7. Yea, we worship thee, the Fire, Ahura Mazdas son! the holy lord of the ritual order; and we wor- ship all the Fires, and Mount U shi-darena (which holds the light 3 ) Mazda-made and holy, the Yazad mount, brilliant with sanctity. 8. And we worship every holy spiritual 4 Yazad; and every holy earthly Yazad (who exists)!
1 Its long tradition* * Or maintaining the understanding.
* A sunrise or sunset mountain; see the word applied intel- lectually just previously, also previous notes on it * 4 That is, heavenly.
YASNA XXVI.
YASNA XXVI.
The Fravashis; Sacrifice and Praise to them.
1. I praise, invoke, and weave my hymn to the good, heroic, and bountiful Fravashis of the saints; (and having invoked these, then) we worship the Nmanyas, and the Visyas,. and the Za^tumas, and the Da/foyumas 1, and the Zarathiutrdtemas 2. And of all these prior Fravashis, we worship here the Fravashi of Ahura Mazda, which is the greatest and the best, the most beautiful and the firmest, the most wise and the best in form, and the one that attains the most its ends because of Right- eousness. 3. And' (having invoked them) hither, we worship the good, heroic, bountiful Fravashis of the holy ones, those of the Bountiful Immortals, the brilliant, of effective glance, the lofty, the devoted, the swift ones of the creatures of Ahura who are imperishable and holy.
4. And (having invoked them) hither, we worship the spirit and conscience, the intelligence and soul and Fravashi of those holy men and women who early heard the lore and commands (of God*), and loved and strove after Righteousness, the ritual truth; and we worship the soul of the Kine of blessed gift. 5. And (having invoked it) hither, we worship the Fravashi of Gaya Maretan the holy, and the sanctity and Fravashi of Zarathurtra Spitima die saint; and we worship the Fravashi of Kavi Vlrt&spa the holy, and that of Isa/-vistra the Zarathortrian, the saint.
1 Dahyumas. 2 ‘ Of the early religion.’
YASNA XXVI.
6. And (having invoked them) hither, we worship the life, conscience, intelligence, soul and Fravashi of the next of kin, of the saints male and female who have striven after the ritual truth, which are those of the dead and living saints, and which are those also of men as yet unborn, of. the future pro- phets who will help on the renovation, and complete the human progress, with them all.
7. And (having invoked them) hither, we worship the souls of the dead [(Pdzand) which are the Fravashis of the saints *]; and of all the next of kin who have passed away in this house, of the Aethra- paitis (the teachers) and of the disciples; yea, of all holy men and women; (8) and we worship the Fravashis of all the holy teachers and disciples; and of all the saints both male and female.
9. (And having invoked them) hither we worship the Fravashis of all the holy children who fulfil the deeds of piety; and we worship the Fravashis of the saints within the province; and those of the saints without the province. 10. We worship the Fravashis of (those) holy men and holy women; we worship all the good, heroic, bountiful Fravashis of the saints from Gaya Maretan (the -first created) to the Saoshyawt, the victorious 2.
11. Yea, we worship all the Fravashis of the saints, and we worship the souls of the dead [(P&zand) which are the Fravashis of the saints]!
1 Whether a real distinction existed in the minds of these early writers, between a Fravashi and a departed soul, is hard to say. That a Fravashi was worshipped as existing before the person to whom it appertained was born, may be owing to a poetical, and not a dogmatic, anticipation.
* From the Iranian Adam to the Christ of the resurrection; see Yart XIX, 89, 91.
YASNA XXVII.
YASNA XXVII.
Prelude to the Chief Recital of the Ahuna-vairya.
1. This is to render 1 Him who is of all the greatest, our lord 2 and master® (even) Ahura Mazda. And this to smite 4 the wicked Angra Mainyu, and to smite Aeshma of the bloody spear, and the Mazainya Daevas, and to smite all the wicked Varenya Daevas.
2. And this is to further Ahura Mazda, the re- splendent, the glorious, to further the Bountiful Immortals, and the influences of the star TLtrya, the resplendent, the glorious, (and) to the furtherance of the holy man, and of all the (bountiful and) holy crea- tures of the Bounteous Spirit.
3-5 6. 6. The Haomas are crushed, O Mazda, Khshathra, and Asha, O ye Lords! Good is Sraosha who accompanies the sacrifice with the great glory 6, and may he be present affording strenuous help.
7. We are offering saving acts of wisdom and of worship with the sacred gift of the Ahuna-vairya intoned with sanctity, and of the two mortars here 1 Dazdyai would be an infin. for an imperative; but it here refers to the Ahuna. We might say, ‘ Let this render/ &c.
a See Y. XXXIV, 5.
8 Referring to the AM and Ratu of the Ahuna' but with erroneous application.
* Comp. Vend. XIX, 9 (Wg.).
6 The Ahuna appears here in the MS. with Y. XXXIV, g, the & sirymi, and the Ashem Vohft.
® Maza raya; otherwise mazaraya, with greatness (see Y. XLIIL YASNA XXXV.
brought forward 1 with holy act, and with that of the correctly uttered words likewise; and therefore may they be to us the more saving in their wise signifi- cance.
8— 12 2. 13. As the Ahd is excellent, so is the Ratu (one who rules) from (his) sanctity, a creator of mental goodness, and of life’s actions done for Mazda; and the Kingdom (is) for Ahura, which to the poor may offer a nurturer. 14. (What is Your Kingdom, Y our riches; how may I be Y our own in my actions, to nourish Your poor, O Mazda? Beyond; yea, beyond all we declare You, far from Daevas and Khrafstra-accursed mortals 3!)
1 5. We worship the Ahuna-vairya. We worship Asha Vahijta, the most beautiful 4, the Bountiful Immortal *.
YASNA XXXV.
Yasna Haptanghaiti.
With the Yasna of the ‘ Seven Chapters ’ which ranks next in antiquity after the Gathas, we already pass into an atmosphere distinct from theirs. The dialect still lingers, but the spirit is changed. We have advanced personification of the Bountiful Immortals; that is, their personification seems more prominent, while the ideas of which they are the personification already, and to a proportionate degree, have grown dim. The name Amesha Spewta occurs: the Fravashis appear; the Fire is worshipped, the Earth, and the Grass.
To the waters, to the Soul of the Kine, and to all holy or dean 1 Here the Parsi priests now manipulate the mortars.
* See Y. XXXIV, 15. The Ashem follows.
* Or { the best/ * The YfiNhfi hfitam follows. For Y. XXVIII-XXXIV, see the Githa Ahunavaiti above, pp. 2-194.
YASNA XXXV.
beings, the very word yazamaide is applied for the first time. On the other hand, many later objects of worship are totally absent,, the six seasons of the creation, the five divisions of the day, the five Gathas, Zarathuxtra, the Baresman, the Haoma, &c. A con- siderable period of time must have elapsed since the Gathas had been composed, and a lengthy period must also be supposed to have passed before the Avesta of the later type began to be sung and recited. The chapter numbered XLII in the Vendidad Sadah of Brockhaus (1850), and in the edition of Westergaard (1852), and numbered XLI, 18-35 * n Spiegel’s edition, seems a later ad- dition; but it cannot be very much later, as it preserves the dialect and general features. An intentional imitation is not probable. Spiegel has included it with chapter XLI to preserve the number * seven and if the entire section is to be called ‘ the Yasnas of the Seven Chapters,’ it should most certainly not be numbered XLII! I so. number merely to follow Westergaard, as do the first two parts of these translations from the Avesta. This portion should neither be incorporated with chapter XLI, nor numbered as a sepa- rate one; it should be noted as a supplement The name ‘Seven Chapters ’ was of course given to the pieces long after their com- position.
Praise to Ahura and the Immortals; Prayer for * the Practice and Diffusion of the Faith.
r. We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the holy Lord of the ritual order, and to the Bountiful Immortals, who rule aright, who dispose of all aright; and we sacrifice to the entire creation of the clean, the spiritual and the mundane, with the longing blessing of the beneficent ritual, with the longing blessing of the benignant Religion, the Mazdayasnian Faith.
2. We are praisers of good thoughts, of good words, and of good actions, of those now and those hereafter 1 [(Pdzand) of those being done, -and of those 1 The Pahlavi translator, as so often, first saw the proper expla- nation here.
YASNA XXXV.
completed]. We implant 1 (?) them (with our homage, and we do this) the more, and yet the more since we are (praisers) of the good (from whom they spring).
3. That, therefore, would we choose, O Ahura Mazda! and thou, O Righteousness the beauteous! that we should think, and speak, and do those thoughts, and words, and deeds, among actual good 2 thoughts, and words, and actions, which are the best for both the worlds; (4) and together with these gifts (?) and actions which are thus the best, we would pray for the Kine (which represents the pure creation), that she may have comfort and have fodder from the famed, and from the humble, from the potent and the weak.
5. To the best of good rulers (is) verily the King- dom, because we render and ascribe it to Him, and make it thoroughly His own (?), to Mazda Ahura do we ascribe it, and to Righteousness the Best. 6. As thus both man or woman knows (the duty), both thoroughly and truly, so let him, or her, declare it and fulfil it, and inculcate it upon those who may perform it as it is. 7. We would be deeply mindful of Your sacrifice and homage, Yours, O Ahura Mazda! and the best, (and we would be mindful) of the nurture of the Kine. And that let us inculcate and perform for You according, as we may, and (for) such (praisers as we are).
8. Under the shelter 3 4 of the ritual Order let us do so in the active fulfilment 8 of its (precepts) toward every one of the (clean) and better creatures which 1 Or, we are ‘ purifiers,’ or ‘ adomers.’ Tradition 1 spreading from man to man,’ so thoroughly implanting themselves; comp, perhaps nW.
4 HStSm in this sense. 4 Or, ‘In the house and stall.’
284 YASNA XXXVI.
are fit to live 1, with a gift for both the worlds. 9. Yea, those words and sayings, O Ahura Mazda! we would proclaim as Righteousness, and as of the better mind (?); and we would make Thee the one who both supports (us in our proclamation) of them, and who throws still further light upon them (as they are), 10. And by reason of Thy Righteous Order, Thy Good Mind, and Thy Sovereign Power, and through the instrumentality of our praises of Thee, O Ahura Mazda! and for the purpose of (still further) praises, by Thy spoken words, and for (still further) spoken words, through Thy Yasna, and for (still further) Yasnas (would we thus proclaim them, and make Thee the bestower of our light).
YASNA XXXVI.
To Ahura and the Fire.
1. We would approach You two, O (Ye) primeval ones in the house 2 of this Thy holy Fire, O Ahura Mazda, Thou most bounteous Spirit! Who brings pollutions to this (Thy flame) him wilt Thou cover with pollutions (in his turn). 2. But as the most friendly do Thou give us zeal, O Fire of the Lord! and approach us 3, and with the loving blessing of the most friendly, with the praise of the 1 Or, ‘live-stock.’
* Or, ‘in the service of the Fire;’ so the Pahlavi: consider also the occurrence of forms of var(e)z in the other sense in the dose proximity. Fire temples did not exist; some shelter, however, must have been afforded. Also the dual pouruy§(-ve) may refer to Ahura and the Fire. Comp. Y. XXX, 3. Or, is it ‘at first?’
* Possibly, ‘but most favoured is he whom (y«n).’
YASNA XXXVII.
most adored. Yea, may’st thou approach to aid us in this our greatest (undertaking) among the efforts of our zeal.
• 3. The Fire of Ahura Mazda art thou verily 1; yea, the most bounteous one of His Spirit, wherefore Thine is the most potent of all names (for grace), O Fire of the Lord! 4. And therefore we would approach Thee, (O Ahura!) with the help of Thy Good Mind (which Thou dost implant within us), with Thy (good) Righteousness, and with the actions and the words inculcated by Thy good wisdom!
5. We therefore bow before Thee, and we direct our prayers to Thee with confessions of our guilt, O Ahura Mazda! with all the good thoughts (which Thou dost inspire), with all the words well said, and the deeds well done, with these would we approach Thee. 6. And to Thy most beauteous body 2 do we make our deep acknowledgments, O Ahura Mazda! to those stars (which are Thy body); and to that one, the highest of the high, [such as the sun was called]!
YASNA XXXVII.
To Ahura, the holy Creation, the Fravashis of the Just, -and the Bountiful Immortals.
1. Thus therefore do we worship Ahura Mazda, who made the Kine (the living creation), and the (embodied) Righteousness (which is incarnate in the clean), and the waters, and the wholesome plants, the stars, and the earth, and all (existing) objects 1 V6i looks as if it represented vfif here.
YASNA XXXVIII.
that are good. 2. Yea, we worship Him for His Sovereign Power and His greatness, beneficent (as they are), and with priority among the Yazads 1 who abide beside the Kine (and care for her protection and support).
3. And we worship Him under His name as Lord, to Mazda dear, the most beneficent (of names). We worship him with our bones, and with our flesh, (with our bodies and our life). And we worship the 2 Fravashis of the saints, of holy men, and holy women; (4) and Righteousness the Best do we worship, the most beauteous, the Bountiful Immortal and that which is endowed with light in all things good.
5. And we worship the Good Mind (of the Lord), and His Sovereign Power, and the Good Faith, the good law of our thrift, and Piety the ready mind (within Thy folk)!
YASNA XXXVIII.
To the Earth and the Sacred Waters.
1. And now we worship this earth which bears us, together with Thy wives 3, O Ahura Mazda! yea, those Thy wives do we worship which are so desired from their sanctity. 2. We sacrifice to their zealous wishes, and their capabilities, their inquiries (as to duty), and their wise acts of pious reverence, 1 Or, ‘ with the priority in the Yasnas, (we who are they) who abide.’
8 Ton is interpolated; or shall we render: ‘ We worship Him ’ as in the F. with adverbial use as in the Greek, and often here?
* Compare the Indian gnas. The waters are wives, as is the earth; below they are mothers.
YASNA XXXIX.
and with these their blessedness, their full vigour and good portions, their good fame and ample wealth. 3. O ye waters! now we worship you, you that are showered down, and you that stand in pools and vats, and you that bear forth (our loaded vessels?) ye female Ahuras of Ahura, you that serve us (all) in helpful ways, well forded and full- flowing, and effective for the bathings, we will seek you and for both the worlds! 4. Therefore did Ahura Mazda give you names, O ye beneficent 1 ones! when He who made the good bestowed you. And by these names we worship you, and by them we would ingratiate ourselves with you, and with them would we bow before you, and direct our prayers to you with free confessions of our debt. O waters, ye who are productive 2, and ye maternal ones, ye with heat 3 that suckles the (frail and) needy (before birth), ye waters (that have once. been) rulers of (us) all, we will now address you as the best, and the most beautiful; those (are) yours, those good (objects) of our offerings, ye long of arm to reach our sickness, or misfortune 4, ye mothers of our life 1 YASNA XXXIX.
To the Soul of the Kine, &c.
1. And now we sacrifice to the Kine’s soul, and to her created body, and we sacrifice to the souls 3 Compare azi as applied to the Kine.
8 Compare agnayas, reading agnayd. Or is it agnivou with a suffix va?
4 Or, ‘ our sicknesses and welfare.’
YASNA XL.
of cattle who are fit to live 1 (for us), and whose (we?) are, such as are the same to them.
2. And we worship the souls of those beasts which are tame and broken in, and of wild herds, and the souls of the saints wherever they were born, both of men and of women, whose good consciences are conquering in the strife against the Daevas, or will conquer, or have conquered.
3. And now we worship the Bountiful Immortals (all) the good, and both those male 2, and those female 3 (by their names). The males among them do we worship, ever living, and ever helpful, who dwell beside the pious, and the females thus the same. 4. As Thou, O Ahura Mazda! hast thought and spoken, as thou hast determined, and hast done these things (effecting) what is good, therefore do we offer to Thee, therefore do we ascribe to Thee our praises, and worship Thee, and bow ourselves before Thee; and therefore would we direct our prayers to Thee, Ahura! with confessions of our sin.
5. And we thus draw near to Thee together with the good kinship of our kindred, with that of Righte- ousness the blessed, and the good law of thrift and energy and the good Piety, the ready mind (within Thy folk)!
YASNA XL.
Prayers for Helpers.
1. And now in these Thy dispensations, O Ahura Mazda! do Thou wisely* act for us,- and with abun- 1 Live-stock. 8 Y6L 4 A fern, noun mszdi = medha.
• YausSk YASNA XLI.
dance with Thy bounty and Thy tenderness 1 as touching us; and grant that reward which Thou hast appointed to our souls, O Ahura Mazda! 2. Of this do Thou Thyself bestow upon us for this world and the spiritual; and now as part thereof (do Thou grant) that we may attain to fellowship with Thee, and Thy Righteousness for all duration.
3. And do Thou grant us, O Ahura! men who are righteous, and both lovers and producers of the Right as well. And give us trained beasts for the pastures, broken in for riding 2, and for bearing, (that they may be) in helpful 3 companionship with us, and as a source of long enduring vigour, and a means of rejoicing grace to us for this 4 *.
4. So let there be a kinsman lord for us, with the labourers of the village, and so likewise let there be the clients (of the peers 6 ). And by the help of those may we arise.
So may we be to You, O Mazda Ahura! holy and true #, and with free giving of our gifts.
YASNA XLI.
A Prayer to Ahura as the King, the Life, and the Rewarder.
1. Praises, and songs, and adorations do we offer to Ahura Mazda, and to Righteousness the' Best; yea, we offer and we ascribe them, and proclaim them. 2. And to Thy good Kingdom, O Ahura Mazda!
1 So the Pahlavi and Ner. 3 BezvaitS. 4 May we be rejoicing (?).
* Hakhrma (=-a) replacing the airyaman of the Githas, and throwing light upon its meaning. The form is irregular.
* Or, ‘ holy rzshis ’ (ereshayd?).
YASNA XLII.
may we attain for ever, and a good King be Thou over us; and let each man of us, and so each woman, thus abide, O Thou most beneficent of beings, and for both the worlds! 3. Thus do we render Thee, the helpful Yazad, endowed with good devices, the friend of them (who worship Thee) with (well-adjusted) ritual; so may st Thou be to us our life, and our body’s vigour, O Thou most beneficent of beings, and that for both the worlds!
4. Aye, let us win and conquer (?) long life, O Ahura Mazda! in Thy grace, and through Thy will may we be powerful. May’st Thou lay hold on us to help, and long, and with salvation, O Thou most beneficent of beings!
5. Thy praisers and Mathra-speakers may we be called \ 0 Ahura Mazda! so do we wish, and to this may we attain 1 2. What reward most meet for our deserving Thou hast appointed for the souls, O Ahura Mazda! (6) of that do Thou bestow on us for this life, and for that of mind 3. Of that reward (do Thou Thyself grant this advantage), that we may come under Thy protecting guardianship, and that of Righteousness for ever. We sacrifice to that brave Yasna, the Yasna Haptanghaiti 4, the holy, the ritual chief!
YASNA XLII.
A Supplement to the HaptanghAiti 5.
1. We worship You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals! with the entire collection of this Yasna, Haptanghaiti * Here the Haptanghaiti once ended.
* Of not greatly.later origin.
YASNA XLII.
(as we sum up all). And we sacrifice to the foun- tains of the waters, and to the fordings of the rivers, to the forkings of the highways, and to the meetings of the roads.
2. And we sacrifice to the hills that run with torrents, and the lakes that brim with waters, and to the corn that fills the corn-fields; and we sacrifice to both the protector and the Creator, to both Zarathu- jtra and the Lord.
3. And we sacrifice to both earth and heaven, and to the stormy wind that Mazda made, and to the peak of high Haraiti, and to the land, and all things good.
4. And we worship the Good Mind (in the living) and the spirits of the saints. And we sacrifice to the fish of fifty-fins \ and to that sacred beast the Unicorn 1 2 (?) which stands in Vouru-kasha, and we sacrifice to that sea of Vouru-kasha. where he stands, (5) and to the Haoma, golden-flowered, growing on the heights; yea, to the Haoma that restores us, and aids this world’s advance. We sacrifice to Haoma that driveth death afar, (6) and to the flood-streams of the waters, and to the great flights of the birds, and to the approaches of the Fire-priests, as they approach us from afar 3, and seek to gain the provinces, and spread the ritual lore. And we sacrifice to the Bountiful Immortals all*!
1 See, however, Bundahir (West), p. 66.
* See Bundahir, chap. XIX, also Darmesteter, Ormuzd and Ahriman (pp. 148-150).
8 Yoi y§ya dtira/ points to a migration of Zaroastrianiszn, coming West(f).
* For Yasna XLHI-LI, see above, pp. 98-187.
YASNA LII.
YASNA LII (Sp. LI).
A Prayer for Sanctity and its Benefits.
1. I pray with benedictions for a benefit, and for the good, even for the entire creation of the holy (and the clean); I beseech for them for the (genera- tion which is) now alive, for that which is just coming into life 1, and for that which shall be hereafter. And (I pray for that) sanctity which leads to prosperity, and which has long afforded shelter 2, which goes on hand in hand with it 3, which joins it in its walk, and of itself becoming its close companion as it delivers forth its precepts, (2) bearing every form, of healing virtue which comes to us in waters 4, appertains to cattle, or is found in plants, and overwhelming all the harmful malice of the Daevas, (and their ser- vants) who might harm this dwelling 5 6 and its lord, (3) bringing good gifts, and better blessings, given very early, and later (gifts), leading to successes, and fora long time giving shelter ®. And so the greatest and the best, and most beautiful benefits of sanctity fall likewise to our lot (4) for the sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and the praise of the Bountiful Immor- tals, for the bringing prosperity to this abode, and for the prosperity of the entire creation of the holy, 1 Or, ‘for that which is past?' bavaithyai/fo,.
2 Daregho- varethmanem is treated as a feminine; see also darcgho-varethmano in verse 3.
3 Have we hvo-aiwisha^im, as representing some more regular form?
* Medicinal springs.
5 This Yasna was celebrated from house to house.
6 V&rethmano..
YASNA LTV.
and the clean, (and as for this, so) for the opposition of the entire evil creation. (And I pray for this) as I praise through Righteousness, I who am benefi- cent, those who are (likewise of a better mind) 5-8. (See Y. VIII, 5-8.) (For Y. LI 1 1, see Gathas, pp.
YASNA LIV 2 (Sp. LI 1 1).
The Airy£mA-ishy6.
1. Let the Airyaman, the desired friend and peers- man, draw near for grace to the men, and to the women who are taught of Zarathurtra, for the joyful grace of the Good Mind, whereby the conscience may attain its wished-for recompense. I pray for the sacred reward of the ritual order which is (likewise so much) to be desired; and may Ahura Mazda grant 3 it, (or cause it to increase).
2. We sacrifice to the Airy^ma-ishy6, the power- ful, the victoriously smiting, the opponent of as- saulting malice, the greatest of the sentences of the holy ritual order. And we sacrifice to the bounteous Gathas that rule supreme in the ritual, the holy (and august). And we sacrifice to the Praises of the Yasna which were the productions of the world of old 4.
1 Citation from the Gathas (Y. XLV, 6).
* This piece in the Gathic dialect, and in a metre supposed by some to be identical with that of the Vahirtdirti, is very old, and ranks with the Ahuna-vairya and Ashem Vohu in importance.
s Or, can masata (sic) equal ‘ with his liberality, or majesty-, leaving ya»tu to be understood with Ahurd?
4 The later Avesta notes the antiquity of the older.
YASNA LV.
YASNA LV (Sp. LIV).
The Worship of the GAthas as concluded, and THAT OF THE StAOTA YtSNYA 1 AS BEGINNING.
1. We present hereby and we make known, as our offering to the bountiful GAthas which rule (as the leading chants) within (the appointed times and seasons of) the Ritual, all our landed riches, and our persons, together with our very bones and tissues, our forms and forces, our consciousness, our soul, and Fravashi.
2. That which GAthas (may) be to us, which are our guardians and defenders, and our spiritual food, yea, which (may) be to our souls both food and cloth- ing, such are these GAthas to us, guardians, and defenders, and (spiritual) food, even such they are, both food and clothing to the soul.
And (may) they be to us (for this our offering) abundant givers of rewards, and just and righteous ones, for the world beyond the present, after the parting of our consciousness and body. 3. And may these (Praises of the Offering) come forth, and appear for us with power and victorious assault, with health and healing, with progress, and with growth, .with preparation and protection, with beneficence and sanctity, and abounding with gifts 2 toward him who can understand; yea, let them appear (with free liberality to the enlightened), let them appear as 1 Staota Yesnya seems to designate that part of the Yasna which begins with the Sr6sh Yart.
* FrirSiti; or possibly ‘ to the freely giving/ (the term. ‘ -ti ’ as a dative).
YASNA LV.
Mazda, the most beneficent, has produced them, He the one who is victorious when He smites, and who helps the settlements advance, for the protection, and the guarding of the religious order of the settle- ments which are now being furthered, and of those which shall bring salvation to us, and for the protec- tion of the entire creation of the holy (and the clean).
4. And may’ st thou, (O Asha! who abidest within the Githas 1 ), give to every holy man who comes with this prayer for a blessing, and endeavouring to help himself 2, according to his good thoughts, and words, and deeds.
5. We are therefore worshipping both the (divine) Righteousness and the Good Mind, and the bounti- ful Githas, that rule as the leading chants within (the times and the seasons of) the holy ritual order.
6. And we worship the Praises of the Yasna which were the production of the ancient world, those which are (now) recollected and put in use 3, those which are now learned and taught, those which are being held (in mind, and so) repeated, those remembered and recited, and those worshipped, and thus the ones which further the world through grace in its advance.
And we worship the part(s) 4 of the Praises of the Yasna, and their recitation as it is heard, even their memorised recital, and their chanting, and their offer- ing (as complete).
1 Conjectural; see Ashem below. * Pahlavi avo nafrman.
3 Recited from memory, and used in the ceremonial 4 The part, ‘ each part/ YASNA LVI.
YASNA LVI (Sp. LV).
Introduction to the Sr6sh Yast.
1. Let Sraosha (the listening Obedience) be pre- sent here for the worship of Ahura Mazda, the most beneficent, and holy, of him) who is desired by us as at the first, so at the last; and so again may atten- tive Obedience be present here for the worship of Ahura Mazda, the most beneficent and the holy who (is so) desired by us.
2. (Yea), let Sraosha (the attentive Obedience) be present here for the worship of the good waters, and for the Fravashis of the saints which are so desired by us, [and for (their x ) souls], as at the first, so at the last.
And thus again may Sraosha (the listening Obedi- ence) be present here for the worship of the good waters, and for the Fravashis of the saints, which are so desired by us, [(and) for (their) souls].
3. Let Sraosha (the listening Obedience) be pre- sent here for the worship of the good waters; yea, let the good Obedience be here for the worship of the good and bountiful Immortals who rule aright, and dispose (of all) aright, the good, and for the wor- ship of the good Sanctity, or Blessedness, who is closely knit with the Righteous Order, to perfect us, and to incite us. May Sraosha (Obedience) be here present for the worship of the good waters, he the good and the holy 1 2, as at the first, so at the last.
1 One might be inclined to render ‘ who are so desired by as for our souls.’ But I think that the words are Pazand to the preceding.
5 Or, ‘ endowed with recompense.’
YASNA LVII.
4. And so again may Sraosha, (Obedience) the good, be present here for the worship of the good waters, and of the good 1 and bountiful Immortals, and of Blessedness the good who is closely knit with the Righteous Order to perfect and to incite us 2. Yea, we worship Sraosha the blessed and the stately, who smites with victory, and who furthers the settle- ments in their advance, the holy lord of the ritual order 3.
YASNA LVII (Sp. LVI).
The Sr6sh Yast 4.
1. A blessing is Righteousness (called) the Best, Propitiation be to Sraosha, Obedience the blessed, the mighty, the incarnate word of reason, whose body is the Mathra, him of the daring spear, devoted to the Lord, for (his) sacrificial worship, homage, pro- pitiation, and praise.
1 Of the female (feminine) names.
* Or, ‘give to us.’ The Ahuna and Ashem Vohfi follow here.
The V§Nhe hatam, &c. follows.
4 As Sraosha is the only divinity of the later groups mentioned in the first four Gathas, this Yast would seem to have claims to antiquity next after the pieces in the Gathic dialect. The name Sraosha does not appear to have lost its meaning as an abstract quality, notwithstanding the materialistic imagery. Wit XXVIII, 6 in view, where Sraosha ‘ finds the way ' to Ahura, or ‘ finds His throne,’ we may understand that the worshippers, who first heard this Yajt, praised listening obedience, or repentance, as they did nearly all the remaining abstract qualities, together with their principal prayers, and hymns themselves. The rhythm of the original has been somewhat imitated in the rendering given, as it is difficult to avoid doing so, and to ^void other objectionab e features at the same time.
YASNA LVII.
I.
2. We worship Sraosha, (Obedience) the blessed, the stately, him who smites with the blow of victory, and who furthers the settlements, the holy, (ruling) as the' ritual lord. Him do we worship, who in 1 the creation of Mazda the first adored Ahura, with the Baresman spread, who worshipped the Bountiful Immortals 2 3 * * * (first), who worshipped both the pro- tector and the Creator, who are 8 (both) creating all things in the creation.
3. For his splendour and his glory, for; his might, and the blow which smites with victory, I will wor- ship him with the Yasna of the Yazads, with a Yasna loud intoned, him Obedience the blessed, with the consecrated waters, and the good Blessedness, the lofty, and Nairya-sangha, the stately; and may he draw near to us to aid us, he who smites with victory, Obedience the blessed!
4. We worship Sraosha, Obedience the blessed, and that lofty Lord who is Ahura Mazda Himself, Him who has attained the most to this our ritual, Him who has approached the nearest to us in our celebrations. And we worship all the words of Zarathu-stra, and all the deeds well done (for him), both those that have been done (in times gone by), 1 So ‘tradition.’
2 Sraosha was not reckoned as one of the Ameshospends at the time of the composition of this verse. • 3 Comp. Y. XXX, 4; hut Ahura and some one of the Immortals, ( or possibly Zarathurtra (see Y. XLII, 2), must be meant here.
Angra Mainyu could not have been worshipped as either protector or creator. Observe the present tense.
YASNA LVII.
and those which are yet to be done (for him in times •to come).
II.
5. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed and the stately, him who smites with the blow of victory, who prospers the settlements, the holy ritual lord, (6) who first spread forth the Baresman, and the three bundles, and the five bundles, and the seven bundles, and the nine, till it was heaped for us knee-high, and to the middle of the thighs for the Bountiful Immortals, for their worship, and their homage, and their propitiation, and their praise.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might, and the blow which smites with victory, I will worship him with the Yasna of the Yazads, with a Yasna loud intoned, him Obedience the blessed, with the consecrated waters.
III.
7. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, the stately, who smites with the blow of victory, who furthers the settlements, the holy ritual chief.
8. Who first chanted the GcLthas, the five 1 2 G&thas of Zarathustra, the Spitama, the holy (with the fashion) of their metres 3, and after the well-con- structed order of their words, together with the Zand which they contain, and the questions 4 which they 1 Le Barsom est de cinq branches dans les Darouns ordinaires. II est de sept branches pour le Daroun No naber, pour le Freoues- chi, et pour le Gahanbar. II est de neuf branches pour le Daroun des Rois, et pour celui du Mobed des Mobeds (Anquetil).
* This proves that the Gath as were greatly older than this Yart. That the Gathas were originally five seems improbable; yet they had become reduced to that number at this time.
3 Nom. sing.?
1 Comp, ta/ thwfi peresa, &c.; ‘questions back and forth.'
YASNA LVII.
utter, and the answers which they give, for the Bountiful Immortals, for their sacrifice and homage, ' their propitiation, and their praise.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might IV.
9. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed and the stately, who smites with the blow of victory, and who furthers the settlements, the holy ritual chief, (10) who for the poor among (our) men and women built a mighty house \ who after sunset, and with his levelled battle-axe, smites Aeshema bloody wounds, and having struck the head, casts him lightly (?)* (to the earth), as the stronger (smites) the weaker.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might...V.
II. We worship Sraosha, Obedience the blessed and the stately, him who smites with the blow of victory, who furthers the settlements, the holy ritual chief, as the energetic, and the swift, the strong, the daring (and redoubted) hero, (12) who comes back from all his battles (and comes from them) a con- queror, who amid the Bountiful Immortals sits as companion at their meeting 1 * 3.
ror ms splendour and his glory, iilo.
1 One of the earliest notices of the kind, s or can $as=to be inactive, indicate a change?
This is possibly the origin of a later view which established Sraosha as one of the Immortals, to fill up the number seven Ahum 1 mCUt ^ ng Ahura ‘. T ^e original ‘seven spirits’ included VASNA LVII.
VI.
13. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, who is the strongest and most persistent of the youths, the most energetic, and the swiftest, who of all the youths strikes most with terror 1 from afar (?). [Be ye desirous, O ye Mazdayasnians! of the Yasna of Obedience the blessed 2.]
14. Far from this house, this village, and this tribe, and from -this country, the evil and destructive terrors (shall) depart. In the dwelling of that man in whose abode Obedience the blessed, who smites victoriously, is satisfied and welcomed, there is that holy man who thus contents him (most) forward in the thinking better thoughts, in the speaking truthful (ritual) words, and in the doing holy deeds 3.