Of cheerful mind and mien were they, With gold and jewelled ear-rings gay. The best of Bráhmans 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 Bráhmans 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 Bráhman 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 Khádir six and six; Six, made of the Paláśa-tree, Of Fig-wood one, apart to be-- Of Sleshmát and of Devadár 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.