Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 4.4.3.1

4.4.3.1

paśavo vai devānāṃ candāṃsi | tadyathedam paśavo yuktā manuṣyebhyo vahantyevaṃ candāṃsi yuktāni devebhyo yajñaṃ vahanti tadyatra candāṃsi devāntsamatarpayannatha candāṃsi devāḥ samatarpayaṃstadatastatprāgabhūdyaccandāṃsi yuktāni devebhyo yajñamavākṣuryadenāntsamatītṛpan

The metres, forsooth, are the (draught) cattle of the gods. Even as harnessed cattle here on earth draw for men, so do the harnessed metres draw the sacrifice for the gods. And whenever the metres gratified the gods, then the gods gratified the metres. Now it has been previous to this, that the harnessed metres have drawn the sacrifice to the gods, that they have gratified them: