* The Ahrimanian creatures belonging to mankind, the Mair- yas and Ashemaoghas (Yt. I, 10).
* The courtezan; cf. Vend. XXI, 17 (35), and Introd. IV, 25.
ARDIBEHWT VAST. 4$ 6"ahi, who makes one pine\ fled away; the wind that blows from the North ^ fled away; the wind that blows from the North vanished away.
10. ' He it is who smites me that brood of the Snake, and who might smite those Daevas by thou- sands of thousands, by ten thousands of ten thou- sands; he smites sickness, he smites death, he smites the Daevas, he smites the Daeva's counter-work, he smites the unholy Ashemaogha, he smites the oppressor of men.
11. 'He smites the brood of the Snake; he smites the brood of the Wolf; he smites the brood of the Two-legged. He smites Pride; he smites Scorn; he smites Hot Fever; he smites Slander; he smites Discord; he smites the Evil Eye.
12. ' He smites the most lying words of falsehood; he smites the Cahi, addicted to the Yatu; he smites the 6'ahi, who makes one pine. He smites the wind that blows from the North; the wind that blows from the North vanished away.
13. ' He it is who smites me that brood of the Two-legged, and who might smite those Daevas, by thousands of thousands, by ten thousands of ten thousands. Angra Mainyu, who is all death, the worst-lying of all Daevas, rushed from before him: 14. 'He exclaimed, did Angra Mainyu: " Woe is me! Here is the god Asha-Vahi-rta, who will smite the sickliest of all sicknesses, who will afflict the sickliest of all sicknesses; ^ The Zend is Kahvaredhaini, a synonym of which, Kah- varedha, Yasna LXI, 2 [LX, 7], is translated impairer of Glory, which means very likely: he who makes one 'dwindle, peak, and pine' (cf. Vend. XVIII, 62-64).
2 From the country of hell; cf. Vend. VII, 2; XIX, i; Yt. XXII, 25.
46 YAi'TS AND sIrOZAHS, ' " He will smite the deadliest of all deaths, he will afflict the deadliest of all deaths; '"He will smite the most fiendish of all fiends, he will afflict the most fiendish of all fiends; * " He will smite the most counter-working of all counter-works, he will afflict the most counter- working of all counter-works; ' " He will smite the unholy Ashemaogha, he will afflict the unholy Ashemaogha; ' " He will smite the most oppressive of the oppressors of men, he will afflict the most oppres- sive of the oppressors of men.
15. '"He will smite the snakiest of the Snake's brood, he will afflict the snakiest of the Snake's brood; ' " He will smite the most wolfish of the Wolfs brood, he will afflict the most wolfish of the Wolfs brood; *"He will smite the worst of the two-legged brood, he will afflict the worst of the two-legged brood; ' " He will smite Pride, he will afflict Pride; ' " He will smite Scorn, he will afflict Scorn; ' " He will smite the hottest of hot fevers, he will afflict the hottest of hot fevers; ' " He will smite the most slanderous of slanders, he will afflict the most slanderous of slanders; * " He will smite the most discordant of discords, he will afflict the most discordant of discords; ' " He will smite the worst of the Evil Eye, he will afflict the worst of the Evil Eye.
16. '"He will smite the most lying words of falsehood, he will afflict the most lying words of falsehood; ' " He will smite the Gahl, addicted to the Yatu, he will afflict the Gsh'i, addicted to the Yatu; ' " He will smite the Cahi, who makes one pine, he will afflict the 6^ahi, who makes one pine; ' " He will smite the wind that blows from the North, he will afflict the wind that blows from the North."
17^ 'The Dru^will perish away, the Drii^ will perish; the Dru^ will rush, the Dru^ will vanish. Thou perishest away to the regions of the North, never more to give unto death the living world of the holy spirit ^ 18. 'For his brightness and glory I will offer unlo him a sacrifice worth being heard ^ namely, unto Asha-Vahijta, the fairest, the Amesha-Spewta. Unto Asha -Vahi^ta, the fairest, the Amesha- Spe«ta, we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat*, the baresma ^ the wisdom of the tongue ^ the holy spells ^ the speech, the deeds \ the libations, and the rightly-spoken words.
'Ye/ihe hatum: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda knows the goodness *...19. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...^ One set of manuscripts insert: ' He will smite the wind that blows against the North, he will afflict the wind that blows against the North; the wind that blows against the North [will perish].' This is most Ukely an interpolation, as the wind that blows against the North (if this is the right meaning of aparo apakhtara, as opposed to pourvo apakhtara) blows against Angra Mainyu.
2 Cf. Vendidad VIII, 21.
' That is to say, worth being accepted: cf. Yt. X, 32; the Parsis translate, ' a sacrifice heard [from the lips of the Dasturs]' {iS.^ &-> J\jy^i J^^ j\ ^ji; East India Office, XXV, 42).
* The Haoma and Myazda. ^ See Vend. Ill, i, note 2.
« Hizvo danghah: huzvan danakih (Phi. tr.) means 'the right formulas.'
* The several operations of the sacrifice.
48 YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
' I bless the sacrifice and prayer and the strength and vigour of Asha-Vahi-fta, the fairest; of the much- desired Airyaman, made by Mazda; and of the good Saoka, with eyes of love, made by Mazda and holy \ 'Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good^...' [Give] unto that man ^ brightness and glory, give him health of body;...give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.'
IV. KHORDAD YA^'T.
Only the first two sections of this Ya.st refer to its nominal object, Haurvata/, the Genius of Health and Waters (Vend. Introd. IV, 7, 33). The rest of the Yaj-t refers to the performance of the Bareshnum ceremony as being the test of the true Zoroaslrian. As the Bareshnum purification was performed by Airyaman to drive away the myriads of diseases created by Angra Mainyu *, its laudation is not quite unaptly inserted in a Ya.yt devoted to the Genius of Health.
The Khordad Yast can be recited at any time. It is better to recite it during the Gah U^ahin, on the day Khordad (Anquetil).
The text is corrupt.
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!...Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good...I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zara- thui'tra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness ^...Unto Haurvata/, the master; unto the prosperity ' "Who shall offer a sacrifice to Asha-Vahii'ta; cf. Yt. I, 33 and notes.
^ As above, p. 22 and notes.
KPIORDAD VAST. 49 of the seasons and unto the years, the masters of hoHness \ Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glori- fication.
Yatlia ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...We sacrifice unto Haurvati/, the Amesha-Spe;2ta; we sacrifice unto the prosperity of the seasons; we sacrifice unto the years, the holy and masters of hoHness ^.
1. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathu^tra, saying: ' I created for the faithful the help, the enjoyments, the comforts, and the pleasures of Haurvata/. We unite them with him who would come up to thee as one of the Amesha-Spe;2tas, as he would come to any of the Amesha-Spe?^- tas, Vohu-Mano, Asha-Vahi^ta, Khshathra-Vairya, A 2, ' He who against the thousands of thousands of those Daevas, against their ten thousands of ten thousands, against their numberless myriads would invoke the name of Haurvata/, as one of the Amesha-Spe??tas, he would smite the Nasu, he would smite Hai-i ^, he would smite Bai-i ^, he would smite Saeni^, he would smite Bu^i^ 3 *. ' I proclaim the faithful man as the first [of men]; if I proclaim the faithful man as the first ^ Names of Daevas. According to the Parsi translator of the Dinkart (vol. ii, p. 65), Ha^i is 'he who makes sceptical;' Ba^-i is 'he who gives rise to the barking disease;' Saeni is ' he who causes harm;' Bfl^i is ' he who preys upon.'
* The translation of this paragraph is quite conjectural.
50 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
[of men]', then Rashnu Razii-ta^, then every heavenly Yazata of male nature in company with the Amesha- Spe;/tas will free the faithful man ^ 4. * From the Nasu, from Ha^i, from Gai'i^, from Saeni, from Bu^i; from the hordes with the wide front, from the hordes with the many spears uplifted, from the evil man who oppresses, from the wilful sinner ^, from the oppressor of men, from the Yatu, from the Pairika, from the straying way.
5. 'How does the way of the faithful turn and part from the way of the wicked ^? ' Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is when a man pro- nouncing my spell, either reading '^ or reciting it by heart, draws the furrows ^ and hides ^ there himself, [saying]: 6. "'I will smite thee, O Dru^! whomsoever thou art, whomsoever thou art amongst the Drupes that come in an open way, whomsoever thou art amongst the Drupes that come by hidden ways, whomsoever thou art amongst the Drupes that defile by contact; whatsoever Dru^ thou art, I smite thee away from the Aryan countries; whatsoever Dru^ thou art, I bind thee; I smite thee down, O Dru^! I throw thee down below, O Dru^^!"
^ If I am one of the faithful. 2 The Genius of Truth, Yt. XII. ^ Will free me as one of the faithful.
^ Starai; cf. Etudes Iraniennes, II, 135. ^ How is the wicked known from the faithful one? ' Marao: Phi. o^morit, Sansk. adhyeti; safarilnit, posha- yati (pustakayati? Yasna XIX, 6 [9]).
* The furrows for the Bareshnum purification (Vend. IX). ® Doubtful: gaozaiti; read yaozdaiti (? he cleanses).
KHORDAD YA,ST. 5 i 7. ' He draws [then] three furrows ': I proclaini him one of the faithful; he draws six furrows^: I proclaim him one of the faithful; he draws nine furrows ^: I proclaim him one of the faithful.
8. ' The names of those (Amesha-Spe//tas) smite the men turned to Nasus ^ by the Drupes; the seed and kin of the deaf^* are smitten, the scornful^ are dead, as the Zaotar Zarathurtra blows them away to woe^ however fierce, at his will and wish, as many as he wishes.
9. ' From the time w^hen the sun is down he smites them with bruising blows; from the time when the sun is no longer up, he deals deadly blows on the Nasu with his club struck down, for the propitiation and glorification of the heavenly gods.
10. ' O Zarathu^tra! let not that spell be shown to any one, except by the father to his son, or by the brother to his brother from the same womb, or by the Athravan to his pupil ^ in black hair, devoted to the good law, who, devoted to the good law, holy^ and brave, stills all the Drupes \ 1 1. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Haurvata/, the Amesha-Spewta. Unto Haurvata/, the Amesha-Spe??ta, we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the ^ To perform the Bareshnum; of Vend. XXII, 20 [54].
^ Reading nasum kereta; of. nasu-kereta (Vend. VII, 26 ^ Dusava/: both the reading and the meaning are doubtful, Mr. West suggests, 'sends to hell' (reading dusanghva/ or duzangha/).
" Doubtful. ' Reading ashava instead of aso ava.
holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly- spoken words.
12. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...'I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour ofHaurvata/, the master; of the prosperity of the seasons and of the years, the masters 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.'
V. ABAN VAST.
The Aban Ya^t (or Yast of the Waters) is devoted to the great goddess of the waters, the celebrated Ardvi Sura Anahita, the 'AvaiTii of the Greeks. Ardvi Sura Anahita (' the high, powerful, undefiled ') is the heavenly spring from which all waters on the earth flow down; her fountains are on the top of the mythical mountain, the Hukairya, in the star region. Her descent from the heavens is described in §§ 85 seq.; it reminds one of the Indian legend of the celestial Ganga.
This Yaxt contains much valuable information about the his- torical legends of Iran, as it enumerates the several heroes who worshipped Ardvi Sijra and asked for her help. First of all is Ahura himself (§ 16); then came Haoshyangha (§ 21), Yima (§ 25), A0i Dahaka (§ 29), Thraetaona (§ 33), Keresaspa (§ 37), Fran- ghrasyan (§ 41), Kava Usa (§45), Husravah (§ 49), Tusa (§53), Vaesaka's sons (§ 57), Vafra Navaza (§ 61), G^amaspa (§ 68), Ashavazdah, the son of Pourudhakhjti, and Ashavazdah and Thrita, the sons of Sayuzdri (§ 72), Vistauru (§ 76), Yoijta (§81); the Hvovas and the Naotaras (§ 98), Zarathujtra (§103), Kava Vij- taspa (§ 107), Zairivairi (§ 112), Are^a/-aspa and Vandaremaini This enumeration is interrupted by a description of the descent of Ardvi Sura from the heavens (§§ 85-89), and of certain rules for her sacrifice given by herself to Zarathu^rtra (§§90-97). This in- terruption may have been intentional, as it takes place just when ^ Who shall have sacrificed to Haurvata/.
ABAN YA5T. 53 ihe course of the enumeration brings us to the times of Zarathujtra and of the institution of the new religion.
The Yajt is opened with a laudation of the benefits bestowed by Ardvi Sura (§§ 1-16), and it closes with a description of her gar- ments and apparel.
The first record of the worship of Ardvi Sura is in a cuneiform inscription by Artaxerxes Mnemon (404-361), in which her name is corrupted into Anahata. Artaxerxes Mnemon appears to have been an eager promoter of her worship, as he is said 'to have first erected the statues of Venus-Anahita ('A(^/)o8it7J9, 'Ai/atViSos) in Babylon, Suza, and Ecbatana, and to have taught her worship to the Persians, the Bactrians, and the people of Damas and Sardes ' (Clemens Alexandrinus, Protrept. 5, on the authority of Berosus; about 260 B.C.). My friend M. Halevy suggests to me that the detailed and circumstantial description of Anahita's appearance and costume (in §§ 1 26-1 31) shows that the writer must have described her from a consecrated type of statuary.
The principal data of the Greek writers on Anahita will be found in Windischmann's Essay (Die persische Anahita oder Anaitis, 1856). One must be cautious in the use of the Greek sources, as the Greeks, with the eclectic turn of their mind, were inclined to confound under the name of Anahita all the great female deities of Asia Minor, and her name became a common appellation for the Aphrodites as well as for the Artemides of the East..
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!...Ashem Vohu: Hohness is the best of all good...I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zara- thujtra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness...Unto the good Waters, made by Mazda; unto the holy water-spring Ardvi Anahita; unto all waters, made by Mazda; unto all plants, made by Mazda \ Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and orlorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness...Sirozah I, 10.
I.
1. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathu-S"tra, saying: ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathuj"tra I unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita, the wide-expanding^ and heakh-giving, who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy of sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in the material world; the life-increasing ^ and holy, the herd-increasing and holy, the fold-increasing and holy, the wealth-increasing and holy, the country- increasing and holy; 2. ' Who makes the seed of all males pure^, who makes the womb of all females pure for bringing forth"*, who makes all females bring forth in safety, who puts milk into the breasts of all females in the right measure and the right quality; 3. ' The large river, known afar, that is as large as the whole of the waters that run along the earth; that runs powerfully from the height Hukairya^ down to the sea Vouru- Kasha ^.
4. ' All the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are ^ 'As she comes down to all places' (Phi. tr. ad Yasna LXV, i ^ Ad hu, translated ^an; 'she makes life longer ' (Aspendiarji). Perhaps adhu will be better translated springs, rivers (reading ^uy instead of^an; cf. Yt. VIII, 29).
^ ' Pure and sound, without blood and filth' (Phi. tr.).
* ' So that it may conceive again ' (Phi. tr.).
^ ' Hugar the lofty is that from which the water of Aredvivsur leaps down the height of a thousand men' (Bundahi^' XII, 5, tr. West); cf. infra, §§ 96, 121, 126; Yt. XIII, 24. The Hukairya is mentioned again § 25 and Yt. IX, 8; Yt. X, 88; Yt. XV, 15; Yt. XVII, 28. It appears to be situated in the west (Bundahii' XXIV, 17; II, 7; Minokhired XLIV, 12).
^ The earth-surrounding Ocean; cf. Vendidad V, 15 (49) seq., text and notes.
A BAN VAST. 55 boiling over, all the middle of it is boiling over, when she runs down there, when she streams down there, she, Ardvi Sura Anahita, who has a thousand cells and a thousand channels ^: the extent of each of those cells, of each of those channels is as much as a man can ride in forty days, riding on a good horse.
5. ' From this river of mine alone flow all the waters that spread all over the seven Karshvares; this river of mine alone goes on bringing waters, both in summer and in winter. This river of mine purifies the seed in males, the womb in females, the milk in females' breasts.
6. ' I, Ahura Mazda, brought it down with mighty vigour, for the increase of the house, of the borough, of the town, of the country, to keep them, to main- tain them, to look over them, to keep and maintain them close.
7. ' Then Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Spitama Zara- thu^tra! proceeded forth from the Maker Mazda. Beautiful were her white arms, thick as a horse's shoulder or still thicker; beautiful was her...^ and thus came she, strong, with thick arms, thinking thus in her heart: 8. ' " Who will praise me? Who will offer me a sacrifice, with libations cleanly prepared and well- strained, together with the Haoma and meat? To whom shall I cleave, who cleaves unto me, and thinks with me, and bestows gifts upon me, and is of good will unto me? ^ " 9. ' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her ^ See the description §101 seq.
^ Zaoja or zui'a, an arra^ \ey6yievov, seems to designate a part 56 YAS'TS AND SIROZAHS.
a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer up unto the holy Ardvi Sura Anahita a good sacrifice with an offering of libations; — thus mayest thou advise us when thou art appealed to! Mayest thou be most fully worshipped, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the words, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words.
'Ye^^he hatam^: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda...lo. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita, the wide-expanding and health-giving, who hates the Da^vas and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy of sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in the mate- rial world; the life-increasing and holy, the herd-increasing and holy, the fold-increasing and holy, the wealth-increasing and holy, the country-increasing and holy^; II. 'Who drives forwards on her chariot, holding the reins of the chariot. She goes, driving, on this chariot, longing for men^ and thinking thus in her heart: " Who will praise me? Who will offer me a sacrifice, with libations cleanly prepared and well- strained, together with the Haoma and meat? To whom shall I cleave, who cleaves unto me, and thinks with me, and bestows gifts upon me, and is of good will unto me?"
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice, worth being heard \...^ As above, p. 30; § 9 is repeated at the end of every chapter.
' Viz. for their worshipping; cf. Yasna XXIII, 2 [5], paitijma- refiti = Phl. humitinit, they hope, they expect. Cf. § 123.
ABAN YA5T. 5/ III.
12. 'Offer up a sacrifice,0 Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sfira Anahita \...13. 'Whom four horses carry, all white, of one and the same colour, of the same blood, tall, crush- ing down the hates of all haters, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, of the blind and of the deaf-.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...IV.
14. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Siira Anahita...
15. ' Strong and bright, tall and beautiful of form, who sends down by day and by night a flow of motherly^ waters as large as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and who runs powerfully*.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...V.
16. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^-tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...1 7. ' To her did the Maker Ahura Mazda offer up a sacrifice^ in the Alryana Vae^ah, by the good river Daitya^; with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the words, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words ^ ' Doubtful; cf. Yt. VIII, 47. " Cf above, § 3.
* Cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 9, 40. This is the heavenly prototype of the Mazdean sacrifice as it was later shown to men by Zara- thujtra; cf. § loi.
« Cf. Yt. I, 4 and notes. ' Cf. Yt. Ill, 18.
18. * He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may bring the son of Pourushaspa, the holy Zarathu5tra, to think after my law, to speak after my law, to do after my law! " 19. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and begging that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...VL 20. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra I unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...2 1. 'To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata\ offer up a sacrifice on the enclosure ^ of the Hara^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs.
22. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sfira Ana- hita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the ^ Haoshyangha was the first king of the Paradhata (Pesh- dadyan) dynasty (cf, above, p. 7, note 2, and Bundahij XXXI, i). It is related in Firdausi's Shah Namah that he was the grand- son of Gayomarth, the first man and king, and the son of Syamak; that his father having been killed by the black Div, he encountered him at the head of an army of lions, tigers, birds, and Paris, and destroyed him; he then succeeded his grandfather, and reigned supreme over the seven Keshvars of the earth.
"^ Doubtful: upabda=upabanda, as thribda (Yt. VIII, 55) = thribanda; it appears from Yt. XV, 7 that the place meant here is the Taera which is said in the Bundahij (V, 7) to be surrounded by the Alborz (the Hara).
^ The Hara berezaiti or Alborz, in Mazandaran, south of the Caspian Sea, was supposed to surround the earth; cf Yt. X, 56.
Yatiis and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the bhnd and the deaf; and that I may smite down two thirds^ of the Daevas of Mazana^ and of the fiends of Varena^" 23. ' Ardvl Sura Anahlta granted him that boon, as he was offering hbations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...VII.
24. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zaralhujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvl Sura Anahita...25. 'To her did Yima Khshaeta'*, the good shep- herd, offer up a sacrifice from the height Hukairya•^ with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
26. ' He begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that I may take from the Daevas both ^ A formula frequently used, not only in the Avesta, but also in the Shah Namah.
"^ The Daevas in IMazandaran. Mazandaran was held a place of resort for demons and sorcerers, and was in the Iranian legend nearly the same as Ceylon is in the Ramaya;/a. The Damavand mountain, to which Asi Dahaka was bound, is the southern boundary of Mazandaran.
' See Vend. Introd. IV, 23; cf. this Yajt, § 33.
* Yima Khshaeta ((?emshid), as an earthly king, ruled over the world for a thousand years, while he made immortality reign in it (Yt. IX, 8; XV, 15; cf. Vendidad II, Introd.).
6o YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
riches and welfare, both fatness and flocks, both weal and Glory\" 27. ' Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...VIII.
28. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...29. * To her did A^-i Dahaka^ the three-mouthed, offer up a sacrifice in the land of Bawri^, with a ^ After his brother Takhma Urupa, who reigned before him, had been killed and devoured by Angra Mainyu (Yt. IV, 11, note).
2 When Yima began to sin and lost the HvsiXtwo (Glory), he was overthrown by Azi Dahaka (Zohak), who seized the power and reigned in his place for a thousand years (cf. Yt. XIX, 33 seq.).
Asi Dahaka, literally 'the fiendish snake,' was first a mythical personage; he was the ' snake ' of the storm-cloud, and a counter- part of the Vedic Ahi or Vr/tra. He appears still in that character in Ya^t XIX seq., where he is described struggling for the HvdiXtnb against Atar (Fire), in the sea Vourukasha (Vendidad, Introd. IV, 38; cf this Ya^t, § 90). His struggle with Yima Khshaeta bore at first the same mythological character, • the shining Yima ' being originally, like the Vedic Yama, a solar hero: when Yima was turned into an earthly king, Kz'x underwent the same fate. In the Shah Namah he is described as a man with two snakes springing from his shoulders: they grew there through a kiss of Ahriman's. For the myths referring to Azi, see Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 91—95.
^ Babylon (cf Yt. XV, 19). The usurper Asi, being a non- Aryan, was identified with the hereditary foe, the Chaldseans: the name of Babylon united in it, at the same time, a dim historical record of the old Assyrian oppression, then shaken off and forgotten, and an actual expression of the national antipathy of the Iranians for their Semitic neighbours in Chalda^a. After the conquest of Persia by the Musulmans, Kzx was turned at last into an Arab. The original seat of the kz\ myths was on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea (Etudes Iraniennes, II, 210).
ABAN YA,ST. 6 I hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs.
30. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may make all the seven Karshvares of the earth empty of men."
31. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant him that boon, although he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating her that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...IX.
32. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto Ardvi Sura Anahita...
33. 'To her did Thraetaona^ the heir^ of the valiant Athwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the four- cornered Varena^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
34. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that I may overcome Asi Dahaka, the three- mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses^, that most powerful, fiendish Dru^, ^ Thraetaona (Feridun), son of Athwya, conquered Azi and bound him to Mount Damavand, where he is to stay till the end of the world, when he shall be let loose and then killed by Keresaspa (Vendidad, Introd. IV, 12, 18; Bahman Ya^t III, 55 seq.; Bund. XXIX, 8 seq.).
^ Vis6-puthra=Pahlavi barbita (see £tudes Iraniennes, II, * Cf. Vend. I, 18 and Introd. IV, 12. Modern tradition sup- poses Varena to have been the region of Ghilan (very likely on account of its proximity to Mazandaran and Mount Damavand).
62 YASTS AND stROZAHS.
that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Drii^ that Angra Mainyu created against the mate- rial world, to destroy the world of the good prin- ciple ^; and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghava/^ and Erenavai^ who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful creatures in the worlds" 35. ' Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...X.
36. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! unto Ardvi Sura Anahita...37. 'To her did Keresaspa *, the manly-hearted, offer up a sacrifice behind the Vairi Pisanah ^ with a