t8. ' The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathui"tra! the bright and glorious Ti^trya mingles his shape with light, moving in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison.
^ The age of fifteen is the paradisiacal age in the Avesta ^ Gayo maratan. But the translation is doubtful; possibly ' as a first-rate man is.'
3 Doubtful; of. ere zi, Yt. XIV, 29. ■* Cf. Yt. V, 8.
TIR YAST. 99 19. * Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying: " Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of horses, a troop of horses, and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness."
20. * Then, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! the bright and glorious Tii'trya goes down to the sea Vouru- Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison \ 21. 'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha, in the shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror.
22. 'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! the bright and glorious Ti^- trya and the Daeva Apaosha. They fight together, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! for three days and three nights. And then the Daeva Apaosha proves stronger than the bright and glorious Ti^trya, he overcomes him.
23. 'And Ti^trya flees from the sea Vouru-Kasha, as far as a Hathra's ^ length. He cries out in woe and distress, the bright and glorious Ti^trya: " Woe is me, O Ahura Mazda! I am in distress, O Waters and Plants.! O Fate and thou. Law of the worship- pers of Mazda! Men do not worship me with a ^ ' Tijtar was converted into three forms, the form of a man and the form of a horse and the form of a bull...as the astrologers say that every constellation has three forms ' (Bund. VII, 4; tr. West). Tijtrya promises his worshippers children (§ 15), oxen (§ 17), or horses (§ 19), according as he appears in the form of a man (§ 13), of a bull (§ 16), or of a horse (§ 18).
2 A mile (Bundahij- XXVI, i; tr. West, note i).
lOO YA^TS AND SIROZAHS, sacrifice in which I am invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names \ 24. ' " If men had worshipped me with a sacrifice in which I had been invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, I should have taken to me the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the strength of ten rivers ^."
25. 'Then I, Ahura Mazda, offer up to the bright and glorious Tii'trya a sacrifice in which he is in- voked by his own name, and I bring him the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the strength of ten rivers.
26 ^ ' Then, O Spitama Zarathujtra! the bright and glorious Tii'trya goes down to the sea Vouru- Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and golden caparison.
27. 'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha in the shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror.
28. 'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathuj^tra! the bright and glorious Ti^- trya, and the Daeva Apaosha; they fight together, O Zarathui-tra! till the time of noon. Then the bright and glorious Tii'trya proves stronger than the Daeva Apaosha, he overcomes him.
29. ' Then he goes from the sea Vouru-Kasha as far as a Hathra's length: "Hail!" cries the TIR YAST. lOr bright and glorious Ti^trya. "Hail unto me,0 Ahura Mazda! Hail unto you, O waters and plants! Hail, O Law of the worshippers of Mazda! Hail will it be unto you, O lands! The life^ of the waters will flow down unrestrained to the big-seeded ^ corn- fields, to the small-seeded ^ pasture-fields, and to the whole of the material world!"
30. ' Then the bright and glorious Ti^trya goes back down to the sea Vouru-Kasha, in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison *.
31. 'He makes the sea boil up and down; he makes the sea stream this and that way; he makes the sea flow this and that way: all the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over, all the middle of it is boiling over.
32. ' And the bright and glorious Ti^trya rises up from the sea Vouru-Kasha, O Spitama Zarathu5tra! the bright and glorious Satavaesa rises up from the sea Vouru-Kasha; and vapours rise up above Mount Us-hindu, that stands in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha^.
' Adhavo; possibly 'the streams;' cf. Yt. V, i, note 2. A month in the ancient Persian calendar, supposed to correspond to September-October, was called adukani, which might, on that hypothesis, mean '(the month) that makes streams spring up.'
^ Of which the representative is wheat (Bundahij- XXIV, 19).
' Of which the representative is the summer vetch (ibid. 21).
^ ' The Ausindom mountain is that which, being of ruby, of the substance of the sky, is in the midst of the wide-formed ocean (the sea Vouru-Kasha),' (Bund. XII, 6; tr.West). Blount Ausindom receives ils waters through a golden channel from the height Hukairya (cf Yt. V, 3); 'from there one portion flows forth to the ocean for the purification of the sea, and one portion drizzles in moisture upon the whole of this earth, and all the creations cf I02 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
33. 'Then the vapours push forward, in the regular shape of clouds i; they go following the wind, along the ways which Haoma traverses, the increaser of the world ^. Behind him travels the mighty wind, made by Mazda, and the rain, and the cloud, and the sleet, down to the several places, down to the fields, down to the seven Karshvares of the earth.
divides the waters amongst the countries in the material world, in company with the mighty wind, the Glory, made by the waters *, and the Fravashis of the faithful ^ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...VII.
35. 'We sacrifice unto Ti^trya, the bright and glorious star, who from the shining east, moves along his long winding course, along the path made by the gods, along the way appointed for him the Auharmazd acquire health from it, and it dispels the dryness of the atmosphere ' (ibid. XIII, 5).
1 Doubtful.
^ Haoma opens the way for the waters from heaven, as being the foremost element in sacrifice (cf. § 24). For the same reason the Bundahi^ numbers Vohu-Mano, * Good Mind,' amongst the co- operators of Tij-trya.
* Or better, 'seated in the waters;' see Yt. XIX, 56 seq. and Yt. XIII, 65.
^ The Fravashis are active in the world struggle; cf Yt. XIII, 43. 'Co-operators with Tutar were Vohuman and the angel Horn, with the assistance of the angel Bur^ (the same as Apam Napa/; see p. 94, note 2) and the righteous guardian spirits in orderly arrangement ' (Bundahij- VII, 3, tr. West).
watery way, at the will of Ahura Mazda, at the will of the Amesha-Spe7ztas.
* For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...VIII.
36. 'We sacrifice unto Ti^-trya, the bright and glorious star, whose rising is watched by men who live on the fruits of the year, by the chiefs of deep^ understanding 2; by the wild beasts in the mountains, by the tame beasts that run in the plains; they watch him, as he comes up to the country for a bad year, or for a good year ^, (thinking in them- selves): "How shall the Aryan countries be fertile?"
* For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...IX.
^'j'^. *We sacrifice unto Ti-?trya, the bright and glorious star, swift-flying and swift-moving, who flies towards the sea Vouru-Kasha, as swiftly as the arrow darted through the heavenly space, which Erekhsha, the swift archer, the Arya amongst the Aryas whose arrow was the swiftest, shot from Mount Khshaotha to Mount Hvd.xs.vdJit.
2,'^. 'Ahura Mazda gave him assistance, and the Amesha-Spe;^tas and Mithra, the lord of wide pas- tures, pointed him the way: behind him went the ^ Doubtful. ' ^ The chiefs of the state.
^ For good or bad harvest. * § 37=§ 6.
I04 YAS-TS AND SIROZAHS.
tall Ashi^ Vanguhi ^ and Pare;/di - on her light chariot: always till, in his course, he reached Mount Hv2iX\w2int on the shining waters^.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...'O X.
39. ' We sacrifice unto Tii'trya, the bright and glorious star, who afflicts the Pairikas, who destroys the Pairikas, that Angra Mainyus flung to stop all the stars that have in them the seed of the waters*.
40. ' Tii-trya afflicts them, he blows them away from the sea Vouru-Kasha; then the wind blows the clouds forward, bearing the waters of fertility, so that the friendly showers spread wide over, they spread helpingly and friendly over the seven Karshvares.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XL 41. * We sacrifice unto Ti^'trya, the bright and glorious star, for whom long the standing waters, and the running spring-waters, the stream-waters, and the rain-waters: 42. ' " When will the bright and glorious Ti^-trya rise up for us? When will the springs with a flow and overflow of waters, thick as a horse's shoulder, run to the beautiful places and fields, and to the 1 See Yt. XVII. ^ See above, p. 1 1, note 5.
2 Doubtful. Mount ^z^anvaw/, being situated in the sea Vouru- Kasha (as appears from Ti^trya travelling towards that sea, § 38), seems to be the same with Mount Ausindom (§ 32).
pastures, even to the roots of the plants, that they may grow with a powerful growth?"
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XII.
43. * We sacrifice unto Tii-trya, the bright and glorious star, who washes away all things of fear ^ who stunts the growth of all...^, and brings health to all these creations, being most beneficent, when he has been worshipped with a sacrifice and pro- pitiated, rejoiced, and satisfied.
' For his brightness and glory, I will oflfer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XIII.
44. * I will sacrifice unto Tii^trya, the bright and glorious star, whom Ahura Mazda has established as a lord and overseer above all stars ^, in the same way as he has established Zarathu^tra above men; whom neither Angra Mainyu, nor the Yatus and the Pairikas, nor the men Yatus * can deliver unto death, nor can all the Daevas together prevail for his death.
* For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...^ Sim^?^, meaning sahmgftn, bhayamkara (Yasna IX, 38 ^? Vazdrij.
^ In the Bundahij it is especially the leader of the eastern stars; but the Minokhired calls it the first star (XLIX, 5; cf above, § 12).
I06 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS XIV.
45. 'We sacrifice unto Tutrya, the bright and glorious star, to whom Ahura Mazda has given a thousand senses ^ and who is the most beneficent amonpfst the stars that have in them the seed of the waters: 46. ' Who moves in Hght with the stars that have in them the seed of the waters: he, from the sea Vouru-Kasha, the powerful sea, the large-sized, deep, and salt of waters, goes to all the lakes, and to all the beautiful caves, and to all the beautiful channels ^, in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison.
47. ' Then, O Spitama Zarathuj-tra! the waters flow down from the sea Vouru-Kasha, mother-like ^, friendly, and healing: he divides them amongst these countries, being most beneficent, when he has been worshipped with a sacrifice and propitiated, rejoiced, and satisfied ^ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XV.
48. ' We sacrifice unto Tii"trya, the bright and glo- rious star, for whom long all the creatures of Spe;-5ta- Mainyu, those that live under the ground, and those that live above the ground; those that live in the waters, and those that live on dry land; those that fly, and those that run in the plains^; and all those 2 Those of Ardvi Sura Anahita; cf. Yt. V, 4, loi.
^ See Yt. XIII, 10, note; cf. Visperad I, i, and Bundahii- XXIV, tr. West, note i.
A.
that live within this boundless and endless world of the holy Spirit.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XVI.
49. ' We sacrifice unto Tii-trya, the bright and glo- rious star, the healthful, wise, happy, and powerful, who is the lord of a thousand boons, and grants many boons to that man who has pleased him, whether begging or not begging for them.
50. 'I, O Spitama Zarathui-tra! have created that star Ti^-trya as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer, as worthy of propitiation, as worthy of glorification as myself, Ahura Mazda ^; 51. 'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to afflict, to drive back the malice of that Pairika Du^- yairya^, whom evil-speaking^ people call Huyairya*.
52. ' Had I not created that star Ti^trya as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer, as worthy of propi- tiation, as worthy of glorification as myself, Ahura Mazda; 53. 'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to afflict, to drive back the malice of that Pairika Du^- yairya, whom evil-speaking people call Huyairya; ^ Bad year, that is to say, sterility, drought. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, also deprecates Duzyairya in one of his inscriptions: ' May Ahura Mazda keep this country from the hostile host, from sterility (du^iyara), from lying (disloyalty): may never the foreigner enter this country, nor the hostile host, nor sterility, nor lying' (Persepolis, H, 15).
^ People who object to rain and are fond of fine weather (?).
* Good year.
I08 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
54. 'Then all day long, all night long, that Pairika Du^'yairya would wage war against this material world of mine, wanting to extinguish its life ^ and she goes on, rushing upon and around it.
55. ' But the bright and glorious Ti^trya keeps that Pairika in bonds, with twofold bonds, with threefold bonds, that cannot be overcome, with bonds all over the body: it is as if there were a thousand men keeping one man in bonds, a thou- sand men of those who are the strongest in strength.
56. 'If the Aryan countries, O Spitama Zara- thui^tra! would perform in honour of the bright and glorious Tii'trya the due sacrifice and invocation, just as that sacrifice and invocation ought to be per- formed in the perfection of holiness; never should a hostile horde enter these Aryan countries, nor any plague, nor leprosy, nor venomous plants 2, nor the chariot of a foe, nor the uplifted spear of a foe.'
57 ^ Zarathurtra asked: 'What is then, O Ahura Mazda! the sacrifice and invocation in honour of the bright and glorious Ti^-trya, as it ought to be per- formed in the perfection of holiness? ' 58. Ahura Mazda answered: ' Let the Aryan nations bring libations unto him; let the Aryan nations tie bundles of baresma for him; let the Aryan nations cook for him a head of cattle, either white, or black, or of any other colour, but all of one and the same colour.
^ Reading ava[-derenam]; cf. Vend. XVIII, 18 [45]. ^ Kapasti is properly the colocynthis or bitter-apple: ' Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni TiR YAST. 109 59. ' Let not a murderer take of these offerings, nor a whore, nor a...^ who does not sino- the o Gathas, who spreads death in the world and with- stands the law of Mazda, the law of Zarathui-tra.
60. ' If a murderer take of these offerinofs, or a whore, or a...who does not sing the Gathas, who spreads death in the world and withstands the law of Mazda, the law of Zarathunra, then the bright and glorious Ti^trya takes back his healing virtues.
61. 'Plagues will ever pour upon the Aryan na- tions; hostile hordes will ever fall upon the Aryan nations; the Aryans will be smitten, by their fifties and their hundreds, by their hundreds and their thousands, by their thousands and their tens of thousands, by their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads.
62. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...' I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of Tii-trya, the bright and glorious star, and of the powerful Satavaesa, made by Mazda, who pushes waters forward.
' Ash em 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 no YA5?TS AND sIroZAHS.
Gos, ' the cow,' kut i^oxhv, is a personation of the animal king- dom which she maintains. and protects. She is also called Drvaspa and Gojurun: Drvaspa means ' she who keeps horses in health,' and is nothing more than an epithet of Gbs: Go^urun (from the Zend Gews urvan) means 'the Soul of the Bull' (the primeval Bull). Although urvan is a masculine noun in Zend, yet Gojurun is considered a female angel, as this name is only a substitute for Gbs.
Gos is the angel of the 14th day (Sirozah I, 14), and her Yajt is recited during the Gah U^ahin, on the days of Gbs, Bahman, Mah, and Ram (the same days as those on which the Mah Ya^t is recited; see above, p. 88).
Gbs is hardly described in this Ya^t (§§ 1-2); the greater part of it being filled with the several prayers addressed to her by the Iranian heroes, Haoshyangha (§ 3), Yima (§ 8), Thraetaona (§ 13), Haoma (§ 17), Husravah (§ 21), Zarathui-tra, and Vutaspa. Her worshippers and their prayers to her are the same as in the case of Ashi Vanguhi (see Yt. XVII).
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! May Angra Mainyu be afflicted!
Ashem Vohu: Holiness 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, satisfaction, and glorification unto Havani, the holy and master of holiness.
Unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holyS Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness...^ Sirozah I, 14.
GO^- YAST. Ill I.
1. We sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health, the herds in health, the grown-up i (cattle) in health, the young ones in health; who watches well from afar, with a wide-spread and long-continued welfare- giving friendship; 2. Who yokes teams of horses, who makes her chariot turn and its wheels sound, fat and glistening ^ strong, tall-formed, weal- possessing, health -giving, powerful to stand and powerful to turn for assistance to the faithful.
3. To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata^ offer up a sacrifice on the enclosure of the Hara, the beautiful height, made by Mazda, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 4. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may overcome all the Daevas of Mazana*; that I may never fear and bow through terror before the Daevas, but that all the Daevas may fear and bow in spite of themselves before me, that they may fear and flee down to darkness ^' 5. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
6. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer her a sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful ^ Doubtful; possibly ' the friend in health, the child in health.' 2 Doubtful. 3 cf_ p_ ^c>^ j^Qtg j_ 112 YA.STS AND siROZAHS.
Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy; we offer her 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;2he hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda...^ IL 7. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health...Who yokes teams of horses...for assistance to the faithful ^.
8. To her did Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd, offer up a sacrifice from the height Hukairya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 9. 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may bring fatness and flocks down to the world created by Mazda; that I may bring immortality down to the world created by Mazda; 10. 'That I may take away both hunger and thirst, from the world created by Mazda; that I may take away both old age and death, from the world created by Mazda; that I may take away both hot wind and cold wind, from the world created by Mazda, for a thousand years ^' 11. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon.
s §§ 8-10= Yt. XVII, 28-30; cf. Yasna IX, 4-5 [11-20]; Yt.
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 worth being heard...III.
12. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful DrvSspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health...Who yokes teams of horses...for assistance to the faithful.
13 \ To her did Thraetaona, the heir of the A valiant Athwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the four- cornered Varena, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 14, ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may overcome A^i Dahaka, the three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses, that most powerful, fiendish Dru^, that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Dru^ that Angra Mainyu created against the mate- rial world, to destroy the world of the good principle; and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghava/^ and Erenava/^, who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful creatures in the worlds' 15. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, 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 worth being heard...A 114 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
IV.
16. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps flocks in health...Who yokes teams of horses...for assistance to the faithful.
I7\ To her did Haoma^ offer up a sacrifice, Haoma, the enhvening, the healing, the beautiful, the lordly, with golden eyes, upon the highest height of the Haraiti Bareza. He begged of her a boon, saying: 18. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may bind the Turanian murderer, Franghrasyan^ that I may drag him bound, that I may bring him bound unto king Husravah, that king Husravah may kill him, behind the A!'ae/'asta lake*, the deep lake of salt^ waters, to avenge the murder of his father Syavarshana^ a man, and of Aghrae- ratha, a semi-man"^.'
^ Cf. Yasna XI, 7 [20-21]. The destruction of the fiends, being one of the principal effects of sacrifice, is ascribed to Haoma as the most powerful element in the sacrifice. In the Shah Namah, the god Haoma has been turned into a hermit who, living near the cave in which Afrasyab had taken refuge (see above, Yt. V, 41), overhears his lamentations, takes him by surprise, binds him, and delivers him into the hands of Khosrav (Etudes Iraniennes, II, 227).
' Doubtful (nar a V a, as opposed to nara). Aghraeratha (Aghre- rath) was a brother of Afrasyab's; he was a righteous man, and Afrasyab killed him for his having saved the Iranian king Mino- ^ihr with his army, when captive in the Padashkhvar mountains (Bundahij' XXXI, 21). Yet he is still Hving as an immortal in the land of Saukavastan, under the name of Gopatshah (the king of the bulls); ' from foot to mid-body he is a bull, and from mid-body to 19. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri- ficing, and entreating that she would give him that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard...V.
20. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health...Who yokes teams of horses...for assistance to the faithful.
21 ^ To her did the gallant Husravah, he who united the Arya 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 thou- sand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and an offering of libations: 22. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may kill the Turanian murderer, Franghrasyan, behind the /ifae/'asta lake, the deep lake of salt waters, to avenge the murder of my father Syavarshana, a man, and of Aghraeratha, a semi- man ^.'
23. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrithe top he is a man; at all times he stays on the sea-shore, and always performs the worship of God, and always pours holy-water into the sea' (Minokhired LXII, 31 seq., tr. West; Bund. XXIX, 5); according to Bund. XXXI, 20, Aghrerath was not Gopatshah, he was his father. Cf. Yt. XIX, 93, Il6 YA5'TS AND SIROZAHS.
ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard...VI.
24. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health...Who yokes teams of horses...for assistance to the faithful.
25^. To her did the holy Zarathu^tra 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. He begged of her a boon, saying: 26. ' O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! grant me this boon, that I may bring the good and noble Hutaosa^ to think according to the law, to speak according to the law, to do according to the law, that she may spread my Mazdean law and make it known, and that she may bestow beautiful praises upon my deeds.'
27. The strong Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, 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 worth being heard...
^ Hutaosa was the wife of king ViJtaspa; cf. Yt. XV, 37.
28. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health...Who yokes teams of horses...for assistance to the faithful.
29 ^ To her did the tall Kavi Vi^-taspa offer up a sacrifice behind the waters of the river Daitya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 30. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may put to flight Ai-ta-aurva;z/, the son of Vispa-thaurvo-asti, the all-affficting, of the brazen helmet, of the brazen armour, of the thick neck, behind whom seven hundred camels...^; that I may put to flight the Z^z^yaona murderer, Are^a/- aspa^; that I may put to flight Dar^inika^ the wor- shipper of the Daevas; 31. And that I may smite Tathrava;^/'^ of the bad law; that I may smite Spin^aurui-ka^, the wor- shipper of the Daevas; and that I may bring unto the ofood law the nations of the Varedhakas and of the //z/yaonas^; and that I may smite of the ZTz^yaona nations their fifties and their hundreds, their hun- dreds and their thousands, their thousands and their ^ Mentioned Yt. V, 109 and XIX, 87.
" The ZTfyaonas seem to have been the Chionitae, a bellicose tribe, near the land of Gilan, often at war with the first Sassanides (Amm. Marcellinus XVII, 5). The name of the Varedhakas re- minds one of the Vertae who are mentioned once in company with the Chionitae (ibid. XIX, i); but their geographical situation is not ascertained. In any case the proximity of the Daitya (§ 29) shows that both people must have inhabited the western coast of the Caspian sea.
tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads.
32. The strong Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up Hbations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer her a sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy; we offer her 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.
Yatha ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness...I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the powerful Drvaspa, 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.
This Yajt, one of the longest of the Avesta and one of the most interesting in a literary point of view, is not very instructive for mythology. It consists of long descriptive pieces, sometimes rather spirited, and of fervent prayers and invocations for mercy or protection. Originally INIithra was the god of the heavenly light (§§ 12, 50, 67, 104, 124 seq., 136 seq., &c.); and in that character he knows the truth, as he sees everything; he is therefore taken as a witness of truth, he is the preserver of oaths and good faith (§§ 2, 44 seq., 79 seq., 81 seq., &c.); he chastises those who break their promises and lie to IMithra, destroys their houses and smites them in battle (§§ 17 seq., 28 seq., 35 seq., 47 seq., 99 seq., 105 seq., Particularly interesting are §§ 11 5-1 18, as giving a sketch of moral hierarchy in Iran, and §§ 121-122, as being perhaps the source of the trials in the later Roman Mithriacism. Cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 8 and Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 59-61.
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!...