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 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 ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III ALSO CITED
Morning invocation to various gods, especially Bhaga
Read comparison hymn III.16 (7 verses)
Early (prātár) do we call Agni, early Indra, early Mitra-and-Varuṇa, early the (two) Açvins, early Bhaga, Pūshan, Brahmaṇaspati, early Soma and Rudra do we call.
The early-conquering formidable Bhaga do we call, the son of Aditi who is disposer (vidhartár), to whom every one that thinks himself weak [or] strong, ⌊to whom even the king⌋ says: "apportion [me] a portion."
O Bhaga, conductor, Bhaga, thou of true bestowal, Bhaga, help upward this prayer (dhī́), giving to us; O Bhaga, cause us to multiply with kine, with horses, O Bhaga, with men,—rich in men may we be.
Both now may we be fortunate (bhágavant), and in the advance (? prapitvá) and in the middle of the days; and, O bounteous one, at the up-going of the sun, may we be in the favor of the gods.
Let the god Bhaga himself be fortunate; through him may we be fortunate; on thee here, Bhaga, do I call entire; do thou, O Bhaga, be our forerunner here.
The dawns submit themselves (? sam-nam) to the sacrifice (adhvará), as Dadhikrāvan to the bright place; hitherward let them convey for me Bhaga, acquirer of good things, as vigorous (vājín) horses a chariot.
Let excellent dawns, rich in horses, rich in kine, rich in heroes, always shine for us, yielding (duh) ghee, on all sides drunk of: do ye protect us ever with well-beings.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.16 at Wikisource ↗
III.15 acknowledges a stake
Verse 5 of III.15 asks that riches used in bargaining become more and not less. That phrase is unusually relevant to investment language because it admits that wealth can be placed at risk in pursuit of gain. Yet the speaker is a trader moving through routes, buying and selling, not an owner of a modern financial asset. Verse 4 asks for fruitful return dealing, and the earlier verses address hazards of travel and encounter. The hymn's logic is risk and hoped-for increase within exchange. It does not supply a promised percentage, a holding period, or a way to know whether a modern investment will rise. The analogy is structural, not technical.
III.24 imagines productive multiplication
The grain hymn starts with milk-rich plants and a nourishing utterance, then asks abundance to arrive like streams after rain. Verse 4 imagines grain as an inexhaustible fountain of many streams; verse 5 calls a hundred-handed and thousand-handed gatherer to pile together provision. This is agricultural plenty, not compound interest. Whitney notes a Paippalāda variant that makes the fountain line clearer, which shows the textual image itself has a history. An investment may grow through productive activity, but it can also lose value. The grain poem's optimism cannot be converted into evidence that a particular asset will pay off.
Bhaga does not price risk
III.16's dawn prayer asks Bhaga for an apportioned share and names cattle, horses, and people as desired riches. That is a distributional image, distinct from III.15's risked capital and III.24's crop increase. A modern investor might feel fortunate if a small stake succeeds, but the feeling of receiving a favorable portion does not explain the outcome. Reading all three texts prevents an easy confusion: allotment, productive harvest, and commercial return are different models of gain. None of them proves that a modern market will reward a particular decision. The word small also says nothing about the likelihood or size of a result.
The current investment is an invented scenario
The attached working seeks a payoff from a small investment. Its asset, amount, timing, and desired profit are contemporary inventions. The Atharvaveda passages provide images that can illuminate why people hope for gain after committing resources, but they cannot certify a return or remove the risk of loss. A historical article should be especially careful with the phrase pay off: III.15 voices that wish precisely because gain is uncertain. The honest comparison is to a trader hoping more will come back than went out, while also naming how much of today's financial machinery lies outside the poem. Neither ritual speech nor favorable imagery is outcome evidence.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: two uses of a small sum
A person spends a small sum on materials for goods to sell, while another buys a financial asset. III.15's bargaining with riches is a stronger analogy for the first, where goods move through a direct sale. III.24's crop increase might evoke production but does not calculate profit. III.16 could express either person's hope for a favorable share. The second case has market rules and price risk not described by any of the hymns. If either loses money, the ancient texts have not failed as predictions; they were never evidence that these modern uses of cash would yield a return.