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 V IN FOCUS
Against niggardliness and its effects
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.
Read the remaining 6 verses of V.7
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 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 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 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 ↗
V.7 asks with words
V.7 addresses the obstruction of a gift and turns in verses 4 and 5 toward pleasant speech and solicitation. The speaker hopes that confidence will find the person approached. The hymn is framed by sacrificial giving and a strikingly reverent address to niggardliness, so its speech is not a modern payment reminder. Yet it exposes a familiar gap: a listener may respond favorably in words without giving anything. A message that says payment has been approved may be encouraging, but it may still precede the actual movement of funds. The old poem's focus on requesting and hearing helps prevent words from being mistaken for completed material support.
III.15 expects a return from exchange
The trade hymn asks for successful bargain and sale, then hopes that wealth used in bargaining returns as more rather than less. If the payment follows work or goods already delivered, this is the closer economic analogy than an unsolicited gift. But a trader's hope of fruitful return is still not the same as a payer's confirmation that money has been sent. The ancient text does not divide approval, dispatch, and settlement into administrative stages. It is useful because it identifies a prior exchange behind the good news. The announced sum has a story; it is not merely an auspicious word floating free of an obligation.
I.15 pictures arrival and retention
I.15 asks several streams to converge and wealth to come to a man and stay with him. Its later fountains of milk, butter, and water extend the flow image. That is a vivid comparison for seeing payment actually reach the recipient's resources. The poem does not name a message or prove that any promised transfer has cleared. Put beside V.7 and III.15, it reveals three distinct moments: someone speaks favorably, an exchange or claim grounds the amount, and value arrives. A modern email can report any of those stages; the word good news alone does not say which one has occurred.
The modern paired outcome
The attached working wants encouraging news to arrive together with payment. This exact pairing is a contemporary invention. Neither the ancient speech hymn nor the trade and confluence hymns predicts an alert or guarantees that a payer will complete a transaction. A reader can gain a useful textual distinction: favorable language in V.7, commercial return in III.15, and incoming provision in I.15 are not interchangeable. The spell asks that they line up in one happy event; history does not show that they must. That leaves the modern hope clear without turning old petitions into claims about payment systems or financial certainty.
III.16 verse 2 asks Bhaga for a share and verse 3 imagines substantial provision, but the morning petition is not an announcement that anything has been granted. It adds the stage of hoped-for allocation before V.7’s favorable words, III.15’s exchange, and I.15’s arriving wealth. A payment update can make a person feel fortunate, yet the hymn does not turn a promising message into funds already received.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: approved, sent, received
A client emails that an invoice has been approved, then sends a transfer, which appears the next day. V.7's speech of request and favorable response loosely illuminates the first message. III.15's bargain explains why the amount is due for completed work. I.15's confluence best captures the third moment, when funds finally join the recipient's resources. If approval is announced but the transfer fails, only the good news has happened, not the spell's full desired outcome. The hymns make that gap legible; none supplies a forecast of when modern payment rails will finish the job.