3 The Pahlavi translator makes the attempt to account for the epithet € manly-minded’ as applied to Keresaspa while yet he fled affrighted; he says: "Hdmam/ man/mlnlmih hand yehevfimf, aighar libbem- man pavan gas dart; Ner.asya paurushamdnasatvam* ida m babhuva yad asau £aitanya*& s thane dadhau, ‘ his manly-mindedness was this, that he kept his wits on the occasion/ See the same story treated somewhat differently in the Yarts by Darmesteter (p. 295, note 2).
t Or, dkhezidano. 1 YASNA IX.
O H(a)oma! for the corporeal world? What blessed- ness was given him? what gain did he acquire?
13. Thereupon gave H(a)oma answer, he the holy, and driving death afar: Pourushaspa 1 was the fourth man who prepared me for the corporeal world. This blessedness was given him, this gain did he acquire, that thou, O ZarathuJtra! wast born to him, the just, in Pourushaspa’s house, the D(a)eva’s foe, the friend of Mazda’s lore, (14) famed in Airyena Vae^ah; and thou, O Zarathustra! didst recite the first the Ahuna- vairya 2, four times intoning it, and with verses kept apart [(P&zand) each time with louder and still louder voice].
1 5. And thou didst cause, O Zarathurtra! all the demon-gods to vanish in the ground who aforetime flew about this earth in human shape (and power. This hast thou done), thou who hast been the strongest, and the staunchest, the most active, and the swiftest, and (in every deed) the most victorious in the two spirits’ 3 world.
1 6. Thereupon spake Zarathustra: Praise to H(a)oma. Good is H(a)oma, and the well-endowed, exact and righteous in its nature, and good inhe- rently, and healing, beautiful of form, and good in deed, and most successful in its working 4, golden- hued, with bending sprouts. As it is the best for drinking, so (through its sacred stimulus) is it the most nutritious 6 for the soul.
1 7. I make my claim on thee, O yellow one! for 1 Son of Paitirasp or Sp6tirasp; Bundahir XXXII, 1, 2, &c.
* The Ahuna-vairya is in the Gothic dialect, and in the Ahuna- vaiti metre; it may have been composed by Z. It named the G&tha.
5 Comp. pathmmg gavdi.
YASNA IX.
inspiration \ I make my claim on thee for strength; I make my claim on thee for. victory; I make my claim on thee for health and healing (when healing* is my need); I make my claim on thee fo.r progress and increased prosperity, and vigour of the entire frame, and for understanding 1 2 *, of each adorning kind, and for this, that I may have free course among our settlements, having power where I will, overwhelm- ing angry malice, and a conqueror of lies.
18. Yea, I make my claim on thee that I may overwhelm the angry hate of haters, of the D(a)£vas and of mortals, of the sorcerers and sirens s, of the tyrants 4 *, and the Kavis, of the Karpans, murderous bipeds, of the sanctity-destroyers, the profane apos- tate bipeds, of the wolves four-footed monsters, ©f the invading host, wide-fronted, which with strata- gems 6 advance.
19. This first blessing I beseech of thee, O H(a)oma, thou that drivest death afar! I beseech of thee for (heaven), the best life of the saints, the radiant, all-glorious G.
This second blessing I beseech of thee, O H (a)oma, thou that drivest death afar! this body’s health (before that blest life is attained).
This third blessing I beseech of thee, O H(a)oma, thou that drivest death afar! the long vitality of life.
1 Or, is madhem related to medha as well as mazda (fern.)? s Pahl. farzanakih.
s Hardly ‘witches;’ outwardly attractive, but evil female beings.
* Pahl. sastarano.
4 Pahl. pavan friftajih; Ner. pratarawataya.
* Visp6-j4»athrem does not mean ‘ comfortable ' here, flvan is the root; comp. /jzw?g=sun.
YASNA IX.
20. This fourth blessing I beseech of thee, O .H(a)oma, thou that drivest death afar! that I may- stand forth on this earth with desires gained l, and powerful, receiving satisfaction, overwhelming the assaults of hate, and conquering the lie.
This fifth blessing, O H(a)oma, I beseech of thee, thou that drivest death afar! that I may stand victorious on earth, conquering in battles 2, over- whelming the assaults of hate, and conquering the lie.
21. This sixth blessing I ask of thee, O H(a)oma, thou that drivest death afar! that we may get good warning of the thief, good warning of the murderer, see first the bludgeon-bearer, get first sight of the wolf. May no one whichsoever get first the sight of us. In the strife with each may we be they who get the first alarm!
22. H(a)oma grants to racers 3 who would run a course with span both speed and bottom (in their horses). H(a)oma grants to women come to bed with child a brilliant offspring and a righteous line.
H(a)oma grants to those (how many!) who have long sat searching books, more knowledge and more wisdom.
23. H(a)oma grants to those long maidens, who sit at home unwed, good husbands, and that as soon as asked, he H(a)oma, the well-minded.
24. H(a)oma lowered Keresani 4, dethroned him from his throne, for he grew so fond of power, that 3 Arva^to == aurva^to; so the Pahl. arvand.
4 Comp, the Vedic KrAanu, archer and demi-god who guarded die Soma. Ner. seems to notice that the name recalls that of the Christians.
YASNA IX.
he treacherously said: No priest behind 1 (and watch- ing) shall walk the lands for me, as a counsellor to. prosper them, he would rob everything of progress, he would crush the growth of all!
25. Hail to thee, O H(a)oma, who hast power as thou wilt, and by thine inborn strength! Hail to thee, thou art well-versed in many sayings, and true and holy words. Hail to thee for thou dost ask no wily questions, but questionest direct.
26. Forth hath Mazda borne to thee, the star- bespangled girdle 2, the spirit-made, the ancient one, the Mazdayasnian Faith.
So with this thou art begirt on the summits of the mountains, for the spreading of the precepts, and the headings 3 * 5 of the Mathra, (and to help the Mathra’s teacher), 27. O H(a)oma, thou house-lord, and thou clan- lord, thou tribe-lord, and chieftain of the land, and thou successful learned teacher, for aggressive strength I speak to thee, for that which smites with victory, and for my body’s saving, and for manifold delight!
28. Bear off from us the torment and the malipe of the hateful. Divert the angry foe’s intent!
What man soever in this house is violent and wicked, what man soever in this village, or this tribe, or province, seize thou away the fleetness from 1 So the Pahlavi, before others, read apas; comp. fras.
Pleiades + ni = leading the P., looks doubtful, and seems refuted by Yart XXIV, 29, where Darmesteter renders a word probably akin, as ‘ the many.’ I would here render ‘ the former.’
YASNA IX.
his feet; throw thou a veil of darkness o’er his mind; make thou his intellect (at once) a wreck!
29. Let not the man who harms us, mind or body, have power to go forth on both his legs, or hold with both his_ hands, or see with both his eyes, not the land (beneath his feet), or the herd before his face.
30. At the aroused and fearful 1 Dragon, green, and belching forth his poison, for the righteous saint that perishes, yellow H(a)oma, hurl thy mace 2!
At the (murderous) bludgeon-bearer, committing deeds unheard of®, blood-thirsty, (drunk) with fury, yellow H(a)oma, hurl thy mace!
31. Against the wicked human tyrant, hurling weapons at the head, for the righteous saint that perishes, yellow H(a)oma, hurl thy mace!
Against the righteousness-disturber, the unholy life-destroyer, thoughts and words of our 4 religion well-delivering, yet in actions never reaching, for the righteous saint that perishes, yellow H(a)oma, hurl thy mace!
32. Against the body of the harlot, with her magic minds o’erthrowing with (intoxicating) pleasures 6, to the lusts her. person offering, whose 6 mind as vapour wavers as it flies before the wind, for the righteous saint that perishes, yellow H(a)oma, hurl thy mace!
1 Pahl. sakhmakan; Ner. bhaya/wkare.
6 YeNhe must be an error; otherwise 4 offering the person to him whose mind as vapour wavers/ YASNA X.
YASNA X.
1. Let the Demon-gods and Goddesses fly far away 1 from hence, and let the good Sraosha make here his home! [And may the good Blessedness here likewise dwell], and may she here spread delight and peace within this house, Ahura’s, which is sanc- tified by H(a)oma, bringing righteousness (to all).
2. At the first force of thy pressure, O intelligent! I praise thee with my voice, while I grasp at first thy shoots. At thy next pressure, O intelligent! I praise thee with my voice, when as with full force of a man I crush thee down.
3. I praise the cloud that waters thee, and the rains which make thee grow on the summits of the mountains; and I praise thy lofty mountains where the H(a)oma branches spread 2.
4. This wide earth do I praise, expanded far (with paths), the productive, the full bearing, thy mother, holy plant! Yea, I praise the lands where thou dost grow, sweet-scented, swiftly spreading, the good growth of the Lord. O H(a)oma, thou grow- est on the mountains,- apart on many paths 3, and there still may’st thou flourish. The springs of Righteousness most verily thou art, (and the foun- tains of the ritual find their source in thee)!
1 The Pahlavi as corrected by the MS. of Dastur Hoshanggi frlmaspgi has bail akhar min latamman pa</end barl sh&M-; Ner. Hite par^at asmat prapatanti, rite devlA rite devasahaya/i devylA, uttamaA -Sroro nivasati.
2 Or, ‘ where, O Haoma! thou hast grown,’ reading — tra with Barth, as 2nd sing. perf. pret. middle.
2 Or, ‘ on the pathways of the birds.'
YASNa X.
5. Grow (then) because I pray to thee on all thy stems arid branches, in all thy shoots (and tendrils) increase thou through my word!
6. H(a)oma grows while he is praised, and the man who praises him is therewith more victorious. The lightest pressure of thee, H(a)oma, thy feeblest praise, the slightest tasting of thy juice, avails to the thousand-smiting of the D(a)evas- 7. Wasting doth vanish from that house, and with it foulness, whither in verity they bear thee, and where thy praise in truth is sung, the drink of H(a)oma, famed, health-bringing (as thou art). [(Pizand) to his village and abode they bear him.]
8. All other toxicants go hand in hand with Rapine of the bloody spear, but H (a)oma’s stirring power goes hand in hand with friendship. [Light is the drunken- ness of H (a)oma (Pizand).]
Who as a tender son caresses H(a)oma, forth to the bodies of such persons H(a)oma comes to heal 9. Of all the healing virtues, H(a)oma, whereby thou art a healer, grant me some. Of all the vic- torious powers, whereby thou art a victor, grant me some. A faithful praiserwill I be to thee, O H(a)oma, and a faithful praiser (is) a better (thing) than Right- eousness the Best; so hath the Lord, declaring (it), decreed.
10. Swift 1 and wise hath the well-skilled * Deity created thee; swift and wise on high Haraiti did He, the well-skilled, plant thee.
11. And taught (by implanted instinct) on every 1 Having immediate effect, and giving wisdom. 1 Comp. Y. XLIV, 5.
R YASNA X.
side, the bounteous 1 birds have carried thee to the Peaks-above-the-eagles 2, to the mount’s extremes! summit, to the gorges and abysses, to the heights of many pathways 3, to the snow-peaks ever whitened.
12. There, H(a)oma, on the ranges dost thou grow of many kinds. Now thou growest of milky whiteness, and now thou growest golden; and forth thine healing liquors flow for the inspiring of the pious. So terrify away from me the (death’s) aim of the curser. So terrify and crush his thought who stands as my maligner.
13. Praise be to thee, O H(a)oma, (for he makes the poor man’s thoughts as great as any of the richest whomsoever.) Praise be to H (a)oma, (for he makes the poor man’s thoughts as great as when mind reacheth culmination.) With manifold retainers dost thou, O H(a)oma, endow the man who drinks thee mixed with milk; yea, more prosperous thou irtakest him, and more endowed with mind.
14* Do not vanish from me suddenly like milk- drops in the rain; let thine exhilarations go forth ever vigorous and fresh; and' let them come to me with strong effect. Before thee, holy H(a)oma, thou bearer of the ritual truth, and around thee would I cast this body, a body which (as all) may see (is fit for gift and) grown 4.
15. I renounce with vehemence the murderous woman’s 5 emptiness, the (Paini’s, hers, with intellect 1 Possibly * the birds taught by the bounteous one; * the ‘ God- taught birds/ 2 Elsewhere and here also possibly a proper name.
2 Or the ‘ pathways of the birds; ’ so Haug, following Spiegel and Justi. Gu^rati, as above.
4 Which is seen as mine well-grown.
1 Gaini seems always used in an evil sense in the later Avesta.
YASNA X.
dethroned 1. She vainly thinks to foil us, and would beguile both Fire-priest and H(a)oma; but she her- self, deceived therein, shall perish..And when she sits at home * and wrongly eats of H(a)oma’s offer- ing, priest’s mother will that never make her, nor give her holy 3 sons!
16. 4 To five do I belong, to five others do I not; of the good thought am I, of the evil am I not; of the good word- am I, of the evil am I not; of the good deed am I, and of the evil, not.
To Obedience am I given, and to deaf disobedi- ence, not; to the saint do I belong, and to the wicked, not; and so from this on till the ending shall be the spirits’ parting. (The two shall here divide.)
17. Thereupon spake Zarathartra: Praise to H(a)oma, Mazda-made. Good is H(a)oma, Mazda- made. All the plants of H(a)oma praise I, on the heights of lofty mountains, in the gorges of the valleys, in the clefts (of sundered hill-sides) cut for the bundles bound by women. From the silver cup I pour Thee to the golden chalice over 3. Let me not thy (sacred) liquor spill to earth, of precious cost 18. These are thy G&thas 6, holy H(a)oma, these 1 I would correct to a form of khratu.
2 Compare the avoiding the service mentioned by the Pahlavi translator on Y. LIII, 5.
f Or, more safely, ‘many sons/ * Haoma speaks.
® Here the priest evidently manipulates the cups containing the Haoma-juice.
* The application of this term here seems to point to a high iniquity for the Haoma Yart; if not in the present piece, which is not so old as the Githas, then in previous hymns to Haoma of which ft*® Ya st is an improvement, or extension.
YASNA XI.
thy songs, and these thy teachings \ and these thy truthful ritual words, health 2 -imparting, victory- giving, from harmful hatred healing giving.
19. These and thou art mine, and forth let thine exhilarations flow; bright and sparkling let them hold on their (steadfast) way; for light are thine exhilaration^), and flying lightly come they here. Victory-giving smiteth H(a)oma, victory-giving is it worshipped; with this Gothic word we praise it 20. Praise to the Kine; praise and victory (be), spoken to her! Food for the Kine, and pasture!
‘ For the Kine let thrift use toil; yield thou us food 3.’
21. We worship the yellow lofty one; we worship H(a)oma who causes progress, who makes the settle- ments advance; we worship H(a)oma who drives death afar; yea, we worship all the H (a)oma plants. And we worship (their) blessedness, and the Fravashi of 7 arathastra Spitima, the saint 4.
YASNA XI.
Prelude to the H(a)oma-offering 5.
1. Three clean creatures (full of blessings) curse betimes while yet invoking, the cow, the horse, and then H(a)oma. The cow cries to her driver 6 thus: 1 Ner. possibly figuratively yaA kaj£it asvadanaA 4 The YeNhe hatam follows.
5 This characteristic fragment is repeated and extended in tho later literature of the Parsis. The curse of the cow, horse, and of Haoma (scilicet the priest) when they are stinted, was extended to all domestic animals. It has been difficult to avoid the H metrical rhythm of the original with its jingling cadence. A M freedom is also not avoided.
e Not ‘ to the priest; * Ner. gnhitaram.
YASNA Xl.
Childless be thou, shorn of offspring, evil-famed, and slander-followed, who foddered 1 fairly dost not use me, but fattenest me for wife or children, and for thy niggard selfish meal.
2. The horse cries to his rider thus: Be not spanner 2 of the racers; stretch no coursers to full- speed; do not stride across the fleetest, thou, who dost not pray me swiftness in the meeting thick with numbers, in the circuit thronged with men.
3. H(a)oma speaks his drinker thus: Childless be thou, shorn of offspring, evil-famed, and slander- followed, who holdest me from' full outpouring, as a robber, skulls in-crushing. No head-smiter 3 am I ever, holy H(a)oma, far from death 4.
4. Forth my father gave an offering, tongue and left eye chose Ahura, set apart for H(a)oma’s meal.
5. Who this offering would deny me, eats himself, or prays it from me, this which Mazda gave to bless me, tongue with left eye (as my portion).
6. In his house is born no fire-priest, warrior ne’er in chariot standing, never more the thrifty tiller. In his home be born Dahakas, Murakas of evil practice, doing deeds of double nature.
7* Quick, cut off then H(a)oma’s portion, gift of flesh for doughty H(a)oma! Heed lest H(a)oma 1 ‘Who dost not give me cooked (food) ’ seems improbable. If 2®Sst5m means fodder, why is it fem., especially here with a feminine correlative? I think that ‘having good food' is the meaning of the word, as an adjective, and agreeing with gam understood. Possibly, ‘ who dost not bestow upon me as the one well-foddered.’
* Dialectically used.
s ‘Light is the intoxication of Haoma;’ (other toxicants smite the head).
246 YASNA XI.
bind thee fettered, as he bound the fell Turanian Frangrasyan 1 (the murderous robber) fast in iron close-surrounded in the mid-third 2 of this earth!
8. Thereupon spake Zarathostra 3: Praise to H(a)oma made by Mazda, good is H(a)oma Mazda-made.
9. 4 Who to us is one hereupon to thee (becomes) two, to be made to three, for the five 5 * -making of the four, for the seven-making of the sixth, who are your nine in the decade (?), who serve you and with zeal*.
10. 7 To thee, O holy H(a)oma! bearer of the ritual sanctity, I offer this my person which is seen (by all to be) mature, (and fit for gift); to H(a)oma the effective do I offer it, and to the sacred exhilara- tion which he bestows; and do thou grant to me (for this), O holy H(a)oma! thou that drivest death afar, (Heaven) the best world of the saints, shining, all brilliant.
1 A Turanian king.
1 Observe the threefold division of the earth; see it also ia Vend. II.
5 A poetical reproduction. Z. had been long among the ancient dead.
* The Raspi at present hands the Haoma-cup to the priest at this point; the efficacy of the liquor is supposed to be multiplied.
* Pe»daidyai is to be read as of course; the letter a, not unlike f in a MS. when turned, was probably half inverted.
* This seems rendered by the Pahlavi as an interlude between the Ratu and the Zaotar; comp. Y. XXVIII, 11. Several broken sentences from other parts of the Avesta are here doubtfully recalled, perhaps as having especial sanctity.
1 The Raspi brings the Haoma-vessel to the Baresman at this point; and touching its stand, the Mah-rfi, lays a cloth on the right hand of the Zaotar, who, looking at the vessel, proceeds to recite as follows in verse 10.
YASNA XII. ' r 247 11. (The Asherri Vohfl, ^ •'> 12-15. May ’st Thou rule at Thy will, O Lord 1!
16. I confess myself a Mazdayasnian of Zarathurtra’s order 2., 17. 3 1 celebrate my praises -for good thoughts,, good words, and good deeds for my thoughts, my speeches, and (my) actions. With chanting praises I present all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and with rejection I repudiate all evil thoughts, and words, and deeds. 18. Here I give to you, O ye Bountiful Immortals! sacrifice and homage with the mind, with words, deeds, and my entire person; yea, (I offer) to you the flesh of my very body (as your own). And I praise Righteousness. A bless- ing is Righteousness (called) the Best, &c.
YASNA XII (Sp. XIII).
The Mazdayasnian Confession 4.
1. I drive 5 the Daevas hence; I confess as a Mazda-worshipper of the order of Zarathurtra, estranged from the Daevas, devoted to the lore of * This piece is in the Gathic dialect, and therefore an especially fitting prelude to the Confession of faith in Y. XII.
4 This piece in the Gathic dialect has claims to higher antiquity next after the HaptangMiti. Its retrospective cast shows that it is later than the original period. Verse 7 savours of a later date with its reference to the plants and waters. That Zarathurtra, Kavi Virtispa, Frashaortra, and Gamispa are named by no means proves that they were still living. Still, they are not mentioned with any fanciful or superstitious exaggeration; they are not yet demi-gods.
* As a partial explanation of nfiismi * from nas, compare the aorist nerat. Possibly also from n ad, ‘ I curse fee demons.’
YASNA XII.
the Lord, a praiser 1 of the Bountiful Immortals; and to Ahura Mazda, the good and endowed with good possessions, I attribute all things good, to the holy One, the resplendent, to the glorious, whose are all things whatsoever which are good; whose is the Kine, whose is Asha (the righteous order perva ding all things pure), whose are the stars, in whose lights the glorious beings and objects are clothed 2 * 2. And I choose Piety, the bounteous and the good, mine may she be s. And therefore I loudly deprecate all robbery 4 and violence against the (sacred) Kine, and all drought 5 6 to the wasting of the Mazdayasnian villages.
3. Away from (?) their thoughts do I wish to lead (the thought of) wandering at will, (away the thought of) free nomadic pitching of the tent, for I wish to re- move (?) all wandering from 0 (their) Kine which abide in steadfastness upon this land; and bowing down in worship to Righteousness I dedicate my offerings with praise so far as that. Never may I stand as a source of wasting, never as a source of withering to the Mazdayasnian villages, not for the love 7 of body or of life.
4. Away do I abjure the shelter and headship of the 1 And sacrificer.
3 A genuine citation from the Gathas (see Y. XXXI, 7).
5 A genuine allusion to the Gathas (Y. XXXII, 2).
* This preserves the proper reading of tayuf£a (so the Pahlavi) in Y. XXIX, 1.
Viyapa t as beyond a doubt; so viyapem in verse 3.
6 Fra has the same force as in fra perenaoiti (?), to fill forth, to empty. Otherwise, ‘forth to their thoughts I offer in my prayer free ranging at their choice, and a lodging where they will, to- gether with their cattle which dwell upon this land.’
YASKA XII.
Daevas, evil as they are; aye, utterly bereft of good, and void of virtue, deceitful in their wickedness, of (all) beings those most like the Demon-of-the-Lie, the most loathsome of existing things, and the ones the most of all bereft of good.
5. Off, off, do I abjure the Daevas and all pos- sessed by them, the sorcerers and all that hold to their devices, and every existing being of the sort; their thoughts do I abjure, their words and actions, and their seed (that propagate their sin); away do I abjure their shelter and their headship, and the ini- quitous of every kind who act as Rakhshas act!
Thus and so in very deed might Ahura Mazda have indicated 1 to Zarathurtra in every question which Zarathurtra asked, and in all the consultations in the which they two conversed together. 6. Thus and so might Zaratjmstra have abjured the shelter and the headship of the Daevas in all the questions, and in all the consultations with which they two con- versed together, Zarathurtra and the Lord.
And so I myself, in whatsoever circumstances I may be placed, as a worshipper of Mazda, and of Zarathurtra’s order, would so abjure the Daevas and their shelter, as he who 2 was the holy Zarathurtra abjured them (once of old).
7. To that religious sanctity 3 to which the waters appertain, do I belong, to that sanctity to which the plants, to that sanctity to which the Kine of blessed gift 4, to that religious sanctity to which Ahura Mazda, who made both Kine and holy men, belongs, 1 Reading adakhshaya§t£; otherwise khshayaeta, commanded.
4 The Pahlavi structure ‘ he who ’ foreshadowed, as often.
3 Not in the sense of recompense here.
4 Observe this original meaning; ‘ butter' is here impossible.
YASNA XIII.
to that sanctity do I. Of that creed which Zara- thustra held, which Kavi Vl.stS.spa, and those two, Frashaoi'tra and CPfimaspa; yea, of that religious faith which every Saoshya»t who shall (yet come to) save (us), the holy ones who do the deeds of real significance, of that creed, and of that lore, am I.
8. A Mazda-worshipper I am, of Zarathurtra’s order; (so) do I confess, as a praiser and confessor, and I therefore praise aloud the well-thought thought, the word well spoken, and the deed well done; 9. Yea, I praise at once the Faith of Mazda, the Faith which has no faltering utterance 1, the Faith that wields the felling halbert 2, the Faith of kindred marriage, the holy (Creed), which is the most impos- ing, best, and most beautiful of all religions which exist, and of all that shall in future come to know- ledge, Ahura’s Faith, the Zarathustrian creed. Yea, to Ahura Mazda do I ascribe all good, and such shall be the worship of the Mazdayasnian belief!
YASNA XIII (Sp. XIV). Invocations and Dedications.
1. I address (my invocation to) Ahura Mazda. And I invoke (among guardian beings) the chief® of 1 Fraspavaokhedhram; ‘y 3 miswritten for 1 v/ Fra seems to be prohibitive 'speech without falling, or hesitation;’ better as adj.
3 This Ratu is the description and representation of the Nmano- paiti as occupying the attention of the worshippers chiefly at the time of his mention in the course of the ritual. (I vary the* ex- pression ‘chief’ with that of ‘lord’ here for the sake of change.) Once established as a Ratu in the ritual, he became a guardian genius Nminya; so of the others. (Y. XIII is in the Gathic dialect.)
YASNA XIII.
YASNA XIII.
the- house-lord, and the chief of the Vis-lord 1, and the . chief of the Za#tu-lord * And I invoke the chief of the province-lord 8. And the chief of women I in- voke, the Mazdayasnian Faith, the blessed and good Pare^di 4, her who is the holy one of human-kind 6. And I invoke this (holy) earth which bears us.
2. And I invoke the friendly and most helpful person’s 0 lord, the Fire of Ahura Mazda, and also the most energetic lords of ho.y men, those who are most strenuous 7 in their care of cattle and the fields, and the chief of the thrifty tiller of the earth. And I invoke the steady settler 8 of sanctity, {and) the chief of the charioteer.
3. And I invoke the chief of the fire-priest by means of the most imposing sciences of the Mazda- yasnian Faith. And I invoke the chief of the Atharvan, and his pupils I invoke; yea, the lords of each of them. I invoke these lords, and I summon the Bountiful Immortals here, and the Prophets who shall serve us, the wisest as they are, the most scru- 1 Visya. 2 Zawtuma. 8 DaAzyuma = Dahyuma.
4 The goddess of riches.
8 Lit. biped; see elsewhere where quadruped means merely beast 6 Or, ‘ households.'
7 Ashethwozgatema (several manuscripts have ashe) finds its explanation from the Pahlavi of Dastur Hoshanggi G&maspgfs MS. It may be read kabed rang- rasimtfim instead of kabed yom rasim- tfhn. The ancient error of y6m arose from the fact that the copyist had before him a form which might be read either i&g or ran^, the characters being identical for either word. He could not reconcile himself to mug in the sense of effort, and so decided for rdg-; but in order to guide his successors aright, he changed it for its synonym yom, which, as Spiegel well remarks, affords but little sense. But the word is ran^, as I believe, and this is at once corroborated by Ner/s bahuklera. Read ar + thwakhra + gatema= kabed +ran^+rasimtum, the most progressing with painful energy.
YASNA XIII.
pulous in their exactness (as) they utter words (of doctrine and of service), the most devoted (to their duties likewise), and the most glorious in their thoughts (?) \ And I invoke the most imposing forces of the Mazdayasnian Faith, and the fire-priests I invoke, and the charioteers, the warriors, and the thrifty tillers of the soil.
4. And to You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals! Ye who rule aright, and dispose (of all) aright, I offer the flesh of my very frame, and all the blessings of my life.
Thus 2 the two spirits 3 thought, thus they spoke, and thus they did; 5. And therefore as Thou, O Ahura Mazda! didst think, speak, dispose, and do all things good (for us), so to Thee would we give, so would we assign to Thee our homage; so would we worship Thee with our sacrifices. So would we bow before Thee with these gifts, and so direct our prayers to Thee with confessions of our debt.
6. By the kinship of the good kindred 4, by that of Righteousness the good (Thy righteous servant’s nature) would we approach Thee, and by that of the good thrift-law, and of Piety the good.
7 - And we would worship the Fravashi of the Kine of blessed gift 5, and that of the holy Gaya Maretan, and we would worship the holy F ravashi 6 1 I should think that the reference was here to khratavo, Y. XL VI, 3. See Y. XXXII, 14, as alternatively rendered.
2 A portion of the text has here fallen out 9 The recognition of a strong dualism here is imperative. Ahura alone is praised.
4 Or, c of the good kinsman, the lord (?)/ 5 Elsewhere meaning ‘ meat,' just as Ameretata/ and Haurvata/ mean wood and water. 6 Or, £ sanctity and the Fravashi/ YASNA XIV.
of Zarathmtra Spitama, the saint. Yea, that one of beings do we worship whose better (service) in the sacrifice Ahura Mazda knows; (even those women do we worship) whose 1 (better service thus is known). Yea, both (holy) men and women (do we worship whom Ahura Mazda knows 2 ). As the Ahft is excelling, so is our Ratu, one who rules from the Righteous Order, a creator of mental goodness, and of life s actions done for Mazda; and the Kingdom is to Ahura which to the poor (may offer) nurture 2.
A blessing is the Right called the best, there is weal, there is weal to this (man), when toward Right- eousness Best (he does) right 2.
8. We worship the Ahuna-vairya; and we worship Asha Vahi-sta the best(?), the bountiful Immortal. And we sacrifice to the Hi fraoreti, even to the con- fession and laudation of the Mazdayasnian Faith!
YASNA XIV (Sp. XV).
Dedications.
1. I will come to You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals! as a praiser and a priest, and an invoker and sacri- ficer, as a memorising reciter and a chanter, for Your sacrifice and homage, which are to be offered to You, the Bountiful Immortals, and for our dedication and sanctification; (yea, for ours) who are the holy pro- phets (destined to benefit the saints).
2. And to You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals 2! would I dedicate the flesh of my very body 3, and all the blessings of a prospered life 4.
3. In this Zaothra with this Baresman, I desire to 1 Feminine.
2 Elsewhere with verbal difference. 4 Verses?, 2 are Gathic.
254 YASNA XV.
approach the holy Yazads with my praise 1, and all' the holy lords of the ritual order at their times,, Hivani at his time, and S&vanghi and Visya at their times. 4. I confess myself a Mazdayasnian, and of Zarathiutra’s order 2.
5. The Zaotar speaks: As an Ahft (revered and) chosen, the Zaotar (?) speaks forth to me (?).
The Ratu speaks: As an Ahti (revered and) to be chosen, the Zaotar speaks forth to me.
The Zaotar: So let the Ratu from his Righteous- ness, holy and learned, speak forth!
YASNA XV (Sr. XVI).
The Sacrifice continues.
1. With precept, praise, and with delight produced by grace 3, I call upon the Bountiful Immortals the good, and also therewith the beautiful by name *; and I sacrifice to them with the blessing of the good ritual, with the earnest blessings of the good Mazda- yasnian Faith.
2. Whose best gift from his Righteousness is mine in the offering Ahura this knoweth; who have lived, and live ever, by their names these I worship, while I draw near with praises 6. The Good Kingdom is to be chosen, that lot which most of all bears on (our blessings 6 ).
3. Let Sraosha (Obedience) be here present for 3 Root rap=rabh, a reception of grace, or being received by grace.
* Naman may be meant for a locative; ‘ with the beautiful things in their name (?).’
yasna XVI.
the sacrifice of Ahura Mazda, the most beneficent the holy, who is so dear to us as at the first, so at the last; yea, let him be present here 1 4- As the AM (revered and) to be chosen, the Atarevakhsha thus speaks forth to me.
(Response): So let the Ratu from his righteous- ness, holy and learned, speak forth!
YASNA XVI (Sp. XVII).
The Sacrifice continues with increased FULNESS OF EXPRESSION.
1. We worship Ahura Mazda, the holy lord of the ntual order, who disposes (all) aright, the greatest Yazad, who is also the most beneficent, and the one who causes the settlements to advance, the creator of good creatures; yea, we worship Him with these offered Zaothras. and with truthfully and scrupu- lously delivered words; and we worship every holy Yazad of the heaven (as well)!
2. And we worship Zarathmtra Spitama in our sacrifice, the holy lord of the ritual order with these Zaothras and with faithfully delivered words • and we worship every holy earthly Yazad as we worship him; and we worship also the Fravashi of Zarathurtra Spitima, the saint. And we worship the utterances of Zarathuitra and his religion, his faith and his lore.
3- And we worship the former religions of the world 2 devoted to Righteousness which were insti- 1 This fragment in the Gathic dialect might more properly be placed before the Sr6sh Yart.
So the Pahlavi translator, probably reading' angheur; otherwise 256 YASNA XVI.
tuted at the creation, the holy religions of the Creator Ahura Mazda, the resplendent and glorious. And we worship Vohu Manah (the Good Mind), and Asha Vahirta (who is Righteousness the Best), and; Khshathra-vairya, the Kingdom, to be desired, and the good and bountiful Afamaiti (true piety in the believers), and Haurvati/ and Ameretat 4 / (our Weal and I m mortality).
4. Yea, we worship the Creator Ahura Mazda and the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son, and the good waters which are Mazda-made and holy, and the resplendent sun of the swift horses, and the moon with the seed of cattle (in his beams J ); and we worship the star Tirtrya, the lustrous and glorious; and we worship the soul of the Kine of blessed endowment, (5) and its Creator Ahura Mazda; and we worship Mithra of the wide pastures, and Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, and Rashnu the most just, and the good, heroic, bountiful Fravashis of the saints, and the Blow-of- victory Ahura-given (as it is). And we worship Raman //z4stra, and the bounteous Wind of blessed gift, (6) and (its) Creator Ahura Mazda, and the good Mazdayasnian Religion, and the good Blessedness and Anta/.
And we worship the heaven and the earth of blessed gift, and the bounteous Mathra, and the stars without beginning (to their course), self-dispos- ing as they are.
7. And we worship the glorious works of Right- eousness in which the souls of the dead find satis- faction and delight [(PeLzand) which are the Fravashis 'of the conscience that loves the right.’ In Yart XIII, 118 the word is a proper name through an error.
1 Possibly in allusion to the menses. The moon is masc.
YASNA XVI.
of the saints], and we worship (Heaven) the best world of the saints, shining, all glorious.
• 8. And we worship the two, the milk-offering and the libation, the two which cause the waters to flow forth 1, and the plants to flourish, the two foes who meet the Dragon 1 demon-made; and who are set to meet, to defeat, and to put to flight, that cheat 2, the Pairika, and to contradict the insulting malice of the Ashemaogha (the persecuting heretic) and that of the unholy tyrant full of death 3.
9. And we worship all waters and all plants, and all good men and all good women. And we worship all these Yazads, heavenly and earthly 4, who are beneficent and holy.
10. And we worship thee (our) dwelling-place who art the (earth, our) bounteous Aramaiti 5, and Thee, 0 Ahura Mazda, O holy Lord of this abode 6! which is the home of healthy herds and healthy men, and of those who are both endowed with health and lover(s) of the ritual right