3. ' He who recites the praise of Holiness\ in the fulness of faith and with a devoted heart, praises me, Ahura Mazda; he praises the waters, he praises the earth, he praises the catde, he praises the plants, he praises all good things made by Mazda, all the things that are the offspring of the good principle.
4. ' For the reciting of that word of truth, O Zarathu^tra! the pronouncing of that formula, the Ahuna Vairya, increases strength and victory in one's soul and piety.
' Asha: the Ashem Vohu..
C!T2 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
5. ' For that only recital of the praise of Holiness is worth a hundred khshnaothras of the beings of Holiness \ when delivered while going to sleep, a thousand when delivered after eating, ten thousand when delivered during cohabitation, or any number when delivered in departing this life.'
6. ' What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth ten others in greatness, good- ness, and fairness? ' 7. Ahura Mazda answered: ' It is that one, O holy Zarathu-ytra! that a man delivers when eating the gifts of Haurvata/ and Amereta/^ at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
8. ' What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth a hundred others in great- ness, goodness, and fairness? ' 9. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathui'tra! that a man delivers while drinking of the Haoma strained for the sacrifice, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
10. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth a thousand others In great- ness, goodness, and fairness? ' 11. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathui-tra! that a man delivers when starting * A hundred times the formula: 'Be propitiation (khshnao- thra) unto N,..., the holy and master of holiness' (cf p. i, note 2). - Eating or drinking (see Vendidad, Introd. IV, 33).
YAST FRAGMENT. 3 I up from his bed or going to sleep again, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
12. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth ten thousand others in great- ness, goodness, and fairness? ' 13. Ahura Mazda answered: ' It is that one, O holy Zarathu^tra! that a man delivers when waking up and rising from sleep, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
14. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth this Karshvare of ours, /z^iyaniratha \ with its cattle and its chariots, without its men, in greatness, goodness, and fairness? ' 15. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathu^tra! that a man delivers in the last moments of his life, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
16. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth all that is between the earth and the heavens, and this earth, and that luminous space, and all the good things made by Mazda, that are the offspring of the good principle in greatness, goodness, and fairness?'
17. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathu5tra! that a man delivers to renounce evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds ^.'
^ In a conversion, or in the recital of the penitential prayers.
314 YA5TS AND siRdZAHS.
YA^-T XXII.
This Ya^t is a description of the fate that attends the soul of the righteous (§§ 1-18) and the soul of the wicked (§§ 19-37) after death. They spend the first three nights (the sadis or sidos; of. Commentaire du Vendidad, XIII, 55) amongst the highest enjoy- ments or pains; they are then met by their own conscience in the shape of a beautiful heavenly maiden (or a fiendish old woman ^), and are brought in four steps up to heaven or down to hell, through the three paradises of Good -Thought, Good -Word, and Good- Deed, or the three hells of Evil -Thought, Evil -Word, and Evil- Deed: there they are praised and glorified by Ahura, or rebuked and insulted by Angra Mainyu, and fed with ambrosia or poison.
Similar developments are to be found in Ya^t XXIV, 53-65; Arda Viraf XVII; Minokhired II, 123-194.
I.
1. Zarathiutra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
' When one of the faithful departs this life, where does his soul abide on that nio^ht? ' Ahura Mazda answered: 2, * It takes its seat near the head, singing the Uj-tavaiti Gatha ^ and proclaiming happiness: " Happy is he, happy the man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives the full accomplishment of his wishes!" On that nio-ht his soul tastes^ as O much of pleasure as the whole of the living world can taste.'
^ The name of the second Gatha, which begins with the word ujta: the words in the text, 'Happy the man...,' are its opening line (Yaj-na XLII, i).
^ Literally, sees, perceives.
VAST XXII. 315 3. — ' On the second night where does his soul abide?'
4. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It takes its seat near the head, singing the U^tavaiti Gatha and pro- claiming happiness: " Happy is he, happy the man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives the full accomplishment of his wishes!" On that night his soul tastes as much of pleasure as the whole of the living world can taste.'
5. — 'On the third night where does his soul abide?'
6. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It takes its seat near the head, singing the U^tavaiti Gatha and proclaiming happiness: " Happy is he, happy the man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives the full accomplishment of his wishes!" On that night his soul tastes as much of pleasure as the whole of the livins: world can taste.'
7. At the end^ of the third night, when the dawn appears, it seems to the soul of the faithful one as if it were brought amidst plants and scents: it seems as if a wind were blowing from the region of the south, from the regions of the south, a sweet- scented wind, sweeter-scented than any other wind in the world.
8. And it seems to the soul of the faithful one as if he were inhaling that wind with the nostrils, and he thinks: 'Whence does that wind blow, the sweetest- scented wind I ever inhaled with my nostrils?'
9. And it seems to him as if his own conscience were advancing to him in that wind, in the shape of a maiden fair, bright, white-armed, strong, tall- ^Thraojta: in Pahlavi roijman.
'^l6 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
formed, high -standing, thick-breasted, beautiful of body, noble, of a glorious seed ^ of the size of a maid in her fifteenth year, as fair as the fairest things in the world.
10. And the soul of the faithful one addressed her, asking: ' What maid art thou, who art the fairest maid I have ever seen? ' 11. And she, being his own conscience, answers him: ' O thou youth of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, of good religion, I am thy own conscience!
* Everybody did love thee for that greatness, good- ness, fairness, sweet-scentedness, victorious strength and freedom from sorrow, in which thou dost appear to me; 12. 'And so thou, O youth of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, of good religion! didst love me for that greatness, goodness, fairness, sweet- scentedness, victorious strength, and freedom from sorrow, in which I appear to thee.
13. 'When thou wouldst see a man making deri- sion^ and deeds of idolatry, or rejecting^ (the poor) and shutting his door ^, then thou wouldst sit singing the Gathas and worshipping the good waters and Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda, and rejoicing^ the faithful that would come from near or from afar.
' ' That is to say, from the gods' (Pahl. Comm.).
^ Of holy things.
^ Doubtful. The Pahlavi commentary has the following gloss: ' He would not give his friends what they begged for.'
* To the poor: — Urvaro-straya: urvar babai/^ kart (Pahl. Comm.): aighshan bab^ bara asrunast (star, to tie, as in frasta- retem baresma). Cf. Yt. XXIV, 37, 59.
^ With alms to the poor Mazdayasnians (asho-dad).
VAST XXII. 317 14. ' I was lovely and thou madest me still lovelier; I was fair and thou madest me still fairer; I was desirable and thou madest me still more desirable; I was sitting in a forward place and thou madest me sit in the foremost place, through this good thought, through this good speech, through this good deed of thine; and so henceforth men worship me for my having long sacrificed unto and conversed with Ahura Mazda.
15. ' The first step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Good -Though t ^ Paradise; ' The second step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Good-Word^ Paradise; ' The third step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Good-Deed^ Paradise; ' The fourth step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Endless Lights *.'
16. Then one of the faithful, who had departed before him, asked him, saying: 'How didst thou depart this life, thou holy man? How didst thou come, thou holy man! from the abodes full of cattle and full of the wishes and enjoyments of love? From the material world into the world of the spirit? From the decaying world into the undecaying one? How long did thy felicity last?'
17. And Ahura Mazda answered: 'Ask him not what thou askest him, who has just gone the dreary ^ The so-called Hum at Paradise (cf.Yt. Ill, 3). ^ The so-called Hfikht Paradise. ^ The so-called Hvarsht Paradise. * The seat of the Garothman.
3l8 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
way, full of fear and distress, where the body and the soul part from one another.
1 8. '[Let him eat] of the food brought to him, of the oil of Zaremaya ^: this is the food for the youth of good thoughts, of good words, of good deeds, of good religion, after he has departed this life; this is the food for the holy woman, rich in good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, well-principled and obedient to her husband, after she has departed this life,' 19. Zarathu^tra asked Ahura Mazda 1 'O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
( 'When one of the wicked perishes, where does his soul abide on that night.-*' 20. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It rushes and sits near the skull, singing the Kima^ Gatha, O holy Zarathui'tra!
'"To what land shall I turn, O Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying?"
' On that night his soul tastes as much of suffering as the whole of the living world can taste.'y 21. — 'On the second night, where does his soul abide?'
22. Ahura Mazda answered: Tt rushes and sits near the skull, singing the Kima Gatha, O holy ^ Zaremaya is the spring: the word translated oil (raoghna, Persian ^^^ might perhaps be better translated 'butter;' the milk made in the middle of spring was said to be the best (Vis- perad I, 2; PahL Comm.; cf. Dadistan XXXI, 14).
^ The Gatha of lamenting, beginning with the word Kam (Kam neme zam: ' To what land shall I turn?'); Yasna XLVI (XLV).
Zarathui-tra! "To what land shall I turn, O Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying?"
'On that night his soul tastes as much of suffering as the whole of the livingf world can taste.'
23^. — 'On the third night, where does his soul abide?'
24. Ahura Mazda answered: ' It rushes and sits near the skull, singing the Kima Gatha, O holy Zarathui'tra! " To what land shall I turn, O Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying?"
'On that night his soul tastes as much of suffering as the whole of the living world can taste.'
25. At the end of the third night, O holy Zara- thui-tra! when the dawn appears, it seems to the soul of the faithful one as if it were brought amidst snow and stench, and as if a wind were blowing from the region of the north, from the regions of the north, a foul-scented wind, the foulest-scented of all the winds in the world.
26-32. And it seems to the soul of the wicked man as if he were Inhaling that wind with the nostrils, and he thinks: 'Whence does that wind blow, the foulest- scented wind that I ever inhaled with my nostrils V ) ^ A development similar to that in §§ 9-14 is to be supplied here: in the Arda Viraf and the INIinokhired the soul of the wicked is met by a horrid old woman, who is his own conscience: ' And in that wind he saw his own religion and deeds, as a profligate woman, naked, decayed, gaping, bandy-legged, lean-hipped, and unlimitedly spotted, so that spot was joined to spot, like the most hideous noxious creatures (khrafstar), most filthy and most stinking' (cf. § 9).
Then that wicked soul spoke thus: ' Who art thou? than whom I never saw any one of the creatures of Auharmazd and Akharman uglier, or filthier or more stinking' (cf. § 10).
To him she spoke thus: ' I am thy bad actions, O youth of evil thoughts, of evil words, of evil deeds, of evil religion I It 33. The first step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Evil --Thought Hell; The second step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Evil-Word Hell; The third step that the soul of the wicked^ man made laid him in the Evil-Deed Hell; The fourth step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Endless Darkness.
34. Then one of the wicked who departed before him addressed him, saying: 'How didst thou perish, 0 wicked man? How didst thou come, O fiend! from the abodes full of cattle and full of the wishes and enjoyments of love? From the material world into the world of the Spirit? From the decaying is on account of thy will and actions that I am hideous and vile, iniquitous and diseased, rotten and foul-smelling, unfortunate and distressed, as appears to thee (cf. §§ 11-12).
' When thou sawest any one who performed the Yazishn and Dron ceremonies, and praise and prayer and the service of God, and preserved and protected water and fire, catile and trees, and other good creations, thou practisedst the will of Akharman and the demons, and improper actions. And when thou sawest one who provided hospitable reception, and gave something deservedly in gifts and charity, for the advantage of the good and worthy who came from far, and who were from near, thou wast -avaricious, and shuttedst up thy door (cf. § 13).
'And though I have been unholy (that is, I have been considered bad), I am made more unholy through thee; and though I have been frightful, I am made more frightful through thee; though 1 have been tremulous, I am made more tremulous through thee; though I am settled in the northern region of the demons, I am settled further north through thee; through these evil thoughts, through these evil words, and through these evil deeds, which thou practisedst. They curse me, a long time, in the long execration and evil communion of the Evil Spirit (cf. § 14).
'Afterwards that soul of the wicked advanced the first footstep on Dush-humat (the place of evil thoughts), &c.' (The Book of Arda Viraf, XVII, 12-27, as translated by Haug).
YAST XXII. 321 world into the undecaying one? How long did thy suffering last?'
35. Angra Mainyu, the lying one, said: 'Ask him not what thou askest him, who has just gone the dreary way, full of fear and distress, where the body and the soul part from one another.
36. ' Let him eat of the food brought unto him, of poison and poisonous stench ': this is the food, after he has perished, for the youth of evil thoughts, evil words, evil deeds, evil religion after he has perished; this is the food for the fiendish woman, rich in evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds, evil religion, ill-principled, and disobedient to her husband.
37^. 'We worship the Fravashi of the holy man, whose name is Asm6-//iyanva;^/^; then I will worship the Fravashis of the other holy Ones who were strong of faith*.
38 ^. ' We worship the memory of Ahura Mazda, to keep the Holy Word.
' We worship the understanding of Ahura Mazda, to study the Holy Word.
' We worship the tongue of Ahura Mazda, to speak forth the Holy W^ord.
' We worship the mountain that gives under- standing, that preserves understanding; [we worship * Cf. Yasna XXXI, 20: 'He who would deceive the holy One, to him afterwards (will be) a long weeping in the dark place, bad food and words of insult. O wicked! this is the place down which your own conscience will bring you through your own deeds.'
^ One of the first disciples of Zoroaster; cf. Yt. XIII, 96.
it] by day and by night, with offerings of Hbations well-accepted \ 392. 'O Maker! how do the souls of the dead, the Fravashis of the holy Ones, manifest^ themselves *?'
40. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They manifest themselves from goodness of spirit and excellence of mind^.'
41^. Then towards the dawning of the dawn'', that bird Par6dar5^ that bird Kareto-dasu^ hears the voice of the F'ire.
^ A Pahlavi translation of the following two fragments is found in MS. 33, Paris, Supplement Persan (edited in Etudes Iraniennes,II).
* ' How do they manifest their assistance?' (Pahl. tr. ibid.); that is to say, when do they assist their relations and countrymen? (see Yt. XIII, 49 seq.)
? When men are instinct with good spirit and good thought.
® The Pahlavi translation of this fragment has here §§ 14-16 of the Atash Nyayij, then §§ 18-19 of Vendidad XVIII. Therefore the whole passage is to be restored as follows: Atar looks at the hands of all those who pass by: ' What does the friend bring to his friend..,.?' (Atash N. 14.)
And if that passer-by brings him wood holily brought, or bundles of baresma holily tied up..., then Atar...will bless him thus: A May herds of oxen grow for thee...(Atash N. 15-16).
In the first part of the night, Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, calls the master of the house for help, saying: ' Up! arise, thou master of the house...' (Vend. XVIII, * Then towards the dawning of the dawn...' (see the text). ' CfVend. XVIII, 23.
* 'He who has knowledge made,' or 'He who has the know- ledge of what is made' (kartak danishn); his other name Paro- dar.r is 'He who foresees.'
^ Here again a large passage is omitted: it can only partly be YAST XXII. 323 42. Here the fiendish Biishyasta, the long-handed, rushes from the region of the north, from the regions of the north, speaking thus, lying thus: ' Sleep on, O men! Sleep on, O sinners! Sleep on and live in sin.'
supplied from the Pahlavi translation; the words in brackets refer to Zend texts lost to us: 'Then he flaps his wings and lifts up his voice, saying: "Arise, O men! [and also women, grown-up people, and children, &c Put on well your girdle and shirt, wash your hands, put your girdle around your body, go and give food to the cattle and recite aloud the five holy Gathas of Spitama Zarathujtra."]
' Here the fiendish Bushyasta.../ (see the text). Then the Pahlavi translation has: ' Never care for the three excellent things, good thoughts, good words, good deeds' (cf. Vend. XVIII, 25).
324 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
xxiii-xxiv. AfrIn paighambar zar- TIJST AND VI6TASP YA^'T.
'God taught the Zendavasta to Zartusht— a subUme work...God said to Zartusht, "Go and before Shah Gushtasp read this book, that he may come into the faith...keep all my counsel and repeat it word by word to Shah Gushtasp \' Zartusht, in obedience to God, went to the court of Gushtasp: ' He came forward and called down a blessing on the Shah^.' Then he read to him the Zandavasta and said: ' Learn its statutes and walk therein. If your desire is towards its laws, your abode shall be in the paradise of heaven. But if you turn away from its command- ments, you shall bring down your crowned head to the dust. Your God will be displeased with you, and will overthrow your pros- perous condition. At the last you shall descend into hell, if you hear not the counsel of the Almighty ^' These lines of the Zartusht-Namah are a summary of the following two Yajts. The first, entitled ' The blessing of the prophet Zartu^t,' contains the words of blessing addressed by Zarathujtra w^hen appearing before the king. These words seem to have followed a similar blessing pronounced by (Pamaspa ^ the prime minister of Vii-taspa ^ Ya^t XXIV contains the exhortations of the prophet to the king to follow and closely adhere to the Law of Mazda. It is a counterpart to the XlXth Fargard of the Vendidad, as Zarathu^-tra plays here the same part to Vijtaspa as Ahura does there to Zara- thujtra. It is, therefore, a summary of the Law, of the duties it ^ The Zartusht-Namah, translated by E. B. Eastwick, in Wilson's Parsi Religion, p. 495.
* See Yt. XXIII, 2; whether Anquetil's staten.ent to that effect (Zend-Avesta II, 623) rests on independent tradition or only on the text of our Yajt is not clear.
A AFRIN PAIGHAMBAR ZARTU5T. 325 enforces and of the rewards it promises. This accounts for the strange disconnection apparent in it, which makes it a crux inter pre turn, as, besides the very corrupt state of the text, the chief difficulty of this Yart arises from the fact that many passages in it are incomplete quotations from the Vendidad, or allusions to statements therein \ which, when supplied, help a good deal to relieve this Yajt from its apparent state of utter incoherence.
For this translation I was able to avail myself of a Pahlavi trans- lation, of which a copy was kindly lent to me by Mr, West. That translation is apparently of late date and often manifestly wrong; yet it was very useful to me in several passages, besides its giving a Zend text generally more correct and more correctly divided than the text in Westergaard's edition '^.
Ya^t XXIII was originally no independent Yajt, being nothing more than the beginning of Yaj-t XXIV, detached from it, with some slight alterations and inversions.
XXIII. AfrIn PAIGHAMBAR ZARTO^T.
1. *I am a pious man, who speaks words of blessing.'
— ' Thou appearest unto me full of Glory.' And Zarathiutra spake unto king Vi.rtaspa, say- ino-: ' I bless thee, O man! O lord of the country! with the living of a good life, of an exalted life, of a long life. May thy men live long! May thy women live long! May sons be born unto thee of thy own body!
2. ' Mayest thou have a son like 6^imaspa, and may he bless thee as (6^amaspa blessed) Vi^taspa (the lord) of the country ^!
2 The various readings in Mr. West's manuscript are indicated by the letter W. in the notes.
^ See the introduction to this Ya^t and Yt. XXIV, 3, text and note.
326 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
' Mayest thou be most beneficent, like Mazda! ' Mayest thou be fiend-smiting, hke Thraetaona ^! 'Mayest thou be strong, Hke 6^amaspa ^!
* Mayest thou be well-armed, like Takhma- Urupa ^!
3. ' Mayest thou be glorious, like Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd!
' Mayest thou be instructed with a thousand senses, like Azi Dahaka, of the evil law ^!
' Mayest thou be awful and most strong, like Keresaspa ^!
' Mayest thou be a wise chief of assemblies, like UrvakhshayaM ' Mayest thou be beautiful of body and without fault, like Syavarshana "^!
4. ' Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwya- nide ^!
' Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pouru^-aspa ^!
' Mayest thou be holy, like Zarathu^tra Spitama!
' Mayest thou be able to reach the Rangha, whose shores lie afar, as Vafra Navaza was ^^^!
' Mayest thou be beloved by the gods and reve- renced by men "!
* One belonging to the Athwya family, of which Thraetaona was a member. All of them bore names that show them to have been rich in cattle: Pur-tora, Sok-tora, Bor-tora, &c. ('one with abundant oxen, with useful oxen, with the brown ox, &c.,' Bundahij, tr.West, XXXI, 7, note 8).
® Pouruj^-aspa was the father of Zarathujtra. His name means, 'He who possesses many horses,' ivokv-nvnos.
'' Cf. Yt. V, 61. " Cf. Yt. XXIV, 4.
AFRIN PAIGHAMBAR ZARTU^T. 327 5. ' May ten sons be born of you M In three of them mayest thou be an Athravan! In three of them mayest thou be a warrior! In three of them mayest thou be a tiller of the ground ^! And may one be like thyself, O Vt^taspa!
6. ' Mayest thou be swift-horsed, like the Sun ^!
* Mayest thou be resplendent, like the moon! ' Mayest thou be hot-burning, like fire!
' Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra! ' Mayest thou be tall-formed and victorious, like the devout Sraosha ^!
7. ' Mayest thou follow a law of truth, like Rashnu ^!
' Mayest thou be a conqueror of thy foes, like Verethraghna ^ made by Ahura!
' Mayest thou have fulness of welfare, like Rama HvdiStvdi. ''!
* Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like king Husravah ^!
8. 'Then the blessing goes for the bright, all- happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones ^ 'May it happen unto thee according to my blessing!
'I'' Let us embrace and propagate the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds that have been done and that will be done here and elsewhere, that we may be in the number of the good.
1 Of Vijtaspa and his wife Hutaosa.
2 Cf. Yt. XXIV, 4. ' Cf. Sirozah, § ri.
4 Cf. Yt. XI. ^ Cf. Yt. XII, Introduction.
" Kai Khosrav went alive to Paradise (Firdausi).
' He closes his blessing by wishing him bliss in heaven, f28 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...'Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good...' [Give] unto that man brightness and glory,...give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.'
I.
1. ' I am a pious man, who speaks words of blessing,' thus said Zarathurtra to the young king Vi^taspa \ — ' She - appears to me full of Glory, O Zarathunra!' — 'O young king Vi^-taspa! [I bless thee ^] with the living of a good life, of an exalted life, of a long life. May thy men live long! May thy women live long! May sons be born unto thee of thy own body *!
2. 'Mayest thou thyself'' be holy, like Zarathurtra! 'Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwyanide ^!
' Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pourui'-aspa'^!
' Mayest thou have a good share of bliss ^ like king Husravah!
' Mayest thou have strength to reach the Rangha, whose way lies afar, as Vafra Navaza did ^.
^ Literally, O young king Vijtaspa! (or, O my son, king Vijtaspa!)
2 The law of Mazda (Pahl.).
^ Understood in ahi-vakau (who speaks blessing).
* Cf.Yt. XXIII, I.
* Immortality (cf. Yt. XXIII, 7). W. has ashem merez6 = ahlayih patmanik, amargig (Pahl.).
VWTASP YAST. 329 -1 J- 5. ' May ten sons be born of thy own body ^! three as Athravans '\ three as warriors ^, three as tillers of the ground ^! May one of them be like 6amaspa ^ that he may bless thee with great and ever greater happiness ^!
4. ' Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like Pesho-tanu '^.
' Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra! ' Mayest thou be warm, like the moon! ' Mayest thou be ^ resplendent, like fire! ' Mayest thou be long-lived, as long-lived as an old man can be ^!
5. ' And when thou hast fulfilled a duration of a thousand years, [mayest thou obtain] the bright, all- happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones!
'Ashem Vohfi: Holiness is the best of all good...2 ' Like Aturpat, the son of Mahraspand ' (Pahl. Comm.). ^ ' Like Spenddat (Isfendyar), the son of Gmtasp ' (ibid.).
* ' Like Zav' (Uzava; ' Zav...urbes et castella, quae Afras- siab deleverat, refici jussis, aperuit fluvios, quos ille operuerat,...agros denuo coluit, qui in optimam, qua antehac floruerant, conditionem redierunt,' Hamzah Ispahensis, p. 24 of the Gottwaldt translation).
* W. has the same text as Yt. XXIII, 2: yatha dangh^ uj Vijtas- pai, which is interpreted afrin pataj obdunat X-igun Gamasp kart madam matapat Gfijtasp.
"^ Peshotanu was a son of ViJtaspa: Zarathujtra made him drink of a certain sort of milk, and ' he forgot death.' He is one of the seven immortals, and reigns in Kangdez (Zartusht-Namah and Bundahij XXIX, 5).
8 Bavahi (W.).
» Doubtful. The Pahlavi translation follows Yt. XXIII, 4, though the text is the same as in Westergaard (only bavai and zarnumato instead of bavahi, zaranumato).
II.
6 ^ ' Give ^ him strength and victory! Give him welfare in cattle and bread ^! ' thus said Zarathiutra to the young king Vi^taspa! ' Give him a great number* of male children, praisers^ [of God] and chiefs in assemblies, who smite and are not smitten, who smite at one stroke their enemies, who smite at one stroke their foes, ever in joy and ready to help.
7. ' Ye gods of full Glory, ye gods of full healing, let your greatness become manifest! ' 8. Zarathu^tra addressed him, saying: ' O young king Vktaspa! May their greatness become manifest as it is called for!
' Ye Waters, impart and give your Glory to the man who offers you a sacrifice!
* This is the boon we beg (for thee) of Ashi Vanguhi ^ of Rata \ with eyes of love.'
9. Pare^^di ^ of the light chariot, follows: ' Mayest thou^ become manifest unto him, the young king ViJtaspa!
'May plenty dwell in this house, standing upon high columns and rich in food ^^! Thou wilt never