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 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 VII IN FOCUS
For success in the assembly
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 ↗
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 ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK II ALSO CITED
For victory in disputation: with a plant
Read comparison hymn II.27 (7 verses)
May [my] foe by no means win (ji) the dispute; overpowering, overcoming art thou; smite the dispute of [my] counter-disputant; make them sapless, O herb.
The eagle discovered (anu-vid) thee; the swine dug thee with his snout: smite the dispute etc. etc.
Indra put (kŗ) thee on his arm, in order to lay low (stŗ) the Asuras: smite the dispute etc. etc.
Indra consumed (vi-aç) the pāṭá, in order to lay low the Asuras: smite the dispute etc. etc.
With it will I overpower the foes, as Indra did the sālāvṛkás: smite the dispute etc. etc.
O Rudra, thou of healing (?) remedies, of dark (nī́la) crests, deed-doer! smite the dispute etc. etc.
Do thou smite the dispute of him, O Indra, who vexes us; bless us with abilities (çákti); make me superior in the dispute.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read II.27 at Wikisource ↗
The trader risks value to seek value
III.15's trader travels with danger ahead and asks Indra to lead. Later he wishes bargain and sale to prosper and says he bargains with riches while seeking riches. Verse 5 hopes the stake grows rather than shrinks. This is the nearest structural analogy for expertise exchanged for pay: the provider brings accumulated skill and time, seeking a return. But the hymn deals in a different commercial world and does not compare professions, credentials, or rates. Its idea of fruitful return can motivate the modern question of fair pay without answering it numerically. The risk of receiving less than expected is present in the poem; a standard of justice is not specified.
Giving and pay should not be collapsed
III.20 asks Agni to increase riches and hopes people will be well disposed and desirous of giving. That generosity differs from an agreed professional fee. V.7, with its speech of solicitation and the figure of the reluctant giver, provides another image for the discomfort of asking. Yet neither poem says a buyer owes whatever the expert names. A fee has to be proposed and accepted within the modern arrangement. A voluntary gift may be generous but does not replace agreed compensation for delivered work. The historical passages clarify the difference between being paid under terms and hoping someone will be openhanded beyond them.
Being heard is part of the valuation process
VII.12 asks assembly and gathering to favor the speaker and grants importance to pleasant speech and discernment in public. Someone offering expertise may need to explain why their work has value to a person or committee. A favorable hearing can therefore matter before a price is agreed. But applause is not payment, and persuasive speech is not proof that the quoted rate is fair. II.27's combative disputation hymn would be a different comparison, one that seeks to overpower an opponent rather than develop a mutual fee. Choosing VII.12 for the modern scenario keeps evaluation visible without making compensation a ritual victory over another party.
The modern benefit remains a question
The attached spell asks that someone pay fairly for the user's expertise. That exact request is a contemporary creation. III.15 offers the logic of stake and return, III.20 the wish for abundant giving, and VII.12 the wish to be understood. None evaluates a résumé, determines market conditions, or guarantees agreement from a payer. The word fairly should therefore remain open to evidence from the present transaction. A strong reading can ask what work is offered, what terms were understood, and what both parties regard as an acceptable exchange. The ancient poems add texture to that question; they cannot declare the answer in advance.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: praise at the wrong price
An analyst explains a specialized project to a client who praises the proposal but offers half the quoted fee. VII.12 fits the favorable hearing; III.15 fits the unresolved bargain and the question whether the return justifies the work. III.20's giving imagery could describe a more generous offer, but it cannot establish what the correct number would be. If the analyst accepts a smaller scope for the lower amount, the exchange has changed rather than simply become fair by magic. The spell seeks recognition expressed in adequate pay. The hymns show why praise, generosity, and agreement each fall short on their own.