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 success in trade
I stir up (cud) the trader Indra; let him come to us, be our forerunner; thrusting [away] the niggard, the waylaying wild animal, let him, having the power (īç), be giver of riches to me.
The many roads, travelled by the gods, that go about (sam-car) between heaven-and-earth—let them enjoy me with milk, with ghee, that dealing (krī) I may get (ā-hṛ) riches.
With fuel, O Agni, with ghee, I, desiring, offer the oblation, in order to energy (táras), to strength;—revering with worship (bráhman), so far as I am able—this divine prayer (dhī́), in order to hundred-fold winning.
This offense (? çaráṇi) of ours mayest thou, O Agni, bear with (mṛṣ), what distant road we have gone. Successful (çuná) for us be bargain and sale; let return-dealing make me fruitful; do ye two enjoy this oblation in concord; successful for us be our going about and rising.
Read the remaining 4 verses of III.15
With what riches I practise (car) bargaining, seeking riches with riches, ye gods—let that become more for me, not less; O Agni, put down (ni-sidh) with the oblation the gain-slaying gods.
With what riches I practise bargaining, seeking riches with riches, ye gods—therein let Indra assign me pleasure (? rúci), let Prajāpati, Savitar, Soma, Agni.
Unto thee with homage do we, O priest Vāiçvānara ('for all men'), give praise; do thou watch over our progeny, our selves, our kine, our breaths.
Every day may we bring constantly for thee as for a standing horse, O Jātavedas; rejoicing together with abundance of wealth, with food, may we thy neighbors, O Agni, take no harm.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.15 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III ALSO CITED
To Agni and other gods: for various blessings
Read comparison hymn III.20 (10 verses)
This is thy seasonable womb (yóni), whence born thou didst shine; knowing it, O Agni, ascend thou; then increase our wealth.
O Agni, speak unto us here; be turned toward us with good-will; bestow upon us, O lord of the people (víç); giver of riches art thou to us.
Let Aryaman bestow upon us, let Bhaga, let Brihaspati, let the goddesses; let the divine Sūnṛtā also assign wealth to me.
King Soma [and] Agni we call to aid with [our] songs (gír); [also] Āditya, Vishṇu, Sūrya, and the priest (brahmán) Brihaspati.
Do thou, O Agni, with the fires (agní), increase our worship (bráhman) and sacrifice; do thou, O god, stir us up to give, unto giving wealth.
Indra-and-Vāyu, both of them here, we call here with good call, that to us even every man may be well-willing in intercourse, and may become desirous of giving to us.
Do thou stir up Aryaman, Brihaspati, Indra, unto giving; [also] Vāta (wind), Vishṇu, Sarasvatī, and the vigorous (vājín) Savitar.
In the impulse (prasavá) of vigor (? vā́ja) now have we come into being, and all these beings within. Both let him, foreknowing, cause him to give who is unwilling to give, and do thou confirm to us wealth having all heroes.
Let the five directions yield (duh) to me, let the wide ones yield according to their strength; may I obtain all my designs, with mind and heart.
A kine-winning voice may I speak; with splendor do thou arise upon me; let Vāyu (wind) enclose (ā-rudh) on all sides; let Tvashṭar assign to me abundance.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.20 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK V ALSO CITED
Against niggardliness and its effects
Read comparison hymn V.7 (10 verses)
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.
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 ↗
Where gain sits in III.15
The opening of III.15 asks Indra to go ahead of a trader, and the next verse imagines many roads through which dealing may bring riches. Verse 4 moves to bargain and sale; verse 5 asks that riches risked in bargaining become more, not less. The poem's gain belongs to the person undertaking the transaction and putting wealth at stake. In a commission arrangement, an intermediary may invest time or relationships rather than own the goods. That is a meaningful difference. Calling the trader a sales agent would silently invent an occupational role the poem does not specify. The hymn does, however, expose why commercial gain depends on a completed deal.
III.20 asks for giving without a fee schedule
III.20 invokes Agni and several other gods for wealth. Verse 6 hopes people encountered will be well disposed and desirous of giving, while verse 7 asks deities to stir others toward giving. Whitney points out that much of the hymn shares verses with Rigvedic material and that the final verses have their own textual setting. This is a prayer of blessing and generosity, not a table of commissions. Its language may capture the feeling of hoping for a generous return, but it does not explain who earned what percentage. The modern intermediary's share must come from a present-day agreement, not from the fire hymn.
A commission depends on two exchanges
The modern scenario usually has an underlying sale between buyer and seller and a second arrangement that pays the intermediary when the sale succeeds. III.15 can illuminate the first exchange's uncertainty and hoped-for profit. It cannot supply the second contract. V.7's solicitational language might illuminate an agent introducing an offer, but it is framed by sacrificial gift and the figure of stinginess, not brokerage. This two-layer structure is what makes commission income distinctive among the money benefits. A sales price can be high while the intermediary earns little, or a moderate sale can yield a clear, agreed share. The ancient poems do not choose the share.
The contemporary working stays contemporary
The linked spell asks for a lucrative commission to land in the user's hands. That target is new and invented. The historical texts can be used to interpret the desire for a fruitful bargain and a favorable payment, but they cannot guarantee that a deal closes or that an intermediary receives compensation. A careful article should not use III.15 as if it were evidence of a Vedic commission system. Its actual value is to show that trade has a route, a risk, and a return. Commission adds another modern question: which participant is promised which part of that return? The answer belongs to the current arrangement.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: sale versus share
A seller agrees to pay a broker ten units if a buyer completes a purchase. III.15 fits the seller-buyer bargain and its uncertain return. The broker's ten units are a second claim created by the modern agreement; no verse in III.15 assigns that percentage. III.20 can loosely evoke the hope for generous payment, but it does not replace the agreed terms. If the buyer only expresses interest and no purchase occurs, the commission may not yet be due. The example shows why the modern spell seeks a completed two-sided chain rather than a vague increase in money.