^ The two daughters of Yima, who had been ravished by Asi: they are called in the Shah Namah Shahrinaz and Arnavaz (see £tudes Iraniennes, II, 213, Savanghava/i' et Erenava/^). Thraetaona delivered them, and then married them; he had a son, Airyu, from Arnavaz, and two sons from Shahrinaz, Tura and Sairima; Airyu, Tura, and Sairima became the kings of Iran, Turan, and Rum.
3 Cf Yt. IX, 14; XV, 24; XVII, 34.
* Keresaspa (Garshasp), one of the greatest heroes in the Avestean romance, although Firdausi has all but passed him over in silence. See his feats, Yt. XIX, 38 seq.; cf Yt. V, 27 seq.; Yasna IX, 10 (29); Vend. I, 10 (36).
^ The Pi^in valley, south of Cabool. It was in the land of Cabool that the Keresaspa legend had its rise, or at least it was localised there. It is in the plain near the Pi^in valley that Keresaspa lies asleep, till the end of the world comes (see Yt XIII, 61, note).
ABAN VAST. 6^, hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
2)S. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the golden-heeled Ga7zdarewa\ thouo-h all the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over; and that I may run up to the strong- hold of the fiend on the wide, round earth, whose ends lie afar."
39. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacri- ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...
^ A Parsi poem, of a very late date, gives further details about Gandarewa. It was a monster who lived ' in the sea, on the moun- tain, and in the valley/ he was called Pashnah zarah, because the sea did not go above his heel (a misinterpretation of his Avestean epithet zairi pashna, golden-heeled, the Zend zairi being mis- taken for the Persian zarah i', sea); his head would rise to the sun and rub the sky; he could swallow up twelve men at once. Keresaspa fought him for nine days and nine nights together; he drew him at last from the bottom of the sea and smashed his head with his club: when he fell on the ground, many. countries were spoiled by his fall (Spiegel, Die traditionnelle Literatur der Parsen, p. 339, and West, Pahlavi Texts, II, pp. 369 seq.).
In the Vedic mythology the Gandharva is the keeper of Soma, and is described now as a god, now as a fiend, according as he is a heavenly Soma-priest or a jealous possessor who grudges it to man. What was the original form of the myth in Mazdeism is not clear. In the Shah Namah he appears as the minister of Azi Dahaka. Cf Yt. XV, 27 seq., and Ormazd et Ahriman, pp. 99, 64 YA^-TS AND sIroZAHS.
XL 40. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...41. * To her did the Turanian murderer, Frangra- syan^, offer up a sacrifice in his cave under the earth ^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
42. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that I may seize hold of that Glory "\ that is waving in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha ^ and ^ Frangrasyan (Afrasyab) was king of Turan for two hundred years. The perpetual struggle between Iran and Turan, which lasts to this day, was represented in the legend by the deadly and endless wars between Afrasyab and the Iranian kings from Mino- ^ihr down to Kai Khosrav (Kavi Husravah). The chief cause of the feud was the murder of Syavakhsh (Syavarshana) by Afrasyab; Syavakhsh, son of Kai Kaus (Kava Usa), having been exiled by his father, at the instigation of his mother-in-law, took refuge with Afrasyab, who received him with honour, and gave him his daughter in marriage: but the fortune of Syavakhsh raised the jealousy of Afrasyab's brother, Karsivaz (Keresavazda), who by means of calumnious accusations extorted from Afrasyab an order for putting him to death (see Yt. XIX, 77). Syavakhsh was revenged by his son, Kai Khosrav, the grandson of Afrasyab ^ Ha;/kane: Firdausi speaks of a cave on the top of a moun- tain, near Barda (on the frontier of Adarbai^an), where Afrasyab, when defeated, took refuge, and was discovered by Kai Khosrav; that cave was called 'the cave of Afrasyab' (hang i Afrasiab; Shah Namah, IV, 196). In an older form of the legend, that cave was a palace built under-ground, with walls of iron and a hundred columns: its height was a thousand times a man's size (Aoge- maid^, § 61; cf Bund. XII, 20: see Etudes Iraniennes, II, 225, Le Hang d' Afrasyab).
ABAN YAST. 65 that belongs to the Aryan people, to those born and to those not yet born, and to the holy Zarathiutra." • 43. 'Ardvi Sljra Anahita did not grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice..,.
XII.
44. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...45. 'To her did the great, most wise Kavi Usa^ offer up a sacrifice from Mount Erezifya^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
46. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me, this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura And- 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."
47. '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...XIIL 48. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...49. 'To her did the gallant Husravah^ he who ' Kavi Usa (Kai Kaus), the son of Kavi Kavata (Kai Kobad) and the father of Syavakhsh (see p. 64, note i), was the second king of the Kayanian dynasty.
^ Mount Erezifya has been supposed to be the same as the Sariphi Monte s in Ptolemaeus, which stretch between Margiana and Ariana (Burnouf, Commentaire sur le Yasna, p. 436).
' Kai Khosrav; cf. p. 64, notes 1 and 2.
66 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
united the Aryan nations into one kingdom \ offer up a sacrifice behind the A^ae/^asta lake ^, the deep lake, of salt waters ^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
50. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Siira Anahita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all coun- tries, of Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that I may have the lead in front of all the teams * and that he may not pass through ^ the forest ^, he, the murderer'^, who now is fiercely^ striving against me ^ on horseback ^'^."
51. '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...XIV.
52. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^-tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...53. 'To her did the valiant warrior Tusa^^ offer ^ Doubtful.
^ A lake in Adarbai^an, with salt water: fish cannot live in it (Bundahii- XXII, 2). It is the same as Lake Urumiah. Its name is miswritten in Firdausi (Khan^ast for ^e^ast, o.»,^s^^ for ^ Doubtful; see Etudes Iraniennes, II, uruyapa, p. 1^9.
* In pursuing his adversary. ^ Doubtful (cf Yt. XV, 32).
* The White Forest (ibid.). '' Aurvasara (ibid.).
* Doubtful. ^ Trying to flee and escape. ^° Possibly, ' vieing in horses ' (for the swiftness of the race): " Tusa, in the Shah Namah Tus; one of the most celebrated Pahlavans of Kai Khosrav; he was the son of king Naotara (Nodar).
ABAN YA^T. d'] worship on the back of his horse \ begging swift- ness for his teams, health for his own body, and that he might watch with full success ^ those who hated him, smite down his foes, and destroy at one stroke his adversaries, his enemies, and those who hated him ^ 54. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the gallant sons of Vaesaka^, by the castle Khshathro-saoka, that stands high up on the lofty, holy Kangha^; that I may smite of the Turanian people their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads."
55. '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...^ He offers not a full sacrifice, being on horseback.
^ Not to be taken by surprise.
* Vaesaka was the head of the Vis ah family, whose foremost member was Pi ran Visah, the clever and upright minister of Afrasyab, the Turanian Nestor; but his counsels were despised for the common ruin, and himself perished with all his sons in the war against Iran.
^ Kangha was a town founded by Syavarshana, during his exile, in a part of the land of Khvarizm, which is described as an earthly paradise. This city was built on the top of a high mountain (Awtare-Kangha, Yt. XIX, 4). The Khshathro-saoka castle is called in the Shah Namah Kang dez, 'the fortress of Kangha;' and, possibly, Khshathro-saoka is a mere epithet of dvarem, ' the castle of kingly welfare.'
® According to the Shah Namah, Kang dez was stormed by Kai Khosrav himself.
68 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
XV.
56. ' Offer up a sacrifice, 0 Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Siira Anahita...57. ' To her did the gallant sons ofVaesaka offer up a sacrifice in the castle Khshathro-saoka, that stands high up on the lofty, holy Kangha, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
58. 'They begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant us this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that we may overcome the valiant warrior Tusa, and that we may smite of the Aryan people their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads \" 59. *Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant them that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XVI.
60. ' Offer up a sacrifice, 0 Spitama Zarathu^tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sfara Anahita...61. 'The old^ Vafra Navaza worshipped her, when the strong fiend-smiter, Thraetaona, flung him up in the air in the shape of a bird, of a vulture ^ ^ Doubtful (pourvo); perhaps 'the man of the primitive faith' (the paoiryo-Zkaesha; cf. Yt. XIII, o, note): the sacrifice he offers is quite a Zoroastrian one (cf. §§ 17, 104, and note 2 to the latter).
' An allusion is made here to a myth, belonging to the Thraetaona cyclus, of which no other trace is found in the Avesta (except in Yt. XXIII, 4). It referred most likely to the time when ABAN YA5T. 69 62. 'He went on flying, for three days and three nights, towards his own house; but he could not, he could not turn down. At the end of the third nio-ht when the beneficent dawn came dawning up, then he prayed unto Ardvi Sura Anahita, saying: 63. ' "Ardvi Sura Anahita! do thou quickly hasten helpfully and bring me assistance at once. I will offer thee a thousand libations, cleanly prepared and well strained, along with Haomas and meat, by the brink of the river Rangha, if I reach alive the earth made by Ahura and my own house."
64. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened unto him in the shape of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tall- formed, high-girded, pure, nobly born of a glorious race, wearing shoes up to the ankle, wearing a golden...^, and radiant ^.
65. ' She seized him by the arm: quickly was it done, nor was it long till, speeding, he arrived at the earth made by Mazda and at his own house, safe, unhurt, unwounded, just as he was before.
[66. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, entreating that she would grant him that boon^] 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...
Thraetaona, on his march to Bawri, the capital of Asi (cf. § 29), arrived at the Tigris (the Rangha); an angel then came and taught him magic to enable him to baffle the sortileges of Asi (Shah Namah). We have in this passage an instance of his talents as a wizard, and one which helps us to understand why Thraetaona is considered as the inventor of magic, and his name is invoked in spells and incantations (Hamzah Ispahanensis, p. loi; Anquetil, II, pp. 135 seq.). Cf. Yt. XIV, 40 and note.
^ Urvikhi-na, a word of doubtful meaning.
^ This clause is no doubt spurious here.
70 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
XVII.
67. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...68. ' To her did 6^amaspa^ offer up a sacrifice, with a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, when he saw the army of the wicked, of the worshippers of the Daevas, comin<^^ from afar in battle array.
69. 'He asked of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this, O o:ood, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may be as constantly victorious as any one of all the Aryans ^."
70. ' Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri- ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XVIII.
7t. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...72. ' To her did Ashavazdah, the son of Pouru- ^ (ramaspa, the prime minister of Vutaspa (Kai Gmtasp), appears here in the character of a warrior, though generally he is described as a sage and a prophet (Yasna XLIX [XLVIIl], 9; LI [L], 8; Zardmt Namah; yet cf. Yt. XXIII, 2). The Shah Namah has an episode which recalls this one, although very different in its spirit, and more in accordance with the general character of (zamaspa. At the moment when the two armies meet together, Gu^tasp asks G^amasp to reveal to him the issue of the encounter: (?amasp obeys reluctantly, as the issue is to be fatal to the Iranians. G'amasp belonged to the Hvova family.
^ Or, • as all the rest of the Aryans together.'
ABAN YAST. 7 1 dhdkh^ti \ and Ashavazdah and Thrita, the sons of Sayu^'dri^, offer up a sacrifice, with a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, by Apam Napa/, the tall lord, the lord of the females, the bright and swift-horsed \ yT,. 'They begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant us this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi S<ira Anahita! that we may overcome the assemblers of the Turanian Danus ^ Kara Asabana ^ and Vara Asabana, and the most mighty Duraekaeta, in the battles of this world ".
74. * Ardvi Stira Anahita granted them that boon, as they were offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant them that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XIX.
75. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sfira Anahita...76. ' Vistauru, the son of Naotara ^, worshipped ^ Cf Yt. XIII, 112. Ashavazdah, the son of Pourudhakhjti, is one of the immortals who will come forth to help Saoshya«/ in the final struggle (Bundahij XXIX, 6; Yt. XIX, 95).
2 Cf. Yt. XIII, 113. ^ Cf. above, p. 6, note i.
* A Turanian tribe, Yt. XIII, 37-38.
** Asabana is very likely an epithet; possibly, 'who kills with a stone ' (asan-ban); the sling was, as it seems, the favourite weapon of the Danus (Yt. XIII, 38).
* This section is the only fragment left of the legend of Ashavazdah, which must have been an important one, since Ashavazdah is one of the immortals (Yt. XIX, 95).
' Cf. Yt. XIII, 102. Vistauru, being the son of Naotara, is the brother of Tusa, which identifies him with the Gustahm ( ^ a •; ^ r) in the Shah Namah: Nodar had two sons, Tus and Gustahm.
•^2 YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
her by the brink of the river Vitanghuhaiti \ with well-spoken words, speaking thus: ^']. "'This is true, this is truly spoken, that I have smitten as many of the worshippers of the Daevas as the hairs I bear on my head. Do thou then, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! leave me a dry pas- sage, to pass over the good Vitanghuhaiti."
78. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened unto him in the shape of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tall- formed, high-girded, pure, nobly born of a glorious race, wearing shoes up to the ankle, with all sorts of ornaments and radiant ^. A part of the waters she made stand still, a part of the waters she made flow forward, and she left him a dry passage to pass over the good Vitanghuhaiti ^ [79. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri- ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon ^] * For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XX.
80. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...81. 'To her did Yoina, one of the Fryanas^, ^ A river not mentioned elsewhere.
* Firdausi has no mention of this episode.
* Spurious.
^ This legend is fully told in the Pahlavi tale of Gojti Fryan (edited and translated by West): a sorcerer, named Akht, comes with an immense army to the city of the enigma-expounders, threatening to make it a beaten track for elephants, if his enigmas are not solved. A Mazdayasnian, named Gojti FrySn, guesses the ABAN YA^T. J^ offer up a sacrifice with a hundred horses, a thou- sand oxen, ten thousand lambs on the P^dvaepa^ of the Rangha.
82. * He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that I may overcome the evil-doing Akhtya, the offspring of darkness, and that I may answer the ninety-nine hard riddles that he asks me maliciously, the evil-doing Akhtya, the offspring of darkness. " ^T,. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri- ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XXI.
84. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...85. 'Whom Ahura Mazda the merciful ordered thus, saying: " Come, O Ardvi Sura Anahita, come from those stars ^ down to the earth made by Ahura, thirty-three riddles proposed by Akht; then, in his turn, he proposes him three riddles which the sorcerer is unable to guess, and, in the end, he destroys him by the strength of a Nirang. Cf. Yt. XIII, 120. This tale, which belongs to the same wide- spread cycle as the myth of Oedipus and the Germanic legend of the Wartburg battle, is found in the Zarathujtra legend too (Vendidad XIX, 4).
' Perhaps an affluent of the Rangha (cf Yt. XIII, 1 9, 1 9; X V, 2 7).
^ Between the earth and the region of infinite light there are three intermediate regions, the star region, the moon region, and the sun region. The star region is the nearest to the earth, and the sun region is the remotest from it. Ardvi Sura has her seat in the star region (Yasna LXV [LXIV], i; Phi. tr.); 74 YAS-TS AND SIROZAHS.
that the great lords may worship thee, the masters of the countries, and their sons.
86. ' " The men of strength^ will beg of thee swift horses and supremacy of Glory.
' " The Athravans who read ^ and the pupils of the Athravans will beg of thee knowledge and pros- perity, the Victory made by Ahura, and the crushing Ascendant.
87. '"The maids of barren womb ^ longing for a lord ^ will beg of thee a strong husband; ' "Women, on the point of bringing forth, will beg of thee a good delivery.
' "All this wilt thou grant unto them, as it lies in thy power, O Ardvi Sdra. Anihita \" 88. 'Then Ardvi Siara Anahita came forth, O Zarathu5tra! down from those stars to the earth made by Mazda; and Ardvi Silra Anahita spake thus: 89. '"O pure, holy Zarathu^tra! Ahura Mazda has established thee as the master of the material world: Ahura Mazda has established me to keep the whole of the holy creation.
' " Through my brightness and glory flocks and herds and two-legged men go on, upon the earth: I, forsooth, keep all good things, made by Mazda, the offspring of the holy principle, just as a shepherd keeps his flock.''
90. ' Zarathu^tra asked Ardvi Sura Anahita: " O Ardvi Sura Anahita! With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship thee? With what manner of sacri- fice shall I worship and forward thee? So that Mazda may make thee run down (to the earth), that ' The warriors. ^ To teach. ' Doubtful.
ABAN VAST. 75 he may not make thee run up into the heavens, above the sun ^; and that the Serpent ^ may not injure thee with...^ with...■*, with...^ and...poisons*'."
91. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita answered: "O pure, holy Spitama! this is the sacrifice wherewith thou shalt worship me, this is the sacrifice wherewith thou shalt worship and forward me, from the time when the sun is rising to the time when the sun is setting.
'" Of this libation of mine thou shalt drink, thou A who art an Athravan, who hast asked and learnt the revealed law, who art wise, clever, and the Word incarnate.
92. ' " Of this libation of mine let no foe drink, no man fever-sick, no liar, no coward, no jealous one, no woman, no faithful one who does not sing the Gathas, no leper to be confined '^.
93. ' " I do not accept those libations that are drunk in my honour by the blind, by the deaf, by the wicked, by the destroyers, by the niggards, by the...^ nor any of those stamped with those characters which have no strength for the holy Word 9.
^ When the beds of the rivers are dry, the cause is that Ardvi Sura sends up her waters to the higher heavens (to the sun region) instead of sending them down to the earth (cf. p. 73, note 2).
^ The serpent, Azi, is here Azi in his original naturalistic character, the storm-fiend (cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 38 and this Yast, § 29, note). The uncleanness and unhealthiness of the rivers are ascribed to his poison.
^ Arethna, an ana^ 'Xtyoufvov. * Vawzaka, idem.
^ Varenva, idem. "^ Varenva poisons.
' Cf. Vend. II, 29. ' «? Ranghaw.
' Which incapacitate one for religious works.
76 YA-STS AND sfROZAHS.
* " Let no one drink of these my libations who is hump-backed or bulged forward; no fiend with decayed teethe" 94. 'Then Zarathui"tra asked Ardvi Sura Anahita: " O Ardvi Sura Anahita! What becomes of those libations which the wicked worshippers of the Daevas bring unto thee after the sun has set^?"
95. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita answered: "O pure, holy Spitama Zarathui^tra! howling, clapping, hop- ping, and shouting ^ six hundred and a thousand Daevas, who ought not to receive that sacrifice ^ receive those libations ^ that men bring unto me after [the sun has set]^" 96. * I will worship the height Hukairya, of the deep precipices ^, made of gold, wherefrom this mine Ardvi Sura Anahita leaps, from a hundred times the height of a man ^, while she is possessed of as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and she runs powerfully ^.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XXII.
97. ' Oflfer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathmtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...98. ' Before whom the worshippers of Mazda 2 Cf Vend. VII, 79 and note 2; cf. above, § 91.
^ For joy. The translations of those several words are not certain.
* Doubtful. ^ Perhaps, those cups (yamaw).
^ Filled up from § 94.
'' The text here has vispo-vahmem, ' worthy of all prayer;' the reading vtspo-vaemem from Yt. XII, 24 seems to be better.
Stand with baresma in their hands: the Hvovas did worship her, the Naotaras did worship her ^; the Hvovas asked for riches, the Naotaras asked for swift horses. Quickly was Hvova blessed with riches and full prosperity; quickly became Vii-taspa, the Naotaride, the lord of the swiftest horses in these countries ^.
99. ['Ardvi Stira Anahita granted them that boon, as they were offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri- ficing, and entreating that she would grant them that boon^] ' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XXIII.
100. 'Offer up a sacrifice,© Spitama Zarathuj-tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...
loi. '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 ^. In each channel there stands a palace, well-founded, shining with a hundred windows, with a thousand columns, well-built, with ten thousand balconies, and mighty.
102. ' In each of those palaces there lies a well- laid, well-scented bed, covered with pillows, and * The Hv6va or Hvogva family plays as great a part in the religious legend, as the Naotara family in the heroic one. Two of the Hvovas, Frashaojtra and Gamaspa, were among the first disciples of Zarathujtra and the prophet married Frashao^tra's daughter, Hvogvi (cf. Yt.XIII, 139). For the Naotaras, see above, §§ 53) 76. According to the Bundahij, ViJtaspa did not belong to the Naotara family (XXXI, 28): perhaps he was considered a Naotaride on account of his wife Hutaosa, who was one (Yt. XV, 35).
^ His very name means ' He who has many horses.'
yS YAS-TS AND SIROZAHS.
Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Zarathui-tra! runs down there from a thousand times the height of a man, and she is possessed of as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and she runs powerfully \ XXIV.
103. -'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra I unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...104. ' Unto her did the holy Zarathu5tra offer up a sacrifice in the Airyana 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 speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words 2.
105. ' He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that I may bring the son of Aurva/-aspa ^, the valiant Kavi Vi^aspa, to think according to the law, to speak according to the law, to do according to the law^" 106. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
. ' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...
2 Cf. § 1 7. It is to be noticed that only Ahura and Zarathujtra (and perhaps Vafra Navaza; see p. 68, note 2) offer the pure Zoroastrian sacrifice.
3 Called Lohrasp in Parsi tradition.
* Cf. § 18. The conversion of Vijtaspa by Zarathuj'tra is the turning-point in the earthly history of Mazdeism, as the conversion of Zarathu^tra by Ahura himself is in its heavenly history. Cf. Yt. XXIV and IX, 26.
abAn ya^t. 79 XXV.
107. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathuj'tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...108. * Unto her did the talP Kavi Virtaspa^ offer up a sacrifice behind Lake Frazdanava ^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
109. *He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Ana- hita! that I may overcome Tathrava?^/, of the bad law, and Peshana, the worshipper of the Daevas, and the wicked Are^a/-aspa ^ in the battles of this world!"
no. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...^ Berezaidhi, translated buland (Yasna LVII, 11 [LVI, 5, 2]).
* A lake in Seistan (Bundahii- XXII, 5); from that lake will rise Hoshedar Bami (UkhshyaZ-ereta), the first of the three sons of Zarathujtra, not yet born (Bahman Ya^t III, 13; cf Yt. XIII, 98).
* Of these three, Are^a/-aspa alone is known to Firdausi; he is the celebrated Ar^asp, who waged a deadly war against Gui-tasp to suppress the new religion: he stormed Balkh, slaughtered Lohrasp and Zartujt (Zarathujtra), and was at last defeated and killed by Gui-tasp's son, Isfendyar. He is the Afrasyab of the Zoroastrian period. In the Avesta he is not called a Turanian (Tura), but a //^'yaona; see Yt. IX, 30.
8o YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
XXVI.
III. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi SCira Anahita...