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 abundance of grain
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.
Read the remaining 3 verses of III.24
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 ↗
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 ↗
III.24 builds an image of production
The grain hymn begins with milk-rich herbs and a nourishing utterance. Verse 3 summons abundance from five directions, comparing its arrival to streams after rain. Verse 4 imagines grain as an inexhaustible fountain, and verse 5 calls a hundred-handed and thousand-handed figure to gather and pile it. This is agricultural plenty, not handcrafted inventory, yet its stepwise build from fertile source to collected provision is a strong analogy for making. Whitney records Paippalāda variants, including a clearer fountain line, which cautions against treating every English phrase as a fixed original formula. The hymn never says that what is gathered has been sold.
III.15 asks whether making pays
In III.15, the trader asks for safe roads and successful bargain and sale. Verse 5 hopes riches staked in dealing become more and not less. A maker may put time, materials, and skill into objects before taking them to market. That investment is a modern analogy to the trader's risk, even though the Vedic poem does not describe craft pricing. The key distinction is that production can be abundant while return is poor. If supplies cost more than the sale price, a sold item may not yield profit. The trader hymn's attention to gain after a stake helps prevent an article from treating every sale as evidence of prosperity.
Confluence adds a household view
I.15 asks wealth and animals to come together and stay with a beneficiary, using streams of water, milk, and butter as images of gathering. For a maker who sells several pieces, that can describe proceeds joining household resources. But I.15 does not explain either production or sale; it is a different model of provision. Set beside III.24 and III.15, it marks a third stage after goods are made and exchanged: keeping the return. The three hymns do not form a single ancient craft rite. They are separate texts whose images can be compared to a modern maker's complete economic path without erasing their own settings.
The modern craft business is invented
The attached working seeks profit from handmade goods. Its goods, prices, selling channel, and desired margin are present-day features. The Atharvaveda gives no guarantee that buyers will appear, that materials will be cheap, or that the maker will earn a positive return. A historically honest page uses III.24 to analyze plenty in production and III.15 to analyze uncertain exchange. It can also note that the word handmade carries modern values of originality and labor that the grain hymn does not articulate. The old poems enrich the question by separating what is produced from what it yields, not by claiming a Vedic secret for craft sales.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: many objects, little margin
A maker produces ten woven bags. III.24's hundred-handed gathering loosely illuminates the growing pile of finished goods. Seven bags sell, bringing III.15's bargain into view. But if the proceeds barely cover thread and time, the sale has not fulfilled the spell's profit goal. I.15 could describe the money entering the household, yet it cannot determine whether that household is better off. The worked reading shows why a large inventory, several customers, and actual profit are three separate results. The ancient poems make those distinctions vivid without calculating a modern margin.