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
To Agni and other gods: for various blessings
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.
Read the remaining 6 verses of III.20
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 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 ↗
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 ↗
III.20 requests riches through blessing
III.20's first verse asks Agni to increase wealth, and later verses invoke several gods and willing givers. Verse 9 wishes that directions yield and designs be achieved with mind and heart. This is a broad blessing horizon. It does not say that longer labor automatically produces more money. Whitney notes that the hymn combines reused Rigvedic material and later verses with uncertain connections. A modern person taking extra hours might recognize the wish for increase, but the pay rate, overtime rule, and availability of a shift are all contemporary facts. The historical poem's richness should not be reduced to an ancient prediction of overtime earnings.
III.15 measures return against a stake
The trader in III.15 travels, deals, and hopes that riches placed into bargaining become more rather than less. For a worker, the stake in an extra shift is time, effort, and perhaps transport or care costs. That analogy is limited but revealing: a higher gross payment may feel less welcome if the added burden is high. The ancient hymn does not calculate hours or expenses, yet it is attentive to gain after risk. Its verse on return dealing is more specific than a simple wealth request because it ties hoped-for increase to an undertaking. That makes it useful when asking whether an extra shift truly improves a household's position.
III.24 pictures accumulation in another economy
III.24 moves from milk-rich plants to increasing grain and a fountain of many streams. Verse 5 addresses a hundred-handed and thousand-handed figure to bring and pile together abundance. Its agricultural imagery describes productive accumulation, not wage employment. Set beside III.20 and III.15, it offers a different way of imagining more: repeated gathering of provision rather than one person's extended workday. The poem also has Paippalāda variants, including a clearer version of the fountain verse in Whitney's notes. A modern extra shift may add a small amount to household resources, but the ancient grain hymn cannot be treated as a payroll charm.
The specific modern intention
The attached working asks that an extra shift bring welcome income. That benefit is a contemporary invention. The old poems can help separate the desire for riches, the return on effort, and the accumulation of provision. They cannot make an employer offer hours, guarantee the shift's pay, or establish whether the added work is worthwhile for a particular person. An honest article can explain that the word welcome implies more than an amount: the worker may need the hours to be available and the resulting income to exceed costs and strain. The Atharvaveda supplies images for gain, while the conditions of shift work remain modern.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: gross pay and useful gain
A worker is offered an evening shift. III.20's request for increased wealth captures the attraction of another payment. III.15's stake-and-return image prompts a different reading: the worker must give time and effort for that amount. III.24's piling of grain can evoke how small additions support a household over many days. If the extra shift pays less than the worker's travel and care costs, the headline amount rose while useful provision did not. The example shows why the spell's welcome income is not merely any added number, and why none of the ancient hymns settles today's employment terms.