Atharva Veda · 708 of 724

HYMN CXXVII

A hymn in praise of the good Government of King Kaurama 1. Listen to this, ye men, a laud of glorious bounty shall be sung.   Thousands sixty, and ninety we, O Kaurama, among the   Rusamas have received. 2. Camels twice-ten that draw the car, with females by their side,    he gave.   Fain would the chariot’s top bow down escaping from the stroke    of heaven. 3. A hundred chains of gold, ten wreaths, upon thee Rishi he    bestowed,   And thrice-a-hundred mettled steeds, ten-times-a-thousand cows    he gave. 4. Glut thee, O Singer, glut thee like a bird on a ripe-fruited tree.   Thy lips and tongue move swiftly like the sharp blades of a pair    of shears. 5. Quickly and willingly like kine forth come the singers and their    hymns:   Their little maidens are at home, at home they wait upon the    cows. 6. O Singer, bring thou forth the hymn that findeth cattle, findeth:    wealth. p. 364   Even as an archer aims his shaft address this prayer unto the   Gods. 7. List to Parikshit’s eulogy, the sovran whom all people love,   The King who ruleth over all, excelling mortals as a God. 8’Mounting his throne, Parikshit, best of all, hath given us peace    and rest,’   Saith a Kauravya to his wife as he is ordering his house. 9’Which shall I set before thee, curds, gruel of milk, or barley-    brew?’   Thus the wife asks her husband in the realm which King   Parikshit rules. 10. Up as it were to heavenly light springs the ripe corn above the    cleft.   Happily thrive the people in the land where King Parikshit    reigns. 11. Indra hath waked the bard and said, Rise, wander singing here    and there.   Praise me, the strong: each pious man will give thee riches in    return, 12. Here, cows! increase and multiply, here ye, O horses, here, O    men.   Here, with a thousand rich rewards, doth Pūshan also seat him-    self. 13. O Indra, let these cows be safe, their master free from injury.   Let not the hostile-hearted or the robber have control of them. 14. Oft and again we glorify the hero with our hymn of praise, with    prayer, with our auspicious prayer.   Take pleasure in the songs we sing: let evil never fall on us.