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, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness...Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name, and unto Rama //z^astra^ Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness...I.
I. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathuj-tra, saying: ' Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of ' Sirozah I, 16.
I20 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
wide pastures, O Spitama! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda \ 2. 'The ruffian who Hes unto Mithra^ brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers^ could do. Break not the contract, O Spitama! neither the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the faithful who is one of thy own faith*. For Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful.
3. ' Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swift- ness to the horses of those who lie not unto Mithra.
' Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, gives the straight- est way to those who lie not unto Mithra.
' The good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the faithful give a virtuous offspring to those who lie not unto Mithra.
4. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures.
' We offer up libations unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who gives a happy dwelling and a good dwelling to the Aryan nations.
5. ' May he come to us for help! May he come to us for ease! May he come to us for joy! May he come to us for mercy! May he come to us for health! May he come to us for victory! May he ^ The Mithradru^: one might also translate 'who breaks the contract,' as mithra, as a common noun, means 'a contract.' ^ Kayadhas; cf. Yt. I, 19. "* Cf. Arda Viraf, chap. lii.
MIHIR VAST. 121 come to us for good conscienceM May he come to us for bliss 2! he, the awful and overpowering, worthy of sacrifice and prayer, not to be deceived anywhere in the whole of the material world, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures.
6. ' I will offer up libations unto him, the strong Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the creatures: I will apply unto him with charity^ and prayers: I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard unto him, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wis- dom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words.
*Ye7zhe hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda*...II.
7. *We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge^, strong, sleepless, and ever awake ^; ^ Cheerfulness at the head of the Alnva/ bridge (Yasna LXII, 6 ^ The condition of the blessed in the next world.
^ Va«ta, 'assistance, that is, making ^adangoi' (Yasna LXII [LXI], I; ^adangoi is making a collection for the poor (fitudes Iraniennes, II, 155).
"G^aghaurvawnghem: this word, strangely enough, is generally translated 'who has most strong arms'(balish/,^abhui''am); ^agauru is translated in the same way.
122 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
8. ' To whom the chiefs of nations offer up sacri- fices, as they go to the field, against havocking hosts, against enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting nations.
9. ' On whichever side he has been worshipped first in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, to that side turns Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the fiend-smiting wind, with the cursing thought of the wise \ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...III.
10. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake.
II.' Whom the horsemen worship on the back of their horses, begging swiftness for their teams, health for their own bodies, and that they may watch with full success those who hate them, smite down their foes, and destroy at one stroke their adver- saries, their enemies, and those who hate them^.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...IV.
12. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; 1 3. * Who first of the heavenly gods reaches over the Hara^ before the undying, swift-horsed sun*; ^ Mount Alborz, whence the sun rises; see § 50.
* Mithra is closely connected with the sun, but not yet identical with it, as he became in later times (.-fr-*, the sun; Deo invicto Soli Mithrae).
MIHIR YAST. 123 who, foremost in a golden array, takes hold of the beautiful summits, and from thence looks over the abode of the Aryans with a beneficent eye.
14. * Where the valiant chiefs draw up their many troops in array ^; where the high mountains, rich in pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle^; where the deep lakes, with salt waters, stand ^j where wide-flowing rivers swell and hurry towards I^kata and Pouruta, Mouru and Haroyu, the Gava- Sughdha and /fvamzem*; 15. 'On Arezahi and Savahi, on Fradadhafshu and Vidadhafshu, on Vourubare^ti and Vouru^are^ti, on this bright Karshvare of //^;aniratha^ the abode of cattle, the dwelling of cattle, the powerful Mithra looks with a health-bringing eye; 16. * He who moves along all the Karshvares, a Yazata unseen, and brings glory; he who moves along all the Karshvares, a Yazata unseen, and brings sovereignty; and increases*' strength for ^ In the flat countries.
^ In the mountainous parts of Iran.
^ In the lake regions (Seistan, Farsistan, Adarbai^an).
* In the country of the large rivers in the East. Mouru is Marv (Margiana), with the Murghab river (the Margus); Haroyu is the Herat country, with the Harerud; Gava-Sughdha and Ilvavizm are Sogdiana and Khvarizm, with the Oxus. The situation of li-kata and Pouruta is not clear: one might think of Alexander eschata on the laxartes and the Paretacene country between the Oxus and the laxartes.
^ The earth is divided into seven Karshvares, separated from one another by seas and mountains impassable to men. Arezahi and Savahi are the western and the eastern Karshvare; Fradadhafshu and Vidadhafshu are in the south; Vourubare^ti and Vouru^arejti are in the north; ZTz'aniratha is the central Karshvare. -^^aniratha is the only Karshvare inhabited by man (Bundahij- XI, 3).
« Doubtful.
124 YA^-TS AND stROZAHS.
victory to those who, with a pious intent, hohly offer him hbations.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard Y.
17. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Unto whom nobody must lie, neither the master of a house, nor the lord of a borough, nor the lord of a town, nor the lord of a province.
18. 'If the master of a house lies unto him, or the lord of a borough, or the lord of a town, or the lord of a province, then comes Mithra, angry and offended, and he breaks asunder the house, the borough, the town, the province; and the masters of the houses, the lords of the boroughs, the lords of the towns, the lords of the provinces, and the foremost men of the provinces.
19. ' On whatever side there is one who has lied unto Mithra, on that side Mithra stands forth, angry and offended, and his wrath ^ is slow to relent^.
20. ' Those who lie unto Mithra, however swift they may be running, cannot overtake ^; riding, cannot...^; driving, cannot...2. The spear that the foe of Mithra flings, darts backwards, for the ^ Mainyu, in the meaning of the Sanskrit manyu (?).
^ Doubtful; aspa>^a/: cf ^jjLi>.j.^, to be late.
^ Apayeiwti, frastanvaiwti, framanyei«te: these are three technical words for the movements of the three classes of soldiers, footmen, horsemen, and chariot-men; the last two words are probably synonymous with the first, but the exact shades of mean- ing are not known. Mr. West suggests, cannot outrun, outride, outdrive him.
MIHIR YAST. 125 number of the evil spells that the foe of Mithra works out^ 21. 'And even though the spear be flung well, even though it reach the body, it makes no wound, for the number of the evil spells that the foe of Mithra works out \ The wind drives away the spear that the foe of Mithra flings, for the number of the evil spells that the foe of Mithra works out.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...VI.
2 2. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; * Who takes out of distress the man who has not lied unto him, who takes him out of death.
23. 'Take us out of distress, take us out of dis- tresses, O Mithra! as we have not lied unto thee. Thou bringest down terror upon the bodies of the men who lie unto Mithra; thou takest away the strength from their arms, being angry and all-power- ful; thou takest the swiftness from their feet, the eye-sight from their eyes, the hearing from their ears.
24. ' Not the wound 2 of the well-sharpened spear or of the flying arrow reaches that man to whom Mithra comes for help with all the strength of his soul, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra.
* For his brightness and glory, I will off'er him a sacrifice worth being heard...^ The sacramental words of the contract, by their not being kept, turn to evil spells against the contract-breaker.
2 Doubtful: j-anamayo, or janamaoyo; read shanmaoyo (?), from shan, Sansk. kshan.
126 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
VII.
25. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Who is lordly, deep, strong, and weal-giving; a chief in assemblies, pleased with prayers \ high, holily clever, the incarnate Word, a warrior with strong arms; 26. ' Who breaks the skulls of the Daevas, and is most cruel in exacting pains; the punisher of the men who lie unto Mithra, the withstander of the Pairikas; who, when not deceived, establisheth nations in supreme strength; who, when not de- ceived, establisheth nations in supreme victory; 2 7. ' Who confounds the ways of the nation that delights in havoc, who turns away their Glory 2, takes away their strength for victory, blows them away helpless ^ and delivers them unto ten thousand strokes; he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...VIII.
28. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Who upholds the columns of the lofty house and makes its pillars* solid; who gives herds of oxen and male children to that house in which he has been satisfied; he breaks to pieces those in which he has been offended.
29. 'Thou, O Mithra! art both bad and good to ^Vahmo-sendah; cf. Visperad VIII (IX, i), Phi. tr. 2 Their Hvz.xend. ^ Doubtful.
* Aithya; cf. Lat. antae (Brugmann).
MIHIR YA5T. I 27 nations; thou, O Mithra! art both bad and good to men; thou, O Mithra! keepest in thy hands both peace and trouble for nations.
30. ' Thou makest houses large, beautiful with women, beautiful with chariots, with well-laid found- ations ^ and high above their groundwork 2; thou makest that house lofty, beautiful with women, beautiful with chariots, with well-laid foundations, and high above its groundwork, of which the master, pious and holding libations in his hand, offers thee a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name and with the proper words.
31. 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O powerful Mithra!
' With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O most beneficent Mithra!
' With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O thou undeceivable Mithra!
32. 'Listen unto our sacrifice^, O Mithra! Be thou pleased with our sacrifice, O Mithra! Come and sit at our sacrifice! Accept our libations! Accept them as they have been consecrated*! Gather them together with love and lay them in the Garo-nmana!
33. ' Grant us these boons which we beg of thee, O powerful god! in accordance^ with the words of revelation, namely, riches, strength, and victory, good conscience and bliss", good fame and a good 1 Doubtful. 2 Doubtful. =* Cf. Yt. Ill, 18.
* By the proper prayers (yasiau). ^ Doubtful.
128 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
soul; wisdom and the knowledge that gives happi- ness ^ the victorious strength given by Ahura, the crushing Ascendant of Asha Vahi^ta, and conversa- tion (with God) on the Holy Word 2.
34. 'Grant that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our foes; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our enemies; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all the malice of Daevas and Men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind, and the deaf ^ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...IX.
35. ' We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; 36. ' Who sets the battle a going, who stands against (armies) in battle, who, standing against (armies) in battle, breaks asunder the lines arrayed. The wings of the columns gone to battle shake, and he throws terror upon the centre of the havocking host.
37. 'He can bring and does bring down upon them distress and fear; he throws down the heads of those who lie unto Mithra, he takes off the heads of those who He unto Mithra.
^ Spiritual happiness, bliss. ^ Vend. XVIII, 51 [m].
* Doubtful (reading arenaZ-^aSsha?).
MiniR VAST. 129 ;^S. 'Sad is the abode, unpeopled with children, where abide men who lie unto Mithra, and, verily, the fiendish killer of faithful men. The grazing cow goes a sad straying way, driven along the vales ^ of the Mithradru^es: they ^ stand on the road, letting tears run over their chins ^ 39. ' Their falcon-feathered arrows, shot from the string of the well-bent bow, fly towards the mark, and hit it not, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them.
* Their spears, well whetted and sharp, their long spears fly from their hands towards the mark, and hit it not, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them.
40. * Their swords, well thrust and striking at the heads of men, hit not the mark, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, off"ended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them.
* Their clubs, well falling and striking at the heads of men, hit not the mark, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them.
41. 'Mithra strikes fear into them; Rashnu * strikes a counter-fear into theni'^- the holy Sraosha blows them away from every side towards the two Yazatas, the maintainers of the world ^. They make the ranks of the army melt away, as Mithra, the lord ^ Doubtful. 2 The cattle.
' The meaning is, that the cattle of the INIithradru^es do not thrive, and that their pasture-fields are waste.
* See Yt. XII.
^ As they flee from INIithra, they fall into the hands of Rashnu.
® Thratara; one might feel inclined to read thrastara, 'the fear-striking;' cf. § 36.
I30 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them^.
42. ' They cry unto MIthra, the lord of wide pastures, saying: " O Mithra, thou lord of wide pas- tures! here are our fiery horses taking us away, as they flee from Mithra; here are our sturdy arms cut to pieces by the sword, O Mithra!"
43. ' And then Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, throw^s them to the ground, killing 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; as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, is angry and offended.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...« X.
44. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; * Whose dwelling, wide as the earth, extends over the material world, large-, unconfined^, and bright, a far-and-wlde-extending abode.
45. 'Whose eight friends^ sit as spies for Mithra, on all the heights, at all the watching-places, observ- ing the man who lies unto Mithra, looking at those, rememberinor those who have lied unto Mithra, but guarding the ways of those whose life Is sought by 2 Doubtful. The text is corrupt.
^ Doubtful. The number eight has probably an astronomical signification, each of the eight ratis of Mithra occupying one of the eight points of the compass.
MIHIR VAST. 131 men who lie unto Mithra, and, verily, by the fiendish killers of faithful men.
46. * Helping and guarding, guarding behind and guarding in front, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, proves an undeceivable spy and watcher for the man to whom he comes to help with all the strength of his soul, he of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XI.
47. *We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' A god of high renown and old age ^ whom wide- hoofed horses carry against havocking hosts, against enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of con- flicting nations^, 48. ' And when Mithra drives along towards the havocking hosts, towards the enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of the conflicting nations, then he binds the hands of those who have lied unto Mithra, he confounds their eye-sight, he takes the hearing from their ears; they can no longer move their feet; they can no longer withstand those people, those foes, when Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, bears them ill-will.
' For his brightness and glory, I will ofier him a sacrifice worth being heard...XII.
49. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; 50. ' For whom the Maker, Ahura Mazda, has 132 YAi-TS AND siROZAHS.
built up a dwelling on the Hara Berezaiti, the bright mountain around which the many (stars) revolve \ where come neither night nor darkness, no cold wind and no hot wind, no deathful sickness, no un- cleanness made by the Daevas, and the clouds cannot reach up unto the Haraiti Bareza^; 51. 'A dwelling that all the Amesha-Spe^ittas, in one accord with the sun, made for him in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, and he survevs the whole of the material world from the Haraiti Bareza.
52. 'And when there rushes a wicked worker of evil, swiftly, with a swift step, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, goes and yokes his horses to his chariot, along with the holy, powerful Sraosha and Nairyo-sangha ^, who strikes a blow that smites the army, that smites the strength of the malicious ^ * For his brightness and glory, I will oflfer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XIII.
53. ' We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; 54. ' Who, with hands lifted up, ever cries unto Ahura Mazda, saying: " I am the kind keeper of all creatures, I am the kind maintainer of all creatures; yet men worship me not with a sacrifice in which I am invoked by my own name, as they worship the other gods with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names.
55^ '"If men would worship me with a sacrifice ^ Bundahij V, 3 seq.; cf. Yt. XII, 13, and Yt. X, 13.
^ The Haraiti Bareza is the same as Hara Berezaiti.
^ Cf. Yt. VIII, II, 24, and Yt. X, 74.
MIHIR VAST. 133 in which I were invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, then I would come to the faithful at the appointed time; I would come in the appointed time of my beautiful, im- mortal life."
56 \ ' But the pious man, holding libations in his hands, does worship thee with a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, and with the proper words.
' With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O powerful Mithra!
' With a sacrifice, in which thou art Invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O most beneficent Mithra!
' With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O thou undeceivable Mithra!
57. ' Listen unto our sacrifice, O Mithra! Be thou pleased with our sacrifice, O Mithra! Come and sit at our sacrifice! Accept our libations! Accept them as they have been consecrated! Gather them toge- ther with love and lay them in the Garo-nmana!
58. ' Grant us these boons which we beg of thee, O powerful god! in accordance with the words of revelation, namely, riches, strength, and victory, good conscience and bliss, good fame and a good soul; wisdom and the knowledge that gives happi- ness, the victorious strength given by Ahura, the crushing Ascendant of Asha-Vahi^ta, and conver- sation (with God) on the Holy Word.
134 YASTS AND siR6zAHS.
59. * Grant that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our foes; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our enemies; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all the malice of Daevas and Men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind, and the deaf.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XIV.
60. ' We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; 'Whose renown is good, whose shape is good, whose glory is good; who has boons to give at his will, who has pasture-fields to give at his will; harmless to the tiller of the ground,...^ benefi- cent; he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XV.
61. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Firm-legged -, a watcher fully awake; valiant, a chief in assemblies; making the waters flow for- ward; listening to appeals; making the waters run and the plants grow up; ruling over the Karsh- ^ The text is corrupt (vaso-yaonai inatam?).
^ Eredhw6-za?zgem: sudr/a'/ia^ahghata, kila karye yad pada- bhyam yu^yate kartum vyavasayi ^aktaj-^^a (Yasna LXII, 5 [LXI, MIHIR YA6'T. 1 35 vares^; delivering^; happy ^; iindeceivable; endowed with many senses^; a creature of wisdom; 62. 'Who gives neither strength nor vigour to him who has lied unto Mithra; who gives neither glory nor any boon to him who has lied unto Mithra.
63. ' Thou takest away the strength from their arms, being angry and all-powerful; thou takest the swiftness from their feet, the eye-sight from their eyes, the hearing from their ears.
* Not the wound of the well-sharpened spear or of the flying arrow reaches that man to whom Mithra comes for help with all the strength of his soul, he, of the ten-thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god ^.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XVI.
64. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Who takes possession ^ of the beautiful, wide- expanding law, greatly and powerfully, and whose face looks over all the seven Karshvares of the earth; 65. ' W^ho is swift amongst the swift, liberal amongst the liberal, strong amongst the strong, a chief of assembly amongst the chiefs of assemblies; increase-giving, fatness-giving, cattle-giving, sove- reignty-giving, son-giving, cheerfulness '-giving, and bliss ''-giving.
^ Kari-o-razanghem: ke^-var virai (Pahl. tr. ibid.). "^ From Ahriman; cf. Yasna XXIX, 6 (vy an a = vi>('arijn,vijuddhata.) ^ Yaokh.ytiva7z/: kamakomand (possessing whatever he wishes * Cf. Yasna XLIII, 7: vyanaya: amat vandinit, yat gn'h«ati. ' Cf. Yt. X, 5, p. 121, notes i and 2.
136 YA5TS AND sIroZAHS.
66. ' With whom proceed Ashi Vanguhi, and Pa- rendi on her hght chariot S the awful Manly Courage, the awful kingly Glory, the awful sovereign Sky, the awful cursinor thouorht - of the wise, the awful Fra- vashis of the faithful, and he who keeps united toge- ther the many faithful worshippers of Mazda \ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XVII.
67. ' We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, sleepless, and ever awake; *Who drives along on his high-wheeled chariot, made of a heavenly* substance, from the Karshvare of Arezahi ^ to the Karshvare of //z^aniratha, the bright one; accompanied by ^ the wheel of sove- reignty ^ the Glory made by Mazda, and the Victory made by Ahura; 68. 'Whose chariot is embraced^ by the great Ashi Vanguhi; to whom the Law of Mazda opens a way, that he may go easily; whom four heavenly steeds, white, shining, seen afar, beneficent, endowed with knowledge, swiftly ^ carry along the heavenly space^^ while the cursing thought of the wise pushes it forward; 69. ' From whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends ^^ flee away in fear. Oh! may we 1 Cf. Yt. VIII, 38. ^ See above, p. 12, note 13.
3 Mithra himself (?). " Or ' invisible.'
^ The western Karshvare (see above, p. 123, note 5); this seems to refer to the career of Mithra during the night; cf. § 95. " And rolling upon it. '' Cf. Yt. XIII, 89, note.
» And uplifted. ' Doubtful.
^" See above, p. 95, note i. " See Vend. Introd. IV, 23.
MIHIR YA-S-T. 137 never fall across the rush of the angry lord\ who goes and rushes from a thousand sides against his foe, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god, ' For his brightness and glory, I will oflfer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XVIII.
70. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; * Before whom Verethraghna, made by Ahura, runs opposing the foes in the shape of a boar ^, a sharp- toothed he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing^, wrathful, with a dripping face; strong, with iron feet, iron fore-paws*, iron weapons, an iron tail, and iron jaws; 71. * Who, eagerly clinging to the fleeing foe, along with Manly Courage, smites the foe in battle, and does not think he has smitten him, nor does he consider it a blow till he has smitten away the marrow '" and the column of life ^, the marrow ^ and the spring of existence, 72..'He cuts all the limbs to pieces, and mingles, together with the earth, the bones, hair, brains, and blood of the men who have lied unto Mithra'^.
' For his brightness and glory, we offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...2 See Yt. XIV, 15; cf. Yt. X, 127.
8 Anupoithwa; cf. poithwa (Vend. XIV [ii4]) = raninijn.
* Literally, hands. ^ Doubtful.
138 YASTS AND SIROZAHS XIX.
73. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who, with hands lifted up, rejoicing, cries out, speaking thus: 74. ' " O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent spirit! Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
' " If men would worship me^ with a sacrifice in which I were invoked by my own name, as they worship the other gods with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, then I should come to the faithful at the appointed time; I should come in the appointed time of my beautiful, im- mortal life ^."
75. 'May we keep our field; may we never be exiles^ from our field, exiles from our house, exiles from our borough, exiles from our town, exiles from our country.
76. ' Thou dashest in pieces the malice of the malicious, the malice of the men of malice: dash thou in pieces the killers of faithful men!
' Thou hast good horses, thou hast a good chariot: thou art bringing help at every appeal, and art powerful.
77. ' I will pray unto thee for help, with many consecrations, with good consecrations of libations; with many offerings, with good offerings of libations, that we, abiding in thee, may long inhabit a good abode, full of all the riches that can be wished for.
^ They have worshipped him and he has consequently over- come the Mithradru^es j this accounts for the word rejoicing. 2 Cf. Yt. X, 55. ' Iric; cf. linquo.
MIHIR VAST. 139 yS. * Thou keepest those nations that tender a good worship to Mithra, the lord of wide pastures; thou dashest in pieces those that dehght in havoc. Unto thee will I pray for help: may he come to us for help, the awful, most powerful Mithra, the worshipful and praiseworthy, the glorious lord of nations.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XX.
79. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Who made a dwelling for Rashnu \ and to whom Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship; 80. ' Thou art a keeper and protector of the dwell- ing of those who lie not: thou art the maintainer of those who lie not. With thee hath Verethraghna, made by Ahura, contracted the best of all friend- ships ^, and thus it is how so many men who have lied unto Mithra, even privily^, lie smitten down on the ground.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...XXI.
81. 'We sacrifice unto IMithra, the lord of wide pastures,...sleepless, and ever awake; ' Who made a dwelling for Rashnu, and to whom Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship; 82. 'To whom Ahura Mazda gave a thousand ^ The Genius of Truth (Yt. XII); Mithra gives a dwelling to the truthful man in the same way as he destroys the dwelling of the ' Aipi vithiji; Vedic api vyathis (VIII, 45, 19).
140 YA5TS AND stROZAHS.