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
Accompanying the building of a house
Just here I fix (ni-mi) [my] dwelling (çā́lā) firm; may it stand in security, sprinkling ghee; unto thee here, O dwelling, may we resort (sam-car) with all our heroes, with good heroes, with unharmed heroes.
Just here stand thou firm, O dwelling, rich in horses, in kine, in pleasantness, in refreshment, in ghee, in milk; erect thyself (ut-çri) in order to great good-fortune.
A garner (? dharunī́) art thou, O dwelling, of great roof, of cleansed grain; to thee may the calf come, may the boy, may the kine, streaming in at evening.
This dwelling let Savitar, Vayu, Indra, Brihaspati fix, foreknowing; let the Maruts sprinkle it with water, with ghee; let king Bhaga deepen (ni-tan) our ploughing.
Read the remaining 5 verses of III.12
O mistress of the building (? mā́na), as sheltering, pleasant, hast thou, a goddess, been fixed by the gods in the beginning; clothing thyself in grass, mayest thou be well-willing; then mayest thou give us wealth together with heroes.
With due order, O beam (vaṅçá), ascend the post; formidable, bearing rule, force away (apa-vṛj) the foes; let not the attendants (upasattár) of thy houses be harmed, O dwelling; may we live a hundred autumns with all our heroes.
To it the tender boy, to it the calf, with moving creatures (jágat), to it the jar of parisrút, with mugs of curd, have come.
Bring forward, O woman, this full jar, a stream of ghee combined (sam-bhṛ) with ambrosia (amṛ́ta); anoint these drinkers (?) with ambrosia; let what is offered-and-bestowed defend it (f.: the dwelling?).
These waters I bring forward, free from yákṣma, yákṣma-effacing; I set forth (? pra-sad) unto (úpa) the houses, along with immortal (amṛ́ta) fire.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.12 at Wikisource ↗
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 ↗
III.12 calls a home to life
The first verse fixes a dwelling securely and wants its people to enter unharmed. Verse 2 asks for horses, cattle, refreshment, ghee, and milk; verse 3 imagines calf, boy, and cows returning in the evening. This is more than a list of saleable features. It portrays a household sustained by a structure and its surroundings. The poem's house-building ritual setting differs from a modern property listing, and its Paippalāda parallels are distributed across several places in Whitney's notes. Using it as a source for a sale price would strip away its domestic logic. Its contribution is to show why a property may matter to people in ways a bid cannot fully capture.
The offer belongs to III.15's bargain
The trader of III.15 asks for safe roads, successful bargain and sale, and wealth returning as more rather than less. A property sale is not identical to caravan trade, but a buyer's offer is still a proposed exchange. It is not yet payment and may be conditional. The ancient hymn provides no appraisal method or rule about what fair means. It does, however, insist on a sequence: exposure to a market, negotiation, and return. A seller's desired number may reflect costs, attachment, or competing options, while a buyer may value the property differently. Historical comparison can illuminate the uncertainty without deciding who is correct.
III.20's abundance is a different wish
III.20 asks Agni and other powers for wealth, and verse 6 hopes people encountered will be disposed to give. A buyer's offer under a property bargain is not simply a gift. Calling it divine generosity would obscure the thing transferred and the obligations each party takes on. III.12's secure dwelling and III.15's commercial return together keep the object and the transaction visible, while III.20 voices the broad hope that the outcome improves the seller's resources. No verse guarantees a price above costs, an uncomplicated closing, or a suitable place for the seller afterward. These gaps belong to the modern property decision.
The present-day boundary
The attached working asks for a fair offer that unlocks the value of the user's property. The legal ownership, market, desired price, and timing are contemporary inventions. The cited hymns cannot authenticate title, evaluate condition, or promise a bid. A useful article can still ask a precise question: does the offer reflect only a number, or also terms that make the exchange workable? The ancient trader's concern with fruitful return and the house hymn's concern with a secure dwelling point to different dimensions of value. They enrich interpretation only when the present-day offer remains uncertain and the historical poems remain in their own material worlds.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: high number, difficult terms
A buyer offers a high price for a house but asks for conditions the seller cannot meet; another offers less with a straightforward closing. III.12 keeps the dwelling's use and stability visible, while III.15's bargain asks what the seller will actually receive after obligations. III.20 names the desire for abundance but does not choose the fair offer. If either proposal fails before completion, no value has yet been unlocked in cash. The modern spell asks for a workable proposal, and the hymns help explain why an impressive figure alone does not settle fairness or outcome.