b. The steed given by Yama hath Trita yoked, It Indra first mounted, The bridle of it the Gandharva grasped; O Vasus, from the sun ye fashioned the steed.
c. Thou art Yama, O steed, thou art Aditya; Thou art Trita by secret ordinance; Thou art entirely separated from Soma [1]; Three, they say, are thy bonds in the sky.
d. Three, they say, are thy bonds in the sky, Three in the waters, three within the ocean And like Varuna to me thou appearest, O steed, Where, say they, is thy highest birthplace.
e. These, O swift one, are thy cleansings, These the placings down of thy hooves in victory; Here I have seen thy fair ropes, Which the guards of holy order guard.
f. The self of thee with my mind I perceived from afar, Flying with wings from below through the sky [2]; Thy head I saw speeding with wings On paths fair and dustless.
g. Here I saw thy highest form, Eager to win food in the footstep of the cow; When a mortal man pleaseth thy taste, Then most greedily dost thou consume the plants.
h. Thee follows the chariot, thee the lover, O steed, Thee the kine, thee the portion of maidens; Thy friendship the companies have sought; The gods have imitated thy strength [3].
i. Golden his horns, iron his feet; Swift as thought, Indra was his inferior; The gods came to eat his oblation Who first did master the steed.
k. Full haunched, of slender middle, The heroic divine steeds, Vie together like cranes in rows, When the horses reach the divine coursing-place 1 Thy body is fain to fly, O steed; Thy thought is like the blowing wind; Thy horns are scattered in many places, They wander busy in the woods.
m. To [4] the slaughter the swift steed hath come, Pondering with pious mind; The goat, his kin, is led before, Behind him come the sages to sing.
n. To his highest abode hath the steed come, To his father and his mother; To-day do thou go, most welcome, to the gods; Then boons shall he assign to the generous.