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 I ALSO CITED
With an oblation: for confluence of wealth
Read comparison hymn I.15 (4 verses)
Together, together let the rivers flow, together the winds, together the birds (patatrín); this my sacrifice let them enjoy of old; I offer with a confluent (saṁsrāvyà) oblation.
Come straight hither to my call, hither ye confluents also; increase this man, ye songs; let every beast (paçú) there is come hither; let what wealth (rayí) there is stay (sthā) with him.
What fountains of the streams flow together, ever unexhausted, with all those confluences we make riches (dhána) flow together for me.
What [fountains] of butter (sarpís) flow together, and of milk, and of water, with all those confluences we make riches flow together for me.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read I.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 ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VI ALSO CITED
For relief from guilt or debt
Read comparison hymn VI.117 (3 verses)
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 ↗
Return dealing in III.15
After asking Indra to go ahead of the trader and clear dangerous roads, III.15 turns to bargain and sale. Verse 4 wishes that return dealing be fruitful, while verse 5 hopes riches staked in trade will come back as more rather than less. The hymn may describe a commercial circuit, not a repeat buyer in today's sense. Still, it is especially apt for distinguishing a second engagement from the first. A former client already knows the provider's work; the question is whether another need and another agreement will arise. That is a fresh transaction, not the automatic continuation of an old one.
I.15 gathers and holds rather than rehires
I.15 draws rivers, winds, birds, animals, and wealth into convergence. Its second verse asks that wealth stay with the beneficiary, and its last verses make riches flow like water, milk, and butter. This is a strong poetic image for sustained provision. It does not name a buyer, a renewed contract, or a cycle of returning clients. Set beside III.15, the source shows how a reader can mistake ongoing wealth for recurring business. One speaks of goods and opportunities circulating through exchange; the other imagines many streams reaching and remaining with a household. Both can resonate with steady income, but their textual mechanisms are not interchangeable.
Past satisfaction does not create a new obligation
A repeat engagement may follow trust built by completed work, but the former client remains free to choose whether to commission more. V.7, with its interest in solicitation through speech, offers a third comparison if the provider reaches out. Its treatment of a reluctant giver should not be turned into a claim of entitlement to the client's budget. The ancient poems record hopes for fruitful dealing, receptive requests, and continuing plenty. They do not tell us that a prior purchaser owes another purchase. The modern idea of retention can be useful only when it respects the new decision that each project requires.
The contemporary working's actual claim
The attached spell seeks another hire from a former client. That benefit is modern and invented. III.15 can help explain why repeated business still involves risk and bargaining; I.15 can help explain why recurring income feels like wealth that stays. Neither hymn predicts the client's need, finances, or choice. An article that treats the return as a fresh exchange will offer more historical insight than one that simply calls a former buyer a returning stream. The past relationship supplies context, not a Vedic promise of renewal. The comparison can clarify expectation while leaving the modern outcome open.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: two kinds of return
A photographer's former client sends a second booking request. The old work may have built confidence, yet the new date, fee, and scope still need agreement. III.15's return dealing is the stronger analogy for this second exchange. If instead the client pays the remaining balance from the first job, that is settlement of an earlier obligation and VI.117 would be closer. If many unrelated payments reach the photographer over time, I.15's converging streams may describe the overall experience. The same word return can hide three different events; the spell means a new hire.