For orphan child and lonely dame;
    The old and young were well supplied,
    The poor and hungry satisfied. 
    Throughout the day ascetics fed,
    And those who roam to beg their bread:—­
    While all around the cry was still,
    “Give forth, give forth,” and “Eat your fill.” 
    “Give forth with liberal hand the meal,
    And various robes in largess deal.”

    Urged by these cries on every side
    Unweariedly their task they plied,
    And heaps of food like hills in size
    In boundless plenty met the eyes:—­
    And lakes of sauce, each day renewed,
    Refreshed the weary multitude. 
    And strangers there from distant lands,
    And women folk in crowded bands
    The best of food and drink obtained
    At the great rite the King ordained. 
    Apart from all, the Brahmans there,
    Thousands on thousands, took their share
    Of various dainties sweet to taste,
    On plates of gold and silver placed—­
    All ready set, as, when they willed,
    The twice-born men their places filled. 
    And servants in fair garments dressed
    Waited upon each Brahman guest.

    Of cheerful mind and mien were they,
    With gold and jewelled ear-rings gay. 
    The best of Brahmans praised the fare
    Of countless sorts, of flavor rare—­
    And thus to Raghu’s son they cried:—­
    “We bless thee, and are satisfied.” 
    Between the rites some Brahmans spent
    The time in learned argument,
    With ready flow of speech, sedate,
    And keen to vanquish in debate. 
    There day by day the holy train
    Performed all rites as rules ordain. 
    No priest in all that host was found
    But kept the vows that held him bound;
    None, but the holy Vedas knew,
    And all their sixfold science too. 
    No Brahman there was found unfit
    To speak with eloquence and wit.

    And now the appointed time came near
    The sacrificial posts to rear. 
    They brought them, and prepared to fix
    Of Bel and Khadir six and six;
    Six, made of the Palasa-tree,
    Of Fig-wood one, apart to be—­
    Of Sleshmat and of Devadar
    One column each, the mightiest far:—­
    So thick the two the arms of man
    Their ample girth would fail to span. 
    All these with utmost care were wrought
    By hand of priests in Scripture taught,
    And all with gold were gilded bright
    To add new splendor to the rite;
    Twenty-and-one those stakes in all,
    Each one-and-twenty cubits tall:—­
    And one-and-twenty ribbons there
    Hung on the pillars bright and fair. 
    Firm in the earth they stood at last,
    Where cunning craftsmen fixed them fast;
    And there unshaken each remained,
    Octagonal and smoothly planed.