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
Morning invocation to various gods, especially Bhaga
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.
Read the remaining 3 verses of III.16
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 ↗
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 ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VI ALSO CITED
For relief from guilt or debt
Read comparison hymn VI.117 (3 verses)
What I eat (?) that is borrowed, that is not given back; with what tribute of Yama I go about—now, O Agni, I become guiltless (anṛṇá) as to that; thou knowest how to unfasten all fetters.
Being just here we give it back; living, we pay it in (ni-hṛ) for the living; what grain I have devoured having borrowed [it], now, O Agni, I become guiltless as to that.
Guiltless in this [world], guiltless in the higher, guiltless in the third world may we be; the worlds traversed by the gods and traversed by the Fathers—all the roads may we abide in guiltless.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VI.117 at Wikisource ↗
Bhaga apportions; he does not deliver a windfall
III.16 opens by calling a succession of gods at dawn, then narrows its attention to Bhaga. In verse 2, even a person who thinks himself strong and a king ask for a portion. The point is not that high status makes an unexpected sum certain; the king too depends on a power imagined as distributing shares. Verse 3 specifies cattle, horses, and people, the assets through which a household or group could flourish. The seven-verse prayer keeps returning to morning, favorable standing, and protection. Those details locate abundance within a living social world, not in an isolated pile of coins.
The rival image: wealth as confluence
I.15 begins with rivers, winds, and birds moving together. Its second verse turns that convergence toward a named beneficiary and asks that animals come to him and wealth remain with him. The last two verses compare riches with fountains, milk, clarified butter, and water. This is an image of gathering and retention, rather than Bhaga's apportionment. Whitney notes that a Paippalāda witness places the four verses in a different order, so even the sequence of images is not fixed across recensions. The difference matters: a stream might arrive from several sources, but a flowing metaphor is no forecast of an unplanned bank deposit.
The contrast with earned exchange
III.15, a hymn for trade, adds a third possibility. Its opening asks Indra to go ahead of a trader and remove dangers from the road. Later verses seek successful bargain, sale, and return dealing; verse 5 asks that wealth risked in bargaining become more rather than less. Trade has a route, a counterparty, and an exposed stake. By comparison, an unexpected sum has no specified transaction at all. Treating these hymns as interchangeable prosperity formulas would erase the social mechanism each text imagines. The textual distinction makes the modern wish clearer: surprise is precisely the feature the ancient examples do not promise.
What a contemporary working can honestly mean
The attached intention asks for an unexpected sum of money, an original modern scenario. It can be read symbolically through III.16's openness to an allotted share and I.15's picture of multiple sources converging. Neither hymn instructs a person to summon currency, guarantees a result, or explains how to identify a hidden payer. The ancient material instead invites a question about where value comes from: distribution, continuing provision, or exchange. A reader can use that distinction to interpret the theme without pretending that a Vedic household possessed today's accounts, transfers, or sudden payouts. Historical comparison gives the image depth; it supplies no evidence that the money will appear.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: one sum, three models
Imagine a person receives a one-time award after years of work. The arrival might feel surprising, yet III.16 would highlight the favorable share, I.15 would highlight several streams of effort and support flowing together, and III.15 would ask whether there was a bargain or service behind it. If the sum were instead repayment of an old loan, VI.117 would be closer, because that hymn concerns returning what was borrowed. The same modern event can resemble different ancient images depending on its cause. Calling every incoming payment a windfall would hide the question that the texts help a reader ask: was this portion, accumulation, exchange, or restitution?