ns . ▁Each ▁book ▁generally ▁has ▁h ym ns ▁of ▁about ▁a ▁similar ▁number ▁of ▁vers es , ▁and ▁the ▁surv iving ▁manuscript s ▁label ▁the ▁book ▁with ▁the ▁short est ▁h ym ns ▁as ▁Book ▁ 1 , ▁and ▁then ▁in ▁an ▁increasing ▁order ▁( a ▁few ▁manuscript s ▁do ▁the ▁opposite ). ▁Most ▁of ▁the ▁h ym ns ▁are ▁po etic ▁and ▁set ▁to ▁different ▁meters , ▁but ▁about ▁a ▁sixth ▁of ▁the ▁book ▁is ▁pro se . ▁ ▁Most ▁of ▁the ▁h ym ns ▁of ▁Ath ar v av eda ▁are ▁unique ▁to ▁it , ▁except ▁for ▁the ▁one ▁sixth ▁of ▁its ▁h ym ns ▁that ▁it ▁bor rows ▁from ▁the ▁R ig ved a , ▁primarily ▁from ▁its ▁ 1 0 th ▁mand ala . ▁The ▁ 1 9 th ▁book ▁was ▁a ▁supp lement ▁of ▁a ▁similar ▁nature , ▁likely ▁of ▁new ▁compos itions ▁and ▁was ▁added ▁later . ▁The ▁ 1 4 3 ▁h ym ns ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁book ▁of ▁Ath ar v av eda ▁Sam h ita ▁is ▁almost ▁entirely ▁borrow ed ▁from ▁the ▁R ig ved a . ▁ ▁The ▁h ym ns ▁of ▁Ath ar v av eda ▁cover ▁a ▁mot ley ▁of ▁topics , ▁across ▁its ▁twenty ▁books . ▁R ough ly , ▁the ▁first ▁seven ▁books ▁focus ▁primarily ▁on ▁mag ical ▁po ems ▁for ▁all ▁sorts ▁of ▁he aling ▁and ▁sor c ery , ▁and ▁Michael ▁W itz el ▁states ▁these ▁are ▁rem in is cent ▁of ▁German