Glorification and benediction of cows

Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com

p. a130

HYMN XXI

Glorification and benediction of cows

1The kine have come and brought good fortune: let them rest in
   the cow-pen and be happy near us.
  Here let them stay prolific, many-coloured, and yield through
   many morns their milk for Indra.
2Indra aids him who offers sacrifice and praise: he takes not what
   is his, and gives him more thereto.
  Increasing ever more and ever more his wealth, he makes the
   pious dwell within unbroken bounds.
3These are ne'er lost, no robber ever injures them: no evil-minded
   foe attempts to harass them.
  The master of the kine lives a long life with these, the Cows
   whereby he pours his gifts and serves the Gods.
4The charger with his dusty brow o'ertakes them not, and never
   to the shambles do they take their way.
  These Cows, the cattle of the pious worshipper, roam over wide-
   spread pasture where no danger is.
5To me the Cows seem Bhaga, they seem Indra, they seem a
   portion of the first poured Soma.
  These present Cows, they, O ye men, are Indra. I long for Indra
   with my heart and spirit.
6O Cows, ye fatten e'en the worn and wasted, and make the
   unlovely beautiful to look on.
  Prosper my home, ye with auspicious voices! Your power is
   magnified in our assemblies.
7In goodly pasturage, bright-hued, prolific, drinking pure water at
   fair drinking-places,
  Never be thief or sinful man your master, and may the dart of
  Rudra still avoid you!