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 ALSO CITED
For abundance of grain
Read comparison hymn III.24 (7 verses)
Rich in milk [are] the herbs, rich in milk my utterance (vácas); accordingly, of them that are rich in milk I bring by thousands.
I know him that is rich in milk; he hath made the grain much; the god that is "collector" by name, him do we call, whichever is in the house of one who sacrifices not.
These five directions that there are, the five races (kṛṣṭí) descended from Manu (mānavī́)—may they bring fatness (sphātí) together here, as streams [bring] drift when it has rained.
As a fountain of a hundred streams, of a thousand streams, unexhausted, so this grain of ours, in a thousand streams, unexhausted.
O hundred-handed one, bring together; O thousand-handed one, pile together; of what is made and of what is to be made do thou convey together the fatness here.
Three measures of the Gandharvas, four of the house-mistress; of them whichever is richest in fatness, with that one we touch thee.
Bringer (upohá) and gatherer (samūhá) [are] thy (two) distributors, O Prajāpati; let them convey hither fatness, much unexhausted plenty.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.24 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VII ALSO CITED
Prayer to Dhātar for blessings
Read comparison hymn VII.17 (18) (4 verses)
Let Dhātar assign (dhā) to us wealth, [he] being master (īç), lord of the moving creation; let him yield to us with fulness.
Let Dhātar assign to his worshiper an unexhausted further life; may we obtain the favor of the all-bestowing god.
Let Dhātar assign all desirable things unto the progeny-wishing worshiper in his home; for him let the gods wrap up immortality (amṛ́ta)—all the gods, Aditi, in unison.
Let Dhātar, Rāti, Savitar enjoy this, let Prajāpati, Agni our treasure-lord; let Tvashṭar, Vishṇu, sharing (rā) together with progeny, assign wealth to the sacrificer.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.17 (18) at Wikisource ↗
V.7 gives reluctance a voice
The hymn addresses a niggard and repeatedly offers homage even while asking that a gift not be obstructed. Verse 4 invokes pleasant speech, and verse 5 imagines a person solicited through words so that confidence may meet the listener. Whitney reads the whole as a euphemistic offering to stinginess. This is a richer account of asking than a blunt order for money: the potential giver may hesitate, the speaker must address them, and the outcome remains wished for. A modern donor is not the personified niggard or a sacrificial participant. The comparison helps describe the vulnerability of appeal without reducing another person's choice to a ritual mechanism.
III.24 concerns what support could make possible
The grain hymn moves from milk-rich plants to streams of abundance and a many-handed gatherer who piles provision. A cause may seek donations in order to produce food, education, art, or other work; the hymn is an analogy for hoped-for result, not the act of donating. If one calls every gift a grain stream, one may overlook the gap between collecting resources and using them. Whitney records Paippalāda variants in the fountain image, reinforcing that the poem is a particular agricultural text rather than a generic fundraising formula. The source can deepen a reader's understanding of the cause while never proving that a gift will arrive.
VII.17 addresses a divine disposer
VII.17 asks Dhātar to assign wealth and full provision. Its second verse seeks further life and favor, and its later verses join desirable things with a worshiper's home and progeny. That is different from the face-to-face solicitation in V.7. A modern person may experience a donation as a fortunate allotment, but the hymn does not identify a human donor or a charitable cause. The distinction matters: calling a contribution Dhātar's assignment should not erase the donor's own intention. III.24 supplies productive imagery, V.7 social asking, and VII.17 divine blessing. Together they show multiple meanings of support rather than one guaranteed pathway.
The exact donor benefit is new
The attached working asks that someone contribute to the user's cause. This is an original contemporary intention. The historical texts cannot confirm that the cause is persuasive, that a donor has the means to help, or that an offered amount will be paid. Their value is to clarify what is being hoped for: a willing human response that may enable future provision. A reader should not infer obligation simply because a cause is worthy or an ancient poem seeks wealth. The donor remains free to choose, and the effect of any gift depends on present-day use. The Atharvaveda contributes subject knowledge by separating request, blessing, and productive outcome.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: gift and garden
A community garden asks a neighbor for a contribution. V.7 loosely illuminates the request and possible hesitation. If the neighbor gives, VII.17 can serve as an image of welcome provision, but it cannot tell us why that person decided to help. III.24 becomes relevant when the donated resources support seeds and a hoped-for harvest. If the garden receives praise but no gift, its cause has been heard without the spell's desired payment. If a gift arrives but crops fail, support was real while the agricultural result remains separate. The comparison keeps these stages distinct.