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
To Agni and other gods: for various blessings
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.
Read the remaining 6 verses of III.20
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 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
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 ↗
I.15 insists that wealth stay
The confluence hymn brings rivers, winds, and birds together and asks wealth to come to a beneficiary and remain. Its later fountains make incoming resources vivid. For savings, the request that wealth stay is at least as important as the wish that it grow. But the poem does not mention a financial institution, account balance, or interest. Whitney notes a different Paippalāda verse order, so even the sequence of convergence and retention has more than one historical arrangement. A modern saver can use the image to think about preservation, while recognizing that the account's actual terms are entirely outside the text. Keeping money is not itself the same as earning a return.
III.20 asks for increase without a rate
III.20 begins with Agni and a request to increase wealth; later verses invoke divine and human generosity. This broad blessing language can express a desire for more resources, but it cannot set the yield of savings or distinguish a safe deposit from a risky investment. Whitney traces much of the hymn to Rigvedic parallels, and its ending is not one continuous technical explanation of wealth. The modern benefit's adjective better implies comparison with another available return. Nothing in the ancient poem provides that benchmark. To treat its blessing as an interest promise would give a historical verse a financial precision it does not have.
III.15 recognizes a stake and possible loss
The trader of III.15 hopes riches used in bargaining become more, not less. Some modern savings products may expose funds to risk; others have different terms, but those distinctions belong to current financial instruments. The ancient merchant's exchange is not a savings account. Its useful analogy is the question of what happens to resources committed in pursuit of gain. I.15 points to retention, III.20 to hoped-for abundance, and III.15 to uncertain return. They cannot be merged into a recommendation for any modern account. Reading the three separately prevents the pleasant word savings from hiding questions of access, conditions, and risk.
The exact return is contemporary
The attached working seeks a better return on savings. Its account, provider, comparison rate, and time horizon are original modern features. None of the hymns verifies an interest payment, selects a financial product, or removes the possibility of disappointment. A historically careful article can make the benefit intelligible without advice disguised as Vedic authority: one wants funds to remain available and perhaps increase under accepted terms. The old texts speak in images of confluence, divine blessing, and trade. They provide vocabulary for hope, not evidence of a future balance. This boundary matters especially because a promise of guaranteed growth would go beyond both the poems and the present facts.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: balance versus yield
A saver places funds in an account and checks it after a year. If the original amount remains, I.15's wish that wealth stay has a loose analogy. If additional money is credited under the account's terms, III.20's increase language can describe the welcome result. III.15's trader is a contrast for situations where a stake is exposed to possible loss in pursuit of more. The hymns cannot determine whether the credited amount is better than another option or what risks the saver accepted. The example separates retention from growth, the two outcomes a short savings spell can obscure.