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
For relief from guilt or debt
What I eat (?) that is borrowed, that is not given back; with what tribute of Yama I go about—now, O Agni, I become guiltless (anṛṇá) as to that; thou knowest how to unfasten all fetters.
Being just here we give it back; living, we pay it in (ni-hṛ) for the living; what grain I have devoured having borrowed [it], now, O Agni, I become guiltless as to that.
Guiltless in this [world], guiltless in the higher, guiltless in the third world may we be; the worlds traversed by the gods and traversed by the Fathers—all the roads may we abide in guiltless.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VI.117 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK I ALSO CITED
With an oblation: for confluence of wealth
Read comparison hymn I.15 (4 verses)
Together, together let the rivers flow, together the winds, together the birds (patatrín); this my sacrifice let them enjoy of old; I offer with a confluent (saṁsrāvyà) oblation.
Come straight hither to my call, hither ye confluents also; increase this man, ye songs; let every beast (paçú) there is come hither; let what wealth (rayí) there is stay (sthā) with him.
What fountains of the streams flow together, ever unexhausted, with all those confluences we make riches (dhána) flow together for me.
What [fountains] of butter (sarpís) flow together, and of milk, and of water, with all those confluences we make riches flow together for me.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read I.15 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III ALSO CITED
For success in trade
Read comparison hymn III.15 (8 verses)
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.
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 ↗
Return in VI.117 has a prior cause
VI.117 speaks as a person burdened by borrowed material that has not been returned. Verse 2 specifically mentions grain consumed after borrowing and says repayment is made while living. A deposit is not necessarily a loan: the holder may keep the money temporarily as security, and the conditions for return may be contested. Still, the hymn helps isolate the central moral shape of the modern wish. Something moved away from one person on terms that may require it to come back. This is more specific than simply asking that wealth increase. Whitney's uncertain reading in verse 1 is another reason to keep the comparison at the level of relationship, not supposed procedure.
I.15 asks wealth to stay
In I.15, birds, winds, and rivers converge. Verse 2 calls beasts and wealth toward a man and asks that wealth stay with him; later verses repeat the image of streams flowing together into riches. That imagery can describe the feeling of a returned deposit rejoining one's resources. Yet it cannot say whether the deposit was refundable, whether deductions were agreed, or who holds title during the interim. The hymn pictures attraction and retention, not a conditional handover. Its usefulness is poetic, whereas VI.117 contributes a clearer structure of return. Reading the two separately guards against using a vivid water metaphor to settle a concrete modern claim.
The trade hymn marks another boundary
III.15 asks that bargain and sale be fruitful. If a deposit was part of a purchase or rental bargain, the terms of that arrangement determine whether money should come back. The ancient hymn recognizes exchange and return dealing, but not refundable deposits as a named institution. This contrast explains why a lost deposit cannot be treated as a discovered windfall: the issue is whether a prior transaction preserved a right to return. A deposit might be refunded, applied to the final price, or legitimately retained under terms. The Vedic passages do not decide which case applies. They supply different categories—return, wealth retained, exchange—for thinking about the situation.
The contemporary boundary
The attached spell wants a lost deposit returned. That exact outcome is an original modern intention. VI.117's speaker is the owing party, so a person reclaiming a deposit is viewing the relationship from the other chair. I.15 offers the image of resources gathered back; III.15 offers the background of a bargain. None proves that the money is due, locates a missing transfer, or compels an institution or person to release funds. An honest article can show why the word return matters: the claimant is asking for restoration of value they believe remained theirs. Whether that belief is correct comes from the present-day terms and facts, not an ancient charm.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: a refundable holding sum
Imagine a tenant gives a holding sum that the parties agree to return if the rental does not proceed. When the rental falls through, III.15 clarifies that the original transfer belonged to a bargain with conditions. VI.117 offers an analogy from the holder's side: an outstanding return should be discharged, although the hymn itself concerns borrowing. I.15 can picture the money rejoining the tenant's resources. If the agreement instead allowed the holder to retain the sum, the ancient poems cannot reverse that fact. The worked example shows why deposit return is a claim about agreed custody, not merely a wish for extra wealth.