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 names abundance broadly
The fire hymn addresses Agni for an increase in wealth and asks several deities to bestow riches. Verse 6 hopes people encountered will be well disposed and ready to give. For a founder longing for a first positive result, this blessing language is emotionally apt. Yet the poem's ritual frame does not identify customers, expenses, or a break-even point. Whitney notes that much of III.20 reuses a Rigvedic hymn and that its last verses differ in textual relation. Treating it as a unitary startup formula would erase that history. It expresses a wish for resources, not a calculation that revenue has exceeded cost.
III.15 confronts the risk of dealing
The trader of III.15 asks Indra to lead him along hazardous routes, then prays for successful bargain and sale. Verse 5 explicitly wants riches committed to trade to become more and not less. This is the closest ancient analogy to a first profit because it identifies a stake and a hoped-for return. It still does not count all costs of a contemporary business or define profit in accounting terms. A sale can occur without the venture becoming profitable. The hymn's value is its refusal to take gain for granted: the speaker asks because the difference between more and less remains unresolved until the commercial circuit closes.
III.24 describes output rather than cash
The grain hymn moves from nourishing herbs to a fountain of grain and a many-handed collector. A new business may produce goods or services before it sells any. The agricultural image can illuminate the productive side of a venture, but harvested plenty is not a modern bank balance. Even if stock accumulates, there may be no paying customer. III.24 and III.15 therefore make a useful comparison: production is one necessary achievement for some businesses, while sale and return are another. III.20's general wealth wish cannot erase the gap between them. The ancient poems remain separate historical compositions rather than one continuous business plan.
The modern milestone remains open
The attached working seeks a business venture's first profit. That precise milestone is an original contemporary intention. The Atharvaveda cannot verify sales figures, expenses, or a future surplus. A careful article can say why first profit matters without promising it: it marks the point at which income exceeds what was spent under the chosen measure. That is a modern financial definition, not a translation of the Vedic hymn. The source texts offer images for blessing, risk, and provision; they do not make a venture safe or profitable by themselves. Their distinctions help a reader understand the goal more accurately than a generic abundance slogan.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: full shelves, negative result
A new shop fills shelves with handmade goods. III.24's piled provision loosely illuminates production. Customers buy several pieces, bringing III.15's bargain into view. III.20 can name the hope for more resources. If the shop spent more on rent and materials than it received, there is activity but no first profit. A later month with lower sales but even lower costs might cross the threshold. The ancient hymns cannot calculate either month; the example shows why goods made, money received, and genuine surplus are separate events inside the modern spell's simple request.