describes pleasant speech; verse 5 imagines soliciting someone through speech and winning confidence. The sequence does not simply crush an opponent's will. It stages a tense encounter between request and reluctance, with ritual politeness occupying the same poem as frustration. Whitney describes the hymn as an offering of reverence to stinginess. That complexity is easily lost in the phrase cash gift spell.
A request has an audience, not a guarantee
VII.12 adds a useful public comparison. Its speaker asks assembly and gathering to favor him and hopes for helpful, pleasant speech among those present. In verse 2 the assembly sitters are asked to speak in harmony with him. That is a setting of persuasion and reception, whereas III.16 concerns apportionment and V.7 a difficult solicitation. A generous gift can be offered freely, requested openly, or attached to social obligations; the texts do not collapse those possibilities. Nor does a petition in a hymn prove that its intended listener complied. The requested outcome and the actual behavior of a donor remain separate.
The modern boundary
Cash as a specific gift, a chosen target, and an expected amount are modern features of this working. A respectful reading can use the ancient passages to think about receiving and asking while recognizing that a donor's decision remains theirs. The strongest historical connection is thematic: people wanted a favorable share and worried about closed hands. The least defensible leap would be to present III.16 as a Vedic technique for making someone give money. That would turn a prayer to Bhaga into a claim about control over a living person. The accompanying spell is an original contemporary construction, and its intention is not evidence of an ancient outcome.
WORKED READING
Worked comparison: offered or extracted?
Suppose a friend offers help after seeing a public project. III.16 can illuminate the recipient's feeling of receiving a fortunate portion; V.7 can illuminate the act of asking and the possibility of hesitation; VII.12 can illuminate the public encounter in which the project became visible. If the friend decides against a gift, none of the three hymns turns that choice into a debt. A gift remains different from a promised payment or a fee. The modern intention may name a particular donor, but the ancient verses are most revealing when they expose these different relationships instead of being flattened into one promise of cash.