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 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 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 ↗
VI.117 presumes something was taken
VI.117's speaker describes borrowed material not given back. Verse 2 speaks of making repayment while alive for grain eaten after borrowing. Here the obligation follows an actual transfer. The hymn's first-person speaker wants to become free of debt or guilt, and verse 3 stretches that freedom across worlds. A modern financial promise can be less definite: someone may say they hope to help but never take anything from the listener. VI.117 therefore provides a strong comparison only when the promise rests on a real, recognized obligation. The hymn cannot establish what another person meant by a casual offer or vague reassurance.
III.15 turns speech into a bargain
The trader's hymn prays for success on a dangerous route, then for favorable bargain, sale, and return dealing. In a bargain, speech helps define what each party will give. Verse 5's hope that riches used in dealing become more rather than less shows that outcomes remain uncertain even after effort and exchange. If a financial promise is payment for delivered work, III.15 supplies a better analogy than pure generosity. Yet the hymn does not list the terms of any modern contract. It pictures the desired fruit of exchange. The question for a current promise is whether the speaker's words were attached to a shared agreement, not whether an ancient trader invoked success.
V.7 preserves the uncertainty of asking
V.7 addresses a reluctant giver and, in verse 5, imagines soliciting someone through speech so that confidence might find the listener. Its language makes the act of asking visible, but it does not turn every solicitation into a guaranteed gift. Verse 4's pleasant speech and the repeated homage to the niggard sit beside anxiety about refusal. A person who promises support after such an appeal has made a different social move from one who simply listens. The hymn helps mark that transition without explaining how to enforce it. Unlike VI.117, it begins before an obligation is clearly settled.
The modern intention adds a named target
The attached working wants a particular person to honor a financial promise. That precise goal is a new, person-specific invention. The ancient passages cannot tell a reader whether the promise was unconditional, whether any amount was fixed, or whether changed circumstances altered what the person can give. Their value is to separate speech, bargain, and actual debt. Treating the promise as an ancient obligation just because the modern spell desires fulfillment would misrepresent both the historical texts and the other person's agency. A careful interpretation can acknowledge disappointment when help fails to arrive while refusing to claim that the Atharvaveda certifies the modern claim or compels its payer.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: three sentences that sound alike
Compare three statements: I might help with your project; I will give a set amount next month; and I owe you that amount for completed work. V.7 is most relevant to the first as a scene of request and possible generosity. III.15 is relevant to the third if payment was bargained as part of an exchange. VI.117 best illuminates an acknowledged obligation remaining unpaid, though it speaks from the debtor's side. The second statement lies between gift and formal exchange, depending on its context. The ancient hymns help separate these cases; they do not convert every spoken hope into a guaranteed transfer.