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
Accompanying the building of a house
Just here I fix (ni-mi) [my] dwelling (çā́lā) firm; may it stand in security, sprinkling ghee; unto thee here, O dwelling, may we resort (sam-car) with all our heroes, with good heroes, with unharmed heroes.
Just here stand thou firm, O dwelling, rich in horses, in kine, in pleasantness, in refreshment, in ghee, in milk; erect thyself (ut-çri) in order to great good-fortune.
A garner (? dharunī́) art thou, O dwelling, of great roof, of cleansed grain; to thee may the calf come, may the boy, may the kine, streaming in at evening.
This dwelling let Savitar, Vayu, Indra, Brihaspati fix, foreknowing; let the Maruts sprinkle it with water, with ghee; let king Bhaga deepen (ni-tan) our ploughing.
Read the remaining 5 verses of III.12
O mistress of the building (? mā́na), as sheltering, pleasant, hast thou, a goddess, been fixed by the gods in the beginning; clothing thyself in grass, mayest thou be well-willing; then mayest thou give us wealth together with heroes.
With due order, O beam (vaṅçá), ascend the post; formidable, bearing rule, force away (apa-vṛj) the foes; let not the attendants (upasattár) of thy houses be harmed, O dwelling; may we live a hundred autumns with all our heroes.
To it the tender boy, to it the calf, with moving creatures (jágat), to it the jar of parisrút, with mugs of curd, have come.
Bring forward, O woman, this full jar, a stream of ghee combined (sam-bhṛ) with ambrosia (amṛ́ta); anoint these drinkers (?) with ambrosia; let what is offered-and-bestowed defend it (f.: the dwelling?).
These waters I bring forward, free from yákṣma, yákṣma-effacing; I set forth (? pra-sad) unto (úpa) the houses, along with immortal (amṛ́ta) fire.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read III.12 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK III ALSO CITED
To Agni and other gods: for various blessings
Read comparison hymn III.20 (10 verses)
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.
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 ↗
III.12 addresses the house itself
The first verse fixes a dwelling firmly and asks that its people resort to it unharmed. Verse 2 wants it rich in horses, cattle, refreshment, ghee, and milk; verse 3 imagines a calf, boy, and cattle coming in at evening. These details describe habitation and provision. A present-day owner may think of rental income, but the ancient poem does not treat occupants as payment streams. Whitney notes the first eight verses have Paippalāda parallels in different placements, so the house hymn has a textual history as well as a building setting. Its strongest contribution to this article is to keep shelter and the lives within it visible beside the modern wish for revenue.
III.20 asks for wealth in another frame
III.20 begins with Agni increasing riches and later calls on multiple deities for giving. Verse 6 hopes that people encountered will be well disposed and willing to give. It is a ritual blessing with substantial Rigvedic parallels, not a rental schedule. The language of recurring benefit may appeal to a property owner, but it cannot say a tenant will pay, that a unit will remain occupied, or that income will exceed costs. The house of III.12 and the wealth of III.20 should not be collapsed into a claim that the former automatically produces the latter. One source imagines a flourishing household; the other petitions for abundance.
The lease introduces exchange
III.15's trader asks for fruitful bargain and return dealing. A lease is a modern ongoing agreement to use a property for payment, different from a one-time sale and far from the trader's caravan. Still, the text can illuminate why a financial return depends on agreed terms and human performance rather than on the building alone. Rent received is not the same as net income after upkeep and periods without a tenant. The Vedic hymns provide no rule for calculating those amounts. Comparing III.12 and III.15 makes a useful distinction: a house can be sound and welcoming while the owner's financial arrangement is poor, or profitable while the living conditions need attention.
The modern income wish
The attached working asks that a rental property bring steady income. This exact benefit is contemporary and invented. The old poems can illuminate the value of a secure dwelling and the desire for riches, but cannot guarantee occupancy, payment, or profit. An honest article treats tenants as people using a home, not as characters compelled by III.20's giving language. The house hymn's grain, cattle, and family scene remains its own historical world. It gives the modern reader a richer question than whether money arrives: what kind of dwelling is being sustained, and what kind of agreement makes the payments legitimate? Those facts belong to the present case.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: occupied but unprofitable
A house stays occupied and rent is paid each month. III.12 can illuminate the wish for a secure, inhabited dwelling; III.20 can express the owner's desire for provision. III.15 is the closer comparison for the agreed exchange. If repairs and taxes consume more than the payments, the property brought receipts but not the steady income the spell imagines. If the house is vacant, the dwelling still exists yet its rental agreement is absent. The worked example shows why shelter, occupancy, gross rent, and useful return must be kept distinct rather than treated as one ancient blessing.