Google
This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world’s books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that’s often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book’s long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google’s system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attribution The Google “watermark” you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can’t offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book’s appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world’s books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
atthttp://books.google.com/
{ΜΝ β
ι
%
Digitized by Goog le
Digitized by Google
Digitized by Goog le
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
[31] 4
Fondon
HENRY FROWDE
Oxrorp UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE
AMEN Corner, E.C.
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
TRANSLATED
BY VARIOUS ORIENTAL SCHOLARS
AND EDITED BY
F. MAX MULLER
VOL. XXXI
@rford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1887
[ All rights reserved ἢ
THE ZEND-AVESTA
PART III
THE YASNA, VISPARAD, AFRINAGAN,
GAHS, AND
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS
TRANSLATED BY
L. H. MILLS
a € LIPG, | .
ὶ OF THE γ Ν
UNIVERSITY |
ἃς CALIFORN':
@rford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1887
[All rights reserved ἢ
ZOOS BE
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE . 2 3 . : ὲ : ‘ ix-xvi
INTRODUCTION . ; ᾿ 5 ᾿ F . Xvii=xlvii
ABBREVIATIONS . ‘ ἣ ὃ : : : . xlviii
TRANSLATIONS.
Tue Garuas (Yaswa XXVIII-XXXIV, XLII-LI, LIM) 1-194
Yaswa I-XXVII, XXXV-XLI, LU, LIV-LXXII. 195-332
VisparaD I-XXIII. * 0 1 eee 833-364
Arrinacan I-III. ; ; ᾿ : ὰ . 365-375
GiusI-V - . i : : ᾿ : . . 877-288
MiscELLaNgous FRAGMENTS Ὁ . - : - 389-393
Inpex . . . al he ie ts . » 3957400
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the
Translations of the Sacred Books of the East . 401-404
Digitized by Google
GEER
UNIVERSITY
CALIFORNIA A
— a
PREFACE.
IT would savour of affectation for me to say very much
by way of meeting the necessary disadvantages under which
I labour as in any sense a successor of Professor Darmesteter.
It is sufficient to state that I believe myself to be fully
aware of them, and that I trust that those who study my
work will accord me the more sympathy under the circum-
stances. Professor Darmesteter, having extended his labours
in his University, found his entire time so occupied that he
was obliged to decline further labour on this Series for the
present. My work on the Gathas had been for some time
in his hands', and he requested me, as a friend, to write
the still needed volume of the translation of the Avesta.
Although deeply appreciating the undesirableness of follow-
ing one whose scholarship is only surpassed by his genius,
I found myself unable to refuse.
As to my general treatment, experts will not need to be
informed that I have laboured under no common difficulties.
On the one hand, it would be extremely imprudent for any
scholar not placed arbitrarily beyond the reach of criticism,
to venture to produce a translation of the Yasna, Visparad,
Afrinagan, and G4hs, without defensive notes. The smallest
freedom would be hypercriticised by interested parties, and
after them condemned by their followers. On the other
hand, even with the imperfect commentary which accom-
panies the Gathas here, the generous courtesy of the Dele-
gates of the Clarendon Press has been too abundantly drawn
upon. One does not expect detailed commentaries in this
Series. My efforts have therefore been chiefly confined to
forestalling the possible assaults of unfair or forgetful critics,
and so to spare myself, in so far as it may be possible, the
necessity for painful rejoinder.
1 See the Revue Critique, Nov. 26, 1883.
Χ THE GATHAS, ETC.
To print a commentary on the Yasna, &c., which would
be clear to non-specialists, and at the same time interesting,
would occupy many times more space than could be here
allowed. In treating the Gathas however, even at the risk
of too great extension, I have endeavoured to atone for the
necessary obscurity of notes by ample summaries, and a
translation supported by paraphrase, as such matter has
more prospect of being generally instructive than a com-
mentary which must necessarily have remained obscure.
These summaries should also.be read with the more indul-
gence, as they are the first of their kind yet attempted,
Haug’s having been different in their scope. With regard
to all matters of mere form, I expect from all sides a
similar concession. It will, I trust, be regarded as a suffi-
cient result if a translation, which has been built up upon
the strictest critical principles, can be made at all readable.
For while any student may transcribe from the works of
others what might be called a translation of the Yasna, to
render that part of it, termed the Gathas, has been declared
by a respected authority, ‘the severest task in Aryan
philology!’ And certainly, if the extent of preparatory
studies alone is to be the gauge, the statement cited would
not seem to be an exaggeration. On mathematical esti-
mates the amount of labour which will have to be gone
through to become an independent investigator, seems to be
much greater than that which presents itself before special-
ists in more favoured departments. No one should think
of writing with originality on the Gathas, or the rest of the
Avesta, who had not long studied the Vedic Sanskrit, and no
one should think of pronouncing ultimate opinions on the
Gathas, who has not to a respectable degree mastered the
Pahlavi commentaries. But while the Vedic, thanks to the
labours of editor and lexicographers, has long been open to
1 «Es bilden diese fiinf Gath4s, die insgesammt metrisch abgefasst sind, den
sprachlich wichtigsten, aber auch den weitaus schwierigsten teil des ganzen
Avesta, ja man kann sagen, ohne dass man fiirchten muss der iibertreibung
geziehen zu werden, sie bilden den schwierigsten tcil der ganzen indogermanischen
philologie.’ Altiranisches Verbum ; von C. Bartholomae; Einleitung, 5. 3.
PREFACE. ΧΙ
hopeful study, the Pahlavi commentaries have never been
thoroughly made out, and writer after writer advances with
an open avowal to that effect; while the explanation, if
attempted, involves questions of actual decipherment, and
Persian studies in addition to those of the Sanskrit and
Zend; and the language of the Gathas requires also the
study of a severe comparative philology, and that to an
unusual, if not unequalled, extent.
The keen observer will at once see that a department of
science so circumstanced may cause especial embarrassment.
On the one hand, it is exposed to the impositions of dilet-
tanti, and the hard working specialist must be content to
see those who have advanced with studies one half, or
less than one half completed, consulted as masters
by a public which is only ignorant as regards the inner-
most laws of the science; and, on the other hand, the
deficiencies of even the most laborious of specialists must
leave chasms of imperfection out of which the war of the
methods must continually re-arise. In handling the Gathas
especially, I have resorted to the plan of giving a translation
which is inclusively literal}, but filled out and rounded as
to form by the free use of additions. As the serious stu-
dent should read with a strong negative criticism, he may
notice that I strive occasionally after a more pleasing effect ;
but, as we lose the metrical flow of the original entirely,
such an effort to put the rendering somewhat on a level
with the original in this respect, becomes a real necessity.
I have, however, in order to guard against misleading the
reader, generally, but not always, indicated the added words
by parenthetical curves. That these will be considered un-
sightly and awkward,I am well aware. I consider them such
myself, but I have not felt at liberty to refrain from using
them. As the Gathas are disputed word for word, I could not
venture to resort to free omissions; and what a translation
would be without either additions or omissions, may be
1 That is approximately so; absolute literalness, even when treated as I pro-
pose, would be unmanageably awkward. In another work, I give a word for
word rendering of the Gathas,
ΧΙ THE GATHAS, ETC.
seen from the occasional word for word renderings given.
Beyond the Gathas, I have omitted the curves oftener. I
have in the Gathas, as elsewhere, also endeavoured to impart
a rhythmical character to the translation, for the reason
above given, and foreign readers should especially note the
fact, as well as my effort to preserve the colour of original
expressions, otherwise they will inevitably inquire why I do
not spare words. To preserve the colour and warmth, and
at the same time to include a literal rendering, it is impos-
sible to spare words and syllables, and it is unwise to
attempt it. Non-specialists may dislike the frequency of
alternative renderings as leaving the impression of inde-
cision, while, at the same time, a decision is always ex-
pressed by the adoption of a preferred rendering. The
alternatives were added with the object of showing how
nearly balanced probabilities may be, and also how unim-
portant to the general sense the questions among specialists
often are.
In transliterating, I have followed the plan used in the
preceding volumes to avoid confusion, but since the first
volume was published, great progress has been made in
this particular, and in a separate work I should have
adopted a different arrangement!. As to other unimportant
variations from the preceding volumes in matters of usage
and fashion, I trust that no one will dwell on them for a
moment”. As regards the usual and inevitable differences
of opinion on more serious questions, see the remarks in
the Introduction*. I would also state that I have often
avoided rendering identical passages in identical language,
as irksome both to reader and writer. I have also not in-
variably cited the obviously preferable variations of text
which have been adopted, and which are so familiar to the
1 Chiefly as to 3, & "Ὁ, ©, &, &, 9, », US but 1 write o 9, b z.
2 As in Aramaiti, Vohu Manah, &c. I also write Neryosangh, and in a
few places Gatha(4), Ahunavaiti(!), &c. I regret not to have written Mazdah
everywhere.
3 Where I differ from Professor Darmesteter, I desire to be considered as
merely proposing alternative renderings. I have therefore omitted a mass of
references to the previous volumes as unnecessary.
PREFACE. Xill
eye in Westergaard, Spiegel, and Geldner. The texts
of Westergaard have been followed necessarily as to
extent of matter, as this work is printed before the comple-
tion of Geldner’s text. The oft-recurring formulas and
prayers at the ends of chapters and sections have been left
unrendered, and finally for the most part unnoticed, by
striking out the useless notes. Citations of the Pahlavi and
Sanskrit translations have been given occasionally in full, in
order to meet the extraordinary statements which some-
times appear to the effect that they have not been vital to
the interpretation of the Gathas. But by giving these ex-
tracts and by frequently citing the Pahlavi, Neryosangh, and
the Persian, I have perhaps exposed myself to the miscon-
ception that I am an extreme advocate of the so-called tra-
dition ?, whereas all conscientious critics will acknowledge
that I followthe indications of theseworkswith more
reserve than any writer who professes to have studied them ;
in fact I may well apprehend censure from ‘traditionalists’
in this particular. These Asiatic renderings are cited by
me the more fully when those who neglect them agree with
their indications ; and they are therefore cited to show that,
whereas those most opposed to them are nevertheless for-
getfully indebted to them in nearly every line, therefore in
all cases of great difficulty they should be studied as an
absolute necessity before rash conjectures are adopted.
For it is exactly where we are all most in doubt, that their
indications become of most worth, when rationally con-
sidered. These translations should be examined for the
relics of the truth, the hints, and traces of original explana-
tions, which may most abound where they are themselves
most faulty as translations. I therefore never search them
for exact reproductions. But the citations which I give
1 The relics of a ‘tradition’ direct from the fountain-head are present in the
Asiatic commentaries, and also the relics of a tradition from later, and, as it
were, modern scholarship; and, lastly, there are also present the direct results
of an ancient scholarship; but to speak of the Pahlavi translations as ‘tradi-
tion,’ is merely to use a convenient phrase. I know of no scholar who supposes
these commentaries to be in a simple sense ‘tradition’ from the earliest Zend
writers.
xiv THE GATHAS, ETC,
here constitute only a very small fraction of those needed.
An argument should be built up on the fullest statements
of the circumstances, elucidated with scientific complete-
ness. This alone would have any prospect of obliging
investigators to acknowledge the truth; for not only inertia
and prejudice are arrayed on the other side, but even
interest. This much is said of the Pahlavi translations; for
Ner. is properly cited only as a translation of a translation,
and, as such, of the highest authority? ; so of the Persian.
Zendists will observe that I by no means abandon ex-
planations merely because they are old, a practice which
seems almost the fashion. I, however, fully approve of
testing and assailing again and again all suggestions
whether old or new. I would simply assert that, while the
tasks before us remain still so very extensive, it would be
better for scholars to exercise their sagacity upon passages
which call loudly for wise conjecture, leaving those which
are clear as they stand, for later assaults. It will be seen
that I myself by no means approve of refraining from con-
jecture?, but I would only in all humility insist that we
should not abandon ourselves to unprepared conjecture.
As is known 3, I have attempted the present rendering after
more than ten years of close labour, and after a full trans-
1 It is to be hoped that our occupations are sufficiently serious to allow us to
pass over the imperfections of Neryosangh’s Sanskrit style. He was especially
cramped in his mode of expressing himself by a supposed necessity to attempt to
follow his original (which was not the Gathic but the Pahlavi) word for word.
His services were most eminently scholarly, and, considering his disadvantages,
some of the greatest which have been rendered. Prof. R.v. Roth and Dr. Aurel
Stein have kindly transcribed for me valuable variations.
3 It will be regarded, however, as especially desirable that, in a report from a
specialist to the learned public in general, the texts should on no account be
violated by conjectural improvements where they are at all translatable; alter-
natives are therefore added. As has been remarked by a recent reviewer on the
new version of the Scriptures, there is scarcely a line of very ancient writings
which scholars are not tempted to amend; but such emendations are seldom
agreed to among specialists. A first translation should always be attempted
with the texts as they stand.
3 See the Atheneum, April 12, 1884; and the Academy, Sept. 13, 1884.
On the entire subject in its connection with the Gnostic and modern philosophies,
my special labours have included a much longer period of time than that
mentioned.
PREFACE. XV
lation of the Pahlavi and Sanskrit translations, together
with an edition of the Zend, Pahlavi, Sanskrit, and Persian
texts of the Gathas. It is proper to add that for the pur-
pose of keeping the judgment free from prejudice, and open
to honest conviction from the influence of the Rzg-veda, I
have followed the practice for a number of years of trans-
cribing the Hymns of the Veda into English in word for
word written studies, having already so treated by far the
greater part of them; some of these are in curtailed state-
ment, others needlessly full. I have also, on the other
hand, turned a large portion of the GAthas into Vedic
Sanskrit. (This, however, is practically a universal custom,
as all words are compared with the Vedic, so far as analogies
exist between the Gathas and the Azks.) If therefore the
opposed schools regard me as erring in too implicit a reli-
ance on the hints of the Asiatics on the one side, or in too
decided a tendency to read the G&thic as Vedic on the
other, they may be assured that I have not erred from
interest or prejudice. That my results will please both
parties it is folly to expect, in fact perfection in the render-
ing of the Gathas (as of some other ancient works) is for ever
unattainable, and not to be looked for ; moreover, it would
not be recognised, if attained ; for no writer, whosoever he
may be, can produce a rendering of the Gathas without
meeting the assaults of ignorance or design. However
imperfect my results may be supposed to be, it is to be hoped
that they will contribute some little toward establishing
a convention among scholars as to what the Gathic and
Zend writings mean ; meanwhile it is confidently expected
that they will fulfil the requirements of the science of com-
parative theology. Whatever may be the ultimate truth
as to questions of close detail, the Yasna, as well as the
rest of the Avesta, is clear as to its creed.
My list of obligations is a long one, in fact so long that I
fear I can express but little compliment in naming advisers,
as I have made it a practice to consult all available persons,
as well as books. Making one exception, I will therefore
reserve to myself the pleasure of recalling them to a future
occasion.
Xvi ' -THE GATHAS, ETC.
It is sufficienteo say here that while I follow a new de-
parture in the treatment of the Asiatic commentaries, yet
the most prominent writers of the opposing schools have
courteously favoured me with their advice. Availing myself
of the exception named, I would take the liberty to express
my gratitude, here especially, to Dr. E.W. West, our first au-
thority on Pahlavi, for placing at my disposal various readings
of the Pahlavi text of the Yasna, of which we have hitherto
only possessed a single MS. in the Pahlavi character, that
contained in the oldest Zend writing, the Codex numbered
five, in the Library of Copenhagen. The variations referred
to were transcribed by Dr. West from the venerable MS., the
hereditary property of Dastur Dr. Gamaspgi Minofihargi
Asana of Bombay, and written only nineteen (or twenty-
two) days later than that numbered five in the Library of
Copenhagen. By this generous loan I have been enabled
to print elsewhere the first text of the Pahlavi of the Gathas
yet edited with comparison of MSS., likewise also for the
first time translated, in its entirety, into a European lan-
guage. For this Dr. West, during an extended correspon-
dence, has furnished me with information on the Pahlavi
not obtainable elsewhere, together with corrections and re-
visions. There is another eminent friend whose sacrifices
of time and labour on my behalf have been exceptional, but
I will defer the mention of Zend scholars.
I take this opportunity to express my acknowledgments
to Professor Dr. von Halm of the Hof- und Staatsbibliothek,
in Munich, for allowing me the free use of Codex 12°, of
Haug’s Collection, both at Stuttgart and Hanover; also
to Professor Dr. Wilmanns of Gottingen; Geheimrath
Dr. Forstemann of Leipsic; and Herr Rath Bodemann of
Hanover, for the loan of a large number of valuable works
from their respective public libraries, often, with great
liberality, renewed.
L. H. MILLS.
Hanover, February, 1886.
ow
3 Bs tng
Chi VERSITY |
CALIFORNIA ."
INTRODUCTION.
MANY readers, for whom the Zend-Avesta possesses
only collateral interest, may not understand why any
introductory remarks are called for to those portions of
it which are treated in this volume. The extent of the
matter does not appear at first sight a sufficient reason for
adding a word to the masterly work which introduces the
first two volumes, and, in fact, save as regards questions
which bear upon the G&thas, I avoid for the most part, for
the present, all discussion of details which chiefly con-
cern either the sections treated in the first two volumes, or
the extended parts of the later Avesta treated here. But
the Gathas are of such a nature, and differ so widely from
other parts of the Avesta, that some words of separate dis-
cussion seem quite indispensable, and such a discussion was
recommended by the author of the other volumes. A second
reason why a word of introduction is necessary, when the
translation of the successive parts of the Avesta passes from
one hand to another, is a reason which bears upon the sub-
ject with exceptional force.
It is this: the Avesta, while clearly made out, so far as
the requirements of comparative theology are concerned,
yet presents difficulties as to minute detail so great, that as
yet no two independent scholars can entirely agree as to
their solution. Master and pupil, friend and friend, must
differ, and sometimes on questions of no trivial moment.
The preliminary studies requisite to the formation of
ultimate opinions are so varied, and of such a nature, involv-
ing the rendering of matter as yet totally unrendered with
any scientific exactness in either India or Europe, that no
person can claim to have satisfied himself in these respects.
Scholars are therefore obliged to advance biassed by the
fact that they are preponderatingly Iranists, or preponder-
[31] Ῥ
XVili THE GATHAS.
atingly Vedists, and therefore certain at the outset that they
must differ to a certain degree from each other, and to a
certain degree also from the truth. It was also, as might
well be understood without statement, with a full knowledge
of the fact that I was inclined to allow especial weight to a
comparison with the Veda, and that I modified the evidence
of tradition somewhat more than he did, that Professor
Darmesteter urged me to accept this task. But while Iam
constrained to say something by way of a preparatory
treatise here, a sense of the fitness of things induces me to
be as brief as possible, and I must therefore ask indulgence
of the reader if my mode of expressing myself seems
either rough or abrupt.
As to what the Gathas are in their detail, enough has been
said in the summaries and notes. From those representa-
tions, necessarily somewhat scattered, it appears that they
΄ comprise seventeen sections of poetical matter, equal in
extent to about twenty-five to thirty hymns of the Rzg-veda,
composed in ancient Aryan metres, ascribing supreme (bene-
ficent) power to the Deity Ahura Mazda, who is yet opposed
co-ordinately by an evil Deity called Aka Manah, or Angra
Mainyu. In all respects, save in the one particular that He
is not the Creator of this evil Deity, and does not possess
the power to destroy him or his realm, this Ahura Mazda is
one of the purest conceptions which had yet been produced.
He has six personified attributes (so one might state it),
later, but not in the Gathas, described as Archangels, while
in the Gathas they are at once the abstract attributes of God,
or of God’s faithful adherents upon earth, and at the same
time conceived of as persons, all efforts to separate the in-
stances in which they are spoken of as the mere dispositions
of the divine or saintly mind, and those in which they are
spoken of as personal beings, having been in vain.
We have therefore a profound scheme, perhaps not con-
sciously invented, but being a growth through centuries;
and this system is the unity of God in His faithful creatures.
It is not a polytheism properly so-called, as Ahura forms
with his Immortals a Heptade, reminding one of the
Sabellian Trinity. It is not a Pantheism, for it is especially
INTRODUCTION. xix,
arrested by the domain of the evil Deity. It might be
called, if we stretch the indications, a Hagio-theism, a de-
lineation of God in the holy creation. Outside of the
Heptade is Sraosha, the personified Obedience (and pos-
sibly Vayu, as once mentioned); and, as the emblem of
the pious, is the Kine’s soul, while the Fire is a poetically
personified symbol of the divine purity and power. As
opposed to the good God, we have the Evil Mind, or the
Angry (?) Spirit, not yet provided with full personified attri-
butes to correspond to the Bountiful Immortals. He has,
however, a servant, Aéshma, the impersonation of invasion
and rapine, the chief scourge of the Zarathustrians ; and an
evil angel, the Drug, personified deceit, while the Daévas
(Devas) of their more southern neighbours (some of whose
tribes had remained, as servile castes, among the Zarathus-
trians) constitute perhaps the general representatives of Aka
Manah, Aéshma, the Drug, &c. The two original spirits
unite in the creation of the good and evil in existence both
actually in the present, and in principles which have their
issue in the future in rewards and punishments. The
importance of this creed, so far stated, as the dualistical
creation, and, as an attempted solution, of the hardest
problem of speculation, should be obvious to every en-
lightened eye. If there existed a supreme God whose power
could undo the very laws of life, no evil could have been
known; but the doctrine denies that there is any such
being. The good and the evil in existence limit each
other. There can be no happiness undefined by sorrow,
and no goodness which does not resist sin. Accordingly
the evil principle is recognised as so necessary that it is
represented by an evil God. His very name, however, is a
thought, or a passion; while the good Deity is not respon-
sible for the wickedness and grief which prevail. His power
itself could not have prevented their occurrence. And He
alone has an especially objective name, and one which could
only be applied to a person. These suggestions, whether
true or false, are certainly some of the most serious that
have ever been made’, and we find them originally here.
1 Haug long since called sora to the likeness of Hegelianism to the
2
ΧΧ THE GATHAS.
As to the nature of religious rewards and punishments,
we have suggestions scarcely less important in the eye of
scientific theology, and, as a matter of fact, very much more
extensively spread. To say that the future rewards held
out in the Gathas were largely, if not chiefly, spiritual, and
in the man himself, would be almost a slur upon the truth.
The truth is, that the mental heaven and hell with which we
are now familiar as the only future states recognised by
intelligent people, and thoughts which, in spite of their
familiarity, can never lose their importance, are not only
used and expressed in the Gathas, but expressed there, so
far as we are aware, for the first time. While mankind
were delivered up to the childish terrors of a future replete
with horrors visited upon them from without, the early
Iranian sage announced the eternal truth that the rewards
of Heaven, and the punishments of Hell, can only be from
within. He gave us, we may fairly say, through the sys-
tems which he has influenced, that great doctrine of subjec-
tive recompense, which must work an essential change in
the mental habits of every one who receives it. After the
creation of souls, and the establishment of the laws which
should govern them, Aramaiti gives a body, and men and
angels begin their careers. A M&thra is inspired for the
guidance of the well-disposed.. The faithful learn the vows
of the holy system under the teaching of the Immortals,
while the infidel and reprobate portion of mankind accept
the seductions of the Worst Mind, and unite with the Daévas
in the capital sin of warfare from wanton cruelty, or for dis-
honest acquisition. The consequence of this latter alliance
is soon apparent. The Kine, as the representative of the
holy people, laments under the miseries which make Iranian
life a load. The efforts to draw a livelihood from honest
labour are opposed, but not frustrated, by the Daéva-wor-
shipping tribes who still struggle with the Zarathustrians
for the control of the territory. The Kine therefore lifts
chief ideas in the Zarathustrian philosophy as centring in its dualism. And
I think that it is quite evident, and I believe conceded by experts, that the
Hegelian sublated dualism is a descendant from the Zarathustrian through
the Gnostics and Jacob Boehme.
INTRODUCTION. XXi
her wail to Ahura, and His Righteous Order, Asha, who
respond by the appointment of Zarathustra, as the indi-
vidual entrusted with her redemption; and he, accepting
his commission, begins his prophetic labours. From this
on we have a series of lamentations, prayers, praises, and
exhortations, addressed by Zarathustra and his immediate
associates to Ahura and the people, which delineate the
public and personal sorrows in detail, utter individual sup-
plications and thanksgivings, and exhort the masses assem-
bled in special or periodical meetings.
Here, it must be noted, that the population among whom
these hymns were composed were chiefly agriculturists and
herdsmen. Circumstances which affected their interests as
such were of course paramount with them, and as their land
and cattle represented their most valuable property, what-
ever threatened them was the most of all things to be
dreaded. Accordingly rapine, and the raid, whether coming
from Turanians or Daéva-worshippers, were regarded as the
most terrible of visitations.. But their moral earnestness in
their determination to avoid rapine on their part, even when
tempted by a desire for retaliation, is especially to be noted}.
It was as awful when regarded as a sin as it was when
suffered as an affliction; and their animus in this particular
was most exceptional. While the above facts explain to us,
on the one hand, the principal deities, and the peculiar hopes
and fears which inspired.their worship, they lead us also, on
the other hand, to wonder the more that so subtle a theo-
logy as we have found expressed in the documents, should
have arisen amid so simple a community.
In the course of the recitations we have also special
intimations of an organised struggle of the Daéva-party -
to overwhelm the Zarathustrians. At times they seem
very nearly to have accomplished their object. <A
distinct reference to a battle in the lines occurs, while
sanguinary violence is alluded to more than once as in
1 They pray against Aéshma without qualification. They might practise
desolating havoc in time of war; but the raid, as in times of nominal peace,
seems to have been foreign to them.
ΧΧΙΙ THE GATHAS.
the line, or in skirmish. We conclude from the pre-
valence of a thankful tone that the Zarathustrians gained
the upper hand during the Gathic period, but although
the result may have been assured, the struggle at the
time of the last Gatha was by no means over. In the
latest Gatha, as in the earliest, we have signs of fierce and
bloody conflict. The same type of existence prevailed
greatly later, in the time of the Yasts, but the scene seems
very different, and Zarathustra’s human characteristics are
wholly lost in the mythical attributes with which time and
superstition had abundantly provided him. By way,then, of
summarising the chief characteristics of his original system,
we may say that he and his companions were struggling to
establish a kingdom under the Sovereign Power of God,
whose first care was to relieve suffering, and shelter the
honest and industrious poor!. This kingdom was to be
conducted according to His holy Order, or plan of salva-
tion, to be permeated by living Piety, and with the ultimate
object of bestowing both Weal and Immortality. This high
ideal was also not left as an abstract principle to work its
way. Society was far too rudimental, then as ever, for the
efficient survival of unsupported principles. A compact
hierarchical system seems to have existed, the sacramental
object being the fire, before which a priesthood officiated
with unwavering zeal; but the traces of this are very re-
stricted in the Gathas, and, according to all probability, it
was greatly less elaborated at their period than later.
Such, in very brief outline, is the system which meets us
as Zarathustrianism in that period of Mazda-worship when
Zarathustra lived and composed the Gathic hymns.
As to the further question, ‘Who was Zarathustra, and
when and where did he live?’ diversity of opinion still pre-
' The practical operation of this prime principle seems to have been at times
beneficial to a remarkable, if not unparalleled, extent. Under the Sasanids
the lower classes enjoyed great protection. See the remarks of Professor Raw-
linson, The Seventh Oriental Monarchy, page 440 ff. Also recall the extra-
ordinary treatment of the poor during the drought and famine under Perozes.
The account is, however, exaggerated. See Tabari II, p. 130, cited by Professor
Rawlinson, p. 314.
INTRODUCTION. XXiil
vails, so much so that as regards it I differ slightly even
from my eminent friend and predecessor. As such differ-
ences on the subject of the Avesta are however matters of
course, I freely state my impressions. Who was then the
person, if any person, corresponding to the name Zarathustra
in the G4thas? Did he exist, and was he really the author
of these ancient hymns? That he existed as an historical
person I have already affirmed; and as to the hymns as-
cribed to him and his immediate associates, I have also no
hesitation. Parts of these productions may have been
interpolated, but the GAthas, as a whole, show great unity,
and the interpolations are made in the spirit of the original.
And that Zarathustra was the name of the individual in
which this unity centres, we have no sufficient reason to dis-
pute. The name is mentioned in the most sacred connec-
tions, as well as in those which depict the reality of the
prophet’s sufferings; and there is no reason at all why it
should have come down endeared to humanity, unless it be-
longed to one, who, in the presence of a Sovereign and a
kingdom, could impress his personality with greatly more
defined distinctness upon his contemporaries than either
that Sovereign or any of his adherents?. That any forgery
is present in the Gathas, any desire to palm off doctrines
upon the sacred community in the name of the great pro-
phet, as in the Vendiddd and later Yasna, is quite out of
the question. The Gathas are genuine in their mass, as I
believe no scholar anywhere now questions.
For the characteristics of this great teacher, I refer to the
hymns themselves, which stand alone, of their kind, inf litera-
ture. Nowhere, at their period, had there been a human
voice, so far as we have any evidence, which uttered thoughts
like these. They are now, some of them, the great com-
monplaces of philosophical religion ; but till then they were
unheard (agusta).
And yet we must say of Zarathustra, as of all our first
announcers, that while he antedates all whose records have
come down to us, he was probably only the last visible link
Πα See especially the remarks preceding Y. L.
XXIV THE GATHAS.
in a far extended chain. His system, like those of his pre-
decessors and successors, was a growth. His main concep-
tions had been surmised, although not spoken before. His
world was ripe for them, and when he appeared, he had
only to utter and develop them. I would not call him a
reformer ; he does not repudiate his predecessors. The old
.~ Aryan Gods retire before the spiritual Ahura; but I do
not think that he especially intended to discredit them.
One of the inferior ones is mentioned for a moment, but the
great Benevolence, Order, and Power, together with their
results in the human subject, Ahura’s Piety incarnate in
men, and their Weal and Immortality as a consequence,
crowd out all other thoughts. His mental insight is as
evident from his system as his deep moral inspiration. As
to his secondary characteristics, his manner of thought and
expression, we find them peculiar to the last degree. He
has given us writings in which every syllable seems loaded
with thought, sometimes much repeated, and to us of the
present day, very familiar; but then, when he wrote, one
would suppose that he intended to ‘utter his dark speech.’
Succinctness is carried to an unexampled extreme’, while
the wonderful idea that God’s attributes are His messengers
sent out into the human soul to ennoble and redeem, makes
him at times so subtle that the latest scholars cannot tell -
whether he means Asha and Vohu Manah personified as
Archangels, or as the thoughts and beneficent intentions of
the Deity reproduced in men. I can recall no passage
whatsoever in which Vohu Manah, Asha, Khshathra, &c.,
are not strongly felt to mean exactly what they signify as
words, while at the same time they are prayed to, and be-
sought to come, as Gods or angels. Either the personifica-
tion is purely poetical, which would make it, as found in the
Gathas, considering their age and place, a very remarkable
phenomenon, or else, having dogmatically personified the
divine attributes, Zarathustra never forgets to express a
respect which is higher than ‘a respect for persons,’ that is,
1 T regard it as most unfortunate that Zendists should search for easy and
natural expression in the GAthas, and the expression of commonplace detail.
It is only in passionate utterance that their style becomes simple.
INTRODUCTION. XXV
a respect for the principles which they represent. In
making every laudatory statement, however, I take for
granted, what I fear is nevertheless far from uniformly
granted, and that is, that the reader will weigh well what
makes all the difference, namely, the very remote period at
which we are obliged to place the Gathas, and the compara-
tively rude civilisation amid which we must suppose them
to have been composed. We must set the ideas which lie
before us in this framework of time and place. If we fail
to do so, as a matter of course the thoughts and their ex-
pression will contain for us nothing whatever new; but as
viewed in the light of relation,after long weighing the matter,
I cannot refer to them in any other terms than those which I
use, without becoming aware that I am recoiling through fear
of exaggeration from stating what I believe to be the truth.
As to the personal sentiment of Zarathustra, we can only
say that it was devoted. His word zarazdaiti gives the
keynote tohis purposes. We are certain that he was a man of
courage; but that he was not scrupulous at shedding blood
is alsoevident. He was not reticent under misfortune, while
yet endowed-with rare persistence to overcome it.
His sphere was not restricted. The objects which con-
cern him are provinces as well as villages, armies as well as
individuals. His circle was the reigning prince and promi-
nent chieftains, a few gifted men deeply embued with
religious veneration for the sacred compositions which had
come down to them from primeval antiquity in ancient
metres; and these, together with a priesthood exceptionally
pure, leading on a sobered population, were also his public.
But three orders appear in it, the king, the people, and the
peers. That the times were disturbed is involved in what
has already been said. One feature alone needs mention,
.it is that the agitations involved the tenure of the throne.
Vistaspa had no easy seat, and the prospect of revolution .
in the sense of supersedure was continually before him. As
to the family life of Zarathustra, we can only say that he
commanded respect ; nothing whatever is further known.
It will be seen from the above sketch that I make the
widest distinction between the Gathic period and that of the
: Ξ -᾽ΝΗ
xxvi κι τ \THE GATHAS.
later Avesta. I do so, not influenced very greatly by the
fact that the Gathas are cited in the later Avesta. Most
of these citations are indeed genuine and valid as proofs of
priority, while others are mere displacements of the Gathas
made for liturgical purposes, as Genesis is read in churches
sometimes after portions of later matter. But a book may
be cited by another when it is merely prior to it, and not
much older. Nor do I lay too much stress upon the differ-
ence between the Gathic dialect and the so-called Zend ;
but I do lay very great stress upon the totally dissimilar
atmospheres of the two portions. In the Gathas all is sober
and real. The Kine’s soul is indeed poetically described as
wailing aloud, and the Deity with His Immortals is re-
ported as speaking, hearing, and seeing; but with these
rhetorical exceptions, everything which occupies the atten-
tion is practical in the extreme. Gvehma and Bendva, the
" Karpans, the Kavis, and the Usigs(-ks), are no mythical mon-
sters. No dragon threatens the settlements, and no fabulous
- beings defend them. Zarathustra, Gam4spa, Frashaostra,
and Maidhyém4h; the Spitamas, Hvégvas, the Haééat-
aspas, are as real, and are alluded to with a-simplicity as
unconscious, as any characters in history. Except inspira-
tion, there are also no miracles. ΑἹ] the action is made up
of the exertions and passions of living and suffering men.
Let the Zendist study the GAthas well, and then let him
turn to the Yasts or the Vendid4d ; he will go from the
land of reality tothe land of fable. He leaves in the one a
toiling prophet, to meet in the other a phantastic demi-god.
However ancient the fundamental ideas in the myths of the
Yasts and Vendidad may be (and some of them were certainly
older than the Gathas or the oldest Rzks) in the forms in
which they now stand, they are greatly later.
As we enter into further and necessary detail, this seems _
to be the place for a word as to the relative ages of the
several sections which make up these hymns. We see
struggle and suffering, fear and anger in some of them, and
we naturally group these together as having been composed
at a particular stage in Zarathustra’s career. We read
expressions of happy confidence, and we refer them to a
Ἵ Geese Ul PRA aS
INTRODUCTION, TNIVERS IT ¥
ALF (at 87
period of repose, as we do those sections ameditation,
speculation, or dogmatic statement, are prominent; but
nothing is certain except that Y. LITI must have been
written after Zarathustra had attained to a sufficient age to
have a marriageable daughter. An ancient leader may
have reached a position of influence from doctrinal produc-
tions, and afterwards expressed the vicissitudes of an active
political career. One circumstance must, however, be held
in view ; and that is, that neither the Gathas, nor any other
ancient pieces, which were hardly at first committed to
writing, have been preserved in the form in which they were
delivered for the first time. The poet himself would file
them into better (?) order at each subsequent delivery, and
verses which referred originally to one period of time would,
if especially striking, be reproduced in subsequent effusions.
And pieces which the composer may have left in one shape,
his early successors would be likely to modify by interpola-
tions, excerptions, or inversions. I believe that the Gathas
show the presence of less foreign matter than is usual, and
that the interpolations which are present in them, are them-
selves of great antiquity, or even practically synchronous
with the original. Certainly few of them show anything
like an ingenious attempt at imitation. If there exist any
interpolations, and we may say a priori that all existing
compositions of their antiquity are, and must have been,
interpolated, the additions were the work of the author's
earliest disciples who composed fully in his spirit, while the
position of sections in this or that Gatha has little or no-
thing to do with the question of their relative age, the metres
being all ancient, and the Ustavaiti, Spezta-mainyu, &c.,
showing as decided evidence of originality as any parts of the
Ahunavaiti. (See remarks on the Gatha Ustavaiti, p.g1 ff.)
As we proceed from the question of the relative age
of the particular sections as compared with each other
to that of their age considered as a whole, we are first
met by the question as to place. Were the Gathas first
sung in the East or the West of Iran? I would here say
that I regard this point as especially open, as I am even
inclined to differ in one particular from my eminent friend
XXVIil THE GATHAS.
Professor Darmesteter, but let it be understood, only or
chiefly, as to the place of origin of the Gathas. I think that
the scene of the Gathic and original Zarathustrianism was
the North-east of Iran, and that the later Avesta was com-
posed during the hundreds of years during which the Zara-
thustrian tribes were migrating westward in Media.
One certain fact is the occurrence of geographical names
in Vendidad I, which are obviously intended to describe
the earliest homes of the Iranian races whose lore was the
Avesta. The present forms of those names, as they appear
in the Avesta, are indeed not the most ancient, but they
occur in passages which plainly repeat very ancient myths.
These names describe a region from the middle of the
North of Iran to the East of it, including ancient Bactria,
but extending as far West as Ragha ; and, as the Gathas are
unanimously acknowledged to be the oldest portion of the
Avesta, dealing as they do with Zarathustra as an historical
person, we naturally look for the scene of his life in the
oldest seats. The Zarathustrian Ragha, much further
West than the other places mentioned, seems to have a
special claim to be regarded as his birthplace, as it possesses
so firm a hold upon his name, but the epithet Zarathustrian,
together with the special eminence of the governor of Ragha
as needing no ‘ Zarathustra’ over him, that is, no imperial
chief (see Y. XIX, 19), may both be attributed to successors
of Zarathustra. From some reason, probably the migration
of Zarathustrian influence toward the West, Ragha became
a stronghold of his descendants ; or his name, entirely apart
from all family connection, may have become a title for
leading politico-ecclesiastical officials (compare the Zara-
thustrétema). There is no mention of a foreign origin of
Zarathustra in the Gathas, nor is there any expression from
which we might infer it. His family seems as settled as
himself. The Spitamas are mentioned with the same
familiarity as the Hvégvas, and the persons named are,
some of them, related to him. He was no isolated figure
among the people whom he influenced. Unless then we
can place Vistaspa and GAmiaspa, Frashaostra, and Maid-
hyéméh, in Ragha, we cannot well place Zarathustra there,
INTRODUCTION. XXix
for he is to be placed beside them. Tradition of a late and
dubious character places Vistaspa in Bactria; but it is
better to leave the exact region undecided, as certainty can
never be reached.
The other circumstances which are imperative with many
for a decision for the East as the region where Zarathustra
laboured, have been stated with perhaps the greatest power
and beauty by Darmesteter ', who still inclines to the West.
These are the strong analogies existing between the Zend
language and the Vedic Sanskrit on the one side, and
between the gods, heroes, and myths of the Avesta, and
those of Veda, on the other.
As bearing, however, in favour of a western origin of the
G&thic, as well as of the later Avesta, we must confess that
the West Iranian of the Cuneiform Inscriptions possesses
the same analogies with the Vedic which the language of the
Avesta possesses with it; and no reader should need to be
reminded that the West Iranian as well as the East Iranian
was in no sense derived from the Vedic. The old Aryan from
which all descended was once spread without distinction over
both West and East, while, on the other hand,the mythological
features of the Avesta, kindred as they are to those of the
Eastern Veda, are yet reproduced for us, some of them, in
the poetry of the medieval West as drawn from the Avesta ;
and the name of Mazda, unknown (?) to the Rzks*, appears
cut in the rocks of Persepolis and Behistun, while all the
sacred books of the Zarathustrians, including the Gathas as
well as the later Avesta, together with their interpretations,
have come down to us from the West, where the Greeks
also found their system from the time of Herodotus down.
Added to which we must acknowledge that the differ-
ences in dialect between the Avesta and Veda make a wide
separation as to place far from startling, while myths as well
as religions migrate as by a law.
We must therefore consider well before we venture to
differ from those who decide for the West as the scene of
Zarathustra’s life.
1 See the Introduction to the first two volumes, and also Ormuzd and Abriman.
4 But cp. Av. VIII, 20, 17, divé—dsurasya vedhasah (medhasaé (?) ).
ΧΧΧ THE GATHAS.
But as we mention the Inscriptions, we must make a very
careful distinction. Is their theology that of Zarathustra?
If it is, this would certainly constitute a point in conjunction
with the descriptions of the Greeks, in favour of a still more
extensive prevalence of Zarathustrianism in the West at the
dates which the Inscriptions cover.
As to this disputed point, I would answer that their
theology may be the Zarathustrian in a sense as yet too
little applied to the term, for it may be Gathic Zarathus-
trianism, or at least a Mazda-worship at a stage of develop-
ment corresponding to the stage of Mazda-worship in which
it stood when Zarathustra left it; but that it was the later
and fully developed Zarathustrianism, provided with all the
regulations of the Vendidad, seems out of the question.
In the first place there is no certain mention of Angra
Mainyu, or of the Amesha Sperta, in the Inscriptions; and
this silence must be accounted for! in any case?.
The ready and just suggestion is made that the documents
are exceedingly limited ; that many deities would not be
named on so narrow a space, while the statements of
Herodotus and his successors make it probable that the
entire system of Zarathustra was known in the near
neighbourhood, and must have been very familiar to the
persons who ordered the Inscriptions to be cut. To this
the necessary rejoinder might be made, that the familiarity
of Darius with the later, or indeed with the original, Zara-
thustrianism, if he was familiar with it, renders the absence
of the name of Angra Mainyu at least all the more striking.
What more imperative call could there be for the use of
that name than in denouncing the opponents whose over-
throw forms the theme of the mighty writings?
As the ‘grace of Auramazda’ is mentioned on the one
1 Some relief is given by a mention of the Draogha, but the bagahya are
probably Mithra and An4hita (see the Inscription of Artaxerxes Mnemon, 4)
rather than the Amesha Spevta. As we notice the name of Mithra, however,
we must remark that, as the Mithra worship undoubtedly existed previously to
the Gathic period, and fell into neglect at the Gathic period, it might be said
that the greatly later Inscriptions represent Mazda-worship as it existed among
the ancestors of the Zarathustrians in a pre-G&thic age or even Vedic age.
? Angra Mainyu and the Amesha are also prominent in the Gathas.
INTRODUCTION. XXX
side, one naturally expects to see some reference to the
‘opposition’ of His chief adversary on the other, and one
also expects to trace some certain recognition of the
Bountiful Immortals. I think that both were omitted
because their names retained less weight, as we cannot
suppose that they were unknown, or, if once known, then
forgotten. But allowing that it is not quite fair to reason
from such scanty texts, we are met by the positive fact that
an important Inscription is written on a tomb’; and, as the
burial of the dead was one of the most flagrant violations of
the Zarathustrian ceremonial law, it is not conceivable that
Darius could have been a Zarathustrian according to the
later Faith. He was either a heretical schismatic departing
from a sacred precept, or he was following the creed of his
fathers, a Mazda-worshipper, but not ‘of Zarathustra’s
order, or, if a Zarathustrian, then a partial inheritor of
Zarathustra’s religion at an undeveloped stage, while burial
was not as yet forbidden by it; and at the same time he
neglected also prominent doctrines of the Gathas.
It is not possible that he could have been an isolated
schismatic as to such a particular. If he composed the
Inscriptions as a monarch of another religion than that of
the later Avesta, it would seem to prove either that he was
an adherent to a cruder, or half effaced, form of Gathic
Zarathustrianism, which had found its way during the
long periods of its existence westward before the later
Zarathustrianism arose in the western settlements, or else
that it, the religion of the Inscriptions, simply originated
where we find it, from an original and wide-spread Mazda-
worship which had not yet forbidden the burial of the dead 3,
1 And all are the Inscriptions of buried men. See also the statements of
Professor de Harlez on the subject.
3 And perhaps it had also not forbidden cremation. Geiger (see ‘ The Civili-
sation of the Eastern Iranians in Ancient Times ;’ English translation by Darab
Dastur Peshotan Sa#igina, B.A., p. 90) conjectures that the dakhma were
originally places for cremation. If this is a correct surmise, both burial and
cremation may have been permitted at the Gathic period, being forbidden long
after. At least the original Mazda-worship did not recoil from cremation,
otherwise the story of the attempt to burn the Lydian Croesus could not have
arisen. The earlier Persians had no abhorrence of either burial or burning.
Only the developed Zarathustrian Magism of the Medes obeyed the Vendtdad.
ΧΧΧΙΙ THE GATHAS.
That such a Mazda-worship once existed in primeval Iran
seems certain, and that it was greatly earlier than Zara-
thustrianism?. It is also very probable that some form of
it survived unadulterated by Zarathustrianism, And this is
as probable a priori when we reflect on what might have
happened, as it is when we seek for an explanation of the
burial of a Mazda-worshipper in a tomb.
As the Asura (Ahura) worship extended into India with
the Indians as they migrated from Iran, a form of Asura
worship arose in Iran which added the name of Mazda to
the original term for God. In the East it began to acquire
additional peculiarities out of which, when Zarathustra arose,
he developed his original system, while in other parts of
Iran, and with great probability in Persia, it retained its
original simplicity. At subsequent periods only, the Zara-
thustrian form spread, first at the Gathic stage, and later a
second time, and from a centre further West, as the Zarathus-
trianism of the later Avesta which is reported by the
Greeks. Either then Darius was a Mazda-worshipper, like
his fathers, following an original and independent type of
Mazda-worship, or he was following a mutilated GéAthic
Zarathustrianism, which may not yet have forbidden burial 2,
he and his chieftains adhering to this ancient form, while
the masses yielded to the novelties, as the patrician Jews
held to Sadduceeism after the masses had become Pharisees,
and as the patrician Romans clung to Paganism after Rome
had become Catholic. In either case it seems to me that
the Mazda-worship of the Inscriptions might be severed
from the later Zarathustrianism ; and that it must be so
severed on some theory or other, all with one voice seem
to agree.
In deciding for the North-east * as the scene of Zara-
thustra’s personal labours, and for the G&thic dialect as
its more particular form of speech, I am not, I trust, solely
1 Compare even the Scythic name Thamimasadas, cited by Professor Rawlinson
(Herod. 3rd edit. iii, p. 195). Were branches of the Scyths themselves in a
sense Mazda-worshippers, or could the name have been borrowed ?
3. And which insisted less upon the personality of Satan.
3 The name Bactrian cannot be considered as more than a convenient
expression.
INTRODUCTION. XXXili
or unduly influenced by the occurrence of the eastern names
in the first chapter of the Vendidad, for those names may
indicate primeval homes from which the ancestors of Zara-
thustra migrated toward the west centuries before his
appearance. I merely say that the occurrence of the
names shows that the ancestors of the Zarathustrian
Mazda-worshippers once lived in East Iran; and if that is
the case, their descendants may have still lived there when
Zarathustra developed his system, and it is also possible
that masses of Zarathustrians may long have remained
behind in the East Iranian mountains after the Zarathus-
trians of the later Avesta had gone west. The descendant
may have arisen in the home of his ancestors, and in fact,
other things being equal, there is a stronger probability
that he arose there. I do not think that the appearance of
a later Zarathustrianism in the west, is a sufficient reason
for doubting that the founder of the system laboured nearer
the land of the Vedas, where a VistA4spa once ruled (?),
where a Daéva-worship long lingered, and where the
common names of the Irano-indian gods were heard as
. household words, and which, we may add, was precisely
the place where we should suppose the Indo-aryans to
have left the Irano-aryans, as they descended into the
Pugigab.
Having formed an opinion as to the place where Zara-
thustra laboured, and proceeding to the question as to
when he lived and wrote the GAthas, we find ourselves
under the necessity to form our estimate first as to the age
of the later parts of the Avesta. While interpolated
passages, or indeed whole Yasts, may be very late, I
cannot place the later Avesta in its bulk later than the
Cuneiform Inscriptions of Darius, for the fact that the In-
scriptions preserve either a pre-Zarathustrian Mazdaism, or
the Zarathustrianism of the GAthas long previous as it was
in its origin to that of the Vendid4d, has nothing whatever
to do with the relative age of the Inscriptions themselves.
The later Avesta, with its forbiddal of burial and crema-
tion, must have existed for a long time side by side with
that religion which has left sepulchral monuments, and
[31] Ὁ
XXXIV THE GATHAS.
whose adherents could contemplate the burning of cap-
tives; and analogous facts are universal.
But aside from the seeming difference in the type of
Mazda-worship, which simply severs the religion of the
Inscriptions from that of the more developed Zarathus-
trianism, and which has, as we have seen, nothing whatever
to do with the question of the relative ages of the Inscrip-
tions and the later Avesta, I think that we have some signs
of a later age in the language of the Inscriptions apart
from their contents. As, however, Darmesteter is inclined
to regard the West Iranian, or Cuneiform, as better pre-
served than the Zend of the later Avesta, I make my few
remarks only with great hesitation.
The termination ,9Ws-, which would otherwise be justly
considered as an evidence of degeneration in the Zend, I
regard as merely a wrong writing for -ahya=GAthic ahya.
The letter Μ is a relic of the time when the Avesta stood
in the Pahlavi character; I think that it is here merely a
lengthened %9=ya!. Terminations also seem much muti-
lated in the Cuneiform, and the name Auramazda written
as one word, does not seem to me so original.
We must indeed remember that a later generation, owing
to an isolated position, often preserves an older dialect, as
it may an older form of religion, whereas an earlier genera-
tion, if its predecessors have lived in a compact society in
smaller districts, varies the ancient forms, as the old
Indian developed into Sanskrit and Prakrit. Still we have
little reason to be certain that the civilisation of Media and
Also 6%” is simply ayam, and should be so transliterated; so also in a
throng of other words. Salemann has noticed the origin of "Ὁ =é, but gives no
other indication in the present sense. I think that X9 and also ἴ9, where they
equal Aryan ya, should be corrected everywhere, like all other instances of
miswriting. Unless indeed we can regard the 9, for which Ὁ (© were often clearly
miswritten, as itself of double significance, asin Pahlavi. % might then regularly
and properly equal both é and ya; so 9 may equal long é or γᾷ (aya). Other
instances of miswriting in Zend would be dat. dual -bya. The Aryan -4m was
first written as the nasal vowel -&, and still further carelessly reduced to -a, but
never so spoken. On the contrary, in the acc. fem. &c., the nasalisation was
over-written, too much expressed. The final nasal caused the scribes to write
the preceding letter as if nasalised, ‘%,’ but it was never nasalised in speech.
INTRODUCTION. XXXV
Persia was either more or less condensed and social than
that of Bactria and the East. But beside a priority to the
Inscriptions, we are obliged to consider the time needed
for developments. The Greeks of the time of Herodotus
probably, and those later certainly, found a form of Zara-
thustrianism in full development in Media; but if the con-
temporaries of Herodotus heard familiarly of a Zarathus-
trianism there, a long period of time must be allowed for
its development if it originated in Media, and a still longer
period if it found its way there from the East. If, then, the
bulk of the later Avesta existed at the time of Herodotus
and at that of Darius, how long previously must it have
been composed ; for such systems do not bloom in a day?
We have the evidence of historical tradition that the
Magi! were influential even at the time of Cyrus, not
dwelling upon the possibility of their existence at the
earliest mention of Medes as the conquerors and rulers of
Babylon.
Can we then, considering the recognised stagnation of
ancient Eastern intelligence, ascribe to the development of
the Median Zarathustrianism a shorter period than from
one to three centuries? If, then, the bulk of the later
Avesta must be placed so long before the Inscriptions of
Darius, where shall we place the earlier Avesta with its
most important remaining fragments, the GAathas*?
After studying the GAthas carefully in detail, and be-
coming also familiar with them as a whole by frequent
perusal, we must measure the time needed for the change
from their tone to that of the later Avesta. Could it have
been less than a century, or centuries? . Was not as much
time needed for the Zarathustra of the Gathas to become
the Zarathustra of the later Avesta, as was afterwards con-
sumed by the migration of the creed from the North-east,
if it really originated there? As there is undoubtedly a
' I regard the Magi as representing the Zarathustrianism of the VendtdAd.
This the false Bardiya endeavoured to introduce, demolishing the temples which
the old Mazda-worship permitted in Persia. See the Cuneiform Inscription of
Behistun II; Darius 61.
? All in the Gathic dialect is old.
c2
XXXVI THE GATHAS.
difference of several centuries between the dates of the
newest and oldest parts of the later Avesta, so we must
think of a considerable interval between the oldest parts of
the later Avesta and the latest parts of the older Avesta,
for there is the other consideration which imperatively con-
strains us to avoid concluding for short periods in the
stages of development. The Vedic Hymns, sung in metres
closely similar to those in both the G&athas and the later
Avesta, and naming gods, demons, and heroes so closely
related, not to speak of myths, challenge us to say whether
they are, the oldest of them, older or later than the oldest
parts of the Avesta. and, if there exists any difference as to
the ages of these ancient productions, how great that
difference is. The oldest Riks have now an established
antiquity of about 4000; were .the hymns sung on the
other side of the mountains as old? The metres of these
latter are as old as those of the Rig-veda, if not older, and
their grammatical forms and word structure are often posi-
tively nearer the original Aryan from which both proceeded.
If it were not for two circumstances, we should be forced to
ask very seriously which were the older, and to abandon
altogether our mention of later dates. Those circum-
stances are the absence of the Aryan gods from the Gathas ;
and, secondly, their abstract conceptions. These latter are
so little offset with expected puerilities that it is often hard
to believe that the Gathas are old at all. Their antiquity
is placed beyond dispute by the historic mention of Zara-
thustra. But, if Zarathustra were not indisputably a living
man in the Gathas, their depth and refinement, together
with the absence of Mithra, Haoma, &c., would, in them-
selves considered, force us to place them rather late. As it
is, the absence of Mithra and his colleagues, who reappear in
the later Avesta, permits us to place the Gathas con-
siderably later than the oldest Rzks. For no sudden and
intentional dismissal of the ancient gods is to be accepted
with Haug, nor any religious schism as the cause (!) of the
migration of the Indians toward the south. The process
was of course the reverse.
The migrating tribes, in consequence of their separation
INTRODUCTION. XXXVIi
from their brethren in Iran, soon became estranged from
them, and their most favoured Gods fell slowly into neglect,
if not disfavour.
We need time to account for this change, and no short
interval of time. We can therefore place the Gathas long
after the oldest Rzks. While, therefore, in view of the
established age of the Rig-veda, the Gathas may possibly
have been composed as early as about 1500 B.C., it is also
possible to place them as late as (say) goo—1200 B.C., while
the fragments in the Gathic dialect must be considered
somewhat later. The dates of the composition of the several
parts of the later Avesta, on the other hand, must be sup-
posed to extend over many centuries, as the various sections
in the Zend dialect are so much more numerous than those
in the G&thic, the Gathas themselves representing practi-
cally but one date. Placing then the oldest portions of the
later Avesta somewhat earlier than Darius, we are obliged to
extend the period during which its several parts were com-
posed so far as perhaps to the third or fourth century
before Christ, the half-spurious matter contained in them
being regarded as indefinitely later.
It seems necessary to state here for the information of
non-specialists, and as bearing very seriously upon all the
questions involved, that a very unusually severe controversy
prevails upon the exegesis of the Avesta, and that it
centres in the question as to the value of the Asiatic trans-
lations of it. A similar debate was once held on the Aig-
veda, but that is now silenced, all agreeing that the
traditional renderings are neither to be slavishly followed,
nor blindly ignored. Very different has been the fate of
Zend philology, and in one important particular the studies
are poles apart ; for whereas the commentaries on the Xzks
are written in Sanskrit, which is clear to experts, those on
the Zend-Avesta are written in a language upon which the
lexicography is most incomplete, and the elucidation of
these explanations themselves remains by far the most
XXXVIil THE GATHAS.
difficult task now before us. Professor von Spiegel has
accomplished much toward breaking the rough road of
science in this direction, and scholars of the first order
have followed his leading, while all with one accord express
to him their acknowledgments. But Professor von Spiegel
has not intended his editions and citations to represent full
translations. He has, as a matter of course, taken it for
granted that those who oppose him, as well as those who
follow him, have studied his Pahlavi editions, not paying
him the undesired compliment of making his commentaries
the sole source of their knowledge of tradition. Moreover
in no branch of science does scholarship make more rapid
strides than in Pahlavi, several important works having
appeared since Spiegel’s commentaries.
In the attempt to master the Pahlavi translations of the
Avesta we must consider many and difficult problems.
In the first place, and as a matter of course, they cannot
be at all reasonably attempted without a full knowledge of
the Gathic and Avesta texts so far as they have been as
yet otherwise and approximately elucidated. The two
problems hang together like the arches of a circular
building, and they should be studied together word for
word ; for the Pahlavi used is not fully that of the books.
It is often turned quite out of its course, as Pahlavi, by an
effort to follow the more highly inflected Zend literally.
- Then, again, a question of the utmost importance meets us
in estimating the glosses, which are often, but not always,
from a later hand. A translation of the Pahlavi must of
course first be considered as in the light of the glosses, for
the language is so indefinite as to many of its grammatical
forms, that such an indication as a gloss, if it be proved to
have been written by the same person who composed the
text, would be decisive in determining the rendering; but
a final translation should be made more strictly in the
light of the Gathic, so far as it affords on its side positive
indications, and the glosses, where they do not correspond,
should be set apart as from a later hand. Then, once
more, and on the contrary, where the gloss is obviously
right, and the text erroneous, the former should be appro-
INTRODUCTION. XXXiX
priated unencumbered by the latter’. We must recognise
the traces of former accurate scholarship whether we see
them in text or gloss, and, from the accumulation of the
correct surmises, we should construct an argument for the
probability of the correctness of the hints of the Pahlavi in
cases of great difficulty. In rendering the Pahlavi as a
necessary prelude to rendering the Avesta, all possible help
should of course be sought from the Asiatic translations of
the Pahlavi, from those of Neryosangh in Sanskrit, and from
the still later ones in Parsi and Persian. Here, again, those
who read the Pahlavi only as rendered by Neryosangh need
great caution. If Neryosangh is simply read like the
classical Sanskrit, great errors will be committed. He
needs a glossary of his own, and should be read solely in
the light of the Pahlavi which was chiefly his original. So
of the Parsi Persian translations, they must be read with
especial attention to their originals. After these original
translations have been fully mastered, and compared with
an improved rendering of the G&thic, likewise also studied
in the full light of the Veda, the patient scholar will be sur-
prised at the result. He will find that to a certain exten-
sive degree, the two sources of information coincide when
reasonably estimated, and, moreover, that where the Pah-
lavi gives us an indication differing from that derived from
the Vedic, the surmise of the Pahlavi is the more often
correct. I say ‘reasonably estimated, for not only is the
Pahlavi, as a less highly inflected language, incapable of
rendering the Avesta literally, but its authors do not uni-
formly make the attempt to do so; nor do they always
follow the order of the Gathic or Zend. Their translations
generally run word for word as to their outward forms, for
the ancient interpreters probably regarded such a following
as essential to a complete rendering, but they found them-
1 I would here state to the distinguished scholars who have done me the
honour to study my work on the Gathas, that the Pahlavi translations contained
in it are those made in the light of the glosses. Here and there final ones will
be added in a later volume, as from the Pahlavi texts sometimes considered
apart from the Pahlavi glosses, and in consequence often much nearer the Gathic
than those from both text and gloss.
χὶ THE GATHAS,
selves compelled to resort to the most important excep-
tions. And, lastly, the rejection, or total neglect of the
Pahlavi translations and their successors, on the ground
that they contain errors, is a policy which seems to me
defective, and to the last degree. What absurdities can
Sayaza be capable of, and yet who would utter final
opinions upon the Azg-veda without either the ability, or
the attempt, to read Sayana!?
It is hardly necessary to mention that the restoration of
texts goes hand in hand with translation. For how are we
to interpret a passage before we know that it exists? And
of what inestimable worth are the Pahlavi translations as
evidence to texts! Who does not see that where the
ancient scribe is most free or erroneous as to form, or root,
his rendering often shows plainly which of two words stood
before him in his manuscripts. Our oldest MS. (that of
Copenhagen, numbered 5) dates from the year 1323 A.D.;
and what were the dates of the ancient documents before
the eyes of the Pahlavi translator who writes in it?
We must now ask whether our present Pahlavi transla-
tions are improvements upon their predecessors, or the
reverse. That they are improvements in some few in-
stances is undeniable, for, as we have seen, some of the
glosses to them from later hands give the truth where the
text is wide. But the glosses which show a later origin are,
for the most part, inferior in richness to the texts. Here
and there a talented, or fortunate, Parsi threw new light on
the subject, but the general tendency was one of deteriora-
tion; that is, before the revival of Parsi-learning under
Neryosangh (400-500 years ago). This deterioration would
naturally decrease as we approach successive periods in
going back to the time when MSS. of the Gathas existed
according to positive evidence, that is, to the time when,
according to the Arda Virdf, Alexander’s servants found
skins at Persepolis on which the Avesta had been traced in
1 Well has Geldner mentioned the ‘epoch-making’ Etudes Iraniennes of
Darmesteter (KZ. vol. xxviii, p. 186). It is to be hoped that these brilliant
pieces will stimulate the study of the relation between the Zend and the New
Persian through the Ancient Persian and the Pahlavi.
INTRODUCTION. xli
formants of Herodotus heard the Magian priests singing
their ‘theogonies’ from written books). At each of these
periods scholarship is proved to have been competent by
the results which it accomplished. The first of them we
must place in the sixth century when, on Spiegel’s estimate’,
the Zend characters were modified into their present lucid
form from the Pahlavi, and distinct short vowels took the
place of the unknown signs which existed previously. Then
all MSS. which were to be found must have been collected
and copied, and, so to speak, re-edited ; and here we must
accordingly place a period when the Pahlavi translations
were more valuable than those of any later date. As we go
further back we come upon another period, when, under
Shapur II, Adarbad Mahraspend brought the surviving
portions of the Zend-Avesta together (about A.D. 330).
Still earlier the servants of Artaxerxes, the Sasanian, col-
lected yet more abundant writings, when Zarathustrianism
was instituted as the state religion. Then, under the Arsa-
cids (possibly under Vologeses the first), those most
competent in the realm were directed to gather the then
extant documents.
While, if we hold that the entire Avesta was written
originally in some character different from the Pahlavi, we
must finally infer the existence of an early epoch, when the
entire Avesta was brought over in its bulk from the earlier
East (or West?) Iranian character in which it was first
inscribed. If this character differed radically from the
Pahlavi, this transliteration must be regarded as one of the
most remarkable of literary events. Notwithstanding all
the now rapidly corrected errors, the texts have been
handed down with the minutest distinctions of dialect
preserved 3, and this proves the existence of competent
interpreters at a period practically contemporaneous with
the composition of the later portions of the later Avesta.
What commentaries must then have existed, not free from
1 Eranisches Alterthumskunde 11], 5. 767.
3 See Hiibschmann, KZ. bd. 24, 5. 326.
xlii ‘9, HE GATHAS.
error, as we see from the Zand of the Avesta, but, as to
language and general sense, how close! Even if the degree
of linguistic knowledge increases only gradually or steadily in
going back, without any epochs from the time of Neryosangh
to the inferable date of the latest Zend writings, and if the
character in which the Avesta was first recorded (after a
lengthy life as an orally extended lore) differed only as to
mode and fashion, and not radically, from the Pahlavi (which,
so far as the later Avesta is concerned, is most probable),
we have yet the transliteration of the Gathas to account for,
which perhaps were brought over (after long oral life) from
the so-called Aryan character, while the existence of a gradual
tradition of a scholarship does not refute the fact that this
scholarship must have been at times of the highest cha-
racter; it makes high scholarship more probable.
What translations, we again remark, may have ex-
isted among these early sages! And, if they could once
make translations fresh from the exegesis of the latest Zend
writers themselves, is it not practically certain, considering
the tenacity of life manifested by Zoroastrianism, that their
explanations still lurk in the commentaries which have
come down to us. And if these inferences be at all correct,
how should we labour to discover from our present transla-
tions what these predecessors were; and what scholar
cannot perceive that gems of evidence as to texts and sense
may yet linger in those of our present Pahlavi translations
which may yet be otherwise most filled with phantastic
error? And shall we not therefore conclude that their ex-
pected inaccuracies, whether small or great, cannot destroy
their inherent value? What, then, are we to think of it,
when the New Persian, a quasi-daughter of the Pahlavi, is
superficially referred to for linguistic analogies, when even
the Armenian is also scanned, while the Pahlavi is left un-
mastered? Is a quasi-mother language of the New Persian
any the less likely to afford linguistic analogies because an
actual translation of the Avesta has been attempted in it,
and because the Avesta once stood in its characters, while
it may also present claims to be considered to a certain
limit a daughter language to both the Gathic and Zend?
And should the acknowledged d
continue to be a reason for avoidin?
it out!?
In the endeavour to divide our Avesta texts into originals
and gloss, we are greatly aided by the metre. Interpolated
words and phrases are often obvious at a glance, and we
should never suspend our efforts to discover all the traces
of metre which exist in-the Avesta, as a necessary step to
the restoration of the documents to their first form; but we
should avoid exaggeration, and a carelessly dogmatic pro-
cedure in insisting upon reducing lines to an exact, or to a
supposed exact, number of syllables*. I regard it as un-
wise to suppose that the metrical lines of the Avesta, or
indeed of any very ancient poetical matter, have been com-
posed with every line filed into exact proportions. The
ancient poets would have brought out the measures in many
a place by accent and a sandhi which are no longer known
tous. The Vedic Hymns may, to a great extent, form an
exception, but who would not say that where uniform even-
ness is at hand, an effort to improve the metre has often
corrupted the text. Priests or reciters of intelligence would
here and there round off an awkward strophe, as year after
year they felt the unevenness of numbers. Metre must
inevitably bring a perfecting corruption at times, as a de-
ficiency in the metre must also prove a marring corruption.
Cases should be carefully discriminated. The expression of
passionate feeling, for instance, would be likely to cause
' One of the most powerful tributes ever paid to the Pahlavi translators was
Haug’s conversion to them. Before studying them he lost no opportunity to
stigmatise their deficiencies; later, however, he followed them in many an im-
portant place, and sometimes with little reserve.
As writers of the opposed extremes seem honestly convinced of the radical
error of each other’s views, it is obvious that association and interest have much
to do with decisions. A scholar should put himself fully under the influence
first of one school and then of the other. The necessity for well-balanced
studies is extremely great.
2 It is only lately that the variation from eleven to twelve syllables in the
lines of Trish/up has been applied to the Gathic metres, nor has the possibility
of a shifting caesura been acceded to till lately.
xliv THE GATHAS.
unevenness in lines. The language would be vigorous and
idiomatic. and of unusual value as a fragment of ancient
phrase, but the metre would have suffered.
Then as to conjectured texts; after texts have been
improved from all available relics of ancient tradition, or
scholarship, as afforded by the Pahlavi translations, and
from the evidence of metre, we are at times still left with
readings before us which could not have been original. The
composers have indeed here and thete constructed sentences
which they either could not, or would not, make easy, but
as a general thing we may say, that where the text, as it
stands, gives no satisfactory sense to us, after we have ex-
hausted the resources of previous Asiatic scholarship, or
direct analogy, in our efforts to explain it, it is in that case
not the text as the composer delivered it. We are then
reduced to conjecture, for how are we to translate a text
before we are certain that it is integral? Our first efforts
should be directed to the detection of losses; fora text may
still be of great value when considered as a mass of broken
sentences, for, if we are certain that such is its character, we
can often fill out the missing members with much proba-
bility. But whether we insert supplementary conjectures,
or merely bracket later interpolations, we must by all means
in cases of real necessity make the effort to amend the text
(as also in the Veda).
Even if we fail in our attempted improvements, we are
often little worse off than before, for whereas it is possible,
or even probable, that the composers wrote what we sug-
gest, it is sometimes not possible that they wrote exactly
what stands in our texts. We should even suggest alterna-
tive readings where our present ones are only less probable
(for the suggestion of an alternative is not the wholesale
destruction of a sentence), while even when we declare their
outcoming meaning totally unsatisfactory, the MSS. still re-
main to other writers to begin on afresh. And in estimating
what would be reasonable meanings, we should guard care-
fully against both extremes, and we should especially exer-
cise a strong negative criticism against the recognition of
INTRODUCTION. xlv
too much meaning, or too subtle a meaning. Profound and
subtle conceptions placed where we are obliged to place the
GAthas, and other ancient portions of the Avesta, are indeed
precious relics, as such conceptions at any age show
a higher mental power, but we must doubt them only
so much the more, and doubt, if we would be scientific
and conscientious, till doubt becomes no longer possible.
Beyond that we should turn our suspicions against our
doubts themselves, which is the proper course if we would
exhaust the meanings of the Gathas. Unless these are a
fortuitous concourse of syllables, religiously profound modes
of thought are manifest throughout. It is therefore strictly
unscientific to force parts of them to express shallow details,
and it is above all deplorable to change the text itself in
order to produce out of it less enlarged meanings!. I say to
force parts of them, for the great mass of them confessedly
defies all attempts toreduce them to the statements of simple
commonplace.
They can never possess the rich colour of the Rzks; it is
therefore the more to be deplored if we fail to see their
deep, but awkwardly expressed, and oft-repeated thought. I
must express my regret that until lately, when the enclitics
have been more carefully considered, the form of sentences
in the Gathas does not seem to have been noticed, writers
conjecturing infinitives and simple accusatives at the ends
of sentences. Both may, of course, fall there, but when we
wish to reconstruct a word, we should not change it to a
form which is not placed according to prevailing analogies.
Infinitives and accusatives generally, both in the Gathas
and the Rig-veda, avoid the end of the sentence. The
accusative, when it falls there, is generally preceded by
qualifying words often in apposition or agreement with it.
Also in the conception of translations, authors seem to sup-
Ὁ: Non-specialists must not suppose that our texts are more apparently uncer-
tain than (say) many portions of the Old Testament. Large portions of them
are also as clear, at least, as the Rig-veda; and the emendations referred to
need very seldom affect the doctrines: Let the learned public, however, insist
on scholars making honest attempts to render the texts as they stand before
their emendations, and greater harmony would result.
xlvi THE GATHAS.
pose it impossible that the lines can contain anything but
lengthened prosaic sentences (too often with an accusative,
or infinitive, pushed awkwardly out to the end). To me
the Gathic sentence is often very short, and so better adapted
to poetic expression.
It has been already implied, and it has been taken for
granted throughout!, that the Avesta should be closely
compared with the Veda, but let it never be forgotten, in
the name of science, that the force and meaning of analo-
gous words in the Gathic and the Vedic cannot be expected
to be uniformly identical, considering the extent of territory,
and the length of time, by which those who spoke the two
languages were separated. The meanings of the Vedic words
could not hold their own even in India, developing into the
Sanskrit and Prdkrit which differ widely, how truly mis-
guided is it therefore to attribute necessarily the same
shades of meaning to the terms of the two sister tongues.
If even the Gathic hymns stood in the Indian forms, and
had been discovered in India, having also reference to Indian
history, no thoughtful writer would have rendered them in
complete analogy with the Rzg-veda. The Gathic usages
would have been added in our dictionaries to those of the
Vedic, just as the Sanskrit definitions are added.
An additional word seems called for as to the results of
Zarathustrian theology. Besides its connection with the
modern philosophy through Gnosticism which has been
already noticed?, a relation between it and the Jewish
theology since the Captivity has long been mentioned.
The hagiology, the demonology, the temptation, the para-
bles, the eschatology, have all been supposed to show traces
of the time when Persian power was dominant in Jerusalem,
and with it, Persian literature; but the discussion of such
questions requires separate treatises.
As to the general benefit which has resulted from Zara-
thustrianism in the past, few reflections need to be added.
If the mental illumination and spiritual elevation of many
millions of mankind, throughout long periods of time, are of
' See remarks in the Preface, p. xv. 3 See note on p. xix.
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
any importance, it would require strong proof to deny that
Zarathustrianism has had an influence of very positive power
in determining the gravest results. That men should be
taught to look within rather than without, to believe that
suffering and sin do not originate from the capricious power
of a Deity still called ‘good,’ that the ‘ good thought, word,
and deed’ should be recognised as essential to all sanctity,
even in the presence of a superstitious ceremonial, that a
judgment should have been expected according to the
deeds done in the body, and the soul consigned to a Heaven
of virtue or to a Hell of vice, its recompense being pro-
nounced by the happy or stricken conscience, these can
never be regarded by serious historians as matters of little
moment, and if, on the contrary, they are allowed to be
matters of great moment, the Zend-Avesta should bey
revered and studied by all who value the records of the
human race.
ABBREVIATIONS.
Barth. = Bartholomae.
B.V.S. = Vendidad Sade, von Dr. Hermann Brockhaus. Leipzig, 1850.
D. = dastur.
De inf. = De infinitivi linguaram sanskritae bactricae persicae graecae oscae
umbricae latinae gotticae forma et usu, scripsit Eugenius Wilhelmus,
phil. doctor. 1872.
G. = GamAspgi.
H. = Hiibschmann.
Inf. = Geschichte des Infinitivs im Indogermanischen, von Dr. Julius Jolly. 1873.
K. = Kopenhagen MSS.
K. Z. = Kuhnische Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung.
M.1K. = Mainyé-f Khard. Ed. West/ 1871.
Ner. = Neryosangh.
P. = Paris MSS.
Rv. = Rig-veda.
Sp. = Spiegel.
Trlr. = translator.
V. 5. = Ein Kapitel vergleichender Syntax, von Dr. Julius Jolly. 1872.
Wg. = Westergaard.
Z. Ὁ. M. G. = Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlindischen Gesellschaft.
An asterisk denotes irregularities.
THE GATHAS.
THE five G&athas of Zarathustra and his immediate
followers are placed here before the other parts of the
Yasna on account of their higher antiquity. There existed
no other Yasna for years or centuries beside them.
The more remarkable circumstances connected with
them have been already discussed in the Introduction.
If it is necessary to recall any of them here, the most
prominent would be that they are undoubtedly the pro-
ductions of a small group of influential men who are
referred to in them for the most part by name; that
Zarathustra, everywhere else nearly or quite a demi-god,
is here a struggling and suffering man. He is a prophet,
or a divinely appointed instructor, but thoroughly human
and real, so far as his situations become apparent.
Secondly, their historical tone may be emphasised.
Their doctrines and exhortations concern an actual reli-
gious movement taking place contemporaneously with their
composition; and that movement was exceptionally pure
and most earnest. Their tone is therefore everywhere
serious. Nearly all myths are dropped, and likewise, as
perhaps their most striking peculiarity, even the old Aryan
gods, who reappear in the later Yasna, Vendidad, and
Yasts, are, save one, wholly absent.
The movement in its reformatory character seems to
have thrown them out, not perhaps with definite intention,
but because the minds of the devout enthusiasts excluded
them as having inferior interest, in view of the results
immediately before them.
So far as a claim to a high position among the curiosities
of ancient moral lore is concerned, the reader may trust
himself freely to the impression that he has before him an
anthology which was probably composed with as fervent a
desire to benefit the spiritual and moral natures of those to
[31] Β
2 THE GATHAS.
whom it was addressed as any which the world had yet
seen. Nay, he may provisionally accept the opinion that
nowhere else are such traces of intelligent religious earnest-
ness to be found as existing at the period of the Gathas or
before them, save in the Semitic scriptures.
As to their speculative depth; wherever theosophical
speculation is put into words, the evidence of their grasp
and subjectivity becomes positive. As the extent of docu-
ments necessarily produces a certain impression upon the
mind of an investigator, it must not be forgotten that the
GAthas were in all probability many times more volu-
minous than the fragments which now remain to us. The
historian may argue from what has survived to what once
- existed, and the inevitable conclusion is imposing.
For additional details see the Introduction, and the sum-
maries at the head of each Gatha and chapter.
THE GATHA(A) AHUNAVAITI().
This GAtha, consisting of seven chapters of the Yasna
(XXVIII-XXXIV), takes its name from the similarity of
its metre to that of the Ahuna-vairya formula which also
occurs before it in the Yasna. It is composed of homo-
geneous material, but as its material is also homogeneous
with that of the other Gathas, it probably owes its exist-
ence as a group of sections to its metrical form. Its lines
were intended to number sixteen syllables, and they are
put together in stanzas of three. It is all very ancient
and probably nearly all original with Zarathustra himself,
though parts seem to be put into the mouths of his
immediate associates and disciples. Whether any persons
existed in the immediate circle of the sage capable of
composing hymns like these unaided, is of course a ques-
tion; but that some were able to put poetical matter
together under his guidance or inspiration seems certain.
An analysis and general summary is placed before each
chapter as more convenient than massing them all together.
The reader is reminded that the rhythm of the original,
so far as it could be reasonably conjectured, is somewhat
imitated in parts of the translations.
THE GATHAS.
YASNA XXIX.
THe Walt or THE Kine. THE CALu ΟΕ
ZARATHUSTRA. Huis PRAYER FoR AID.
This chapter, the second in the manuscripts of the Gatha Ahuna-
vaiti, is placed here as in a more natural order. It may be regarded
as containing the terminus a quo of the divine revelation. The
Soul of the Kine, as representing the herds of the holy Iranian
people, their only means of honourable livelihood, raises its voice,
and expressing the profoundest needs of an afflicted people,
addresses Ahura and His Divine Order, Asha, in bitterness.
1. Recalling another and a later ‘groan of the creation,’ she
demands wherefore and for whom she was made, since afflictions
encompass her; and as her comfort, if not her existence, was
threatened as much by the unsettled habits induced by constant
alarms as by the actual incursions of her predatory neighbours,
she beseeches the Bountiful Immortals to instruct her as to the
benefits of civilised agriculture, and confirm her protectors in its
practice, as her only remedy against the evils of which she
complains.
2. Ahura answers by a question to Asha, the personified
Righteous Order, as to what guardian he had appointed in order
to smite back the fury which assails her, intimating that some chief
ought to have been set over her originally who would have averted
her miseries, training her people in steady tillage and bucolic skill,
and repelling the destructive raids.
3. Asha answers that her sufferings were inevitable, that no
chief could be appointed who could prevent them since none
was himself without his share of injustice and of passionate
resentment. He could not answer why this was the case. The
question, involving the insolvable problem of the origin of evil,
lay at the foundation of those influences which move the stars of
destiny; that the religious revelation afforded by the Ratu (as in
B2
4 THE GATHAS.
chapter XXX) was intended to meet these problems so far as they
could be answered’, and that therefore all who were entering upon
active enterprises were in the act of approaching, not him Asha,
the subordinate archangel, but Mazda himself, who was the
greatest of beings, and alone able to answer their prayers and
questions.
4. Zarathustra *, poetically conceived to be present, here inter-
venes to reaffirm the homage just paid by Asha. He declares
Ahura Mazda to be himself the most mindful of all the previously
revealed assertions and directions uttered by himself, and fulfilled
in the actions of both the Demon-gods of their enemies, and of
good or evil men. He is also said to be fully cognisant of what
they will do in the future, and to discriminate between what is
good and evil as an infallible judge, allotting to us all our destiny in
future sufferings or rewards. 5. Addressing Ahura and Asha, and
uniting with the Kine’s Soul in her supplication, he questions
Mazda in his doubt, not in peaceful confidence, as later in the
impressive hymn, each verse of which begins with the words, ‘This
ask I Thee, aright, Ahura! tell me!’ but deprecating from himself, and
constructively from the Kine, the impending destruction which he
sees will justly fall upon the wicked as visited by the discriminating
vengeance acknowledged to be Ahura’s attribute (see verse 4).
6. At last Ahura, showing the intention of His questions, answers
them himself; no regulating lord in full sympathy with the
Righteous Order had as yet been discovered or discoverable, but
He himself will make a selection. He therefore declares himself
as solemnly appointing Zarathustra to that office.
And Zarathustra, inspired by His Good Mind, and guided by
His righteousness, will accomplish more than has as yet been done
to rally the thrifty community, and settle their virtuous polity upon
its desired basis of training and defence. 7. As Zarathustra is a
listener in the colloquy between the Deity, the Kine’s Soul, and
Asha, the Righteous Order, so the other Immortals beside Asha‘,
here join in, as if the appointment just made had not been heard, or
was incredible (see below). Mazda is indeed declared to have
revealed the sacred Word-of-reason in harmony with the con-
senting Righteousness, and to have provided food for the Kine and
1. Something like this is implied.
3 If verses 4, 5, 6, were originally connected.
5. Or possibly a company of the religious chiefs poetically conceived to be
present.
YASNA XXIX. 5
the needy consumers, but who was there adequately endowed
with the Good Mind, who could promulgate that Mathra with its
revealed directions as to sustenance of both body and mind?
8. Ahura repeats his announcement of Zarathustra, as if to
silence the objections.
As Zarathustra alone had heard the doctrines from the voice of
inspiration, so he desired to declare them, and had authority to
do so, together with a settled position of such a character as to
make his statements felt.
9. But an unexpected difficulty arises. The Kine’s Soul is by
no means impressed by the personality of the individual selected
as her guardian. So far from being the demi-god of the other
parts of the Avesta, Zarathustra’s declarations are characterised
_ by her as ‘the voice of a pusillantmous man,’ while she, on the
contrary, expected one truly kingly in his rank and characteris-
tics, and able to bring his desires to effect, while the Bountiful
Immortals (or the attending chieftains), as if they had meant their
question in verse 7 to be a question uttered in mere perplexity or
contempt, join in with chorus, asking when indeed an effective helper
will be provided.
10. Zarathustra, undismayed by the coldness of his reception,
enters at once upon his office as priest and prophet, praying Ahura for
the people ; and recognising the names of the ‘ Immortals,’ Khsha-
thra, Asha, and Vohu Manah, in their original sense, asks Ahura
to grant to the people in their straits, a Sovereign Authority
established in the Divine Order, and bestowing the needed quiet
and happiness for which the suffering provinces, as represented by
the Kine’s Soul in her wail, had expressed their desire.
And as he prays, he avows his own steadfast confidence in Ahura
rather than in the Daévas, as the prime possessor and bestower of
blessings.
11. Then, as if eager to receive full equipment upon the spot,
he not only beseeches for the Righteous Order, the Kingly Power
of God, and His Good Mind for the masses as represented by the
Kine, but asks when they are coming to him, and hastening ; and
he entreats Ahura to bestow His help at once for the great cause,
and to a very abundant degree, upon himself and his associates.
(It is singular that the name of Aramaiti does not occur in this
section.)
6 THE GATHAS.
Translation.
(Homage to you, O Sacred GAthas !)
1. Unto you (O Ahura and Asha!) the Soul of
the Kine (our sacred herds and folk) cried aloud:
For whom did ye create me, and by? whom did ye
fashion me? On me comes the assault of wrath,
and of violent power, the blow? of desolation,
audacious insolence, and (thievish)* might. None
other pasture-giver* have I than you, therefore do
ye teach me good (tillage) for the fields (my only
hope of welfare °)!
Ahura speaks.
2. Upon this the Creator " of the Kine (the holy
1 Ke mf tashaf can only mean this here. The Pahlavi translator
probably read kahmai. He has val mfin li tukhshid (Ὁ) h6manam.
3 One might think of ‘inertia’ as a rendering for remé, (if read),
but the afflictions complained of seem rather to imply active violence.
* Or read tayusk& (robbery?) with the Pahlavi translation;
‘yu’ and ‘vi’ would be written much alike in a manuscript.
4 Vast4 has been found, as I understand, in some manuscripts.
The Persian manuscript of Haug has a curious vastiridar (vasta-
ridfr?) in the Pahlavi text, which seems to confirm vasta in the
sense given.
5 As there are very many non-specialists to whom it is important
to weigh this present subject as closely as it may be possible,
and as everything here is a matter of the keenest questioning
among experts, I add occasionally a word-for-word rendering,
although necessarily very uncouth: To you the Kine’s soul cried-
complaining: For whom me did ye fashion? Who me made?
Against me assaulting-rapine, violence-and, desolations-[blow],
daring-insolence-and, (thievish) might-and (possibly change the
text). Not for me a pasture-giver than-you other ; therefore to-
me teach-ye good (things) for-the-pasture (adj. acc. pl. neut.).
* I fear that I cannot follow Haug in his later view, where he
follows tradition in rather an extreme manner, rendering ‘the cutter
(wounder) of the Ox.’ Neither Spiegel nor Justi would confide to
a later myth to this degree (see Y. XXXI, 9 and XLVI, 9). This is
YASNA XXIX. 7
herds) asked of Righteousness!: How (was) thy
guardian for the Kine (appointed) by thee when, as
having power (over all her fate), ye made her? (In
what manner did ye secure) for her, together with
pasture, a cattle-chief who was both skilled and like-
wise energetic ? Whom did ye select ? as her (life’s)
master who might hurl back the fury of the
wicked δὺ
Asha answers.
3. To Him the (Divine Righteousness) answered
with‘ his sanctity. (Great was our perplexity); a
chieftain who was capable of smiting*® back (their
fury), and who was himself without hate (was not to
be obtained by us); among such things as these,
those things are not to be known (by beings such as
we) which are the influences which approach ® (and
move) the lofty fires? (revealing the favour and the
will of God 5).
Of beings He is the mightiest to whom those °®
mentioned, however, not as complaining of an error, but solely to
guard the reader against the mistake of an eminent authority. (See
also Roth, Ζ. Ὁ. Μ. G., Bd. 25, s. 9.)
1 Observe the personification of righteousness.
* Or, ‘what salvation-lord,’ governed by data from the pre-
ceding line; so also the Pahlavi translator min avd pavan naddkth
khfdai. Ust4 occurs only here as a verbal form. Supply angha/in Ὁ.
* The Pahlavi aéshmd an4ér zanisnd.
* Or read ashem. The Pahlavi has ashavahisté pasukhvé gift.
I am not at all inclined to accept vocatives for nominatives in the
Gathas.
δ Sar-gan, compare Verethragan. The Pahlavi indicates this by
tanQ sard4rih. * Possibly, ‘by which he approaches.’
7 The Pahlavi réshand ἱ rAsto.
® Cp. Y. XXX, 1: γᾷ raodebis daresata urvaza.
9 The Pahlavi indicates a third person; and keredushé is far the
most simply explained as anom. pl. Recall m4 mash and man(?)
matha. Otherwise, ‘to whom I will come with activity and invoking.’
8 THE GATHAS,
who have performed their actions approach with
invocations. (He has no need to ask!)
Zarathustra intervenes 1,
4. The Great Creator? (is himself) most mindful
of the uttered indications which have been fulfilled
beforehand hitherto in the deeds of? demon-
gods‘ and (good or evil) men, and of those which
shall be fulfilled by them® hereafter. He Ahura
is the discerning arbiter; so shall it be to us*® as He
shall will”!
5. Therefore it is that we both, my soul ® and (the
soul) of the mother ® Kine, (are) making our supplica-
1 A verse or verses may here have fallen out.
2 I cannot persuade myself to accept the nearly universally
accepted comparison of Mazdau and medh&. See note on p. 104.
8. Or, ‘He has done by Daévas?’ If thus, absolute and not
qualified sovereignty would be indicated. See the last line.
4 Observe that while ‘ by Daéva-worshippers’ would be an ad-
mirable rendering for Daévais, because more commonplace and
therefore safer, it is here impossible on account of mashy4iska. We
are closely confined to the acceptance of a large idea. Ahura was
mindful of what transpired in the deeds of Daéva-gods, and not
in those of Daéva-worshippers alone. The inst. must be modified.
® As varshaité is elsewhere used in an active sense, it is possible,
but not probable, that a special predestination may be indicated.
‘He shall do by means of Daévas and men.’
* «Τὸ us men,’ not to us Ameshéspends, of course |
™ Verbatim. Mazda the-words most-mindful which for have-
been-fulfilled before by-means-of- (the actions of) Daévas-and men-
and what-and (shall)-be-done after, He the discriminating lord; so
to-us shall-it-be as He shall-choose.
® This seems to prove positively that a human being speaks here
and in the previous verse; ‘the soul of Righteousness’ is of course
impossible.
Ὁ Some have referred the word to the root zan obscurely pre-
sent in it; otherwise a drivable cow; one mature and fit for use.
The term used in the Vendidad in a common meaning as merely
YASNA ΧΧΙΧ. 9
tions for the two worlds to Ahura, and with hands
stretched out in entreaty, when (we pray to the
Great Creator! with questions in our doubt 3; (and
He will answer).
Not for the righteous liver, not for the thrifty
(tiller of the earth), shall there be destruction ὃ to-
gether with the wicked!
Ahura.
6. Upon this the Lord, the Great Creator, He
who understands the mysterious grace‘ by His in-
sight 5, spake thus: Not in this manner‘ is a spiritual
master found for us, nor a chieftain moved by
Righteousness and appointed (in its spirit); there-
fore Thee’? have I named ® (as such a head) to the
diligent tiller of the ground *!
designating a cow at a certain age, may be the familiar use of an
adjective here applied in the ancient Gatha in a sacred sense.
1 This passage is one of the strongest for the comparison of
Mazdau and medh4. The sense ‘asking wisdom in our doubt,’ is
admirable. I cannot however accept the comparison.
7 Pavan gim4nikih hampfirs4nf; root df.
5 The Pahlavi awastnisnth*, but in other connections fragyditis
might well mean ‘continued life;’ ‘life long endured with the wicked.’
4 The Pahlavi has vishfpisné, which here affords a better
meaning; see however Y. XLVIII, 9. We might read as alternative
here, ‘ knowing the calamity to be averted.’
®> Uncertain. The Pahlavi however indicates ‘discernment.’
6. One is strongly tempted to read aévé, ‘not a single chief,’ but
the ancient writing read by the Pahlavi translator had a€v4 ahd.
7 This indicates that Zarathustra had been the speaker in the
previous verses.
® Appointed.
® Verbatim. Thereupon spake Ahura Mazda knowing the-
wonderful (thing) through-insight (?) not thus a master found, nor a
ruler righteous-order-from-even from, therefore for thee to-the-
thrifty-and to-the-husbandman-and (I) as-a-creator I-have-made.
To ; THE GATHAS.
The Ameshdspends '.
7. Mazda has created the inspired Word-of-
reason which is a Méathra of fatness (for the
offering), the (Divine) Righteousness consenting
with Him in his deed. Food he has prepared for
the Kine and for the eaters 3, He the one bountiful
with his (saving) doctrine ; but whom hast Thou, en-
dowed with the Good Mind, who may give forth
those (doctrines) by word of mouth to mortals °?
Ahura.
8. This man is found for me here who alone‘ has
? Or a company of the saints conceived to be present.
* So some writers, accepting an irregular reading Avarushatiby6
after the indication of the Pahlavi translation. Otherwise compare
‘rush’ (?), uru=ru, and render ‘to the estranged.’ We have often
to stretch the meaning more than this. Converting instructions
are elsewhere suggested for ‘all mankind.’
5 The translation of Neryosangh is added here not merely because
it is of interest, but because it is, together with the Pahlavi transla-
tion, of the last importance in forming correct conclusions. It
may be rendered as follows; and the reader may regard it as a
specimen, but by no means a particularly favourable one. At
the words 4zfit6fs and maretaéibyé different texts were before him
and the Pahlavi translator as well. Those words are elsewhere
rendered by the latter Aarpfh and ansfité4n: This greatest magni-
tude (sic) of the Mathra, the Lord produced together with righteous-
ness as his fellow-worker [ 1. The Great Wise One discloses the
herds to the eaters; and he discloses also the great matter to
the well-taught scholars. Who is thine, who endowed with the
best mind, gives the two things, with the mouth to those who are
prosecuting studies (sic)? To expect an ancient rendering to be
closer would be unreasonable. The errors (as to root) are not errors,
but the certain signs of differing MSS. This constantly occurs; and
it is hardly necessary to add that sometimes from such supposed mis-
takes we get the only possible means of recovering the original text.
“ Repeating the announcement in verse 6. The aév4 in 6 would
incline one to read aéva (ye ne aéva), but the manuscript before
the Pahlavi translator read a€vé=khadfk. It is quite out of the
question to suppose his aétfind and khadfik to be accidental.
A sharp distinction is made.
EE ες DA Ry
TTNIVERSITY
Bea CALIFO RN
hearkened to our enunciations, Zarath πὰ 8 Hitama !
Our mighty and completed acts of grace he desires
to enounce for us, for (Me), the Great Creator and for
Righteousness; wherefore I will give him the good
abode’ (and authoritative place) of such an one as
speaks *!
YASNA XXIf It
The Geus Urvan.
9. Upon this the Soul of the Kine lamented
(: Woe is unto me) since (I have obtained for myself)
in my wounding a lord who is powerless to effect (his)
wish, the (mere) voice of a feeble and pusillanimous
man, whereas I desire one who is lord over his
will (and able as one of royal state to bring what he
desires to effect ὃ).
The Ameshéspends ¢.
((Aye,) when shall he ever appear who may bring
to her‘ help strong-handed °?)
1 So the Pahlavi translator, giving the only critical etymology in
his hidemanth, the gloss aside.
3 The Pahlavi text corrected by the Persian MS. may be ren-
dered as follows: This gift I obtained [ ]. For this one is he
who was listening to that which is our teaching, Zartfsht, the Spit4-
man. For us, Afharmazd, and for Aharayth is his desire, [that is,
that perfectly performed duty, and good works are desired by him].
He recites also a remedy-making (free or erroneous), [that is, he
declares a remedy-making against the Drag who is in the world];
on account of which saying for his word of piety which he utters,
they give him a good abode[ ]. (The glosses are often from a
later hand and erroneous. Sometimes, however, they contain the
truth while the text is futile. I drop them in the present citations
when they are of no importance.)
3 Observe that Zarathustra, like other prophets, met at times little
honour from his fellow-countrymen who are here well represented
by the voice of the Kine’s Soul. (See Y. XLVI, 1.)
4 Or could not héi be taken in a reflective sense, and referred
to the first person like the possessive sve; see the connection.
5 Verbatim. Thereupon-and the Kine’s Soul wept: (I) who
12 THE GATHAS.
Zarathustra 1.
10. Do ye, O Ahura and thou, O Righteousness!
grant gladness unto these (our disciples), and the
sovereign Kingdom (of the Deity) such as (is esta-
blished) in (His) Good Mind by which one bestows
upon them the peaceful amenities of home and
quiet happiness (as against the fearful ravages
which they suffer 2), for of these, O Great Creator!
I ever thought Thee first possessor °!
11. And when shall the (Divine) Righteousness,
the Good Mind (of the Lord, and His) Sovereign
Power (come) hastening‘ to me (to give me strength
for my task and-mission), O Great Creator, the
Living Lord! (For without his I cannot advance
(lament) one-not-able-to-effect-his-wish in-wounding as-a-master (or,
Testablished ?) [ ], whom as-against I-wish one wish-controlling-and-
effecting-as-a-sovereign. When ever he may-(shall)-be who to her
(possibly to-me-myself?) shall-give effected-by-the-hand help.
1. Zarathustra, having accepted his call to be the Ratu or his
substitute, at once interposes with a prayer for his suffering
charge.
3. See verse 1, to which reference is continually made as the
chief expression of the sufferings to be remedied.
5 The Pahlavi without glosses may be rendered as follows: Give
ye assistance to these, O Afharmazd, Ashavahist and Khshatraver!
So also Vohfiman, who gives him a pleasing habitation, and also joy.
T also think that the first gain and obtaining of this is from thee.
(With the gloss slightly different; but valman should be rendered
according to ahy4.)
The text literally is as follows: (Do) ye to these, O Ahura!
happiness (? possibly strength; see the Pahlavi) grant, O Asha!
Khshathra-and (=the Kingdom) such (kingdom as) by Vohu Manah
by-which amenities peaceful-joy-and (one) may give-or-establish ;
I-even of this, O Mazda! Thee I thought foremost possessor.
‘ So the Pahlavi translation indicates; compare gim4 and fra
man (?) math4; otherwise m&mash4 =I hasten (to fulfil my
mission).
YASNA ΧΧΙΧ. 13
or undertake my toil.) Do ye now therefore assign
unto us your aid and in abundance! for our great
cause. May we be (partakers) of the bountiful
grace of these your equals? (your counsellors and
servants) 5!
1 The Pahlavi has kabed. For the fundamental idea compare
przksh + suffix.
* The Ameshéspends just mentioned, together with whom
Ahura governs and blesses His people. Ahmé (so conjecturing
with Barth.), is also quite sufficiently indicated by the lanman of
the Pahlavi. Whether an instrumental chm4 can be accepted is
doubtful. The form should be altered.
If ehm4 stands, istem must be understood, or the instrumental
taken in a possessive sense.
Ahm& has no authority from MSS., but is better than
angh4mé, as being nearer the MSS,
* As an impartial specimen I render Ner. thus: Whence will
that gift come to me, (the gift which is) Asavahista, Gvahmana, and
Saharevara, [that is, sanctity, the highest (best) mind, and the
sovereignty, where is the place of the reward which will thus come to
me?]. (Here the translation falls into confusion from an error
which is most interesting and instructive, because it is corrected by
Ner. in an alternative rendering in the gloss. As has been seldom
noticed his original was the Pahlavi word pAdadahisntnéd, rather
than the G&thic paiti-zinataé. This Pahlavi form he could not at
first believe to be a second plural. Indeed the Pahlavi glossist
may have taken it as a third sg. Neryosangh therefore abortively
renders word-for-word as follows: You, O Great Wise One! it
offers or presents more excellently through the ‘greatest exalta-
tion’ (the holy cause). But he recovers himself in the gloss by
reading the Pahlavi p&dadahisnd v4dfinyén as an imperative:
[Provide a reward through that spotless exaltation (the irreproach-
able cause)] continuing: Here, O Lord! is the gift (which is) ours,
and (which comes) to us from Thee.)
14 THE GATHAS.
YASNA XXVIII.
PRAYERS CHIEFLY FOR GRACE AND FOR THE
Worps or REVELATION.
2, Zarathustra, having entered upon the duties of his office (XXIX,
11), composes a liturgy for the use of some of his more eminent
colleagues, possibly, but not at all probably, for the original mover
in the entire religious effort (see the expressions ‘to Zarathustra
and to us,’ ‘to Vistaspa and to me,’ ‘to Frashaostra and to
me’). This reciter, whoever he may have been intended to be, is
represented as standing in the appropriate place as a priest, with
hands stretched toward Ahura, or His Fire, and praying for the
possession of spiritual graces from an unselfish motive, and in
order that he might appease the grief of the Kine’s Soul, for whose
relief Zarathustra had just been appointed (see XXIX, 1, 6, 8).
3. He approaches Ahura Mazda, spiritually inspired by the
Good Mind as he declares, and asking for attainments and boons
for both the bodily and spiritual lives, derived from Righteousness,
whereby that personified Righteousness might establish the elect in
a beatified state.
4. The personality of the Ameshéspends comes again strongly
forward, as it does so often in worship, in addresses in which
Righteousness (Asha), the Good Mind (Vohu Manah), Khshathra
(the active Power of the Divine Sovereignty), and Aramaiti
(practical piety in the souls of believers), are besought to come, as
the Vedic Gods so often are, to the appeals of the supplicant, and
to his help in the act of worship itself, which is recognised to be
the one efficient means for furthering the cause of redemption
which is ever held in view.
5. As one who offered his soul to heaven, and would know
by actual experience the blessed rewards bestowed by the holy
ceremonial and moral actions prescribed by Ahura Mazda, the
reciter declares that he will teach on in the effort to propagate the
holy Religious Order, and possessed by the one desire for its
increase, while power shall last.
6. With a piety as fervent as it is profound, and speaking with great
earnestness, he asks Righteousness, as a person, when he shall
see him, becoming fully acquainted with the Good Mind of God,
the way which leads to Him, and above all with Obedience. But
although he addresses these lofty abstractions as persons, it is utterly
YASNA XXVIII. 15
out of the question to suppose that he did not speak in the deepest
meaning of the words as expressing states of mind, and qualities
of character: O thou Divine Righteous Order! (Thus he seems
to have meant), O thou divine Righteous Order! when shall I
see Thee as if present in my own soul and in those of the people
whom Ahura has committed to my charge? When shall I know
the Divine Benevolence as made one with the disposition of my
congregation? When shall I possess by knowledge that only
way to our most bountiful Ahura which is, not a mythical angel
Sraosha only, but that angel interpreted ‘Obedience to Ahura’
(observe the dative). One cannot well exaggerate the religious
depth or subjectivity. Then, with a bathos which shows how then
as ever superstition could hold its own side by side with the truest
piety, he exclaims (if the third line was really so composed by
him as it has come down to us); ‘ By such a prayer as a Mathra
spell we can with the greatest vigour repel the unclean beasts and
creatures which defile our sanctity, or endanger our lives.’
4. Alluding immediately to this revelation, he beseeches Ahura
once more to‘ come with His Good Mind,’ and to grant, not booty,
nor even wealth, but ‘ Asha-gifts,’ and (as a bestower of righteous-
ness) long life and powerful spiritual grace to the leading agent
Zarathustra (in all probability the composer of the section), and
to himself, the officiating priest with his helpers, in order that, not
with carnal weapons, but by his ‘lofty’ and holy ‘ words,’ they all
combined may overcome the torments of the ravagers who had
made havoc of the settlements, and who were still liable to over-
whelm the faithful with their raids and rapine (see XLIV, 20).
8. With an intentional and interesting alliteration he prays to
Asha for an ashi; that is, a blessing, even the strenuously attained-
to gifts of the great Benevolence. Aramaiti likewise becomes the
object of his petition together with Ahura; and this time for the
benefit of Vistaspa the monarch, and for himself that they might
hear the gracious Mathras, which is indeed the burden of the
entire piece.
9. Once more he affords an early (or the earliest (?)) instance of
the rhetorical trick, and fills one line with three ‘ vahistas,’ praying
Ahura, as being of one mind with Asha (here, for the first time in the
Avesta, called ‘the best’), to grant the same blessing ; and this time
again with an intentional change, ‘to himself and to Frashaostra ;’
and not for this world, but for ‘all the duration of the Good Mind,’
using the expression in its concrete sense as heaven; for heaven to
him consisted in an inward state. (So also elsewhere in the Avesta,
16 THE GATHAS.
even where the palate and the olfactory nerve are the media of felicity
or of torture, there also conciliating language on the one side, or ‘vile
speech’ pointed with finest irony on the other, is equally promi-
nent. It is the mind which chiefly enjoys or suffers.)
10. Deeply sensible of the spiritual benefits for which he is asking,
he seems touched with gratitude. Accordingly he adds one more
petition, which is, that he and his coadjutors, the three just men-
tioned, may never anger the indulgent mercy which had granted
them their request ; and that they may persevere, as they have begun,
in the strenuous service of Ahura, Asha, and Vohu Manah. For
they are, as he declares, easy to be entreated, and beings who
desire to bestow spiritual blessings upon mortals, rather than to
exercise merely capricious favour or cruelty, and who also possess
the power to bring their benevolence to effect.
11. As if unwilling to trust his own perception as to his real
spiritual needs, he prays Ahura ‘to fill up his desire,’ not with
what he, the reciter, may in particular request, but with what He,
Ahura, knows to be the gifts of Righteousness and the divine
‘Benevolence. And these gifts are again mainly the holy revelation,
for he knows, so he earnestly declares, the words of those mighty
three to be never void, and to be a sustenance able indeed to fill
up his wishes, giving him more than he has of himself either the
intelligence or the grace to ask.
12. Having added, in verse after verse, some particular to
heighten the fervour of his request, he sums up all in a final ex-
pression, as remarkable for its earnestness as for its depth, and begs
Ahura, as one set for ever for the defence of the Righteous Order
and the Good Mind (whose hallowed influences he accurately foresaw
were destined to endure for ages), to tell him, with His very ‘ voice
of spirit,’ in order that he may declare them to the waiting masses,
the laws which pervade the moral universe, and according to which
it arose. For according to these holy principles and so alone, could
he promulgate a system which might reclaim society from its imper-
fections and the Iranian saint from his sufferings. )Ahura who, be
it remarked, is alone addressed in this culminating verse, hears and
answers by a revelation of these eternal principles, and this answer
is contained in chapter XXX. By a thorough comprehension of
that most important document, I hold that we may see how it met
its purpose as indicated by the capacities and needs of those to
whom it was addressed, and how by discriminating truth from
falsehood it helped on the defence of Asha, and the founding of the
- true Benevolence.
YASNA XXVIII. 17
Translation.
1. (A strengthening blessing’ is the thought, a
blessing is the word, a blessing is the deed of the
righteous Zarathustra. May the Bountiful Im-
mortals * accept and help on® the chants. Homage
to you, O sacred Gathas *!)
2. With venerating (desire) for this (gift) of gracious
help, O Mazda‘, and stretching forth my hands (to
Thee) I pray for the first (blessing) of (Thy) bountiful
Spirit; (that is, I beseech of Thee that my) actions
1 ‘Y4nim cannot well mean ‘revealed,’ except by the most far-
fetched conception. The Indian y4na, as in devay4na, should give
the fundamental idea, easily reconcileable as it is with the ancient
rendering of the Pahlavi translator.
3. Notice that the Ameshéspends are mentioned in this early
heading. Inthe Gathas themselves the name, ‘Bountiful Immortals,’
does not occur.
3 Possibly, ‘take up and continue on the GAthas.’ Literally,
‘seize forth.’
4 It is hardly necessary to say that this is no part of the Gathas.
It is, however, in the Gathic dialect, and as it needs not, or perhaps
cannot, be considered an intentional imitation, it must be very old.
5 Vocative with the Vendfd4éd S4dah, otherwise the accumula-
tion of genitives would be suspicious. Ahura is, however, beyond
any question elsewhere spoken of as ‘the most bounteous Spirit.’
The usage is like that of the Semitic scriptures; the Holy Spirit is
both God and ‘of God.’ As to the rendering ‘bounteous,’ I fear
that ‘holiest’ (so many) is too bold. Ashavan occurs side by side
with spezta as applied to Ahura, and ashavan cannot mean
‘righteous’ there, but must mean ‘holy.’ The Pahlavi renders ety-
mologically afzfintk. Comp. svanta. The sole etymological bases
for the meaning ‘holy’ are presented by the Lithuanian and Ecclesias-
tical Sclavonic; but, as Justi has well remarked, in the conceptions
of the Avesta that which increases the kingdom of Ahura is equiva-
lent to what is holy. ‘ Bountiful’ must therefore be understood in
a particular sense, only to be rendered by the words, ‘ gracious,
sacred, and august.’
[3 ς
18 THE GATHAS.
(toward) all (may be performed) in (the Divine)
Righteousness; and with this I implore from
Thee the understanding of Thy Benevolent Mind,
in order that I may propitiate the Soul of the
Kine? (our herds and folk, which cries so bitterly to
Thee).
3. And therefore, O Great Creator, the Living
Lord! (inspired) by Thy Benevolent Mind, I ap-
proach You’, (and beseech of Thee *) to grant me
(as a bountiful gift) for both the worlds, the corporeal
and (for that) of mind, those attainments which are
to be derived from the (Divine) Righteousness, and
by means of which (that personified Righteousness‘
within us) may introduce those who are its recipients
into beatitude and glory °!
4. O (thou Divine) Righteousness, and thou Be-
1 See Y. XXIX, 1.
3 The plural of majesty, or the literal plural, referring to the
Bountiful Immortals as together.
5. Plural and singular interchange throughout.
4 Possibly, ‘one may introduce.’
® See Y.L, 5. Avathr4 and its allied forms are so often associated
with raofah and the like, that I do not hesitate to accept an Iranian
Avan=to shine (with Justi). As there is an Indian svar which
means ‘to roar,’ and another ‘to shine,’ and again a svan=to
sound, so in Iranian there is a Avan=to sound, and another=
to shine, as in asmanem Avanvamtem. The ‘comfortable stone
heaven’ is difficult. Comfortable, or even ‘delectable mountains’
(so we should have to say elsewhere), are not very likely to have
been recognised or appreciated in the Avesta. ‘Glorious beatitude’
is a better rendering here. If AvAthré always means ‘comfort,’
how comes it that Avarend is said to be Avathrava/‘? ‘Comfortable
glory’ is hardly probable. Compare also the ancient subha. When
it is the fashion to accept a separate Iranian root at every difficulty,
small and great, I see no reason for stopping here, where the pres-
sure is considerable. The Pahlavi also may be read to favour
my view. (Comp. Aveng=Avan.)
YASNA XXVIII. 19
nevolent Mind (of Deity)! I will worship you, and
Ahura Mazda the first", for all of whom the Pious
ready mind (within us) is? causing the imperish-
able Kingdom to advance. (And while I thus utter
my supplications to You), come Ye to my calls to
help?!
5. (Yea, I will approach You with my supplica-
tions, I) who am delivering up (my)‘ mind and soul
to that (heavenly) Mount (whither all the redeemed
at last must pass®), knowing (full well) the holy
characteristics and rewards * of the (ceremonial and
moral) actions (prescribed) by Ahura Mazda. (And)
1 Or, ‘having no first’ (Roth, reading apourvim).
2 I am very far from a positive rejection of the forms suggested
by the Pahlavi translator, although he should never be pressed on
such a point, being often free. As alternative read ‘may Piety who
bestows increase (fem. participle) come to my calls to give grace.’
* The Pahlavi translator, unable to credit ‘ye as=I who’ (so
also modern authority sometimes with regard to other occur-
rences of ye in this chapter), renders as follows: When I shall be
your own (thus for ‘ worship,’ and possibly deceived by the form of
the words, ufyani and nafsman being nearly alike in the Pahlavi
character), O Ashavahist and Voh(man |! the first [ 1, Adharmazd’s
also [his own I shall be], through whose unweakened acquisition
his rule over them exists [ ], and [hers also I shall be], Spendar-
mad’s, the giver of increase. She comes to me with joy when
I invoke her [when I shall call upon you, come ye on toward
me with joy]. (A plain and noticeable instance of an alterna-
tive rendering in the gloss. The verb was first thought of as a
3rd sing. middle subjunctive, afterwards as an imperative and
plural.)
4 Met == τὰ + the nasal vowel, and may represent man, or I
think also mam, adverbially for men4; or ‘m4n’=‘dem4né.’
5 Mount Alborg, where the Xinvaf Bridge extends; so also
important authority; but we might read mengairé=mAngairé
(Garédman).
® Ashi, a blessing given in reward; so elsewhere,
ς 2
20 THE ΟΑ͂ΤΗΛΞ5.
so long as I am able and may have the power, so
long will I teach! (Your people concerning these
holy deeds to be done by them with faith toward
God, and) in the desire (for the coming) of the
(Divine) Righteousness (within their souls) 3,
6. And, thou Righteousness! when shall I see®
thee, knowing the Good Mind (of God), and
(above all the personified) Obedience‘ (of our lives
which constitutes) the way® to the most beneficent
Ahura Mazda. (Asking this, I thus beseech thee,
for) with this holy word of supplication we most hold
off* with tongue the flesh-devouring fiends, (the
very sign and power of all spiritual foulness) 7!
‘ T think it is better to hold by the parallel passage and the sense
of ‘teach’ here. The Pahlavi has an irregular form which probably
means “1 teach,’ but might be intended for “1 am taught.’
After the words ‘so long as I have the power,’ ‘I will teach’ is
rather more natural than ‘1 will learn.’ Haug’s rendering of this
word has never been accepted. Those most opposed to tradition
follow it here. Perhaps, ‘I will teach to desire R.’
3 The Pahlavi translation corrected by MSS. may be rendered
thus: He who gives up his soul within Garddmfn does so by the
aid of Vohfiman [ ], and is also intelligent concerning the venera-
tion which belongs to the doers of good works [ ] in that which
is A@harmazd’s [religion]; as long as I am a suppliant and have
the power, so long do I inculcate the desire of Righteousness
[which is, duty and good works].
5 Kad@ mrilikam sum4n4 abh{ khyam (Rv. VII, 86, 2).
4“ Obedience, throughout the Avesta and Parsi literature, guides
the soul to heaven.
5 Or,‘ knowing the throne of Ahura’ (so the Pahlavi, most scholars
following); but the construction would be awkward. ‘Finding the
way’ occurs in the Azks, and gAtu need not always mean ‘place’
in the Gathic, because it has that sense most frequently in the Zend.
* Possibly, ‘we may teach the foul polluted men.’ Or, ‘confess
the greatest One with Khrafstra(-slaying) tongue.’ Perhaps the
text is to be amended ; yet see XXXIV, 5, 9.
™ The Pahlavi translation may be rendered thus: O Asha-
vahist! when do (shall) I see thee? I know this one by means
YASNA XXVIII. 21
7. And do Thou, O Lord, the Great Creator!
come to me with Thy Good Mind; and do Thou,
who bestowest gifts through Thy Righteousness,
bestow alike long-lasting life on us. And (that this
life may be spent aright, do) Thou by means of Thy
lofty words (bestow) the (needed) powerful spiritual
help upon Zarathustra and upon us?, whereby we
may overcome 2 the torments of the tormentor.
8. (And) do thou, O(Divine) Righteousness, bestow
(upon me) that sacred blessing which is constituted
by the attainments of the Good Mind (within my
soul)*; and do thou also, O Piety! grant unto
of a good mind’s instruction [that is, I see thee in that time when
every man is intelligent because he is pious; but when shall it be?].
And the place of Aftharmazd, when do (shall) I see it, I who am a
suppliant for a benefit? That place is known through Srésh [ ],
that greatest of Mathras is to be taught, given forth with tongue to
him whose understanding is confused.
1 It certainly involves a question how the words ‘to Zarathustra
and to us’ can be compatible with Zarathustra’s authorship. Vis-
t4spa and Frashaostra (verses 8, 9) are equally excluded. Who is
then the individual who thus refers to himself with others? And is this
verse an interpolation, and with it 8 and 9? This last seems to me
a very feeble suggestion. Was this piece, together with the rest (for
they all are connected), the work of some unnamed man of influence,
the true author of Zarathustrianism? I think that there is also little
gained by this supposition. There is no particular reason why
Zarathustra’s name should have come down to us as the chief
figure, while that of the prime mover failed to reach us. I should
say that the piece was composed by Zarathustra and put into the
mouth of a leading priest, or that it was composed with many
others under his inspiration. Or, can there have been a school,
or family, of Zarathustrians, religious poets, similar to the Vedic
seers? (See chap. LIII, 2 Zarathustris Spitamé.)
* This mention of ‘overcoming an enemy,’ strengthens the pro-
bability of my view of vavaréimaidt (vauréimaidi).
5. The Good Mind is now, as we should say, ‘the Spirit of God’
in the mind of God, and again His Spirit in the human soul.
22 THE GATHAS.
VistAspa and to me our wish; (yea) may'st Thou
grant (us), O Mazda, ruler? (as Thou art! that
grace) whereby we may hear? (with understanding)
Thy benignant words.
9. That best (of gifts therefore) do I beseech (of
Thee), O Thou best (of beings) Ahura! who art
one in will with (Thy Divine) Righteousness (within
us, likewise), the best* (of spirits), desiring it (as I
now do) for the (heroic) man Frashaostra, and for
me ‘, upon whom also may’st Thou bestow it (not
for time alone), but for all the ages of Thy Good
Mind (that reign of Thy Benevolence which shall be
to us as Heaven‘)! ;
1 The Pahlavi correctly renders padakhsha.
2 Probably originally heard, inspired words. Compare Manyeus
haka Thw4 aunghf, verse 12. So often. Oral communications
are figuratively alluded to everywhere. No literal articulation or
sound (1) is of course intended. (Or ‘ sravayaém4=proclaim.’)
Neryosangh may be rendered as follows: Grant, O Sanctity! this
devotion which (results) from the priority (an error from misreading
the characters of the Pahlavi, chiefly his original) of the Good
Mind [that is, make me so religious that prosperity may result
to me from my good conduct]. Grant thou to the perfect mind
[in, or to, the earth (so the Parsis understood Aramaiti)] the wish
that proceeds from Gustaéspa and from my people [ ]. Grant
praisers, O great wise One! kings, who may be announcers of
your word, and bestowers of arrangements (for the service) ; [that is,
who may teach thy word, and render it progressive].
* The earliest occurrence of Asha Vahista. The Pahlavi: ‘ Since
the best thing that Thou hast [Thy Religion] is better than all other
things, the best through Righteousness.’
4 See verses 7 and 8.
δ᾽ In the millennial (sic) renovation as well as in heaven. See
chap. XXX, 4, where Vahista Manah is equivalent to heaven. The
Pahlavi gloss has: Aigh Frashéstar va havistan { Frashéstar, vad
tan ἢ pasind ham4f nad@kth padas vadin; that is, for Frashéstar
and the disciples of Frashéstar for ever, until the final body provide
a benefit thereby.
YASNA XXVIII. 23
10. And (impressed and moved) by these gifts of
strengthening grace! (which Thou may’st give in
answer to these prayers) may we never anger You,
O Ahura Mazda! (nor Thy) Righteousness (within
us), nor yet Thy Kindly Mind (toward us), since we
have most earnestly made effort (helping to advance
Your cause) in the (chanted)? offering of Your
praisers, for most easy to be invoked (are Ye).
(Yours are verily both) the desire for (spiritual)
blessings (for us), and the (Divine) Possession (of
their power) ὃ.
11. And therefore do Thou, O Lord, the Great
Creator! fill up and satisfy (my‘) desire with these
attainments (of the grace) of Thy Good Mind, which
Thou dost know to be derived from Righteousness,
(and) which (are verily) sublime’, for 1 have known ὁ
Possibly, ‘may we not anger you with our prayers for these
blessings. Kim me havydm 4hrin4no gusheta.
3 That dasemé may now better be referred to a similar root
with dasvare, I regard the more probable because the Pahlavi
also freely renders as if it so understood. Its author knew the
meaning of dasema=dasama. One is reminded of course of the
ddsa-gva.
* The Pahlavi with its peculiar view of an4is (not to be rejected
too confidently ; see note at another occurrence of it) is interesting
(as corrected by the Persian MS.): On account of a not-coming
to you, O Afharmazd! This I would not do [ ]. Ashavahist
also I will not pain for the sake of a blessing; [that is, I do
not desire a single blessing which appears displeasing to Asha-
vahist (this turn of the sense is followed by some who have hitherto
opposed tradition, but I cannot follow it, although I value every hint
of the ancient writers). Also Vohiman, the excellent [I do not
harass him].
* Or, ‘to those whom thou seest as creatures (?) of V. fill up the
desire with attainments.’
5 Possibly, ‘the righteous,’ erethweng; cp. ritfvAnas(?). Pahl.
trans. ‘f frarfind,’ ® Possibly, ‘I obtain.’
24 THE GATHAS.
Thine instructions to be never void! of their effect
(in the struggles) for our (daily) food 3, and therefore
worthy objects of desire ὃ,
12, (Yea, I approach Thee with my prayers, 1)
who by these (great gifts of grace) will* protect
(Thy) Divine Righteousness, and (Thy) Good Mind
(within us) for ever. And do Thou therefore, O
Ahura Mazda! teach me from Thyself, yea, from
Thine own mouth of spirit, that I may declare it
forth to (these Thy waiting people) by what (powers
and according to what laws’) the primeval world
arose ®!
1 Ner. has analaso(-a4) for asin4 more correctly than the Pahlavi
asfidak.
3 Or, ‘ well reaching their aim;’ but the Pahlavi translator gives
his evidence for the meaning ‘food’=khfrisnd. Recall the con-
stant prayers for nourishment in the Asks. And as favouring the
ancient translation, see XXIX, 7, where ‘food for the eaters’ is
declared to be the gift of God, who is at the same time ‘ bounteous
with his doctrine.’
5 Neryosangh: Evam ye dharmasya vettérak * uttamasyaa dater
manasah [ ] ekahelaya* Mahagwianin Svamin! tebhyas* pirnam
paridinohi* kamam ; [kila, [ ] subham tebhya’ kuru]. Evaméa igis-
neh* analaso labhatém khAdy4ni vastraniza vadanena.
* One is tempted to read nipaunghé‘as an infinitive, but the Pahlavi
translation anticipates us all with its more critical bara netrfinam.
5 This question is answered in Y. XXX.
* Ner. improving upon the Pahlavi has as follows: Yadi sunirik-
shazatay4 dharmam p&layami manaska* uttamam sadapravrittaye ;
[kila, ζεῖ satyasya sadvy4parasyaéa raksh4m karomi]. Tvam tat *
Mah4gvanin Svamin! prakrishfam me siksh4paya* [ ] vaéi. Adrisya
Tvatto mukhena [sphu/aya] antar bhuvane pfirvam babhfiva [tém
srish‘im me brithi].
A translation truly remarkable considering the circumstances
under which it was made.
YASNA XXX. 25
YASNA XXX.
Tue Doctrine or DUALIsmM.
1. Accustomed to instruct the masses who throng him on public
occasions seeking light, the composer constructs this hymn for
similar opportunities. He may be regarded as continuing the
thoughts in the close of Y. XXVIII, where he besought Ahura to
inform him concerning the origin of the world. He says that he
will declare the counsels of God, by which, as we see, he means
the great doctrines concerning the origin of good and evil. With
these he will declare also the praises, the laudatory portions of the
Mathra, and the sacrifices. And he prays that propitious results
may be discerned in the heavenly bodies.
2. He further introduces what he has to say by telling the
throngs before him that a decisive moment is upon them. They
are to choose their religion, and not by acclamation with the
foolish decision of a mob, but man by man, each individually for
himself. They should therefore arouse themselves and hear with all
attention, and gaze at the holy Fire with a good and receptive
disposition of mind.
3. He then delivers the earliest statement of dualism which has
come down to us. There were two original spirits, and they are
called, be it well noted, not two persons, or at least not only two
persons, but a better thing, or principle, and a worse one. (The
qualifying words are all in the neuter 1.)
At the next sentence they are personified as a pair, each inde-
pendent in his thoughts, declarations, and actions. Such is the
short Theodicy, followed at once by an admonition to those before
him to choose the better.
4. These two spirits came together as by natural combination,
to make the opposing phenomena of life and its absence, of Heaven
and of Hell.
And Hell is described not as a scene of cruelty inflicted on the
innocent and the ignorant, but as ‘the worst life,’ and Heaven as
equally remote from a superstitious paradise; that is, as the ‘ best
mental state.’
1 It is also noticeable that the name Angra Mainyu does not occur in this
section.
26 THE GATHAS.
This is the proper Zarathustrian creation. It is undeniably
‘abstract,’ very, and just in proportion as it lacks colour and myth
are its depths visible. The account of it is also very limited. But
it must never be forgotten that its existence is the probable proof
that very much more of the kind existed beside it. Instead of there
being one hymn sung like this, Y. XXX, there were probably
many. The two original forces or beings, although separate
clearly, come together; but they do not lose their distinction.
Their difference remains as clear as their union. 5. They do not
blend unrecognisably ; for having created the two principles, they
choose each his own particular realm. Ahura chooses the righteous
order of religion, and with it the pious of all ages. The evil spirit
chooses the wicked.
The point and meaning of the entire doctrine is that a good
God cannot be responsible for permanent evil; that imperfection
and suffering are original, and inherent in the nature of things,
and permanently so. The swallowing up of sin and sorrow in
ultimate happiness belongs to a later period. It is not GAthic
Zarathustrianism. Evil was the work of an independent being.
The great thinker saw his point; and it was that the Deity
Himself could not prevent the evolution of base and revolting
moral qualities with their consequent miseries in both victim and
aggressor. An evil God was therefore their author.
6. But the blood-feuds of War, not to speak of the theological
animosity, were too much for his philosophy. The sage could not
regard all men and their circumstances with broad and equable
impartiality.
The hated Daéva-worshippers, who were doubtless equally con-
scientious with the Zarathustrians, are said to have failed of correct
discernment.
As they were deliberating, so he recalls, the Worst Mind, a very
real although ‘ abstract’ Satan, came upon them, to induce them to
choose him and his evil realm. They acceded, becoming furious
in their intention to injure human life. This may be regarded as a
dramatic, but at the same time, in a moral sense, a philosophical
statement of a temptation and fall. (For a later one, with more
colour and less truth, see the temptation proper of Zarathustra
himself’, recalling as it does so vividly the temptation in the
Gospels.)
7. If we can accept the words ahméié4 to mean merely ‘ upon
1 Comp. Vd. XIX, 1-10. Consider how much time would be required for
the name of Zarathrustra to become so involved in myth.
YASNA XXX. 27
this,’ we may hold that the statements proceed without a break. Even
a gap of lost verses does not interrupt the sense. The clothing of
souls with bodies seems indicated. If so, the doctrine of the Fravashis,
otherwise foreign to the Gathas, may have its origin by inference here,
and directly in verse 4. After the creation and first activity of
the souls of the Archangels on the one hand, and of the Daévas
on the other, together with their respective human adherents, the
one choosing good and the other evil, the remaining Ameshéspends
unite with Aramaiti in bestowing a body upon the newly created soul.
(So we must conclude from the language.) And the prophet
breaks in with the prayer that in the future, and possibly at the
Frashakard, the completion of progress, these created souls might
possess such advantages as they had when Ahura came at first with
his acts of creation; that is, that they might be restored again to
a state of sinless happiness, provided with bodies by Aramaiti as at
the first. (See Yast XIX, 89.)
8. But, as he implies, and perhaps expresses in a lost verse,
vengeance shall come upon the wretched beings who choose the
Evil Mind as their master. And it shall come, not in the abstract
merely by any means, but as executed by a numerous, if not once
predominant party, ‘the offspring of the Evil Mind.’ And when
this shall have been completed (and XXXI, 18 shows us that the
weapons to be used to bring it about were not to be those of
verbal argument alone) then, as he declares with enthusiasm, ‘to
God shall be the Kingdom,’ a Kingdom established in the Divine
Benevolence, which will pervade its organic life, and which will
likewise, as the personified ‘ Immortal,’ utter encouragements and
commands to its loyal citizens. And these citizens will then not
only defeat the Lie-demon, who is the life of the Daéva-party, but
they will deliver her up as a captive to the great Genius of Truth,
the personified Righteousness. 9. And, as he ardently hoped for the
coming of the Kingdom into the hands of Ahura, he as ardently
beseeches that he and his coadjutors, the princes already named,
may be honoured as the immediate agents in bringing on this
‘millennial’ completion; nay, he even prays that they may be as
Ahuras' in merciful services, declaring that all their thoughts were
centred in that scene where religious light dwelt as personified in
her home.
ro. Once more he announces the certain defeat and chastise-
ment of the incarnate falsehood and her adherents, which enables
1 As the Ahuras of Mazda, the Ameshéspends.
28 THE GATHAS.
him only the more impressively to describe the rapid reunion of
the righteous amid the home-happiness of Heaven.
11. Having delivered his brief but weighty communication, he
commends his hearers for learning the holy vows of the Religion on
account of the duration of the announced rewards and punishments.
They shall be long indeed; and upon their complete inauguration
full salvation shall be realised for those who shall have learned and
heeded the invaluable truths.
Translation.
1. And now I will proclaim, O ye who are
drawing near and seeking! to be taught! those
animadversions? which appertain to Him who
knows (all things) whatsoever; the praises which
are for Ahura, and the sacrifices (which spring)
from the Good Mind, and likewise the benignant
meditations inspired by Righteousness. And I
pray® that propitious results may be seen in the
lights.
1 As ‘ish’ means approaching with desire, the Pahlavi translator
has, freely, khvahisnd.,
3. Read mazdatha.
® So with long ἃ; but yaé44 (P™ supported by the Pahl.) may be
the lost dual neuter of the pronoun, referring to the two principles
discussed below. Yé*#4=I pray for, although the most natural
rendering grammatically, does not seem so well adapted here, as a
prayer for the success of his communication does not harmonise with
the otherwise dogmatic statements of the composer. The urvata
(vrata) founded upon the doctrine of dualism bring about salvation.
They may therefore be touched upon in this introductory verse.
And that the heavenly bodies contained indications bearing directly
or indirectly upon human destiny seems to have been early an
accepted doctrine. (Compare also chap. XXIX, 3, where ‘the
lofty fires’ seem alluded to as moved by the Deity, and this in
immediate connection with the discussion of the most important
problems concerning the fate of the holy community.) It is, how-
ever, not impossible that the lights of the altar may have been
meant. (See s(i44 in the second verse.) The Pahlavi translation
YASNA XXX. 29
2. Hear ye then with your ears; see ye the bright
flames! with the (eyes of the) Better Mind. It is for
a decision as to religions, man and man, each indi-
vidually for himself. Before the great effort of the
cause, awake ye? (all) to our® teaching !
3. Thus are the primeval spirits who as a pair *
(combining their opposite strivings), and (yet each)
independent in his action, have been famed (of old).
(They are) a better thing, they two, and a worse 5,
as to thought, as to word, and as to deed. And
between these two let the wisely acting choose aright.
(Choose ye δ) not (as) the evil-doers"!
has dén réshand pavan vénisnd hf-ravakh-manth. As to yé*4a
or yaé&a, the Pahlavi does not favour a verbal form. But if the pro-
noun is accepted, even then change is needed; ya@4a ya=yéha yéna
is hardly possible. We should be obliged to render: And which
two things (were those?) whereby (adverbially) propitious results
have been seen in the stars. Others have experienced difficulty,
and even ashayaés4(?) has been conjecturally suggested for this
place and chap. LI, 2. Neither Sp. nor Westg. report a long ἃ.
1 Gésh4né srfid nyékhshisnih [afghas gésh bard vasammand]—
Zak ἢ réshand. Otherwise ‘with the eye;’ but see γᾷ raokebis
daresaté urvaz4. The altar-flame would not uhnaturally be men-
tioned after the heavenly lights.
3 Literally, ‘(be ye) wakeful.’
5. Hardly, ‘to teach us.’ Possibly, ‘to teach this, each one.’
4 Pahl. transcribes. Notice that paouruyé (pourviyé) is neut.* as
are vahy6 and akemAé4, which is not lightly to be passed over.
5 The Pahlavi freely: Benafsman—[aighsand vinds va kirfak
benafsman bar4 yemalel(ind]. They announced themselves as sin
and good works. Ner. yau puzyam papamka svayam avokatam.
4 Bar4 vigid. Ner. vibhaktavan*. If a third plural subjunctive,
still the force is as if imperative. Possibly it is preterit.
7 On this important verse I cite Neryosangh. He may be
rendered as follows: Thus the two spirits [Hormigda and Ahar-
mana] who uttered first in the world each his own (principle); [that
is, who each uttered, one his own good (deed), and the other his
own sin], these were a pair, in thought, word, and deed, a highest
* Adverb (?).
422)... “THE GATHAS.
4. (Yea) when the two spirits came together at
the first to make? life, and life’s absence?, and to
determine how the world at the last shall be (ordered),
for the wicked (Hell) the worst life, for the holy
(Heaven) the Best Mental State °,
5. (Then when they had finished each his part in
the deeds of creation, they chose distinctly each his
separate realm.) He who was the evil of them both
(chose the evil), thereby working‘ the worst of possible
results, but the more bounteous spirit® chose the
and a degraded one. And of these two, the one endowed with
good intelligence [ ] was the distinguisher of the true, and not the one
endowed with evil intelligence [ 1. (Both he and the Pahlavi fail to
credit a plural form in eres vishy4té with Spiegel and Htibschmann.)
The Gathic verbatim. Yea (=thereupon) the-two the-two-spirits
the-two-first-things which-two two-twins two-self-acting-ones were-
heard-of in-thought in-word-and in-deed these-two a-better an-evil-
and. Of-which-two-and the wisely-acting (ones) aright may discern,
not the evil-acting ones.
1 The Pahlavi read as an infinitive, dazdé=avd zak dahisnd.
(So also an important authority recently.) Otherwise it has the
place of a third dual perfect; ‘they two made.’ The place of an
infinitive is not generally at the end of a sentence in Gathic. Can
it be simply a third singular? ‘ (Each) makes’ (ζαπιαβᾶ karéti).
3 Pavan zendakih—va mfinié azendakih. Ner. givitenaka agtvi-
tenaka. Observe the singular abstract agyditiméa, which is not
lightly to be passed over. Why not a more ordinary expression?
Have we not here an unusual antithesis? The danger is great that
by aiming to reduce all to commonplace for the sake of safety, we
may demolish many an interesting conception of antiquity.
8. Observe the subjectivity. These verses settle the question as
to the depth of the Zarathustrian hymns. Grammar forces us to
see that the composer had large ideas. The entire cast of reflection
in the Gathas tends to be abstract as well as subjective. Not so
their invective and partisan exhortations,
* Verezy6 is a nom. sing. masc., as would seem natural from its
position in the sentence. Compare mathr4is verezydis.
5 Observe that Ahura is undoubtedly called spenista mainyu.
Elsewhere we must sometimes render, ὁ His bountiful spirit.’
EE LIBRABN
7
fCXNIVERRITY
YASNA XXX.
(Divine) Righteousness; (yea, He so chose) who
clothes upon Himself the firm! stones of heaven
(as His robe). And He chose likewise them who
content Ahura with actions, which (are performed)
really in accordance with the faith 3.
6. And between these two spirits the Demon-gods
(and they who give them worship) can make no
righteous choice ὅδ, since we have beguiled* them.
As they were questioning and debating in their
council5 the (personified *) Worst Mind approached
them that he might be chosen. (They made their
1 Zak ft sakht sag nihOftd Asm4ni&. Ner. Gadhataram* Ak4sam
dadau.
3 “Who with actions really good piously content Ahura.’ Let it
be noticed that fraore/ is not independently translated by the Pah-
lavi. It is freely included in avd AQharmazd; and yet this is sup-
posed by some to be a word-for-word rendering! Ner. prakafdiska
karmabhih.
Verbatim. Of-these-two spirits he-chose-to-himself (he)-who
(was) the evil (the one) the worst (deeds) working *. The-Righteous-
Order (accusative) (chose) the spirit most-bountiful (he-)who the
most-firm stones clothes-on-himself, (those) who-and will-content
Ahura with real actions believingly Mazda.
(Properly a verbatim rendering is only possible in an inflected
language.)
8. L4 rast6 viginénd. They suffer judicial blindness; a common
idea in the Gathas ; compare, ‘who holds them from the sight of
the truth,’ &c.
4 The root is indicated by va m@ni& valmansfn frift. I can
see no escape from the above rather adventurous rendering. See
also dafshny4 heat in chap. LIII, 8. Perhaps the idea of injury
here preponderates over that of deceit; ‘since we have impaired
their power.’ The choice between a preterit or an improper sub-
junctive is also difficult. Possibly, ‘so that we may fatally deceive
them.’ Poss. nom. ‘deception came upon them, even A. M.’
® This recalls Vendidéd XIX, 45, where the demons assemble
in council to consider the advent of Zarathustra.
* Compare verse 4, where Vahistem Man6 equals heaven. The
32 THE GATHAS,
fatal decision.) And thereupon they rushed together
unto the Demon of Fury, that they might pollute?
the lives of mortals 3.
7. Upon this* Aramaiti (the personified Piety of
the saints) approached, and with her came the Sove-
reign Power, the Good Mind, and the Righteous
Order. And (to the spiritual creations of good and of
evil) Aramaiti gave a body, she the abiding and ever
strenuous‘. And for these (Thy people) so let 5 (that
word is the subject of ‘gasaf, and has the proper place of a
nominative in the sentence; cp. Vedic usage.
1 That they might disease (so literally) the lives of those who
had not yet been tempted or fallen.
The Pahlavi: Vim4rinidS ahvin { mardQmén [aigh, levatman
aéshm ansfit@4n ahfkinénd].
Ner.: Ye nigaghnur bhuvanam manushy4n4m.
Hiibschmann: ‘um durch ihn Plagen iiber das Leben des Menschen
zu bringen.’
? Verbatim. Of these two spirits not aright may choose the
Daévas, since these we have beguiled (or have injured). To the-
questioning ones upon came-he in-order-that he might-be-chosen
(subjunctive middle) he-the worst mind. Thereupon to-furious-
rapine they rushed-together in-order-that (yena) they might disease
(or ruin) the-life of-man.
8. Or, ‘to him;’ some unnamed benefactor; hardly ‘to us.’ The
Pahlavi has, avd valman, but Ner. has only tatrata. Observe ahméi
in chap. XLIII, 1, and in chap. XLVII.
4 Rootan=in. The Pahlavi freely, pavan astibih. He seems
to have thought of nam +a priv.
Kehrpem is feminine. Anm4 may be a neuter in apposition.
Otherwise we must accept -m4 as a suffix. Or can kehrpem
(corpus) be a neuter here? The clothing of the spirits with cor-
poreal natures enabled them to advance in the development of
moral qualities by self-restraint and pursuit. As has been observed
in the summary, no Fravashis appear in the Gathas. Have we here
possibly an indication of the pre-existence of souls? If Aramaiti
gave a body, it may be inferred that a period elapsed between the
acts of the two spirits and this.
5 That bodies are to be given to the saints as at the first is to
YASNA XXX. 33
body) be (at the last), O Mazda! as it was when
Thou camest first with creations?!
8. And (when the great struggle shall have been
fought out which began when the Da€vas first seized
the Demon of Wrath as their ally”), and when the
(just) vengeance shall have come upon these wretches,
then, O Mazda! the Kingdom shall have been
gained for Thee by (Thy) Good Mind (within Thy
folk). For to those, O living Lord! does (that Good
Mind*) utter his command, who will deliver the
Demon of the Lie into the two hands‘ of the
Righteous Order (as a captive to a destroyer).
9. And may we be such as those who bring on
be inferred from Yast XIX, 89. (Which see in part ii of the
translations of the Zend-Avesta.)
1 Verbatim. To-this (to us?)-and with-Khshathra came, with-
Manah Vohu, with Asha-and (Aramaiti) thereupon a-body the-con-
tinuing gave Ar(a)maiti the strenuous (Aramaiti, or the body, a
vigorous and strenuous thing).
Of these thine (or to thee) to let-it (the body)-be as thou-camest
in-creations the-first.
3. See verse 6.
3 What else can be the subject of 5651}
* Observe the pronounced personification of Righteousness. As
a matter of course the ultimate sense is more commonplace, as-is the
case with all poetical matter. ‘Into the hands of Asha,’ is the same
as to say, ‘into the power of the servant of God.’
But would this be a proper mode of rendering a line of real
though rudely primitive poetry? Such renderings are commentary
rather than translation. The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows :
Thus also in that creation [in the final body]hatred comes to these
haters and sinners ; [that is, the avengers shall execute chastisement
upon them]. And, therefore, O A@harmazd! what to thee is the sove-
reignty, by that (so possibly) shall VohQman give a reward. Through
these, O Afharmazd! [through the religion of A@harmazd], when
one is instructed in Righteousness, [that is, as to the interests of the
pious] then the Drfig is given into one’s hand, [the Drfg who is
Aharm6k].
[31] D
24 THE GATHAS.
this great renovation, and make this world progres-
sive, (till its perfection shall have been reached).
(As) the Ahuras of Mazda’ (even) may we be; (yea,
like Thyself), in helpful readiness to meet? (Thy
people), presenting (benefits*) in union with the
Righteous Order. For there‘ will our thoughts
be (tending) where true wisdom shall abide in her
home ὅ,
το. (And when perfection shall have been attained)
then shall the blow of destruction fall upon the
Demon of Falsehood, (and her adherents shall
perish with her), but swiftest in the happy abode
of the Good Mind and of Ahura the righteous saints
1 Otherwise, ‘the Ahura-Mazdas,’ or, ‘O Mazda and the Ahuras!’
I think that the most natural rendering according to the grammar
should first be given, notwithstanding something uncommon about
it. ‘All the Ahura-Mazdas,’ has been seen by Roth in chapter
XXXI, 4.
3 The Pahlavi has the gloss [aighsén hamfshaké hangaman
madam tanfi f pasind kQnisnd], needlessly enlarged of course, but
showing the proper root, which is mi/; (so Spiegel.)
5 Or possibly sustaining (the feeble). The Pahlavi reads simply
dedrfinisnd.
4 The Pahlavi renders hathr& in the Indian sense as as4r*, end-
lessly; so others elsewhere. Hathra and yathra are of course
distinctly in antithesis.
5 The Pahlavi mihand, Persian makan. That maétha is an ad-
verbial instrumental meaning, ‘in one’s home,’ seems the more
probable from the two hathra, yathra, adverbs of place. Compare,
for instance, athra-yathra in XLVI, 16, where shaéitt follows.
Hibschmann, ‘Dort mégen (unsre) Sinne sein, wo die Weisheit
thront;’ see also husitéis in the next verse.
The Parsi-persian MS. has—Aedifiné (sic) ham ma kih fn i τὰ
hastam (sic); [kQ 4n i th ‘hwés hastam] fn—rast&hiz kardan
andar gihan.
(c) Kih—minisn béd [kQ minisn pah—darad] as Anga danét
hast [κὰ, 4‘hir i 4iz pah néki bih danad] andar makén.
YASNA XXX. 35
shall gather, they who proceed in their walk (on
earth) in good repute’ (and honour) %.
11. Wherefore, O ye men! ye are learning ® (thus)
these religious incitations which Ahura gave in (our)
happiness‘ and (our) sorrow’. (And ye are also learn-
ing) what is the long wounding for the wicked, and
the blessings which are in store for the righteous.
And when these (shall have begun their course),
salvation shall be (your portion‘)!
1 Pahlavi, ‘mn vadind zak f sapir naémikih=they are creating
a good repute,’ as if zazent€ were understood in the sense of pro-
duce. See the sense ‘bear’ as given for ha, Rig-veda 843, 2 (X,
17). The analogy is, however, not strong.
2 The Pahlavi translation may here be rendered as follows: Thus
in that dispensation [in the later body] the Drg [who is Gan-
τὰκ Minavad] will be overthrown [ ] when (his) host is scattered.
Thus they move keenly on [to seize the reward], which is attained
through the good citizenship of Vohfiman [when they shall have
dwelt in piety]. They who are creating a good renown are thus
moving on toward Adharmazd and Ashavahist [that is, the person
who is of good repute goes forward to seize the reward].
® Once more the anomalous form 4mfkhtisnd meets us in the
Pahlavi. May this not be intended to express ‘learning,’ whereas
Amfzisnd would express ‘teaching?’ I hardly think so.
‘ The Pahlavi translation is only remotely if at all responsible
for Aviti4d as=sua sponte. This would require Aviti as=*Avati with
difficulty comparing ‘ yim’ and ‘ yem’(?). It is generally considered
now as=hu+iti; but the letter ¥=’© seems doubtful.
5 Read aniti=‘with impeded progress.’ ‘In prosperity or adver-
sity.’ But these are conjectures.
5 The Pahlavi: AétQ@nd akhar valmansfn afté nadfikfh. I do
not think that we ought to regard the words of the original as
expressing universal restoration. But they may well have given the
first indication toward this later view. Literally, they state it, but
not when correctly understood.
(SuppLEMENTARY NOTE. The Pahlavi word yéméf which transcribes
yesna in verse 4 cannot mean ‘by day.’ Its imperfect form induced
the translators to translate rizha and bhfimandale, but these scholars,
as in many other instances, hinted at a correction.)
D2
26 THE GATHAS.
YASNA XXXII.
THE PROGRESS AND STRUGGLES OF THE CAUSE.
This composition differs from that in XXX as descending from
the more general to the particular, and from the doctrinal to the
practical. One might even trace an immediate connection, urvata
occurring in the last verse of the one and in the first of the other.
It is, of course, very possible that the verses before us are only a
remnant of those which originally constituted the piece, and here
and there one may have been interpolated from other scriptures.
Some writers prefer to assume a loss of the original text or an
addition to it at the smallest change of tone, and to assume also
a change of subject with it. I do not regard it as very useful
to lay too much stress upon these occurrences.
Whether caused by gaps or interpolations, they do not at all
affect the fact that the subject-matter is homogeneous and contem-
poraneous ; and, probably, like many more modern compositions,
the verses gain in rhetorical effect by being weeded of repetitions.
We might divide as follows 1, 2, an address to the congregation
to be connected with XXX as its concluding words; 3-5, an
address to Ahura; 6, an address to the faithful; 7-17, to Ahura;
18, to the congregation; 19, to Ahura; 20, 21, to the congregation;
22, an addition.
Treating the section then as containing homogeneous matter
which combines well into a unit, I proceed as follows. The sage
chants his hymn in the presence of the multitude as before.
1. He declares that while he is reciting things unwillingly heard
by the hostile party, those same truths are valued as the best of
existing things by those who are sincerely devoted to Mazda, their
good disposition quickening their perception.
2. He then declares that if the truths of the holy Religion are
not yet clearly seen by the instrumentalities provided, he will ap-
proach them still more effectively in accordance with the especial
regulation of the spiritual chieftainship, which Ahura Mazda had
prepared in response to the lament of the soul of the Kine; i.e. of
the Iranian herds and people possibly as representing the entire
holy, or clean, creation upon earth. And he further asserts that
this regulation concerns the struggle of the two parties, and will
bring the cause of the Righteous Order to a successful issue.
3. Changing his address to Ahura, he proceeds to pray at once
YASNA ΧΧΧΙ. 37
for that satisfying decision which would be the natural result of the
regulation just promised, and which could be given by the instru-
mentality of the Sacred Fire and holy ritual, affording mental keen-
ness to the two contending parties. And he declares that this is
the doctrine which should be proclaimed for the conversion of
mankind. Here we observe that the Zarathustrian Mazda-worship
was aggressive and missionary in its spirit, and in a proselyting
sense by no means indifferent to the final destiny of the Gentile
world, (The later and traditional system announced indeed the
restoration and so the conversion of all men, and that not as an
object proposed to the efforts of charity, but as a necessary result
(so by inference ; see Bundahis (West), pp. 126, 129). I can find
no trace of this in the GAthas.
Here we have only the effort to convert.)
4. Addressing all the Bountiful Immortals, and with the striking
title of the Ahuras of Mazda, he prays for the establishment of the
‘mighty kingdom’ by means of which he might overcome the per-
sonified and aggressive falsehood of the opposing and persecuting
Daéva-worshippers.
5. In order to enable himself to fulfil his mission, he asks for
prophetic and judicial knowledge as to what ought to be done, or
as to what is about to happen in the immediate future.
6. He lauds the Mathra which we may suppose him to recognise
as delivered to him afresh in answer to his prayer for prophetic
light, and he praises co-ordinately with the Word of God that
Sovereign Authority of Ahura, which was to be established in a
kingdom where goodness would increase, and be prosperous, if
not predominant.
7. He takes the heavenly bodies as evidence of the wisdom of
Him who created the Sacred Order personified as the ‘Immortal’
Asha, and also the Good Mind, his equal. And he ascribes the
support and extension of their hallowing influence to Ahura, be-
cause He never changes.
8. He reiterates, in expressions which form the basis for another
hymn, his conception of Mazda as the supreme object of devotion,
as the father of the Good Mind personified as His child, as the
creator of the Righteous Order, and as both the controller and the
judge of human actions. Therefore the Good Mind and Right-
eousness are to be worshipped as standing in the closest possible
relation to him.
9. He ascribes the ‘Immortal’ Piety to Him as well. She is
His own, and elsewhere His own daughter. He is declared, as in
38 THE GATHAS.
chapter XXIX, to be the Creator of the Kine, and of Under-
standing, (His own intelligence), to guide Him in the disposition of
the destiny of the holy Iranian people. And according to it He
* makes the path for the Kine, which as a matter of course has no
meaning as applied to bucolics, but is full of meaning when read in
view of the wail of the Kine’s Soul in chapter XXIX, and of the
intervention of the Deity in her behalf, for He actually appointed
Zarathustra to meet her necessities. He adds, however, that her
+ free choice is not abolished by the construction ‘of this path.’ It is
elsewhere called the ‘religion of the Saviour-prophets,’ and she is
free to proceed in it, guided by the first prophet, the ideal husband-
man, or she can follow the profaner nomad.
ro. But he thankfully exclaims that she does not pause in in-
decision, nor does she choose perversely. She selects the guardian
appointed by Ahura, the diligent and pious husbandman, elsewhere
identified with Zarathustra himself. He is rich with the spiritual
wealth of the Good Mind; and she rejects in his favour the idle and
* free-booting nomad, excluding him from all share in the sacred
religious system.
11. The composer then delineates the struggle which inevitably
follows this establishment of the needed means of deliverance.
When Mazda has completed the inspiration of doctrines, teaching
whither the one endowed with free volition (like the Kine [verse
9]) should direct his choice in action (12), there upon the spot, as it
were, the ignorant Daéva-worshipper makes himself heard beside
God’s spokesman. But the prophet is consoled by the reflection
that the pious mind will not question the evil Spirit, or the good
Spirit superficially. It searches both the Spirits, questioning them,
as it were, in their very home. (Hence it is that Ahura speaks so
fully concerning Angra Mainyu, delineating his opposition to ἘΠῚ
in extended detail. See XLV, 2.)
13. The composer is still more reanimated by the certainty that
Ahura is gazing into the depths of all questions, trivial and profound;
which is to say that he observes most closely the men who are dis-
cussing them. And he declares that he also sees the cruel injustice
of the punishments which the tyrants visit upon the smallest offences,
as well as the more flagrant wickedness of those who persecute his
adherents without even a pretence of justice.
14. As he recalls the divine forecasting omniscience, he asks
Ahura once more concerning the future which was close at hand
with its portentous events. And he inquires as to the nature of the
veritable and not iniquitous confessions, which were properly due to
YASNA ΧΧΧΙ. 39
be made by the righteous believer in order to avert the impending
calamities, and secure the upper hand in the struggle for the throne. .
And he inquires also as to the proper expiatory prayers which were
to be offered by the believer. He does not however fail to inquire
analogously concerning the wicked, nor to ask how they, as well as
the righteous, shall be situated in the final consummation.
15. Particularising as to the latter, he asks what shall be the
punishment for those who succeed in installing an evil monarch,
one of the Daéva-party, a prince who cannot exist without the ruth-
less persecution of the pious husbandman, who repudiates the Lie-
demon presiding over the counsels and efforts of the opposing
religion,
16. He further asks how and by what actions the wise man may
become like Ahura, or his faithful adherent, the expressions used
implying deep religious feeling.
17. Striving to arouse the perceptions of his hearers, he inquires
as to which one of the two parties holds to the greater or more im-
portant religion, the disciple of Asha, the personified Righteous
Order Ahura’s immediate creature (see above), or the opponent.
And he prays that no blind guide may deceive him, or those who
belong to him, ‘ but that the enlightened, yea, even Ahura Himself,
may speak to him, and become the indicator and demonstrator of
the truth.’
18. Closing this address to the Deity, he turns to the congrega-
tion, vehemently forbidding them to listen to the doctrines of his
opponents, warning them against the ruin and death which would
ensue, and fiercely appealing to the sword.
19. Once more addressing Ahura, he prays that they may on the
contrary listen to Him who has power to vindicate the conscientious
Zarathustrian, inculcating veracity upon him, and encouraging him
in its practice ; and this by means of the holy sacrifice, or ordeal of
the Fire.
20. He solemnly warns those who would seduce the righteous of
their ultimate fate, and adds that their sorrows will be self-induced,
if they persevere in their hostility. Their own consciences (as we
see from Yast XXII) would not only bring on their ruin, but
would form a part of their punishment.
21. On the other hand, happiness and immortality will be the lot
of the faithful, And these ‘eternal two’ will be given to them,
accompanied by the fulness of Righteousness, and the exuberant
vigour of the Good and Kindly Mind within them and bestowing
its blessings upon them.
40 THE GATHAS.
22. In conclusion he apostrophises the manifest certainty of the
truths which he declares, and, addressing Ahura, animates the
faithful not merely with the hope of the objective recompense, but
with the prospect of being efficient as servants of God.
Translation.
1. These doctrines (therefore) we are earnestly
declaring to You as we recite them forth from
memory, words (till now) unheard! (with faith) by
those who by means of the doctrinal vows? of the
harmful Lie are delivering the settlements of
Righteousness to death, but words which are of the
best unto those who are heartily devoted to Ahura?.
2. And if by this means the indubitable truths‘
are not seen in the soul®, then as better (than these
words) I will come to you all (in my person) with
1 Roth, ‘wollen wir Worte ktinden—ungern gehdrt von denen,
welche nach des Unholds Geboten,’ &c. Hiibschmann preferring
‘wir sprechen Worte nicht anhérbar fiir diejenigen’ (Casuslehre, 5.
223). A dative of the pronoun is certainly more natural than the abla-
tive as inst. But on the whole agusht4 seems better in its ordinary
sense, although in so rendering we are obliged to supply a word.
3 Valmansén ταῦ pavan 4fringanth f Drég zak { Aharayth
géhan bara marenfinénd.
8 The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows: Both these benedic-
tions, which I (we) recite as yours [the Avesta and Zand], we are
teaching by word to him who is no hearer, [to the destroyer of
sanctity (the heretical persecutor) [ ]]. Those who utterly slay the
world of righteousness through the benedictions of the Drag [ ],
even those might be an excellent thing, if they would cause progress
in what belongs to Atharmazd.
4 Read perhaps advay4o; see the Pahlavi. Otherwise ‘the way’
adv4o as panthds; but the participle * does not agree. Compare
for meaning kavim 4dvayantam, δά Κη Advay4s.*
5 The Pahlavi renders ‘in the soul’ freely by ‘believes:’ Pavan
nikirisnd 14 h€mnunéd6 as pavan zak f agimAnikih. The general
indications are to be observed.
* Ts it a loc.?
YASNA XXXI. 41
that power, and in that way according to which
Ahura Mazda knows and appoints His ruler’, that
ruler over both the two (struggling) bands’, in
order that we (in obedience to him), may live ac-
cording to Righteousness ὃ.
3. And that keenness, that deciding satisfaction,
which Thou hast given by (Thy) Spirit‘, and (Thy)
Fire, and by Thy Righteousness (itself) to the two
battling® (sides), do Thou declare unto us, O Ahura!
that vow which is for the seeing® (as those endowed
with mental light). Yea, do Thou declare this that
we may know it, O Mazda! With the tongue of
Thy mouth do Thou speak it (that as I preach its
mighty truths”) I may make all the living believers*!
1 Comp. chap. XXIX, 2, where the Ratu is discussed; here the
word might be the abstract.
* Roth, ‘dieser beiden Parteien (Yasna XXXI),’
8. He repels and condemns the evil, and he hallows and helps
the good.
‘ Most striking is the use of mainyu. It is ‘the Spirit’=God.
It is ‘ His Spirit.’ It is also used of man’s spirit.
5 Or, ‘from the two arami;’ but see dsaydo in verse 2. The
Pahlavi translator has avé patkardar4nd shnaékhtarih ; so uniformly.
In Y. XLIII, 12, Ks and most MSS., except K4, and likewise
excepting the printed B.V.S., read randiby6 which excludes the
dual form ; also the fire is not mentioned there. It is however far
from impossible that the present Pahlavi translation may be a growth
beyond an earlier one more in accordance with arazi. The strivers,
or fighters, might describe the two rubbing-sticks (?).
* Aimar (sic), vigirdar. This meaning suits the connection ad-
mirably. The word is otherwise difficult, and this general sense is
followed by some who do not so often cite the Pahlavi translator.
7 See verse 1.
® Roth, ‘wie ich alle lebenden bekehren soll.’ So also the general
indication of the Pahlavi translator. Pavan hazvaénd ἃ Lak—
zivandakan harvist-gin hémnund. Observe that the religious
system contemplated universal proselytism.
42 THE GATHAS.
4. And when the Divine Righteousness shall be
inclined to my appeal?, and with him all those
(remaining ones who are as) Mazda’s? (own) Ahuras
then with the blessedness (of the reward), with (my)
Piety and with Thy Best Mind (active within me), I
will pray for that mighty Kingdom by whose force‘
we may smite the Lie-demon®.
5. Aye, do Thou tell me that I may discern it,
since through (Thy) Righteous Order the better (lot)
55 given; tell me this that I may know it with (Thy)
Good Mind (as it speaks within me), and that I may
ponder’ that to which these my truths® belong (and
1 The general indications karitantér and bavthinam point to the
proper sense.
2 Or, with Roth, ‘wenn wirklich sich rufen lassen die Ahura-
Mazdas.’ Otherwise, ‘O Mazda and the Ahuras.’ Hiibschmann also
maintained that Mazdau was here a plural; (see his Y. XXX, ro.)
5 Roth, rendering ishas@ in accordance with the Pahlavi, ‘erbitte
ich.’
4 Man pavan zak f valman gardfh—khishid Drfgé δὲ sufficiently
indicates the proper sense. Roth, ‘kraft deren wir den Unhold
bemeistern mégen.’
5 The Pahlavi may be rendered thus: Since in that dispensation
{in the final body], I shall be an invoker of Ashavahist, and of
Atharmazd also [ ]; and of her who is veneration ‘Spendar-
mad’ [ ], I desire [that best of things which is the reward] of
Vohiman. Let also that authority which belongs to my people
{ ] be from the strong one [ 7 by whose fortitude [ ] the Drig is
overcome [ ].
5 Literally, ‘ Ye gave.’
11 am far from sure that the indication of the Pahlavi is not
correct here. According to it, when properly understood, we have
here an accusative with the infinitive; ‘that I should establish.’
Its own translation is however avd li yehabfinai. Mez=man or
mim ; ¢7#(g)=4 the nasal vowel. The Pahl. translator recognises
men elsewhere as=minisné. It was from no ignorance (!) of the
particular word that he wrote ‘li’ here.
® Or ‘my prophet;’ comp. rishi; that is, ‘that with which my
prophet is concerned.’
YASNA ΧΧΧΙ. 43
of which my prophet speaks ; yea), tell me those
things, O Mazda Ahura! which may not be, and
which may be’.
6%. And that verily shall be the best of all words
to Him which the All-(wise one) will? declare to
me in very deed, that word which is the Mathra of
Welfare and of Immortality (for it proclaims His
beneficent power). And to the Great Creator (shall
there be) a Realm such as that (whose strength
I asked for victory‘), and which (at the last) shall
flourish® in its holiness to His (glory*)!
7. (For He has sovereign control.) He who con-
ceived of these (truths of the Mathra) as their first
(inspirer), (and as He thought their existence they
1 Or, possibly, ‘which shall not be, or which shall be.’ Is the
subjunctive here used to express obligation? Roth has ‘was nicht
sein soll oder was sein soll.’ Ner. may be rendered as follows:
Tell it to me distinctly [ ], that which is the highest gift, and
which is given to me through sanctity; [that is, because duty and
righteousness are fulfilled by me, the best gift of thy reward (is
gained) by this means; but how is it possible to make it (actually)
one’s own?]. Grant me the knowledge through the best mind;
[that is, declare that intelligence to me which comes through good
conduct], and by which also safety is (secured) to me[ 1. And
declare either that which is not, or that which is, O Great Wise
One, the Lord! [ ].
3 An interval of silence seems here to intervene, or lost verses
leave an unexplained transition. The sage turns again to the
people.
5. Vaokas Κι (Barth.). * See verse 4.
5 The Pahlavi has Aiharmazd avand (sic) khadayih 4and dén
valman vakhshéd Vohfimand.
* The Parsi-persian MS. is as follows: U hast buland, kih An
man 4gahthé (sic) gi-1 4skarah [ ] m4nsar 7 tam4m raftan?; [Κᾶ,
tamfm péd4isn pah rah # mansar baz 4n ‘hwést ¢ Hérmuzd
raséd], kih pah Saw&b d&érad—bi-marg raftant azas[ 1. Hérmuzd
—‘hudaf 4and andar ἃ afzayéd Bahman [Kas pddis&ht pah tan
ὦ mard—Aandft (Ὁ) Hérmuzd pah tan mihm4n].
44 THE GATHAS.
(all) as (His) glorious ' (conceptions first) clothed them-
selves in the stars”), He is through His understanding
the Creator® of the Righteous Order. And thus
likewise He supports His Beneficent Mind (in His
saints). And these (holy creatures) may’st Thou
cause to prosper by Thy Spirit (since they are Thine
own), O Ahura Mazda! Thou who art for every
hour the same*!
8. Therefore’, as the first® did I conceive of Thee,
O Ahura Mazda! as the one to be adored with the
mind in the creation, as the Father of the Good
Mind within us, when I beheld Thee’? with my
(enlightened) eyes as the veritable maker of our
Righteousness, as the Lord of the actions of life®!
9. Thine, O Ahura! was Piety; yea, Thine, O
Creator of the Kine! was understanding and the
1 Manas avd réshanih gimikhtd khvarih. Avathra and khvdrih
can hardly mean ‘comfortable’ here. ‘Ease’ is the later sense.
53. Raokebis certainly means, with illuminating objects, stars or
shining lights.
3. Hitbschmann, ‘der Schépfer des Asha.’—Casuslehre, 8. 190.
4 Pavan minavadikih vakhshinéd [ ] mn kevanié ham khidaft.
5 Compare the frequent expression ‘spentem αὐ Thw4 menhtf,’ in
chap. XLIII.
6 Roth, ‘ vornehmsten.’
7 When I seized Thee (took Thee in) with my eye. The Pahlavi:
Amatam [ ] pavan ham4ashmih avd ham vakhdind hémanih.
§ Dén ahvind pavan kinisnd khddat hémanih.
Ner. may be rendcred as follows: Thus thou wert thought at
the first by me, O Great Wise One, the Lord! when thou wert
engaged in the production of Gvahmana [ ]. In which (produc-
tion) they apprehend the father of the Best Mind when they observe
him with a full-faced look [ ]. (And thou art the father) of that
creation which is manifestly righteous; [that is, thou makest the purer
creation good in conduct]. Thou art a King in the world as to
action; [that is, where it is fitting to confer a benefit, and also
where it is fitting to inflict a punishment, in each of these thou art
capable].
YASNA ΧΧΧΙ. 45
Spirit’, when Thou didst order a path for her '
(guiding). From the earth’s tiller (aided?) she goeth
(in that allotted way), or from him who was never
tiller. (Thy path hath given her choice‘.)
10. (But she did not pause in temptation.) Of
the two she chose® the husbandman, the thrifty
toiler in the fields*, as a holy master endowed with
the Good Mind’s wealth’. Never, Mazda! shall
1 His spesta mainyu ; otherwise ‘spiritual (understanding),’ but
mainyu is used elsewhere (verse 3 and 7) alone, and certainly not
as an adjective even with a substantive understood. The render-
ing ‘spirit’ as ‘ Thy spirit’ is suspiciously significant; but what is
the help? We are forced by grammar so to translate.
5. The ablative has this force as in Ash4s haa.
5.1 can hardly accede to an infinitive here: -té is a rare infinitive
termination in Gathic. Also the infinitive seldom falls to the end
of the sentence. The Pahlavi has yatinéd, a present; but the
Pahlavi should never be positively cited for the forms, as it is free.
* Observe that we are forced by every dictate of logic and
common sense to avoid the commonplace rendering here. Cattle
do not have ‘paths’ made for them, nor do they cry aloud for an -
overseer, or complain at the appointment of one who does not
appear to them promising ; nor is it one main effort of religion
‘to content the soul of cattle.’ Cattle, as the chief article of
wealth, are taken to signify all civic life. The ‘path’ is the path -
for the people to walk in, securing safety for soul and life and
herds. The adhvan is ‘the way’ which ‘is the religious character-
istics and teachings of the prophets’ (XXXIV, 13).
5 Observe that this cow (some would say ‘ox’) chooses her
master, unlike other cattle. But observe also, what is more inter-
esting, that she seems reconciled to the guardian appointed by
Ahura. In Y. XXIX, 9g, she actually ‘wept’ at the naming of the
pusillanimous Zarathustra, desiring a kingly potentate. Now, how-
ever, we see that she must have dried her tears, as she is satisfied
with the simple workman whom he represents notwithstanding
high rank.
* In the later Avesta this first vastrya fsuyant is declared to be
Zarathustra.
7 Man fsuth pavan Vohdmand.
46 THE GATHAS.
the thieving? nomad share the good creed*. (For
the Kine’s choice would bestow it?!)
11. (And this doctrine was the first of rules to
regulate our actions. Yet the opposer speaks beside
Thee.) For when first, O Ahura Mazda! Thou
didst create the (holy) settlements, and didst reveal
the religious laws‘; and when Thou gavest (us)
understanding from Thine own mind, and madest
our (full) bodily life*, and (didst thus determine)
actions (by Thy power), and didst moreover deliver
to us (nearer) injunctions whereby (as by a rule) the
wisher may place his choices,
12. (There strife at once arose, and still is raging.)
There (beside Thy prophet) the truthful or liar, the
enlightened or unenlightened, lifts his voice (to utter
1 Pahlavi davasahaé ; Ner. pratrayitre.
3 Khipé-héshmirisnih. ‘ Judicial blindness ’ is everywhere indi-
cated. (The wicked are kept from the sight of the truth.) Hiibschm.,
Casuslehre, ‘ der frohen Botschaft.’
® This seems implied.
4 Or, ‘madest the worlds and the souls (?).’
δ᾽ Geldner admirably ‘flesh.’ The Pahlavi: tané-hémandand
gin yehabind. Notice that ‘bodily life or flesh’ is mentioned after
‘understanding.’ Compare Y. XXX, 7, where Aramaiti gives ‘a
body ’ after previous creations.
5 The Pahlavi has the following interesting gloss: [That is, even
the actions and teachings of the pious are given forth by thee’; and
this was also given in this wisdom of thy mind}. And when there
is a person in whom there is a desire for the other world, that
desire is granted to him by thee; [that is, what is necessary when
he is arriving in the other world, this which is thus required (or
desired) by him at that time, is given by thee—through that which
is thy mind and wisdom]. Although not able to follow the in-
dications of the Pahlavi fully, I think that there is no question but
that we have an important statement in the last line. It does not
seem to me possible to render less profoundly than ‘where the
wisher may place his choices,’ his religious preferences and beliefs,
including all moral volition.
YASNA ΧΧΧΙ. 47
his faith), and with devoted mind and heart’. (But
without hindrance from this striving, or pausing with
feeble search’, our) Piety steadily® questions the two
spirits‘ (not here on earth) but (there in the spirit-
world) where (they dwell as) in their home’.
13. (Yea, my Piety questions searchingly, for
Thou, O Maker! hast Thy view on all; we cannot
question lightly.) What questions are asked which
are open® (permitted to our thoughts), or what ques-
tions (are asked) which are furtive’ (hiding themselves
from the light), or (what decision soever we may
make, and the man) who for the smallest sin binds
on the heaviest penance, on 8115 with Thy glittering
eye(s) as a righteous guard Thou art gazing?!
1 Avo zak libbemman. 2 See verse 13.
5 Pavan hagisnd f: the Persian MS. (Haug XII, b) transliter-
ates khézisnd: Ner. has mano-utth4nena (sic). Or, ‘immediately.’
4 The evil as well as the good spirit is questioned. The two
spirits of Y. XXX, 3-6 were here inspiring the conflict.
® The Pahlavi unvaryingly in the sense of mihind [-as g4s
tamman yehevinédd]; Ner. paralokanivistn. See Y. XXX, 9;
XXXIII, 9 ; XXXIV, 6. A questioning which was lightly made
would indicate a willingness to tamper with error. The Persian
MS. following the Pahlavi has: Anga bang ¢ buland 4n ¢ durfgh
guftér [Gan4 Min@] wa 4n ham ?# rast guftar [Hérmuzd], &c. But
Neryosangh is more accurate or literal: Atra bumbam* karoti
{antar gagati], mithyavakt4 va satyavakta va, &c. :
5 Pavan zak f ἀβῃκᾶγακὄ. 7 Nihanfk.
δ. Thou seest even the questions and decisions of our thoughts
as to matters which are simple or difficult, permitted or occult.
51 have not followed what may yet possibly be a valuable and
correct hint of tradition. I render Neryosangh: He who asks
through what is open [through righteousness], or he who asks
through what is secret [through sin]; or he (also) who through, or
on account of, a little sin which has been committed, commits the
great one to secure a purification; [that is, who for the sake of
purification necessary on account of a little sin which has been
committed, commits a greater one, in order that the first may not
48 THE GATHAS,
14. This then I will ask Thee, O Ahura Mazda!
(as 1 seek Thy counsel once again’). What events
are coming now, and what events shall come in the
future? ; and what prayers with debt-confessions? are
offered with‘ the offerings of the holy? And what
(are the awards) for the wicked? And how shall they
be in the (final) state® of completion® ?
15. And I would ask Thee this, O Mazda! (con-
cerning the coadjutor of the wicked): What is the
award’ for him who prepares the throne® for the evil,
for the evil-doer®, O Ahura! for him who cannot
else reclaim? his life, not else save! with lawless
become known], upon these two, each of them, look with thy two
eyes. [Over sins and righteous actions thou art in one way, every-
where and again, the Lord.] The concretes here may give the
right indication.
1 See verse 5.
3 Main madd, minié yamtinédd, ‘What has come? And what
is coming?’
3 Man 4vam. ‘ Haéé in the Indian sense.
5 Angardikth, the judgment; but Ner. vipakatd, consummation.
® Neryosangh has as follows: Tad dvitayam tvattah* prifkhami,
Svémin! yad agatam, ayatika, yo* rimam dadate danebhyak *pun-
yatmane [Hormigdaya yatha yugyate datum], yeka, Mahfgfanin!
durgatimadbhya ; katham teshdm asti vipakatd* evam [kila, yah
tat kurute, tasmai nidane prasfdadanam kim bhavati, yaska tat
kurute, tasmaiéa kim bhavatf ’ti; me brihi!] This seems to me
very close, far more so than we have any right to expect as a general
tule from a Parsi living in India, and only five or six centuries ago,
too late for ‘ tradition,’ and too early for close criticism.
7 Roth, ‘Ich frage—was die Strafe ist?’
8 The head of a party seems to have been plotting to introduce
a hostile sovereign. 9 1 das-kanisnd.
10 The Pahlavi translator, nividinédd, (otherwise nivéktnéd,
which I much suspect has become confused with nividinéd through
a clerical blunder); Ner. labhate. They both refer vinasti to vid
(so Justi) followed by most. Roth (Yasna XXXI, p. 11), ‘der sein
Brot nicht findet ohne Gewalthat an der Heerde.’
"The Pahlavi translator sees the root han in the sense of
YASNA XXXI. 49
harm to the tiller’s herd, to the pious husbandman’s
flock, who speaks no word with lying, (who abjures
the Lie-demon’s faith’) ?
16. Yea, I would ask Thee such a thing as this:
How such an one as he who, with wise action, has
striven to promote (Thy holy) Rule? over house, and
region, and province, in the Righteous Order and in
truth, how he may become like Thee?, O Great
Creator, Living Lord? And when he may so be-
come, (this also I would ask), and in what actions
living he may so be*?
17. And which of the (religions) is the greater
(and the more prevailing’ as to these questions
which thus concern the soul?) Is it that which the
acquisition, and not from ignorance of the sense given above. In
another place, he renders vigid min; (see XLVII, 5.)
1 Neryosangh may be rendered as follows: Thus I ask thee:
What is for him who seizes upon destruction, and who provides the
sovereignty for the wicked [ ], and commits that evil action, O
Lord! from which he does not acquire life even through a bribe*
(so meaning), [ ] and who is a calamity to the man who acts for
herds and men removing calamities from them [ ]?
3 Roth, ‘der die Herrschaft tiber Hof Gau und Land um das
rechte zu fordern hat.’
* Pahlavi, Lak havand; Neryosangh, tvattulyo; Roth, ‘ deiner
werth.’
41 render the Sanskrit of Neryosangh thus (it improves on the
Pahlavi): I ask (thee) thus: How [dost thou bestow ] the sovereignty
upon one when he is beneficently wise? [ ] (in the body) of him
who, through the increase of sanctity, is no opposer (of prosperity)
in provinces or villages ; [that is, with him who is discharging his
duty and performing acts of sanctity. He is this teacher’s teacher,
he does not contend]. Thine equal, O Great Wise One, the Lord!
thus is he verily, who (is such) in action, [who is thus Thine equal
through activity ].
δ᾽ Possibly mazy6 has the sense of mazista in chap. L, 1. There
‘the most prevailing’ seems to be the proper rendering.
[31 E
al a
Sos,
“Tye
50 οὐ THE GATHAS.
righteous believes, or the wicked1? (Let then our
questionings cease.) Let the enlightened (alone)
speak to the enlightened. Let not the ignorant (fur-
ther) deceive us, (high though he may lift his voice *).
Do Thou thyself, O Ahura Mazda! declare® to us
(the truth) as Thy Good Mind’s full revealer.
18. (And you, ye assembled throngs!) let not a
man of you lend a hearing to Mathra, or to command
of that sinner " (ignorant δ as he is), for home, village,
region, and province he would deliver to ruin® and
death. But (fly ye to arms without hearing), and
hew ye them all with the halberd’!
1 Literally, ‘Which of the two (creeds as) the greater does the
righteous (the believing saint) or the wicked (opponent) believe?’
5. See verse 12.
5 Or with others ‘be Thou’; but the gloss of the Pahlavi transla-
tion contains an explanation which may well afford the true solution
as in so many instances in which he is both consciously and inadver-
tently followed. It reads [afghm4nd barf khavitinind—]. May
we not see an az=ah in the form, or at least a separate Iranian root,
as also in azd4 (L, 1), where the Pahlavi translator gives the same
explanation admirably suited to the context.
Neryosangh: Which is it, the pure of soul, or the wicked who
teaches as the great one? [ ] The intelligent speaks to the intelli-
gent[ 1. Be not thou ignorant after this; because (ignorance is)
from the deceiver. Instruct us, O Great Wise One, the Lord! [ ]
Furnish us with a sign through the Best Mind; [that is, make me
steadfast in good conduct through the recognition of the din]. Such
renderings may suffice to show that an examination of these ancient
translations in our search for hints is imperative. Yet the practice
prevails of omitting a knowledge of the Pahlavi language, on which
not only the oldest translation of the Avesta, but also the irregular
Sanskrit of Neryosangh, closely depends.
4 Jolly, ‘Keiner von euch hére auf die Lieder und Gebote des
Ltigners.’ Roth, ‘Rath und Befehle.’
* Compare evidv4o in verse 17. “ Dfis-rfbisnth.
7 Sazéd sanéh, ‘prepare the sabre.’ It was however a two-handed
weapon; see Y. LVI, 12, (4 Sp.).
The Parsi-persian MS.: Wa ma kas aédin az suma kih ἃ
΄
19. Let them hear Him who eoneewedof the
Righteous Order for the worlds, the (all)-wise One,
O Ahura! For truthful speech He rules with
absolute sway over words, and ever free of tongue
(to guide us in our way'). By Thy shining flame?
(He doth guide us δ, Thine altar’s flame with its signs
of decision and of grace) sent forth for the good of
the strivers ‘.
20. (But, O ye listening men!) he who renders
darwand m4nsar sunawad wa 4mi‘htisn (sic); [ka az Asm6kan (?)
Awest4 wa Zand ma sunawad], 4ih andar—madall sahar wa deh
dehad bad-raftisn wa marg 4n τ Asmégh; aéddn (sic) 6s4n
Asméghan τὰ sfzad silak. (Again very close.)
1 So conjecturally.
3 Compare chap. XXX, 2. ‘ Behold ye the flames with the better
mind ;’ possibly, also chap. XXX, 1, ‘the signs in the lights seen
friendly.’
5. According to the grammatical forms the agent here must be a
divine being, as ye mamt& ashem ahfbis (see verse 7) is charac-
teristic of the Deity. The vocative, strange as it may seem, does
not necessarily exclude Ahura, as the subject referred to in ye.
Several analogous cases occur. The Deity may here however
represent His prophet, as the Da€vas do their worshippers in
the later Avesta. Some writers force the language into a refer-
ence to the human subject for the sake of the greatly to be desired
simplicity.
One places Ahur4 in the instrumental, a case in which the
Almighty seldom appears. The above translation needs no alterna-
tive, as the language would be the same whoever ye refers to.
* See note on verse 3, and read as alternative ‘from the two
arani.’ As an inferior rendering of tradition 1 cite Neryosangh here:
The matter should be heard (taking gfishta as a third singular in a
subjunctive sense); [that is, a study should be made of it by him]
who is even (in any degree) acquainted with the righteous design of
Hormigda for both the worlds. He is independent in the literal
truth of his words, in his freedom of speech, [and his fear has no
existence]. Thy brilliant fire gives the explanation to the con-
tenders. [It makes purity and impurity evident.]
E2
52 THE GATHAS.
the saint deceived!, for him shall be later destruc-
tion*. Long life shall be his lot in the darkness ;
foul shall be his food; his speech shall be of the
lowest®. And this, which is such a life* as your
own, O ye vile! your (perverted) conscience through
your own deeds will bring ὅ you®!
21. But Ahura Mazda will give both Universal
Weal and Immortality’ in the fulness of His Right-
eous Order, and from himself* as the head® of
Dominion (within His saints). And He will like-
wise give the Good Mind’s vigorous might 10 to him
who in spirit and deeds is His friend", (and with
faith fulfils his vows 12).
1 T follow the admirable lead of the Pahlavi here, as the previous
verse mentions veracity. Its indication is pavan frifisnd, freely.
2 I differ with diffidence from the hint of the Pahlavi here (as
elsewhere). It has shivan=tears, which however is free for
‘calamity’ and ‘sorrow.’ Nom. sing.; see its position.
* Απᾶκ rfbisnih yemalelinédd. This, placed together with such
passages as XLVI, 11, XLIX, 11, and LI, 1 8,1 formed the basis
for the more complete Yast XXII.
4 Others prefer ‘place,’ but see 4y@ in line b.
5 «Has led on’?
* I cite Ner.: He who betrays the pure through his fraud, may
(deceit) be (also his portion) at the last ; [that is, let it be so after-
wards ; it is in his soul]. Long is his journey, and his arrival is in
darkness; and evil food and increasing lawlessness is his [ ].
Darkness is your world, O ye wicked! your in-bred deeds, and
your din, are leading you on.
7 That Ameretat4/ means more than long life is clear from amesha.
δ Afas nafsman patth, The Gf&thic would be more literally
perhaps ‘from His own Dominion.’
® Sardarih. 10 Vazdvarth; Ner. pivaratvam.
1 One naturally thinks of urvatha (vratha), as having something
of the sense of vraty4. But usage compels also the sense of friend-
ship. Hubschmann, Casuslehre, 5. 259, ‘der durch Gesinnung und
Thaten sich ihm als freund erweist.’
13 Ner.: Mah4gfant dadau Svamf* avirdadat* amirdadat sampfr-
YASNA ΧΧΧΙ. 53
22. And to the wise are these things clear as to
the one discerning with his mind (not blinded by the
perverter'). With Thy Good Mind and Thy (holy)
Kingdom he follows the Righteous Order both in
his words and his actions. And to Thee, O Ahura
Mazda! such a man shall be the most helpful and
vigorous being 5 (for he serves with every power*)!
natvam punydtmane [ ] nigam prabhutvam ragie * 4dhipatyena [ ]
uttamena pfvaratvam manas& [-tasmai dadate], yo nigasya adris-
yamfirteA karman4 mitram.
1 So according to frequent indications.
3 Ταηῦ aité. Ner.: Sa te—mitram asti niveditatanud.
5 See chap. XXXIII, 14. The Pahlavi translator renders freely
as follows: Manifest things (so possibly; otherwise ‘manifestly ’)
(are) these to (so a MS. not yet elsewhere compared) the wise
when according to his understanding he disposes and reflects,
[that is, he who meditates with thought upon that which his lord
and dastur declares to him]. Good is the King for whom they
would effect righteousness in word and deed, the man whose body
is a bearer of Thee, O AQharmazd!
54 THE GATHAS.
YASNA XXXII.
Tur STRUGGLE IS CONTINUED IN THE MIDST OF
REVERSES.
1. The same author may well be supposed to continue. The
first stanzas have been lost, but we observe that the subject of the
section is still face to face with the Daéva party. He seems to
see them arrayed and engaged in hostile devotions. But he is not
intimidated. The friendship of Ahura is before his mind, and he
expresses his desire that he and his colleagues may become, or
continue, His apostles, notwithstanding the temporal sorrows
which, according to XLIII, 11, we see that he clearly anticipated
as the portion of those who would propagate the holy faith.
2. Mazda answers him, and through him his followers, as
established in His spiritual sovereignty, accepting the devotion of
their piety with commendations and implied encouragements. He
whom they would serve is supreme; they need not fear.
3. After reporting this response of Ahura, the composer turns
with vehemence toward the Daé€vas, poetically conceived to be
present as if before their adherents, who also, according to verse 1,
are supposed to be in sight (or are dramatically so conceived) cele-
brating their profane devotions ; and he addresses them as the ‘ very
seed’ of Satan. Their worshippers belong to the religious false-
hood and perversity. And they have persistently propagated their
evil creed, which is in consequence spreading.
4. They have, so he acknowledges with grief, perverted men’s
minds, making them spokesmen for themselves, and in consequence
deserters from the great Kindly Disposition of Ahura Mazda, and
outcasts, fallen from His understanding.
5. They have destroyed the hopes of mankind for a happy life
upon earth, and for Immortality in heaven. And in this they are
not only the seed of the Evil Mind personified, but his servants
rallying at his word.
6. Their leader is striving energetically, so he mournfully bewails,
to effect his evil ends; but it is time that he should recall the
counteracting measures of Ahura. His holy doctrines are to be
announced, and their authority established by the divine Khshathra,
His Sovereign Power personified.
YASNA XXXII. 55
ἡ. The composer then contemplates with religious irony the
infatuated security of the wretched delinquents whom he is apos-
trophising. Not a man of them knows the destruction which
awaits him, and which, as he intimates, is close at hand, but Ahura,
he significantly exclaims, is aware of it. And it will be proportion-
ably severe. The blindness of sinners to danger seems as definite
a judgment upon them in his estimate as their blindness to the
truth.
8. To point his anger with an instance he names the apostate
Yima, whom he supposes to have erred in first introducing the
consumption of the flesh of cattle. He disavows community with
him as with them all, declaring himself separate from them in
Ahura’s sight.
9. He acknowledges that their leader has to a certain degree
defeated his teachings, and impaired the just estimates of life which
he had striven to form within the people, (or that he will do this
if not checked), declaring also that he had made inroads upon his
property, which was sacred to the holy cause. And he cries aloud
to Ahura and to Asha with the words of his very soul.
to. He repeats that their leader threatens to invalidate his
teachings, blaspheming the supreme object of nature, the Sun,
together with the sacred Kine, injuring the productive land, and
carrying murder among the saints.
11. He utters his bitter wail in view of attempted slaughter,
and actual spiritual opposition. He points out the plots among
the powerful and their illegal confiscation of inheritances, as well
those of women as those of men. And he declares that his op-
ponents are endeavouring to injure his adherents, as if repelled by
the best spiritual qualities which an individual could possess.
12. He announces the solemn judgment of God upon it all,
especially reprobating those who deal treacherously against the
mystical Kine; that is, the holy herds and people, and apostrophis-
ing those who prefer the Grehma above the saving and sanctifying
Asha, and the Kingdom of the Lie-demon above the Divine
Khshathra.
13. He declares that Grehma, an opposing chief, desired that
evil kingdom in the abode of the personified Hell. And he cannot
refrain from adding that he also enviously desires to share in the
holy apostleship. But, as he severely rejoins, the messenger of
God will hold him afar from the sight of the (Divine) Righteousness.
He can have no share in the Faith.
(Here it may be noticed that we have some data for presenting
56 THE GATHAS.
the main features of the struggle. In several instances, centring
perhaps in the actual description of a battle in XLIV, 15, 16, we
see traces of the closeness of the controversy. In XLIV, 15, the
two hosts seem to be closing in regular lines for the ‘holy vows
themselves.’ Here, on the other hand, we read of willing complaint
or ‘regretful desire,’ while judicial blindness is referred to over and
over again under various phrases. One might suppose that the
Daéva-party were very near the Zarathustrians in many of their
religious peculiarities, but that they could not accede to, or
understand, the dualism. After the manner of Pagans they impli-
cated the Gods in their sins. (Compare the drunken Indra.) At
all events a bitter and violent war of doctrines was waging with
both speech and weapons. I think it looks like the struggle ‘of
two parties’ who each claimed to be the proper representative of
some similar form of faith, similar, of course I mean, outwardly.)
14. Deploring the establishment of the Kavis who approach
with stratagems and false teachings to aid the opposing party, the
composer declares that they say that the Kine herself is to be in-
jured instead of blessed by the very fire-priest who kindles? the
altar-flame.
15. He supports himself however with the hope of ultimate
success, and with the prospect of his reward, when he and his
fellow-labourers should be gloriously borne to heaven by Weal and
Immortality, the ‘ eternal two,’ who not only, as we see, bear saints
to bliss, but also constitute the beatitude of heaven itself.
16. He confides all at last to Ahura, who is able to control all
events, and to solve all doubts, and who will support his servants in
bringing the wicked to vengeance by means of verbal instructions
and commands.
Translation.
(That rival-monarch (thus we may supply the sense
of lost verses) for whom some are plotting to secure
the sovereignty, and who, once in power, would
deliver over home, village, town, and province to
ruin and to death?, is active in his efforts, and offer-
1 See, however, the notes.
* Compare XXXI, 15, 18.
YASNA XXXII. 57
ing the devotions of his false religion to accomplish
his ends.) 1. His! lord-kinsman will pray? (as I Zara-
thustra prayed), and his labouring villagers, with his
(trusted) peers, and his (fellow) Daéva-worshippers ὃ.
But in my mind is the friendship‘ of Ahura Mazda,
the Great Creator, the living Lord; and Thine
heralds, O Ahura! may we be; may we hold back®
those who hate and who offend You!
2. To these (for whom the prophet spake) Ahura
Mazda answered, ruling* as He does through His
Good Mind (within their souls), He replied from His
Sovereign Power, our good friend (as he is) through
His surpassing’ Righteousness : We have accepted
' Some prominent teacher, representing the entire Daéva-party,
is alluded to; see verses 6, 7, 9, 10.
2 Compare yds4 in XXVIII, 2.
* Or, ‘his are the Daévas ;’ but the verb y4saf perhaps affords a
sufficient expression for Daév4; y4sen or het may be understood.
We may also understand the Daévas here, as the embodied Daévas,
in the manner in which the pious worshipper is called Vohu
Manah. That Da€va should however be used quite simply for
Daéva-worshipper in this early composition is not probable. In
the later Avesta it is frequent usage.
* Or, ‘the friend ;’ I recoil as much as possible from abstracts,
but the Pahlavi has hQ-ravakh-manth, and Geldner admirably pro-
posed brahman.
5 Afghsin min Lekfim lakhv4r yakhsenuném; so the Pahlavi
translation, first venturing on the meaning ‘ holding back from;’ .
dar in the sense of p4, which latter in Iranian can mean hold back
from advantages as well as from misfortunes. High modern
authority coincides with the most ancient authority on this latter
point. It is apt to be a subject of scepticism with some who
neglect the evidence of tradition.
® «Pavan sardrfh { Vohiman;’ Ner. svamitéyam*. It seems
difficult to apply the meaning ‘being as a refuge’ here; see the
following ‘from His Kingdom,’
7 Lit. ‘glorious.’ This casts light upon the expression Avanvaitis
verezb.
58 THE GATHAS.
your good and bountiful Piety, and we have chosen
her ; ours shall she be?!
3. But you, O ye Daévas! are all a seed from the
Evil Mind*, He who offers sacrifice® to You the
most‘ is of the Lie-demon, and (he is a child) of per-
version 5, In advance ® (are your) deceits whereby ye
are famed in the sevenfold’ earth !
4. For ye (are) confusing our thoughts δ, whereby
men, giving forth the worst deeds, will speak ", as of
? Afgh Spendarmad Lek(im rAi sapir déshém [bfndak minis-
nth] zak f lanman aftd [aighm4nd pavan tani mahmén yehevin4d].
Neryosangh: To these the Great Wise (One), the Lord, answered
in the lordship of the highest (best) mind; [that is, if, or since,
Gvahmana had arrived, as a guest, within (their) body]; from
Saharevara he answered [ ] through (their) righteousness, from the
well-inclined, and through good conduct, [if truly good conduct
had arrived as a guest within (their) body]. And he said: I be-
friend your Earth (so Aramaiti was later understood), the perfect-
minded one, and your highest one; she is mine [ ].
3 Compare Yasna XXX, 6. Where the Daévas are approached
by the worst mind as they are consulting.
® As those who offer sacrifice to these Daévas are mentioned
separately, we are forced to concede a large idea to the composer.
He addresses the Daévas as poetically conceived to be present,
and not merely their worshippers as in verse 1. And this must
have its weight in the exegesis of other passages.
* The Pahlavi translator has kabed. Or mas for mashyé (?).
δ᾽ Or possibly arrogance, avarminisntar; Ner. apamanastaraska.
5. Satininéd freely, but indicating the root. The word is a locative.
7 The seven karshvars, or quarters of the earth, were already
known.
8.1 correct [τὸ me (=man) mathé (adj. nom. pl.; compare yim
keredusha and m4 mash4). I do so after the admirable reading
of the Pahlavi translator, as fraz minisnd vardinéd [aighas bara
friféd, δίας minisnd barf avd vinas kardand vardinéd]|. Ner.
prakrishfam manak—mathnati. Notice that afist4 is awkward as
a masc., although I have so rendered as more personal.
9 Vakhshyemté stood in the ancient writing used by the Pahlavi
translator, as also now in some of our surviving MSS. ; otherwise
YASNA XXXII 59
the Demon-gods beloved, forsaken by the Good
Mind’, (far) astray from the understanding of the
Great Creator, the Living Lord, and (far astray)
from His Righteousness !
5. Therefore ye would? beguile mankind of happy
life® (upon earth) and of Immortality (beyond it),
since the Evil Spirit (has ruled) you with his evil
mind. Yea, he has ruled‘ you, (ye) who are of the
Demon-gods, and with an evil word unto action, as
his ruler ® (governs) the wicked °!
reading vakhsheaté with Justi and most others, and mimatha with
Bartholomae: ‘Ye have caused that men who produce the worst
results are flourishing, loved of the Daévas (as they are).’ But in
the Casuslehre, Hiibschmann preferred ‘sie sprechen was den Devas
angenehm ist,’ also reading vakhshemté (Ὁ) (page 240).
1 So the Pahlavi also indicates asin Vohfiman sizd; Ner.
Gvahmanak* dfre* Aste.
* Improper subjunctive; otherwise ye (have) beguiled.
* The Pahlavi also freely friféd ansQia4n pavan hd-zivisnth.
4 Fraginas far from necessarily means ‘gave’; ‘assigned,’ ‘ indi-
cated’ renders it more closely, The Pahlavi has here correctly, but
freely, kashéd.
® The Pahlavi has here salitéth for khshay6, and in XXVIII, 8
it has padakhsha for khshay&. I do not think that the word is an
accusative there. A simple accusative does not so naturally fall to
the end of the sentence in G&thic; it is generally in apposition when
so situated. The nominatives tend toward the end of the sentence.
* Ner.: It is through both of these that he is deceiving (sic,
unable to follow the Pahlavi which probably renders as a second
plural; see mfn lIekfim) mankind in regard to prosperity and
immortality, [ (saying) if it is possible to live, immortality lies in our
path]. Since he is yours, O ye base-minded! O ye base Devas!
he is inculcating the lowest actions [ ] of the miscreants ; he says that
sovereignty [is from Aharmana ; (that is, the sovereignty) of certain
ones (meaning over every one)].
The Gathic verbatim is as follows : Therefore ye beguiled (would
beguile) man of-happy-life, of-immortality-and since you with-evil
mind (you) who-(are)-and Daévas’ (worshippers) the evil-and spirit
with an-evil (-word as concerning) action with-word (rules), by
60 THE GATHAS.
6. Full of crime (your leader) has desired to
destroy! us, wherefore he is famed, (and his doc-
trine is declared) ; but if this be so of these, then
in the same manner, O Ahura! Thou possessest *
(because Thou knowest) the true (teachings) in Thy
memory*®. And in Thy kingdom and Thy Righteous
Order I will establish Thy precepts (in Thy name) ¢.
7. Among these wretched beings® (this their
leader *) knows not that those things’ which are de-
which (same) means (has-)commanded the wicked (his) ruler (nom.
sing. masc.; see Y. XXVIII, 8). The nom., as in Vedic, at
the end.
* Or, Full of crime ye have striven to attain your ends (?) by
those things which are reported. (If verse 5 originally preceded)
enakhst4 would naturally be regarded as a singular as paouru-aén4o
is an impossible plural masculine. It might, however, be a singular
used collectively. In that case we could put the verb in the plural
with verse 5 in view. As to concrete or abstract, the first is
obviously correct, and is also so rendered by the Pahlavi translation.
* Vid (with the perf. vaéd4) seems to occur in the G&thas in this
sense. Or, ‘ Thou knowest with the Best Mind.’
* Or ‘in the memorised recital ;’ Ner. praka/am kalayati.
4 Parsi-persian MS.: Bisyar kinah-varzandah kinah ‘hw4had,
[Κἂ» wanah-k4ran p4dafrah k(néd], kih, guft+srad fstéd [kih guft
fstéd]; kQ, kih ds4n bi-sum&r [kQ, pdafrah pah 4n zaman
tam4m bih kunand, kih ruwdn baz 4n tan dehad]. Zahir sumar-
kunandah Hérmuzd [kQ pah wan4h wa kirfah sumar-kunand];
wan ὁ buland 4géh pah Bahman [muzd danad; Κα 4n kih bayad
dadan}]. Pah 4n ¢ TQ 7 Suma, Hérmuzd! ‘huda, 4n ¢ Saw4b
4m@‘htan bih d4néstuw4n (sic vid); [kih Sum4 padisdht tamém
bih béd + ya‘hni+ basad, har kas pah néki 4g4h bih basad].
5 The Pahlavi has kintk4nd.
5 The Avaétu of the first verse, the dussasti of the ninth, &c.
™ The Pahlavi curiously errs with his réshand=clear; Ner.
parishphusatarak. It would be straining a point to call him free
in interpreting what is ‘collected’ and so ‘obvious’ as ‘clear.’ We
must, however, never forget that the supposed error of the Pahlavi
is sometimes the reflex of our own (often necessary) ignorance.
Vidvau must refer back to the same subject as ahy4 in the first
verse, or possibly to Aka Manah, going a step further back.
YASNA XXXII. 6ι:-
clared as victorious’ (by his allies) are bound together
for the smiting; yea, those things by which he was
famed (as victorious) by his (blade of) glittering iron?.
But the utter destruction? of those things Thou, O
Ahura Mazda! knowest ‘, most surely®!
8. Of these wretched beings * Yima Vivanghusha
was famed to be; he who, desiring to content’ our
men, was eating kine’s flesh in its pieces. But from ®
(such as) these, O Ahura Mazda! in Thy discerning
discrimination, am I (to be seen as distinct®).
1 Possibly, ‘which are by Thee announced as destined and
proper to be smitten.’ The Pahlavi has min zanisnd 4mfkhténd
(sic). γᾷ Ξε) γᾷ to jan, as ἀκᾶγία is to kan.
5 Compare other allusions to weapons, snaithis&, and possibly
dakhshtem.
® So also the Pahlavi, ristak and p&dafras.
* Naééis vidvau and vaédist6 ahi are in antithesis and emphatic.
® A literal rendering of this difficult verse would be as follows :
Of these wretches, nothing knowing (is he that) for the smiting
(dat. 18, jan; cp. form Sk. ja, jan) (are) the-collected-things, which
things (as) victorious (read jay4) are declared forth, by which
(things) he has been heard (of) through glittering iron, of which
things Thou, O-Ahura! the ruin, O-Mazda! most knowing art.
Others take senghaité in the sense of ‘cut’(?) and render very
differently.
* The Pahlavi has shed44n ; Ner. tan dveshinah.
7 Or ‘teaching,’ so the Pahlavi; Ner. sam4svadayati.
* The Pahlavi translator hits the true rendering here: ‘from
among these I am chosen out by Thee.’ Otherwise we have a
question: Am I of these? The allusion is to the fall of Yima. As
to the first eating of the flesh of beasts, recall Genesis ix.3. Some
have rendered: With regard to these I am of Thine opinion,
O Mazda (?).
ἡ The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows: Among (of) these
demons Yima of the Vivazhanas is famed to have been a wicked
scourge. It was he who taught men thus: Eat ye our flesh in
pieces [wide as the breast, long as the arm—(or better with West,
‘in lapfuls and armfuls’) ]. From among these [ ]I am chosen
out by Thee, O Aftharmazd! hereafter; [that is, even by Thee I
am considered as good].
62 THE GATHAS.
9. An evil teacher (as that leader is), he will!
destroy (our) doctrines, and by his teachings he will
pervert the (true) understanding of life, seizing away?
(from me) my riches’, the choice and real wealth of
(Thy) Good Mind. To You and to Asha, O Ahura
Mazda! am I therefore crying with the voice of
my spirit’s * (need) !
10. Aye, this man will destroy my doctrines
(indeed, for he blasphemes the highest of creatures
that live or are made). He declares that the (sacred)
Kine® and the Sun are the worst of things which
eye can see; and he will offer the gifts of the
wicked (as priest to their Demon-gods). And at the
last he will parch® our meadows with drought, and
will hurl his mace at Thy saint (who may fall
before his arms’).
1 An improper subjunctive. Otherwise: He (has) destroyed (not
irretrievably, of course; the case was not decided, and finally issued
favourably).
3 Ap6—yant4; otherwise ‘they would take’; Ner. apaharati.
5. Zak f li tshtt avérté [—khvastak 1 pavan dast6bar].
‘ Pavan valmansén milaya f mfnavadtha; Ner. vagbhiZ mé4-
nasavritty€ aham—Akrandaye (not following our present Pahlavi
text, the gloss however). Observe that in reading Ner. we by no
means ipso facto read the Pahlavi, either in correct translation, or as
following our texts. Compare XLVI, 2.
® One thinks somewhat of the familiar foes of the Vedic kine;
but there can be of course no connection. The Iranian sacred
Cow did not represent the rain cloud, at least not at all directly.
* Read viy4pas as a demon. without sign: ‘v’ was miswritten
for “γ᾽ as often “γ᾽ for ‘v.’ The Pahlavi language, not to speak
of the Pahlavi translation, suggests it. How are we to account for
the word viydvaninéd? We should not arrest our philology at
the Zend and Sanskrit. The long vowel is most awkward for a
comparison with the Indian vap=shear. And I think that ‘ de-
stroying the means of irrigation’ gives as good a meaning as
‘shearing the land.’ Notice that elsewhere a more correct form
appears, vidpétemem (Vd. III, 15, (51 Sp.) )=viyapétemem.
7 Literally, ‘he will discharge his club at the righteous.’
YASNA XXXII. 63
11. Yea, these will destroy my life, for they
consult with the great' of the wicked (enlightening
themselves by their words’). And they are seizing
away® the gifts of inherited treasures* from both
household-lord and from house-wife®; (wretched men
that they are), and those who will fiercely wound
(my folk, repelled and in no way kindly moved) by
the better mind of the holy 5.
12. (But Ahura will speak His rebuke, for) as to
those doctrines which (such) men may be (basely) de-
livering’ (repelled) by the holiest action, (and galled®
by its sacred truth) God hath said: Evil (are they !
Yea, unto these He hath said it) who have slain the
Kine’s life by a blessing (and have cursed her while
they offered to help her’), men by whom Grehmas
are loved above Righteousness, and the Karpans,
1 The Pahlavi translator erroneous, or free, as to Aik6iteres, indi-
cates the proper sense of mazibis by pavan mas4f [—pavan
péshpayth va p&sp&yth—]; but Neryosangh, mahattay4-puras-
sarataya.
* Comp. XXXI, 12, ‘there high his voice lifts the truthful or
liar.’
5 Literally, ‘he takes.’
* Riknah vindisnd.
§ Kadak-khfidaf gabra nésman.
5 Reshtnénd; see V, 10. The ablative of the cause, comp. ash4/
hada; otherwise with Hiibschm., ‘ Sie die Schaden nehmen mégen
durch den besten heiligen Geist, O Mazda!’ (Casuslehre, s. 241.)
7 The Pahlavi translator had probably before him a text reading
rashayen ; he renders freely résh srayénd. With sucha text which
is far preferable to the one afforded by the MSS. we may read:
Whereby (yéna) men will be opposing and retarding (literally
wounding) the doctrines which (are derived) from the best (moral
and ceremonial) action; but to these men Mazda declared: Evil
(are ye). See the previous verse.
δ΄ See the previous verse.
® The Pahlavi has hd-ravakh-manih yemalelind,
64 THE GATHAS.
and the Throne of those who have wished? for the
Demon of lies (as their deity and friend *).
13. And the Grehma will seek® for these things
by means of his (evil) kingdom‘ in the abode of
(Hell which is‘) the Worst Mind (who both are
together) the destroyers of life, and who, O Mazda!
will bewail ὁ with glad but (envious) wish the message
of Thy prophet. (But he will not abate with his
vengeance), he will hold them afar from the sight’
of the truth!
14. His is Grehma®; aye, his! And to (oppose)
Thee? he will establish the Kavis and (their) scheming
1 So also indicated by the Pahlavi bavihfind.
3 There is elsewhere evidence enough of a desire to encroach
upon the truth.
5 So also indicated by bavihQnéd.
* Or, ‘which kingdoms, sovereign power.’
* Comp. XXX 6.
* Or, ‘they gladly complain ;’ so also the Pahlavi: MQn—gar-
zisnd kémak. The singular gigerezaf is difficult with yaésé.
Many would alter the text at once, and the temptation is great.
7 Hubschm..,‘ye fs pas dares4é ashahya der sie abhalte vom Schauen
des Asha’ (Casus. 241). So of XLVI, 4. So also indicated by
padénd min nikézisnd ἢ Aharayth; evidence of a struggle, or at
least of a desire on the part of a rival party to possess themselves of
some religious privilege or precedence. See the previous verse;
also XXXI, 10: Never, OQ Mazda! never shall the thriftless and
thieving one share the good doctrine. See still further XLIV, 15,
where the two hosts meet in hostility ‘on account of the doctrinal
vows.’
* Grehma appertains to, but is not the particular evil teacher
referred to throughout. The Pahlavi translator indicates bribery
as the meaning of the word. Possibly some impious chieftain is
meant whose procedure was of that nature. The word occurs in
the plural.
9 Ahéi; Thwéiis difficult. Or (see Y. XLIV, 14), ‘Thine under-
standing has subdued the Kavis.’ The Pahlavi translator renders
masth, as if he had read ahuthwéi, offering an important alternative.
᾽
YASNA XXXII. 65
plans. Their deeds! of power are but deceits
since they have come as an aid to the wicked 3, and
since he has been (falsely) said (to be set) to conquer
the Kine’, he who shall kindle that (very) help of
grace which removes our death afar, (and lightens
Thy saving flame).
15. And therefore will I drive from hence‘ the
Karpans’ and Kavis’ disciples. And after these
(have thus been driven hence and away) then these
(my princely aiding saints) whom they (now)
render no longer rulers at will over life, (and deprive
of their absolute power), these shall be borne (at
Read: In his dominion he has established the Kavis and their in-
tended plans, Reading h6ithdi, ‘his G. is to be bound.’
1 The predecessors of the Pahlavi translator seem to have under-
stood the word var(e)4au as conveying the idea of power rather than
that of brilliancy. He renders freely pavan zak f varz4nan avarfind
danakénd. Supposing the text to stand, and not supplying a forma-
tion from var(e)z, we may hold that there existed a var(e)& beside
var(e)z, as there undoubtedly was a har(e)é (see hareke) beside
har(e)z. This casts light on the Vedic varéas.
? Amatié padirénd valman darvand4n atyy4rth [ ] amatié avd
Téra zanisnd gifts. The sufferings of the sacred Kine form the
central thought of much that occurs.
5 Can gdus be a genitive here? But if a nominative, must not
ye refer to it? How then could the Kine ‘kindle’ the aid of grace?
- A genitive looks difficult. It is, however, accepted by Spiegel,
although he renders differently from my translation. The Pahlavi
may give us invaluable relief here by restoring the text. The ancient
translator read vaokaya/, Reading with him, we might render:
When the Kine which (γᾶ ἢ) caused a death-removing help to be
declared, was said to be meet for subjection (or slaying, reading an
infinitive from gan). This rendering is more probable than that
from saokayaf. The Kine distinctly caused this help to be de-
clared. See XXIX. But I make it a matter of principle to follow
the MSS. in a first translation, where that is at all possible.
4 The Pahlavi translator differs greatly here, having taken andis
with adverbial force, and as possessing the a priv. (they being
[31] Ε
66 THE GATHAS.
last) by the (immortal') two to the home of (Thy)
Good Mind (in Heaven) 5!
16. (And) this entire ὃ (reward of the righteous) is
from that Best One who teaches‘ in the wide
(mental) light of the pious‘, ruling (as supreme), O
Mazda Ahura®! whose are my woes and my doubt-
not inclined). _He also read somewhat as follows: andis avaént(?)
as ye=from his non-inclination he was blind who (belongs to the
Karpan and to the Kavi). Whether a truer text is indicated by
him here is doubtful on account of XLIV, 13, and its nésh4mé ; but
the unvarying explanation of the Kavis as blind probably derives its
origin from some such reading here, or elsewhere in lost documents.
Certainly if ais can be used as a particle, andis is not altogether
impossible in some such sense. Moreover, the Pahlavi translation
here and elsewhere has afforded us such a multitude of valuable
concretes, that we shall do well to think twice before we reject its
most startling suggestions. Lit. trl. ‘ what (things are) of the K.’
1 The Pahlavi translation gives a fine suggestion in the concrete
sense here; seeing the dual Aby4, it explains it as referring to
Haurvatés and Ameretata/, which is very probably correct. So
Spiegel also renders. It is very difficult to decide in which sense
yeng dainti néi/ jyateus khshayamaneng vas6 is to be taken. If in
an evil sense (as vase-khshayaat is sometimes elsewhere taken) one
might think of such a rendering as this : I have driven the Karpans’
and Kavis’ disciples hence to those (evil rulers) whom they (my
servants) render no longer wanton tyrants over life. But these (my
champion saints) shall be borne by the two to the home of Thy
Good Mind. But strict grammar demands of us that t6i should .
refer back to yeng. Accordingly I suggest as above first.
* Observe that Vohu Manah equals heaven. Recall XXX, 4,
‘but for the holy Vahista Manah; that is heaven.’
3 The Pahlavi has ham; Neryosangh has sarvam.
* Reading sad(a)yassis (P", skyaski#; Pahlavi, Amfkhtisnd (sic);
Ner., sikshapazam). Otherwise syaski/, which may well mean
‘lying, reposing’ in the wide (mental) light of the pious (or of the
offering). Geldner lately admirably suggests a 2nd sg.
5 Pavan farakh@ hfshih.
4 If this ‘best one’ is the Ratu of XXXIII, 1, all is gramma-
tically clear; but the expressions are rather strong in view of
YASNA XXXII. 67
ings! (yea, they lie in His power to heal), when I
shall make (my prophets) men to be sought? for the
harm of the wicked. And this I shall do by the
word of my mouth (to defend and avenge my saints) !
XLVIII, 9, where similar language is certainly applied to Ahura.
If Ahura is here meant, we have only one instance more to add to
the many in which Ahura is spoken of in the third person, with an
address to Him thrown in. See the differing views of XLV, 11.
Possibly the ‘ Best One’ was Ahura’s Speata Mainyu.
* Zak i pavan gimanikih. As to 4ithi, Aithivazt seems to prove
that its meaning must be calamity also in this place. Otherwise one
is strongly tempted to heed the vigorous indication of the Pahlavi
translator. Here and in XLVIII, 9, he renders ‘ manifest,’ ‘ what
is clear in the midst of my doubt.’ The etymology would be far
simpler. Alternatively dvaéth4=terror (bi).
? Valman f pimman khvdstér. The Pahlavi sees ‘ to be desired’
in ishyeng. Otherwise one might render: I will cause (verbal)
missiles (comp. zast4-ist4is) to be cast forth from the mouth for the
harm of the wicked.
(SupPLEMENTARY NOTE. ‘Parch with drought’ in verse to may
be regarded as having figurative application. The destruction of
the means of irrigation, so often resorted to in the same regions
later, would point also to a literal sense, but ‘waste our meadows
like drought’ is a safer expression. See further vivdpa/, and
vivipem=viyapa/, viyapem.)
68 THE GATHAS.
YASNA XXXIII.
Prayers, Hopes, AND SELF-CONSECRATION.
Brighter times seem to have arrived. The vengeance so confi-
dently promised in the close of XXXII is described as near
at hand. In fact the first three verses seem to belong as much
to XXXII as to the present chapter. They remind one of the
choruses of attending saints, or ‘Immortals,’ in XXIX, perfectly
germane to the connection, but referring in the third person to
a speaker who closes the last chapter with a first, and who
begins again with a first in verse 4. The propriety of a divi-
sion of chapters here rests upon the fact that the thought comes
to a climax at XXXII, 16, beginning afresh at XXXIII, 4.
Whether Zarathustra, or the chief composer, whatever his name
may have been, composed these three verses relating, as they do,
to himself, and put them into the mouth of another, or whether
their grammatical form indicates another author, is difficult to
determine. I doubt very greatly whether either the expressions ‘I
approach,’ ‘I offer,’ &c., or the words ‘he will act,’ ‘let him be in
Asha’s pastures,’ are at all meant to express more than some modern
hymns which use ‘I’ and ‘he.’ Both are in constant employment
in anthology with no change in the person indicated. ‘I’ and
‘Thy servant’ are merely verbal variations. Here, however, the
change is somewhat marked by the allusion to the chastisement of
the wicked just previously mentioned in XXXII, τό. 1. It is to
be noticed that the strictest canon with the original, as indeed with
the later, Zarathustrians of the Avesta was the ‘primeval law.’
Unquestionably the precepts understood as following from the
dualistic principle were intended ; that is to say, no trifling with any
form of evil, least of all with a foreign creed, was to be tolerated.
Ahura has no share in the evolution of anything corrupt. We
may even add that He had no power to prevent either sin or sorrow,
although He possessed all conceivable power to oppose them.
According to these fundamental laws, then, the Ratu is said to act,
as sternly severe upon the evil as he is beneficent to the saint.
2. The fierce hostilities hitherto pursued are more than justified.
The injury of the wicked by denouncing, planning, or by physical
violence, is on a par with advising the good. They who pursue
the enemies of Ahura are actually operating in love to God, and
sacrificing to religion itself.
YASNA XXXIII. 69
3. And accordingly the reciter is made to pray in this immediate
connection for a sincere and useful friend (a vahista) to the
believer, to whichever class he may belong, whether chief, allied
peer, or villager, a friend spiritually enlightened (vidas), and, accord-
ing to Ahura’s prescript (XXIX, 2), keen, persevering, and brave in
the cultivation of cattle (thwakhshangha gav6i). ‘Let such an one as
this, so asked for by the Lord himself, so needed by the Kine, let
him,’ he prays, ‘ be supported in his holy toil for us. Let him tilland
tend, not in the pastures of our valleys only, but in the spiritual
pastures of the Divine Benevolence where the mystic kine is grazing.’
4. Taking up the peculiar ‘I who’ of XXVIII, the composer returns
to the first person, continuing in that form with little exception
until the last verse, which, naming Zarathustra in the third person,
implies (if it is not an addition, which, however, it may be) that
Zarathustra had been the speaker throughout. As it is highly
probable that the author who uses this ‘I who’ is the same who
uses it in XXVIII, and if we may take verse 14 as fair evidence
that Zarathustra is the speaker here, we acquire some additional
grounds for believing that the person who wrote (if we can apply
such an expression to the author) the words ‘ to Zarathustra and to
us,’ as well as ‘to Vistéspa and to me,’ and ‘to Frashaostra and
to me,’ was universally recognised to be Zarathustra himself com-
posing a piece to be recited by another. As if in response to the
expression in verse 3, recalling that although a vahista (a best one)
to some of each class (verse 1) he was no contenter of the wicked
(XLIIT, 15), he begins a prayer which is only completed by its
izyA in verse 6, and which gathers force by each preceding profes-
sion of fidelity. And true to a practical dualism, he first abjures
the leading sin of disobedience to God, and of arrogance, dis-
content, and dishonesty toward man, accompanied (as it seems
to have been) with neglect of the all-important duties to the cattle
who shared the sanctity of ‘the soul’ of their representative. And
perhaps it is this practical severity of dualism as opposed to the
more facile ‘lying’ of the opposed religion, which was the cause of
that high reputation of the Persians for veracity, which was grouped
with avoiding debt by Herodotus among the virtues of the race.
5. 1, he goes on to say, or to imply, I who not only abjure dis-
obedience, insolence, complaint, and lying, but especially invoke
the great genius who is Obedience himself, Obedience toward God,
(Thee), endeavouring as I do by this abjuration and prayer to
attain, not to a ‘hundred autumns’ of booty and glory, but
to a long life in the kingdom which was established in the spirit of
70 THE GATHAS,
the Divine Benevolence, and to paths not only for the war-cart, or
for commerce, but to those rigidly straight paths of moral purity in
which Ahura dwells, 6. I, he adds once more, who am thus Thine
actually invoking (zbay4) invoker, ‘straight ’ like the paths (erezus),
Iam seeking with longing (kaya) to know from that Best Spirit
(Thy Spezta Mainyu?) animated once more by that best mind, to
know-what? Shall we regard it as a bathos when we read that he
thus with cumulative urgency prays to know what the Best Spirit
thought should be done for the recovery and perfection of the
fields? If we turn back to XXIX, 1, we shall see that the identical
word (vAstry4) describes the original want of the kine’s soul. It
was voh(i vastrya which she implored as her salvation ; and it was
the sacred agriculturist who alone could afford it, and who as the
‘diligent tiller of the earth’ always remained the typical saint.
‘And as his useful deeds in reclaiming, irrigating, and cultivating
land, were justly ranked among the first services of a human being,
and as the last preparation of the gathered grain was perhaps
humorously, but yet pungently, said to make the Da€vas start,
and shriek, and fly (see Vendfdad III, 32, Sp. 165), and as further, a
life from the fruits of the earth to this day constitutes the main
difference between those who live by murderous theft and those
who live honestly in nearly the same regions, I think we may not
only see no bathos here, but on the contrary admire the robust
sense of this early religion’, and say that a knowledge as to a true
policy in the department of agriculture was one of the wisest
possible desires, and the most of all things worthy of a ‘sight of
Mazda and of consultation with Him.’ How the fields had better
be worked, and how the people could best be kept from bloody
freebooting as aggressors or as victims, this involved Ahura’s
Righteous Order, Benevolence, Power, and Piety, the four energis-
ing Immortals all at once. And this only could secure the other
two rewarding personifications, Welfare and Immortality.
4. Having prayed for that which is the first virtue of civilised
existence, work (verezyéidyai), he proceeds to further petitions.
‘Come Ye,’ he beseeches in Vedic fashion. Come Ye, O Ahura,
Asha, and Vohu Manah! and behold the attentive monarch, the
leading Magavan, as he listens to my instructions with the other
1 In this particular. As to ceremonies it had at a later period more than its
share of absurdities ; but as to honest work as against ‘ foraging on the enemy’
there is a great difference between the G&thas, and some other ancient hymns,
for instance the Aiks of the Veda. In fact these latter may be regarded as
representing the opposite extreme.
YASNA XXXIII. 71
chiefs, and the thronging masses. And let too the sacrificial gifts
pour in for offering and worship.
8. He rests at no bare morality for the simple multitude. He
knows too well the human foible, therefore he asks with vigour for
sacrifice and hymn.
9. Encouraging the two pious chiefs whose souls go hand in
hand, he prays that an influence like that of the ‘ eternal two’ might
bear their ‘spirit’ (sic) to the shining home of Paradise, it having
attained to perfection by the help of the Best Mind of God within
it. (For mainyu in this sense compare XLIV, 11.)
1o. Asking of Mazda to grant in His love (or ‘by His will’)
all the happy phases of life which have been, or which shall ever
be experienced, he prays that their bodies, that is, their persons, as
separate accountable individuals (compare narem narem Avahyai
tanuyé) might flourish in the graces of the Good Mind, the Holy
Sovereignty, and the Sacred Order, till they were blessed with the
usta, the summum bonum.
11. He here prays all the grand abstractions, Piety, the Righteous
Order (which alone can ‘push on’ the settlements), the Good Mind
of God within His people, and His kingdom, to turn their mental
ears and listen, and listening to pardon.
12. And specifying the one central object of desire, the Thrift-
law, the Avesta of the Ratu, or Saoshyamt, he asks Ahura to arise
to his help and give him spiritual strength by sustaining him through
the inspiring Righteousness and the Good Mind, in an effective
invocation.
13. With a spirituality still deeper than his Semitic colleague, he
asks, not to see the person of God, but His nature, and especially
to be able to comprehend and bring home to his mind what the
Sovereignty of God implies with its ‘blessed rewards.’ And he asks
of Piety as first acquired, practised, and then speaking within him,
to reveal the Gnosis, the Insight, that is, the Religion.
14. After the fervent language of the previous verses we may
accept verse 14 as a legitimate continuation. Its ‘ Zarathustra’
may mean ‘I’ just as ‘David’ is used by the Psalmist for ‘me.’
And the language can mean nothing but a dedication of all that he
is and has to God, his flesh, his body, his religious eminence, the
obedience which he offers in word and deed, inspired by Righteous-
ness, and the Kingdom which he has succeeded in saving and
blessing. (I do not think that I have at all exaggerated the grasp
and fervour of this section. Less could not be said, if the words
are to be allowed their natural weight.)
2. ‘THE GATHAS,
Translation,
1. As by the laws of the primeval world, so will
our spiritual chieftain act (that chief besought-for by
the Kine’, and named as Zarathustra? by the Lord).
Deeds most just he will do toward the wicked, as
toward the righteous, and toward him whose deeds
of fraud* and righteous deeds combine (in equal
measure).
2. Yea, (he will act with justice but with ven-
geance, for) he who does evil to the wicked by word,
or with thought (and plan), and (who therein does
not dally, but toils labouring as) with both the hands,
or he (again) who admonishes one for his good‘, such
as these are offering (a gift) to their religious ® faith
in the love (and with the approving view) of Ahura
Mazda‘; (they are offering to conscience.)
* See XXIX, 1.
3 See XXIX, 6, 8.
5 So the Pahl. ; and so also Roth (Z. Ὁ. M. G., vol. xxxvii. 5, 223)
taking mithahy4 as a nom. pl. (comp. vaéahya). But I am
strongly inclined to a former view of my own. Yéhya-mithahy&
look irresistibly like two genitives. I would render as an emphatic
alternative ‘what fraud he may lay hold of (hemydsaité with the
gen.), reach (of the one), and what (seem) to him the righteous
deeds (of the other).’ But if Roth and the Pahlavi are right, we
have here the origin of the later haméstaga, the souls in the inter-
mediate place between Heaven and Hell, whose sins and good
works have been equal (West, Gloss. to M.iK.). The Persian
manuscript of Haug 12 Ὁ. has: Kih i& (pro ham) ἃ # an ham
rasid éstéd 4nidurQg&, kih if (ham) ἃ 4n ¢ ‘h4lis [kQ, hamést4n]. |
* So the Pahlavi also indicates: Val valman f sapir-—Aashisn.
Ner. uttamasya va Asvddayanti dehinad.
5 Literally, ‘they are offering a gift to their own choice’ (var=
varena ; comp. yavarena).
5“ They are holding fast by the holy cause, and their vehemence
in vengeance does not negative the fact that they are toiling in the
love of Ahura. Pahlavi: Pavan zak ἃ lak déshisnd, Adharmazd !
Ὄπ -- -- 5...
3. (And so may it be), O Ahura! Let the man
who is the best toward the righteous saint, whether
lord’s kinsman |, or as village labourer, with the allied 3
peer (of the master), having light, and endowed with
energy for the cattle (a Ratu such as Ahura sought
to satisfy their wail), let such an one be (for us)? in
the work-field of the Righteous Order, in the pas-
tures of Thy Good Mind ‘.
4. (And I beseech for Thine instruction), I who
will abjure® all disobedience (toward Thee, praying
that others likewise may withhold it) from Thee; I
who abjure the Evil Mind as well, the lordly kins-
man’s arrogance °, and that lying sin which is (alas !)
the next thing to the people’ (their most familiar
fault), and the blaming ally’s falsehood, and from
the Kine the worst care of her meadows ® (the crime
of stint in labour’),
} Literally, ‘with, or as, the kinsman.’
3 «With the true ally.’
5 See XXIX, 2: ‘Let that pasture-giver whom ye would appoint
for us, teaching by example and precept νομῇ vastry4, let him be
on our sacred pastures, and on our side.’
4 The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows: He who affords
increase to the righteous on account of the relationship [that is,
something is given to him ?] does so also on account of the labourer’s
duty, or class [that is, the labourer is to be considered as his own].
Through the loyalty; that is, the loyal class, that which adheres to
A(harmazd, he has a thorough understanding as to what is (true)
energy toward the herds. Thus Vohfiman (a good mind) is a
workman with him to whom Righteousness also belongs.
5 Hitbschm. Casuslehre, ‘der ich von dir den Ungehorsam und
schlechten Sinn durch Gebet abwenden will ’ (5. 180).
6 Observe that Avaétu certainly designates an upper class. Why
else. arrogance ?
7 Possibly this severity was the cause of the later high reputation
of the Zarathustrians for veracity.
® Literally, ‘from the pasture of the Kine.’
9 The Pahlavi may be rendered: Him who will not listen to
74 THE GATHAS,
5. I, who (abjuring these sins), call earnestly on
Thine Obedience of all (assisting guardians) the
greatest one for our help’, gaining (thereby 2) long
life in the Realm of (Thy) Good Mind (incarnate in
‘our tribes), and paths that are straight from their
Righteous Order, wherein Ahura Mazda dwells,
6. (Yea), I who, as this Thy faithful priest, invoke
Thee through (my) Righteousness, (now) seek ¢ with
longing from (Thy) Best Spirit, and with that® (best)
intention of mind, (to know) what® he_ himself
thought of the working of (our) fields’. Therefore
(because I abjure the Evil Mind, and all disobedience,
Thee, O Aftharmazd! will I abjure, and Akéman also, for by him
there is the despising of relations, and the deception of the labouring
men who live close at hand [that is, of neighbours]. And he is
ever bringing censure upon the clients. And he holds to the lowest
measure of duty toward the Herd.
1 Avangha ne, or avangh4né, an infinitive (see Wilhelm, de Infin.
p. 16). The Pahlavi has avd afyyarth.
2 Sraosha (=listening obedience) is the greatest for help, because
by a Matkra which appeals to him the way to Ahura is found out
(XXVIII, 6) and the Demon defeated. Ifap4né is read, so strictly.
The Pahlavi translator seems to have understood ap4 ne; baram
ayafinai pavan dér-zivisnth, zak f pavan khQdayih f Vohiman.
Ner.: Avapaya dirghe givitatve. This may well restore for us
the proper text. Reading δρᾷ ne we should render ‘obtain for us.’
® Ahura Mazda dwells as in His abode amid the paths where
His saints walk (see XLVI, 16).
4. So also indicated by bavihinéd. Kayé properly refers to ye.
5 The Pahlavi translator seems to have seen an imperative in
av4, rendering it freely alyyarinéd6.
¢ Ὑ may be an instr. sing. or an acc. pl. neut. ‘I ask what he
thought meet to be done;’ γᾷ does not necessarily equal yéna in
every instance.
7 I need hardly remind the reader that agriculture was the great
question of orderly and religious life with the Zarathustrians.
Without it there was of course no resource but wandering and
plunder for them.
YASNA XXXIII. 75
arrogance, falsehood), O Mazda! would I beseech
of Thee for a sight of Thee, and for consultation
with Thee! (What is Thy will and mind ?)
7. Come Ye, then, to my best (regulations.
Come to my men, and my laws’), my very own, O
Mazda! and let them see through the Righteous
Order and (Thy) Good Mind (which Thou wilt
bestow in Thy drawing near) how I am heard before
the rich giver? (in the assembly of Thy worshippers).
Yea, (come Ye); and let the manifold offerings of
worship be manifest among us*, (Arouse Ye, and
help our zeal? !)
1 So I render from the context. Otherwise see tA t6i izy4 in the
previous verse.
* I was formerly inclined to understand Ahura here, Indian
usage permitting. (Indra and other Gods are maghavan.) But
modern authority, aided by the ancient Pahlavi translator, brings
me to a better mind. The Pahlavi has pavan fravén magih. It
is better to refer the word to the disciple. The more prominent
members of the congregation are meant.
* Ner. renders the last line thus: And may these offerings be
manifest in the midst of us, and accompanied with (sincerest)
worship.
4 There are certain cases where allowance for an ancient scholar
working under great disadvantages becomes a critical necessity.
Here the Pahlavi translator was clearly the victim of a manuscript.
The word ‘ didQm’ (sic) stood, as similar words so often stand, in
his MS. as ‘4i.dQm.’ Deeply imbued with a superstitious regard
for every letter, and with a public equally scrupulous, he saw no
course before him but to translate each as best he could. He
chose to render ‘4i’ by an infinitive, preserving the root, and
could only think of a form of ‘da’ for dim (so also moderns in
another case). Many writers, seeing such a step, cast away his
paper, regarding themselves as absolved by such a ‘ blunder’ from
mastering his translations. But a little honest labour will always
bring one back to sounder exegesis. In the next following verse
we have identically the same form in another word, which he renders
awkwardly but correctly, using d& again, but as a proper auxiliary.
76 THE GATHAS.
8. (Come Ye) and show me the worthy aims of
our faith, so that I may approach and fulfil them
with (Thy) Good Mind, the offering, O Mazda! of
the One like You', or the words of praises offered
with Righteousness. And give Ye as Your offering?
(of grace to me) the abiding gifts of Your Immor-
tality and Welfare !
9. And let (one like those 8), O Mazda! bear on
to Thee the spirit of the two leaders who cause the
holy ritual Truth to flourish; let him‘ bear them to
(Thy) brilliant home® with® preternatural insight,
and with the Better Mind. Yea, let him bear that
spirit on as a fellow-help’ in (furthering) the readi-
1 To approach the offering of a praiser seems certainly an un-
natural expression. I think that we are obliged to regard khshma-
vat6 as another way of saying Yourself rather than ‘of Yours’;
and if it equals ‘ Yourself’ here, it may elsewhere; see XXXIV, 2,
khshm4vat6 vahmé, also XLIV, 1, neme khshmavat6. All acknow-
ledge mavaité to mean ‘to me.’ Hiibschmann, Casuslehre, s. 200:
‘dass ich mit frommem sinne an eure Verehrung, Mazda, gehen
kann,’
3. It is curious that draondé seems to be in apposition here. The
word is used merely in the sense of offering in the later Avesta. It
might possibly mean ‘ possessions’ here.
® See XXXII, 15. There helping princes are spoken of ‘as
borne by the two (Haurvat4/ and Ameretata/).’ Here in immediate
connection with the same two it is said: Let one bear the spirit of
the two united chiefs. By the term ‘spirit,’ which sounds so sus-
piciously modern, we must nevertheless understand very nearly
what the word would mean in a modern phrase. By these two
leaders we may understand either Gamdspa and Vistéspa (XLIX, 9)
or G&maspa and Frashaostra. (Compare ydvarena Frashaostré
Gamspi.)
* «Let one bear them.’
5. Khvarth maninisnd.
* The Pahlavi gives its evidence for an instrumental and for a
less pronounced meaning than the one above.
* Hamkardarih. Ifthe second kar is the root, the sense is figurative.
YASNA XXXIII. 77
ness! of those (in their holy work) whose souls go
hand in hand*
το. (And not for these alone do I pray, but for
us? as well.) All prosperous states‘ in being which
have been enjoyed in the past, which men are now
enjoying, and which shall be known in the future, do
Thou grant (me) these in Thy love®, (Yea), cause
(our) bodily and personal life to be blest with sal-
vation δ through (Thy) Good Mind, (Thy) Sovereign
Power, and (Thy) Sanctity’.
11. And, O Thou who art the most beneficent
Ahura Mazda! and thou who art Aramaiti (our
piety), and also the Righteous Order who dost
further on the settlements; and Thou, the Good
Mind, and the Sovereign Power! hear ye me all,
and have mercy ® for every deed which I do what-
soever °!
1 Baindakd. 3. Pavan akvind riband.
5 So more probably. See the first person in verses 8 and 11,
4 So the Pahlavi also, hf-ztvisnth.
® So the Pahlavi also: Pavan han4 f lak déshisnd. ‘In Thy
will’ is here very weak.
5 Nad@kihié f avd tani [am yehabfin]; Ner. subham tanau.
7 Neryosangh: Let them continue to live well, and be prosperous
in all things [ ] those females (y44 most curiously) who are born
thus [that is, come from elsewhere (and not from us)]|, and who
are [gained over by myself]. Those, O Great Wise One! who
shall exist [(or) come in the future], let them render these persons
thine own through friendship to thee. Cause thou the Best Mind
to increase within me, O Lord! [that is, make my mind ever the
more piously zealous]. And in view of my righteousness grant me
a benefit in my body, or person [ ].
® So the Pahlavi also: Am baré 4mfrzéd.
® Observe that all the Ameshdspends, except the two mentioned
in verse 8, are here bidden as persons to listen and be merciful.
These recurring instances (recall the two hands of Asha &c.)
necessitate the view that the idea of personality is never lost in that
78 THE GATHAS.
O most bountiful Spirit Mazda! through (my)
faithful appeals and offerings? ; and for (my) Right-
eousness grant me mighty strength, and (Thy)
thrift-law * through (Thy) Good Mind‘.
13. (Arise to give me power), and then for grace
in a wide perception‘ (that I may view its depth and
extent), do Thou reveal to me Thy® nature (Ὁ), O
Ahura! (the power of Thine attributes), and those of
Thy (holy) kingdom, and by these, the blessed gifts 7
of (Thy) Good Mind! And do Thou, O bountiful
Piety 5 show forth the religious truths through (Thy)
Righteous Order.
of the abstract quality; and vice versa; (the latter especially in the
Gathas where the names always retain much, if not all of their
original force). As to 4dai; see vanghuy4 (sic) zavd-4d4 in the next
verse. :
1 We seem obliged to suppose that Ahura was poetically con-
ceived of as sitting (like Vohfman in Vendidad XIX, 31 (Wg.)) upon
an ornamented throne, or we may take the expression as pure
metaphor equalling ‘ exert Thy power.’ Aramaitt may be a voc.
* See 4dai in verse 11.
8 Pavan zak tf Vohfman sardarih. The ‘thrift-law’ is the regula-
tion established by the Ratu demanded in Y. XXIX for the redemp-
tion of the Kine. It expresses the entire polity and theology of
the Zarathustrian people as summed up in the original Avesta.
4 Neryosangh: Up! O Lord! purify me [that is, make me pure,
or free, from the influence of that tormentor, the Evil Mind]; and
grant me perfect spirituality and zeal. For we are recipients of
Gvahmana, O more mighty spirit [that is, let him be as a guest,
arrived within my body]! And let sanctity have power over the
murderer (ἢ) [1], and through the lordship of the Best Mind.
® The Pahlavi has here pavan kamak Aashisnd, on which see
Darmesteter, Etudes Iraniennes, vol. ii, as per index.
® Literally, ‘ Your.’
7 Ashi has this meaning in the later Avesta. It also means
‘sacred regularity,’ ‘exactness’ in religious duties,
® So the Pahlavi also: As pavan Aharfyth din6 fréz dakh-
YASNA ΧΧΧΠΙ. 79
14. Thus, as an offering, Zarathustra gives the
life! of his very body. And he offers, likewise, O
Mazda! the priority of the Good Mind, (his emi-
nence gained) by his holiness (with Thy folk) ; and
he offers (above all his) Obedience (to Thee) in deed
and in speech, and with these (Thine established)
Sovereign Power?!
shakind; Ner.: Puzyena dinim prakihnaya. Possibly, ‘give light
to our consciences through Asha’ would be better.
1 The tissues; the word seems contrasted with bones elsewhere.
The Pahlavi has khay4, and Ner. givam (sic).
3 The Pahlavi translation may be rendered as follows: Thus, as
a gift of generosity, I who am Zartfst (so freely, and with no error
from ignorance (!)) give the life of my own body, as the advance [as
the chieftainship] to VohQman and to A(iharmazd, and to Asha-
vahist, in actions [that is, I would do the deeds which Aharayith
desires], and would give obedient attention to the word (literally
the hearing of the word) to (i.e. of) Khshatraver.
8ο THE GATHAS.
YASNA XXXIV.
1. A tone of thankfulness continues, As if in gratitude for
better fortunes, the prophet declares that he will bestow upon
Ahura with the foremost, according to the measure of the gifts
which he has received. Those gifts were the secured Immortality
(not mere temporal ‘ deathlessness’), the Righteous Order, and the
Sovereign Power established in holiness and bestowing the Universal
Weal.
2. The kind of gifts which are proposed for offerings are not
sacrificial beasts or fruits, but the actions of the truly pious citizen
whose soul is intimately united with Righteousness, the homage of
prayer, and the songs of praise. As no piety could exist without
strict ecclesiastical regularity, so no ceremonial punctuality was
conceived of apart from honour and charity (see verse 5 and
Yast XXII).
3. Accordingly the meat-offering, the mention of which imme-
diately follows, is spoken of as offered with homage to the Right-
eous Order and to the Divine Sovereignty for the benefit of all the
sacred settlements, in order to equip the wise man fully, and as a
helpful blessing among the Immortals themselves and _ their
adherents.
4. And the Fire is likewise mentioned, which was worshipped not
so much like Agni as the friendly god of the hearth and the altar,
but more and chiefly like Agni as the priest of the church.
Not unlike Agni, it is called upon both for inward spiritual
strength and for temporal blessings in various forms, together with
vengeance hurled very much as if in the form of a thunderbolt
(zast4-istdis derest4-a€nanghem). 5. To explain what he means by
his supplications for the coming of the Kingdom, and for holy
actions (that is, to make it certain that he does not mean punc-
tilious ritualism apart from the noblest charity), he rhetorically asks :
‘And what is Your Kingdom, that which Zarathustra establishes and
offers to You? (XXXIII, 14). What is the kind of prayer (comp.
XLVIII, 8, and LIII, 1) which I must use, so that I may become
Yours (Your property) in my actions, not to load Your priesthood
with sacrifices, nor to fatten Your princes with booty (as too often
in the 2115), nor yet to secure a heavy gift to the poet, but to
‘nourish Your poor?’ This was the essence of the desired Sanctity
and the Sovereign Authority. The Kingdom of God, exalted
YASNA XXXIV. 81
and personified as a separate intelligence, is positively said to be
something more than a gaudy pageant of material display, even
Tava Khshathrem γᾶ eresigyéi daht drigavé vahyé (LIII,9). (See
also even Vendidad II [part i], where moral duties are lauded.)
And the composer himself seems to be so conscious of the sharply
defined difference bétween such a kingdom and that of the rival
religion, that he immediately adds an interdict: ‘Such is Your King-
dom, caring for the righteous poor, and therefore we declare You
irreconcilably distinct from the Daévas and their polluted followers.
Ye are beyond them and before in the spirit of Your Reign!’
6. He then utters an impressive doubt, which only deepens our
admiration at his expressions of faith: ‘If it be really true,’ he con-
tinues (see XLIV, 6), ‘that Ye are thus with the Righteous Order
and the Good Mind, the God who looks upon the goodness of the
heart and the activity of the hands, then give me a sign of it, that
I may persevere and increase in the depth of my homage while life
shall last.’ 7. For the struggle, though not without signs of a
favourable issue, was far from over yet. (Hence his misgivings.)
He then asks with some wistfulness after the ‘ ar(e)dr4,’ the men
that could help, who from the experience of the grace of God,
could turn sorrow into blessing by establishing the holy religious
system firmly, but with enlarged and not narrowed understanding.
And, still a little dispirited, he declares, as so often: ‘None have I
other than You ; therefore I can wait for the ar(e)dré. Do ye save
us alone by Your already offered means of grace.’
8. ‘For Ye have given me already, as it were, a sign. The
enemy are checked, and for the moment cowed, if they are not
repelled. They among whom there was death for so many when
they had the upper hand, and when their ruler persecuted the holy
vows, are not only struck with terror by the action which we take,
but their chief retribution is, as we hold it, spiritual, and therefore,
in the eye of truth the more severe. They will not encourage
righteous Order and righteous intentions, and accordingly, the
personified Good Intention, grieved, will depart from them.’
9. ‘ Yea,’ he reiterates, amplifying, ‘the unfortunate sinners who
depart from Thy kindly and sacred Piety in this ignorance of all
experience of Thy Good Mind, will suffer an equal desertion. The
characteristics of righteousness will, in their turn, avoid them as the
unclean creatures flee from us.’ το. ‘And this is,’ thus he con-
tinues, ‘a sign or result which the All-wise declares to me to steady
my soul as I waver.’ ‘ And these are indeed the cheering proofs of
Thy favour,’ he adds, addressing Ahura, ‘ which terrify our enemies
[31] α
82 THE GATHAS.
and advance us, giving us a righteous eminence (XXXIII, 14) in
Thy Kingdom.’
11. ‘Therefore that kindly Piety whom these desert in their
judicial ignorance, will increase for us both the all-comprehensive
blessings; spiritual Deathlessness begun in anticipation here, and its
necessary condition, Welfare. And they shall be increased as food
(sic) for Mazda’s straitened people, or better, to His glory as their
monarch. And by their means Ahura may defend Himself
efficiently from the persecuting and idolatrous foe.’ 12. Taking
into consideration all that depends on a correct understanding as
to religious and political duties, he fervently prays to be guided
aright in the establishment of a ceremonial and of praises, beseech-
ing Mazda to speak, declaring the kind of worship which may
secure the ashis (which are the blessed rewards). And he asks to
be taught those religious paths about which no error was possible,
the paths which are the Good Mind’s own.
13. After a fashion already known to us (as in XXIX), he
answers his question himself. That way which Ahura had already
revealed as the Good Mind’s own, was made up of the revealed
- precepts of the Saoshyamts. There, as in the paths where Ahura
dwells (XXXIII, 5; XLVI, 16), the well-doer may prosper from
his devotion to the religious truths, and gain a reward immediately
from the hand of God. 14. As if never forgetting the original
calamity, the woes of the Kine, he further declares that way to be
the one of all to be chosen for this earthly life, as the vestibule to
the heavenly one. And he asserts that they who toil for the Kine
(who represents here, as generally, the holy settlements as well as
their chief source of riches and support) are striving to further and
demonstrate the wisdom of that way by every righteous contrivance.
Nay, he declares that the deeds of Piety are themselves the
highest wisdom, just as the words and righteous actions of the
Saoshyaats not only declare and make, but constitute, ‘ the way.’
15. Again, concluding with a climacteric and synoptical prayer,
he beseeches Ahura to speak and reveal to him all the most
available statements, ceremonies, and praises. And never for-
getting that all ceremonies, hymns, and sacrifices, sacred as they
are, are only means to a greater end; he prays the Deity that
He may exert that Sovereign Power which is alone supremely
efficient in relieving actual distress (LIII, 9), for by its holy
laws and spiritual arms it can alone bring on the Frashakard, and
produce that condition in society in which all human progress shall
have become complete.
YASNA XXXIV. 83
Translation.
1. As to those (three gifts of blessings), Immor-
tality, the Righteous Order, and the (established)
Kingdom of Welfare, which Thou, O Mazda! hast
given through (holy) deeds, words, and the sacrifice
unto these (Thy servants here in my sight’), gifts
(shall) be offered? by us in return to Thee, O Ahura!
and with the foremost of them all.
2. Yea, and all those gifts of the Good Spirits
have been given (back in gratitude) to Thee by the
mind and the deed of the bountiful man, whose soul
goes hand in hand‘ with the Righteous Order in
the settlement, in homage toward the One like You',
1 The hymns seem to be all composed for public declamation,
as is evident from various passages. Similar indications often occur
in the Veda. I formerly connected aéshim with Ameretat4/, &c.,
‘a thank-offering for these (gifts).’
2 I am very sorry to oppose progress on such a subject as dasté,
but I do not think that it is an infinitive, nor that 4it@ or mrfité
are such, -Té, or what it represents, I regard as seldom or never
a Gfthic suffix, and especially not, as here, where dasté falls to the
end of the sentence. Too little attention has been paid to the
GA&thic sentence. The infinitive seldom falls to the end of it;
vidvanéi vaoka; taf m6i vikidydi ναοζᾶ; viduyé (vidvé) vohd
mananghf; menf4 daidy4i yéhya mA rishis; ash4 fradath4i as-
perezaté; Agéi (?) hadréy4; ye akistem vaénanghé aoged4; but
zbay4 avanghané(?) γᾶ verezyéidy4i mamta vastry4; sriidy4i
Mazda fravaoki; kahm4i vividuyé (-vé) vashi; taf verezyéidy4i
hya¢ méi mraota vahistem; aretha véizhdy4i kamahy4 tem méi
dat&; dazdy4i hakerend; but vasmf any4é4 viduyé (-vé); men-
daidyai yi T6i Mazda 4distis, &c. The Pahlavi renders here with
admirable freedom as a first person, yehabiiném.
5 Observe this expression. It is the spezta mainyu which, like
the ‘ Holy Spirit of God,’ is sometimes identical with Him.
* Souls are elsewhere said to go handin hand; see Y. XXXIII, 9.
5 I suppose that it is possible that khshmévaté, here and else-
where, may refer to the human subject, ‘to the praise of your wor-
G2
84 THE GATHAS.
O Mazda! and with the chants of the (thankful)
praisers?.
3. And unto Thee, O Ahura! will we offer the
(thankful) meat-offering with self-humbling praise,
and to Thy Righteousness (like Thee a person), and
for all the settlements in Thy kingdom which are
guarded? by Thy Good Mind. For in the perfect
preparation of the justly acting (has that offering its
power), O Mazda! together with all (others of its
kind). Among those like You and worthy of Your-
selves, it is a blessing®, __
4. And we pray likewise for Thy Fire, O Ahura!
strong through Righteousness (as it is), most swift,
(most) powerful, to the house with joy receiving it,
in many wonderful ways our help, but to the hater, O
Mazda! it is a steadfast* harm as if with weapons
hurled from the hands°.
shipper,’ but it does not sound at all natural. I think that khshm4-
vat6 is merely another way of saying ‘of you,’ as mavant=me.
So the Pahlavi also seems to render here: Av6é zak f lekQm va
niydyisnd. Ner. also: SamfgakshAmi yushmékam namaskritaye,
Mah4gaanin.
1 This recalls the dasemé-stfitim of Y. XXVIII, ro.
The Pahlavi renders freely and not uncritically, regarding the
spenta nar as Zarathustra himself: Afténd dén Garé6dm4nd st4yem.
Ner. : Garothméne staumi te.
* So also the translations: Aighas parvarisn va min frar(nth.
Ner.: Uttamena pratipaly4 manasa. Compare Y. XXXII, 2:
sfremané khshathras, The singular verb is difficult.
5 Or, ‘for as those justly acting, and in preparation will we offer
it as a blessing together with all who, are among “ Your own.”’
Here khshm4vant equals ‘Your own’; rather than ‘ Yourselves.’
‘ Or ‘visible’ as fire, but this seems too feeble a conception
for the place. The Pahlavi translator read deresté as a participle
from dar(e)z, which is quite as possible as that it should be from
dar(e)s. He renders yakhsenunéd kind; Ner., vidadhati nigraham.
That he so translated because he was not aware that derest4 could
be also a participle from dar(e)s, is no longer tenable.
5 As by no means a partially selected specimen, let the reader
YASNA XXXIV. 85
5. What is' then Your Kingdom, O Mazda?
What are Your riches? that I may become? Your
own in my actions, with the Righteous Order, and
(Thy) Good Mind, to care for Your poor (in their
suffering ὃ. Apart from all would we declare You,
yea, apart from Daévas‘, and Khrafstra-polluted
mortals !
consider the following from the Pahlavi: Thus, O Afharmazd |!
this which is Thy Fire, which is so powerful, is a satisfaction to him
whose is Aharayih [-when my chieftain (the glossist seeming to
have a text with a first pronoun; otherwise the first translator who
never saw? us(e)mahi) becomes one by whom duty and charity are |
fulfilled], for it is quick and powerful [the Fire], and remains con-
tinually in friendship with him, and makes joy manifest to him.
And therefore, O Afharmazd! on him who is the tormentor it
takes revenge as if with a mighty wish.
1 Kas is often a mere interrogative particle, so modern inter-
rogatives are also often merely formal.
? Bartholomae admirably follows K4 here with its hakhmf; it
gives a more common explanation of νᾶο, which I am obliged to
take in a possessive sense beside ne. The manuscript used by the
Pahlavi writer had, however, ahmi, as many others now extant.
8 Note the recurrence of this care for the poor, showing what
the frequent mention of righteousness, the good mind, &c. meant.
* Observe that da@v4is must mean the Demon-gods and not
their worshippers here ; pare vao indicates this, and also mashy4is=
men, who are separately mentioned. The Pahlavi translator is
finely critical here, giving us our first hint as to the meaning:
Pésh LekGm min harvisp-gfind levind gift hémanéd [aigh tiban-
kardar hémanéd, &c.]. So with antare-mrflyé (-vé), he was the
pioneer also. I render with impartiality: Which (of what kind) is
your sovereignty? [that is, what thing can I do, whereby your
sovereignty may be increased through my instrumentality ?] And
which is your wealth? [that is, what thing shall I do whereby
riches may be kept in your possession by my means?] How thus
in the actions of AGharmazd shall I become yours? [That is, I (?)
shall do that thing through which, by my means, your sovereignty
is extended; and also wealth is kept in your possession by me.]
For whenever I (?) shall do righteous deeds, [that is, when I (?)
shall do duty and good works], Vohfiman gives nourishment to
our poor. Before all of every kind, even before them ye are
86 THE GATHAS.
6. If thus Ye are in verity, O Mazda! with the
Righteous Order and Thy Good Mind, then grant
Ye me a sign! of this in this world’s entire abiding?
(while I live amid its scenes), how offering sacrifice
and praising® You the more devoutly‘, 1 may
approach You (in my worship) !
7. Where® are Thine offerers, O Mazda! Thy
helpers, who as the enlightened of the Good Mind
are producing the doctrines with wide mental light
as inherited treasures, (delivering them as Thy
word) in misfortune and in woe*? I know none
other than You; then do Ye save us through Your
righteousness !
8. Through these our deeds (of sacrifice and zeal’),
they are terrified® among whom there was (once)
destruction, and for many (at the time) when the
declared; [that is, ye are more capable] than the demons, for
their (?) intellect is perverted, (and ye are also before) men.
1 So also the Pahlavi dakhsak.
* So indicated by ketrfinani. I have no doubt whatever that
maétha should have this sense. See also Y. XXX, 9.
5 So also the Pahlavi: Pavan 4frinag&nd dahisnd va stéyisnd
satinam madam.
4 Urviidy4o, if in its original form, looks like a comparative.
One naturally thinks of a * vrad (?) equivalent to ‘ vridh.’
5 Rhetorically interrogative as often in English, or indeed a mere
particle. (Compare XLVI, 9.)
* So also the Pahlavi indicates with its 4mfkhtisnd (sic) ἢ hf-
varisné [1 avd kar va kirfak], mfinié pavan 4s4nth va mfinié pavan
tangth vadfinyén fraékh-hushth. Ner.: Sikshim saty4ya yas samé-
dhinatve, samka/atve* ’pi kurute vipulagaitanyas [kila, yak karyam
pusyam γαῖ samriddhatay4 kurute] takka yat samka/ataya ’pi kurute,
tasya vigfanakaitanyam tasmad bhavati.
7 Νβο being taken in a possessive sense.
® But the Pahlavi has: ‘ Min zak ὃ valmansén maman kfnisnd
lanman bim’; possibly ‘by these actions they terrify us’; the
middle in the sense of the active.
YASNA XXXIV. 87
oppressor of Thy holy vows was as the stronger
oppressing the weaker’. They who have not thought
(in consonance) with Thy Righteous Order, from
these Thy Good Mind? abideth afar.
9. Aye, they who desert Thy bountiful Piety, O
Mazda! that one desired of Thee*,O Thou omnis-
cient! and who thus abandon her by reason of the
evil-doer, and in their ignorance of (Thy) Good
Mind, from such as these (Aramaiti) with her holiness
utterly departs* as the red Khrafstras (who destroy
and pollute all life, flee) from us® (Thy faithful ©
servants).
10. Through the action of this (His) Good Mind
(as he works his grace within us) the benevolently
wise ὁ One declared a result as its fruit, He knowing
the bountiful Piety, the creatrix of righteous beings’.
These all, O Mazda Ahura! in Thy Kingdom (are
* It is a mistake to suppose that the Pahlavi translator and his
followers, Ner. and the Persian MS. (of Haug’s Collection), refer
nfidyaunghem and nadent6 to the same Sanskrit word. They
translate them as if referring the first to nadh, and the last to nid.
? Min valmansdn bara rakhik afté Vohiman. Asmané seems
an impossible reading, and cannot be reconciled with Vohf.
5. The hint of the Pahlavi points, as usual, to the general sense,
leaving us the task of discovering the grammatical structure.
Here I do not follow the indication of sedkfinyén; Ner. parikshi-
pyanti. The voc. ‘O Thou’ is free.
* So also in general the Pahlavi: Min valmansfn kabed Ahara-
yih segdak; Ner. tebhyah* prabhuto dharma* prabhrasyati.
5 So if ahmaé is read, but the MS. before the Pahlavi translator
read ahm4t; Ner. etebhyas (freely). A simpler rendering results ;
‘as from him flee away.’
® Observe the evidence of the Zend to the prevalent meaning of
‘khratu.’
7 Or reading hithim, and in the sense of ‘bond,’ we coincide
with Ner. sukhanivasam. Haithim=the true; hatim ?=of beings.
Lit. ‘the true creatrix of Asha (the holy).’
88 THE GATHAS.
‘helps to our progress’) for they smite (our tyrants)
with fear}.
11. And for Thee hath Aramaiti (who is Our
Piety) increased both the Universal Weal and (its
continuance in) Immortality, and (with them as ever
united) the Righteous (ritual and moral) Order
(established and made firm) in the Kingdom of (Thy
Good Mind). Those powerful lasting two (hath she
increased) to (give us the needful) food% And
through these, O Mazda! art Thou with Thy perfect
expellers of hate’. (Thou removest Thy foes afar *!)
12. What then are Thy regulations’? And what
wilt Thou? What of praise, or of (fuller) offering ἢ
Speak forth that we hear it, O Mazda! what will
establish the blessed rewards of Thine ordinance®!
1 The word voyathr4 is difficult to place ; the Pahlavi translator
divided, reading Avo-yathr4 (possibly Avoi athra), and rendered
fréd kfishf-ait=is smitten down; the Persian better: Fréd zadar, is
smiting down. We may well hesitate before rejecting this indica-
tion, which may point to a better text. Like vafus, it may indicate
the severity of the influences of the righteous system, in the midst
of genial allusion. The t& vispa might refer quite naturally to
dus-skayasthan4 in the previous verse. The form voyathr4 (cor-
rected) may represent some derivative from the root bi=to fear.
Compare byazté in verse 8.
2 So likewise the Pahlavi with its khfrisnd; otherwise ‘for
glory ;’ Avar=svar. Lit. ‘To Thee (are) both Weal and Immor-
tality.’
8 Gavid bésh min lak hémanih ; Ner. vitakash/as tvam asi.
‘ Ner.: Thus both are (to be derived) from thee, Avirdida’s food,
and that of Amird4da also, [the (food) of the Lord-of-water, and of
the Lord-of-wood* (so the later Avesta and Parsism)], and in the
kingdom of the best mind, righteousness is making a revelation
together with the perfect mind. Do thou also bestow zeal and
power upon this one, O Great Wise One, the Lord! From
torment art thou exempt.
5 So also virdyisnd. 6 Pahlavi arayisnd.
* Otherwise simply ‘ water and tree.’
YASNA XXXIV. 89
Teach Thou us the paths through Righteousness, -
those verily trod by (Thy) Good Mind? as he lives
within Thy saints’.
13. (Do I ask what is that path?) That way which
Thou declarest to me as the path of the Good Mind, -
O Ahura! (is made? in its parts by) the religious
precepts and laws of the Saviours, wherein the well-
doer thrives‘ from (his) Righteousness®. And it
marks for the good a reward of which Thou art
Thyself the bestower.
14. For that (reward), O Mazda! ye have given
as the one to be chosen for (our) bodily® life through
1 The Pahlavi has the gloss: Teach us the way of the original
religion.
. * Neryosangh: Kim te sammarganam [kila, karyam, te kim
mahfnydyitaram?] Kak kamah? Kaésa yushmakam βία ἡ Kaka
yushmakam igisnih? Srinmomi, Mahaghanin! prakrishfam brfihi! γαῖ
hetsi* dharmasya sammfrganam, [aho viseshena pasya! tasmat
mahanyéyitarat kuru!] Sikshapaya* asmakam dharmasya margam
uttamena svadhinam manas4. [M4rgam yam pfirvanyayavantam
asmabhyam brahi.] -
δ᾽ Observe the certainty of a subtle meaning, ‘the way ἐς the con-
sciences or laws.’
“ Geldner has admirably suggested a comparison with vrag on
account of the connection ‘way.’ But as this necessitates two
urv4z=vraz, and as Ahura is spoken of as ‘dwelling’ in ‘ paths,’
I do not think that ‘thriving in paths’ is very difficult. The pro-
minent thought is not the going, but the ‘right going.’ That path
indicates a reward (so also the Pahlavi Aashidd, Ner. Asvadayad).
But we must be thankful for the keen and vigorous discussion.
Compare urvakhshanguha gaya gighaésa. The Pahlavi has hf-
ravakh-manth and in Y. XLIV, 8. If vrag is compared, the idea
must be happy progress ; but varh (Justi) seems the more obvious
correspondent.
* Asha, very often personified, is a stronger expression than
‘correctly.’
* Of course our life on earth, merely in the bodily state. Comp.
Y. XXVIII, 3. There astavatasé4 evidently means ‘of earth,’
mananghé, ‘of heaven’ (—of corporeal—of mind, without body).
go THE GATHAS,
the deeds of Thy Good Mind (in us). They who
work in the toil of the mother! Kine, these further?
Your merciful care through the understanding’s
action’, and (taught) by Thine Order’s (word).
15. Yea, (show me, O Mazda! that path and its
reward); tell me the best (of truths); reveal the
best words and best actions, and the confessing ®
prayer of the praiser through Thy Good Mind
(living within us); and through the Righteous
Order, O Ahura! And by Your Sovereign Power
_ and grace may’st Thou make life really progressive®
(till perfection shall have been reached)!
1 Or the ‘ mature,’ ‘drivable’ (Ὁ) cow. She ‘goes on her path’
of toil.
3. So fraz yehabiind,
5 Observe that verezen4 cannot well mean ‘stall’ in this line.
The Pahlavi likewise sees varzt-aft in it; Ner. vidhfyate, both free
as to form.
4. Neryosangh: Sa yato, Mah4g#4nin 1 kAmo’smakam yat tanu-
mate givamate diyate [A4rydya], uttamena karmaze manas@
(khshatriy4ya], yaska gava* 4é4rayitre* Agindmny4, [ku/umbine],
yo yushmakam sunirvazagnanataya, Svimin! buddhy4éa, puzya-
pradattay4 vidhiyate [diniZ].
δῚ concede this shade of meaning to the constant and unvary-
ing evidence of the Pahlavi translator. He translates uniformly by
avam yehabfinéd or its equivalents.
® Bring on ‘millennial’ perfection when progress shall have been
completed.
The Pahlavi translation is as follows: Pavan zak f lekfim khd4yth-
A@harmazd! frashakardé6 pavan k4maké 4shk4raké dén ahvand
yehabfini-ait.
Ner.: Yushmfékam rfgyena, Svimin! akhshayatvam svekkhay4
parisphu/am dasyate bhuvane.
YASNA XLIII. gI
THE GATHA(A) USTAVAITI(I).
This Gatha, consisting of Yasna XLIII-XLVI, is named
from the word which begins it, like the three last collec-
tions. The fact that the word ust4 possesses special signi-
ficance may have influenced the minds of the Parsis of a
later age, inducing them to associate this first chapter with
happy anticipations, but it was of course not owing to any
such circumstance that the name was given to the Gatha.
The GAtha, like its fellows, has its existence as a unit from
the nature of its metre.
It has lines generally of eleven syllables, arranged in
stanzas of five. It seemed convenient to chant all the
hymns of one particular metre together. This hymn, from
some unknown reason, or from pure accident, having stood
first in the collection in this metre, the G4tha was named
from its first word.
The question naturally arises at this place whether this
GAtha, in its parts or as a whole, is older than the Ahuna-
vaiti and the others. For supplementary statements on this
subject, see the Introduction, page xxvii, also elsewhere.
It is sufficient to recall here that the procedure of the
Ahunavaiti, and the sequence of the other GAthas in the
MSS. of the Yasna, have little importance in determining
the question of relative age. If originally grouped in the
order of their age, they might easily become transposed for
the purpose of liturgical recitation. (See the inserted Hapta-
nghaiti,and Y. LII.) As to the metres present, they afford
no indications as to relative age. The metre of the Ustavaiti,
approaching as it does the Trishfup, may be as old as, or
older than, that of the Ahunavaiti. The oldest Ashis sang
in Trishéup. The sole remaining test of the relative age of
pieces, is their contents. Do those of the Ahunavaiti show a
priority to those in the Ustavaiti as regards the particular
circumstances of which they treat? So far as I am able to
92 THE GATHAS.
judge, no part of the Ahunavaiti is older than Y. XLVI.
There we have the man before us at a period in his life
before he had attained to his supreme position. He not
only laments the unfavourable prospects of his cause, but
he is full of vehement animosity, urging on his adherents to
the overthrow of some powerful opposing leader, and anti-
cipating an armed struggle so formidable that its partisans
are elsewhere alluded to (in Y. XLIV) as ‘hosts.’ We see
him also exhorting the various chiefs of his party as they
are evidently standing before him in some large assembly,
possibly as the army on the eve of an important encounter.
He refers intimately to the monarch, to his own family,
the Spitamas, and to the Hvdgvas, as represented by
Frashaostra. He offers the rewards of Ahura, as he pro-
nounces His threats and condemnations. Every feature
bears the strongest evidence of originality. But have we
not the same in the Gathas Ahunavaiti, Spexté-mainyu,
and the others? Beyond a question. Those passages
which express grief, fear, and passionate resentment, we
should naturally refer to Zarathustra personally, and to the
earlier portion of his career; and we can make no distinc-
tion between such passages when they occur in the Ahun-
avaiti, Ustavaiti, or elsewhere. As to chapter XXIX with
its logical commencement, as expressing the sufferings to
be remedied in the entire effort, together with the call of
Zarathustra in immediate connection, and chapter XXX
with its theosophical statements, we should say that they
were composed later, during a period of success and reflec-
tion. But this would be a mere surmise. The time of the
sage need not necessarily have been consumed in struggles
even during the early years of his career.
Chapter LIII seems to belong to a period of mature age,
but not necessarily to a period of advanced age. It cele-
brates the marriage of Zarathustra’s daughter, but maidens
were married early. With the exception of Y. LIII, I
would say that the occurrence of a piece in this or that
Gatha has little, if anything, to do with determining the
question of its relative age.
YASNA XLIII. 93
YASNA XLIII. -
SALVATION IS ANNOUNCED AS UNIVERSAL FOR BE-
LIEVERS. REFLECTIONS OF ZARATHUSTRA UPON
THE SUBLIMITY AND BOUNTIFULNESS OF AHURA,
As, in every instance, it is probable that verses have fallen out
here and there in this important piece, and some may have been
inserted, not necessarily from another composer, but from other
compositions. After certain limits, however, marked signs of at
least external connection are present. After the first three verses,
which are quite apart, then from the fourth and fifth on, every alter-
nate verse has the formula Spetem afthwa Mazda menhi Ahur4.
It would indeed present no difficulty for a successor to add these
words to stanzas otherwise also imitated, but whether from the
leading sage or not, whether from him in one strain, or from him
as collected from different fragments, the course of thought does
not so fail in logical sequence as that it is either impossible, or
displeasing, as a whole in a poetical composition.
‘Verses 1-3 are admirable as preliminary. Verses 4-6, with their
lofty descriptions of power and benevolence in the Deity, prepare
the way well, with their allusions to the final judgment, for the
closer reflections in verses 7- 5 upon the prophet’s call, uttered at
the instigation of Sraosha (his obedient will). Verse 16 is a closing
strophe looking much like an addition from another hand, not at
all because Zarathustra is mentioned in the third person, but from
its general cast. It possesses, however, very great interest from
these circumstances. If a later addition, it enables us to see how
the principal features of the system were viewed at a period not
identical with the earliest, but closely following it.
1. If we can accept the deeply interesting suggestion of the
Pahlavi translator, which is, ‘Salvation to him to whom there is
salvation for every man,’ we need then suppose no necessary loss
of verses. Otherwise we are obliged to consider the loss of some
laudatory verse, or verses, containing such matter as perhaps
Y. XXXIV, 14, ‘This princely priest has devoted all to Thee,
therefore, salvation to him, whosoever he may be.’ Whatever
may be the actual truth, the main stress of the thoughts is clear
and appropriate. Using the word vase-khshaya&s in a good sense,
94 THE GATHAS.
the composer beseeches Ahura to grant those two ‘mighty and
eternal ones,’ which logically form the complement to each other,
universal wholeness, welfare of soul and body, without which beati-
tude was inconceivable, and then the unlimited duration of that
condition ; for it is quite impossible that ‘long life’ alone was here
meant by a term, the equivalent of which soon after designated the
Bountiful Immortals. We have here again ample data for affirming
the richness and depth of the religious conceptions.
The ‘powerful and continuous two’ are sought together with
splendour as rewards, not for the gratification of any selfish senti-
ment, but in order to maintain Asha, the religious Order, on which
the sacred polity, and the tribal, as well as the national wealth
depended, but more than any general blessings, the individual sanc-
tity of life. 2. And this is signalised as the highest good; and
to this a prayer is added for the ‘maya,’ which recalls the super-
natural wisdom of the Indian Hercules, about which much phantastic
and highly coloured myth is grouped; but here, with the ever-
recurring contrast, the maya is the mysterious wisdom of the Divine
Benevolence, colourless and abstract indeed, but yet possessing
how great religious depth!
3. The highest blessing, in another and more than once repeated
phrase, is again besought, as ‘the better than the good,’ even the
attainment of the one who guides to the ‘straight paths,’ which are
the ‘way, even the conceptions and revelations of the Saviours’
(¥. XXXIV, 13; LIII, 2), in which the believer prospers, and Ahura
dwells, as he dwells in his kingdom, and his ‘chosen home’ itself
(Υ. XLVI, 16). Whether ‘this man who shows the paths’ of ‘ the
bodily and mental world’ is the same as he who prays for the
4yapta ahvau astvatast4 hya/kd mananghé (the boons of the two
worlds) in Y. XXVIII, 3, here referred to in the third person, there
speaking in the first, and whether he is Zarathustra himself, are
questions. It is only necessary to say that, if any relief is gained
by the supposition, then beyond a doubt Zarathustra may have
been the composer of both pieces or fragments, here, as in Y.
XXVIII, 7, referring to himself as in the third person, there, in
Y. XXVUI, also further representing another who prays, referring
by name to him as in the third.
But was Zarathustra the only sacred singer, or was he the centre
of a group only, of which he was the life? (Compare Yathra ve
afsmAinf (?) senghini—Gamaspa Hvégva; Y. XLVI, 17; see also
the Introduction.)
4. Proceeding as if the first three verses were absent from his
YASNA XLIII. 95
mind (as indeed they may have been only later brought together
with what now follows), the composer begins his ascriptions of
praise. He will regard Ahura as all-bountiful and mighty, since
He has carefully nurtured, as with His very hand, the aids of grace
which He will bestow, as gifts of forbearance on those now wicked,
in the hope of penitence, and in the merciful threat of punishment,
and to the devout disciple, whose piety is never ceremonial only.
And these means of grace, although abounding in the inculcation
of moral sanctity in thought, and word, and deed (see Vendidad
VIII, roo (Sp. 283)', where ‘thought’ clearly refers to intention in
the strongest sense of the term), are yet profane, aside from the
flame of that holy Fire which rallied the masses to a national
worship, and which was strong for the holy order, as well as by
means of it. For these reasons he adores their giver, but for still
another. It was because the might of the Good Mind of Ahura
approached him within them, and gave him strength for all that
was before him. 5. Like the Semitic prophet, he poetically con-
ceives himself as having beheld Ahura, as the chief of the two
spirits, and as sovereign over all other powers when the world was
born. And he regards Him as having also then established rewards
and punishments by his holiness, so separate in its dualistic dis-
tinction from all complicity with evil either by infliction or per-
mission. And these rewards and punishments were to have their
issue not in time alone, but in ‘the last turning of the creation’ in ~
itsco urse.
6. And for Ahura’s coming in this last changing he fervently
beseeches, as well as for the appearance of the Sacred Kingdom,
established and guarded by the divine Benevolence. And this con-
summation, he implies, will take place when the settlements shall be
furthered in the Righteous Order, and by means of it, the end of
progress having been attained; for then the piety of men’s souls _
will itself be their instructor, delivering the regulations which shall
silence the controversy of the two sides (Y. XXXI, 3). And these
regulations are as the wisdom of Ahura’s understanding (Y. XXVIII,
2), SO penetrating that all thoughts lie bare to it (Y. XXXI, 13).
4. He now declares the principles on which he accepted the divine
call. Sraosha (verse 12), he says, drew near to question him. As
he is called by Ahura, Obedience, the same who constitutes the way
to Ahura (or finds His throne (Y. XXVIII, 6)), now draws near
1 Anaéshem mané, anaéshem vaéé, anaéshem skyaothnem prove that the
thought, word, and deed referred to were not limited to a ritual meaning.
96 THE GATHAS.
him, (I say Sraosha (i.e. Obedience), for if he is not so described as
drawing near in this verse, he assuredly is so described in a verse
nearly following (the twelfth)). Beyond a question, the fine subjec-
tivity here expressed was intended. As the seer cried: O Right-
eousness! when shal] I see thee (in myself and within my people),
so now he means that his obedient spirit listens to the call of God.
8. And as his personified conscience questions him as to his origin,
and the principles on which he would proceed, it represents the
obedient people, as well as the obedient sage (for the sense of
Sraosha, while originally applied to the personal will, is not restricted
to it). ‘Loyalty’ questions him, that ‘loyalty’ may report his
answers. He therefore responds, speaking in his name as
Zarathustra (or else one thoroughly in unison with him, here
speaks in his name). And this is his statement as to the indica-
tions which shall determine his personality. His course will be
without a compromise. The unbelieving opposers, as he declares,
shall meet no favour at his hands, but detestation, while to the de-
vout disciple he will be as powerful an aid. And this because his
mind and thought are (as if blinded to the present) fixed upon the
ideal Kingdom, while for the present he never ceases to toil on,
making preparations for the Frashakard, and constructing hymn
after hymn to set up the needed machinery of lore.
g. Again, his conscience and obedient will, as the angel of
the Deity, questions him; and this time offers him that chief of
wished for objects to him, religious knowledge. He mentions
the holy Fire, with its proper offering, as the theme of his first
inquiry.
1o. And he beseeches Ahura to answer and to favour him, since
he invokes such a complete endowment, going hand in hand with
true Piety, and with no selfish interest in his prayer. He then, with
a depth which I confess seems suspicious, asks of Mazda to put
his petitions for him, recalling Y. XXVIII, 11, where he beseeches
Ahura to fill up his desire with what not he, the speaker, but with
what He, Ahura, knows to be the Good Mind’s gifts. Or, with a
conjectural improvement (?) of the text, he asks of Ahura to ques-
tion him that he may be questioned indeed, saying as it were,
‘search me, and know me.’ But the other reading being retained
as having superior point, and needing no.conjectured text, we may
see his further thought: ‘Ask Thou our questions for us, and then we
shall never fail; then we shall be no desireless (anaésha) men,
spurned by the wailing kine as flinching champions (Y. XXIX, 9), —
but we shall be indeed Thy rulers, “speaking our mighty wish.”
YASNA XLIII. 97
Like the isha-khshathra, whom she sought (Y. XXIX, 9), our
wish shall work our will; it will accord with the will of God.’
11. He is, however, not blind to all that lies before him in
accepting this call. He worships the bounty and majesty of Ahura
while he is impressing his soul with the import of this conference,
and that notwithstanding, and none the less, because His will,
when obeyed in actions, will bring on earthly sufferings.
12. But notwithstanding all that may be in store for him, he
hopes to make those doctrines treasures (Y. XXXIV, 7), that is, a
spiritual wealth (compare also Ahura’s fsti). One only qualifica-
tion would he add: ‘ Wait only before Thou givest the word that
I should go forth with Thy new truths (which bring such suffering
to him who first pronounces them), wait till my obedient will, listen-
ing fully to all which Thou shalt say, shall come to me, and then
shall that obedient reverence in me and my beloved, help on our
effort, that we may spread abroad the tidings of Thy promised re-
compense to win the living to Thee (Y. XXXI, 3) 13. ‘And
that I may know and make known (so he continues) the true aims
and objects of desire to those to whom I am at Thy word to go,
grant me for this long life within Thy Realm, although that life be
full of bitterness (verse 11; and Y. XXXII, το, 11; XLVI, 1), for
those who propagate Thy cause.’ 14. ‘ Yea, as a friend, both wise
and powerful, gives to a friend, send to me not only Sraosha,
an obedient listening will, but raf(e)né frékhshnenem, abundant
grace. Then, and then only, shall I be flanked with a proper ally.
Then with Thy Sovereign Power, like my Obedient will, as an
angel sent forth from Thee, and inspired by Thy righteous Order in
law and ritual, in thought, and word, and deed, then I will go out
to arouse and head the chiefs, gathering into spiritual hosts the
many believing priests who even now would bear in mind and
celebrate Thy mysteries.’
15. And as he began with fearless severity, so he would end
without a compromise. ‘My patient suffering (so he implies as he
proceeds (Y. XLVI, 1)) reveals its lesson to me. My mind is long-
enduring, but that patience, although it may seem to some the
cowardice of a pusillanimous protector (Y. XXIX, 9), yet it is not
such in truth, for it declares within me, and forces me to say:
Let no man please the wicked; this is our only prospect of
success.’
16. And casting back his thoughts he (or another in his name)
sums all up well: ‘Thus doth Zarathustra choose the spirit, that
spirit which animates the faithful in their chiefs (Y. XXXIII, 9),
[31] Η
98 THE GATHAS.
and by his side every true believer utters his sympathising prayer :
Let the Order of life and of the ritual become incarnate in our
tribes, and strong because it has the valiant power of faithful men
to obey and to defend it. And let Piety prevail till it covers our
land blest with the favours of the sacred sun, and as she lives in
the lives of true adherents, may she in sympathy with the Good
Mind, thus grant rewards for all our deeds!’
Translation.
1. Salvation to this man!, salvation to him who-
soever (he may be’)! Let the absolutely ruling
Great Creator grant (us, He) the living Lord, the
two eternal powers. Yea, verily *, I ask it of Thee
(O Ahura) for the maintaining * Righteousness. And
may’st Thou also give it to me, (O inspiring) Piety!
splendour δ (as it is), holy blessings, the Good Mind’s
life ¢.
2. Yea, to this one’ may the man endowed with
1 AhmAéi as=to us, does not seem to be good grammar here,
as it necessitates a forced separation between it and yahméi-
kahméifis, Cp. ahmai yahmai-kahm@ifiz in Y. XLIV, τό.
* I turn from the fine rendering of the Pahlavi with the greatest
reluctance : Nadfié valman mQn zak f valman nadkth kadarz4i [aigh
kadarz4f ansut4 min nad@kth f valman nad@kih], happy is he whose
benefit is for every one; [that is, for every man there is happiness
from his benefit]; Ner. follows.
* There is a question whether the particle gaf (gha/?) may not
have originated from g4¢ Barth. here follows the Pahlavi, reading
gat6i(?)=pavan yamtOnisnd. Lak may have been added, as often,
to serve as an alternative rendering.
* Or ‘I will,’ so Prof. Jolly (infinitive for imper.).
® So also the Pahl. rayé-hémand, not as a rendering merely, but
asa philological analagon. Otherwise ‘riches.’
* Gaém recalls sraésta gaya g(i)vaisti.
7 As ahmAi would more naturally mean ‘to this one’ in the pre-
vious verse, it is desirable to render it in the same way here.
YASNA XLIII. 99
glory? give that, best of all things, the (spiritual)
glory. And do Thou likewise (Thyself) reveal ?
Thine own® (gifts) through Thy: most bountiful
spirit, O Mazda! (And do Thou teach us) Thy
wonderful thoughts of wisdom ‘, those of Thy Good
Mind, which Thou hast revealed (to us) by Thy
Righteousness (within us) with the happy increase
of (our joy 5), and on a long life’s every day 5.
3. And may that (holy man) approach toward that
which is the better than the good’, he who will show
to us the straight paths of (spiritual) profit, (the
blessings) of this corporeal life, and of that the men-
tal*, in those veritably real (eternal *) worlds, where
dwells Ahura; (that holy man) an offerer of Thine 19,
O Mazda! a faithful citizen", and bountiful of (mind).
1 It is to the last degree improbable that Avathréy4 (Avathrava ;
‘y’ miswritten for ‘v’) indicates a condition of ease and comfort
here. The ‘easy man’ is the farthest possible from the thoughts
of the composer. The ‘best of all things’ makes a word kindred
to Aveng (Advan) appropriate here.
5. Kisi (?), if an imperative (?), may mean guard over; but the
Pahlavi translator gives us the better view; he has lak péddkiné ;
Ner. tvam prak4saya. Geldner’s Atéithw4 is important.
5. Thwa=thy properties. 4“ The Pahl. has merely padmané.
5 This shade of meaning is expressed by the Pahlavi.
® Ayre, acc. pl.
7 This expression seems to equal the summum bonum; so
also ‘ worse than the evil’ is the ultimate of woe.
δ Cp. Y. XXVIII, 3.
® Does haithyeng mean ‘eternal,’ with every passage in which it
occurs considered ?
10 Thwavant may, however, like mavant, simply express the per-
sonal pronoun here. The position of aredré, &c. is awkward if
thwAvamt=thy: ‘ Where dwells Ahura, Thyself, O Mazda! bene-
ficent, wise, and bountiful.’ But aredra is almost a special term for
a zealous partisan.
“4 The Pahl. has khfp-danakth, indicating ἃ meaning which would
H 2
100 THE GATHAS.
4. Yea, I will regard Thee as mighty and likewise
bountiful, O Ahura Mazda! when (I behold) those
aids of grace (approach me), aids which Thou dost
guard and nurture? as (Thy) just awards to the wicked
(to hold him far from us), as well as to the righteous
(for our help), Thy Fire’s flame therewith so strong
through the Holy Order ὃ, and when to me the Good
Mind’s power comes “δ,
5. (For) so I conceived of Thee as bountiful,
O Great Giver, Mazda! when I beheld Thee as
supreme‘ in the generation of life, when, as rewarding”
deeds and words, Thou didst establish evil for the
evil, and happy blessings for the’ good, by Thy
(great) virtue ὃ (to be adjudged to each) in the crea-
tion’s final change.
6. In which (last) changing Thou shalt come, and
with Thy bounteous spirit, and Thy sovereign power,
better apply to Ahura than the one given, which cannot be applied to
Him.
1 Subjunctive (see Prof. Jolly, V.S. p. 28).
3 «By Thy hand.’ 5 The holy Fire of the altar.
* Gimaf may be regarded as an improper subjunctive here.
5 The Pahlavi: ‘and that too which renders justice to the wicked
and also to the righteous. And this Thy Fire is burning, since by it
the strength of him who lives in Righteousness is (maintained) when
that violence which approaches with a good intention comes to me.’
5 See Y. XXXI, 8, where the word is also rendered as=vornehm-
ster.
7 Literally, ‘When Thou didst render deeds provided with
rewards. We are forced to put the action in the past on account
of zath6i, but the influences originally set in motion were to have
their issue in the end of the world.
δ I render hunaré literally, and bring its Pahlavi translation to
the same sense as necessarily. Otherwise hinar would generally
mean ‘skill.’ Ner. has tava guzeshu. The Pahlavi would here be
recognised by all reasonable scholars as striking in its closeness.
ΥΑΘΝΑ XLITI. ΙΟΙ
O Ahura Mazda! by deeds of whom the settlements
are furthered through the Righteous Order. And
saving regulations! likewise unto these shall Aramaiti
utter, (she, our Piety within us), yea, (laws) of Thine
understanding which no man may deceive *.
7. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great
Giver Mazda! when he (Thy messenger, Obedience)
drew near me, and asked me thus: Who art thou ἢ
And whose is thine allegiance? And how to-day
shall I show the signs that give the light on this (our)
question, (signs) as to the lands (from whence thou
camest) and in thyself ?
8. Then to him I, Zarathustra, as my first answer,
5814 : To the wicked (would that I could be) in very
truth a strong‘ tormentor and avenger, but to the
1 The word ratfs reminds one of the work of the Ratu for the
afflicted kine. In the last changing, which shall complete the Fra-
shakard, he, or his representatives, will appear as the last Saoshyazt,
introducing ‘ millennial’ blessedness.
3.1 render the Pahlavi here as in evidence: ‘Through Thee,
O(?) bountiful Spirit! the changing comes [(later(?) gloss) from
wickedness to goodness]. And it comes likewise through Afhar-
mazd’s supremacy within a good mind, through whose action the pro-
gress of Ahar4yth’s settlements is furthered, those which the master is
instructing with a perfect mind [ ], and in which this Thy wisdom
shall in no wise be deceived thereby.’
5 As the kine thought little of her deliverer (see Y. XXIX, 9), so
Sraosha, the obedient host, is here represented as inquiring as to
the antecedents of the newly-appointed prophet. But he asks more
properly concerning the settlements from which he comes than the
lands. Gaétha is not dadv(h)yu. An origin external to that of
other chieftains is not at all necessarily indicated by the question.
4 The Pahlavi sees a denominative in isdy4 (is6v4; y for v); it
is denom. in the Altiranisches Verbum. It differs, however, as
to root. I offer an alternative in its sense. An open tormentor;
[that is, I openly torment the wicked] even as much as I desire, do
I torment (them) [(later (?) gloss) Ganrak minavad].
wane fe ΠΑΡᾺ
ow
102, 7y17 ..: OTHE GATHAS.
righteous‘tnay I be a mighty help and joy’, since to
preparations ? for Thy Kingdom, and in desire (for
its approach), I would devote myself so long as to
Thee, O Mazda! I may praise, and weave my song.
g. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura
Mazda! when (Thine herald) with Thy Good Mind
near approached me, and asked me thus: For what
dost thou desire that thou may’st gain, and that
thou may’st know it? Then for Thy Fire an offering
of praise and holiness (1 desired. And on that
offering for myself)* as long as I have the power, will
I meditate‘, (and for its holy power among Thy
people will I plan °).
το. And may’st Thou likewise grant® me (Thy)
Righteousness (within me), since I earnestly invoke
that perfect readiness (of mind), joining in my prayer
with Aramaiti (our Piety toward Thee. Yea, pray
Thou Thyself within me through these holy powers).
Ask Thou (Thyself) our questions, those which shall
be asked by us’ of Thee; for a question asked by
1 We must be cautious in accepting the statement that the
Pahlavi translations attempt to be literal. Here is one which is
free and far from erroneous: Aétind avd aharfibé min valman ἢ
aég-hémand aitd ; [aighas, riminam].
5 The Pahlavi here shows only the correct root. * Mé=sméa?
* «So long as I can, will I be of this mind,’ seems hardly ex-
pressed here. Observe the nearly parallel construction in verse 8.
δ᾽ The Pahlavi, Sanskrit, and Persian translations would here be
regarded once more as extremely close even by opponents, if
reasonable in their estimates. Manay&f seems to me hardly an
infinitive, as it is comparatively seldom that an infinitive falls to the
end of a sentence either in Gathic or Vedic. I prefer the indication
of the Pahlavi with Justi and Bartholomae (in the Altiranisches
Verbum).
5. Read perhaps daidhifs (later shortened to suit the metre).
7 Or, ‘ask us that we may be questioned by Thee.’
Aas {11 ἌΣ
YASNA XLII ( Uy s\ Fitsrny
Thee (as its inspirer), is as the
mighty, whene’er Thy (?) ruler speaks his potedie
wish.
11. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O
Ahura Mazda! when (Thy messenger) with Thy
Good Mind near approached me, and with your
words I? first impressed (my soul). Woes then
‘midst men Thy heart-devoted one?® declared ® (to
be) my (portion); but that will I’ do* which Thou
did’st 5 say was best.
12. And since Thou, coming thus, Thy legal
Righteousness in fulness * spakest, then declare not
to me words as yet unheard (with faith or know-
ledge; command me not) to go forth (with these
upon my task) before Thy Sraosha’ (Obedience)
comes to me, to go on hand in hand with me with
holy recompense and mighty splendour ὃ, whereby to
1 The Pahlavi translation bears evidence to a less subtle, and
therefore more probable sense here, but at the same time to a rarer
grammatical form. It renders didainhé as a third person, indicating
an instance of a third person in ὃ, and not in the perfect. It also
recognises a reduplicated form by its pavan nikézisnd nikézédo.
3 The Pahlavi translator with a curious error, or still more
curious freedom, has rbak-dahisnih here and elsewhere. Possibly
the GAthic text before the last compiler differed from ours.
51 still prefer Professor Bartholomae’s earlier rendering, after
the Pahlavi, as more in harmony with mraoté and mraos.
4 Professor Jolly has the important rendering ‘das will ich
thun ;’ the infinitive in a future or imperative sense.
5 *Ye said.’
* The Pahlavi unvaryingly kabed.
7 Here we probably have the missing subject in the other verses.
* Reading πιᾶζᾷ raya. (Ray& cannot well mean ‘riches’ here.)
The Pahlavi also indicates the division by its free or erroneous mas
ratQ (rad). Sraosha, an obedient will personified, guides the soul
as in the later Parsism. Cp. the Arda Vir4f.
104 THE GATHAS.
give the contending? throngs (9), as a blessing’, (Your)
spiritual gifts (of certainty and peace).
13. Thus I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O
Ahura Mazda! when with Thy Good Mind (Sraosha,
Obedience) approached me. (And I would therefore
pray thus of Thee, that bounteous one.) In order
that I may make known to men the true and sacred
aims of their desires (in the rite or daily toil), grant
Ye me long life * for this, (that blessing ἢ which none
with daring may extort® from You, even this (gift)
of that desired 5 place which has been declared to be
within Thy Realm.
14. Yea, as the man enlightened’ (in Thy law),
and who has possessions, gives to his friend, (so
give Ye) me, O Great Creator *! Thy rejoicing and
1 Here we have the important reading ranéibyé as against the
dual of K4, &c. (see Geldner). No mention of the fire occurs;
and as the form does not agree with arazi, we may well doubt that
comparison in view of asayau in Y. XXXI, 2, and the unvarying and
uniform patkardarand of the Pahlavi. The rendering ‘with the
sticks’ is, however, admirably adapted, and must be considered as
an emphatic alternative.
3 The Pahlavi supports the reading vi for ve; it has bara. Ashf
might also mean merely ‘holy,’ as adjective.
* In Y. XXVIII, 7, he asks for it that he may crush the malice
of the foe.
4 Justi admirably suggested yanem understood.
δ᾽ The Pahlavi divides darstaité, and, as I hold, mistakes the root
as was inevitable. The ancient scribe feared to restore the severed
fragments, which appeared, as so often, in the MSS. before him.
I would read darsaité with Spiegel’s c(?) (so Bartholomae, later, how-
ever, recurring to a division, with Geldner after the Pahlavi, for the
sake of bringing out an infinitive).
* Vairyau contracted from vairyayau by a corrupting improve-
ment to regulate the metre.
7 So the Pahlavi indicates, Bartholomae following as against the
rendering ‘ possessing.’
* With regard to Mazdau and medhf, I should perhaps long
YASNA XLIII. 105
abounding grace, when through Thy sovereign
Power, and from (the motives of Thy cause of)
Righteous Order, I stand forth! to go out to’, or
to arouse, the chiefs? of Thy (pure) proclamation, with
all those (others) who recite Thy well-remembered *
M&thra word.
15. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O
Ahura Mazda! when with the Good Mind’s grace
Thy Sraosha (Obedience) approached me, (and said) :
Let the quiet and long-enduring better mind with
understanding teach (thee); let not a foremost > man
since have stated that I object to the comparison, not only because
medhé@ is a feminine, and, as Grassmann has supposed, possibly
represented by the Zend madh, Greek math, but because ‘ wisdom’
is an abstract (while su-medh4s, as a compound, does not apply so
directly). I hold, however, that mazd4, the fem. noun in Y, XL, r=
medh€. It is also not impossible that this word may be represented
(with differing shades of meaning) by both madh and mazdim
(fem.) in Zend.
1 Read, perhaps, frikhst4; or frasta, ‘with Thine advancing
kingdom I (am) to go forth to’; (fra+as, participle.)
2 Prof. Jolly has the important rendering, ‘ Ich will mich erheben;’
the infinitive in a future or imperative sense.
5 Chieftainships. Compare (not with exactness, however) s4r-
dhamsi.
4 The idea of reciting from memory seems to be included in
marenté.
5 The rendering pourfs (?) as=pl. of pfinis is attractive, but dreg-
vaté hardly needs, and seldom has, a substantive. The wicked =
wicked men; and,on the other hand, πᾷ constantly claims an accom-
panying word; (πᾶ ismané; πᾷ vaédemné; hvé né-erethw6; πᾶ
spent6, ye-n4, ke va-nf, &c.) Also it is improbable that the words na
and pourtis, as = pfirdvas, should come together; ‘let not a man men
evil ingratiate (?).’ Compare for sénse here purvids in one or more
of its applications. Possibly the meaning is, ‘let not a man be fore-
most in conciliating the wicked.’ The Pahlavi likewise has kabed
(freely). Ner. has: M4 nara&* prakuram durgatinim bhfy4t* yatha
kathaméit satkarté. An important rendering is that of Professor
106 THE GATHAS.
conciliate the wicked (as sycophant desiring aid), for
with that (quiet mind of faith), Thy saints have
brought full many a sinner unto Thee (as convert,
and in penitence ?).
16. Thus, O Ahura Mazda! this Zarathustra
loves? the Spirit, and every man most bounteous
prays 4 (beside him): Be Righteousness life-strong,
and clothed with body. In that (holy) Realm which
shines (with splendour) as the sun, let Piety be pre-
sent; and may she through the indwelling of Thy
Good Mind give us blessings in reward for deeds*!
Jolly, V.S. s. 47, ‘méchte es wenige Verehrer des Liigners geben.’
Cp. Y. XLVI, 1, where the composer speaks of the chiefs as on
their side, ‘not contenting’ him.
* Or, with the Pahl.: Mn aétQnd lak harvisp-gind aharfiband
pavan anak yakhsenund, for they consider all Thy saints as wicked.
The rendering above is less natural as conveying the idea of
a conversion (comp., however, y4 g(i)vant6 vispeng vauray4), but
it renders the grammatical forms more simply. It is bad policy
to force a text to express what we happen to believe to be a more
natura] idea. Using the hint of the Pahlavi here in an understanding
manner, we might then render ‘ for they hold all sinners as holy.’
51 had long since compared veremté with vrinite (-deviném
vas) ; and am now sustained by Bartholomae's view.
5. Possibly the Spenista mainyu of Ahura. (See also Y. XLIV, 2.)
‘ The Pahlavi, on the contrary, bears evidence to the meaning
‘comes,’ which I cannot accept as ‘tradition’ in view of the follow-
ing precatives.
δ Ner.: ‘The kingdom becomes established (in a manner com-
pletely manifest) in sun-publicity through mental perfection [ ];
and upon the workers of righteousness the Good Mind bestows it.’
YASNA XLIV. 107
YASNA XLIV.
QUESTIONS ASKED OF AHURA WITH THANKFULNESS
AND DEVOTION.
Many verses may here have fallen out, or, on the other hand, the
piece having been made up of homogeneous, but not originally con-
nected fragments, has been left with some abrupt transitions. These,
however, occasion very little difficully in exegetical treatment,
and are also not displeasing. ‘The formula, ‘This I ask Thee,
O Ahura! tell me aright’ seems to have been suggested by Y.
XXXI, 14. We might therefore look upon this piece as composed
later than Y. XXXI, but not necessarily in a later generation, or
even from another hand. In fact the style is thoroughly homo-
geneous in certain places with that of pieces which we ascribe
without a doubt to Zarathustra, and the signs of struggle point
to the earliest period. It is possible that the words in Y. XXXI,
and the formula here were of common origin, neither having any
extended priority to the other, or the words may be original here,
and derived in Y. XXXI.
Whether Zarathustra, or another of the narrow circle of religious
leaders, was the composer throughout depends upon the further
questions already more than once broached, as to how far a cor-
responding intellectual cultivation was extended at the period in
the community, and as to what is the probability of the existence
of more than one man in the small group, endowed with the
peculiar qualities everywhere manifested in these hymns (see re-
marks in the Introduction and elsewhere). It is safest to say
that Zarathustra composed most of the matter here before us, and
that the supplementary fragments were composed under his domin-
ating, if not immediate, influence.
Verses 1 and 2 seem an introduction, but hardly give added
emphasis to the fact that the following questions were expressions
of devotion, and only in a few instances appeals for knowledge.
Verses 3-5 are certainly questions intended to express veneration
while naming particular objects of devout inquiry. Verse 6 stands
somewhat apart. Verses 7-11 enter into details touching the
moral and religious improvement of the people, 12-14 are po-
lemical, 15 and 16 are prophetical, &c.
᾿
108 THE GATHAS.
1. More closely; the composer beseeches Ahura to speak to
him, and in a manner characteristic of Himself as in distinction
from the falsifying utterance of the opposing religion, which was so
familiarly described as the religion of ‘Falsehood.’ He is entreated
to reveal, as is His wont, ‘the holy truth.’ And the first question
propounded to Him by the composer, as comprehensive of all
others, is how he may offer homage, the homage of God Himself
or of His bountiful spirit; (see mainyfi in verse 2). And he further
asks that Ahura may speak to him, showing him by what cere-
monial he may conciliate him, and by what helps of grace that
spirit, or Ahura Himself, may be inclined to draw near to him in
accordance with his frequent prayer.
2. Once more he asks how he may serve that Spirit as the
foremost one of Heaven (compare Y. XXXI, 8, and the Parsi
vahist) who seeks for this addition of praise to praise, for as the
supreme claim to our veneration, He had, as a guardian (Y. XXXI,
13) like Ahura in yet another place, held off destruction from all
believing saints and from all repentant men (Y. XXXI, 3), and that
although as ‘the chief of Heaven,’ yet also as a benignant friend.
3. From these introductory petitions, inserted perhaps before
many lost verses, he proceeds in another tone, although he may
still be said to say what is homogeneous to the foregoing: ‘Yea,
I ask how I may serve Him, O Mazda! for He is indeed Thyself,
and therefore, to show my fervent homage, I ask: Who was, not
the first establisher alone, but the first father, of our holy Order
as the personified Immortal, and that not by creation, but by
generation, as the parent generates the child? Who fixed for stars
and sun that “way,” the undeviating path through space, long
noticed and studied by our fathers, as no random course, or un-
known progress save Thee?’
4. The laws of gravitation then become the theme of his praise
still expressed in the form of questions, also the atmospheric
phenomena, especially the clouds driven by winds, not like the
Maruts beyond the mountains perhaps, but still terribleas winds can
be. But he cannot leave even the sublime objects of nature without
thinking once more of that spiritual power, the strength of righteous
character, which was justly more impressive, although still more
familiar, and which he designates, as ever, by the ‘Good Mind.’
Here this great Immortal is left an immortal thought, and is spoken
of as ‘created,’ not ‘born’ like Asha (in verse third). 5. Beyond
a doubt, recognising the satisfactions of energetic life as well as the
solaces of slumber, and as forming by their contrast the necessary
YASNA XLIV. 10g
change which builds up happiness, he alludes to the supreme
arranger as ‘ well-skilled,’ and asks: Who so wisely relieved the
day by night? But, again, he cannot close without reverting to the
course of moral duty. 6. Seized with a doubt which again only
heightens the fervour of his assurance, he asks whether indeed the
facts which he proclaims are really what they seem. Whether
piety, although aided by the Good Mind, implanted through Ahura’s
grace within us, will indeed at last, or soon, assign the purified
Realm to the servants of Ahura, who were there among the masses
before his eyes (taéiby6), or to Ahura Himself as their sovereign
controller (taiby6?). And, as including all rural riches in herself,
he asks for whom He had made the kine, not now wailing in her
grief (Y. XXIX, 9), but ‘delight-affording, on account of the
influence of Piety and Benevolence embodied in the Kingdom, in-
ferring that God had made her for these same (the faithful masses).
4. And going yet further back; he asks who made that paternal
and filial Piety itself, together with the Realm which it should
leaven? Answering his own inquiries by an inference, he adds: I
am pressing Thee with fulness in these questions, O Thou bounti-
ful Spirit (compare mainyus, or mainyf in verse 2), the maker of all
(sun, stars, and holy qualities). 8. Turning now to verbal revela-
tions, he asks by what means his soul may prosper in moral good-
ness, praying that it may indeed thus advance as the expected
answer would declare. 9. He prays that he may know how he
may still further sanctify that Religion which the King of the Holy
Realm (compare angheus vahistahy4 pourvim), the one like Ahura
(see Khshm4vat6 and thw4vis, verse 1) would teach, dwelling in
the same abode (in which Ahura is also elsewhere said to dwell)
with the holy Order, and the Good Mind (see Y. XLVI, 16).
1o. Expressing all in a single word, he asks Ahura to reveal to
him the Daéna, the Insight, the substance of that Religion which
was ‘of all things best,’ and which alone could ‘advance the settle-
ments’ with the holy ritual and moral Order as its ally, which would
also render all their moral and ceremonial actions, and moral
principles just by means of the divine Piety, which was their realisa-
tion in practice; and he closes with the exclamation that the wishes
and desires of his soul, when most embued with wisdom, will seek
for God.
11. Following out the influence of Aramaiti (that personified
Piety), he asks to know by what practical means she may approach,
and be realised as the characteristic of those to whom the holy
Insight should be preached, avowing that God knows how prominent
110 THE GATHAS.
he is in his devotion to the matter, and with what hatred seated ‘ in
his spirit,’ he views the opposing Gods. 12. Then casting a search-
ing glance over the masses, and perhaps eyeing their several groups,
each headed by its ‘ chieftainship ᾿ (sardenau senghahy4), he cries,
addressing Ahura formally, but the people really (so also elsewhere
frequently), and says: ‘Who is the righteous believer as regards
these my questions asked of God to express my belief in Him, and
who is the sceptic? Which man does the Angra Mainyu govern;
or which is as evil as that chief himself?’ And, recalling the galling
fact that some are tolerated who not only do not assist but oppose
his efforts, and perhaps having some half-convinced sections in full
sight, he cries with bitterness: ‘ Why is this sinner, that chief who
opposes me as Angra Mainyu opposed Ahura (compare paiti-eret@
with 4af mi paiti-eret@ in Vendidad I), why is he not believed to be
what in very truth he is? Why is he still countenanced?’ 13.
And then with a fierceness which reminds us of s4zdim snaithisha
(Y. XXXI, 18), but which is deeper because proposing a less
material remedy, he asks: ‘Why must we abide the sight of these
opposers, representing their Lie-demon as their Goddess? How
can I drive her hence to Hell beneath, not to those who hesitate
like these, pausing before they condemn the evil party, but to those
who are already filled with their disobedience, and who, having no
communion at all with us, receive no light, like these, from the re-
flected glory of the truth, and who have moreover neither sought
nor shared like these, the counsels of Thy Good Mind. Yea, how,’
he reiterates, ‘can I deliver up that Lying Goddess, in the persons
of her adherents, to the Holy Order, in the persons of the
saints, into their hands, to slay her, not with the snaithis only,
but to destroy her as a falsehood by the Mathras of Thy doctrine,
not barely to withstand these wicked corrupters, as we now
do, enduring the silence of these masses at their deeds (verse 12),
their fear of them, or their connivance with their creeds, but to
spread slaughter among them to their total overthrow?’
15. He then presses on the coming collision, and prays to know
to which of the hosts (compare ἄβαγαυ, Y. XXXI, 2) that claim
the urvété, Ahura will give the prize. 16. And who, he further
asks, shall be the champion who shall lead the victors, the vere-
threm.gan (compare sarga, Y. XXIX, 3) who will thus take up the
snaithis and the Mathra (verse 14), and so at once contend for
‘both the worlds.’ And he wishes him not alone pointed out, but
approached, as Zarathustra was approached (Y. XLII), by an
obedient will, and moved to his holy work by the inspiring Good
YASNA XLIV. 11Ὶ
Mind of Ahura, be that champion Ratu whosoever the Lord might
wish. Salvation in the shape of success in his great attempt should
be his portion (Y.XLITI,1). 17. Halfintimating that he himself may
be the coming man, he begs to know when he can have that con-
ference in which, as in the desired hemparsti and darsti of Y.
XXXIII, 6, he may communicate more closely with Ahura, and
through the revelation which might be vouchsafed, may become a
protecting leader to secure the ever-named ‘abiding two,’ ‘ Weal’
and ‘Immortality,’ which were the ‘better than the good,’ the
‘vahista’ of the saints.
18. A preliminary wish arising, he asks that he may receive the
honorary gift of mated mares and a camel, as material for sacrifice
before a battle (?), the highest interests of the people even, their
lasting Welfare, demanding that he should receive this help. 19.
For the monarch, or leading chief, who may withhold this justly
deserved and needed help, or honour, he declares by the terms of
his following question, that some instant judgment will be forth-
coming, for the threats of the future condemnation seem for the
moment only trite.
20. As a peroration, he appeals to the reason of the wavering
groups, among the masses who still delay to call evil evil (verse 12),
and he asks whether the Da€vas, as represented by their adherents, .
had ever been good rulers, when they had the power. Were not
robbery and violence then the law with them as now? And did
not the Kine, as representing the sacred herds and people, lift up
her wailing voice ?
(The piece from verse 12 seems to constitute a religious war-
song. ‘These verses seem not to have been originally connected
with the calm and thankful contemplations in verses 1-10, but
later united with them. Verses 12-20 stand in the closest connec-
tion with Y. XLVI, which has, however, preserved more of the ele-
ments of sorrow and discouragement which influenced the leader
and his followers at times. See also XLIII, 11.)
Translation.
1. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
when praise is to be offered, how (shall 1 complete)
the praise of the One like You1,O Mazda? Let
1 Some who seldom cite the Pahlavi follow it here; ntyAyisnd
zak min aétfind niyd4yisnd f Lekfm [din6]. Otherwise one might
112 THE GATHAS.
the One like Thee declare it earnestly to the friend
who is such as I, thus through Thy Righteousness
(within us) to offer friendly help! to us, so that the
One like Thee? may draw near® us through Thy Good
Mind (within the soul).
2. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, how,
in pleasing Him, may we serve the supreme one of
(Heaven) the better world‘; yea, how to serve that
chief who may grant us those (blessings of His grace,
and) who will seek for (grateful requitals at our
hands); for He, bountiful (as He is) through the
Righteous Order, (will hold off) ruin ® from (us) all,
guardian (as He is) for both the worlds, O Spirit ®
Mazda! and a friend.
read nemé with B.V.S. (variation) in Y. LVIII, 3, and render,
‘how shall I bow myself in your worship?’
1 The Pahl. hamkardar is likewise followed. The alteration to
haké6rené is very interesting, but, I think, hardly necessary.
3. Observe the great difficulty in referring Khshm4vaté to a human
subject. Here we have ‘ the homage of the One like You (of Yours(?)’
some would say); in Y. XXXITII, 8 we have Yasnem Mazda (Ahuré)
Khshmévat6 ; in Y. XXXIV, 2 Khshm4vaté vahmé; in Y. XLIX, 6
Tam daéném γᾶ Khshmfvaté Ahura. Khshmévaté is sometimes
merely a way of saying ‘of Thyself, as mavaité=to me.
δ᾽ Observe also the emphasis on his ‘drawing near’; otherwise
‘let Your one declare it to my friend ’ (?).
“ See Roth, Y.XXXI, 8. See, however, also de Harlez’s suggestion,
perhaps after the hint of the Pahlavi: ‘qu'elle a été origine δ᾽ Here
we have another instance where an entire verse seems to allude to
Ahura in the third person with an address to Him thrown in, or at
the close. In connection with angheus vahistahy4 Ahura must be
the pourvya, as in Y. XXXI, 8, where Roth renders vornehmster.
The guardian is also Ahura (see Y. XXXI, 13).
5 I cannot fully accept the hint of the Pahlavi here as others do
who seldom heed it. I do not think that ‘sin’ is so much indicated
as ‘destruction.’
* Mainy( is suspiciously expressive as a vocative; perhaps ‘ by
spiritual power’ would be safer.
YASNA XLIV. 113
3. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: .
Who by generation! was the first father of the
Righteous Order (within the world) ? Who gave the
(recurring) sun and stars? their (undeviating) way ? °
Who established that whereby the moon waxes, and
whereby she wanes ἢ, save Thee *? These things, O
Great Creator! would I know5, and others likewise
still.
4. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, who
from beneath hath sustained the earth and the clouds 5
above that they do not fall ? Who made the waters
and the plants? Who to the wind has yoked on
the storm-clouds, the swift and fleetest νοὶ Who,
O Great Creator! is the inspirer of the good
thoughts (within our souls) ?
-ν- - -
Δ * As ἃ generator (?).’
3. Bartholomae follows the Pahlavi here as rendered by Ner.
putting hveg and starem (-ém) in the genitive, which is in itself far
better than to regard da/ as governing two accusatives. One would,
however, rather expect hveng starim adhvanem das.
® All follow the Pahlavi here, which renders with allowable
freedom. Nerefsaitt (=Pahl. nerefséd; Ner. nimiflati; Persian
kahad) might possibly be explained as a nasalised form of an Aryan
correspondent to arbha, as nas=as.
* Possibly from thine influence (?).
5 The infinitive viduyé (=vidvé) lies here in an unusual place,
at the end of the sentence. It is because the word has no stress
upon it. The emphasis rests on the objects which he desires to
know about; the entire connection deals with ‘knowing’ ; it has
no prominence.
* This rendering is not supported by the Pahlavi, which seems to
report a rendering from some text with an a privative, and a form
of dar. The ‘unsupported’ object might mean the ‘air-space.’
See the suggestion of Bartholomae ‘the earth and the air-space,’
comparing the later Sanskrit.
7 Or ‘for velocity,’ adverbially. Velocity, however, in the abstract
as the object yoked-on, is rather too finely drawn. I should prefer
[31] Ι
114 THE GATHAS.
5. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
who, as a skilful artisan, hath made the lights and
the darkness!? Who, as thus skilful, hath made
sleep and the zest (of waking hours) ? Who (spread)
the Auroras, the noontides and midnight, monitors
to discerning (man), duty’s true (guides)? ?
6. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright
these things which I shall speak forth, if they are
truly thus. Doth the Piety (which we cherish) in
reality increase® the sacred orderliness within our
actions? To these Thy true saints hath she given
the Realm through the Good Mind. For whom hast
Thou made the Mother-kine, the producer of joy‘?
7. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
who fashioned Aramaiti (our piety) the beloved,
together with Thy Sovereign Power? Who, through
his guiding wisdom’, hath made the son revering
the father ? (Who made him beloved *?) With (ques-
the fleet ones, the lightnings. My rendering follows the indication
of another, as a dual, but not as to full exegesis. One naturally
supposes the yoking together of the winds and dark clouds to be
meant.
1 Recall svar γάά 4smann adhipd u 4ndho.— Av. VII, 88, 2.
3 Ner.: ‘Who gave us the lights with his keen discrimination?
And who the darkness? Who, in his keen discrimination, gave (us
our) sleep and waking ; [that is, our diligence and activity?] Who
is he who gave us the time of husaina, and the time of rapithvana
{ ], and the method and calculation of him who discerns by means
of the just rule [ ]?’
® So also the Pahlavi indicates by ‘ stavar.’
‘ So I prefer; but the indication of the Pahlavi deserves an
alternative ‘giver of bounty’; skar=kar.
‘Geus azyau’ was later a common expression for a mature
-animal, but possibly vulgarised from its older special use here.
® Root nf (?).
® I thus add as the Pahlavi translator indicates such an element
in uzemem.
YASNA XLIV. 115
tions such as) these, so abundant !, O Mazda! I press
Thee, O bountiful Spirit, (Thou) maker of all!
8. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright,
that I may ponder ? these which are Thy revelations,
O Mazda! and the words which were asked (of Thee)
by Thy Good Mind (within us), and that whereby we
may attain ἢ, through Thine Order, to this life's per-
fection. Yea, how may my soul with joyfulness ἡ
increase in goodness? Let it thus® be®.
9. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, how
to myself shall I hallow? the Faith of Thy people,
? Frakhshni=in abundance (Pahl. kabed; Ner. praéuram ;
Persian MS. bisyar). The thought refers back to anyaéé viduyé
-vé].
3 Haug sagaciously renders as if mend4idyAi were a miswriting
for pendaidy4i, which is in itself very possible, as an ‘m’ ¢ looks
much like an inverted 6 in MSS. So the Pahlavi records the
irregularity also, from which Haug derived his idea. But Haug
explains the word as an allusion to the five prayer-hours of the day.
I doubt very greatly whether the five prayer-hours existed at the
date of the composition of this passage. Such regulations grew up
much later. The Pahlavi translator indicates elsewhere an accusative
(meng =miam) with an infinitive ‘that I should give forth,’ which is
in itself far from impossible. He was aware (!) that meng could
also equal man; see Y. 1,11], 5.
3. Vaédydi is infinitively used for véizdydi.
‘I do think that it is necessary on the whole to postulate two
similar words here (although Geldner’s suggestion is most keen
and interesting). Urvakhsanguha and urvakhsukhti do not favour
a comparison with vrag here. The Pahlavi is indifferent: ign
denman ἢ li τἀ δᾶ πὸ zak f sapir hQ-ravikh-manih? So Ner. uttam-
Ananda. Barth. begliickend.
5 K4-ti=kéna-téna.
* Or, ‘let those things happen to me;’ gam means ‘come’
more frequently than ‘go,’ here. Lit. ‘let it thus advance.’
7 Kigin denman f li dinéd yés-dasar ἢ avégak y6s-dasaryém ὃ
Ner.: Katham idam aham yat* dinim pavitratardm pavitrayAmi ;
[kila, dinim katham pravartamanam karomi]? As Zarathustra is
I2
116 THE GATHAS.
which the beneficent kingdom’s lord hath taught me,
even the admonitions which He called Thine equal,
hath taught me through His lofty (and most righteous
Sovereignty and) Power, as He dwells in like abode?
with Thine Order and Thy Good Mind?
10. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright
that holy Faith which is of all things best, and which,
going on hand in hand with Thy people, shall
further my lands in Asha, Thine order, and, through
the words of Aramaiti (our piety), shall render
actions just. The prayers of mine understanding
will seek? for Thee, O Ahura!
11. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
how to these your (worshippers) may (that Piety
once again and evermore) approach, to them to whom
O Lord, Thy Faith is uttered? Yea, I beseech of
Thee to tell me this, I who am known to Thee as Thy
foremost ὃ of (servants); all other (Gods, with their
represented as sanctifying the Fire (in Y. IX, 1), so here he would
doubly sanctify the Faith itself. He would ‘hallow its name’
and meaning.
1 Pavanas-hamdemiinth-ketrfinéd [pavan hamkhadfikih].
5.1 cannot regard the caesura in this verse as possessing ordinary
importance, the maAvyau (mahyau) fistdis is especially dependent
-on the following words. The Pahlavi translator hints at an impor-
tant solution, which is, that a pause should be made before usen;
‘the wish of mine understanding wishes, and I wish (am wishing) ;
Khfirsand hbmanam=I am content. If we can accept a break (a
possibility far too little recognised), the usen as representing a nom.
sing. would refer back to the meaning in mahvyau (mahyau). But
reading fstis (as irregular for fstay6 on account of the metre) we
might regard usen as a third pl Or shall we take it as a
quasi-third singular, usen being us&m (en=the nasal vowel; comp.
fi#im as a third sing. imper. after Barth.)? Let ‘the wish (fstis) of
my enlightened understanding wish for Thee.’
5. Compare ‘aésh&m téi, Ahura! chm& pourutemis dasté.’
YASNA XLIV. 117
polluted worshippers), I look upon with (my) spirit’s!
hate 3.
12. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
who is the righteous one in that regard in which® I
ask Thee my question? And who is evil? For
which is the wicked? Or which is himself the (fore-
most) wicked one? And the vile man who stands
against me (in this gain οἵ) Thy blessing, wherefore ἢ
is he not held and believed to be the sinner that
he is ?
13. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, how
shall I banish this Demon-of-the-Lie from us hence
to those beneath who are filled® with rebellion ?
The friends of Righteousness (as it lives in Thy
saints) gain no light (from their teachings), nor have
they loved the questions which Thy Good Mind (asks
in the soul *)!
Auserkoren is a fine but a bold rendering. Election is, however,
included in all divine prescience.
1 T have no doubt whatever, but that mainycus and dvaéshangh4
belong together.
3 The Pahlavi translation is as follows: ‘Thatwhich I ask of Thee,
tell me aright, O Aflharmazd! when shall the perfect mind come to
those persons [that is, when does the mind of my disciples become
perfect]? When shall it come to those who declare this Thy Reli-
gion, O Afharmazd? Grant to me before these the proclamation
of the truth. Against every other spirit which is malevolent I keep
my guard.’
3 Yais adverbially, or possibly, ‘ with whom I question.’
* Kyanghaf is, I think, simply the equivalent for 4i(?) anghas
=qut fit, how does it happen that? ‘Stands’ free for ‘comes.’
5 The Pahlavi on the contrary takes perenaunghé in the sense of
combating, pavan anyékhshidarih patk4rénd=‘ (who) are opposing
you through disobedience.’ It is far from certain that he does not
indicate some improvement in text, or rendering.
® Or, ‘the counsels of holy men.’
118 THE GATHAS.
14. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
how shall I deliver that Demon-of-the-Lie into the
two hands of Thine Order! (as he lives in our hosts)
to cast her down to death through Thy Mathras
of doctrine, and to send mighty destruction ?
among her evil believers, to keep those deceitful
and harsh oppressors from reaching their (fell) aims? ἢ
15. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright.
If through Thy Righteousness (within our souls) Thou
hast the power over this for my * protection, when the
two hosts shall meet in hate® (as they strive) for
those vows which Thou dost desire to maintain, how,
O Mazda! and to which of both wilt Thou give " the
day®?
16. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright,
1 Ashai with Geldner.
3 The Pahlavi anticipates us in the correct general sense here.
It has nas,hénisnd. The Persian MS. renders the Pahlavi, hama-
vandt nist dehand ἢ darwand.
5 Andsh€ seems regarded as an infinitive by the Pahlavi
translator, anayatiinisnd. ‘For the destruction of those deceivers’
is an obvious alternative to the rendering above (ἃ nashé ὃ).
* Geldner and Roth render ma/= Sanskrit mad ; otherwise ‘ with
complete protection.’ Or is ma/ablative for genitive : If thou rulest
over me to afford me protection? The Pahlavi affords no indi-
cation.
5 The Pahlavi translator erred widely in his attempt to render the
word anaofangha. As it is certain that his MSS. differed from
ours often, they probably did so here. The verse alludes beyond a
question to some expected battle in a religious war, and perhaps in
a religious civil war. It is the most positive allusion to the ‘strife
of the two parties’ (Y. XXXI, 2) which has come down to us. It was
a struggle concerning the religious vows, or doctrines ; avais urvatais
ya t Mazda didereghzé.
“ The Pahlavi renders vananam by ‘ good thing,’ explaining ‘ the
sovereign power.’
YASNA XLIV. 119
who smites with victory * in the protection (of all) who
exist, and for the sake of, and by means of Thy doc-
trine? Yea, clearly reveal a lord having power? (to
save us) for both lives. Then let (our) Obedience ὃ
with Thy Good Mind draw near to that (leader), O
Mazda! yea, to him to whomsoever* Thou (shalt)
wish that he should come.
17. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright;
how, O Mazda! shall I proceed to that (great) con-
ference ® with You, to that consummation of Your
own, when my spoken wish® shall be (effected) unto
me, (the desire) to be in the chieftainship’? (and sup-
ported) by (the hope of) Weal and Immortality (those
saving powers of Thy grace), and by that (holy)
Mathra (Thy word of thought) which fully guides
our way through Righteousness (within).
1 Verethrem.g4 thw4, following the Pahlavi with Westergaard,
Geldner, and Bartholomae.
3 Compare Y. XXIX, 2 and Y. XXVIII, 3; or it may mean
‘promise to establish’ (Barth.). izdt, however, hardly seems to
need an infinitive with it; it may mean ‘appoint.’ Compare
d4msu (patni) for a better sense than ‘house-lord,’ also for deng patdis.
5 This casts additional light on the ‘one that should come’ in
Y. XLII, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15.
* This recalls ahmai yahmAi usta kahmaifts.
5 The comparison with gar has long circulated among Zendists.
Many adopt it. It agrees admirably with the Pahlavi as to sense:
Aimat, Afiharmazd! dam4né kardarith ἃ Lekfm, when is Your
appointment of the time ?
* The Pahlavi va mfinié zak 1 li g6bisnd hémand khvstar.
7 Va sardar yehevinisnith madam Haurvadad va Amerddad; Ner.
SvAmino bhavishyanti upari Avirdide Amirdade; comp. also Y.
XLIX, 8 fraéstaungh6 aunghamé. Professor Jolly compares bizdy4i
with φύεσθαι (Inf. 5. 194). The long since circulated comparison with
bhug seems to me hardly so probable. It may, however, deserve an
alternative ; ‘to enjoy Weal and Immortality’; but accusatives
120 THE GATHAS.
18. (And, having gained Thine audience and Thine
Order’s sacred chieftainship), then I ask of Thee,
O Ahura! and tell me aright, how shall I acquire
that Thy Righteous Order's prize, ten (costly)
mares male-mated, and with them the camel} (those
signs of honour and blessing for Thy chief. I ask
Thee for these gifts for sacrifice). For it was told
me for the sake of our Welfare (in our salvation), and
of our Immortality, in what manner Thou ? shalt give®
to these (Thy conquering hosts) both of these Thy
(gifts* of grace).
19. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright; (in
the case of the recreant, of him) who does not give
this (honoured) gift to him who hath earned it; yea,
who does not give it to this (veracious tiller of the
earth, to him who in no respect shows favour to the
Demon-of-the-Lie, even to the) correct speaker? (of
Thy sacrificial word), what shall be his sentence at
do not fall so naturally to the end of the sentence in Gathic or
Vedic, without preceding related or qualifying words.
1 Those suspected of no partisanship for the Pahlavi translation
follow it here as against Haug, who translated the words ustrem/&
by et amplius! It means a camel; so the Pahlavi translator ren-
dered many centuries ago before Europeans even knew what the
Indian tish/ra meant, which simple analogy Neryosangh first drew.
Horses were material for sacrifice among the Persians accord-
ing to Herodotus. The reasons for the prayer are not fully
expressed.
5. So better than as a first person aorist subjunctive, if taéibyé is
to be read. The Pahlavi, however, read taibyé, which is not lgeny
to be passed over.
5 The rendering ‘ take’ has long circulated. I do not, however,
prefer it here.
* Weal and Immortality, but hi might refer to the two objects,
‘the mares’ and the ‘ camel.’
5 The ideal Zarathustrian; comp. Y. XXXI, 15; XLIX, 9.
YASNA XLIV. 121
the first (now at this time, and because of this false
dealing? 1 ask it), knowing well his doom at last’.
20. (And how as to our deluded foes?) Have
Daéva-(worshippers) e’er reigned as worthy kings?
(This verily I ask of Thee, the Daéva-worshippers)
who fight? for these (who act amiss? Have they
well reigned) by whom the Karpan and the Usig(k)
gave the (sacred) Kine to Rapine®, whence, too,
the Kavian in persistent strength ὁ has flourished ὃ
(And these have also never given us tribal wealth nor
blessings), nor for the Kine have they brought
waters to the fields for the sake of the Righteous
Order (in our hosts), to further on their growth (and
welfare)!
? So also the Pahlavi followed by all. Kadar valman pavan zak
vindsisnd aité frattm; [aigas pavan-vinaskarfh p4dafras frattm
maman]? Akds h6manam zak mfin valman aité afddm [mamanas
darvandih]? Ner. (with regard to him) who does not give the re-
ward which has come for the one fitted for, or deserving of, it [to
Garathustra’s equal], (the reward) which the truthful man ; [that is,
the good man] is giving to him, what is the first thing which
happens through this sin of his? [that is, what is his first chastise-
ment in consequence of this fault?] (For) I am aware of what his
punishment shall be in the end [ ].
3 The Pahlavi translator either had a text with some form of p4,
or was otherwise misled. He renders m(in netrfind, but gives the
word the adverse sense of ‘hindering’ in the gloss. Ner., however,
has pratiskhalanti which points to peshyéiatf, and also tends to show
that other MSS. of the Pahlavi (and among them the one used by
Ner.) read differently from our three, Kg, D.J., and the Persian
transliteration, Kaim=Ved. kim with dat.
5 See Y. XXIX, 1.
4 Professor Wilhelm ‘ vigour’ (De Infin. p. 14).
122 THE GATHAS.
YASNA XLV.
Tue Doctrine oF Duatism. HomaGEe τὸ AHURA.
This hymn bears fewer traces of a fragmentary condition than
others. It recalls Y. XXX, and, like it, appears to belong to a
period, or to an interval, of political repose and theological activity.
It is smoother and more artificial than is usual, and it goes straight
on its way from beginning to end. A powerful adversary had just
been crushed. It was the dussasti of Y. XXXII, 9. This may
- well have been the result of the conflict alluded to in Y. XLIV, 15,
16, and possibly in Y. LI, 9, 10, also urged on by the fierce Y.
XXXI, 18 probably often repeated in lost hymns.
An assembly is addressed as in Y. XXX, 1, but this time as
coming ‘ from near and from far.’ It may very possibly have been the
winning side in a late struggle. The first verse sounds like a con-
gratulation.
It might be said to be intended to be sung, if not shouted, to a
multitude whose outskirts were by no means within easy reach with
the voice. At all events attention is summoned with three differing
expressions. ‘Awake your ears to the sound,’ literally ‘ sound ye,’
in a receptive sense; (‘let the sound peal in your ears’), then
‘listen’ (sraota); and then ‘ponder’ (mazdaunghédim). ‘The
. Antizarathustra, the evil teacher par eminence, has been defeated,’
he declares, ‘and he will never again destroy the peace of our lives
(Y. XXXII, 9, 11). His evil creed has been silenced, and his tongue
can no longer shout out its periods of persuasion or invective
(Y. XXXI, 12) beside our preachers.’
2. He then reiterates the chief doctrine for which the parties had
been at war, and which they should now see clearly in the light of
their victory. ‘The foul evils of society do not lie within the con-
trol of the holy Ahura in such a manner as that he either originates,
or tolerates them. They are, on the contrary, the product of the
personified Anger of the Daévas, the Mainyu in its evil sense, the
Angra (angry ὃ) Spirit. Between this being, or personified abstrac-
tion, and Ahura, there is a gulf fixed. (Never do we see any
aspersions upon Ahura’s name, or a suspicion of His purity as
shown by complicity with cruelty, or the toleration of evil passions.)
‘It is also to be noted that the defeated dussasti may have possibly
been a Daéva-worshipper chiefly as being a heretic from this Faith
YASNA XLV. 123
of Ahura, believing Him to be implicated in the creation, or permis-
sion of sin and suffering, or, if the burial or burning of the dead
was forbidden at this time, then possibly a heretic on these ques-
tions also. But yet, as a recreant Mazda-worshipper he may have
claimed a rightful allegiance to the urvata, and the future blessings,
as well as temporal advantages, involved in a correct discipleship ;
and so he may have used the name of the sacred tenets of the Re-
ligion itself to help on a nefarious warfare. In fact he may have
been a self-styled Mazda-worshipper, but not of ‘ Zarathustra’s
order,’ not owned at all in any degree by the genuine adherents,
and met as a real, if not an open, Daéva-worshipper.
The ardent prophet therefore declares the utter severance between
the good and the evil, the God and the Demon. It is a popular
corollary to Y. XXX, 3-6. The two spirits came together
indeed at first to make life, and its negation, and they co-operate, if -
such a term can be applied to an irreconcilable antagonism out of
whose antitheses and friction sentient existence alone becomes
possible. Their union consists in opposition, for if they blend, they
each cease to be what they are. They are, while upholders of exist-
ence, yet separate for ever, and that as to every attribute and
interest.
3. And the sage goes on to assert that in this he is proclaiming
the first M&thra of this life which the all-wise Mazda had revealed
to him. And, whether sure of the victorious masses before him, or
whether on the contrary perfectly aware that many a group among
them had been more convinced by the snaithzs than by reason, he
presses at once upon them that one terrible doctrine which seems
unfortunately too needful for all successful and sudden propa-
gandism, and he declares that they who do not act in a manner
accordant with what he speaks, and even thinks, (having formerly
announced it), to such delinquents this life should end in woe.
4. Proceeding in a happier vein, he then dwells upon the father-
hood of God. He will declare this world’s best being who is Mazda
Himself. He is the father of the Good Mind within His people,
when that Good Mind is active in good works. So our piety, when
it is practical, is His daughter, for no pretended good intention can
claim relationship with Him, nor can any idle sentiment. He needs
the ‘ready mind’ within His servant, and He is not to be deceived
(compare Y. XLIII, 6).
5. Returning once more to the M&thra, and this time to hold out
rewards rather than to utter threats, he declares that Happiness and
Immortality would be the portion of those who listened to, and
124 THE GATHAS.
pondered his revelation, and that Ahura Himself would likewise
approach them with the rewarding actions of His Good Mind, for
Ahura was also in all good actions on the one hand, just as His
Immortal Archangels on the other had their objective existence like-
wise in the believer's soul.
6. Turning from admonition to worship, he announces, not what
he terms the ‘first’ (verse 3), nor the ‘best’ (verses 4 and 5), but
the ‘greatest,’ element of all, implying that praise, which he now
expresses, includes both prayer and doctrinal confessions, and he
calls on Ahura both to listen and to teach. 7. It is the ‘ greatest’
element indeed, for it concerns those spiritual blessings which not
only the offerers who are now living will seek after, but those also
who shall live in future ; nay, even the spirits of the just desire them
in the eternal Immortality. And these blessings are, according to a
well-remembered law, woe to the wicked, and that, not only from
outward discipline, but from inward grief. And Ahura had esta-
blished, so he adds, the beneficent, but, as regards the wicked, still
solemn regulations by the exercise of His Sovereign Power as the
controller of all (Y. XXIX, 4). 8. Zarathustra (or his substitute)
then professes his eagerness to serve the Lord with these words
which he had called the ‘ greatest, and because he had seen Him
with his very eyes, which he explains as meaning that he had known
Him through the Righteous Order in his soul, and therefore he
prays and hopes to pronounce these greatest praises, not in the
assembly (Y. LI, 3) alone, but in the ‘Home of sublimity or song’
(ΧΙ, 4).
g. And he desires all the more fervently to do homage to Ahura,
because He approaches him with the Power of His divine Authority
in weal or woe, blessing both men and herds so long as they
multiplied under the influences of Piety. το. As the praises were
the ‘greatest,’ so he seeks to ‘magnify’ the Lord in the Yasnas of
Aramaiti, Ahura being renowned by His unchanging purpose, for
He will bestow the ‘eternal two’ in His holy Kingdom, when it
shall have been made firm! 11. Yea, he would seek to magnify
Him who contemns the Daévas and their party as much as they, in
their turn, profess to make little of Him and His religious Kingdom,
contrasted as they were with Ahura's prophet, who honoured Him
in the holy Insight, the Daéna of the Saoshya#t. And this Saoshyant
is declared to be the controlling master of every faithful worshipper,
and he, or the faithful venerator of the reviled Ahura, is also as
our friend, brother, nay, like Ahura Himself (verse 4), our very
Father in the Faith.
YASNA XLV. 125
Translation.
1. Yea, I will speak forth; hear ye; now listen,
ye who from near, and ye who from afar have come
seeking! (the knowledge). Now ponder? ye clearly
411 " (that concerns) him’. Not for a second time
shall the false teacher slay our life (of the mind, or
the body). The wicked is hemmed in with his faith
and his tongue! ®
2. Yea, I will declare the world’s two first ® spirits,
of whom the more bountiful thus spake to the harm-
[11 Neither our thoughts, nor commands, nor our
1 Ish means ‘to come seeking. The bavihfinéd of the Pahlavi,
followed by many, is by no means incorrect.
3 The reading mazdaunghédim was suggested to me by Dr. Aurel
Stein previously (as I believe) to its announcement elsewhere.
Before this the indication of the Pahlavi (which always hesitates to
change a MS. regarded at the time as sacred) had been followed
by all with its necessary error.
5 The ‘e’ in 4ithre must represent a nasalised vowel, as in
mehmaidf.
‘ fm may be merely a particle.
5 J would here strongly insist upon an alternative rendering in
the sense of the Pahlavi. The rendering above is given on prin-
ciple. A text should never be changed, if it is possible to render it
as it is. Read, ‘the wicked confessing (varet6, active sense) evil
beliefs with his tongue.’ The Pahlavi has zakas saritar kimaké va’
zakas darvandih pavan hfizvind hémnunéd. Many, with this view,
would at once read varet4 without MSS.
® Observe the peculiar pouruyé (pourviyé, if not a locative), the
two first things, principles, forces; so in Y. XXX, 3.
7 Notice that vahy6 akemé4 (in Y. XXX, 3) necessarily apply
to the mainyf@, and not only because, as nominatives, the words fall
to the end of the sentence. Here we have analogous adjectives
applied unmistakably to the two. The neuters correspond with
vahistem man6 and afistem mand, and are of capital importance as
126 THE GATHAS.
understandings, nor our beliefs, nor our deeds, nor
our consciences, nor our souls, are at one’.
3. Thus I will declare this world’s first? (teaching),
that which the all-wise Mazda Ahura hath told me.
And they among you who will not so fulfil and obey
this Mathra, as I now shall conceive and declare it,
to these shall the end of life (issue) in woe.
4. Thus I will declare forth this world’s best (being).
From (the insight of His) Righteousness Mazda, who
hath appointed these (things) *, hath known (what He
utters to be true; yea, I will declare) Him the father
of the toiling Good Mind (within us). So is His
expressing that abstract conception which renders the G&thas so
much more impressive as the earliest documents of their kind.
1 The Pahlavi thus glosses: I do not think what thou thinkest,
{for I think what is pious, and thou thinkest what is impious]; nor
our teachings, [for I teach what is pious, and thou, what is impious]
—nor our religions, for mine is the GAthic, and thine that of the
sorcerer ; nor our souls, [for he who takes his stand on my religion,
and he who takes his stand on thy religion, are apart; their souls do
not occupy the same position]. Ner.: naka dinik [yato me dinik
gathabhava teéa rakshasi*].
2 The ‘first teaching’ was a prominent idea with the Zarathu-
strians. Z. is called in the later Avesta the paoiry6/kaésha (sic). He
hardly plays the réle of a reformer in the Avesta. He is mentioned
after others chronologically, not as repudiating them. He might
better be termed reviver. Ym is difficult; perhaps daénim is to
be understood, or yem (mathrem) read; see verse 4, angheus ahya
vahistem. Neither pourvim nor vahistem are adverbs.
5 Some change the text here to another which corresponds to
some of the terms better. It should, however, first be rendered as it
stands; the obscurities may well be owing to idiosyncrasy in the
composer; possibly also to an affectation of obscurity (or ‘dark
speech’). How can Mazda be said to ‘know Himself?’ or how
could any but Ahura be spoken of as ‘the Father of Vohu Manah
and Aramaiti?’ He recognised Himself as having generated
V.M. and A. He was conscious of the completed relation.
YASNA XLV. 127
daughter through good deeds (our) Piety. Not to be
deceived is the all-viewing! Lord.
5. Yea, thus I will declare that which the most
bountiful One told me, that word which is the best
- to be heeded by mortals. They who therein grant
me obedient ὃ attention, upon them cometh Weal to
bless, and the Immortal being, and in the deeds of
His Good Mind cometh the Lord.
6. Aye, thus I will declare forth Him who is? of
all the greatest, praising through my Righteousness,
I who do aright, those who (dispose of all as well
aright). Let Ahura Mazda hear with His bounteous
spirit, in whose homage (what I asked) was asked 4
with the Good Mind. Aye, let Him exhort me
through His wisdom (which is ever) the best.
7. (Yea, I will declare Him) whose blessings the
offerers will seek for, those who are living now, as
well as those who have lived (aforetime), as will they
1 Hishas looks irresistibly like a nom. sing., but may it not be a
nom. actoris from the redup. root? Compare hfshasaf (although the
Pahlavi renders with a different cast of meaning). What Indian
word to compare here is hard to say. I prefer Bartholomae’s
earlier view (as to the meaning) with the Pahlavi harvispé nikirfdar.
By dropping the later glosses, the sense of the Pahlavi comes out
as usual, much closer to the Gatha. ,
5 Observe the vigour possessed by ‘Sraosha.’ It designates the
angel of Obedience ; and at the same time it is the only word which
can here bring out the sense when it is understood in its actual
meaning ; so continually with the words Vohu Manah, Asha, &c.
5 Lit. ‘Him who I, doing aright, (praising Him with His im-
mortals) who (all likewise) are (beneficent). Or it may be ‘that
which.’
* So with many who hold the least to the hints of the Pahlavi.
Otherwise I would render ‘there is furtherance,’ comparing afrasht-
mant6.
128 THE GATHAS.
also who are coming? (hereafter. Yea,even) the soul(s)
of the righteous (will desire) them in the eternal?
Immortality. (Those things they will desire which
are blessings to the righteous) but woes to the wicked.
And these hath Ahura Mazda (established) through
His kingdom, He, the creator (of all). .
8. Him in our hymns of homage and of praise
would I faithfully serve, for now with (mine) eye, I
see Him clearly, Lord of the good spirit’, of word, and
action, I knowing through my Righteousness Him
who is Ahura Mazda. And to Him (not here alone,
but) in His home of song‘, His praise we ὅ shall bear.
9. Yea, Him with our better Mind we seek to
honour, who desiring (good), shall come to us (to
bless) in weal and sorrow ὁ. May He, Ahura Mazda,
make us’ vigorous through Khshathra’s royal power,
1 Bvainti#a (sic) seems, as elsewhere, to express ‘those who are
becoming.’
3 The Pahlavi uniformly errs, or is strangely free, with this word.
The sense ‘continuous’ is here admirably adapted.
* This word seems evidently used almost in a modern sense of
‘character,’ ‘disposition.’ Elsewhere we are in doubt whether to
refer it to the Spenista Mainyu of Ahura, or to Ahura Himself.
4 Paradise; possibly ‘home of sublimity.’
δ The change from singular to plural is frequent. Ner. varies
from the Pahlavi in the last verse, improving upon it: Evam tasmai
prazimam antar Garothmane nidadamahe. ‘This was probably an
intentional improvement, as the Persian MS. follows our Pahlavi
text. His MS. of the Pahlavi probably read bara yehabfind.
6 Or, ‘who has created weal and sorrow for us with good inten-
tion, (and as our discipline) ;’ but this is hardly probable. Ahura
did not originate evil. Spenka, aspenki are used adverbially (see
Y. XXXIV, 7).
7 I hardly agree to reading verezenyau (sic) here in the sense of
‘homes.’ The meaning is ‘endow us with efficiency’ in the pursuit
of the objects mentioned in the context. Or ‘ the propitiation and
YASNA XLV. 129
our flocks and men in thrift to further, from the good
support and bearing! of His Good Mind, (itself born
in us) by His Righteousness,
10. Him in the Yasnas of our Piety we seek to
praise with homage, who in His persistent energy ?
was famed to be (in truth) the Lord Ahura Mazda,
for He hath appointed in His kingdom, through His
holy Order and His Good Mind, both Weal and
Immortality, to grant * the eternal mighty pair to this
our land (and the creation).
11. (Him would we magnify and praise) who hath
despised the Daéva-gods and alien men, them who
before held Him in their derision. Far different
are (these) from him who gave Him honour. This
latter one is through the Saoshyazt’s bounteous
Faith, who likewise is the Lord of saving power‘,
reverential honour’ may have been more directly in the com-
poser’s mind; ‘may He endow our (worship) with efficiency that
it may accomplish its desired result.’ See the positions of the
words.
The Pahlavi translation also bears witness to the rendering above,
with its erroneous or free varzidar avd lanman.
? As it is impossible for those who have studied the subject to
believe that the Pahlavi translator did not know the meaning of
amavandih in Zend, we must suppose him to have had some form
like hazah before him instead of huza(thw4/).
? The Pahlavi translator,rendering this word in the two other places
by pavan ast{bih, had evidently some reason for sceing a form of
naman here. The natural conclusion is that his MS. read differ-
ently in this place. Ner. renders him appropriately.
* Dan looks like an accusative infinitive here (Bartholomae) ;
otherwise the two verbs must be regarded as having indefinite
pronouns understood, ‘one assigns,’ and ‘they grant.’
41 cannot see the applicability of Agni’s title ‘ house-lord’ here ;
compare d4msupatni as‘adj. referring to pati.
[31] Κ
130 THE GATHAS.
a friend, brother, or a father to us, Mazda
Lord 1!
YASNA XLVI.
PERSONAL SUFFERINGS, Hopes, AND APPEALS,
In treating this most valuable section, we can as usual presuppose
that the several verses were not originally composed in the order in
which they now appear. Verses 1-3 seem like a cry ‘from the
depths.” In verse 4 animosity appears; and an appeal to the
energy of some of his warlike adherents seems to prove that, with
verses 5 and 6, the composer addressed it to an assembly; 7-10 are
questions and appeals to Ahura, but, as a matter of course, they
are none the less really intended to impress the hearers, as well as
to animate the mind of the reciter. Verses 11 and 12 were again
intended to be delivered to adherents.
Verse 13 is addressed to them in terms. Verse 14 would be
regarded by some as little suited to the connection, and the rest
seem spoken to an assembly of chiefs. However different they
may be as to the particular time or circumstances of their origin,
they are in general so homogeneous even as to pitch of intensity,
that, with a little exercise of the mind, we can as usual see the
reasons why they were put together, or were consecutively com-
posed; and in poetic diction sudden changes neither displease nor
surprise us. 1. Beyond a doubt the leading prophet is the figure
in the first and second verses; and those verses are so free from
imagery that we hold them as describing beyond any reasonable
1 He who despised the Daévas, they returning the contempt is
probably the same person expressed by the two héi in the previous
verse. It is therefore Ahura, but the words which mean friend,
brother, father, are grammatically connected with ye—mainyéta,
the one who reverenced Ahura. The expression ‘father’ gives a
strong impression that Ahura is referred to, notwithstanding the
vocative. Particularly as we have father in verse 4. The word
‘brother,’ however, inclines one to the more closely grammatical
view.
YASNA XLVI. 131
question, together with many other passages in the Gathas, the
afflictions and discouragements of Zarathustra himself. He knows
not whither to turn, although he speaks as a public person and in
command of forces which are scanty indeed (verse 2), but yet still
able to take the field (Y. XLIV, 15, 16); and his movements also
concern large districts (‘lands’). He is not driven from his house, .
but from his country. It is superfluous to say that religion, although
blended with a natural ambition, is his leading motive. How he
shall satisfy Ahura is the one problem which he aims to solve; but
his case at this particular juncture shows every discouragement.
2. Not supposing that his yi=yéna is merely lost in the meaning
‘that,’ we see that in relieving his burdened mind he exclaims, not
that he knows that he is poor in means and troops, but that he
knows why it is thus. It is the dregvant’s work, whom we may
also well understand as the drugvamt, the accursed enemy, who
holds back (verse 4) the bearers of the Holy Order from all success
in their efforts to gain a righteous livelihood from the favoured
cattle culture (Y. XXIX, 2), and who, as he with grief long since
foresaw, should he attain to power, would deliver up home, village,
district, and province to ruin and death (Y. XXXI, 18). He there-
fore cries to Ahura in common with the Kine herself (Y. XXIX, 9),
and his ‘behold’ is only a changed expression for her exclama-
tions (Y. XXIX, 1).
As a friend, he would have the good Mazda to regard him as
seeking an especial form of grace; and he would beseech Him to
fill up his need (Y. XXVIII, 11) in his extremity, teaching him,
not the value of flocks and followers alone, but of that fsti which
lay deeper than the material wealth which he yet lamented, even
the blessings of the Holy Order in every home. 3. And therefore
he continues: Teach me and tell me of those great thoughts, the
khratavé, the salvation-schemes of the Saviours, elsewhere also
spoken of as the khratu of life (¥Y. XXXII, 9); for these saving
helpers would, through a severe conflict and after many a reverse, "
at last bring on ‘Completed Progress.’
4. But he must arouse himself from the relief and indulgence of
his grief, he therefore springs to action, and with a cry which we
hear elsewhere (Y. LIII, 9), and which was in all probability often
uttered in hymns now lost to us, he urges the reward for the
chief, who at the head of his retainers, shall expel the world-
destroyer, the dussasti (Y. XLV, 1), from power and from life. And
what is that reward? It seems to be merely the recognition
and confirmation of merit among the faithful. ‘The man who shall
K 2
132 THE GATHAS.
expel, or destroy, the heretical tyrant shall be eminent in the recog-
nition of his services in the support of the people and their sacred
agricultural] civilisation.
That was to be reward enough, and even that prestige (pourva-
tatem) was to be given back to God in offering for still further
service (Y. XXXIII, 14).
5. And every righteous official is urged to repeat the proclama-
tion as a warning to every polluted Daéva-worshipper whom he can
discover, or to whom his voice can reach, as well as to those secret
adherents who would seem to need encouragement. The charged
official is to assail the destructive opponent (Y. XXXII, 6-8), only
after careful discrimination. He is to approach the evil chief, the
hostile Zvaétu (of the blood), as distinct from the inferior noble, or
the peasant clansman, and he is to tell him fully of the price set on
his head. 6. ‘And the superintendent who has the power, and
does not thus carry out these instructions, shall himself be delivered
over to the bonds of that Lie-demon whom the evil ‘“ kinsman”
serves. For there is no compromise in the dualistic moral creed.
The man who favours the evil is as the evil, and the friend of the
good is as the good himself; so had the Lord ordained.’
4. Then,as so often elsewhere, he turns his thoughts to the outward
emblem as the sign of inward grace, the sacramental Fire without
which the masses would have had no help to fix the eye, or draw
prostrations, and he asks with the question of profound devotion:
Whom have they (Thy Saoshyaats, verse 3) set me, as strengthener
in these storms, save Thee and Thy symbolic flames? Yet even
here he names the Good Mind with them, and the Order.
8. ‘But,’ he continues, ‘may he who would destroy my settlement
find every influence and power combined to form his ruin; may all
things keep him back from prosperity, and may nothing keep him
back from harm.’
9. He calls, then, for a leading helper who may help him magnify
Ahura, not merely in religious celebrations, but in that universal
advance of the sacred ‘ cause,’ which follows Ahura’s ‘conciliation’
(verse 1).
1o. As if to hinder the discouragement of those who hear his own
unburdenings of grief, he declares that he will never leave the faithful
few who follow him; he will go with them to the ‘dread assize’
itself, as if to help them pass the last of tests.
11. But the ‘ wicked,’ open or concealed, should not share these
hopes; their conscience, ever the remorseless executioner, shall
curse them, as they try to pass the Judgment Bridge; and hurled
YASNA XLVI. 133
from that narrow path (it becomes narrow to the faithless), they
shall fall to ‘eternal’ Hell.
12. Their destruction is not, however, yet decided; there is not
only hope for the tribesmen of Ahura, but for the pagan, and not for -
the ‘alien’ only, but for the Turanian enemy, whose very name had
been a synonym for suffering. If these even shall repent, they may
be blest; and some had already turned. The converted tribe
Fryana offered many pious proselytes. These would help on the
righteous order together with the holy people, and God would dwell
with them as well.
13. Rhetorically referring to himself as in the third person, or
else representing some second speaker who names his name, he
can still offer his reward to any prince who will yet come up with
his retainers to his cause, not kept back by the many refusals which
he had met (verse 1), nor discouraged by the scant numbers of his
bands; and that reward is one which might yet be efficacious to
induce self-sacrificing succour, for in addition to what had been
said (see verse 4) he could declare spiritual life from Ahura to be
the portion of every faithful follower, and with it future temporal
wealth. And he should declare this true recruit the ‘good mate’
in the service, the first helper (verse 9) of the tribes.
14. Here we have what seems a question conceived as uttered
by some one in the throng, or else simply rhetorically thrown in:
‘Who is that friend, that powerful coadjutor who is thus offered
this reward, and for such a service?’ Zarathustra names the
king. But he diverts the minds of hearers from a pernicious trust
in individuals, Ὁ
He would appeal, so he implies, not to one man only, although
that one be Vist4spa, the heroic, but to all whom Ahura would
recognise in His assembly, through the inspired suffrage of the mass.
15. And first he addresses the group made up chiefly of his
family, the Spitimas; they were, as he implied, enlightened in the
sacred lore, and among the foremost therefore of the Ar(e)dra.
16. He then calls on Frashaostra, with the Hvégvas, exhorting
all to continue in their righteous course, in harmony with those
whom they wish for as Saviours for the land, assuring them that
they will reach at last that sacred scene where the ‘Immortals’ dwell
with God. 17. ‘That scene,’ he further adds, ‘where the faithful
sing their praises in perfection, using the true metres’ (as sacred as
the Vedic). And he declares that Ahura, who discerns the truth
infallibly, will heed and answer; for the praises sung there will
be those of obedient men who offer to the cause. 18. He once
ἐ-ι Γ ody, :
134 aoe ἢ ες THE GATHAS.
more holds out his spiritual rewards as the best gifts of the inspired
revelation, threatening as usual commensurate visitation upon the
oppressing clans, while both promises and threats are in harmony
with Ahura’s will, for that alone has been his guide in every state-
ment. 19. After all complaints, and threats, and stern injunctions,
he closes with the once more repeated word ‘reward, and that
for every man who shall aid in ‘his great affair’ (Y. XXX, 2), and
he appeals to God Himself, asserting His inspiration for all that
he has said.
Translation.
1. To what land to turn!; aye, whither turning
shall I go? On the part οἵ a kinsman (prince), or
allied peer, none, to conciliate, give * (offerings) to me
(to help my cause), nor yet the throngs of labour,
(not) even such as these‘, nor yet (still less) the evil
1 The Pahlavi translator sees the usual meaning in nemdi and
nem6é. He also accepts kim zim adverbially after the constant
Greek usage. ‘In what land shall I establish my religion (as it is
here rejected); whither with my praises (of the true God) shall I
go?’ The rendering is so much richer that I turn from it with
great reluctance.
5 It is to be regretted that able scholars should so hastily change
the G&thic text here without first trying to render it as it is. This
is all the more necessary, as each independent writer disputes
emendations. Pairi I think ought to stand. The Avaétu, airyaman,
and verezenem are also elsewhere alluded to, as appertaining to
the hostile party sometimes, and therefore not among those from
among whom (para?) the prophet would be expelled.
5 Dadait? as a third plural has long been suggested with the
eagerness of discovery. Its subjects would then be khshnaus,
and that implied in ya verezena. But the construction is difficult
thus, and it may be greatly doubted whether we had not better
alter our discovery back into the singular with the Pahlavi. I am
greatly confirmed in my view of the grammatical form of khshnaus
_ by Bartholomae’s decision for a nominal form. Otherwise it would
be a third singular, with loss of the final dental.
4“ He&a seems to be an irregular form (see Y. LVIII, 4). I can
SE LIBRARS
OF THE
ENE
YASNA XL fe UNIV 135
tyrants of the province. How tht®amal
well the Faith, and thus) acl Thy (grace), O
Lord ?
2. This know I, Mazda! wherefore I am thus
unable to attain my wish', and why my flocks are so
reduced in number, and why my following is likewise
scant. Therefore I cry to Thee; behold it, Lord!
desiring helpful grace for me, as friend bestows on
friend. (Therefore to meet my spirit’s need, and this
as well) declare and teach? to me the Good Mind's
wealth.
3. When come, Great Giver! they who are the
day’s enlighteners*, to hold the Righteous Order of
the world upright, and forward pressing? When are
only make an exclamatory isque=talisque of it. The Pahlavi
renders freely as if some form of hi=to bind were before him
(recall héis?), or perhaps he read ha&a, rendering as=these all
together, hamsayaki#; Ner. ye svasrenayo.
1 So the Kine complained of him in Y. XXIX, 9 as ana€sha ;
so also the Pahlavi, explaining akhvastar [algham denman atf-
banikih maman raf khavitinam]. He proceeds li amat kam ramak
va amatifé kam-gabra hémanam, explaining anaéshé as not being
an isha-khshathra. M4=sm4 notwithstanding position (?).
2? «Nim wahr’ has long since circulated as a rendering for
akhs6 ; and with fstim in the sense of ‘ prayer,’ it has afforded the
admirable sense ‘observe, take heed of the desire of the pious.’
But we have a positive proof of the meaning ‘teach,’ ‘ declare’ for
khsa; see Y. LXV, 9 (Wg.). So also in Y. XXVIII, 5. That
Ahura possessed an fsti is clear from Y. XXXIV, 5. And if the
sage could ask, ‘What is your fsti (wealth)? what is your king-
dom (power over possessions)?’ it is certainly not strained to
suppose that he could say here; ‘tell me concerning your wealth,’
especially as he bewails his poverty. {sti is in antithesis to the
idea expressed in kamnafshva and kamnana. So also the
Pahlavi as translated by the Persian ‘hez4nah.
8. Ukshano would seem to be an ancient error for ushano, as
the Pahlavi translator renders as if reading usha in Y.L, 10, and
136 THE GATHAS.
the schemes of the saviour Saoshyazts with (their)
lofty revelations (to appear)? To whom for help
does he (their chief) approach, who has Thy Good
Mind (as his fellow-worker')? Thee, for mine
exhorter and commander, Living Lord! I choose.
4. (But e’er these helpers come to me, all rests as
yetin gloom.) The evil man is holding back ? those
who are the bearers of the Righteous Order from
progress * with the Kine, (from progress with the
sacred cause) within the region, or the province’, he,
the evil governor, endowed with evil might δ, con-
suming δ life with evil deeds. Wherefore, whoever
hurls him from his power, O Mazda! or from life,
stores for the Kine in sacred wisdom shall he make’.
not ukhsha. Otherwise ‘increasers of the days’ is a fine expression,
but suspicious in view of the Pahlavi rendering in Y. L, 10.
Ner.’s *vikAsayitryo (sic) is striking, but I cannot claim for it all that
it seems to offer, as Ner. elsewhere renders forms of vakhsh by
those of kas. The Persian follows the Pahlavi.
1 Comp. Y. XLIV, 1.
? Pa in the sense of ‘keeping back from welfare’ as well as
in that of ‘protection,’ a sense first taught us by the Pahlavi
writers, is now at last generally acknowledged. It now, like many
other suggestions of the Pahlavi, actually casts light in the ren-
dering of the analogous Vedic word.
5 So the mass of MSS. with the Pahl. min fravamisnd; Persian
az raftan. The expression might refer to the ‘going of the kine,’
as representing the people in her ‘ path.’
* Comp. Y. XXXI, 18.
5 Pahl. zak f pavan d@s-stahamak; Ner. dush/o balatkari.
The elements seem to be duz + hazé + bao( =v4o).
5 Ush in Iranian seems to have the sense of destruction com-
bined with it sometimes; hence aoshah, aoshisnd.
* Kar can well mean ‘attain to.’ Pathmezg as=paths (so I
formerly rendered) gives a far feebler sense than that indicated by
the first Zendist, the Pahlavi writer. The ‘wisdom’ of preparing
stores for the kine, even if we suppose an animal only to be meant
YASNA XLVI. 137
5. (Yea), he who, as ruler, treats no coming appli-
cant with injury’, as a good citizen (or nobly wise)
in sacred vow and duty, and living righteously in
every covenant, who, as an uncorrupted judge, dis-
cerns the wicked (that leader who, rejecting me,
would keep back those who propagate the Faith), let
him, (this righteous judge,) declare (the vengeance) to
that (hostile *) lord, (my) kinsman. Yea, let him
crush him when he sallies forth ὃ (to approach us for
our harm)!
6. (And he who leaves him in his guilty error has
my curse.) Yea, he who has the power‘, and will not
thus (with stern reproof*) approach him, shall go to
is obvious. The Iranian winter was something very different from
that in India. But the kine is not alluded to without a certain
figurative meaning: she represents the people, and as such she
cried aloud; and Zarathustra received the commission to relieve
her sufferings as such. That the word huéistéis stands in the
genitive should not disturb us. The ‘care for the kine’ was a
matter of national importance, and ‘wisdom’ could not better be
exercised than in this direction.
‘ Or we may render ‘he who as ruler does not bestow favours
upon him who approaches with injury.’ The hint of the Pahlavi
favours this.
® Hvaétavé is here, as in Y. XXXIII, 4; Y. XXXII, 1, and the
first verse of this chapter, the hostile chieftain called ‘kinsman’
in an aristocratic sense by Zarathustra and his group.
5.1 compare uziithyauséa which is used of the breaking forth
of water, The Pahlavi translator seems to have had some such idea
‘man 14l4 hengid6, but with him the entire line, which divides all
writers, favours the sense ‘in saving him from his impiety.’ Khrfin-
yas is a verbal form (with Bartholomae).
* The Pahlavi translator sees the root is=to wish in ismané,
‘who does not willingly approach him ;’ or ‘ who does not approach
desiring (and seeking ἢ) him.’
5 I am gratified to see that another takes nearly this view of this
line. He has ‘ verfolgt.’
138 THE GATHAS.
the abode of the Lie, (and) the enchainer’. For
he is evil who is the best one to the evil, and he is
holy who is friendly to the righteous, as Thou didst
fix the moral laws 2, O Lord!
7. Whom, then, as guard, O Mazda! hast Thou?
set me‘ then when that wicked one still held® me
for his hate? Whom (had I) then but Thee, Thy
Fire and Mind, Ahura! by deeds performed in which
Thy Righteous rule is saved and nurtured? There-
fore that spiritual power ὃ (vouchsafing me) for the
(holy) Faith (its truths) declare.
8. And as to him who (now by evil power) de-
livers up my settlements to harm, let not his burning
(wrath) in deeds attain? me. But bearing back " the
(evil will and evil influence of such), let these things
come (back) to him in anger. Let that to his body
come which holds from ® welfare; but let no (help)
1 Haéthahya, as a masculine, is awkward, as would be baéthahy4,
so the Pahl. (of the terrifier). A loc. of haithya may be correct,
taking dimin also as a loc. Otherwise ‘to the creatures of the Lie,
and the enchainer (or terrifier).’
* Or, ‘as Thou didst make the souls at first.’
δ΄ So with K6, Kg (Barth.).
“ Some render ‘me’ here, who seem elsewhere Joath to translate
thwAvamt as=like thee, thee. Khshmfvat6, thw4va4s, and mavaité,
in Y. XLIV, 1, may be rendered, ‘ of you,’ ‘ thou,’ and ‘to me.’
5 So the Pahlavi indicates. I have, however, elsewhere, as against
tradition, rendered as if the root were dar(e)s; ‘has set his eye
on me for vengeance.’
* One might be tempted to read taf m6i das tvem; ‘that
granting me, do Thou speak forth for the faith.’
7 The Pahlavi translator indicates the root s4 by his résh; so
read as alternative, ‘let him not wound us.’
® The meaning ‘ but contrariwise’ has been ventured on. The
indication of the Pahlavi is ‘in opposing;’ pavan padirak yam-
tfinisnd.
9 The Pahlavi here misses the point, and taking p4yéé in its usual
YASNA XLVI. 139
at all (approach him, which may) keep him back from
misery. (And let this happen as I speak) from (venge-
ful) hate, O Lord!
9. But who is the freely helping one who will teach
me foremost ' how we may adore Thee, Thou the well
to be invoked? as in Thy deeds, the holy’, bountiful
Ahura? What (words) the Kine’s creator‘ spake for
Thee by aid of, and to aid, the Righteous ritual
Order, these words of Thine, (Thy people coming)
with Thy Good Mind, are seeking ὅ now (to gain and
learn from) me *, O Mazda Lord!
sense, falls into confusion. The ancient scholars, like some of
their successors, could not always believe that pa could mean ‘to
hold back from good’ as well as from evil. They recognised it
sometimes, giving us our instruction on the subject, but not here.
' Did the composer appeal to some powerful coadjutor here, or
does he rhetorically express his perplexity ?
? Zevistim must equal forms of hd; but from the constant evidence
of the Pahlavi to the meaning ‘ endearing,’ one is much inclined to
suggest a reading as if from zush.
5 Ashavanem is applied to Ahura, and cannot so well mean
‘righteous’ here. ‘Holy’ is the more proper term in this con-
nection, while speztem is necessarily excluded from that meaning
by its occurrence with ashavanem in immediate connection.
4 Notice that the word tashé occurs here with no mention of
wounding in the connection (see note 6 on page 6).
5 T am here recalled to the Pahlavi by some who rarely name it.
I had rendered, ‘these words are inciting me (in duty) through
Thy Good Mind;’ so ish often in the Veda. The Pahlavi trans-
lator, like his successors, scandalised at the difficult forms, also
anticipated his successors (as elsewhere often) in getting free from
the difficulty. He did what is exactly equivalent to what is now
practised by scholars (sometimes too often). He rendered the text
as if changed from what he could not understand to what he could
understand, adhering to the right roots however, which I now
follow. He knew that ishezti m4 did not mean, ‘I am seeking,’
but he could not credit the words before him.
* We have now a suggestion which must often have presented
itself to those who read the A¢g-veda constantly, and that is (so
140 THE GATHAS.
10. Whoever, man or woman, shall give to me
those (gifts) of life which Thou hast known 1 as best,
O Mazda! and as a holy blessing through (Thy)
Righteous Order, a throne (established) with (Thy)
Good Mind, (with these I shall go forth; yea, those)
whom I shall (accompany and so) incite®, to the
homage of such as You#(on earth), forth to the
Judge’s Bridge (itself) with all of them shall I lead
on ὁ (at last).
11. (And they and I have every need for help, for
now) the Karpan and the Kavi will join in govern-
ments ὅ to slay the life of man with evil deeds, they
whom their own souls and their own conscience will
becry®. And when they approach there where the
Judge’s Bridge (extends, unlike the believing ones of
God, who go so firmly forth with me as guide and
helper, these shall miss their path and fall"), and
Bartholomae) that m& may equal sm4 here and often elsewhere.
It is well possible, as the ‘s’ often disappears.
? Notice once more the expression, ‘Thou hast known;’ so in
Y. XXVIII, 11, the composer confides the very direction of his
petitions to the discrimination of the Deity. We gain from this the
true sense of peres4 nau ya t6i chma parst4; Ahura’s question and
prayer are mighty when repeated by us, because He has known
what is best, and what are the true datheng for which we should
ask.
® This sense corresponds admirably with the connection; Ner.
utthapaydmi.
* Such as you=you as in the plural of majesty, or as referring
to Ahura and His Bountiful Immortals (so often).
* *Go forth.’
® Or, ‘with kings;’ but the Pahlavi has, avd khfidayth ayfgénd
min Kik va Karapo.
6 So the Pahlavi indicates. Otherwise ‘ will harden,’ or, if khrao-
dat is read, ‘ will rage (against).’
7 Inserted to shed light on the last line; so the later Parsism.
’
YASNA XLVI. [41
in the Lie’s abode for ever shall their habita-
tion? be.
12. (But for the penitent there is yet hope ; for all
our former foes shall not thus fall, as from the Hinvaé
Bridge to woe, for) when from among the tribes and
kith of the Turanian, even among the more powerful .
ones of the Frydna, those shall arise ? who further on
the settlements of Piety with energy and zeal, with
these shall Ahura dwell together through His Good
Mind (in them), and to them for joyful grace deliver
His commands’.
13. Yea, he who will propitiate Zarathustra
Spitama‘ with ‘gifts midst men, this man is fitted
for the proclamation, and to him Ahura Mazda will
give the (prospered) life. And he will likewise
cause the settlements to thrive in mental goodness,
We think © him, therefore, Your good companion to
(further and maintain) Your Righteousness (and meet
for Your approach).
11 am again brought back to the Pahlavi, having formerly
rendered ‘ bodies,’ which I would now put in the second place.
2 The Pahlavi, although as usual free or erroneous as to forms,
gives us the valuable hint of hengt-ait for uzgen (sic=gayen).
3 Here we have the clear evidence of the conversion of a border
tribe. The Zarathustrians had saved some Turanian clan from
plunder or annihilation, and so secured their friendship. These .
became known as the ‘friendly people.’ That true Zarathustrian
piety may have arisen among them is of course possible.
* It need hardly be said that this reference to Z. in the third
person, does not prove that the composer was not Z. himself. One
might even say that his authorship was even not less probable on
this account.
5 Let it be noted that the Pahlavi translator gives us our first
critical knowledge as to the true writing and meaning of mehmaidf;
or will scholars object that he renders in the singular? Valman
pavan zak f Lekfm Ahardyih hamfshak minam Κῆρ hamkhék ;
Ner. dhy4y4mi suddha-sakh4yam.
142 THE GATHAS.
(A voice from among the Chiefs.)
14. (But where is such an one ?) Whom hast thou
Zarathustra’! thus a holy friend for the great (effort
of the) cause ? Who is it who thus desires to speak
it forth? (Zarathustra answers. Aye, such an one
Ihave.) It is our Kavi Vist&spa’, the heroic; (and
not he alone, but all) whom thou shalt (as in Thy
prophet) meet® in the assembly, O Ahura Mazda!
these likewise will I call (to my attempt), and with
Thy Good Mind’s words.
15. O ye Haééat-aspas, Spitamas! to you will I
now address ‘my words, since ye discern the things
unlawful, and the lawful, for these your actions to
establish ὁ (firmly on its base) for you the Righteous
Order through those which are the Lord’s primeval
laws.
16. (And to the Hvégvas would I likewise speak.)
Thou Frashaostra Hvégva (whom I see)*; go thou
1 Shall we regard this verse as misplaced because the subject
is in the second person? It is probable (as of very many verses)
that it was often recited by the composer, or others, in a different
connection, and perhaps originally so; but it was a happy thought
for the effect to introduce it here. Let it be supposed that this
and the previous verse were arranged to be spoken by another
voice during the public recital. We see that the interest is much
increased by the intruding strophe.
3 This passage may be regarded as recording the call of Vis-
taspa to the holy work. Zu=hQ need not always express the
invocation of the gods.
5 Others, ‘ unite.’
* Or, ‘ye take to you the righteous character to yourselves,’ as
the infinitive is difficult; but in that case Khshmaiby4 becomes
awkward. The translation of ἀᾷ as ‘take’ has long been familiar.
5 Obviously composed for an occasion when the several parties
would be present.
YASNA XLVI. 143
(forth) with the generous helpers’, with those whom
we are praying for as for salvation to the land. Go
thou where Piety joins hand in hand with the
Righteous Order, where are the wished-for Realms
of Good Mind, where Mazda in His most honoured 2
home abides,
17. Where in your measured verse ? I will declare
aloud (the praises), not in unmeasured lines, GamAspa
Hvégva! but songs of homage (will I weave) with
ever gained Obedience in offering. (And unto Mazda)
will I chant them, yea, to Him who will discern aright
what things are lawful (or) unlawful * (which I thus
do, or utter), and with His wonder-working thoughts 5
of Righteousness (attend).
18, (For) whosoever (offers) sanctity® to me, to
him shall be the best gifts whatsoever. Yea, of my
1 Ar(e)dra seems to be especially applied, and might be left un-
rendered.
? I see no impossibility whatever in such a rendering, literally
in ‘his choice-abode ;’ so also the Pahlavi indicates: tamman afgh
Agharmazd pavan kamak dén demand ketr(iné¢. The question
is of ‘going’ and ‘dwelling,’ and the meaning ‘abode’ is quite in
point. As to var, see fst khshathré; and compare mazdavarda.
Aside from this, vardmam=in blessing.
5 The Pahlavi again, with its followers, gives us our first hint
at the general meaning here. What else can his padman and
apadm4nik mean, but the regularity, that is, the rhythm and
cadence of the words?
“ Datheméa adatheméA would be ‘the truth and the heresy’ in
general.
5 If mantf is taken as an instrumental, (can it be an act. imper. ὃ)
vista might occupy the place of a preterit, but it looks far more
like a participle, and might be regarded as forming a compositum
with vahmeng. Supply the dat. (?) pers. pron. understood before ye.
* The alteration to yaus, considered as an aorist, has long cir-
culated, but seems now, like so many of the bolder conceptions,
to be given up. Yaos is the sister word of the Vedic yés, and
144 THE GATHAS.
(spirits) wealth will I bestow on him through Thy
Good Mind (which I give), but oppressions will I
send on him who as oppressor will deliver us to
anguish, O Mazda! desiring, as I do, to satisfy Your
choice by righteous (vengeance). This is the decision
of mine understanding and my will.
19. (Yea, this I earnestly announce.) He who from
Righteousness (in mind and life) shall verily per-
form for me, for Zarathustra, that which is thus most
helpful (for my cause) according to my earnest wish
(and through my words of urgent zeal) on him shall
they bestow reward(s) beyond this earth, with all the
mental? blessings gained through the sacred mother-
kine?, And these things (all) did’st Thou (Thyself)
command to me, O Mazda, Thou most wise 8
shows us that some shade of sanctity may inhere in that word.
The Pahlavi renders more indefinitely by ‘ yan ’=a helpful blessing.
1 The Pahlavi translator, however, saw mend, rendering avd li.
His text may well have justified him.
3 Bearing ; or is it ‘fit to drive?’
3 The Pahlavi here reports another text.
(SuppLEMENTARY Norzs. Aséié, in verse 18, may equal ‘ verily
indeed.’ Vahista, &c.=‘ the best things of my wealth will I assign
to him through the Good Mind.’ The meaning ‘ wealth’ seems
much called for here, and if here, then in verse 2. Vasn4 in verse
1g may mean ‘through grace.’)
YASNA XLVII. 145
THE GATHA(A) SPEVTA MAINYUO
(SPENTAMAINYU(0)).
This G&tha, consisting of Yasna XLVII-L, takes its
name from its commencing words. Like the other GAthas
it owes its existence as a collection to the nature of its
metre, as its matter is homogeneous with that of the others.
Its metre may be said to be Trishfup, as its lines have each
eleven syllables, and are arranged in stanzas of four.
A general view precedes each chapter. The grouping of
hymns in this Gatha has, as usual, little or nothing to do
with the question of their relative age.
YASNA XLVII.
ΤῊΣ BountTiFULNESS OF AHURA.
As in every instance, we may have here only the fragments of a
more extended piece; but also, as ever, the circumstance does not
diminish the value of what remains. Although some signs of author-
ship apart from Zarathustra are present, the later verses are not at
all remote, so far as the period of time which they indicate is con-
cerned, from the Zarathustrian verses, and are therefore of nearly
equal interest, possessing the advantage moreover of affording data
for estimating the progress of change.
1. The Spewta mainy( here is not identical with Ahura, but is, as
so often, His spirit. It is more than possible that the memorable
application of the word sperta to the seven, giving us the Ameshé-
spends, the Amshaspands of literature, derives its origin from the
first verse here before us, or from lost verses of a similar character.
All the seven seem purposely and artificially grouped here, although
‘His Spirit’ is of course not one of them. The commencing word
spenta further attracted attention in so far as to form the theme fora
sort of play upon words in the later epilogue of Visparad XIX. By
means of this His indwelling Spirit (which idea, or expression, has
probably no direct connection with the ‘Holy Spirit’ of the Old
and New Testaments, but which, as giving the designation ‘ spirit’
to the Ameshéspends, may well have been the original of the ‘ seven
spirits which are before the throne of God’), by means of this
[31] L
146 THE GATHAS.
blessed spirit, that is, in accordance with his inmost thoughts,
Ahura bestows a gift upon the ideal saint (verses 4, 5), upon him
who works the best results for Zarathustra (Y. XLVI, 19), the Ratu,
and the prophet (Y. XXIX, 6,8). And this gift is declared to be
the inseparable two, Happiness in every particular, and then both
the prospect and realisation of the continuance of that Happiness
in Immortality. And these He bestows, not through His immediate
action, which no human intellect, or susceptibility, could take in
unaided, but by His especially revealed Benevolence, His Best
Mind, as His representative, in accordance with His plan of Order
and Purity, pervading every moral as well as every spiritual regula-
tion, and by the exercise of His Royal Power, sent forth as the
‘archangel’ Khshathra, and embodied in the polity of the sacred
Zarathustrian state, and this as influenced in all its relations, public
and domestic, by practical piety called Aramaiti, Ahura’s daughter
(the ready mind). Such a revelation of the component parts of the
mind and will of the Deity, the simplest labouring class could
understand for the moment, and for some decades; but all was, as
a matter of course, soon to be overgrown with the old weeds of
superstition and of myth.
2. Falling into detail and varying expressions, the composer
prays that Ahura may carry out His holy scheme into action by the
busy hands and fingers of domestic piety, and by the preached and
recited words of the Good Mind from the mouth and tongue of
faithful priests. So, and so only, would He become the Father of
Asha, the divine Order, and of moral and ritual regularity among
men.
3. From discourse concerning God, he arises, as so often, to an
address to Him. That Spirit (referred to in the verses 1, 2) is
Ahura’s own, for He is the One who makes it bounteous; He
is the bountiful One who has created the sacred symbolic Kine,
the emblem and the substance of ‘joy,’ representing at once the
possessions of the holy people, and those people themselves. And
He it is who, in answer to her wail (Y. XXIX, 1, 9), has spread for
her the meadows ‘of Piety’ as arranged in the consultations (Y.
XXXIII, 6) made on her behalf.
4. And this ‘ Spirit,’ as might be expected, does not confine its
attention to the inspiration of Piety alone. The justice of Mazda is
vindicated. The wicked are afflicted under its influence with a long
wounding (Y. XXX, 11) for their sins, and for their cynical prefer-
ence for prosperous men of bad and dishonest character as well as
of heretical faith.
YASNA XLVII. 147
5. But he expresses his confidence that Ahura Mazda will, in the
end, set all aright. He will, unlike the persons just mentioned, give
unto the ashavan, not kasu alone, but paru, (not a meagre share,
but fulness) of whatever is the best, while the dregvamt and the aka
(verse 4), the faithless and the wicked, although they may be isvanéd,
prosperous, will only taste the enjoyment of their wealth aside from
God, and therefore marred. So long as they pursue their usual
course, they live in actions inspired not by the bountiful spirit, but
by the Evil Mind, a mind as aka as the person alluded to in the
words paraos (kathé) ak6 dregvaité in the previous verse.
6. But, as ever, the moral appeals, and ascriptions of praise, lofty
as they are, are not left without the support and service of the
ritual. God will give these gifts, and all which are the best, but
in connection with His Fire imparted to these struggling sides
(Y. XXXI, 2), the believing and the faithless (verses 4, 5), through
the increase of His Piety and Order; for that piety, as ever the
instructress, will convert all those who come to her, and seek her
light (Y. XXX, 1; Y. XLV,1). Nay, she will cause all the living
to choose and believe in God (Y. XXXI, 3).
(If the first two verses here are more like the work of a disciple,
the last four show again the original tone. It must never be for-
gotten, however, that later and even interpolated portions are, in
their sense, also original, and differ but slightly in their great age
from pieces more directly from the first composer.)
Translation.
1. And to this! (man, His chosen saint), Ahura
Mazda will give* both the two (greatest gifts, His)
1 Or, ‘to us;’ but in that case it would be the Kine who ‘took
counsel’ as mentioned in the third verse. This is, however, far from
impossible, as she is mentioned as uttering her wail, and being
answered by her maker in Y. XXIX, 1,2. So understanding, ‘to
us’ becomes an admirable rendering for verse 1 ; but in verse 3, it
is strained, as the Kine for whom (Y. XXIX, 9) Zarathustra was
appointed, could not so readily be declared to be the one which
was given to ‘us,’ she representing ‘us’ in that place to a great
extent. There is a certain plausibility about the rendering ‘to us,’
but I think ahmdi refers to ashaoné understood (see verses 4 and δ).
The Pahlavi, moreover, is against a first person.
? Dan (Geldn.) seems to be a 3rd plural aorist subjunctive; the
L2
148 THE GATHAS.
Universal Weal and Immortality, by means of His
bountiful Spirit, and with His Best Mind, from (the
desire to maintain His) Righteous moral Order in
word and deed, and by the (strength and wisdom) of
His Sovereign Power, (established) in Piety (among
His folk).
2. Aye, (that blessedness, which is the) best!
(creation) of this most bounteous spirit, Ahura
Mazda will bring forth in action with words from the
mouth and tongue of His Good Mind (within His
seers), and by the two hands? of Aramaiti (His
Piety as she lives within the soul). And by such *
wise (beneficence is) He the father of the righteous
Order (within our worship and our lives).
3. And Thou art therein, O Ahura Mazda! the
bountiful One who appertains to, and who possesses,
that (most bounteous) spirit in that Thou art He who
for this ‘ (man, in whom this spirit works) hath made
the joy-creating Kine. (And as to her), for her, as
plural being owing to the fact that Ahura gives with the other
Ameshdéspends. Da might also be the relic of the proper word
which represents the participle; comp. das (sic).
1 The idea of the summum bonum seems to have early de-
veloped itself, and from this constant use of this word in the neut.
singular and plural, and also with anghu.
* Notice once more the pronounced personification of both
Vohu Manah and Aramaiti; see Y. XXX, 8, and Y. XLIV, 14, &c.
The Pahlavi translation notices the dual form pavan kola II
yadman.
3 The Pahlavi seems to lead those who regard 6y4 as=a form
of ava; it has zak f.
‘ This is the ahmai of the first verse, (but always possibly=‘to
us,’ if the verses are not to be brought into any kind of connection.)
Otherwise it obviously refers to ashdun€* in 4 and 5; so the Pahlavi
throughout. See ahmdi and héi in LI, 6.
YASNA XLVII. 149
joyful meadows! of her peace, wilt Thou bestow
(Thine) Aramaiti (who is our Piety as earth con-
sidered), since he? (for her) hath taken counsel with
Thy Good Mind, Lord!
4. (But this Thy bounteous spirit doth not alone
bestow rewards and blessings on the good.) The
wicked (foemen of the Faith) are harmed, and
from (the motives which move) that bounteous
spirit (of Thine own), O Mazda?! but not thus the
saints. (And yet the ruler’s pride would ever slight
the righteous.) The feeble man alone stands free
to give in kindly obligation * to Thy saint, but having
wealth and ruling power, the evil (man) is (at the
service) of the wicked, and for much ὅ,
* Many would say that we have here an instance in which the
identity of Aramaiti with the earth is recognised in the GAthas,
I would say, on the contrary, that here we have an instance in
which a poetical conception gave rise to a later error or fantastical
association. Piety, with frugal virtue, induced a thorough hus-
bandry; and secured the hushiti, peaceful home-life. She gave
meadows to the Kine; at the next step she poetically represents the
meadows, and then the earth. If vAstrai, it would be for ‘nurture.’
2 Or ‘she,’ as she once bewailed in a colloquy. Otherwise the
person who was appointed to care for her interests is meant. Com-
pare Y. XXXIII, 6, where the righteous Zaotar speaks as desiring
counsels (hemparst6is) in the interest of the pastures, and the laws
of the sacred agriculture. Cp. also the later reproduction of the
idea in an extended form in the Vendidid. The zaotar of
Y. XXXIII, 6, may have been the ashavan of verses 4 and 5.
* Voc. with Κα (Barth.).
* The Pahlavi gives us, as usual, our first surmise as to the
meaning of ‘kathé;’ I follow Geldner with regard to it as against
Haug. The expressions here are not literal.
5 IsvAAi¢ connects only indirectly with kaseuséi/, as k&thé inter-
venes. I regard paraos ak6 dregvaité as presenting the true antithesis
to kaseushi/n4 ashauné. The isva may have 4i/ merely from the influ-
ence of jingle, being at the head of the line like kaseus ; isva means
150 THE GATHAS.
5. But Thou wilt give these gifts, and through Thy
(most blessed and most) bounteous spirit, O Ahura
Mazda! to this! Thy holy saint, for they are what-
soever is the best; but far? from Thy love the
wicked has his portion, abiding in the actions of the
Evil Mind.
6. Aye, these things wilt Thou give (to him), O
Thou Ahura Mazda! and through Thy bounteous
spirit, (and) by Thy Fire as in a good bestowal to
of itself ‘ possessing means.’ Paraos may depend on k4thé under-
stood, as kaseus depends on it expressed. Moreover, his in all the
instances in which it is,used ends the sense, and here is separated
by the caesura from paraos, which, however, is of no great import-
ance. The discourse is of the wicked; the holy are incidentally
mentioned, and here their ill-treatment is signalised. Ak6 cannot
well mean ‘hostile’ here; see also ak&/ in the following verse.
IsvAAis, if understood with nA, alters nothing. ‘ A man was desirous of
little for the service of the saint, but even when he himself was rich,
(in the desire) of much was the evil for the evil.’ Or, taking
kaseuski/ as governed by isv4si¢ understood with kathé as before
understood in the last line: ‘Only a man (men) (possessed)
of little was at the service of the righteous, while an evil man
(men) possessed of much (was -at the service) of the wicked.’
The other translation is: ‘Even a man of little means stands to the
willing service of the saint, but a man even of large means is hostile (?)
to the wicked.’ This is very glib and so attractive, but I cannot
accept it in view of the context. Géthic expression is often un-
fortunately far from glib; but cramped, awkward, and apt to con-
tain more thought than could be conveniently expressed within the
counted number of syllables. The glib rendering needs other
language than that in the MSS. See the following verse, which
directly contrasts the treatment of the good and evil by Ahura
Himself.
1 See ahmai in verse 1, and ashauné in verse 4. Ahura treats
the saint in a manner the reverse from that practised by the πᾶ
kaseus* and aké, not giving sparingly to the good, nor much to the
wicked. ;
3 The Pahlavi gives us our first surmise here, as usual, by gavid
min hana f lak déshisnith.
YASNA XLVIII. I5!
the two striving! (throngs) through the prosperous
increase of our Piety, and of the Righteous ritual
and moral Truth; for that (Piety of ours instructing)
doth teach? the many coming ones who seek her
(face) !
YASNA XLVIII.
ANTICIPATED STRUGGLES AND PRAYERS FOR
CHAMPIONS AND DEFENDERS.
This chapter divides itself quite naturally into sections. 1-4
belong together, then 5 and 6, 7 seems less closely connected; then
follows 8-12.
1. A struggle is evidently at hand, whether the same as that
to which allusion is more than once made, by incitation, as in
Y. XXXI, 18; with anxious expectation, as in Y. XLIV, 15, 16;
or as if in a sense of victory, as in Y. XLV,1; or of defeat, as in
Y. XLIX, is difficult, or rather impossible to determine. But
with the verses 10, 11, 12 in view, together with the dispirited,
Y. XLIX, 1, we shall say at once that, if this verse was intended
to connect with them, an armed struggle had been expected, whether
the decisive one or not, we need not say.
The saint, that is, the pious adherent to the Holy Order, what-
ever may be the result of the preliminary struggles, is encouraged
by a view of the end. 2. But the burdened worshipper craves still
further reassurance before the storms of battle came once more
upon him. 3. For little as the assurances of Ahura are valued
1 Or, ‘ by the two ar4mi;’ but compare the disayau in Y. XXXI, 2
just preceding randibya; so here the ashavan and dregvamt are
mentioned in a preceding verse. The Pahlavi is unvarying with
patkardarand. I will not positively decide as to this point; generally,
however, the preferred rendering is in the text, while on very many
questions there is nearly an even balance of probabilities.
? Or, ‘chooses to herself;’ but a causative sense may be ex-
pressed by an intensive form; the Pahlavi also here bears evidence
in the same sense toa causative by h€mnunéd, itself, however, mean-
ing only the object caused; namely, the belief.
152 THE GATHAS.
by the heretic, to the man who understands the true relations,
what Ahura declares by means of His inspired prophets, the secret-
announcers, this is, of all things, best; (he need not ask as else-
where, Y. XXXI, 17). 4. And whoever would hope for spiritual
growth and purity must turn his mind to that word of the Deity,
and pursue its teachings faithfully, and so at last his fears will vanish,
for his doubts will disappear. He will understand as the Lord
has taught. 2
5. This verse seems a prayer to Aramaiti; when the long
struggles shall have found their issues, and the one party or the
other wins the day, let not that party be the evil alliance with its
monarch. For, if the government is set up, and carried on with
all the prescribed ceremonial and moral exactness of the wise
Xisti; if men who toil for the sacred Kine, and with the virtue
of those who cultivate her, hold the reins of power, and can so
suppress the predatory raids on defenceless, as well as unoffending
victims, then no gift of Ahura, since the tribes became a nation,
could be looked upon as a greater, or as so great a blessing, as
the correct Authority, and the Order of the Faith.
6. For that sacred Kine, as so often already implied or stated,
was all in all to the pious worshipper. It was she, representing,
as she did, all wealth in herds, who alone could sustain the home-
life of happy industry. And this is the reason why Ahura had
originally caused the herbage to grow for her support.
4. Urging the overthrow of the spirit of Rapine in accordance
with the Kine’s complaint, he exhorts the armed masses to energetic
and offensive valour.
8. He then vehemently, although only rhetorically, asks how
he may use the proper prayers to rally the needed coadjutors
among the chiefs (Y. XLVI, 9) to carry on the struggle. 9.
Again he utters a cry for relief in his suspense, and of entreaty
for light as to the rewards, which did not concern this life for
its own sake (verse 1) merely or chiefly; but which were spiritual
blessings received here in preparation for the spiritual world.
το. ‘When,’ he repeats as one among similar questions four times
repeated, ‘when shall the ideal men appear whose thoughtful
plans (Y. XLVI, 3) shall drive hence the polluted schemes of the
false priests and of the tyrants (Y. XLVI, 1)? 11. And when shall
Aramaiti, the kindly piety of home, appear, she who, like the earth,
spreads pastures for the peaceful kine, when shall she appear with
holy Khshathra (later well called an angel, or archangel) the
personified Authority of God over home and state, without which
YASNA XLVIII. 153
an anarchy as bad as that of the Evil Authority (verse 5) might
continue or recur; and who was the champion-chief who would
give them peace through blood (Y. XLVI, 4; LIII, 9)? In a word,
to whom, as to the coadjutors of such a leader, would the light of
reason, and the true faith come to inspire and to guide them?’ 12.
There is but one only class of human combatants whom he would
thus match against that Demon of furious Rapine (v. 6), toward whom
the evil on their part at their first creation rushed as to their leader
(Y. XXX, 6), and these are the saving Saoshyants, the vicegerents of
the Immortals upon earth, the religious princes Vistaspa, Gamaspa,
Frashaostra, and with them, as the greatest among all, he who
was, with much probability, the speaker in the passage, that is, the
Ratu appointed by Ahura for the kine and for men, Zarathustra
Spitima elsewhere and later called, with hyperbole, the first tiller,
warrior, and priest,
Translation.
1. If through his action? in the offering of gifts in
accordance with the Righteous Order, (Thy saint *)
shall smite the Demon-of-the-Lie (the inspiring spirit
of our foes), when that in very truth shall come’, which
has been (and is still yet) proclaimed as a deceit‘,
(when it shall come) in the Immortal life, regarding
(as it does both) men (to bless), and Daévas® (to
afflict them), then shall (Thy faithful worshipper)
increase thereby the celebration of Thy praise, O
Lord! and with it blessings * (for Thy folk).
2. Tell me then, Lord! (the end), for Thou dost
1 The Pahlavi has also pavan zak dahisnd ; but a false gloss gives
an erroneous concrete [pavan tani? pasind}. Recall 4dai paitt.
5 See ashadné, ashAuné (sic) (Y. XLVII, 4, 5). ‘
5 Read ‘as AshQtaé’=has been pushed on, enacted. I correct
here as seems so evidently necessary; but the Pahlavi anticipates
with its amat zak yamtinéd,
“ Pavan friftarth.
δ See Y. XXIX, 4.
* See Y. XXX, 11, βαναζᾷ ashavaby6.
154 THE GATHAS.
know it. (Tell me to grant me strength and courage)
before those conflicts come which shall encounter me!
(as leader of Thy tribes); shall the champion of Thy
holy Order, O Ahura! smite (at last) the evil heretic,
and when ? (I ask Thee this); for this if it be gained
(is known) to be the (one) good consummation ? of
(our) life.
3. (Yea, tell me then this), for to the enlightened ὅ
man is that the best of teachings which the beneficent
Ahura doth proclaim, and through (the revelations
of) His holy Order, bounteous as he and wise with
His intelligence, as well as they‘ who declare to us
(still other) secret sayings (in His name). The one
like Thee (their chieftain δ) is, O Mazda! endowed
with Thy Good Mind’s understanding thoughts.
* Meng=m&m or man; -eng is the nasalised vowel. Man is
suspiciously significant here; ‘mental battles’ is rather advanced
for the circumstances. It is, however, not impossible. The
Pahlavi favours mim(?) here; it has avd lii We might even
read men on its evidence. The Pahlavi indicates the meaning
‘crises’ under the figure of the ‘ Bridge,’ which was the last great
crisis to every man in the eye of the earlier, as well as of the later,
Faith; so also in Y. LI, 12. The ‘straits of life’ would be an
admirable meaning ; I differ with hesitation.
3 Pahlavi kardarih.
5 See Y. XLIII, 14.
* Yaésis gfizra-senghaunghé. Or, ‘knowing also those who are
the teachers of secret doctrines.’
5 We may, with some effort, connect thw4vas with vaédemndi.
Spent6 vidvau, however, must refer to the immediately foregoing
Ahuré, especially in view of the tvem vidvau, Ahura, of verse 2.
‘The one like Thee’ might even, as in other cases, be only an
oblique way of rendering ‘ Thyself;’ but the expression ‘ with the
understanding of Vohu Manah’ induces me to refer the word
Thwavas to the servant of Ahura; in this case, however, this last
line must of course be drawn to verse 4, although not mechanically
separated from verse 3.
YASNA XLVIII. 155
4. (Yea, tell me the secret of the future struggle
for that enlightened man) must? follow close ὃ the
holy Faith (for which that struggle had its toil and
effort). Yea, O Mazda! he who would bend his
mind (till it attains to) that which is the better and more
holy, must pursue the Daéna close in word and
action. His will and wish must be consistent with
his chosen creed and fealty, and in Thine Under-
standing (which discerneth all) shall he in many ways‘
be (versed) at last!
6
5. (But while I as yet know not the issue, I can yet
hope and pray.) Let the good kings obtain the rule.
Let not the evil monarchs govern us®, (but let the
righteous gain the day and rule us), with deeds done
in a good discernment,O thou pious wisdom, Aramaiti!
sanctifying to men’s minds the best of blessings for
(their) offspring’. Yea, for the Kine, (O Aramaiti® ἢ)
1 See verse 2.
? Present for imperative, as sometimes in modern languages in
giving directions.
8 The words are anticipated from the third line.
41 follow the Indian sense here with great reluctance. Nan&
may well be, in Iranian, equivalent to ‘each several one,’ and in
fact may not impossibly teach us the origin of the word (‘man,
man:’ comp. narem,* narem*). The Pahl. trir. is so decided for a
personal sense, that he renders gabr4 nésman=man and woman.
Did he suppose ‘woman’ to be literally (!) expressed in the text?
5. Aramaiti is addressed, unless indeed an instrumental is read
without MSS. An instrumental is of course preferable.
4 The Pahlavi has, with admirable freedom, zakatd hf-khdd&t
pAdakhsh4yinisn, va al lanman zak { dis-khfdat salita yehavindd.
I read hukhshathra khshayentam, ma ne dfs-khshathra, to bring
the metre somewhat into order, as some gross irregularity is present ;
the caesura only, not the sense, is affected by the change.
7 Or, ‘from the birth-hour on;’ so the Pahlavi. Its gloss reads
{akhar min zerkhQnisnd avindsih pahldm].
156 THE GATHAS.
let (Thy) toil be given', and may’st Thou cause her
to prosper for our life.
6. For she will grant us pleasing homes?, and,
(while we live) in this Thy Good Mind's longing ὃ
prayer (to gain her welfare), she grants us likewise
lasting strength (for every deed which that Thy Good
Mind moves us to perform), and therefore hath Mazda
caused the plants‘ to flourish for her (nurture), He,
Ahura, in the generation of primeval life.
7. (Then in our coming strife δ let both her mortal
foes be slain.) Let the Wrath-demon of rapine be
cast down. Smite ye against the envy (which would
plot against our Throne‘), O ye who, abiding by the
Good Mind, and in accordance with our holy Order,
desire to hold that refuge’ fast, to whose sacred
bond the bounteous man belongs. And therefore,
1 So Bartholomae, who now holds to a third singular here,
leaving the text undisturbed, and explaining as an optative.
3 The Pahlavi seems to render ‘comfort’ here, using khvarih
in that sense.
5 So the Pahlavi correctly indicates by its arzftk ; Ner. priyataram.
4 Compare | Y. LI, 7. Are the plants here mentioned as in con-
nection with Aramaiti in her figurative association with the earth?
5 See verses 1, 2.
5 Or, ‘against the blow,’ Y. XXIX, 1. The Pahlavi translator
here renders padirak ἴ aréshak, while in Y. XXIX,1 he renders ἢ
réshkfin. The variations are probably not real; the renderings
referring to some forgotten differences of text; or, as often, he
may have anticipated modern freedom, and ‘changed: his text;’
that is, rendered it as if changed to a seemingly more intelligible
form; so in a throng of similar cases. This is the only rational
explanation of some of his errors. (He was able to render, and
has rendered, most grammatical forms in different places.)
7 The Pahlavi has, however, παν. Did he read vidhyam, in
itself a very possible text?
YASNA XLVIII. 157
O Ahura! (to save Thy struggling saint who toils
with changing lot) will I place (that refuge) for him in
Thy world.
8. (And how shall I beseech Thee for this victory
and gift?) Whatis the (potent ') prayer to bring on
that Thy holy Reign?? What for Thy sacred reward
and blessing for my (soul) ? How shall I seek the
open helpers for (the spread and maintenance of) Thy
(great) Order’, while I myself live * on in Thy Good
Spirit’s deeds ?
9. (Aye, when shall faith be changed to sight‘);
and when shall I in verity discern if Ye indeed have
power over aught, O Lord! and through Thy
Righteous Order (guarding here on earth), O
Thou within whose (power lie) my griefs* and
doubts? Let then Thy saving prophet find and gain
aright (for) my delight’ Thy Good Mind’s wonder-
1 Compare emavantem a€éshem, also peresd nau ya tdi ehmé
parsté. Observe that the Pahlavi translator distinguishes the two
senses of fsti. In Y. XLVI, 2 he transcribes the Gathic word, the
Persian rendering ‘hezinah; Ner. pumyalakshmim ; here, however,
he has: Kad&r lak, Aflharmazd, zak ἢ sapir khvahfsn f khfid4yth.
3 Compare verse 5.
5 Asha might certainly equal 4444 here (so Bartholomae) if the
constant and intentional repetition of the name and idea of Asha, =
the personified Order, would not have caused confusion.
4 The Pahlavi translator renders a word which occupied the
place of gavaré by yakhsenuntdarfh; Ner. following as to root
(freely as to form). As he, however, renders related forms elsewhere
by ‘living,’ ‘live,’ our only safe conclusion is that he had a different
word from gavaré (givaré) before him in his MS.
5 Compare Y. XXVIII, 6.
5. Iam very far from certain that we do not seriously blunder
in not following the indication of the Pahlavi here. See remarks
Y. XXXII, τό.
7 Or, ‘let me enjoy as my own;’ but mdi is difficult. Usam
might otherwise be a first personal form in the sense of the Vedic us.
- sear
158‘ - ..¢:,° THE GATHAS.
working grace’; yea, let Thy Saoshyawt see how
gifts of recompense may be his own.
10. When, Mazda! shall the men of mind’s perfec-
tion come ?? And when shall they drive? from hence,
the soil of this (polluted) drunken joy‘, whereby the
Karpans with (their) angry zeal would crush us‘, and
by whose inspiration the tyrants of the provinces
(hold on) their evil rule 5 ?
11. Yea, when shall our perfected Piety appear
Bartholomae’s third sing. imper. is also of course well possible; but
were not the originally abnormal third singulars in -4m, duh&m
sayam, vidim, taken over from third pl. subj. ‘-Am’ really
equalling the nasal vowel merely *? Comp. also Indian 4drzsram,
4budhram, 4sr¢gram, Zend vavazirem, -am=an. ‘Tradition’ has,
Pahl. zivisnth; Ner. givitam; Pers. zistan, for fi#im, as if rendering
‘enjoyment,’ ‘experience of life.’ *(4m=t4m is more difficult.)
1 Comparing v4pus; otherwise, with the Pahlavi, ‘knowing the
destruction (of the evil) which VohQman works ;’ see Y. XXIX, 6,
where the rendering of the Pahlavi is supported by the previous
verse.
3 Comp. Y. XLVI, 3. Kadaé Mazd4 frarenté*—saoshyamtam
khratavé?
5 Compare Y. XXXII, 15.
415 Soma-intoxication here referred to? And was the Haoma-
worship in abeyance at the time? The Pahlavi seems to have
understood ‘magic’ here, and in the evil sense, that is, judging
from the perhaps later gloss. Aside from the gloss, however, the
Pahlavi may well have been, nay, more probably was, intended
to be read madih as=madahyé4.
5 As to this word, we cannot do better than follow Justi (although
his work is now a score of years old). The Indian varpas, in the
sense of deceit, has also been compared. The last Pahlavi trans-
lator was probably confused by finding this word, as so often,
divided in his MS. He rendered as best he could, or rather he
handed down the shattered documents, or oral teachings, of his
predecessors with his own too often lame additions, the whole
mass being rich in the relics of the truth.
® See verse 5.
ΩΣ
KN IVERSITY ἢ
together with? Thy Righteous LHe shall
she come, as having the amenities of home for us,
and provided (like our land) with pastures? (for the
kine)? And who shall give us quiet * from the cruel
(men) of evil life and faith? To whom shall Thy
Good Mind’s sacred wisdom come (to guide them in
their toil to rescue and avenge us) ?
12. (To whom? The answer lieth near.) Such
shall be the Saviours of the Provinces, and they who,
through Thy Good Mind's grace, shall go on hand in
hand with mental keenness* (as it spreads among
Thy saints) by the doing every deed of Thy
commandment, O Ahura! through the help of,
and in accordance with, Thy Holy Order; for such
as these are set (for us), as steadfast foes of hate!
YASNA XLIX.
REVERSES AND Horses. Honour To FRASHAOSTRA
AND OTHER CHIEFS,
The chapter divides itself naturally into sections 1-5, 6-11.
Verse 12 belongs with chapter L. One of the struggles in the holy
cause seems to have gone against the party of Asha. I say ‘one
1 Ma/ following Ash& shows that we may also have the pre-
position in pdi mas.
2 As Aramaiti is here spoken of as ‘having pasture,’ that is, as
inspiring the thrifty husbandmen who cultivate the meadows by
irrigation, or drainage, she became associated herself with those
meadows, and so later with the earth; see Y. XLVII, 2.
* The Pahlavi sees in ramim enforced quiet not ‘from’ but
‘to’ the wicked ; ‘who shall deal the finishing blow to the wicked?’
* So also the Pahlavi, shn4sintd4rth.
160 THE GATHAS.
of the struggles,’ for from the account of a reverse which we have
here, and from that of a success which meets us in chapter XLV, 1,
and again from reverses in XLVI, 1, 2, &c., we naturally conclude
that ‘the cause’ saw many vicissitudes, in which the last GAtha
still leaves us. Whether Y. XLV, 1 records a victory which was
- subsequent to the reverse before us, referring to a battle alluded to
in Y. XLIV, 14, 15, also possibly anticipated in Y. XXXI, can
never be decided; the order of the statements in the sequence of
our present MSS. has little or nothing to do with the possible order
of the events.
1. A border chief, Bendva by name, had proved himself too
formidable (mazist5) for the moment, and the holy Faith knows
how to beg for vengeance on the armed Drfig-worshipper. The
+ weapons of Ahura were not spiritual only, any more than those of
Israel were, or those of Mohammed. The death of an armed
religious enemy was devoutly to be desired for every moral and
political, as well as for every personal reason. 2. For judicial as
well as priestly decisions hung on the issue. And this Besdva had
his functionaries and a system, and they were in full and active
operation. And this was, beyond a doubt, a rival and settled
system, and not merely an upstart and insurrectionary one. It had
caused the true prophet many an hour of thought as well as anger.
Its functionaries gave him pause (manayéit!), Falsity in religion
was as ever his opportunity ; and invective follows. ‘The priestly
judge himself who served the Drfg-worshippers was a cheat.’ ‘The
holy Order was his foe, and not his helper.’ And he did not con-
tribute at all to the spread of Piety as the Zarathustrians conceived
of it, nor indeed really in another sense for the reason that he even
repudiated the source of pious wisdom, which is holy counsel.
3. But, however, the evil functionaries might resort to subterfuge
and strategy, the opposing powers themselves, the Righteous Order
on the one side, and the power of the Lie-demon on the other,
were planted in the opposing systems with dualistic clearness, to
benefit or injure. There was no compromise, as doubtless the
Drfig-party may have wished.
And so the poet cries once more for the divine Benevolence to
be his guardian; or perhaps he may have intended a particular
chief who represented the Good Mind, while at the same time he
swept the entire throng and company who adhered to the Lie-
demon, with his interdict, away from his consideration. 4. He
declares them closely allied to the Da€va-worshippers, or else he
puts their worship of the Daévas in the place of climax as their
YASNA XLIX. 161
highest offence, not failing to point out what should conciliate sym-
pathy with him always; that is, that those who brought the Daévas,
and opposed Asha, were the devotees of Rapine (a€shmem vareden);
for murderous rapine seems to have been, apart from Asha, the
universal sin. By this these Daéva-worshippers gained a stolen
livelihood, and spent their ill-gotten means in idle waste (fshuyasd
afshuyamt6). 5. But he who defended the holy Daéna was as meat
and drink to the people, wise and faithful, as a settled citizen, and
trained in the habits of the holy State.
6. He therefore prays once more for right discernment as to how
he may propagate the Faith. 7. And he calls on the steady
citizen to listen, beseeching God Himself to give an ear, and to tell
him who the faithful prince, or peer, or villager, may be, who may
take the lead (see sare) in giving forth (see sravayaém4) that holy
Daéna, with its frasasti, to the masses who await it. 8. But he asks
the question as if only to give emphasis to his naming a chief
and venerated friend. Frashaostra is the man. He is the one
fitted for the hearing, apt to proclaim the truth (frasrfiidy4i erethw6). °
And he begs that they both (compare Y. XXVIII, 9) may be
lastingly prominent in that holy Realm which was to counteract
the depraved polity whose chief had for the moment gained the
upper hand (verses 1, 2). 9. But the case is in so far uncertain
and undecided, that he cries for help once more to the ideal citizen
himself, fearing that he may yet be induced to share the power with
the heretic, and still declares that men’s souls may reach the reward
of priority only through the holy System of Ahura, and under the
rulers of His choice.
10. He therefore confides the result to Ahura, and with it, his
dependents, those living and those dead. And his thoughts, being
turned to heaven (11), they also revert as if by antithesis (the
key-note of the Daéna) to future retribution. Those who may be
wavering, half-inclined to adhere to the opposing party (verse 9),
are warned in words of peculiar meaning. Those that choose the
evil sovereign, a dussasti, as in Y. XXXII, 9, or as the sastars of
Y. XLVI, 1, will not go forward with the saints to the inva
(Y. XLVI, 10), nor will they be met by their consciences under
pleasing images, and later by the souls of saints who had gone
before, but the wicked dead shall meet them in the home of Lies,
with poisoned food, and sneering words. And this shall be a self-
inflicted vengeance.
[31] Mu
162 THE GATHAS.
Translation.
1. Bendva' has ever fought with me; (yea, since
he first appeared at hand to threaten, and alas to his
advantage in the strife). He is the most power-
ful (in brutal might), and (in his predominance)
would crush my strength as I seek to win back
the disaffected (in my host) through Righteous?
(zeal), O Mazda! Come then with gifts of (vengeful 5)
good to (meet) my sorrow’. Through (Thine in-
spiring) Good Mind obtain (for me °) that (Bezdva’s)
death*!
2. (Aye, he is indeed the greatest’), for that
1 If this word does not simply mean ‘a band,’ one might suspect
a relation of root with banayen. The Pahlavi has expressively and
freely badtfim here, and vimarth in the next verse, with a like word
in Y. XXX, 6. This enemy may have been roughly dubbed ‘the
polluted,’ or even ‘diseased one;’ analogous occurrences are not
wanting.
* I cannot agree to rendering asha ‘really,’ when applied in an
evil sense. The sacred word may mean ‘really’ when applied to
the righteous, but then, in that case, the reality indicated has an
element of sanctity in it, and that of no low order. I am also not
aware that reténa is applied in an evil sense in the Rzg-veda. The
use of Asha, like that of Vohu Manah and Khshathra, &c., is
obvious in the Gatha; the six sacred words were, like the theme
of a symphony, brought in at every opportunity, with all shades of
meaning from those of proper names to those of adverbs. With
slight change of text to a nom., we might render, ‘ He who seeks to
please the evil-minded, O Thou A.!’
5 Comp. Y. XXXIII, 2.
* I cannot agree that arapa should be read rap for the sake of
a syllable in the metre. The line has more than eleven syllables
here, as the Vedic Trishfup often has. Moreover the ancient
writing before the Pahlavi translator read likewise arap&, and the
sense demands it.
5 Or, ‘may I obtain.’ 5 See Y. LIII, 9. 7 See the first verse.
YASNA XLIX. 163
Bendva’s evil judge doth cause me to hesitate and
ponder (in my earnest course of propagation and
reform), a deceiver as he is, (estranged) from the .
Righteous Order, and receiving! from it (not happi-
ness) but manya wound. The bountiful and perfect.
Piety he has not maintained nor strengthened for
this? land, nor questions with Thy Good Mind hath
he asked ὃ (to gain him light), O Lord!
3. But (all is not yet lost!); for this religious choice*
(our holy creed, for which our last lost® battle has been
fought), O Mazda! Thy blessed Order (our guardian
help) has yet been set to save and bless us. (But) for
(that evil) Judge, the Demon-of-the-Lie, (is set) to
deal (for him) her wounds*®. Therefore do I pray
(the more) for the sheltering leadership of Thy Good
Mind (within our folk and our commanders). And
all the allies of the wicked 1 abjure’.
4. They who with evil scheme and will shall
cherish and help on the Wrath of Rapine, and with
her Rama 8, and (not by silent favour, but) with their
11 would gladly accede to a subjunctive 2nd singular intensive
here in a causative sense, but a 3rd singular precedes, and a 3rd
singular follows. I cannot therefore recognise a subjunctive in a
precative, or imperative, sense here. I think the word is a nomina-
tive, as its position in the verse corresponds well to that form. It
may mean ‘ delivering against us many a wound.’
3. Possibly ‘for us in (this) land’
5 Comp. Y. XLIV, 13.
* Comp. Y. XXX, 2.
® See mazist6 in the first verse.
® The Pahlavi mfin réshinéd pavan Drig.
7 The Pahlavi translator gave as our first rendering here :
Andarg harvisp-gfind darvand4nd min hamkhakth andarg yemale-
lanam ; [afgh, min déstth ἢ levatman valmansan gavidak yehe-
vanam].
* The Pahlavi has aréshk6=envy.
M2
164 THE GATHAS.
very tongues, whose will and wish’ (run) not with
good but evil deeds. These settle and support the
Daévas (in their power, not the Lord). It is® the
wicked’s Faith and Insight (so to do. Their faith
is the perverted).
5. But he, O Mazda! is our abundance and our
fatness, who (will yet dare these unbelieving foes)
and guard the Faith (against that envious Wrath ἢ),
and with the Good Mind’s power. For every man
of Piety is a wise citizen ® in accordance with the holy
Order, and so are all who are (in truth) within Thy
Realm, O Lord!
6. And now, will I beseech of You, O Mazda, and
Righteousness (within Thy M&thra) speaks ὁ (to tell
me) what lies within Your will’s intention, that
(having discerned Your Insight as the enlightened
1 The Pahlavi gave us our first surmise as to the general meaning
of vas; it renders kamak.
2. Or, ‘by that which is the evil’s Faith.’
* The Pahlavi translator gave us our first general indication here
as elsewhere; he has shirinth and darpth. Reading ‘ Mazdau,’ we
have ‘ Mazda (is our source of) abundance and refreshment.’
4. See the fourth verse.
δ The Pahlavi has, however, khtp shinasakth. I differ with
hesitation; possibly views may be harmonised.
4 Compare Y. XXIX, 3, where Asha answers, I cannot well
accept mrfité as an infinitive. Geldner has keenly pointed out
that fraéshy4 is inclined to unite with an infinitive, but so are other
forms of ish and vas. Moreover the infinitive does not so natur-
ally fall to the end of the sentence in Gathic or Vedic. (See above,
note on Y. XXXIV, 1.) If an infinitive is insisted upon (so long
since) let us at least bring the word into more usual shape, using
the Pahlavi translator, as in one of his most valuable offices, as an
indirect evidence, where his translation is at fault as a rendering.
He has: Frézé avd zak ἢ Lekfim farmf&yém, A@harmazd, va Asha-
vahisté& raf yemalelinam. He had ‘mrfivé’ before him, which
might be an infinitive.
YASNA XLIX. 165
ever must), I may as well discern aright how we can
herald forth those (truths), and that pure Daéna
(with them) which is the Faith of Him who is Thy-
self}, O Lord.
7. And (as we speak it forth as taught by Asha)
then let the (zealous? citizen) give heed, and with Thy
Good Mind, O Ahura Mazda! Yea, let him give ear in
accordance with (the dictate of) the Holy Order, and
do Thou hear alike as well*®. Who shall be the ally;
and who the kinsman-lord himself, who, with his gifts
and (legal rules), shall institute and settle for the
serving mass a worthy praise (for God *)?
8. (And I do not ask in vain, for such an one is
found for us, and near at hand.) To Frashaostra
hast Thou given that most favouring guardian
power, the headship ὅ of the Holy Order (for us), O
1.1 think that khshm4vat6 equals simply ‘yourself’ here, as often
(so mavazt=me); otherwise ‘of your disciple,’ which would be
feeble. Professor Jolly has, V.S., s. 97, ‘damit wir ihn verkiindigen
michten den Glauben, welcher der euere ist, o Ahura.’
3 See the ninth verse.
* Ahura is elsewhere addressed in close connection with human
beings ; here the human subject is half lost in VohQman and Asha.
I hardly think that it is wise to change the text without MSS. A
lost verse may have relieved all difficulty.
4 Others ‘the good doctrine,’ or again ‘the good repute;’ but as
to the latter, frasasti is coupled so constantly in the later Avesta
with yasna, and vahma, &c., that I do not feel at liberty to depart
from that sense. The Pahlavi has also vafriganth, quite in
harmony with the connection.
5 This verse is clearly an answer to the questions contained in
verse 7. It isa half answer, even if we render dau (d4o) as a subjunc- ἡ
tive. As the question in verse 7 certainly concerns a chief of some
kind, I cannot see how we can avoid rendering sarem analogously.
We need one who gives a refuge rather than one who receives it.
Compare the Pahlavi, and also the Persian, sar. The Pahlavi
166 THE GATHAS.
Ahura! This therefore would I pray of Thee (to
confirm to him that gracious gift), and for myself
likewise, would I now seek as well that sheltering
headship which is within Thy Realm; yea, most
blest and foremost! may we both for ever be within it.
9. Aye, let the zealous and thrifty husbandman,
so formed for giving help and blessings ?, give heed
and listen when I call, (O Mazda!) Let not the
truthful (tiller, he who hears and speaks Thy word ὃ),
be he who takes‘ that sheltering chieftainship to-
gether with the wicked. Let the believing natures
(only) join in that best recompense. And thus in the
course of the holy Order are in the fact so joined
those two, GamAspa and the ‘hero’ ὅ.
10. (And since these champions thus join in that
reward), then therefore will 1 place as well in Thy
translation gives its evidence without intermission for this meaning,
a fact largely overlooked.
1 1 think that the connection fairly proves this meaning; and it
has likewise the powerful support of the Pahlavi translation: Haméi
vad avd vispé farmAnpaté héman4nt [afgh, Frashostar [ ] vad tana
ἢ pasind haméf salitafh yehabfin}.
3. It is not to be forgotten that su is the root of Saoshyazt.
5. Comp. Y. XXXI, 15.
* Or ‘gives;’ compare peresA avaf γᾷ mainis ye dregvAité
khshathrem hunfitf. Professor Jolly, V.S., 5. 36: ‘Nicht soll wer
das Rechte redet, die Herrschaft dem Ltigner tiberlassen.’
5. Y4hf remains a singular, whereas we should expect a dual; (can
it be such, the form being altered, as so often by later reciters, to
accommodate the metre?) For Gamfsp4 and yukht4 as duals com-
pare utay(itf tevishf. Yah probably refers to Vistéspa (Y. XLVI,
14). Was it an especial epithet for the kings? The later Persian
kings took prominent places in battle. If the duals are not ad-
mitted, my rendering would be, ‘the souls are united with the
reward through the (influence and example of the) valiant
GAmaspa.’ Perhaps Gamfspé is to be read.
YASNA XLIX. 167
protection (Thy) Good Mind? (in the living) and the
spirits (of thedead. Yea, I confide our very) self-hum-
bling praises, (which we offer, unto Thee), by which
(Thine) Aramaiti (whois our Piety, exists),and likewise
sacrificing zeal, And this would we do to further
Thy great Sovereign Power (among Thy folk), and
with undying ? (Ὁ) strength.
11. (But as to faithless reprobates); the souls (of
the evil dead) shall meet those evil men who serve
their evil rulers, who speak with evil words, and
harbour evil consciences, these souls (in Hell) shall
come with evil food * (to welcome them), and in the
Lie’s abode their dwelling * verily shall ΡῈ δ]
YASNA XLIX, 12—L.
The most striking circumstance here, after the rhetorical and
moral-religious peculiarities have been observed, is the sixth verse ;
and as to the question of Zarathustrian authorship, it is the most
striking in the Gathas or the Avesta. In that verse we have
Zarathustra, not named alone, which might easily be harmonised
1 This is probably the foundation for the later identification of
Voh Manah and the faithful disciple.
* Here all is conjectural. The Pahlavi reports an adjective from
a form of man (or a participle). They who think upon the throne
(to seize it) do so with dying power. Wilder conjectures have
been made; but the Pahlavi translators seldom wilfully guessed.
They took the shattered results of their predecessors, and worked
them feebly over ; hence their great value, and the unimportance of
their errors. They used what intelligence they possessed in re-
delivering what they heard and read. Vazdangha cannot well be
taken in an evil sense, as it is used in a good sense elsewhere. The
connection m4zé with γᾶ has long circulated; maz4 avémfr4(?). As
the souls of the departed are thought of, perhaps ‘undying’ is the
meaning ; compare avemira (for form) with the Zend avimithris.
5 See Yast XXII by Darmesteter, as supplemented.
* So the Pahlavi; otherwise ‘their bodies shall so lie.’
5 Verse 12 belongs to the next chapter.
168 THE GATHAS.
with his personal authorship, nor have we only such expressions as
‘to Zarathustra and to us’ (Y. XXVIII, 7), but we have Zarathustra
named as ‘mahy4 razeng sdhis ‘may he declare my regulations,
which could only be said, without figure of speech, by some supe-
rior, if not by the prime mover himself. Were these verses then
written by the prime mover? And was he other than Zarathustra?
If so, the entire mass of the GAthas was of course written by him,
or else their style and character may be regarded as of such a
character that they could have been composed by four or five
closely connected individuals. But while verses here and there are
doubtless the productions of secondary persons, the mass of the
G&thas cannot be regarded as the work of several different com-
posers. They are one man’s work, directly or indirectly. If then
the present section, which is especially original in its tone, was not
from Zarathustra, the man whose heart and soul, and, we may add,
whose power were in Zarathustrianism, was not Zarathustra, but
some unnamed individual far more important. (See note on Y.
XXVIII, 7.) The prominence of the name of Zarathustra was in
that case solely owing to the personal activity of Zarathustra sup-
ported by the social rank of the Spitimas. Zarathustra was a
princely disciple, on the hypothesis mentioned, and nothing more.
The real author of Zarathustrianism was, in that case, in no sense
Zarathustra ; compare ‘to Zarathustra and to us:’ nor yet Vistdspa ;
compare ‘to Vistéspa and to me:’ nor Frashaostra; compare ‘to
Frashaostra and to us ;’ and, we may also say, not GamAspa, for he is
addressed in the vocative. He was mentally and personally the
superior of all of them. In fact he was the power behind both
throne and home, and yet without a name! But, in that case, what
becomes of Y. XXIX, 6,8? Is it probable that the founder of a
religion (or of a new departure in a religion) would describe
another as the chosen of God, if he were not in fact supposed to be
thus eminent? Or, if a popular and sincerely enthusiastic religious
composer were about to chant a hymn at a meeting of the re-
ligious masses, would he be likely to name a person to the animated
throngs, whom they themselves did not feel to be the life of their
religious faith? especially, if that person were not prominent
from the arbitrary circumstance that he was the reigning prince?
I do not think that this is at all probable. But if Zara-
thustra had, as described, the leading name, and composed a portion
of the hymns with their lost companions, is it probable that he
possessed no decided prominence in this matter above Vistaspa,
Frashaostra, and Gam4spa? Was there no central poet, who
Y4SNA L. 169
composed the mass of the metrical lore, dominating by his influence
those who added portions here and there, or was there a quaternion
of seers, four Zarathustras, as one might say? As we have said, the
hymns decide it. One man’s soul is in them, as a composer’s
feelings are in his compositions, or a master’s feelings are in the
lines of his disciples. But if there was one central figure instead of
four, and he is mentioned as Zarathustra, and as the spokesman in
many portions of the GAthas, being likewise known by inference to
be the composer of nearly all of them, how can we account for
the words, ‘let him, Zarathustra, teach or proclaim my regulations ?’
Can the verse be regarded as put into the mouth of Ahura, as else-
where? Hardly, for Ahura is addressed in it. I can therefore
only repeat of this verse, as of the others which present analogous
questions in Y. XXVIII (with which this chapter L stands in the
closest connection), that this thoroughly original piece was com-
posed by Zarathustra as by far the most prominent individual in
the religious struggle, dominating his party essentially and posi-
tively, and that these verses (6-11) were simply rhetorically put into
the mouth of the monarch from the exigency of the style of com-
position. And I conclude that Vistéspa was supposed to speak
them, because in the presence of Zarathustra, it is extremely impro-
bable that any one but the titular head of the State should have
been represented as saying of Zarathustra, ‘mahy4 razeng shiv.’
1. The piece from Y. XLIX, 12 to Y. L, 1-5 joins well on with
Y. XLIX, although the tone is brighter. As he begins with ques-
tions in Y. XLVIII, 8-11, after the prospective prayers of Y.
XLVIII, 1-7, in which he looks forward to a crisis in the armed
struggle, so now after the hostile chief has got the upper hand, he
cries out once more with interrogatives, uttering the questions, not
of curiosity, but of mournful devotion.
‘The storm has broken over us,’ so he would seem to say, ‘and I
have prayed for grace to know how we may administer (Y. XLIV, 9)
the all-powerful means of help, the Daéna, in which Thy Righteous
Order is set (Y. XLIX, 3). I have cried to Thee for chief and
peer (verse 7), naming Frashaostra, Gam4spa, and the Y&hin, and
now, while I invoke you, praying for what in your selection is the
best (Y. XXVIII, 11; Y. XLIV, ro), I would more than ever de-
clare that I have none other help than Thee and Thy saving Order.’
2. And he asks once more to know how he who seeks to further
the sacred herds, as the emblem of the moral thrift of the provinces,
should proceed in his allotted work. 3. Answering his own ques-
tion, he says that it is by advance upon the enemy; he declares
170 THE GATHAS.
that the heroic settler who pushes the holy system to the utmost
verge of the sacred territory or still further, was the man ‘to gain
the Kine’ for the seeking prophet. 4. But in the midst of struggles,
he anticipates Garédman with its praises. 5. For they were all
prepared for both worship and work, since God had approached to
aid His prophet, encouraging His discouraged spirit. 6. Here
Vistéspa is represented as intervening ; and he addresses Ahura
literally, but Zarathustra really, exhorting him indirectly to continue
on in his work of propagation, undismayed by present circum-
stances. 7. And with Zarathustra, he would re-engage the other
powerful helpers, whom he would yoke on as steeds to gain God’s
praise in Heaven by passing over every bridge of trial safely. 8. Hav-
ing heard from Zarathustra his metric words, he will approach with
them to pray, and, as in Y. XXVIII, 2, 3, ‘with hands stretched
out’ with homage, and with vigour. 9. And he looks to attain
the object of his prayers by religious self-control, and faithful
action. 10. His efforts vie with the heavenly bodies in their praise
of God. 11. Therefore he will persevere, and as a praiser-king (so
the Pahlavi in one place); and he beseeches that Ahura, the life-
giver, may help on the all-engrossing cause.
Translation.
Y. XLIX, 121. What aids of grace hast Thou for
Thine invoking Zarathustra, (O Ahura Mazda!) to
grant him through Thy Righteous Order? Yea, what
(aids of? grace hast thou for me as) through Thy Good
Mind given (within my soul), for me who will (still)
pray to Thee with praises, O Great Creator! be-
seeching what in accordance with Your wished-for
aim is best ?
Y.L, 1. Aye, doth my soul indeed obtain assisting
1 This verse is placed here as obviously more closely related to
chapter L than to chapter XLIX. Lost verses may, however, have
intervened between it and Y. L, 1.
3. Another rendering, regarding Καὶ as a purely interrogative
participle, would be, ‘Are they (t6i) helpful to the invoking Zara-
thustra?’ But Κα t6i is a familiar form; see Y. XXXIV, 12, where
it must mean quid tibi.
YASNA 1» 171
grace, and which of Thy blessings is that gift to me,
O Lord? What saving champion is found to save
both flocks and herds? And who for myself other
than Thy Righteous Order, and Thyself, Ahura?
Tell me’, O (ye) invoked ones! Or what of grace
is there for me save Thy Best Mind (itself)?
2. (And if Thy guardian is verily to save our
wealth) how shall he (obtain, and by what means
shall he) seek after 2 that joy-creating Kine (who is
the living symbol of our peace *)? (How shall that
man obtain his wish) who shall desire to see her pro-
vided with pastures for (the welfare of) this land? -
(That only way is righteousness.) Do Thou then
grant me lands (so would I ask of Thee) which live
in justice in the many‘ splendours of the sun, and
lands which openly ® thus live, and which are to be
11 should be far from denying that azd& may equal addh4, but
a strengthening adverb seems to me of no particular force here.
I formerly rested at the simple explanation az+d4=dh4=desire-
exciting, much desired one. But the Pahlavi translator affords an
explanation which may surpass that of his successors. He sees
the meaning : ‘ When I shall call upon You,’ (that is, freely, ‘ being
invoked,’) ‘cause Thou (sic) me to understand fully.’ This is the
remnant of some predecessor’s work, who rendered ‘tell ye me;’
az=ah, otherwise lost in Zend. The plural follows the singular
too often to excite much doubt; azda=tell ye; so zdf is from az,
as sy6diim is from as (recall the well-known Indian analogies).
See also the explanation of the Pahlavi at Y. XXXI,17. Ifa
plural cannot be admitted, then consider a form extended by d.
* The Pahlavi translates freely, bavihinam.
3 The Kine must represent the people as well as their live-stock.
The raids concerned the owners more than their cattle. In answer
to the cry of the Kine, Zarathustra was sent to the people.
* I can hardly agree to the rendering ‘among people who see
the sun’ without a needless reconstruction of the text. The Pahlavi
likewise has pavan khvarfh; for general meaning, compare Khsha-
thr6i Aveng dares6i, not as equivalent however.
® Ask4rak sti.
172 THE GATHAS.
sought and gained by me (as conquests for the cause).
Give Thou this gift!
3. (Yea, let that joy-creating one) be his posses-
sion through the Righteous Order (which he helps to
bring, that living sign) which (the most valiant
citizen) may give to him (at once reward and charge),
and in accordance with Thy Sovereign Authority.
(May that heroic settler grant him this gift) he who
may make the (last imperilled) farm to flourish in
- the vigour of Thy blest prosperity, the tract which
lies the nearest (to the fields) which our foeman holds
as his}.
4. (And therefore both in thankfulness and hope)
will I give sacrifice to You with praises, O Ahura
Mazda! together with Thine Order and Thy Best Mind
(in Thy saints), and in accordance with Thy sacred
Sovereign Power, by whose help the wisher (heaven-
bound) may stand upon the (certain) pathway?, and
in Thine Home-of-song shall I (by means of these
my Yasnas offered here) there hear the praises of
Thine offering saints who see Thy face 3.
5. And we‘ are in readiness as well (to fulfil Your
praises and declare your words), O Ahura Mazda!
through Your (grace, and) in accordance with Your
Holy Order, since Ye advance with friendliness ® to
cheer the speaker of Your M&thra-word with open
acts of visible relief, as if with hand sent forth,
1 The Pahlavi translation, as usual, not literally exact, still furnishes
the correct clue, Zak ἢ nazdist6 (?) géhand min valman f darvand
bakhshéd [afgas zak dén darisn baré yansegfnyén].
5. Fré tais vispais Kinvaté fra peretim.
5. Akau (compare the Indian 4ké); ‘who approach, and are
therefore evident (Aashka&rak) to God, and seeing Him.’ Comp.
fikau in Y. LI, 13, which has been thought a loc.
4“ See nau. 5 To vrag.
YASNA L. 173
whereby that Mathra-speaker of Your truth may
bring us on, and settle us, in weal and bliss}.
6. (Therefore will I incite him to his task the more.
Let him indeed proclaim the righteous way 2 he who
already lifts his voice in Mathras, O Ahura Mazda!
he, Zarathustra 8, the faithful friend in accordance
with the Holy Order, and with self-abasing worship,
giver of understanding for this land, voice-guider (of
the way to glory *), let him indeed proclaim and teach
my regulations, and in accordance with Thy Good
Mind (as his law). .
7. (And together with that chief speaker of your
word I would engage yet others in the cause). Your
well-incited 5 and swift ® (servants), O Ahura! would
I yoke? on (as steeds to take their holy course toward
heaven), gaining’ thereby (at last) the Bridges* where
1 See the previous verse, where the wisher stands on the path,
seeking to reach Garéddman. It seems therefore probable that
Av&thré refers to dem4né garé.
* Compare Y. LIII, 2, deunghé erezfs pathéd.
8 As remarked, this entire piece recalls Y. XXVIII. Here the
monarch is represented as speaking precisely as spokesmen are
introduced in any other composition. We have no reason to sup-
pose the piece to be the composition of some leading person other
than Zarathustra, because of the words ‘let Zarathustra speak forth
my regulations.’ (See page 169.)
* tshé staungha/ ἃ paithi. 5 Consider a suffix ishé.
5 Here the Pahlavi translator gives us both text and translation,
aurvat6 =arvand,
7 Or, ‘yoke Thou, may’st Thou gain.’
* The Xinvaf Bridge, either literally or figuratively. Compare
‘the bridge of the earth’ (Y. LI, 12). The crises of effort, or
temptation, are meant, as the Xinva¢ Bridge was the last crisis
before salvation or perdition. The souls of the good and of the
evil were met by their own consciences on the Bridge, and en-
couraged or reviled.
‘When the soul of the pious passes over that Bridge, the width of
174 ‘THE GATHAS.
Your adoration (rules and is complete). Yea, I (?)
yoke on your mighty ones, and with Thy Holy Order,
and Thy Good Mind. And with these may Ye drive
on; aye, be Ye for my help!
8. (And as I yoke on Your M&thra-speakers for
their course, then) would I (myself) approach You in
the (highest) deed of worship?, and with these sacred
metric feet (of Zarathustra and his peers 2, those
which are heard and famed afar, as the metric feet of
zealous worship, and with my hands stretched 8 out
(in supplicating prayer). Yea, You (would I approach),
O Mazda! in union with Your sacred ritual Truth,
and with the homage of a freely-giving helper ὁ, and
with the good virtue of (Your) Good Mind (in my
soul).
g. Yea, with these Yasnas of Your sacrifice would
I approach You, praising back to You (in answer to
Your mercies), O Ahura! and Thou, O Righteous-
ness! in (the holy) actions of Your Good Mind, (as
he moves within us), so long indeed as I shall have
the power, commanding at my will o’er this my sacred
(privilege) and gift. (And doing as) the wise man
(thus), may I (like him) become a supplicant who
gains ® his ends.
10. (Mine every wish and prayer is this), then
therefore whatsoever I shall do, and whatsoever deeds
that Bridge becomes about one league’ (West, Mainyé-f Khard,*
p. 134). Possibly the extension of the Bridge for the pious arose
from the plural use here.
1 Compare Y. XXVIII, 3. 3 See Y. XXVIII, 9.
8. See Y. XXVIII, 2. * See Y. XLVI, 9.
5 The Pahlavi translator accepts a sense of acquisition here as
well as of desire: Aé€tfind zak f valman f avd hf-dinak pavan
khvahtsnd griftar hémananf [mozd]. I accede to its indication,
holding that gardh certainly has such an element in its meaning.
YASNA L. 175
(of ritual and truth I shall yet further do) on
account of, (and to make full?) these (prior deeds of
worship), yea, whatsoever (holy works) shine bright *
as having worth in (all) men’s eyes through Thy
Good Mind (whose character they share; these as)
the stars, suns, and the Aurora which brings on the
light ὃ of days, are all, through their Righteous Order,
(the speakers) of Thy‘ praise, O Thou Great Giver,
Lord!
11. Your praiser then (by eminence) would I be
named, and (more), would be it, so long as by (Thine
inspiring) Righteousness I am thus able and may
have the power. And may the maker of the world
give help through (His implanted) Good Mind (in
my fellow-servants). And may that (all) be done ὅ (to
further us) which through His veritable grace is most
promotive (for the cause)!
' I can here only follow the words as they are written; the
meaning is clear enough although rather advanced. Reconstruc-
tions on a large scale are seldom of value.
* Judging from the context, we may render argaé thus.
3 The Pahlavi translator here renders as if he read usha. In
Y. XLVI, 3 he translates ukhshan6é. Professor Wilhelm, preferring
as above, still recalls the Homeric usage favouring ‘ increaser.’
The Pahlavi has vakhshinidar in Y. XLVI, 3. Here hésh zak f
arfis dén bam 1. Ner. alone understood arfis,
4 Your.’
5 An imperative has long been recognised in varstim ; or read:
‘Let him cause that which is the most furthering of deeds to grow
influential through veritable grace.’ So perhaps better.
176 THE GATHAS.
THE GATHA(A) VOHU KHSHATHREM
(VOHUKHSHATHRA(A)).
This G&tha consists of the single chapter Y. LI. It has
lines of fourteen syllables with caesura in the middle.
YASNA LI.
INSTRUCTIONS AND APPEALS TO AN ASSEMBLY OF THE
FAITHFUL.
It is hardly possible that we have here a continuous whole.
The thoughts, however, harmonise well enough, and the changes
give little trouble. 1. As so often the Sovereign Authority of
Ahura, His reign over the hearts and in the minds of His
faithful worshippers, is the leading theme. That sovereign Power,
when it is established, will produce every good thing with it, and
repress every evil, and the composer prays that he may never
pause at any moment in his efforts to bring that kingdom on. 2.
Accordingly, as the foremost of objects, he beseeches for both its
blessings and its protection, and names Aramaiti as the especial
representative of Ahura in this case to grant the Kingdom as a
Realm established in spiritual wealth, and whose first effect should
be the glory of God through the agency of holy dispositions in
men.
3. The spirit of the Daéna is public and prophetic rather than
occult and mysterious. The people therefore gather to hear
GAthas recited, and religious harangues delivered as on political
occasions, and all the more because the M&athras are declared to
be the results of direct inspiration from Ahura. 4. The present
recitations are invocations calling for the four energising Immortals,
the guiding Order, the active Piety, the inspiring Benevolence, and
the Power-wielding Kingdom, and, in using these names, the
multitude are also beseeching, by the voice of their spokesman, for
the Ratu, the Saoshyast cried for by the Kine, looked for by Asha
himself, and promised by Ahura.
YASNA LI. 177
5. And the men who press this prayer are, each of them, for
the moment (nf4i/), as the Ratu himself. Wise in his homage,
he seeks to gain the kine, like the ideal husbandman, both as
property and as emblem, and he desires to establish the Ratu,
understood as a person, or as the law, which may judge between
the two sides (Y. XXXI, 2), and, by the expulsion of the evil, give
quiet to the land (Y. XLVI, 4; Y. LIII,9). 6. Declaring Ahura
to be the awarder of the highest good and deepest evil, (7) he calls
on Him to grant the ‘eternal two,’ the rewarding Immortals (not
named in the former verse), but only by means of the inspired
teachings. 8. And as these inculcations are effective for himself,
he will declare forth their threats and promises to others, being
repaid for his zealous fidelity in the very act. 9. Recalling the
hopes of vengeance, he beseeches Ahura to give forth a sign, or
instrument, from the holy Fire, which may settle the disputes by
the forged blade of justice. 10. For he declares that the man
who murderously assaults his adherents in the opposing interest
(see Y. XXXII, το, ἄς.) is inherently and originally perverted in
his motives, a very son of the Lie, and of the seed of Akéman.
11. While in terms he addresses Ahura, he in reality challenges
the devotion of the chieftains, as he calls aloud to the Deity.
12. Here a temptation of Zarathustra is narrated, as in the
Vendidad, here dwelling on his youth, there on his maturer man-
hood. But the verse shows marked signs of later age.
13. And the soul of the righteous is encouraged by the recorded
example; he shall come off the conqueror, as Zarathustra did.
14. But the Karpans (priestly chiefs?) of the opposing party,
following the typical destroyer (as in Y. XXXII), would bring the
world to ruin, and the creatures to Hell.
15. The true disciples will however infallibly receive the pro-
mised recompense.
16. And as for that Kisti, conceived by Mazda to give the
saving knowledge in the sacred verse, the King of the Realm had
acquired it. It will be stored in the memory of faithful priests
under his care and rule; and he will give his subjects a good
worship (Y. XLIX, 7) in accordance with it. 17. A female saint,
also illustrious in rank, is celebrated with honourable mention; she
is, as it were, the Xisti in her person, as she is named in this
connection.
18. Another devoted friend arrests the speaker’s eye, as he
stands in the assembly; (19) and still another. 20. Then, as if
taking in all with his view, and with an expression which shows
[31] Ν
178 THE GATHAS.
his identification with the people, he declares that the ‘Archangels’
are of one mind with Mazda in bestowing spiritual blessings, the
chief of which are inspired words, the source of their discipline,
and the guide of their hopes.
21. And with assurances as to the greatness of the spiritual
blessings implied in all that he has said, he prays Ahura all the
more earnestly to grant them to His elect. 22. And he declares
that Ahura knows and observes the man who fulfils every command
that he has uttered, as well as believes every doctrine which he
has divulged, and that, knowing Him, He also marks Him as the
object of His grace. And he ends by expressing once more his
desire to approach the Bountiful Immortals, not as naming them
alone, but naming them, as we may well suppose, with a full
appreciation of all that is meant by the sacred words which belong
to them as names,
Translation.
1. The good Government (of Ahura’) is to be
chosen (among all wished-for things.?) as that lot
which most of all brings on (our happiness). Actions
that oppress us it opposes ὃ, through the holy Order
(which pervades it), and with the pious zeal (of its
true servants). Therefore,O Great Creator! let me
1 It is far better to take Khshathra in its usual and often neces-
sary sense. And it is especially desirable not to confound it with
shéithra =kshétra.
2 The choice one.
δ One is somewhat inclined to regard vidushemnfis as a
monstrous form of vid, which has crept into the text under the
influence of the two words vidushé in verse 8, and owing to an
attempt to fill out the metre, the original word having been videm-
nais. The Pahlavi gives no indication except for a form of da=to
give. Leaving the MSS. intact, I compare dush + vi.
I render as above on the principle that the text in the MSS.
should not be violated where it is possible to translate it at all.
Reading videmnais we might render, ‘ that kingdom’s privileges are
shared (it is entered and penetrated) by men who act (by actions)
in a manner to further its security, (by actions gaining it).’
YASNA LI. 179
produce, and help bring on (that Sovereign Power)
which is the best for us at every present hour.
2. And first I will ask for! these two blessings of
Your own, O Thou Great Creator, and thou His
Righteous Order! and I also ask of thee, Our
Piety (personified, as well); and grant me this Your
Sovereign Rule over our desired wealth (to give and
to preserve it; and likewise) those spiritual blessings
which are advantageous for our worship (of Ahura)
through (the inspiration of His) Good Mind (within
the soul).
3. (And it is not I alone who thus appeal to
You; I speak for all) who are guarded in the (cere-
monial and moral) actions of Your (law), and by
those (inspired) words (which proceed) from the
tongue of Thy Good Mind (as he speaks within Thy
Mathra). Yea, these are all assembling (each) to hear
You, of whom Thou, O Ahura Mazda! art the fore-
most guide ? and light.
4. (And ‘they cry aloud to Thee, O Mazda! I
speaking with them, and in their name): Where is
the (promised ὃ) lord of our thrift (the embodied law,
saving us from the most dreaded dangers that we
fear‘, the thrift-lord) of (our) ready zeal? Where
1 [have rather reluctantly read yé#4 with long ἃ. Having in
mind Y. XXX, 1, where Sp.’s B. reads yaééa, and reading yaésa
here, we might regain the lost dual neuter of the pronoun here
as in Y. XXX, 1, and so render, ‘and which two things belong
to thee, the possession (rule) of wealth and the blessings.’
Roth, cited by Geldner, changes to ashayaé44 here and in Y.
XXX, 1; and it is certainly striking that asha yé&4 should occur
twice. I render as above, first, as nearer our MSS., and as
affording a good sense.
2 See Y. XXXI, 17. ® See verse 5.
* See Y. XXIX,1; Y. XXXII.
N 2
180 ᾿ THE GATHAS.
does he stand to 9 Ghow us) maciey >. “Whither are
(Thy) Righteousness and the Bountiful Aramaiti
(our Piety) approaching ? From what direction
comes Thy Best Mind (to inspire and to guide) ?
And whence (again), O Great Creator! Thy Sove-
reign Power (to be our ruler and defence 1) ?
5. And it is the tiller of the earth who asks this of
Thee, O Ahura! (Thy chosen saint himself); he
has asked this all of Thee, striving to discover how
he may gain to himself the sacred Kine (and with
all wealth in herds beside. And he would seek this)
moved by the motives which flow from Thy Righteous
Order (and Thy cause), upright as he is in actions,
and wise in his self-humbling worship (of that * One)
who, as a righteous ruler, has appointed a just con-
trolling guide for those whom He has made.
6. (And in partial answer to his question, and to
solve his doubt, I now declare the truth): He who
gives to this (good citizen) that which is better than
the good; yea, He who bestows on him in accordance
with his religious choice is (our) Ahura Mazda (and not
1 It is hardly necessary to call attention to the fact that these
abstracts are personified here, as in so many other places in the
G&thas. We may indeed doubt whether the idea of personification
was ever wholly absent, the original meaning being likewise never
lost. Professor Wilhelm prefers taking Ashem as an accusative,
‘how does one (do they) come to Asha?’ This is admirable; but
I am, on the whole, inclined to regard Ashem as a nominative with
fseratus, Ar(a)maitis, &c., taking the plurals yas6 Avyen (hyen) as
irregularly extending to the other subjects.
? So Wilhelm (by letter), taking a form of the pronoun as
understood. It is difficult to suppose that the vastrya could be
referred to as appointing the Ratu through the influence of his
devotion and pious supplications ; as Wilhelm justly says, the third
line must apply to Ahura.
° See Y. XLIII, 3; notice ahméi as referring to héi.
Zeek UBB
/ τε ey ARS
Kua ERSITY
CALIFORNIA
a false god of the Daévas?). And this will He bestow
through His divine Authority (established in prepa-
ration here), while on the withholder of the sacrifice,
who offers nothing to His (cause), He will send worse
than the evil (and that not here alone, but) in the
last turning of the creation in its course !
7. (And as Thou wilt bestow thus graciously on
him), so grant me also, O Thou most bountiful
Spirit Mazda, Thou who hast made both the Kine
and the waters and the plants? (for her support)!
both Immortality and Welfare, those two eternal
powers, and through Thy Good Mind in the doctrine
(which is revealed through his inspired words ὃ).
8. (Yea, grant me these two inseparable gifts, for
having them in store) I will speak for Thee, O Mazda!
because to the man of understanding* one should
declare for Thee that which is woe to the wicked, but
salvation to him who has maintained the holy Order
(in Thy folk and in his soul). For he is (repaid in
his deed, and) rejoiced by the Mathra who declares
it to the wise.
g. (And when I shall speak, I will declare for You
that mental) keenness (which reaches the decision),
and which Thou hast bestowed upon the two striv-
ing sides δ, (in Thy satisfying word). And this
YASNA LI.
1 See Y. XXXI, 17 where the faith of the dregvamt is sufficiently
recognised to form the basis for a question, rhetorical indeed, but
still a question.
2 From this and similar occurrences of the ‘water and the
plants’ beside ‘Immortality and Welfare’ probably arose the later
peculiar identification of those names with water and plants.
5. Compare perhaps verse 20.
4 Otherwise ; “1 will speak for Thee, O Lord ! for. the (all)-wise
one should speak.’
5 Or, ‘from the two arani;’ see notes on Y. XXXI, 3 and Y.
XLII, r2.
182 THE GATHAS.
I will announce by means of Thy flaming Fire;
yea, I will declare it for the bestowal of that sword
of justice which is forged from steel 1, and wrought
for both the worlds®. And for the wounding of the
wicked (with its blade) may’st Thou?, O Ahura
Mazda! bless and prosper Thine (avenging) saint *!
10. (Yea, let Thy believer wound the wicked to
the quick), for he, who totally estranged from this
(our holy rule *),O Mazda! seeks to destroy my life,
is a son® of the Lie’s creation, and belongs to the
miscreants; (but as for me), I call on Asha (Thy
Righteous Order to be my help); and may he come
with Thy good blessing.
11. (And ye who throng the great assembly ’, it is
of you I speak while, with my lips, 1 now address
the Lord): Who, O Ahura! is a loyal friend to the
Spit4ma 8, to Zarathustra? Who has asked his ques-
tion of the divine Righteousness, (as he approached®) ?
1 Compare Y. XXXII, 7, Avaén4 ayanghé (lit. iron).
Others see the ordeal of fire here, and the bath of melted metal
from which the righteous suffers nothing, but in which the sinner is
consumed, but rashayanghé seems to point to injury produced other-
wise than by dipping, and dakhshta certainly designates a metallic
instrument elsewhere ; ‘sign’ is, however, the original meaning.
? So several times; comp. Y. XXVIII, 3, where the depth is
unmistakable; see also Y. XXXI, 18 with ahfibis in the next
verse.
8 The Pahlavi while not strictly correct, affords the indication
of a causative, sfidinéd,
‘ From this verse probably arose the later association of khsha-
thra-vairya and metal founding and forging.
5 As invoking Asha is in the antithesis, I regard asha¢ as
understood here. Gaf seems a particle, but also not im-
possibly=gas, As it is twice followed by té (t6i), the interesting
change is suggested to gaté, infin.
5 Or a proper name. 7 See the third verse.
5 See Y. XLVI, 9, 14. ® See the fourth verse.
YASNA LI. 183
By whom is the bounteous Piety (received and
cherished) ? Or who has been regarded as upright
and fitted for the great cause of Thy Good Mind?
12. (‘Whois worthy ?’ would I ask, for Zarathustra
was ever such, and from earliest days. He was no
polluted wretch.) Paederast never gained his ear,
nor Kavi-follower on this (temptation-)bridge of
earth, when his body was (maturely) grown, when
they both hasten(ed) to him with the bosom’s' impure
power *.
13. (And he will be likewise victorious on the
veritable Judgment Bridge, for) the righteous man’s
conscience will truly * crush the wicked man’s (spirit)
while his soul rages‘ fiercely on the open Ainvat
Bridge®, as he strives by his actions, and his tongue’s
1 Some other portion of the human body, suggested by the con-
text, may be meant by aodares. The word looks like a verbal
form, 3rd pl., but see the preceding dual.
531 render the Pahlavi of this most difficult verse as follows: Far
from satisfying me is the Kik, the paederast, in regard to both of
the two particulars [food and clothing] on the path of winter; (far
from satisfying me) who am Zartfisht, the Spit4man, with whom he
is; that is, (or ‘where’) he incites me with his incitation in my
bodily (?) (sensations ; reading astak (?)); [that is, a person comes,
and thus also they, or he, would do it to me]; and this one who (is
doing) [that to us] is also leading us on, even in our progress in
the cold [of a winter] of accustomed sin, (or in the cold iniquitous
winter). This verse seems a very ancient interpolation.
5 Haithim is an adverb; its position also does not so much
favour an accusative substantive.
‘ So our texts; but the Pahlavi translator saw khraozhdaiti (see
Y. XLVI, 11) in his MSS., rendering khrdsisnd yehabind=utter
cries: ‘while his soul cries fiercely.’
® The occurrence of peretau(4o) in this verse sheds light upon the
peret6 in the previous one. Akau(4o) seems to be an attracted form
for a loc. as elsewhere. Perhaps it is miswritten.
184 THE GATHAS.
(cursing speech) to reach? (and to pollute) Asha’s
paths (where the faithful souls come).
14. (And as are those lost spirits, so are our foes.)
No friends to the creatures? are the Karpans, (not
granting) complete (harvests) from the fields with
complete (pasture) for the Kine (chief objects for our
prayer), bringing woe*® by their deeds and their
teachings. And they‘ will deliver these (beings *
whom they lead) at the last (?) by their doctrine(s)
in the Home of the Lie.
15. But this is the reward which Zarathustra
declared before (to his friends who counsel with
Asha), and are fitted for the cause δ; Ahura Mazda
will come the first? into His Song Home, Garéddman,
1 N&svau(4o) would naturally mean ‘reaching’; but the word is
also elsewhere used in an evil sense, ‘reaching to harm.’ Y. LIII, 7.
The Pahlavi, however, indicates the reading nasvau by its nastnénd.
Does the Avesta show an original evil sense to nas=to reach?
May the two nas possibly have some original connection? That
Aviis skyaothnais means here ‘ by means of’ rather than ‘ because
of’ is the more probable from the same words in the next verse,
and this notwithstanding Y. XXXI, 20.
2 So general a term as ‘creatures’ should be avoided where
possible ; but see ye dathaéiby6 eres rattm khshay&s ashavau Aist4
(verse 5).
* As to the grammatical structure, all depends on senda. Shall
we bring down néi/from the verse above ; or shall we regard senda
as in an evil sense from sad as in sadr4? The Pahlavi favours the
former, as also in Y. XXXVIII, 5 (Sp.15). The general result is
not, however, affected. Read as alternative: No friends to the
creatures are the Karpans as to perfect (harvests) from the fields,
(not) blessing us in the matter of perfect (care and fodder) for the
cattle, &c.; (sad in the sense of blessing with néié).
4 Free. 5 Or, ‘doctrines.’ δ See the eleventh verse.
7 Alternatives would be, ‘ Ahura will meet these engagements (?)
made when the reward was promised ;’ or, ‘the reward which
Zarathustra promised before Ahura came into Garédman.’ Ac-
YASNA LI. 185
and then these gifts will be given you by the Good
Mind (within you), and with blessings for the cause
of the Righteous Order (in His hosts).
16, (And one of you, the greatest, has indeed
attained to that wisdom which is thus blessed with a
promise), Kavi Vistaspa has reached it in the Realm
of our great cause (of devotion 1), and moved in his
toil by the chants of the Good Mind (who speaks in
the M&athra?); yea, he hath attained to that wisdom
which the bountiful Ahura conceived in accordance
with Asha, thus to teach us salvation.
17. (And not alone amidst our princes hath
sanctity been marked), Frashaostra, the Hvégva, hath
presented a blest and an endeared form (his child 5) ;
and may Ahura Mazda, who has the Sovereign Power,
grant her (to us), who is so much to be beloved. And
for the (progress of the) good Religion " do ye, O ye
people! receive her with desire δ, and for the gaining
of Asha; (she will help the great cause).
18. Yea, that (holy) wisdom, O G4maspa the
Hvégva*! these (pious thgengs) are as 3 through
cording to thee general form of the Gathic sentence, A6ist para
go more naturally together than if the force of the para was ex-
tended to gasaf, The coming of Ahura is elsewhere mentioned ;
here He enters His audience-chamber before His approaching
saints.
' Maga may have some such cast of meaning. I have, moreover,
more than once suspected that the origin of ‘magian’ may, not-
withstanding the méghu of the later Avesta, be simply this maga so
often used in the Gathas to designate ‘the cause.’
? See verse 20.
8. So also the Pahlavi translator in his gloss; afgham bartman
pavan nésmanih bara yehabiinédo.
‘ So also of Zarathustra’s daughter, Y. LIII, 4.
δ Or, ‘cry ye for the gaining of Asha,’ as in Y. XXIX, 1.
4 Or, reading a nominative, ‘GamA4spa is choosing,’ which is itself
186 THE GATHAS.
their Righteousness as the (true) splendours of riches
(these pious men who are) gaining the kingdom where
the Good Mind (doth govern). And grant me also,
O Mazda! that which these with glad wishes? receive
from Thy grace?
19. (And this prayer is already and beforehand
heard.) This established Sovereign Power the
heroic (Kavi Vistéspa has given), O Maidhyé-m4h
the Spitama. He who is wise through the Religion,
and who seeks (the true) life, he is granting it to us’;
yea, he has pronounced the laws of Ahura our
Maker, and declared that which is for (our) life’s
actions (beyond all other things) best.
20. And, that gift of blessedness for you, all (the
Bountiful Immortals) with one consent in sympathy
to help us (are disposed‘) to grant; (and may they
likewise make) the Holy Order (firm) for us through
the Good Mind (in our folk); and may they reveal
to us the words with which Piety likewise (speaks
her truths). And receiving sacrifice with homage
(from our praises), may they seek® for us Ahura
Mazda’s grace.
21. (Yea, this Kavi Vistdspa) the man of Aramaiti
is bounteous, and with understanding in his words
and his actions. (And asa reward) may Ahura give
well possible, as var is also conjugated with n; but rapen seems
a plural, and vid6 likewise.
» I concede this shade of meaning to the indications of the
Pahlavi.
* The Pahlavi gives us our first indication here.
5. If Gam4spé6 (nom.) is read in verse 18, ahm4i might here refer
to him ; ‘to this one.’
* Or, ‘let them grant ;’ infinitive as imperative.
5 Seeking; a dual is here disapproved by the source from which
the suggestion originated.
YASNA LU : 187
him that Righteousness which is blest, (but) with the
Religion (alone), and that Sovereign Power which is
established through the Good Mind (in His folk).
And this same blessing would 1 pray from His grace’.
22. For Ahura Mazda knoweth the man whose
best gift for the sacrifice is given unto me, and from
the motive of Righteousness; (and in thankfulness
for all, and in prayer for yet still further grace), I will
worship (the eternal ones) ; yea, I will worship those
who have ever lived, and who still live, and by their
own (holy) names, and to their (thrones?) will I draw
near with my praise!
THE GATHA(A) VAHISTA fSTIS (VAHIS-
TOISTI(f)).
This GAtha, named from its first words, consists of
chapter LIII of the Yasna. While its matter is homogeneous
with that of the other GAathas, it bears some evidence of
having been composed in the latter portion of Zarathustra’s
life. It is, as usual, separated from the other Gathas by its
metre, which shows four lines with two half lines. The first
two have eleven or twelve syllables; the third seems to
have fourteen plus a half line with five, so also the last. Irre-
gularities seem frequent. The composition has for its sub-
stance a marriage song, but one of a politically religious
character.
The piece 4-airyem4-ishyd, Y. LIV, 1, has been considered by
some as susceptible of a similar metrical arrangement, and it cer-
tainly looks as if it originally belonged to Y. LIII. It is, however,
11 refer tem to Ahura, supposing it to stand; reading tam,
I would refer it to ashi.
* Compare Vend. XIX, 31.
188 THE GATHAS.
otherwise divided by Bartholomae (see Arische Forschungen, 2ter
heft, s. 23). From the past form of srévt, some have thought that
Zarathustra was no longer living when this hymn was composed,
but the word may only mean ‘(his prayer) has been, or is heard.’
If we must, however, render ‘was heard,’ this does not determine
the certainty of Zarathustra’s death, The expression Zarathustris
Spitamé also gives the impression that some heir to Zarathustra’s
office and prestige existed, but even this is not decisive, for a future
successor may be for a time a contemporary, while, on the contrary,
the nuptials of Zarathustra’s daughter, with the mention of his name,
and the reference to her ‘father’ as the one from whom her bride-
groom obtained her, indicate that Zarathustra may well have been
still living. The later forms Zarathustrahé and fedhr6é remain as
the indications of a later origin than the actual period of Zara-
thustra’s lifetime; but these circumstances may be owing to
accidental causes.
The style has freshness and vigour throughout, and would indi-
cate Zarathustrian influence, if not authorship. That Zarathustra
does not speak in the first person, has no importance whatever in
the question. The piece is not of course a whole; but it may well
be a whole out of which parts have fallen. That the subject passes
on to the old polemical vehemence in the last verses, is far from
unnatural. The marriage festival of Zarathustra’s child must
have been, if without intention, a semi-political occasion, and
the bard would express himself, as naturally, with regard to the
struggle which was still going on. This latter fact also shows an
early date ; the passages referring to the struggle are strongly
kindred with some in Y. XLVI, and elsewhere.
Verses 1 and 2 form an admirable introduction; the transition
to the marriage occasion was, however, contained in lost verses.
Verses 3, 4, and 5 hang well together; and 6 and 7 are not at all
remote from them; the warlike close, although far from surprising
us, must have been introduced by one or more now missing
stanzas.
1. As the object of the ‘ great cause,’ next to the preservation of
its adherents, was the extension of its influence, first over hesitating
parties (Y. XLIV, 12), and then over all the living (Y. XXXI, 3),
it is not surprising that the central prayer of Zarathustra should
have culminated in a desire for the conversion of opponents. Even
Turanians had been known to come over to the holy creed, and
help prosper the settlements which their kith had so often plun-
dered (Y. XLVI, 12); he had therefore prayed that those who
YASNA LIII. 189
had heretofore injured the holy Daéna might become its disciples
by a genuine conversion. 2. Having observed the fidelity of con-
verts and original disciples, the king and his chief nobles would
celebrate their devotion by hymns, ceremonies, and sacrifices, as
the symbols of every moral virtue, laying down for the people the
moral law of the Saviour. 3. As it would be pushing rather far to
suppose the Saoshyant to be referred to in tem#4, and as moreover,
according to Geldner’s admirable suggestion, that title may here
well refer to Zarathustra, it is better to accept a loss of verses, and
to suppose a person alluded to as the bridegroom, who, if not one
so eminent as to merit the imposing name of Saoshyant, was still
at least one of his more prominent satellites, for the ancient poet
goes on to address a daughter of Zarathustra as a bride. She is
the youngest, and her name is as pious as that of a maid of ancient
Israel, for she is called ‘full of the religious knowledge.’ Her
husband is to be a support in holiness, and she is to take counsel
_with piety. 4. Her response is appropriate ; she will vie with her
husband in every sacred affection, as well as in every domestic
virtue. 5. The priestly thaliarch then addresses the bridesmaids
and the pair with suitable admonitions to piety and affection.
6. Turning now to the assembly, possibly after the recital of some
stanzas long since vanished, he proceeds with warnings and en-
couragements. He will exorcise the Demon who was especially
the slave of the Daévas ; but he warns all men and women against
the evil Vayu, the spirit of the air. 7. Charitably concluding that
they would come forth as conquerors from the trials which still
awaited them, he next warns them against all solicitations to vice.
8. Having named profane Demons, his polemical zeal becomes
fully inflamed. Anticipating with fierce delight the sufferings of the
wicked, he calls vehemently for the champion, who may, in alliance -
with neighbouring potentates, deliver up the murderous false-leader,
giving peace to the masses; and he entreats that all haste may be
used. 9. To arouse the great chiefs to their duty, he recalls (as in
Y. XXXII) the successes of the foe; and he calls for the prince
who may overthrow and expel him, but, as if well aware that the
human arm could not alone bring salvation, he attributes to Ahura
the Sovereign Power, which alone can guard helpless innocence
against lawless plunder and oppression.
190 THE GATHAS.
Translation.
1. That best prayer has been answered’, the prayer
of Zarathustra Spitama, that Ahura Mazda might?
grant him those boons, (the most wished-for) which
flow from the good Order, even a life that is pros-
pered® for eternal duration, and also those who
deceived * him (may He likewise thus grant him) as
the good Faith’s disciples in word and in deed δ.
2. And may Kavi Vist4éspa, and the Zarathustrian
Spit4ma δ, and Frashaostra too with them, offer pro-
pitiation to Mazda in thought, word, and deed, and
1 Some lay stress upon the literal form ‘was heard,’ and regard
the expression as indicating the fact that Zarathustra was no longer
living (see the remarks in the summary).
® Free.
5.1 follow the Pahlavi with all; it has h-ah(inéd.
* I follow the frift4r of the Pahlavi, as the conversion of those
formerly hostile is suggested by vauray4 and Fryana, not to speak
of the primary rendering of duserethris Aikhshnush4. The
Pahlavi also has, ‘even he who is the deceiver is to be instructed
in the word and deed of the good religion. The MSS. should
not hastily be abandoned.
5 That more than a ritualistic sanctity is meant is certain (see
Y. XXX, 3); but that no sanctity could be recognised apart from
worship is equally undeniable.
® Who was the Zarathustrian Spitima? Some change the text
after the Pahlavi translator, reading Zarathustra Spitima; but I
would not follow this evil example in a first translation of a
translatable text. Why should a Spitima, who was not Zarathustra,
be called Zarathustrian? Were some of the Spitamas not in
sympathy with their great kinsman, Spitimas who were Mazda-
yasnians, but not ‘of Zarathustra’s order?’ One would however
suppose that some one of Zarathustra’s family was meant who
occupied the position of his especial representative and natural
successor.
YASNA LIII. IgI
Yasna confessions! as they render Him praise,
making straight paths? (for our going), even that
Faith of the Saoshyawt which Ahura will found ὃ,
(The master of the feast.)
3“. And him will they give Thee, O Pouruéista,
Haééad-aspid and Spit4émi! young® (as thou art) of
the daughters of Zarathustra, him will they® give
thee as a help in the Good Mind’s true service,
of Asha’s and Mazda’s, as a chief and a guardian’,
Counsel well then (together ὃ), with the mind of
rmaiti, most bounteous and pious; and act with
just action.
(She answers.)
4. I will love® and vie with him, since from (my)
father 19 he gained (me). For the master and toilers,
and for the lord-kinsman (be) the Good Mind's bright
1 Free.
3 Recall the ‘path made for the Kine,’ and ‘the way’ which
‘Thou declarest to be that of the Good Mind,’
5 That is, will permanently found, establish.
* Verses have here fallen out, as some allusion must have been
made to the bridegroom.
5 So more according to the hint of the Pahlavi and the statement
of the Bundahis; West, XXXII, 5. So Geldner, K. Z. 28, 195.
® Or, ‘will he, the Saoshyant, the bride’s father.’
ΤᾺ chieftain, a protecting head.
* It is, perhaps, safer to refer this ‘questioning’ to the pair; but
forms of ham with pares are also used of consultations with the
Deity (see Y. XXXIII, 6). Y. XLIV, 13 nearly necessitates the
wider and less concrete view here.
9. Varant looks somewhat like a gloss, but the metre seems to
demand it.
10 Her father’s sanction was a reason for devotion to the man
to whom he had given her.
192 THE GATHAS.
blessing}, the pure for the pure ones, and to me
(be?) the insight (which I gain from his counsel ὃ).
Mazda grant it, Ahura for good conscience for ever.
(The priestly master of the feast.)
5. Monitions for the marrying I speak to (you)
maidens, to you, I who know them; and_ heed ye
my (sayings): By these‘ laws of the Faith which I
utter obtain ye the life of the Good Mind (on earth
and in heaven). (And to you, bride and bridegroom’),
let each one the other in Righteousness cherish; thus
alone unto each shall the home-life be happy.
6. [Thus real are these things, ye men and ye
women 5 1] from the Lie-demon protecting, I guard
o’er my (faithful), and so (I) grant progress (in weal
and in goodness). And the hate of the Lie (with the
hate of her) bondsmen (?) I pray from the body,
(and so would expel it”). For to those who bear
Vayu 5, (and bring him to power), his shame ® mars
the glory. To these evil truth-harmers by these
means he reaches. Ye thus slay the life mental (if
ye follow his courses").
1 The Pahlavi translator has sfrih here.
3. Bef=bad lies certainly nearer than bee/=bavay.
5 See the previous verse. * Or, ‘being zealous.’
5 These words do not seem adapted to the bridesmaids.
5 Gaini is elsewhere used in an evil sense.
ΤΊ can only render thus literally: From the Drfig as a
generous guide (I) who (compare ye in Y. XXVIII) (for) mine, (mé)
a watching guardian (I guide asa rathema; nom. sing. with verbal
force) increasing prosperity, i.e. progress, of the Drag I pray
(forth* ; I exorcise) of the bond (?) (δὲ the Drag) the malicious
injuries* from the body or person. ™* yésé-pard. = * to 3rd pi.
® «If ye bear, or promote, ie interests of Vayu.’
® Or, ‘evil food.’
© Some line here is gloss; the first thought would be to eliminate
VASNA LIII. 193
7. But yours be the recompense, (O ye righteous
women!) of this great cause. For while lustful desire
heart-inflamed from the body? there beyond goeth
down where the spirit of evil reaches (to ruin, still)
ye bring forth the champion? to help on the cause,
(and thus conquer temptation). So your last word is
‘Vayu’; (ye cry it in triumph ὃ).
8. And thus let the sinners by these means be
foiled*; and consumed δ be they likewise. Let them
shriek in their anger. With good kings let (our
champion *) deliver? the smiter® (as a captive in
the difficult second line; but the third line might be an effort (by
the poet himself, or an associate, see the metrical form) to explain,
or relieve, the awkward second line. Reading yem& and rathemé,
and taking genayé as in an evil sense, with spasutha as a second
plural, we might render as a question: ‘Do ye, O ye twain,
ye helpers of the Drag; do ye regard promotion (as thus to be
gained)?’ But in that case verses 6 and 7 should be regarded as
separated by many lost verses from the fifth verse. But is not the
first line the gloss? It is merely an address.
1 Free. 5 Lit. ‘the greatness.’
5 The difficulty here lies in the first line which seems to declare
a reward in a good sense. Mizdem is hardly used of retribution.
It must therefore be taken in a good sense. The following evil
results must be supposed to have been avoided; and ‘ Vayu’ to be
uttered in triumph. Vayu is used in an evil sense in verse 6.
If mizdem could be supposed to express retribution, then evil
men and women would be threatened, and Vayu would be a cry
uttered in woe. As to Vayu with his two natures, see part ii as
per index.
* The foiling of the evil here recalls 4debaoma.
5 The Pahlavi translator seems to me too free in rendering
zahkvyaka (zahy4é4), zanisn-hOmand, It also makes a curious
imitation of letters in géh va mar for genarém. It is of course far
from certain that he had our present text.
* See verse 9; also Y. XLVI, 4.
7 Recall the delivering of the evil into the two hands of Asha
(Y. XXX, 8, and Y. XLIV, 14).
* Khrinerim44 must be a gloss.
[31] fe)
194 THE GATHAS.
battle), giving peace to our dwellings, and peace to
our hamlets. Let him charge! those deceivers,
chaining death as the strongest?; and swift be (the
issue).
9. Through false believers the tormentor makes
Thy helpers ὃ refusers *; (those who once helped our
heroes shall no longer give succour). The estranged
thus desires, and the reprobate ὅ wills it, with the will
that he harbours to conquer our honour®, Where is
then the Lord righteous who will smite them from
life”, and (beguile) them of license ? Mazda!
Thine is that power, (which will banish and conquer).
And Thine is the Kingdom®; and by it Thou
bestowest the highest (of blessings) on the right-
living poor ®!
1 «Let him “rout” or “stir” them.’
3 Comp. mazista=the strongest in Y. XLIX, 1, ‘the prevailer.’
Lit. ‘with the chaining of death the greatest.’
8. For narpis I can only suggest the suspiciously simple nar=
hero (comp. the frequent n4) and pi=nourish, support. The
Pahlavi translator seems likewise to have had some such rendering
in mind, for he translates dastébar.
‘ As to rigis, the Pahlavi translation, which is here more than
usually difficult, hints in the direction above followed, by a word
which I would restore as réginénd.
5 The Pahlavi translator erroneously sees ‘bridge’ in pesh6é, or
is free with his tandpfharkand hémand. See Geldner, Stud. 3.
* See Geldner, Stud. 54. 1 See Y. XLVI, 4.
® Comp. the Ahuna-vairya which takes its last line from this
place, and Y. XXXIV, 5. Vahyé is a variation for vangheus vahy6.
9 Here I have endeavoured to imitate the swing of the rhythm
by breaking up the sentences, especially in the second line.
Literally it would be, ‘with the desire, with the virtue-conquering
(desire) of the reprobate.’ Such freedom as the above is often
a critical necessity in the attempts to reproduce the warmth of the
original.
THE YASNA.
IT is now hardly necessary to say that the Yasna is
the chief liturgy of the Zarathustrians, in which confession,
invocation, prayer, exhortation, and praise are all combined
as in other liturgies. Like other compositions of the kind,
it is made up of more or less mutually adapted fragments
of different ages, and modes of composition. The GAthas
are sung in the middle of it, and in the Vendidad SAdah,
the Visparad is interpolated within it for the most part at
the ends of chapters.
We have no reason to suppose that the Yasna existed in
its present form in the earlier periods of Zarathustrianism,
but we have also no reason to doubt that its present
arrangement is, as regards us, very ancient. The word
Yasna means worship including sacrifice. Introductory
excerpts occur in several MSS., and are now printed by
Geldner. They are to be found in Y. I, 23; Y. III, 25;
Y. XI, 17, 18; Y. XXII, 23-27; Y. XXVII, 13,14; Ny.I,2.
YASNA I.
Tue SACRIFICE COMMENCES.
1. I announce?! and I (will) complete (my Yasna)
to Ahura Mazda, the Creator, the radiant and glo-
rious, the greatest and the best, the most beautiful (?)
(to our conceptions), the most firm, the wisest, and
the one of all whose body 5 is the most perfect, who
1 Or, ‘I invite;’ but the word seems equal to 4vaédhayéma ;
compare the Vedic vid+ni. Comp. also πὶ τὰ vaédhayémi and πῆ
v6 vaédhayémi in Y.I, 21, 22. The Pahlavi favours ‘I invite.’
* Not that Ahura was conceived of as having a body proper.
The stars are elsewhere poetically described as his body, as other
O02
196 YASNA I.
attains His ends the most infallibly, because of His
Righteous Order, to Him who disposes our minds
aright?, who sends His joy-creating grace afar;
who made us, and has fashioned us, and who has
nourished and protected us*, who is the most
bounteous Spirit?!
2. 1 announce and I (will) complete (my Yasna) to
the Good Mind, and to Righteousness the Best, and
to the Sovereignty which is to be desired, and to Piety
the Bountiful, and to the two, the Universal Weal
and Immortality, to the body of the Kine, and to
the Kine’s Soul, and to the Fire of Ahura Mazda,
that one who more than‘ (all) the Bountiful Immor-
tals has made most effort (for our succour)!
3. And I announce and I (will) complete (my
Yasna) to the Asnya, the day-lords of the ritual
order, to HAvani the holy, the lord® of the ritual
order; and I celebrate, and I (will) complete (my
Yasna) to Savanghi and to Visya, the holy lord(s)
of the ritual order. And I announce and (will) com-
plete (my Yasna) to Mithra of the wide pastures, of
the thousand ears, and of the myriad eyes, the Yazad
of the spoken * name, and to Raman /7/vAstra.
divinities are said to be tanu-miathra, having the Mathra as their
body ; that is, incarnate in the Mathra.
1 * Disposing aright as to mind.’
3 Pahlavi parvard.
* Elsewhere the Spezta Mainyu is spoken of as His possession.
“The Fire seems almost spoken of as one of the Amesha
Spenta.
δ᾽ Lords of the ritual because ruling as chief at the time of their
mention, and in this sense regarded as genii protecting all ritual
seasons and times of their class. Visya presides over the Vis;
Svanghi, over cattle.
5 Having an especial Yast.
YASNA I. 197
4. I announce and (will) complete (my Yasna) to
Rapithwina, the holy lord of the ritual order, and to
Frada¢fshu, and to Zamtuma, the holy lord(s) of the
ritual order; and I celebrate and complete (my Yasna)
to Righteousness? the Best, and to Ahura Mazda’s
Fire},
5. I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
Uzayéirina the holy lord of the ritual order, and
. to Frada¢-vira and to Dadvyuma’, the holy lord(s)
of the ritual order, and to that lofty Ahura NapA¢-
apim (the son of waters), and to the waters which
Ahura Mazda* made.
6. I announce and complete (my Yasna)to Aiwisrt-
thrima (and) Aibigaya ‘, the holy lord(s) of the ritual
order, and to Zarathustrétema, and to him who pos-
sesses and who gives that prosperity in life which
furthers all. And I celebrate and complete (my
Yasna) to the Fravashis of the saints, and to those
of the women who have many sons °, and to a pros-
perous home-life which continues without reverse
throughout the year, and to that Might which is well-
shaped and stately ®, which strikes victoriously, Ahura-
made, and to that Victorious Ascendency (which it
secures).
7. I announce and I complete (my Yasna) to
Ushahina, the holy lord of the ritual order, and to
Beregya (and) NmAnya, the holy lord(s) of the ritual
order, and to Sraosha (who is Obedience) the blessed,
endowed with blessed recompense (as a thing com-
1 Constantly associated together in the later Avesta.
3 hu=h before y.
® As opposed to those which might belong to Angra Mainyu.
* Or, ‘ who furthers life.’ 5 «Men and herds?’
4 ‘Well-grown.’
198 ΥΑΒΝΑ 1.
pleted), who smites with victory, and furthers the
settlements, and to Rashnu?%, the most just, and to
Arst4¢ 8, who advances the settlements, and causes
them to increase.
8. And I announce and I complete (my Yasna) to
the Mahya, the monthly festivals, lords of the ritual
order, to the new and the later* moon, the holy lord
of the ritual order, and to the full moon which scatters
night.
9. And I announce and complete (my Yasna), to
the Yd4irya, yearly feasts, the holy lords of the ritual
order. I celebrate and complete (my Yasna) to
Maidyé-zaremya 5, the holy lord of the ritual order,
and to Maidyé-shema, the holy lord of the ritual
order, and to Paitishahya, and to Aydthrima the
advancer, and the spender of the strength of males 5,
the holy lord of the ritual order, and to Maidhyairya,
the holy lord of the ritual order, and to Hamaspath-
maédhaya, the holy lord of the ritual order; yea, I
celebrate and complete my Yasna to the seasons,
lords of the ritual order.
10. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
all those who are the thirty and three’ lords of the
ritual order, which, coming the nearest, are around
about Havani, and which (as in their festivals) were
* I should say that the suffix has this force here as in close con-
nection with ashyéd.
* Genius of rectitude. 5 Rectitude in another form.
4 Literally, ‘to the moon within,’ showing little light.
δ΄ See the Afrinagan. 5 The rutting season.
1 Haug first called attention to the striking coincidence with the
Indian. In the Aitareya and Satapatha Brahmamas, in the Atharva-
veda, and in the Ramfyama, the gods are brought up to the number
thirty-three. The names differ somewhat however. (See Essays,
ed. West, 2nd edition, p. 276; see also Rv. 240,9; 250, 2.)
YASNA I. 199
inculcated by Ahura Mazda, and were promulgated
by Zarathustra, as the lords of Asha Vahista, who is
Righteousness the Best.
11. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
the two, to Ahura? and to Mithra, the lofty, and the
everlasting, and the holy, and to all the stars which
are Spezta Mainyu’s creatures, and to the star
Tistrya, the resplendent and glorious, and to the
Moon which contains the seed of the Kine, and to
the resplendent Sun, him of the rapid steeds, the eye ἢ
of Ahura Mazda, and to Mithra the province-ruler.
And I celebrate and complete my Yasna to Ahura
Mazda (once again, and as to him who rules the
month’), the radiant, the glorious, and to the
Fravashis 4 of the saints.
12. And I announce and complete my Yasna to
thee, the Fire, O Ahura Mazda's son! together with
all the fires, and to the good waters, even to all the
waters made by Mazda, and to all the plants which
Mazda made.
13. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
the Bounteous Mathra, the holy and effective, the
revelation given against the Daévas*; the Zarathus-
1 The star Jupiter has been called Ormuzd by the Persians and
Armenians, and it may be intended here, as stars are next men-
tioned, but who can fail to be struck with the resemblance to the
Mitra-Varuaa of the Rig-veda. Possibly both ideas were present
to the composer.
3. Recall Kakshur Mitrasya Varunasya Agned.
8 The first day of the month is called Ahura Mazda.
4 The first month is called Fravashi. These are put for the par-
ticular day of celebration.
5 This was the Vendid&d, the name being a contraction of
vidaéva-d4ta. It will not be forgotten that the Vendidad, although
later put together, contains old Aryan myths which antedate
200 YASNA I.
trian revelation, and to the long descent ! of the good
Mazdayasnian Faith.
14. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
the mountain Ushi-darena?, the Mazda-made, with its
sacred brilliance, and to all the mountains glorious
with sanctity 8, with their abundant Glory Mazda-
made, and to that majestic Glory Mazda-made, the
unconsumed* Glory which Mazda made. And I
announce and complete (my Yasna) to Ashi the
good, the blessedness (of the reward), and to Kisti,
the good religious Knowledge, to the good Erethe
(Rectitude5?), and to the good Rasist4¢ (persisting
zeal ® ?), and to the Glory and the Benefit which are
Mazda-made.
15. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
the pious and good Blessing of the religious man’,
the holy, and to the curse of wisdom, the swift and
redoubted Yazad of potency (to blight).
16. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
these places and these lands, and to these pastures,
and these abodes with their springs of water (?) δ, and
Zarathustra, although in its present greatly later form, Zarathustra
is a demi-god in it, and his name is involved in myth.
1 «The long tradition ; so Spiegel.
* From this mountain the Iranian kings were later supposed to
have descended ; hence the mention of the ‘ glory.’
δ᾽ Observe the impossibility of the meaning ‘comfort,’ or mere
‘ well-being’ here.
4 Or possibly ‘the unseized,’ the Pahlavi agrift(?); Ner. agrzhitam;
Avar, to eat, may have meant ‘seize’ originally.
® Erethe (riti?) seems without inflection.
5 The state of activity (?).
7 Shall we say, ‘of the departed saint’ here?
* The Pahlavi with its afkhvar points here perhaps to a better
text. Recall awzhdateméa, awzhdaunghéd, awrem.
YASNA I. 201
to the waters, land, and plants, and to this earth and to
yon heaven, and to the holy wind, and to the stars,
moon, and sun, and to the eternal stars without
beginning}, and self-disposing *, and to all the holy
creatures of Spevta-Mainyu, male and female, the
regulators of the ritual order.
17. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
that lofty lord who is the ritual Righteousness? (itself),
and to the lords of the days in their duration, and of
the days during daylight, to the moons, the years,
and the seasons which are lords of the ritual order at
the time of HAvani‘.
18. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
the Fravashis of the saints, the redoubted, which
overwhelm (the evil), to those of the saints of the
ancient lore, to those of the next of kin, and to
the Fravashi of (mine) own® soul!
19. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
all the lords of the ritual order, and to all the Yazads,
the beneficent, who dispose (of all) aright, to those
both heavenly and earthly, who are (meet) for our
sacrifice and homage because of Asha Vahista, (of the
ritual Order which is ‘the best).
20. O (thou) Havani, holy lord of the ritual order,
and SAvanghi, Rapithwina, and Uzayéirina, and
Aiwisrdthrima, (and) Aibigaya, (thou that aidest
1 Meaning ‘ without beginning to their course,’ and so ‘ fixed’ (?).
* Self-determining, not satellites, having the laws of their own
motion in themselves.
3 The divine Order par eminence, expressed in the ritual and
the faith.
4 Not ‘to the chief of H4vani,’ possibly ‘in the lordship,’ the
time when it is especially the object of worship. Thus each object
of worship becomes in its turn a ‘lord or chief’ of ‘the ritual order.’
5 The soul of the celebrant or his client is intended.
202 YASNA I.
life !) if I have offended you, and thou, O Ushahina,
holy lord of the ritual order !
21. If I have offended thee?, whether by thought,
or word, or deed, whether by act of will, or without
intent or wish, I earnestly make up the deficiency of
this in praise to thee. If I have caused decrease?
in that which is Thy Yasna, and Thy homage, I
announce (and celebrate*) to thee (the more for
this) !
22. Yea, all ye lords, the greatest ones, holy lords
of the ritual order, if I have offended you by thought,
or word, or deed, whether with my will, or without
intending error‘, 1 praise you (now the more) for
this. I announce to you (the more) if I have caused
decrease in this which is your Yasna, and your praise.
23. I would confess myself a Mazda-worshipper, of
Zarathustra’s order, a foe to the Daévas, devoted to
the lore of the Lord, for HAvani, the holy lord of the
ritual order, for (his) sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and praise, for Savanghi, and for Visya, the holy lord
of the ritual order, for (his) sacrifice, homage, pro-
pitiation and praise, and for the sacrifice, homage,
propitiation and praise of the lords of the days in
their duration, and of the days during daylight, for
1 Compare Av. VII, 86, 3-6.
3 Practised, or induced neglect, or omitted portions of it.
5. 47 invite for Thee’ (?).
* That the thought, word, and deed here were more than the mere
semi-mechanical use of faculties in reciting the liturgy, is clear.
At the same time all morality was supposed to be represented in
the liturgy. The evil man would offend in thought, word, and deed,
if he recited it carelessly, or with bad conscience, and as guilty of
any known and unrepented sins. The moral and ceremonial laws
went hand in hand.
YASNA II. 203
those of the monthly festivals, and for those of the
yearly ones, and for those of the seasons!
YASNA II.
THE SACRIFICE CONTINUES.
1. I desire to approach! the Zaothras? with my
worship. I desire to approach the Baresman with
my worship. I desire to approach the Zaothra con-
jointly with the Baresman in my worship, and the
Baresman conjointly with the Zaothra. Yea, I desire
to approach this Zaothra (here), and with this (present)
Baresman, and I desire to approach this Baresman
conjoined with this Zaothra with my praise; and I
desire to approach this Baresman with praise pro-
vided with its Zaothra with its girdle, and spread with
sanctity.
2. And in this Zaothra ὃ and the Baresman I desire
to approach Ahura Mazda with my praise, the holy
1 Referring yds to its more original sense. Or read, ‘I desire
the approach of’ the various objects of worship, which may be
correct, as we understand the genius of each several object to be
invoked. Aside from this, a desire ‘to approach’ seems quite
necessary to fill out the sense here. Many of the objects referred
to were already present, although some, like ‘the mountains,’
needed to be spiritually approached, or indeed invoked.
* Zaothra seems to me hardly a vocative here. If declined as
other nouns, it would seem to be exceptionally a masculine; com-
pare ahmya zaothré below. I should feel constrained to regard
it here as a masc. plural accusative (comp. haoma).
* If zaothré is not a loc. masc. it may be used with the loc. masc.
pronoun irregularly. It would then equal Zaothraya. The letter
© is often simply the Pahlavi w a little lengthened and equivalent
to ya (aya). 9. does not merely stand for ya (aya), but it is some-
times the correct writing for those letters. (Useless repetitions are
curtailed.)
204 YASNA II.
lord of the ritual order, and the Bountiful Immortals,
(all) those who rule aright, and who dispose of all
aright, these also I desire to approach and with my
praise.
3. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the Asnya with my praise. I desire to
approach the H4vani with my praise, the holy lord of
the ritual order,and SAvanghi and Visya, the holy lords
of the ritual order. And in this Zaothra with this
Baresman I desire to approach Mithra with my praise,
of the wide pastures, of the thousand ears, and of the
myriad eyes, the Yazad ofthespoken name,and Raman
f7vastra with him, the holy lord of the ritual order.
4. And in this Zaothra and with the Baresman I
desire to approach Rapithwina with my praise, the
holy lord of the ritual order; and Fr&da¢-fshu and
Zantuma, the holy lords of the ritual order; and in
this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire to approach
toward Righteousness the Best with my praise, and
with him the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son.
5. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach Uzayéirina with my praise, and Frada¢-
vira and Dakvyuma’, the holy lords of the ritual
order; and with them that lofty lord, the kingly and
brilliant Apaém-nap4z?, of the fleet horses, and likewise
the water Mazda-made and holy,
6. And Aiwisrdthrima, (and) Aibigaya, the holy
lord(s) of the ritual order, and FrAdaé-vispim-hugiiti,
and Zarathustrétema, the holy lord, and the good,
heroic, and bountiful Fravashis of the saints, and the
women who have many sons, and a peaceful and
prosperous home-life that continues without reverse
throughout the year, and Force well-shaped and
1 Av=h before y. * Sometimes Nap4/-apam.
YASNA II. 205
stately, and the Victorious-blow Ahura-given, and the
Victorious Ascendency (which it secures), and (7)
Ushahina, the holy lord of the ritual order, Beregya
and Nmanya, the holy lords of the ritual order, and
Sraosha, Obedience, the blessed and the stately,
who smites with the blow of victory, furthering the
settlements, the holy lord of the ritual order, and
Rashnu, the most just, and Arst&¢, who furthers the
settlements, and causes them to increase.
8. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the Mahya, the monthly festivals with my
praise, the new moon and the waning moon (the moon
within), the holy lords of the ritual order, and the
full moon which scatters night, (9) and the Yearly
festivals, Maidhyé-zaremaya, the holy lord of the
ritual order, and Maidhyé-shema, and Paitishahya,
and Aydthrima, the promoter, who spends the
strength of males, and Maidhydirya and Hamas-
pathmaédhaya, and the seasons, the holy lords of the
ritual order,
10. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach all the lords of the ritual order with my
praise, the three and thirty who come the nearest
round about our Havanis, who are those lords (and
seasons) of Righteousness the Best, which were incul-
cated by Mazda, and spoken forth by Zarathustra.
11. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I
desire to approach Ahura and Mithra with my praise,
the lofty, eternal, and the holy two; and I desire to
approach the stars, moon, and sun with the Baresman
plants, and with my praise, and with them Mithra the
governor of all the provinces, and Ahura Mazda
the radiant and glorious, and the good, heroic, boun-
tiful Fravashis of the saints, (12) and thee, the Fire,
206 YASNA II.
Ahura Mazda’s son, the holy lord of the ritual order,
with all the fires! And I desire to approach the
good waters in this Zaothra with this Baresman with
my praise, all best waters, Mazda-made and holy,
and all the plants which are Mazda-made and holy.
13. And I desire to approach the bounteous Mathra
in this Zaothra with this Baresman, and with my
praise, the most glorious as it is, and with it the law
instituted against the Daévas; yea, I desire to
approach the Zarathustrian law with my praise, and
(with it) its long descent, and the good Mazdayasnian
Religion (as complete).
14. And I desire to approach Mount Ushi-darena in
this Zaothra, with this Baresman with my praise,
Mazda-made, and glorious with sanctity, the Yazad-
(mount). And I desire to approach all the mountains
with my praise, glorious with sanctity as they are,
and with abundant glory, Mazda-made, and holy lords
of the ritual order; and I desire to approach the
mighty kingly Glory Mazda-made and unconsumed ;
yea, (even) the mighty unconsumed Glory Mazda-
made. And I desire to approach Ashi Vanguhi (the
good blessedness) in my praise, the brilliant, lofty,
powerful, and stately, saving by inherent power. Yea,
I desire to approach the Glory Mazda-made with my
praise ; and I desire to approach the Benefit conferred
by Mazda.
15. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I
desire to approach the Blessing, pious and good, and
the pious and holy man who utters it, and the mighty
and redoubted Curse of the wise, the Yazad.
16. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I
desire to approach these waters with my praise, and
these lands and plants, and these places, districts,
YASNA III. 207
and pastures, and these dwellings with their springs
of water ', and this land-ruler, who is Ahura Mazda.
17. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I de-
sire to approach all the greatest lords with my praise,
the day-lords, and the month-lords, those of the years,
and of the seasons, and the good, heroic, bountiful
Fravashis of the saints.
18. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I
desire to approach all the holy Yazads with my
praise; yea, even all the lords of the ritual order,
HAvani at his time, and Savanghi at his time, and
all the greatest lords of the ritual at their proper
times.
YASNA III.
Tue YASNA ADVANCES TO THE NAMING OF THE
Osjects OF PROPITIATION.
1. Witha Baresman brought to its appointed place
accompanied with the Zaothra at the time of HAvani,
I desire to approach the Myazda-offering with my
praise, as it is consumed, and likewise Ameretataéé?
(as the guardian of plants and wood) and Haurvata¢
(who guards the water), with the (fresh) meat ὃ, for the
propitiation of Ahura Mazda, and of the Bountiful
1 See note on Y. I, 16.
* Spiegel has observed with truth that Ameretat4¢ and Haurvatas
may represent severally all the fruits and the liquids offered.
8 The modern Parsis, Haug following, render ‘butter’; but
Spiegel is inclined to discredit this later tradition, holding that
‘flesh’ was originally intended; but on its becoming disused in
India, milk was substituted, hence the error.
Gaus hudhau, in its primary sense, meant of course ‘the Kine
of blessed endowment.’ (Repetitions are again curtailed.)
208: ..: °°. | Υ̓ΑΒΝΑ III.
Immortals, and for the propitiation of Sraosha (who
is Obedience) the blessed, who is endowed with
sanctity, and who smites with the blow of victory,
and causes the settlements to advance.
2. And I desire to approach Haoma and Para-
haoma! with my praise for the propitiation of the
Fravashi of Spitama Zarathustra, the saint. And I
desire to approach the (sacred) wood with my praise,
with the perfume, for the propitiation of thee, the
Fire, O Ahura Mazda's son!
3. And I desire to approach the Haomas with my
praise for the propitiation of the good waters which
Mazda created ; and I desire to approach the Haoma-
water, and the fresh milk ? with my praise, and the
plant Hadhana€pata, offered with sanctity for the
propitiation of the waters which are Mazda-made.
4. And I desire to approach this Baresman with
the Zaothra with my praise, with its binding ὃ and
spread with sanctity for the propitiation of the
Bountiful Immortals. And I desire with (?) my
voice the thoughts well thought, and the words well
spoken, and the deeds well done, and the recital of
the Gathas as they are heard. And I desire to
approach the well-said Mathras with my praise, and
this (higher) lordship with this sanctity, and this exact
regulation * (of the Ratu), and the reverential prayer
for blessings (spoken at the fitting hour); and I desire
to approach them for the contentment and propitiation
1 The Haoma-juice.
* So better than ‘fresh meat.’ Fluids are the chief objects of
attention here.
5 With its girdle.
4 Anghuyam—rathwim stand related as ah and ratu; so also
the Pahlavi ahQdth and radih, and Ner. svamitamka gurut&méa.
Teck LIBRA ap
yet
YASNA Il. (UN ἣν FRSITY2bq
of the holy Yazads, heavenly and arid for the
contentment of each man’s soul.
5. And I desire to approach the Asnya with my
praise, the lords of the ritual order, and the HAvani
and SAvanghi and Visya, the holy lords of the ritual
order. And I desire to approach with the Yast? of
Mithra of the wide pastures, of the thousand ears,
of the myriad eyes, the Yazad of the spoken name,
and with him Raman //vastra.
6. And I desire to approach Rapithwina with my
praise, the holy lord of the ritual order, and Fréa-
daé-fshu and Zaztuma, and Righteousness the
Best, and Ahura Mazda's Fire.
7. And I desire to approach Uzayéirina, and
Frada¢-vira and Dakvyuma* with my praise, with
that lofty Ahura Nap4¢-apam, and the waters Mazda-
made,
8. And Aiwisrfithrima, and Aibigaya, and Fradat-
vispim-hugaiti, and Zarathustrétema with the Yast
of the Fravashis of the saints?, and of the women
who have many sons, and the year long unchanged
prosperity, and of Might, the well-shaped and stately,
smiting victoriously, Ahura-made and of the Victo-
rious Ascendency (which it secures).
9. And I desire to approach Ushahina, Beregya,
and Nmfénya with the Yast of Sraosha (Obe-
dience) the sacred, the holy, who smites with the
blow of victory, and makes the settlements advance,
and with that of Rashnu, the most just, and Arsta¢
1 Yestf seems used of an especial Yast here, and subsequently,
as genitives intrude among datives, the form possibly taking the
place of the words ‘for the propitiation of’; here Yast X may be
referred to.
3 Yast XIII.
[31] P
210 YASNA III.
who furthers the settlements, and causes them to
increase.
10. And I desire to approach the monthly festivals,
the lords of the ritual order, and the new moon and
the waning moon, and the full moon which scatters
night,
11. And the yearly festivals, Maidhyé-zaremaya,
Maidhyé-shema, Paitishahya, and Aydthrima the
breeder who spends the strength of males, and
Maidhydirya, and Hamaspathmaédhaya, and the
seasons, lords of the ritual order, (12) and all those
lords who are the three and thirty, who approach
the nearest at the time of HAvani, who are the
Lords of Asha called Vahishta (and whose services
were) inculcated by Mazda, and pronounced by
Zarathustra, as the feasts of Righteousness, the
Best.
13. And I desire to approach Ahura and Mithra,
the lofty and imperishable two, the holy, and with the
Yast of those stars which are the creatures of Spenta
Mainyu, and with the Yast of the star Tistrya, the
radiant, the glorious, and with that of the moon which
contains the seed of cattle, and with that of the
resplendent sun, the eye of Ahura Mazda, and of
Mithra, province-lord of the provinces, and with that
of Ahura Mazda (as He rules this day) the radiant,
the glorious, and with that of the Fravashis of the
saints, (who rule this month),
14. And with thy Yast, the Fire's; O Ahura
Mazda's son! with all the fires, and to the good
waters with the Yast of all the waters which are
Mazda-made, and with that of all the plants which
Mazda made,
15. And I desire to approach with the Yast of the
YASNA III. air
Mathra Spexta, the holy, the effective, the law com-
posed against the Daévas, the Zarathustrian, and
with that of the long descent of the Religion which
Mazda gave.
16. And I desire to approach with the Yast of Mount
Ushi-darena, Mazda-made, and of all, glorious with
sanctity, and abundant in brilliance, and with that of
the Kingly Glory, Mazda-made; yea, with that of the
unconsumed glory which Mazda made, and with that
of Ashi Vanguhi, and Xisti Vanguhi, and with that of
the good Erethe, and the good Rasist4¢, and the good
Glory, and of the Benefit which Mazda gave.
17. And I desire to approach with the Yast of the
good and pious Blessing of the pious man and of
the saint, and with that of the awful and swift
Curse of the wise, the Yazad-curse, (18) and to these
places, regions, pastures, and abodes, with their
water-springs, and with that of the waters, and the
lands, and the plants, and with that of this earth and
yon heaven, and with that of the holy wind and of
the stars, moon, and sun, and with that of the stars
without beginning, self-determined and self-moved,
and with that of all the holy creatures which are
those of Spezta Mainyu, male and female, regulators
of the ritual order, (19) and with that of the lofty
lord who is Righteousness (himself, the essence of the
ritual), and with that of the days in their duration,
and of the days during daylight, and with that of the
monthly festivals, and the yearly festivals, and with
those of the several seasons which are lords of the
ritual at the time of HAvani.
20. And I desire to approach the ineatarerng with
a Yast, and Haurvat4¢ (who guards the water), and
Ameretataé (who guards the plants and wood), with
P 2
212 YASNA III
the Yast of the sacred flesh for the propitiation of
Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed and the mighty,
whose body is the Mathra, of him of the daring spear,
the lordly, the Yazad of the spoken name.
21. And I desire to approach both Haoma and
the Haoma-juice with a Yast for the propitiation
of the Fravashi of Zarathustra Spitdma, the saint,
the Yazad of the spoken name. And I desire to
approach the wood-billets with a Yast, with the
perfume for the propitiation of thee, the Fire, O
Ahura Mazda’s son! the Yazad of the spoken name.
22. And I desire to approach with a Yast for the
mighty Fravashis of the saints, the overwhelming,
the Fravashis of those who held to the ancient lore,
and of those of the next of kin.
23. And I desire to approach toward all the lords
of the ritual order with a Yast, toward all the good
Yazads, heavenly and earthly, who are (set) for wor-
ship and for praise because of Asha Vahista (of
Righteousness the Best).
24. I will confess myself a Mazdayasnian, of Zara-
thustra’s order, a foe to the Daévas, devoted to the
lore of the Lord for H4vani, the holy lord of the ritual
order, for sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and for
praise, and for Savanghi and Visya, the holy lord(s)
of the ritual order, and for the sacrifice, homage,
propitiation, and praise of the day-lords of the days
in their duration, and of the days during daylight,
and for the month-regulators, and the year-regulators,
and for those of the (several) seasons, for their sacri-
fice, and homage, their propitiation, and their praise.
(The Zaotar speaks?): As the Ah to be
1 So at least the rubric. One would think that the sentence was
intended to be dictated to the Ratu to be repeated; that is, if the
YASNA IV. 213
(revered and) chosen, let the priest speak? forth
to me.
(The Ratu responds): As the Ahfi to be (revered
and) chosen, let him who is the Zaotar speak? forth
to me.
(The Zaotar again): So let the Ratu from his
Righteousness, holy and learned, speak forth !
YASNA IV.
Tue OFFERING TAKES PLACE.
1. These good thoughts, good words, and good
deeds 2, these Haomas, meat-offerings, and Zaothras,
this Baresman spread with sanctity, this flesh,
and the two, Haurvat4¢ (who guards the water) and
Ameretat4/ (who guards the plants and wood), even
the flesh, the Haoma and Haoma-juice, the wood-
billets, and their perfume, this sacred lordship ὃ and
chieftainship*, and the timely prayer with blessing,
and the heard recital of the Gathas, and the well-said
Mathras, these all we offer, and make known with
celebrations (here).
2. Yea, these do we announce with celebrations,
and we present them to Ahura Mazda, and to Sraosha
rubric is correct. The sentence as uttered by the priest seems
difficult.
1 Present, or infin. for imperative (?).
2 The fact that somewhat of a more technical sumatf, sikt4,
sukrité adheres to these expressions in this place must not for
ἃ moment induce us to suppose that their deeper meaning was
lost. All good thoughts, words, and deeds culminated in the
ritual, as in an enlightened high ecclesiasticism. They were
nourished by it, and not lost in it. (Expressions are here varied.)
5 The prominence and supremacy of each deity, or genius,
while he is especially the object of worship in the ritual order, the
expressions being taken from the Ahuna-vairya.
214 YASNA IV.
(Obedience) the blessed, and to the Bountiful Immor-
tals, and to the Fravashis of the saints, and to their
souls, and to the Fire of Ahura Mazda, the lofty lord
of the entire creation of the holy, for sacrifice, homage,
propitiation, and praise.
3. Yea, further, we present (them to the Bountiful
Immortals with an especial gift) these thoughts well
thought, these words well spoken, these deeds well
done, these Haomas, Myazdas, Zaothras, and this
Baresman spread with sanctity, the flesh, and
Haurvat4¢ (who guards the water), and Ameretat4¢
(who guards the plants and wood), even the
flesh, Haoma and Parahaoma, the wood-billets, the
perfume, and this their lordship and their sanctity,
and this chieftainship, this prayer for blessing, the
heard recital of the Gathas, and the well-said Mathras.
4. We offer with our celebrations, and we announce
them (of a verity) to the Bountiful Immortals, those
who exercise their rule aright, and who dispose (of
all) aright, the ever-living, ever-helpful, the male
divinities among their number who dwell with the
Good Mind}, [and the female 5 ones as well].
5. And we announce them in our celebrations as
more propitious for this house’, and for the fur-
therance of this house, of its herds, and of its men,
of those now born, and of those yet to be born, the
holy, yea, for the furtherance of that house of which
these (men) are thus.
6. And we present these offerings to the good
1 Vohu Manah, Asha, and Khshathra.
2 Aramaiti, Haurvat&/, and Ameretat&é.
5 It would seem that the Yasna must have been at the time
celebrated in the houses of the worshippers. Hence perhaps some
of the priests were pairigathans.
YASNA IV. 215
Fravashis of the saints who are mighty and over-
whelming for the succour of the saints.
7. Yea, we present these hereby to the Creator
Ahura Mazda, the radiant, the glorious, and the
heavenly spirit, for the sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and praise of the Bountiful Immortals (all).
8. And we present these hereby to the Day-lords
of the ritual order, to HAvani, to SAvanghi, and to
Visya, the holy lords of the ritual order, for sacrifice,
homage, propitiation, and for praise, and to Mithra
of the wide pastures, and the thousand ears, and the
myriad eyes, the Yazad of the spoken name,
9. And to Rapithwina, Frada¢-fshu, and Zamtuma,
the holy lords of the ritual order, and to Righteous-
ness the Best, and to Ahura Mazda’s Fire,
10. And to Uzayéirina, Frada¢-vira, and Dahv-
yuma }, the holy lords of the ritual order, and to that
lofty lord Nap4¢-apam, and to the water Mazda-made,
11. And to Aiwisrathrima, the life-furtherer 2, and
to Fréda¢-vispim-hugyéiti and Zarathustrétema, the
holy lords of the ritual order, and to the Fravashis
of the saints, and to the women who bring forth
many sons, and to the Prosperous home-life which
endures without reverse throughout the year, and to
Force, well-shaped and stately, and to the Blow of
victory which Mazda gives, and to the Victorious
Ascendency which it secures, for their sacrifice,
homage, their propitiation, and their praise,
12. And to Ushahina, with Beregya and Nmanya,
and Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, smiting with
the blow of victory and furthering the settlements,
and to Rashnu, the most just, and to Arsta¢, furthering
the settlements, and causing them to increase.
1 Dahyuma. * Aibigaya.
216 YASNA IV.
13. And these we announce and we present hereby
to the Month-lords of the ritual order, to the new
moon and the waning moon (the moon within), and
to the full moon which scatters night, the holy lord
of the ritual order, for (their) sacrifice, homage, their
propitiation, and their praise.
14. And these we announce hereby and we present
to the Yearly festivals, to Maidhyé-zaremaya, Maidhy6é-
shema, Patishahya, and to Ayathrima, to Maidhydirya,
Hamaspathmaédhaya, and to the Seasons as holy
lords of the ritual order, for sacrifice, homage, propi-
tiation, and for praise.
15. And these we announce and we present hereby
to all those lords who are the three and thirty lords
of the ritual order, who approach the nearest around
about our HA4vani, and which are the festivals of
Righteousness the Best, inculcated by Mazda, and
uttered forth by Zarathustra for their sacrifice,
homage, propitiation, and praise.
16. And these we announce and we present to
Ahura and to Mithra, the lofty, and imperishable,
and holy two, to the stars, the creatures of Spemta
Mainyu, and to the star Tistrya, the radiant, the
glorious, and to the Moon which contains the seed
of cattle, and to the resplendent Sun, of the swift
horses, Ahura Mazda’s eye, and to Mithra, the lord of
provinces, for their sacrifice, homage, their propitia-
tion and their praise; yea, these we present hereby
to Ahura Mazda (as he rules this day) and to the
Fravashis of the saints (as they rule this month), for
their sacrifice, homage, their propitiation and their
praise.
17. And these we announce hereby to thee, the
Fire, O Ahura Mazda’s son! with all the fires for
YASNA IV. 217
thy sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and praise, and
to the good waters for the sacrifice, homage, pro-
pitiation, and praise of all the waters Mazda-made,
and to all the plants which Mazda made,
18. And to the Mathra Spezta, the holy, the
effective, the law against the Daévas, the Zarathus-
trian statute, and to the long descent of the good
Mazdayasnian religion.
στο. And these we announce and we present hereby
to Mount Ushi-darena, Mazda-made, brilliant with
sanctity, and to all the mountains shining with their
holiness, abundantly luminous, and Mazda-made, and
to the Kingly glory, the unconsumed? glory Mazda-
made, and to the good Blessedness, and the good
Religious-knowledge, and the good Rectitude, and
to the good Ras&st4¢, and to the Glory and the
Benefit which Mazda created. )
20. And these we offer and present to the pious
and good Blessing of the pious, and to the swift and
dreadful Yazad, the Curse of wisdom.
21. And to these places, pastures, and dwellings
with their springs of water, their rivers, to the lands
and to the plants, to this earth and yon heaven, to
the holy wind, to the stars, moon, and sun, to the
stars without beginning, self-disposed, and to all the
holy creatures of the Spezta Mainyu, male and
female (the rulers as they are of the ritual order).
22. And these we announce and we present
hereby to that lofty lord who is Asha, the ritual
righteousness itself, to the Day-lords, and the Month-
lords, the Year-lords, and the Seasons who are the
lords of the ritual at the time of HAvani, and for
? Unseized (?).
218 YASNA V.
their sacrifice, homage, their propitiation and their
praise.
23. Yea, these we announce and we present to
Sraosha, the blessed and mighty, whose body is the
Mathra, him of the daring spear, the lordly one, and
to the holy Fravashi of Zarathustra Spitama, the
saint.
And these we announce and we present to thee,
the Fire, O Ahura Mazda’s son! for thy sacrifice,
homage, thy propitiation, and thy praise.
24. And these we announce and we present to the
Fravashis of the saints, the mighty and overwhelming,
of the saints of the ancient lore, and of the next
of kin.
25. And these we announce and we present hereby
to all the good Yazads, earthly and heavenly, who
are (meet) for sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and for
praise, because of Asha Vahista (who is Righteousness
the Best).
We worship the Bountiful Immortals who rule
aright, and who dispose of all aright.
26. And that one of beings (do we worship) whose
superior (service) in the sacrifice Ahura Mazda knows,
and from his righteousness (which he maintains, and
those of all female beings do we worship) whose
(higher service is thus likewise known; yea, all)
male and female beings do we worship (who are
such)?!
YASNA V.
This chapter is identical with Yasna XX XVII.
1 Elsewhere with slight verbal change.
YASNA VI. 219
YASNA VI"
THE SACRIFICE CONTINUES WITH FULLER EXPRESSION.
τ. We worship the Creator Ahura Mazda with our
sacrifice, and the Bountiful Immortals who rule aright,
and who dispose of all aright.
2. And we worship the Asnya with our sacrifice,
and Ha4vani, SAvanghi and Visya, the holy lords of
the ritual order, and Mithra of the wide pastures,
of the thousand ears, and myriad eyes, the Yazad of
the spoken name, and we worship Raman /7zdstra.
3. And we worship Rapithwina with our sacrifice,
and Frdda¢-fshu, and the Zaztuma, and Righteousness
the Best, and the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son, holy lords
of the ritual order.
4. And we worship Uzayéirina, and Fradaé-vtra,
and Dadvyuma’*, the holy lord of the ritual order, and
that kingly Ahura, the radiant Nap4¢-apim, of the
fleet horses, and the water holy, and Mazda-made.
5. And we worship Aiwisrdthrima and Aibigaya
in our sacrifice, the holy lord of the ritual order, and
Frdda¢-vispam-hugyditi and the Zarathustrétema, the
holy lord of the ritual order, and the good, heroic,
bountiful Fravashis of the saints, and the women who
bring forth many sons, and the Prosperous home-life
which endures without reverse throughout the year,
and Force which is well-shaped and stately, and the
Blow which brings the victory, which is Ahura-given,
and the Victorious Ascendency (which it secures).
6. And we worship Ushahina with our sacrifice, and
? This chapter differs from Y. II only in having yazamaidé
instead of the formula ahmya zaothré baresmanaésa—Ayésé yésti.
Expressions for the same Zend words are purposely varied.
220 YASNA VI.
Beregya, and Nm§nya, and Sraosha (Obedience) the
blessed and the stately who smites with victory, and
makes the settlements advance, and Rashnu, the most
just, and Arst4¢ who makes the settlements advance
and causes them to increase, the holy lords of the
ritual order.
7. And we worship the M4hya in our sacrifice, the
new moon and the waning moon (the moon within)
and the full moon which scatters night, the holy lord
of the ritual order.
8. And we worship the Yearly festivals in our
sacrifice, Maidhyé-zaremaya, Maidhyé-shema, Paitis-
hahya, and Ayathrima, the furtherer (or breeder), the
spender of virile strength, and Maidhydirya, the holy
lord of the ritual order, and Hamaspathmaédhaya,
and the Seasons (in which they are).
g. And we worship with our sacrifice all the lords
of the ritual order, who are the thirty and three who
approach the nearest around about us at HAvani,
who are the lords of Righteousness the Best, and
whose observances were inculcated by Ahura Mazda,
and uttered forth by Zarathustra.
10, And we worship Ahura and Mithra with our
sacrifice, the lofty, and imperishable, and holy two,
and the stars, moon, and sun, among the plants of
the Baresman, and Mithra, the province-lord of all the
provinces, even Ahura Mazda, the radiant, the glo-
rious, and the good, valiant, and bountiful Fravashis
of the saints.
11, And we worship thee, the Fire, Ahura
Mazda’s son, together with all the fires, and the
good waters, the best and Mazda-made, and holy,
even all the waters which are Mazda-made and holy,
and all the plants which Mazda made.
YASNA VI. 221
.12. And we worship the Mathra Spezta with our
sacrifice, the glorious and of a truth, the law revealed
against the Daévas, the Zarathustrian law, and we
worship with our sacrifice its long descent, and the
good Mazdayasnian Religion.
13. And we worship Mount Ushi-darena, the Mazda-
made, the glorious Yazad, shining with holiness, and
all the mountains that shine with holiness, with
abundant brilliance, Mazda-made, the holy lords of
the ritual order. And we worship the mighty Kingly
glory Mazda-made, the mighty glory, unconsumed
and Mazda-made, and the good Sanctity, the brilliant,
the lofty, the powerful and the stately, delivering
(men) with its inherent power. Yea, we worship
the Glory, and the Benefit which are Mazda-made.
14. And we worship the pious and good Blessing
with our sacrifice, and the pious man, the saint, and
that Yazad, the mighty Curse of wisdom.
15. And we worship these waters, lands, and
plants, these places, districts, pastures, and abodes
with their springs of water, and we worship this lord
of the district with our sacrifice, who is Ahura Mazda
(Himself).
16. And we worship all the greatest lords, the
Day-lords in the day’s duration, and the Day-lords
during daylight, and the Month-lords, and the Year-
lords.
17. And we worship Haurvat4¢ (who guards the
water) and Ameretat4¢ (who guards the plants and
the wood), and Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed and
the stately, who smites with the blow of victory, and
makes the settlements advance, the holy lord of the
ritual order.
18. And we worship Haoma with our sacrifice
222 YASNA VII.
and the Haoma-juice. And we worship the sacred
Fravashi of Zarathustra Spitdma the saint.
And we worship the wood-billets, and the perfume
and thee, the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son, the holy
lord of the ritual order.
19. And we worship the good, heroic, bountiful
Fravashis of the saints.
20. And we worship all the holy Yazads, and all
the lords of the ritual order at the time of HAvani,
and SAvanghi, and all the greatest lords at their
(proper) time. (The Yéwhé hat&m follows.)
21. The Ratu. As an Ahd (revered and) to be
chosen, the priest speaks forth to me.
The Zaotar. So let the Ratu from his Right-
eousness, holy and learned, speak forth !
YASNA VII.
PRESENTATION OF OFFERINGS BY THE PRIEST WITH
THE OBJECT OF PROPITIATION NAMED.
1. With a complete and sacred offering! I offer
and I give this meat-offering, and (with it) Haurvata¢
(who guards the water), and Ameretata¢ (who guards
the plants and the wood), and the flesh of the Kine
of blessed gift, for the propitiation of Ahura Mazda,
and of the Bountiful Immortals (all, and) for the pro-
pitiation of Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, endowed
with sanctity, who smites with the blow of victory,
and who causes the settlements to advance.
* With Ashi; possibly ‘for a blessing,’ as Ashi often has the
sense of ‘reward,’ but scrupulous sanctity and completeness seem
to be the sense here>. (Expressions here are as usual varied.)
YASNA VII. 223
2. And I offer the Haoma and Haoma-juice with
a complete and sacred offering for the propitiation
of the Fravashi of Zarathustra Spit4ma the saint,
and I offer the wood-billets with the perfume for
Thy propitiation, the Fire’s, O Ahura Mazda’s son!
3. And I offer the Haomas with a complete and
sacred offering for propitiation [to the good waters]
for the good waters Mazda-made. And I offer this
Haoma-water with scrupulous exactness and with
sanctity, and this fresh milk, and the plant Hadha-
naépata uplifted with a complete and sacred offering
for the propitiation of the waters which are Mazda-
made.
4. And I offer this Baresman with its Zaothra
(and with its binding) for a girdle spread with com-
plete sanctity and order for the propitiation of the
Bountiful Immortals, and I offer with my voice the
thoughts well-thought, the words well-spoken, and
the deeds well-done, and the heard recital of the
Gathas, the Mathras well-composed and well-de-
livered, and this Lordship, and this Sanctity, and this
ritual mastership, and the timely Prayer for blessings,
with a complete and sacred offering for the propitia-
tion of the holy Yazads, heavenly and earthly, and for
the contentment of the individual soul!
5. And I offer to the Asnya with a complete and
sacred offering, as lords of the ritual order, and.to
HAvani, and to Savanghi and Visya, holy lords of
the ritual order, and to Mithra of the wide pastures,
of the thousand ears, and myriad eyes, the Yazad of
the spoken name, and to Raman /7zastra.
6. And I offer with a complete and sacred offering
to Rapithwina, the holy lord of the ritual order ; and
I offer to Frddaé-fshu and to the Zamztuma, and to
224 YASNA VII.
Asha Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best) and
to Ahura Mazda’s Fire.
7. And I offer with a complete and sacred offering
to Uzayéirina, Frada¢-vira, and to the Dakvyuma’*,
the holy lord of the ritual order, and to that lofty
Ahura Nap4¢-apam, and to the waters which Mazda
created.
8. And I offer with a complete and sacred offering
to Aiwisrdthrima, the life-furtherer, and to Frdda¢-
vispam-hugyditi, and to the Zarathustrétema, and to
the Fravashis of the saints, and to the women who
have many sons, and to the Prosperous home-life
which endures (without reverse) throughout the year,
and to Force, the well-shaped and stately, and to the
Blow which smites with victory Ahura-given, and
to the Victorious Ascendency (which it secures).
9. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to Ushahina, the holy lord of the ritual order,
and to Beregya, and NmAnya, and to Sraosha (Obedi-
ence) the blessed, endowed with sanctity, who smites
with the blow of victory, and makes the settlements
advance, and to Rashnu the most just, and to
Arsta¢ who furthers the settlements and causes them
to increase.
10. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to the Mahya, lords of. the ritual order, to the
new and the waning moon (the moon within), and
to the full moon which scatters night, holy lords of
the ritual order.
11. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to the Yearly festivals, the lords of the ritual
order, to Maidhyé-zaremaya, and Maidhyé-shema, to
Paitishahya, and to Ay4thrima the furtherer (the
breeder), the spender of the strength of males, and
YASNA VII. 225
to Maidhydirya and Hamaspathmaédhaya, holy lords
of the ritual order, and I offer with sanctity to the
several seasons, the lords of the ritual order.
12. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to all those lords who are the thirty and three,
who approach the nearest round about our HAvani,
and who are the lords of Asha (the ritual by-emi-
nence), of Righteousness who is (the Best), whose
observances are inculcated as precepts by Mazda,
and uttered forth by Zarathustra.
13. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to Ahura and Mithra, the lofty and imperishable,
and holy two, and to the stars which are the creatures
of Spexta Mainyu, and to the star Tistrya, the
radiant, the glorious, and to the Moon which con-
tains the seed of cattle in its beams, and to the re-
splendent Sun of the fleet horses, the eye of
Ahura Mazda, and to Mithra, the lord of the pro-
vinces. And I offer with a complete and sacred
offering to Ahura Mazda, the resplendent, the glo-
rious, (who rules this day), and to the Fravashis
of the saints (who name the month).
14. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to thee, the Fire, O Ahura Mazda's son! together
with all the fires, and to the good waters, even to the
waters which are Mazda-made, and to all the plants
which Mazda made.
15. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to the Mathra Spezta, the holy, the effective,
revealed against the Daévas, the Zarathustrian law,
and to the long descent of the good Religion, of the
Mazdayasnian faith.
16. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to Mount Ushi-darena, the Mazda-made, brilliant
[31] Q
226 YASNA VII.
with holiness, and to all the mountains shining with
holiness, of abundant brightness, and which Mazda
made, and to the Royal glory unconsumed and
Mazda-made. And I offer with a complete -and
sacred offering to Ashi Vanguhi, and to Kisti
Vanguhi, and to Erethe, and to Rasasta¢, and to the
Glory (and the) Benefit which Mazda made.
17. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to the good and pious Prayer for blessings of the
pious man, and to that Yazad, the swift and dread-
ful Curse of the wise.
18. And I offer with a complete and sacred bless-
ing to these places, districts, pastures, and abodes
with their springs of water, and to the waters and
the lands, and the plants, and to this earth and yon
heaven, and to the holy wind, and to the stars,
and the moon, even to the stars without beginning
(to their course), the self-appointed, and to all
the holy creatures of Speta Mainyu, be they male
or female, regulators (as they are) of the ritual
order.
19. And I offer with a complete and sacred bless-
ing to that lofty lord who is Righteousness (the Best),
and the Day-lords, the lords of the days during their
duration, and to those of the days during daylight,
and to the Month-lords, and the Year-lords, and to
those of the seasons, the lords who are lords of the
ritual, and at the time of HAvani.
20. And I offer the Myazda meat-offering with a
complete and sacred offering, and Haurvata¢ (who
guards the water), and Ameretaté¢ (who guards
the wood), and the flesh of the Kine of blessed
gift, for the propitiation of Sraosha (Obedience)
the blessed, whose body is the M&athra, him of the
YASNA VII, 227
daring spear, the lordly, the Yazad of the spoken
name.
21. And I offer the Haoma and the Haoma-juice
for the propitiation of the Fravashi of Zarathustra
Spitama the saint, the Yazad of the spoken name.
And I offer the wood-billets with the perfume for
Thy propitiation, the Fire’s, Ahura Mazda’s son, the
Yazad of the spoken name.
22. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to the Fravashis of the saints, the mighty and
overwhelming, to those of the saints of the ancient
lore, and to those of the next of kin.
23. And I offer with a complete and sacred offer-
ing to all the lords of the ritual order, and to all the
good Yazads heavenly and earthly who are (meet)
for sacrifice and homage because of Asha who is
Vahista (of Righteousness who is the Best).
24. May that approach to us, and with a sacred
blessing (O Lord!) whose benefits the offerers are
seeking for. Thy praisers and M&thra-speakers, O
Ahura Mazda! may we be named ; we desire it, and
such may we be. What reward, O Ahura Mazda!
adapted to myself Thou hast appointed unto souls,
25. Of this do Thou Thyself bestow upon us for
this world and for that of mind; (yea, do Thou be-
stow) so much of this as that we may attain to Thy
ruling protection and to that of Righteousness for
ever.
26. We sacrifice to the Ahuna-vairya, and to the veracious word
correctly uttered, and to the good and pious prayer for blessings,
and to the dreadful curse of the wise, the Yazad, and to Haurvatas
and Ameretat4/, and to the flesh of the Kine of blessed gift, and
to the Haoma and Haoma-juice, and to the wood-billets, and
the perfume, for the praise of the pious and good prayer for
blessings.
Q2
228 YASNA VIII.
The Yéwhé hatdm.
27. (To that one) of beings do we sacrifice whose
superior (fidelity) in the sacrifice Ahura Mazda knows
through his Righteousness (within him, yea, even to
those female saints do we sacrifice) whose (superior
sanctity is thus known. We sacrifice to all) both
males and females whose (superiority is such). (The
Ratu speaks.) As an Ahf (revered and) to be
chosen, he who is the Zaotar speaks forth to me.
(The Zaotar.) So let the Ratu from his Right-
eousness, holy and learned, speak forth!
YASNA VIII.
OFFERING OF THE MEAT-OFFERING IN PARTICULAR.
Tue FartiFruLt PARTAKE.
1. A blessing is Righteousness (called) the Best.
It is weal ; it is weal to this (man),
When toward Righteousness Best there is right.
I offer the Myazda (of the) meat-offering with
a complete and sacred offering; and I offer Haur-
vataté¢ (who guards the water), and Ameretatd/
(who guards the plants and the wood), and the
flesh of the blessed Kine; and I offer the Haoma
and the Haoma-juice, the wood-billets and the
perfume for the praise of Ahura Mazda, and of the
Ahuna-vairya, the veracious word, and for that of the
pious and beneficent Prayer for blessings, and for the
redoubted Curse of the wise, and for the praise of the
Haoma, and of the Mathra of the holy Zarathustra ;
and may it come to us with sacred fulness (to accept
and to recompense our gift).
YASNA VIII. 229
2. (The Ratu speaks.) Eat, O ye men, of this
Myazda, the meat-offering, ye who have deserved it
by your righteousness and correctness!
3. O ye Bountiful Immortals, and thou, the Maz-
dayasnian law, ye just men and just women, and ye
Zaothras, whoever among these Mazdayasnians
would call himself a Mazdayasnian desiring to live
in the practice of the liberality of Righteousness [for
by sorcery the settlements of Righteousness are
ruined], do ye cause (such an one) to be (still further)
taught, (ye), who are the waters, the plants, and the
Zaothras !
4. And whoever of these Mazdayasnians, adults,
when he invokes with earnestness, does not adhere
to these words, and (so) speaks, he approaches to
that (word) of the magician; (but, as against that
magician’s word) ‘a blessing is Righteousness (called)
the Best.’
5. May’st Thou, O Ahura Mazda! reign at Thy
will, and with a saving rule over Thine own crea-
tures, and render Ye the holy (man) also a sovereign
at his will over waters,and over plants, and over all the
clean and sacred (creatures) which contain the seed of
Righteousness. Strip ye the wicked of all power!
6. Absolute in power may the holy be, bereft of
all free choice the wicked! Gone (may he be), met
as foe, carried out from the creatures of Spenta
Mainyu, hemmed in! without power over any wish!
7. 1 will incite, even I who am Zarathustra ", the
? Or ‘shut out,’ which would seem better adapted.
* This piece is a reproduction, or close imitation, of some earlier
fragment. It sounds like an exhortation delivered while the Faith
was still new.
220 YASNA IX.
heads of the houses, villages, Zamtus, and provinces,
to the careful following of this Religion which is that
of Ahura, and according to Zarathustra, in their
thoughts, their words, and their deeds.
8. I pray for the freedom and glory of the entire
existence of the holy (man) while I bless it, and I
pray for the repression and shame? of the entire
existence 3 of the wicked.
9. Propitiation to Haoma who brings righteous-
ness (to us) for sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and
for praise. (The Zaotar ἢ As the Ahf to be
(revered and) chosen, the Zaotar speaks forth to
me. (The Ratu.) As an Ahi to be (revered and)
chosen, the Zaotar speaks forth to me. (The
Zaotar.) So let the Ratu from his Righteousness,
holy and learned, speak forth !
YASNA IX.
Tue Hém Yast.
The Haoma-yast has claims to antiquity (owing to its subject, but
not to its dialect), next after the Sr6s-yast. H(a)oma=Soma, as a
deity, flourished not only before the Gathas, but before the Rrks of |
the Veda, in Aryan ages before Iranian and Indian became two
peoples.
The astonishing circumstance has been elsewhere noted that a
hymn, which is a reproduction of an Aryan original, should, not-
withstanding its earlier characteristics, be necessarily assigned to
1 The Pahlavi translator, asI think, had a text before him which
read duzhvathrem ; I so correct. Against the keen and most
interesting suggestion of dus + 4threm, I am compelled to note
akvathré, showing a compositum a + Avathra, which seems not
probable if=a + hu + &thra. Dusathra, not advAthré, would
have been written. Cp. Aveng=Avan for root.
3 Possibly ‘ house.’
YASNA ΙΧ, 231
a date much later than the Gathas in which H(a)oma worship is
not mentioned.
Probably on account of bitter animosities prevailing between
their more southern neighbours and themselves, and the use of
Soma by the Indians as ἃ stimulant before battle, the Iranians of the
GAthic period had become lukewarm in their own H(a)oma worship.
But that it should have revived, as we see it in this Yast, after
having nearly or quite disappeared, is most interesting and re-
markable. Was it definitively and purposely repudiated by Zara-
thustra, afterwards reviving as by a relapse? I do not think
that it is well to hold to such deliberate and conscious antagonisms,
and to a definite policy and action based upon them. The Soma-
worship, like the sacramental acts of other religions which have be-
come less practised after exaggerated attention, had simply fallen
into neglect, increased by an aversion to practices outwardly similar
to those of ‘ Daéva-worshippers.’ The Yast is, of course, made
up of fragments, which I have endeavoured to separate by lines.
In the translation I have given a rhythmical rendering, necessarily
somewhat free. It was difficult to import sufficient vivacity to
the piece, while using a uselessly awkward literalness. The
freedom, as elsewhere, often consists in adding words to point the
sense, or round the rhythm. (Expressions for identical Zend words
have been here, as elsewhere, purposely varied.)
1, At the hour of HAvani!. H(a)oma came to
Zarathustra, as he served the (sacred) Fire, and
sanctified (its flame), while he sang aloud the
GAthas.
And Zarathustra asked him: Who art thou, O
man! who art of all the incarnate world the most
beautiful in Thine own body 3 of those whom I have
seen, (thou) glorious [immortal] ?
2. Thereupon gave H(a)oma answer’, the holy
one who driveth death afar: I am, O Zarathustra
1 In the morning from six to ten.
3 Or, ‘ beautiful of life.’
* ‘Me,’ omitted as interrupting rhythm, seems to be merely
dramatic ; or did it indicate that there was an original Zarathu-
strian Haoma G&tha from which this is an extension?
232 YASNA IX.
H(a)oma, the holy and driving death afar; pray to
me, O Spit&4ma, prepare me for the taste. Praise
toward me in (Thy) praises as the other [Saosh-
yants] praise.
3. Thereupon spake Zarathustra: Unto H(a)oma
be the praise’. What man, O H(a)oma! first prepared
thee for the corporeal world? What blessedness
was offered him? what gain did he acquire ?
4. Thereupon did H(a)oma answer me, he the
holy one, and driving death afar: Vivanghvazt " was
the first of men who prepared me for the incarnate
world. This blessedness was offered him ; this gain
did he acquire, that to him was born a son who was
Yima, called the brilliant, (he of the many flocks, the
most glorious of those yet born, the sunlike-one of
men *), that he made from his authority both herds
and people free from dying, both plants and waters
free from drought, and men could eat imperishable
food.
5. In the reign of Yima swift of motion was there
neither cold nor heat, there was neither age nor
death, nor envy* demon-made. Like fifteen-year-
lings > walked the two forth, son and father, in their
stature and their form, so long as Yima, son of
Vivanghvazt ruled, he of the many herds!
6. Who was the second man, O H(a)oma! who
1 Might not the entire sixteenth verse be placed here?
* The fifth from Gaya Maretan the Iranian Adam, but his
counterpart, the Indian Vivasvat, appears not only as the father of
Yama, but of Manu, and even of the gods, (as promoted mortals ?).
8 Compare svar-drisas pavamanas.
* So the Pahlavi.
5 Males, like females, seem to have been considered as developed
at fifteen years of age.
YASNA ΙΧ. 233
prepared thee for the corporeal world? What sanc-
tity was offered him? what gain did he acquire ?
7. Thereupon gave H(a)oma answer, he the holy
one, and driving death afar: Athwya' was the
second who prepared me for the corporeal world.
This blessedness was given him, this gain did he
acquire, that to him a son was born, Thraétaona ? of
the heroic tribe,
8. Who smote the dragon Dahaka®, three-jawed
and triple-headed, six-eyed,with thousand powers, and
of mighty strength, a lie-demon of‘ the Daévas, evil
for our settlements, and wicked, whom the evil spirit
Angra Mainyu made as the most mighty Drug(k)
[against the corporeal world], and for the murder of
(our) settlements, and to slay the (homes) of Asha!
9. Who was the third man, O H(a)oma! who
prepared thee for the corporeal world? What blessed-
ness was given him? what gain did he acquire ?
10. Thereupon gave H(a)oma answer, the holy one,
and driving death afar: Thrita®, [the most helpful
of the SAmas 5], was the third man who prepared me
for the corporeal world. This blessedness was given
1 Comp. Trité 4ptia.
® Comp. the Indian Traitan4 connected with Trit4.
5. Let it be remembered that Trit4é smote the Ahi before Indra,
Indra seeming only to re-enact the more original victory which the
Avesta notices. Concerning Azhi Dahaka, see Windischmann’s
Zendstudien, s. 136. * Free.
5 In the Rig-veda Apty4 seems only an epithet added to
the name Trité*; and the two serpents of the Avesta are
suspicious. Two names seem to have become two persons, or
has the Avesta the more correct representation?
® Have we the Semites here? They certainly penetrated as
conquerors far into Media, and it seems uncritical to deny their
leaving traces. The gloss may be very old.
* And to that of other gods.
234 ΥΑΒΝΑ ΙΧ,
him, this gain did he acquire, that to him two sons
were born, Urvakhshaya and Keresdspa, the one a
judge confirming order, the other a youth of great
ascendant, ringlet-headed 1, bludgeon-bearing.
11. He who smote the horny dragon swallowing
men, and swallowing horses, poisonous, and green
of colour, over which, as thick as thumbs are, green-
ish poison flowed aside, on whose back once Keres-
Aspa cooked his meat in iron caldron at the noon-
day meal ; and the deadly, scorched, upstarted 2, and
springing off, dashed out the water as it boiled.
Headlong fled affrighted manly-minded ὃ Keresdspa.
12. Who was the fourth man who prepared thee,
1 Comp. Kapard{nam.
* I abandon reluctantly the admirable comparison of hvis with
the Indian svid (Geldner), also when explained as an inchoative
(Barth,), but the resulting meaning is far from natural either here or
in Vend. III, 32 (Sp. 105). That the dragon should begin to
sweat (!) under the fire which was kindled upon his back, and
which caused him to spring away, seems difficult. The process was
not so deliberate. He was scorched, started, and then sprang.
Also in Vend. III, 32 when the barley is produced the demons
hardly ‘sweat (with mental misery).’ The idea is too advanced
for the document. Burnouf’s and Haug’s ‘hiss’ was much better
in both places. But I prefer the hint of the Pahlavi 1414 vazlfind.
In Vend. III, 32 (Sp. 105), khist-h6mand. Ner. taptaska sa nrzsam-
sah kukshubhe [dvip&do * babhfiva]. Whether Avtsa/ta=hisa/ka (?)
has anything to do with hiz or khiz= Pahlavi 4khizidand t, N. P.
‘hizidan, is a question. I follow tradition without etymological
help; perhaps we might as well write the word like the better
known form as a conjecture.
5 The Pahlavi translator makes the attempt to account forthe epithet
‘manly-minded’ as applied to KeresAspa while yet he fled affrighted ;
he says: Hémand mardminisnih hana yehevind, afghas libbem-
man pavan gasdast; Ner.asya paurusham4nasatvam * idam babhfiva
yad asau faitanyam sthne dadhau, ‘his manly-mindedness was this,
that he kept his wits on the occasion.’ See the same story treated
somewhat differently in the Yasts by Darmesteter (p. 295, note 2).
+ Or, akhéztdand,
YASNA IX. 235
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' was the fourth
man who prepared me for the corporeal world. This
blessedness was given him, this gain did he acquire,
that thou, O Zarathustra! wast born to him, the just,
in Pourushaspa’s house, the D(a)éva’s foe, the friend
of Mazda’s lore, (14) famed in Airyéna Vaégah ; and
thou, O Zarathustra ! didst recite the first the Ahuna-
vairya 2, four times intoning it, and with verses kept
apart [(Pazand) each time with louder and still
louder voice].
15. And thou didst cause, O Zarathustra! 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’ ? world.
16. 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‘, golden-
hued, with bending sprouts. As it is the best for
drinking, so (through its sacred stimulus) is it the
most nutritious ὃ for the soul.
17. 1 make my claim on thee, O yellow one! for
1 Son of P&ftirasp or Spétérasp; Bundahis XXXII, 1, 2, ἄς.
* The Ahuna-vairya is in the Gathic dialect, and in the Ahuna-
vaiti metre; it may have been composed by Z. It named the Gatha.
‘3 Comp. Y. XXX, 6? ‘ Free.
® Comp. pathmeng gavéi.
236 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 for progress
and increased prosperity, and vigour of the entire
frame, and for understanding’, 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)évas
and of mortals, of the sorcerers and sirens *, of the
tyrants‘, and the Kavis, of the Karpans, murderous
bipeds, of the sanctity-destroyers, the profane apos-
tate bipeds, of the wolves four-footed monsters, of
the invading host, wide-fronted, which with strata-
gems ὃ 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 °.
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, Ὁ H(a)oma,
thou that drivest death afar! the long vitality of life.
' Or, is madhem related to medhd as well as mazda (fem.)?
5. Pahl. farzanakth.
’ Hardly ‘witches ;’ outwardly attractive, but evil female beings.
‘ Pahl. sdstarand.
5 Pahl. pavan friftarth; Ner. pratAramatayA.
* Visp6-2vathrem does not mean ‘comfortable’ here. Avan
is the root; comp. Aveng=sun.
YASNA IX. 237
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’, 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® 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 Keres&ni‘, dethroned him
from his throne, for he grew so fond of power, that
* Pahl. min Avastar. ? Pahl. vanidar pavan kOshand.
* Arvant6=aurvant6; so the Pahl. arvand.
* Comp. the Vedic Kyis&nu, archer and demi-god who guarded
the Soma. Ner. seems to notice that the name recalls that
of the Christians.
238 YASNA IX.
he treacherously said: No priest behind ! (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 3, 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 ὃ of the Mathra, (and to help the M&athra’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 malice
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 apds; comp. frds.
3 Haug’s keen-sighted suggestion, pourvanim=paurva=the
Pleiades +nt=leading the P., looks doubtful, and seems refuted
by Yast XXIV, 29, where Darmesteter renders a word probably
akin, as ‘the many.’ JI would here render ‘the former.’
3 The ‘grasp,’ the ‘summary of them.’
YASNA IX. 239
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’ Dragon, green,
and belching forth his poison, for the righteous
saint that perishes, yellow H(a)oma, hurl thy mace?!
At the (murderous) bludgeon-bearer, committing
deeds unheard of ὃ, 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‘ 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®, to
the lusts her person offering, whose® 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. bhayamkare.
* Or, ‘strike thy club,’ 5 «Deeds apart,’ ‘ evil deeds.’
4 Free. ® Or, ‘holding.’
* Yénhé must be an error; otherwise ‘offering the person to him
whose mind as vapour wavers.’
240 YASNA Χ.
YASNA X.
1. Let the Demon-gods and Goddesses fly far
away? 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 3,
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’, 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
GAméspgi has bara akhar min latamman padénd bara shédé-;
Ner. Rite paskat asm4t prapatanti, rite devah rite devasahayah
devy4h, uttamah Sroso nivasati.
* Or, ‘where, O Haoma! thou hast grown,’ reading—isa with
Barth. as 2nd sing. perf. pret. middle.
8. Or, ‘on the pathways of the birds.’
YASNA Χ. 241
5. Grow (then) because I pray to thee on all thy
stems and 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)évas.
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).
[(PAzand) 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 (Pazand).]}
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 praiser will 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! 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.
* Comp. Y. XLIV, gs.
[31] Ε
242 YASNA Χ.
side, the bounteous! birds have carried thee to the
Peaks-above-the-eagles?, to the mount’s extremest
summit, to the gorges and abysses, to the heights of
many pathways, 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
makest 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 ".
15. I renounce with vehemence the murderous
woman’s* emptiness, the Gaini’s, hers, with intellect
1 Possibly ‘the birds taught by the bounteous one;’ the ‘God-
taught birds.’
* Elsewhere and here also possibly a proper name.
8. Or the ‘pathways of the birds;’ so Haug, following Spiegel
and Justi. Gugrati, as above.
4 Which is seen as mine well-grown.
* Gaini seems always used in an evil sense in the later Avesta.
YASNA X. 243
dethroned!. 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 5, and wrongly eats of H(a)oma’s offer-
ing, priest's mother will that never make her, nor
give her holy sons!
16. * 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 Zarathustra: 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®. Let me
not thy (sacred) liquor spill to earth, of precious
cost.
18. These are thy Gathas*, holy H(a)oma, these
11 would correct to a form of khratu.
* Compare the avoiding the service mentioned by the Pahlavi
translator on Y. LIII, g.
δ. Or, more safely, ‘many sons.’ “ Haoma speaks.
δ Here the priest evidently manipulates the cups containing the
Haoma-juice.
4 The application of this term here seems to point to a high
antiquity for the Haoma Yast; if not in the present piece, which is
not so old as the Gathas, then in previous hymns to Haoma of which
this Yast is an improvement, or extension.
R2
244 YASNA XI.
thy songs, and these thy teachings, and these thy
truthful ritual words, health?-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(s), and flying lightly come they here.
Victory-giving smiteth H(a)oma, victory-giving is
it worshipped ; with this Gathic 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’
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 Zarathustra Spitama, the saint “.
YASNA XI.
PRELUDE TO THE H(A)OMA-OFFERING ©.
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® thus:
1 Ner. possibly figuratively yaA kasit asvadanad.
2 Ner. saundaryam. 8 See Y. XLVIII, 5.
4 The Yéwhé hatam follows.
δ This characteristic fragment is repeated and extended in the
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 full
metrical rhythm of the original with its jingling cadence. A full
freedom is also not avoided. :
5 Not ‘to the priest ;’ Ner. grzhitaram.
YASNA XI. 245
Childless be thou, shorn of offspring, evil-famed, and
slander-followed, who foddered? 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 ? 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* am I
ever, holy H(a)oma, far from death‘.
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 Dahdkas, Marakas 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
* «Who dost not give me cooked (food)’ seems improbable. If
Avastim 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.’
3 Dialectically used.
5. ‘Light is the intoxication of Haoma;’ (other toxicants smite
the head).
* «Having death afar.’
246 YASNA ΧΙ.
bind thee fettered, as he bound the fell Turanian
Frangrasyan! (the murderous robber) fast in iron
close-surrounded in the mid-third* of this earth!
8. Thereupon spake Zarathustra’: Praise to H(a)oma
made by Mazda, good is H(a)oma Mazda-made.
9. ‘Who to us is one hereupon to thee (becomes)
two, to be made to three, for the five’-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. Το 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(ajoma
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.
3 Observe the threefold division of the earth; see it also in
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.
5 Pendaidyai is to be read as of course; the letter 6, not unlike ¢
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.
™ The Raspi brings the Haoma-vessel to the Baresman at this
point; and touching its stand, the M4h-rf, lays a cloth on the
tight hand of the Zaotar, who, looking at the vessel, proceeds to
recite as follows in verse 10.
YASNA XII. 247
11, (The Ashem Vohd, &c.)
12-15. May’st Thou rule at Thy will, O Lord?!
16. I confess myself a Mazdayasnian of Zara-
thustra’s order *.
17. 31 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).
Tue MazpayASNIAN CONFESSION ¢. |
1. I drive® the Daévas hence; I confess as a
Mazda-worshipper of the order of Zarathustra,
estranged from the Daévas, devoted to the lore of
? See Y. VIII, 5-8. * See Y. III, 24, 25.
* This piece is in the Gathic dialect, and therefore an especially
fitting prelude to the Confession of faith in Y. XII.
‘ This piece in the Gathic dialect has claims to higher antiquity
next after the Haptanghditi. 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 Zarathustra,
Kavi Vistaspa, Frashaostra, and Gam4spa 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 ndismi* from nas, compare the
aorist nesat. Possibly also from nad, ‘I curse the demons.’
248 YASNA XII.
the Lord, a praiser! 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 pervading
all things pure), whose are the stars, in whose lights
the glorious beings and objects are clothed 5,
2. And I choose Piety, the bounteous and the
good, mine may she be®. And therefore I loudly
deprecate all robbery* and violence against the
(sacred) Kine, and all drought® 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 (9) all wandering from ® (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 asa
source of wasting, never as a source of withering to
the Mazdayasnian villages, not for the love’ of body
or of life.
4. Away do I abjure the shelter and headship of the
1 And sacrificer.
* A genuine citation from the Gathas (see Y. XXXI, 7).
* A genuine allusion to the Gathas (Y. XXXII, 2).
4 This preserves the proper reading of téyuska (so the Pahlavi)
in Y. XXIX, 1.
δ᾽ Viyapaé as beyond a doubt; so viyApem in verse 3.
4 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.’
* Comp. néiri-4inangh6, khratu-4inanghé, and shaété-Ainanghé.
YASNA XII. 249
Daévas, 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 Daévas 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? to Zarathustra in every question
which Zarathustra asked, and in all the consultations
in the which they two conversed together. 6. Thus
and so might Zarathustra have abjured the shelter
and the headship of the Daévas in all the questions,
and in all the consultations with which they two con-
versed together, Zarathustra and the Lord.
And so I myself, in whatsoever circumstances
I may be placed, as a worshipper of Mazda, and of
Zarathustra’s order, would so abjure the Daévas and
their shelter, as he who? was the holy Zarathustra
abjured them (once of old).
7. To that religious sanctity * 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*, to that religious sanctity to which Ahura
Mazda, who made both Kine and holy men, belongs,
1 Reading adakhshayaét4; otherwise khshayaét4, commanded.
3 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.
250 » YASNA ΧΠΙ.
to that sanctity do I. Of that creed which Zara-
thustra held, which Kavi Vistaspa, and those two,
Frashaostra and Gamdspa; yea, of that religious
faith which every Saoshyazt 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 1.
8. A Mazda-worshipper 1 am, of Zarathustra’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 !, the Faith
that wields the felling halbert ?, 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 ὃ of
1 Fraspavaokhedhram ; “γ᾽ miswritten for ‘v.’ Fra seems to be
prohibitive ‘speech without falling, or hesitation ;’ better as adj.
3. Comp. Y. XXXI, 18.
5 This Ratu is the description and representation of the Nm4né-
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 Nmfnya; so of the others. (Y. XIII is in the Gathic dialect.)
AEE UU LIBRAg ὮΣ
PES VERNITY }
YASNA XIII. WC4iipcanid 25!
the house-lord, and the chief of the Vis-lord?, and the
chief of the Zaztu-lord?, And I invoke the chief of
the province-lord*. And the chief of women I in-
voke, the Mazdayasnian Faith, the blessed and good
Parendi*‘, her who is the holy one of human-kind °.
And I invoke this (holy) earth which bears us.
2. And I invoke the friendly and most helpful
person’s® lord, the Fire of Ahura Mazda, and also the
most energetic lords of holy men, those who are
most strenuous’ in their care of cattle and the fields,
and the chief of the thrifty tiller of the earth. And
I invoke the steady settler® 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. 3 Zantuma. 3 Dakvyuma= Dahyuma.
* The goddess of riches.
5 Lit. biped; see elsewhere where quadruped means merely beast.
® Or, ‘households,’ .
τ Ashethwézgatem4 (several manuscripts have ashe) finds its
explanation from the Pahlavi of Dastur Hoshanggi Gam4spgi’s MS.
It may be read kabed rang rasisntim instead of kabed yém rasisn-
tQm. The ancient error of y6m arose from the fact that the
copyist had before him a form which might be read either τὸν
or rang, the characters being identical for either word. He could
not reconcile himself to rang in the sense of effort, and so decided
for rég; but in order to guide his successors aright, he changed
it for its synonym yém, which, as Spiegel well remarks, affords but
little sense. But the word is rang, as I believe, and this is at once
corroborated by Ner.’s bahuklesa. Read as +thwakhsa + gatema=
kabed + rang + rasisnt(im, the most progressing with painful energy.
* Or, * steadiest forces.’
252 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 ? the two spirits * 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‘, 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®, and that of the holy Gaya
Maretan, and we would worship the holy Fravashi δ
1 I should think that the reference was here to khratavd, Y.
XLVI, 3. See Y. XXXII, 14, as alternatively rendered.
* A portion of the text has here fallen out.
5. The recognition of a strong dualism here is imperative. Ahura
alone is praised.
* Or, ‘of the good kinsman, the lord (?).’
5 Elsewhere meaning ‘ meat,’ just as Ameretataé and Haurvatis
mean wood and water. * Or, ‘sanctity and the Fravashi.’
YASNA XIV. 253
of Zarathustra Spitéma, 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? (better service thus
is known). Yea, both (holy) men and women (do
we worship whom Ahura Mazda knows?). As the
Ahd 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 3,
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 3.
8. We worship the Ahuna-vairya ; and we worship
Asha Vahista the best(?), the bountiful Immortal.
And we sacrifice to the HA 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?! would
I dedicate the flesh of my very body ὃ, and all the
blessings of a prospered life ‘.
3. In this Zaothra with this Baresman, I desire to
1 Feminine. 2 Elsewhere with verbal difference.
8 See Y. XXXIII, 14. “ Verses 1, 2 are G&thic.
254 YASNA XV.
approach the holy Yazads with my praise}, and all
the holy lords of the ritual order at their times,
Ha4vani at his time, and SAvanghi and Visya at their
times. 4. I confess myself a Mazdayasnian, and of
Zarathustra’s order *.
5. The Zaotar speaks: As an Ahd (revered and)
chosen, the Zaotar(?) speaks forth to me (ἢ).
The Ratu speaks: As an Ahfi (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 (Sp. 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®. The Good Kingdom is
to be chosen, that lot which most of all bears on (our
blessings ὃ).
3. Let Sraosha (Obedience) be here present for
1 See Y. II, 18. 2 See Y. III, 24, 25.
5 Root rap=rabh, a reception of grace, or being received by
grace.
* Nam&n may be meant for a locative ; ‘ with the beautiful things
in their name (?).’
δ᾽ See Y. LI, 22. 5 See Y. LI, 1.
YASNA XVI. 255
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 ?.
4. As the Αμὰ (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
ritual 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 Zarathustra 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 Zarathustra
Spitama, the saint. And we worship the utterances
of Zarathustra and his religion, his faith and his
lore.
3. And we worship the former religions of the
world? devoted to Righteousness which were insti-
1 This fragment in the Gathic dialect might more properly be
placed before the Srésh Yast.
* So the Pahlavi translator, probably reading angheus; 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 Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best), and
Khshathra-vairya, the Kingdom to be desired, and
the good and bountiful Aramaiti (true piety in the
believers), and Haurvata¢ and Ameretataé (our Weal
and Immortality).
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’); and we worship the star
Tistrya, 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
R4man //vistra, and the bounteous Wind of blessed
gift, (6) and (its) Creator Ahura Mazda, and the good
Mazdayasnian Religion, and the good Blessedness
and ArstAé.
And we worship the heaven and the earth of
blessed gift, and the bounteous M&athra, 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 [(P4zand) which are the Fravashis
‘of the conscience that loves the right.’ In Yast XIII, 118 the
word is a proper name through an error.
1 Possibly in allusion to the menses. The moon is masc.
YASNA XVI. 257
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!, and the plants to flourish, the two foes who
meet the Dragon? demon-made ; and who are set to
meet, to defeat, and to put to flight, that cheat?, the
Pairika, and to contradict the insulting malice of the
Ashemaogha (the persecuting heretic) and that of the
unholy tyrant full of death ὃ,
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‘, who are
beneficent and holy.
10. And we worship thee (our) dwelling-place who
art the (earth, our) bounteous Aramaiti δ, and Thee,
O Ahura Mazda, O holy Lord of this abode*! 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.
(Response of the individual worshipper (?).) Where-
fore whichever of persons, or whatever of bodily in-
fluences,is most helpful and preserving in that abode
(thus owned by Mazda) let this meet me in mine
abode, and there may it abide for summer and for
winter. (Or’ let that one meet me in all my house,
1 We cannot mistake a connection here with y6 4him gaghina—
avasrigat sdrtave sapt4 s{ndhin.
5. Or is it possible that a plague of mice is meant, m@s being
here indeclinable ?
® Ordering the execution of many of his subjects.
4 Gaéthy4éa with J 3, Krzr.
5. Later association of A. and the earth.
* Originally recited in private houses.
7 Alternative.
[31] 5
258 YASNA XVII
in whom are what of influences are the most mighty
power for the body and the person’s life; yea, let
that one meet me there, and there abide for summer
and for winter (for my help) !)
YASNA XVII.
To THE Fires, WaTErRS, PLants, &c.
1-101, 11. We worship thee, the Fire, O Ahura
Mazda’s son! We worship the fire Berezi-savangha
(of the lofty use?), and the fire Vohu-fry4na (the
good and friendly *), and the fire Urvazista (the
most beneficial and most helpful‘), and the fire
VaAzista (the most supporting 5), and the fire Spenista
(the most bountiful 5), and Nairya-sangha the Yazad
of the royal lineage’, and that fire which is the
house-lord of all houses and Mazda-made, even the
son of Ahura Mazda, the holy lord of the ritual
order, with all the fires.
12. And we worship the good and best waters
Mazda-made, holy, all the waters Mazda-made and
holy, and all the plants which Mazda made, and
which are holy.
1 See chapter VI, which is nearly identical with XVII, 1-10.
3 This fire is that before Ahura Mazda and the kings.
* This fire dwells in the bodies of men and beasts (animal
heat).
4 This is in trees and plants.
5 This in the clouds (lightning).
° This is the fire which is applied in the world (Bundahis, West,
page 61).
7 That N. is here referred to as connected with the fire, seems
certain; this fire corresponds with that of Vahrim in places of
worship.
YASNA XIX, 259
13. And we worship the M&athra-spezta (the boun-
teous word-of-reason), the Zarathustrian law against
the Daévas, and its long descent.
14. And we worship Mount Ushi-darena which is
Mazda-made and shining with its holiness, and all
the mountains shining with holiness, and of abundant
glory, and which Mazda made —.
15. And we worship the good and pious prayer
for blessings, (16) and these waters and (these
lands), (17) and all the greatest chieftains, lords of
the ritual order?;
18. And I praise, invoke, and glorify the good,
heroic, bountiful Fravashis of the saints, those of
the house, the Vis, the Zaztuma, the Dasvyuma 3,
and the Zarathustrétema, and all the holy Yazads 3!
YASNA XVIII‘
1. Grant me, Thou who art maker of the Kine,
plants and waters, Immortality, Mazda! Grant, too,
Weal, Spirit bounteous —.
YASNA XIX.
ZAND OR COMMENTARY ON THE AHUNA-VAIRYA
ForMULAS 5,
(As the Ahf is excellent, so (is) the Ratu (one who
rules) from the righteous Order, a creator of mental
goodness and of life’s actions done for Mazda; and
1 y-17 occur also in MSS. as Y. LIX, 1-17.
? Dahyuma. 5. The Yénhé hatim follows.
* See Y. LI, 7, and Y. XLVII.
5 The obvious errors contained in this ancient comment cannot
52
260 YASNA XIX.
the Kingdom (is) for Ahura which to the poor shall
offer a nurturer.)
1. Zarathustra asked of Ahura Mazda: O Ahura
Mazda, Thou most bounteous Spirit! maker? of the
corporeal worlds, the holy One! which was that
word which Thou did’st declare to me, (2) which
was before the sky, and before the water, before the
earth, and before the cattle, before the plants, and
before the fire, and before the holy man, and the
Demon-gods (the Daévas), before the Khrafstra-
men?, and before all the incarnate world; even
before all the good creatures made by Mazda, and
which contain (and are) the seed of righteousness ?
3. Thereupon Ahura Mazda said: It was this
piece §, the Ahuna-vairya, O Spitama Zarathustra!
which I pronounced as thine (4) before the sky, and
before the waters, before the land, and before the
cattle and the plants, and before the fire, Ahura
Mazda's son, before the holy man ‘, and before the
Daévas, and Khrafstra-men, and before the entire
corporeal world, even before the good creatures
made by Mazda, which contain (and are) the seed
of righteousness.
5. It was these part(s) of the Ahuna-vairya, O Spi-
destroy its great interest as a specimen of early exegesis. Where
I hold it to be erroneous may be seen from my rendering of the
Ahuna without further observations. The Ahuna-vairya is in the
Gathic dialect, and the Ahunavaiti metre. This Zand is in the
Zend (sic). Ahf gives better sense as a nom.
1 See daungh6ié para below.
3. May not khrafstra be a degeneration from kehrp-astar?
While the term may be applied to wild beasts, one is strongly
inclined to hold that foul insects are chiefly referred to.
* This part of the Ahuna (?), meaning its several parts.
“ Tradition naturally specifies Gaya Maretan.
YASNA XIX. 261
tama Zarathustra! which especially belongs to me,and
when each is intoned aloud without the (needless) re-
petition? of verses and of words, and without their
omission, it is worth a hundred of their other stanzas,
even although they are prominent in the ritual, and
likewise equally as well recited without additions or
omissions; nay, further, when it is intoned imperfectly
but added to, and with omissions, it is even then in
effect equivalent (not to a hundred indeed, but) to ten
other (stanzas) that are prominent.
X6. And whoever in this world of mine which is
corporeal shall mentally recall,O Spitama* Zarathu-
stra! a portion of the Ahuna-vairya, and having thus
recalled it, shall undertone it, or beginning to recite
it with the undertone, shall then utter it aloud, or
chanting it with intoning voice, shall worship thus,
then with even threefold (safety and with speed *) I
will bring his soul over the Bridge of Kinva¢, I who
am Ahura Mazda (I will help him to pass over it)
to Heaven (the best life), and to Righteousness the
Best, and to the lights of heaven ὃ.
7. And whoever, O Spitama Zarathustra! while
undertoning the part(s) of the Ahuna-vairya (or this
piece the Ahuna-vairya), takes ought therefrom,
whether the half, or the third, or the fourth, or the
fifth, I who am Ahura Mazda will draw his soul off
1 I do not think that mispronunciation is here intended; the
Pahlavi has abara shfitakth; atghas bara 14 khelmfinéd; Ner.
na sete. I am strongly inclined to read anapashfita for ana-
pishAta.
* Three times seems to me to lack meaning, but it may have
given rise to a foolish belief that the soul went three times before
death to heaven.
5 Vahista€ibyé retaining this sense here.
262 YASNA XIX.
from the better world ; yea, so far off will I withdraw
it as the earth is large and wide; [and this! earth
is as long as it is broad *].
8. And I pronounced this saying which contains
its Aha and its Ratu® before the creation of this
heaven, before the making of the waters, and the
plants, and the four-footed kine, before the birth of
the holy biped man, before this sun with its body
made for the acquisition of the creation of the
Bountiful Immortals +.
9. And the more bountiful ὁ of the two Spirits
(Ahura) declared to me’ (Zarathustra) the entire
creation of the pure, that which exists at present,
that which is in the course of emerging into exist-
ence 8, and that which shall be, with reference to the
performance and realisation ‘of the actions of a life
devoted to Mazda®,’
10. And this word is the most emphatic of the
words which have ever been pronounced, or which
are 19 now spoken, or which shall be spoken in future;
for (the eminence of) this utterance is a thing of such
a nature, that if all the corporeal and living world
1 fm here equals iy4m. 3 Pazand.
3 So, referring to the wording of the Ahuna.
4 Enabling us to receive the blessings which they bestow through
the influence of the sun. ‘The sun-shaped matter’ would give
us a materialism. The Pahlavi has ‘levind min zak khurkhshédd
brind (?) kerpd tan@ ἢ kharkhshéd pavan bara aydpakih f ameshé-
spendand yehabind,’
5 I hold that Ahura speaks no further here.
® See Y. XLV,1.
7 Of course fictitious, as Z. had long been among the dead.
5 Does bavainti4a mean ‘past?’
® Through the state of action; skyaothananim angheus Mazdai.
© Can mruyé(-vé) be a third singular like ghné, isé?
YASNA XIX, 263
should learn it, and learning should hold fast by it,
they would be redeemed from their mortality !
11. And this our word I have proclaimed as a
symbol to be learned 1, and to be recited, as it were,
to every one of the beings under the influence of
and for the sake of Righteousness the Best.
12. And ‘as’ (the worshipper has) here spoken it
forth, when he has thus ‘ appointed’ the ‘Lord and
regulator 2,’ so (by thus reciting these authoritative
words), he acknowledges Ahura Mazda (as prior to,
and supreme) over, those creatures who have ‘the
mind’® as their first. ‘As’ he acknowledges Him
as the greatest of them all, ‘so’ he assigns the crea-
tures to Him (as to their originator).
13. As he undertones the third sentence, he there-
by announces that ‘all the amenities of life appertain
to the ‘ good’ Mazda‘, (and come) from Him. As
he recites ‘dazda mananghé,’ ‘the creator of mind,’
he acknowledges Him as superior and prior to mind ;
and as he makes Him the one who indicates (the
truth) to mind, (saying) ‘ mananghé of mind,’ which
means that by this much he makes Him (its director),
and then he makes Him ‘the lord of actions 5.’
14. And when he acknowledges Him for the crea-
tures thus, ‘O Mazda *!’ he acknowledges Him (as
1 Or, ‘it has been declared to us, the learner, and the one in
charge of the ritual.’
? In the words yatha διῇ vairyé, athé ratus.
δ. See dazda mananghé, coming ‘ before’ skyaothanandm angheus,
khshathrem, and vAst4rem.
4 Can the Ahuna have lost words, and is Mazdau hugftis vang-
heus a citation? At all events, the Zandist errs in separating
vangheus from mananghé. He attributes mystical meaning to
every word.
δ Comp. ahi-skyaothanandm. * Reading Mazda (?).
264 YASNA XIX.
their ruler) when he assigns the creatures to Him
thus. He then assigns the Kingdom to Ahura’,
saying : ‘Thine, O Mazda! is the Kingdom.’ And he
assigns a nourisher and protector to the poor, say-
ing: Yim drigubyé dada# vastaérem; that is, as a
friend to Spitama*, This is the fifth sentence, (and
it concludes) the entire recital and word, (even) the
whole of this word of Ahura Mazda ὃ.
15. He who is the best (of all) Ahura Mazda, pro-
nounced the Ahuna-vairya, and as He pronounced it
as the best, so He caused it to have its effect ¢, (He,
ever) the same, (as He is).
The evil one at once ὅ arose (to oppose Him), but
He (Ahura) repelled that wicked one with His inter-
dict, and with this repelling renunciation: Neither
our minds are in harmony, nor our precepts, nor our
comprehensions, nor our beliefs, nor our words, nor
our actions, nor our consciences, nor our souls °!
CATECHETICAL ZAND ’,
16. And this saying, uttered by Mazda, has three
stages, or measures "Ὁ, and belongs to four classes
(of men as its supporters), and to five chiefs (in
the political world, without whom its efficiency is
1 Khshathreméa Ahurdi ἃ.
* As having the interest of the poor at heart.
5. Supposing Ahura(?) to be meant by Ahf and Ratu; see
Mazdai Ahurfi. The Zandist may have rendered: As Ahura is
the (first) to be chosen, so He is our Ratu from His righteousness,
the creator of Vohftman (including all good creatures), &c.
* ‘Praised’ (?).
5 Reading haithwaf; Pahlavi tiz; possibly ‘ being present.’
* See Y. XLV, 2.
7 This Zand differs, as to the application of Ahf and Ratu, from
the former.
* Afsman elsewhere applies to metre.
YASNA XIX, 265
marred), and it has a conclusion ending with a gift.
(Question.) How are its measures (constituted) ?
(Answer.) The good thought, the good word, and
the good deed. 17. (Question.) With what classes of
men? (Answer.) The priest, the charioteer (as the
chief of warriors), the systematic tiller’ of the ground,
and the artisan®. These classes therefore accompany
the religious man throughout his entire duty ὃ with
the correct thought, the truthful word, and the right-
eous action. These are the classes and states in
life which give attention to the rulers 4, and fulfil the
(laws) of religion ; (yea, they are the guides and com-
panions of that religious man) through whose actions
the settlements are furthered in righteousness.
18. (Question.) How are the chiefs (constituted) ?
(Answer.) They are the house-chief, the village-chief,
and the tribe-chief, the chief of the province, and the
Zarathustra® as the fifth. That is, so far as those
provinces are concerned which are different from,
and outside of the Zarathustrian regency, or domain.
[Ragha 5 which has four chiefs (only) is the Zarathu-
strian (district) 1. (Question.) How are the chiefs of
this one constituted? (Answer.) They (are) the house-
chief, the village-chief, the tribe-chief, and the Zara-
thustra as the fourth. 19. (Question.) What is the
thought well thought? (Answer.) (It is that which
the holy man thinks), the one who holds the holy
thought to be before all other things”. (Question.)
1 These are ‘the poor,’ but not mendicants.
? A class not in the Gathas; observe the rise of a caste system.
8. Or, ‘experience.’ 4 Or, ‘ the ritual.’
5 The title of a governor,
® It did not need the fifth. It was a centre of rule.
ΤΊ Ashavan manas paoiry6é.
266 YASNA XX,
What is the word well spoken? (Answer.) It is the
Mathra Spezta}, the bounteous word of reason.
(Question.) What is the deed well done? (Answer.)
It is that done with praises*, and by the crea-
tures who regard Righteousness as before all other
things. 20. (Question.) Mazda made a proclamation,
whom did Heannounce? (Answer.) Some one who
was holy, and yet both heavenly and mundane ὃ.
(Question.) What was His character, He who made
this sacred enunciation? (Answer.) He who is the
best (of all), the ruling one. (Question.) Of what
character (did He proclaim him the coming one) ?
(Answer.) As holy and the best, a ruler who exer-
cises no wanton or despotic power *.
21. We sacrifice to the (several) part(s) of the
Ahuna-vairya. We sacrifice to the memorised re-
cital of the Ahuna-vairya, and its regular chanting
and its use in the full Yasna.
YASNA XX.
ZAND, OR COMMENTARY, ON THE ASHEM Voné.
1. A blessing is Righteousness (called) the best ;
there is weal, there is weal to this man when the
Right (helps) the Righteousness best, (when the
pious man serves it in {παῖ ἢ. Ahura Mazda
spake forth: Ashem vohi vahistem astt. To this
Asha, the holy ritual sanctity, one attributes the
1 Probably the Gathas with their lost portions, also the Vendidad.
* Ritual strictness based upon practical piety.
5 The Saoshyant.
4 The latter part of this Zand shows that the Ratu was recog-
nised as a human ruler in it.
5 Elsewhere verbally different ; ‘when Asha is for A.V.’
YASNA XX, 267
qualities of ‘good’ and ‘ best,’ as one attributes pro-
perty to an owner; thus this sentence vohf vahistem
astt is substantiated (at once }).
2. ὕεια astt usté ahm4i; by this attribution of
blessedness (the praiser) assigns every person (or
thing) of a sacred nature to every holy person, and
as one usually (?) and regularly (?)? assigns every
person or thing (?) ὃ that is holy to every holy man.
3. Yya¢ ashai vahistai*; by these words the wor-
shipper ascribes the entire Mathra (to Asha Vahista),
and ascribes all to the M&thra, as one ascribes the
kingdom to Righteousness, and as one ascribes
righteousness to the invoking saint; yea, as one
ascribes righteousness to us who are the prophets
(who shall help and bless the people). The three
maxims of the sentences (are thus fulfilled). And
every word (in its detail), and the entire utterance in
its proclamation, is the word of Ahura Mazda.
CATECHETICAL ADDITION °.
4. Mazda has made a proclamation. (Question.)
Whom did He announce? (Answer.) That holy
one who is both heavenly and earthly. (Question.)
Of what character is He who has thus announced
Him? (Answer.) He is the best, and the one who
is exercising sovereign power. (Question.) Of what
character is the man whom He announced? (Answer.)
1 It is carried into effect; possibly ‘rendered fit for praising’ (?).
* The Pahlavi indicates πᾷ stditya (?).
* Ashavanem here and in Y. XIX, 19 might be a neuter from
a transition, or addition.
* ¢ Ashem.’
® This Catechetical addition is identical with that in Y. XIX.
The wording alone is slightly altered in the translation to relieve
the sameness.
268 YASNA XXI.
The holy and the best, the one who rules with no
capricious tyranny.
We sacrifice to the (several) part(s) of the Asha
Vahista (prayer). We sacrifice to the heard-recital
of the Asha Vahista, to its memorising, its chant-
ing, and its sacrificial use?!
YASNA XXI.
CATECHETICAL ZAND, OR COMMENTARY UPON THE
Yfnuf HATAM 3.
(The Yénhé. (To that one) of beings do we
offer, whose superior (fidelity) in the sacrifice Ahura
Mazda recognises by reason of the sanctity (within
him; yea, even to those female saints also do we
sacrifice) whose (superior fidelity is thus likewise
known ; thus) we sacrifice to (all, to both) the males
and females (of the saints) !)
1 The Yéwnhé hatam follows.
* The expressions in this prayer were suggested by Y. LI, 22;
but the Zand does not consistently follow the thoughts in the
G&étha. Tem understood should be supplied as an object for
yazamaidé in connection with yénhé, as well as ἰσυβζᾷ for yaung-
him. In Y. LI, 22, it is, however, by no means certain that yazai
applies to a tem yéhya. Holding the twenty-first verse in mind,
I am obliged to refer yéhy4 to πᾶ spent6. Here, however, men and
women are worshipped, as it is improbable that the ‘Immortals’
whose names are in the feminine are meant. The prayer is in
the GAthic dialect, and ancient metre would hardly contain so
artificial a formation. It can only be defended from the teng
yazai ἀυᾶὶς namenis of Y. LI, 22.
Or did the composer of the prayer correctly render Y. LI, 22,
and boldly write his succinct words as being clear to his hearers
from explanations which are now lost? Such explanations (oral
or written) as a matter of course existed from the first. No com-
poser fails to discuss his productions.
YASNA ΧΧΙ. 269
1. A word for the Yasna by Zarathustra, the saint.
Yéwhé, &c. Here the worshipper indicates and offers
the Yasna (which is the sacrificial worship) of Mazda
as by the command (or as the institution) of Ahura’.
Hatam. Here the worshipper offers the sacrificial
worship as if with the beings who are among those
who are destined to live. 2. Yaunghim. Here he
indicates and offers the sacrificial worship of those
holy females who have Aramaiti at their head, as
homage to the Immortals. These are the three
sentences which comprehend all the Yasnian speech.
(Question.) To whom is this Yasna addressed?
(Answer.) To the Bountiful Immortals (in the course
of the Yasna). 3. Thereupon spake Mazda: Salva-
tion to this one, whosoever he may be! May the
absolute ruler Ahura grant it. (Question.) 4. Whom
did He answer with this answer? (Answer.) He
answered: The state of salvation; and with this
answer, ‘the state of salvation,’ he answered, every
saint who exists, every one who is coming into exist-
ence, and every one who shall exist in the future.
(Question. Who answered thus? Answer.) The
best One. (Question. What did He answer ?)
(Answer.) The best thing. (That is,) the best One,
Mazda, answered the best and the holy (answer) for
the better and the holy man. 5. We sacrifice to this
piece, the Yénhé hatam, the prominent and holy
Yast.
1 Referring yénhé to Ahura (?). 3 Fit to live, clean.
® The Ameshéspends whose names are in the feminine; so the
Zandist erroneously.
270 YASNA XXII.
YASNA XXII.
Tue SACRIFICE CONTINUES.
1. With the Baresman brought hither together
with the Zaothra, for the worship of the Creator
Ahura Mazda, the resplendent, the glorious, and for
that of the Bountiful Immortals, I desire to approach
this Haoma with my praise, offered (as it is) with
punctilious sanctity (or, for a blessing), and this fresh
milk, and this plant Hadh4naépata. 2. And, as an
act of worship to the beneficent waters, I desire to
approach these Zaothras with (my) praise offered (as
they are) with punctilious sanctity, having the -
Haoma with them, and the flesh, with the Hadh4-
naépata. And I desire to approach the Haoma-
water with my praise for the beneficent waters ; and
I desire to approach the stone mortar and the iron
mortar with my praise. 3. And I desire to approach
this plant for the Baresman with my praise, and the
well-timed prayer for blessings, that which has
approached (to accept our homage), and the memo-
rised recital and the fulfilment of the good Mazda-
yasnian Faith, and the heard recital of the Gathas,
and} the well-timed and successful prayer for bless-
ings, that of the holy lord of the ritual order. And
I desire to approach these wood-billets and their
perfume with my praise,—thine, the Fire’s,O Ahura
Mazda’s son! Yea,I desire to approach all good
things with my praise, those which Mazda made, and
which have the seed of sanctity (within them), (4) for
the propitiation of Ahura Mazda and of the Bountiful
YASNA XXII. 271
Immortals, and of Sraosha the blessed, and of Ahura
Mazda’s Fire, the lofty ritual lord?!
20. And I desire to approach this Haoma with
(my) praise, that which is thus lifted up with sanctity,
and this milk (fresh as it is, and as if) living and
lifted up with sanctity, and this plant the Hadh4naé-
pata lifted up with sanctity. 21. And I desire to
approach these Zaothras with (my) praise for the bene-
ficial waters, these Zaothras which have the H(a)oma
with them and the milk with them, and the Hadh4naé-
pata, and which are lifted up with sanctity. And I
desire to approach the Haoma-water with (my) praise
for the beneficial waters, and the two mortars, the
stone one and the iron one, (22) and I desire to
approach this branch for the Baresman with my
praise, and the memorised recital and fulfilment of
the Mazdayasnian law, and the heard recital of the
GAthas, and the well-timed and persistent prayer for
blessings (uttered) by the holy lord? of the ritual order,
and this wood and perfume, even thine, O Fire, Ahura
Mazda’s son, and all good objects Mazda-made (23)
for the propitiation of Ahura Mazda, the resplendent,
the glorious, and of the Bountiful Immortals, and of
Mithra of the wide pastures, and of Raman /7zAstra’,
(24) and of the resplendent sun, immortal, radiant, of
the fleet horses, and of Vayu, (of predominant influ-
ence and) working on high, set over the other beings
in the creation [(P4zand); that is for thee thus
(O Vayu) when thine influence is that which apper-
1 5-19=Y. III, 5-19; 20-23=1-4 from imem.
* The priest? (Repetitions are, as everywhere, curtailed and
varied.)
5. For closer rendering of details, see verses 2, 3, 4, which differ
chiefly in the final dedication.
272 YASNA XXIII.
tains to Spezta Mainyu"], and for the propitiation
of the most just knowledge Mazda-given, and of the
holy and good Religion, the Mazdayasnian Faith ;
(25) for the propitiation of the Mathra Sperta, (the
bounteous) and holy, and the effective, instituted
against the Daévas, the Zarathustrian law, and of the
long descent of the good Mazdayasnian Faith ?(the
holding in mind and devotion to the Mathra Spenta,
and knowledge of the Mazdayasnian Religion] for the
propitiation of the understanding which is innate and
Mazda-made, and of that which is heard by the ear;
(26) and for thy propitiation, the Fire’s, O Ahura
Mazda’s son! [(P4zand); (yea) thine, the Fire’s, O
Ahura Mazda’s son] with all the fires, and for the
propitiation of Mount Ushi-darena, the Mazda-made,
radiant with sanctity ; (27) and of all the holy Yazads,
spiritual and earthly, and of the holy Fravashis, the
redoubted and overwhelming, those of the ancient
lore, and those of the next of kin and of the Yazad
of the spoken name!
YASNA XXIII.
THE FRAVASHIS OF THE SAINTS; PRAYERS FOR
THEIR APPROACH 5,
1. I desire to approach with my praise‘ those
Fravashis which have existed from of old, the
Fravashis of the houses, and of the villages, of the
communities, and of the provinces, which hold the
1 And not the evil Vayu, which appertains to Angra Mainyu.
2 Insert, ‘and of the good Zarathustrian devotion.’
* This chapter is said to be reserved for funeral occasions.
“ Or, ‘I pray for the approach.’ See Y. XXVI.
YASNA XXIII. 273
heaven in its place apart, and the water, land,
and cattle, which hold the children in the wombs
safely enclosed apart so that they do not miscarry.
2. And I desire to approach toward the Fravashi?
of Ahura Mazda, and with my praise, and for
those of the Bountiful Immortals, with all the holy
Fravashis which are those of the heavenly Yazads.
And I desire to approach the Fravashi of Gaya
Maretan (the life-man) in my worship with my praise,
and for that of Zarathustra Spitdma, and for those of
Kavi Vistaspa, and of Isa¢-v4stra?, the Zarathustrian,
with all the holy Fravashis of the other ancient
counsellors as well. 3. And I desire in my worship
to approach toward every holy Fravashi whosesoever
it may be, and wheresoever dead upon this earth (its
possessor may have lain), the pious woman, or the
girl of tender years, the maiden diligent (among the
cattle) in the field (who) may have dwelt (here ; yea,
all) which are now worshipped from this house’,
which are attentive to, and which attain to (our)
good Yasnas and (our) homage. 4. Yea, I desire to
approach the Fravashis of the saints with my praise,
redoubted (as they are) and overwhelming, the
Fravashis of those who held to the ancient lore, and
the Fravashis of the next-of-kin ; and I desire to ap-
proach toward the Fravashi of mine own ‘ soul in my
worship with my praise; and I desire therewith to
approach toward all the lords of the ritual, and with
1 Fravashi seems a dative ; comp. fitf.
* Zarathustra’s eldest son by his wife Padokhshah; he was the
chief of priests according to tradition.
5 This Yasna was recited from house to house.
4“ The ‘own’ soul; notice the seeming distinction between
Fravashi and soul.
[31] T
274 YASNA XXIV.
praise; and I desire to approach all the good Yazads
with my praise, the heavenly and the earthly, who
are meet, for sacrifice and homage, because of
Righteousness the Best!
YASNA XXIV.
PRESENTATIONS.
1. (And having approached these Haomas with our
worship), we present them to Ahura Mazda; (yea, we
present) these Haomas, Myazdas, Zaothras, and the
Baresman spread with punctilious sanctity, and the
flesh, and the milk, fresh as if living, and lifted up
with punctilious sanctity, and this branch the Hadh-
Anaépata likewise lifted up with sanctity.
2. (And having approached these Zaothras in our
worship), we present them to the good waters having
the Haoma withthem, andthe milk,and the Hadhanaé-
pata, and lifted up with scrupulous sanctity ; and (with
them) we present the Haoma-water to the good
waters, and both the stone and the iron mortar.
3. And we present this plant of the Baresman, and
’ the timely prayer for blessings, which has approached
in the due course of the ritual, and the recollection
and practice? of the good Mazdayasnian Religion,
and the heard recital of the Gathas, and the timely
prayer for blessings which has approached as the
prayer of the holy lord of the ritual order ; and these
wood-billets, and the perfume, (even) thine, the Fire’s,
O Ahura Mazda’s son! and all good objects Mazda-
made, which have the seed of righteousness, we offer
and present. 4. And these we present hereby to
Ahura Mazda, and to Sraosha (Obedience) the
* Or the memorised recital and performance of its rites.
YASNA XXIV. 275
blessed (and Righteous), and to the Bountiful Im-
mortals; and to the Fravashis of the saints, even
to the souls of the saints, and to the Fire of Ahura
Mazda, the lofty lord of entire holy creation, for
sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and for praise.
5. And these we present hereby to the Fravashi
of Zarathustra Spitama, the saint, for sacrifice, pro-
pitiation, and for praise, and to that of the people!
who love Righteousness, with all the holy Fravashis
of the saints who are dead and who are living, and
to those of men who are as yet unborn, and to those
of the prophets who will serve us, and will labour to
complete the progress and renovation of the world ?.
6. And we present these Haomas, Myazdas, Zao-
thras, and the Baresman spread with sanctity, and
the flesh, and the milk (fresh as if) living, and lifted
up with sanctity, and the Hadh4naépata branch.
7. And we present these Zaothras to the beneficial
waters having the Haoma with them, and the flesh,
and the Hadh4naépata lifted up with sanctity, and
the Haoma-water, to the good waters, with the stone
and iron mortars, (8) and this plant of the Baresman,
(and) the timely Prayer and the recollection and
practice of the good Mazdayasnian Faith *, and
these wood-billets, and the perfume, thine, the Fire’s,
O Ahura Mazda’s son! and all objects which are
Mazda-made, and which have, and are, the seed of
Righteousness, these we offer and present.
9. (Yea,) we present these hereby to the Bountiful
Immortals who rule aright, and who dispose of all
* Elsewhere perhaps, erroneously, as a proper name: or read
angheus.
3. Pahlavi frashakard kard4ran.
5’ ‘And the heard recital of the Gathas.’
T 2
276 YASNA XXV.
aright, the ever-living, ever-helpful, who abide with
the Good Mind (of the Lord and of His folk")!
YASNA XXV.
1. And we worship the Bountiful Immortals with
our sacrifice, who rule aright, and who dispose of all
aright; and we worship this Haoma, this flesh and
branch, (2) and these Zaothras for the good waters,
having the Haoma with them, and the flesh with them,
and Hadhanaépata, and lifted up with sanctity, and we
worship the Haoma-water for the beneficial waters ;
and we worship the two, the stone mortar and the
iron mortar; (3) and we worship this plant for the
Baresman and the well-timed prayer for blessings
which has approached (in its proper place within the
ritual course), and also both the remembrance and
the practice ? of the good Mazdayasnian Religion, and
the heard recital of the GAthas, and the well-timed
prayer for blessings of the holy lord of the ritual
order which has approached, and these wood-billets
with the perfume, (even) thine, the Fire’s, O Ahura
Mazda’s son! and we worship all good objects which
are Mazda-made, and which contain (and are) the
seed of Righteousness.
4. And we worship Ahura Mazda with our sacri-
fice, the resplendent, the glorious, and the Bountiful
Immortals who rule aright, and who dispose (of all)
aright, and Mithra of the wide pastures and Raman
fTvastra ; and we worship the shining sun, the re-
splendent, the immortal, of the fleet horses.
1 See Y. IV, 4-25, which is repeated here. Expressions are
curtailed.
3 Or the memorised recitai and fulfilment.
YASNA XXV. 277
5. And we worship the holy wind which works on
high, placed higher than the other creatures in the
creation; and we worship this which is thine, O
Vayu! and which appertains to the Spevta Mainyu
within thee ; and we worship the most true religious
Knowledge, Mazda-made and holy, eng the good
Mazdayasnian law.
6. And we worship the M&thra Spemta verily
glorious (as it is), even the law pronounced against
the Daévas, the Zarathustrian law, and its long de-
scent'; yea, we worship the good Mazdayasnian
Religion, and the M&athra which is heart-devoted and
bounteous (imparting heart’s devotion to the saint) ;
yea, we worship the Mazdayasnian Religion main-
tained in the understanding? of the saint; and we
honour that science which is the Mathra Spevta,and Ὁ
the innate understanding Mazda-made, and the de-
rived understanding, heard with ear, and Mazda-
made.
7. Yea, we worship thee, the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s
son! the holy lord of the ritual order ; and we wor-
ship all the Fires, and Mount Ushi-darena (which
holds the light *) Mazda-made and holy, the Yazad
mount, brilliant with sanctity. 8. And we worship
every holy spiritual * Yazad; and every holy earthly
Yazad (who exists) !
1 Its long tradition.
* Or maintaining the understanding.
5 A sunrise or sunset mountain; see the word applied intel-
lectually just previously, also previous notes on it.
* That is, heavenly.
“
278 YASNA ΧΧΥ͂Ι.
YASNA XXVI.
THE FRAVASHIS; SACRIFICE AND PRAISE TO THEM.
1. 1 praise, invoke, and weave my hymn to the
good, heroic, and bountiful Fravashis of the saints;
(and having invoked these, then) we worship the
Nményas, and the Visyas, and the Zaztumas, and
the Dadvyumas?, and the Zarathustrétemas.
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 Zarathustra Spitama the
saint; and we worship the Fravashi of Kavi Vistaspa
the holy, and that of Isa¢-vAstra the Zarathustrian,
the saint.
* Dahyumas. 3 «Of the early religion.’
YASNA XXVI. 279
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 [(Pazand) which are the
Fravashis of the saints 1]; and of all the next of kin
who have passed away in this house, of the Aéthra-
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.
g. (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 Saoshyazt, the victorious 3.
11. Yea, we worship all the Fravashis of the
saints, and we worship the souls of the dead
{(P4zand) 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.
2 From the Iranian Adam to the Christ of the resurrection; see
Yast XIX, 89, 91.
280 YASNA XXVII.
YASNA XXVII.
PRELUDE TO THE CHIEF RECITAL OF THE
AHUNA-VAIRYA,
1. This is to render? Him who is of all the greatest,
our lord? and master’ (even) Ahura Mazda. And this
to smite‘ the wicked Angra Mainyu, and to smite
Aéshma of the bloody spear, and the Mazainya
Daévas, and to smite all the wicked Varenya
Daévas.
2. And this is to further Ahura Mazda, the re-
splendent, the glorious, to further the Bountiful
Immortals, and the influences of the star Tistrya, 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. The Haomas are crushed, O Mazda,
Khshathra, and Asha, O ye Lords! Good is Sraosha
who accompanies the sacrifice with the great glory °,
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 Dazdy4i would be an infin. for an imperative ; but it here refers
to the Ahuna. We might say, ‘ Let this render,’ &c.
3 See Y. XXXIV, 5.
5 Referring to the Ahi and Ratu of the Ahuna, but with
erroneous application.
* Comp. Vend. XIX, 9 (Wg.).
5 The Ahuna appears here in the MS. with Y. XXXIV, 5, the ἃ
airyem4, and the Ashem νομῇ.
* Maza ray4; otherwise mazaray4, with greatness (see Y. XLIII,
12).
YASNA XXXV. 281
brought forward? 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.
8-127. 13. As the Ah 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, Your riches; how may I be Your own
in my actions, to nourish Your poor, O Mazda ?
Beyond ; yea, beyond all we declare You, far from
Daévas and Khrafstra-accursed mortals ?!)
15. We worship the Ahuna-vairya. We worship
Asha Vahista, the most beautiful‘, the Bountiful
Immortal ὅδ,
YASNA XXXV.
Yasna HAPpTANGHAITI. -
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
Spenta 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 clean
1 Here the Parsi priests now manipulate the mortars.
2 See Y. XXXIII, 11-14; and Y. I, 23, and Y. XII.
* See Y. XXXIV, 15. The Ashem follows.
* Or, ‘the best.’
5 The Yénhé hatim follows. For Y. XXVIII-XXXIV, see the
G&tha Ahunavaiti above, pp. 2-194.
282 YASNA XXXV.
beings, the very word yazamaidé 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 G4thas, Zarathustra, the Baresman, the Haoma, ἄς. 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 in 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.
1, 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! ((P4zand) of those being done, and of those
1 The Pahlavi translator, as so often, first saw the proper expla-
nation here.
YASNA XXXV. 283
completed], We implant ?(?) 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 *
thoughts, and words, and actions, which are the best
for both the worlds; (4) and together with these
gifts (Ὁ) 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 ὃ of the ritual Order let us do
so in the active fulfilment ® of its (precepts) toward
every one of the (clean) and better creatures which
1 Or, we are ‘ purifiers,’ or ‘adorners.’ Tradition ‘spreading from
man to man,’ so thoroughly implanting themselves; comp. per-
haps nid.
3 Hatdm in this sense. 3. Or, ‘in the house and stall.’
284 ᾿ YASNA XXXVI.
are fit to live’, 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? 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’, and with the loving
blessing of the most friendly, with the praise of the
1 Or, ‘live-stock.’
3 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 close
proximity. Fire temples did not exist; some shelter, however,
must have been afforded. Also the dual pouruyé(-ve) may refer
to Ahura and the Fire. Comp. Y. XXX, 3. Or, is it ‘at first?’
® Possibly, ‘but most favoured is he whom (yem).’
ὙΑΒΝΑ XX€WIn evry
in this our greatest (undettaking) ἃ among the efforts
of our zeal.
3. The Fire of Ahura Mazda art thou verily';
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? 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 AnHuRA, THE HOLY CREATION, THE FRAVASHIS
OF THE JUST, AND THE BountTiFUL 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 Véi looks as if it represented vf here.
* See Y. J, 1.
286 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! 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? 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’, 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.’
? Tem is interpolated; or shall we render: ‘We worship Him’
as in the Εἰ, with adverbial use as in the Greek, and often here?
5 Compare the Indian gnfés. The waters are wives, as is the
earth; below they are mothers.
YASNA ΧΧΧΙΧ. 287
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?
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 ὃ 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‘, ye mothers of our life!
YASNA XXXIX.
To THE Sout oF THE King, &c.
1. And now we sacrifice to the Kine’s soul, and
to her created body, and we sacrifice to the souls
1 Vanguhts with K4, &c.
* Compare azi as applied to the Kine.
δ Compare agnd4yas, reading agnayé. Or is it agnivau with
a suffix va?
* Or, ‘our sicknesses and welfare.’
288 YASNA XL.
of cattle who are fit to live? (for us), and whose (we ἢ)
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
Daévas, or will conquer, or have conquered.
3. And now we worship the Bountiful Immortals
(all) the good, and both those male?, and those
female ὃ (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 4 act for us, and with abun-
1 Live-stock. 2 Y6i. 5 Yausha.
4 A fem. noun mazd&4=medhé.
YASNA ΧΙ]. 289
dance with Thy bounty and Thy tenderness! 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 nowas 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*, and for bearing, (that
they may be) in ‘helpful? companionship with us,
and as a source of long enduring vigour, and a
means of rejoicing grace to us for this “.
4. So let there be a kinsman lord for us, with the
labourers of the village, and so likewise let there be
the clients (or the peers*®), And by the help of those
may we arise.
So may we be to You, O Mazda Ahura! holy and
true ὁ, 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 Otherwise, ‘understanding which protects’ (?).
3 Sothe PahlaviandNer. * Bezvaité. * May we be rejoicing (Ὁ).
5 Hakhem& (=-a) replacing the airyaman of the G&thas, and
throwing light upon its meaning. The form is irregular.
* Or, ‘holy rishis’ (ereshay6 ὃ).
[31] U
290 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(whoworship 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 (ἢ) 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 M&thra-speakers may we be
called?,O Ahura Mazda! so do we wish, and to this
may we attain*, 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®. 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 Haptanghditi‘, the holy, the
_ ritual chief!
YASNA XLII.
A SupPLEMENT TO THE HaptTaANGHAIT? ὅ.
1. We worship You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals !
with the entire collection of this Yasna, HaptanghAiti
1 See Y. L, 11. 3 Or, ‘abide.’ 5 See Y. XXVIII, 3.
‘ Here the Haptanghfiti once ended.
5 Of not greatly later origin.
YASNA XLII. 201
(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-
stra 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 *(?) 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®, and seek to gain the provinces, and
spread the ritual lore. And we sacrifice to the
Bountiful Immortals all ¢!
1 See, however, Bundahis (West), p. 66.
2 See Bundahis, chap. XIX, also Darmesteter, Ormuzd and
Ahriman (pp. 148-150).
5 Y6i yéya dirs points toa migration of Zaroastrianism, coming
West (?).
4 For Yasna XLIII-LI, see above, pp. 98-187.
U2
292 YASNA 111.
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 5, which goes on
hand in hand with it, 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‘, appertains to
cattle, or is found in plants, and overwhelming all
the harmful malice of the Daévas, (and their ser-
vants) who might harm this dwelling ὁ and its lord,
(3) bringing good gifts, and better blessings, given
very early, and later (gifts), leading to successes, and
for a long time giving shelter ὁ, 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?’ bavdithy4ifa.
3. Dareghé-varethmanem is treated as a feminine; see also
daregh6-varethman6 in verse 3.
* Have we hvé-aiwish4#im, as representing some more regular
form?
4 Medicinal springs.
° This Yasna was celebrated from house to house.
* Varethmanéd.
YASNA LIV. 293
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, 1 who am benefi-
cent, those who are (likewise of a better mind) 1. 5-8.
(See Y. VIII, 5-8.) (For Y. LIII, see Gathas, pp.
190-194.)
YASNA LIV®? (Sp. LIIT).
Tue AiryeMé-isuy6.
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 Zarathustra, 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 it, (or cause it to increase).
2. We sacrifice to the Airyem4-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 GAathas 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‘.
1 Citation from the Gathas (Y. XLV, 6).
3 This piece in the Gathic dialect, and in a metre supposed by
some to be identical with that of the Vahist6isti, is very old, and
ranks with the Ahuna-vairya and Ashem Vohfi in importance.
® Or, can masata (sic) equal ‘ with his liberality, or majesty,’ leaving
yantu to be understood with Ahur6?
‘ The later Avesta notes the antiquity of the older.
294 YASNA LV.
YASNA LV (Sp. LIV).
Tue WorsHIP OF THE GATHAS AS CONCLUDED, AND
THAT OF THE STAOTA YESNYA! 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 G&thas (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 G&thas 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? toward him
who can understand; yea, let them appear (with
free liberality to the enlightened), let them appear as
1 Staota Yésnya seems to designate that part of the Yasna which
begins with the Srésh Yast.
5. Fr4riti; or possibly ‘to the freely giving,’ (the term. ‘-ti’ as a
dative).
YASNA LV. 295
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 G&thas'), give to every holy man who comes
with this prayer for a blessing, and endeavouring to
help himself 3, 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 Gathas, 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, 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)‘ 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. 3 Pahlavi avd nafsman.
5. Recited from memory, and used in the ceremonial.
“ The part, ‘each part.’
296 YASNA LVI,
YASNA LVI (Sp. LV).
INTRODUCTION TO THE SRésH 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 1) 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 ?, as at the first, so at the last.
* One might be inclined to render ‘who are so desired by us
for our souls. But I think that the words are Pazand to the
preceding.
* Or, ‘ endowed with recompense.’
YASNA LVII. 297
4. And so again may Sraosha, (Obedience) the
good, be present here for the worship of the good
waters, and of the good? and bountiful Immortals,
and of Blessedness the good who is closely knit with
the Righteous Order to perfect and to incite us*.
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 ὃ.
YASNA LVII (Sp. LVI).
Tue Srésu Yast *,
1. A blessing is Righteousness (called) the Best,
ἄς.
Propitiation be to Sraosha, Obedience the blessed,
the mighty, the incarnate word of reason, whose body
is the M&athra, 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 Vohf follow here.
Ὁ The Yénhé hatim, &c. follows.
‘ 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 G&thic dialect. The name
Sraosha does not appear to have lost its meaning as an abstract
quality, notwithstanding the materialistic imagery. With Y.
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 Yast, 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 avoid other objectionable
features at the same time.
298 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! the
creation of Mazda the first adored Ahura, with the
Baresman spread, who worshipped the Bountiful
Immortals? (first), who worshipped both the pro-
tector and the Creator, who are ὃ (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
Zarathustra, and all the deeds well done (for him),
both those that have been done (in times gone by),
1 So ‘tradition.’
5. Sraosha was not reckoned as one of the Ameshéspends at the
time of the composition of this verse.
5 Comp. Y. XXX, 4; but Ahura and some one of the Immortals,
or possibly Zarathustra (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. 299
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.
111.
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 Gathas, the five ? Gathas
of Zarathustra, the Spitama, the holy (with the
fashion) of their metres Ὁ, and after the well-con-
structed order of their words, together with the Zand
which they contain, and the questions‘ which they
? Le Barsom est de cinq branches dans les Darouns ordinaires.
Il est de sept branches pour le Daroun No naber, pour le Freoues-
chi, et pour le Gahanbfr. 1] est de neuf branches pour le Daroun
des Rois, et pour celui du Mobed des Mobeds (Anquetil).
3 This proves that the Gathas were greatly older than this
Yast. That the Gathas were originally five seems improbable;
yet they had become reduced to that number at this time.
5 Nom. sing.?
* Comp. taf [ἢν peres4, &c.; ‘questions back and forth.’
300 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 Aéshema 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.
11. 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 5.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might ....
1 One of the earliest notices of the kind.
3 Hu-+angh, or can sas=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
without including Ahura. The original ‘seven spirits’ included
Ahura.
YASNA LVII. 301
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! from afar (?).
[Be ye desirous, O ye Mazdayasnians! of the Yasna
of Obedience the blessed 3.
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 8,
For his splendour and his glory, for his might... .
: VIL.
15. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed
and the stately, who is the conqueror of the Kayadha,
and the KAidhya, who was the smiter of the Lie-
demon of the Daévas, the one veritably powerful,
the destroyer of the world, who is the guardian and
watchman over all the migrations (?) of the tribes.
16. Who sleeplessly and vigilant guards the crea-
tures of Ahura, who sleeplessly and with vigilance
1 =kat-tarestemem, comp. for form katpay4m.
3 Possibly an ancient interpolation. Repetitions are curtailed.
5 This verse 14 may be an ancient extension of the Yast; it
may of course be taken for granted that within a certain period
at a very remote time, the Yast was altered and improved.
Verse 16 may have originally formed two sections; the formula
‘we worship,’ &c. having been omitted.
202 YASNA LVII.
saves them, who with halberd raised:on high guards
all the corporeal world after setting of the sun, (17)
who has never slept in quiet since the two Spirits
made the worlds, [the bounteous and the evil one"],
who guards the homes of Asha, who battles all (Ὁ).
the days long and the nights with all the Daévas
[(PAzand) the Mazanian], (18) nor terror-stricken does
he turn in affright before (their power); but before him
all the Daévas turn in affright against their will, and
rush to darkness in their fear.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might... .
VIIl.
19. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed,
whom Haoma worshipped on the highest height of
high Haraiti, he Haoma, the reviver*, and the
healer, the beautiful, the kingly *, of the golden
eye, (20) of the gracious words‘, of the warning and
the guarding words, who intones our hymns on
every side®, who possesses understanding and of
every brilliant form, which abounds in many an ex-
planation ὁ and revelation of the word, who has the
first place in the M&thra.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might . . .
IX.
21. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed,
' This seems a gloss ; its import is correct.
* The renovator, as completing the progress which makes things
fresh, frash6kereti.
5. Possibly compare soma r&gan ; but see the following adjective,
and read as alternative ‘ brilliant.’
4 Possibly ‘who excites to much speech.’
5 Comp. pairt gaéthé, Y. XXXIV, 2.
* Having much Zand.
YASNA LVII. 303
whose house stands with its thousand pillars, as vic-
torious, on the highest height of high Haraiti, self-
lighted from within, star-studded from without, (22)
to whom the Ahuna-vairya has come, the axe of
. victory!, and the Haptanghditi, and the Fshfshé-
mathra which smites with victory, and all the Yasna
sections.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might ....
X.
23. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed,
by whose might and victorious power, and wise con-
duct, and (full) knowledge, the Bountiful Immortals ?
descend upon this earth of seven quarters.
24. Who as teacher of the law will stride forth
upon this earth with its dwellers in the body, and
ruling as he will.
And in this Religion, Ahura Mazda has been con-
fessed 8 with faith, and the Good Mind likewise with
Him, and Righteousness the Best, and Khshathra-
vairya, and Piety the Bounteous, and the Universal
Weal and Immortality; and the question to the Lord
is asked, and Mazda’s lore (is written).
25. O Sraosha (Obedience), thou blessed one, and
stately! protect us for the lives ; yea, for both, (for
that) of this world which is corporeal, and for the
world of mind, against unhappy ὁ death, and the re-
morseless Wrath of rapine, against the hosts with
ill-intent, who lift their bloody spears® against us;
1 Comp. Vend. XIX, ro.
? They listen to Obedience, and so descend.
® The meaning ‘doth confess,’ if correct, would show a very
great degeneration from the lore of the Gathic period.
« Lit. ‘evil’ * Bannered spears; spears with streamers.
304 YASNA LVITI.
yea, against their assaults whom? the Wrath-demon
will set on, and Vidhatu,demon-made. 26. Therefore
may’st thou, O Sraosha, the blessed and the stately!
grant swiftness to our teams, soundness to our bodies,
and abundant observation? of our foes, and their
smiting (as we mark them), and their sudden death.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might... .
XI.
27. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed,
whom four racers draw in harness, white and shining,
beautiful, and powerful 8, quick to learn, and fleet‘,
obeying before speech, heeding orders from the
mind, with their hoofs of horn gold-covered, (28)
fleeter than (our) horses, swifter than the winds, more
rapid than the rain(-drops as they fall) ; yea, fleeter
than the clouds, or well-winged birds, or the well-
shot arrow as it flies °,(29) which overtake these swift
ones all, as they fly after ® them pursuing, but which
are never overtaken when they flee, which plunge
away from both the weapons (hurled on this side
and on that) and draw Sraosha with them, the good
Sraosha and the blessed; which from both the
weapons (those on this side and on that) bear the
good Obedience the blessed, plunging forward in
their zeal, when he takes his course from India on
the East, and when he lights down in the West.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might....
1 The hosts. * So the Pahlavi and Ner. See also Y. IX, 21.
* Spenta can hardly mean ‘holy’ here.
* Asava for asaya(?); “γ᾽ miswritten for‘v.’ Comp. gatava (form).
® Reading anghamanayau for anhé manayau ; otherwise, ‘ swifter
than one’s thought’ (?).
* Lit. ‘not those after overtake.’ Possibly ‘ these who all overtake
those who fly with turned backs, who are not overtaken from behind.’
YASNA LVII, 305
XII.
30. We worship Obedience the blessed and the
stately, who though lofty and so high, yea, even to
_ the girdle, yet stoops to Mazda's creatures, (31) who
thrice within the day, and three times of a night,
will drive on to that Karshvar //vaniratha, called
the luminous, as he holds in both the hands! and
poizes his knife-like battle-axe, which flies as of
itself, and to cleave the Daévas’ skulls, (32) to hew
down Angra Mainyu, the wicked, and to hew down
Rapine of the bloody spear, to hew down the Daévas
of Mazendran?, and every Demon-god.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might ....
XIII.
33. We worship Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed
and the stately, him who smites with victory, both
here and not here, and on this entire earth. And
we worship all the (gifts) of Sraosha (Obedience) the
blessed, the mighty, and the strong, whose body is
the Mathra.
Yea, we worship (all the martial gifts) of
Sraosha (Obedience) the mighty, both armed with
shielding armour, and a warrior strong of hand,
skull-cleaver of the Daévas, conquering the en-
dowments® of the conqueror, the holy conqueror
of the conqueror, and (his) victorious powers, and
the Ascendency which it bestows, and we worship
1 Snaithis must designate a two-handed weapon.
3 Observe how far West the word Daéva is applied; also, if
Hindvé is not in a gloss in verse 29, the fact proves that a vast
geographical extent was familiar to the writers of the Avesta.
* Vanaitis, fem. as vispau refers to attributes celebrated in the
Yast.
[31] Χ
306 YASNA LVIII.
this Ascendency of Sraosha’s (the same which con-
quers theirs) ; and that of Arsti do we praise as well.
34. And every house by Sraosha guarded do we
worship, wherein the blessed friendly Sraosha is
befriended and made welcome, where the holy man
is far advanced (?) in holy thoughts, and righteous
words and deeds.
For his splendour and his glory, for his might, 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 conse-
crated waters, and the good Blessedness, the lofty, and Nairya-
sangha, the stately, and may he come to us to aid us, he who smites
with victory, Obedience the blessed !
YASNA LVIII (Sp. LVII).
Tue FsuésH6-mMATarRa}.
1, (Introduction.) (To the increase of our homage
and praise of God) we offer this service? which, as
our defence’, may shield us, which is worship‘ with
its beneficent results; and Blessedness is with it of
a verity®, and Piety as well. [(P4zand) and of this
worship the results here mentioned are the well-
thought thought, the word well spoken, and the
deed well done]; and let this our worship shelter
us from the Daéva and from the evil-minded man.
2. And to this worship do we confide® our settle-
1 This piece in the Gathic dialect has claims to an antiquity
as high as Y. XII. It recalls the Gathas in many ways. The
increaser of cattle is identical with the thrifty tiller, and is the
typical saint.
2 The Pahlavi has sid a partial transcription, but the word is
obscure.
5 See nipatd. * Neme with Κις.
© H4+gef; comp. Indian sa+gha/; or possibly from ha&.
4 «Make mention of.’
YASNA LVIII. 307
ments and persons for protection and care, for
guarding, and for oversight; (3) and in this worship
will we abide, O Ahura Mazda! and with joy.
In this worship do we exercise our choices; and
to it will we approach, and to it will we belong;
yea, to revering worship will we confide our settle-
ments and. persons for protection, and for care, for
guarding, and for oversight, to such worship as is
the praise of such as You}.
MATHRA.
4. The owner of herds is the righteous (one), and
he is victorious when he strikes, and thus he is the
best ; [ (PAzand) we therefore offer (this) service (for
herd-owners?) ] for the herd-owner is the father of the
Kine by the help of him who follows the ritual order ;
and he is the father of the holy man as well, and of
the sanctified creation’. He is in verity the be-
stower of blessings, and to him‘, O Ye Bountiful
Immortals®! we render, (and his do we make) Your
greatness, Your goodness, and Your (spiritual)
beauty, and let this man, the cattle-owner, approach
to guard over us; and may he be our watchman
together with the Righteous Order, and with store
for our nourishment and full generous liberality,
together with sharing of the goods®, with gentle-
ness’, and with Ahura Mazda’s sacred Fire!
1 Khshmvat6 is often Gathic for ‘ You.’
3 P4zand, as fshfshe is a plural, and not Gathic. Or, ‘we make
men cattle-owners (we invite them to be such).’
8. The creation is mentioned in connection with the Kine. The
typical saint stands at the head of the clean creation.
« Whose? ' δ See below.
* Root vi+d4 (dhish4); so also the Pahl. ‘bar4 dahisnth.’
7 Akinth va Atashié ἃ Afharmazd-d4d. The word is difficult.
X 2
308 YASNA LVIII.
5. O Ye Bountiful Immortals! as Ye have made
us, so do Ye save us, holy men, and saintly women
(as we are, and steadfast in the faith)". Save us,
O Ye Bountiful Immortals! Ye who rule aright, and
who dispose (of all) aright, for none other do I know,
save You; then with Your Righteousness? do Ye
save us.
6. And we offer hereby our thoughts, and words,
and actions, our herds, and men, to the Bountiful
Spirit. And may the creative stars of Ahura Mazda,
the Creator, shine down on us, and round about us?
with full herds and healthy settlements, with healthy
herds and healthy men, and with all in vigour, and
endowed with the blessing of the Lord. 7. Praise
to Thee, O Fire of Ahura Mazda! may’st thou come
to (us in) the greatest one of the engrossing interests‘
for the help of the great (effort), for the joy-pro-
ducing grace of the great (interest of our cause) ;
grant us both Weal and Deathlessness !
8. We sacrifice to the entire collection of the
Praises of the Yasna, with the careful structure of
their language which has reached the most its
object. And we offer (our homage) in our cele-
brations to Thy body, O Ahura Mazda! the most
beautiful of forms, these stars, and to that one, the
highest of the high [(P4zand) such as the sun was
called]. Yea, we worship the Praises of the Yasna
which were the production of the world of old.
1 Or, ‘male and female holy ones, (the Amesha).’
2 Y. XXXIV, 7.
® Lit. ‘may we be closely beheld by the creative lights,’ &c.
4 Allusion to maze-yaunghd.
YASNA LIX, 309
YASNA LIX (Sp, LVIII).
Mutua. BLEssincs.
1-17. (See Y. XVII, 1-17.) 18-27. (See Y.
X XVI, 1-10.) 28. We worship Verethraghna, the
Ahura-made, the victorious blow; and we worship
the Saoshyazt, who smites with victory; and we sacri-
fice to this Baresman with its Zaothra and its girdle
(which is its band) and which is spread with sanctity.
And we sacrifice to (our) own soul(s), and to (our)
own I’ravashi(s). 29. (See Y. XVII, 19.) 30. (The
Ratu speaks): O thou good (servant of the Lord)!
may that be thine which is better than the good;
may'st thou acquire that which is (thine) own! in the
Zaothra; may’st thou attain to that reward which
the Zaotar has been obtaining’, who is far advanced
in his good thoughts, and words, and deeds.
31. (The Zaotar speaks): May that happen to
you (likewise) which is better than the good, and
may that not happen which is worse than the evil,
and may that likewise not be my lot. 32. As (our)
Aha (is) excellent, so (is our) Ratu (one who rules)
from his Righteousness, a creator of mental good-
ness, and of life’s actions done for Mazda, and the
Kingdom (is) to Ahura which to the poor will offer
a nurturer. A blessing is Asha called the Best, &c.
We sacrifice to the Ahuna-vairya; we sacrifice to
Asha Vahista® the most beautiful, the Bountiful
* Avd nafsman.
* Hanayamné aungha, a periphrastic perfect.
® Asha Vahista occurs as immediately suggested by the Ashem
310 YASNA LX.
Immortal. And we sacrifice to the Fshfish6-mathra,
the by-spoken’. And we sacrifice to the entire col-
lection of the Praises of the Yasna; (yea), to the
Yasna Praises which were instituted in the world
of yore.
YASNA LX (Sp. LIX).
PRAYERS FOR THE DWELLING OF THE SACRIFICER*.
1. Thus that better than the good may he ap-
proach, who shows to us straight paths of profit
appertaining to this bodily life and to the mental
likewise, in the eternal (?) realms where dwells Ahura ;
yea, may he approach it, who is Thy worthy servant,
and good citizen, O Great giver Lord?!
2. May these blessings approach this house, which
are the wise perceptions of the saints, the sacred
blessings bestowed through the ritual, their guile-
less characteristics, together with their recognition
of what is due; and may the Righteous Order appear
for this village, and the Divine Sovereign Power,
’ together with the benefit and glorious welfare (which
ensues),
3. And with these the long enduring prominence
of this Religion of Ahura’s, the Zarathustrian Faith.
And may the Kine* be now with greatest speed
within (the farm-yard of) this house, most speedily
Vohfi formula, Asha Vahista seems therefore a proper name, both
here and in the formula, if one place explains the other (?).
1 The ever-spoken (ἢ). The Yénhé and Ahuna follow.
? Said on the visitation of farm-houses by the travelling priest.
5. See Y. XLIII, 3.
4 Gaus seems feminine here, and used collectively, and haka
has the Indian sense of safa.
YASNA LX. 311
may the rewarded sanctity and the strength of the
holy man be here, most speedily as well Ahura’s
lore. 4. And may the good and heroic and boun-
tiful Fravashis of the saints come here, and may
they go hand in hand with us with the healing
virtues of (their) blessed gifts as wide-spread as the
earth, as far-spread as the rivers, as high-reaching!
as the sun, for the furtherance? of the better men,
for the hindrance of the hostile, and for the abundant
growth of riches and of glory.
5. May Sraosha (Obedience) conquer disobedi-
ence® within this house, and may peace triumph
over discord here, and generous giving over avarice,
reverence’ over contempt, speech with truthful words
over lying utterance. May the Righteous Order
gain the victory over the Demon of the Lie‘.
6. As in this (house) the Bountiful Immortals
seek for good Yasnas and good praises from the
blessed Sraosha (who governs here), and as they
seek for (one) good sacrifice and act of homage
(more especially their own) which is a good offering δ
(to them) for (our) salvation, and a good offering in
praise, together with a long continued offering of the
entire self*, (7) let not then (their) brilliant glory’
ever desert this house, nor the bright abundance,
nor an illustrious ὃ offspring legitimately ® born, nor
that long continued companionship which is the
) Earth-wide, stream-long, sun-high. 3 Ἰρ seems a dative.
. ° The name Sraosha had not lost its original meaning; so of
Ar(a)maiti.
* Asha-Drugem? ® Possibly, ‘ good support.’
* Pahl. benafsman.
7 Hvathrava/ hvarené determines the sense. ° See ‘hvAthravas.’
® The Pahl. does not necessarily render ‘heavenly ;’ the word
elsewhere means ‘ original.’
312 YASNA LXI.
furtherance of that good blessedness which teaches
concerning glory’. 8-10(=Y. VIII, 5-7).
11. In order that our minds may be? delighted,
and our souls the best, let our bodies be glorified
as well, and let them, O Mazda! go likewise openly
(unto Heaven) as the best world? of the saints as
devoted to Ahura, (12) and accompanied by Asha
Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best), and the
most beautiful! And may we see Thee, and may
we, approaching, come around about Thee, and
attain to entire companionship with Thee! And
we Sacrifice to the Righteous Order, the best, the
most beautiful, the bounteous Immortal!
YASNA LXI (Sp. LX).
1. Let us peal‘ forth the Ahuna-vairya in our
liturgy between the heaven and earth, and let us
send forth the Asha Vahista in our prayer the
same, and the Yénhé hatam. And let us send
forth in our liturgies between the heaven and earth
the pious and good prayer of the pious man for
blessings, (2) for the encounter with, and for the
displacement of Angra Mainyu with his creatures
which are likewise evil as he is, for he is filled
with death (for those whom he has made). Aye,
let us send that petition forth for the encounter with,
and for the dislodgment of the Kazaredhas and of
the individual Kafvaredha® the male, and the female
* Or, ‘ welfare.’ 3 Aunghan.
5 The nom. is difficult. The Ashem Vohf and Ahuna follow.
* De Harlez, ‘faisons retentir.’
5 The Pahlavi perhaps ‘diminishers;’ Darmesteter, ‘ causing to
pine.’
YASNA [ΧΙ]. 313
(to the last individual of each), (3) and for the en-
counter with, and the dislodgment of the Kayadhas,
and of the individual Kayadhians, male and female},
and of the thieves and robbers, of the Zandas?, and
the sorcerers, of the covenant breakers, and of those
who tamper with the covenants. 4. Yea, we send it
forth for the encounter with, and for the overthrow
of the murderers of the saints, and of those who
hate and torment us for our Faith, and of those
who persecute the ritual, and the tyrant full of
death. Yea, let us peal them forth for the en-
counter with, and the overthrow of the wicked, O
Zarathustra Spitama! whoever they may be, whose
thoughts, and words, and works are not congenial
to the holy ritual laws.
5. And how shall we drive the Demon of the Lie
from hence from us*? Aye, how shall we, the pro-
phets who are yet to serve and save (thy people),
drive the Drug from hence, so that we, having power
over her as being utterly without power, may drive
her hence with blow from the seven Karshvars, for
the encounter with, and for the dislodgment of the
entire evil world * ?
YASNA LXII (Sp. LXI).
To THE Fire.
1. I offer my sacrifice and homage to thee, the
Fire, as a good offering, and an offering with our hail
* “Cannibals’ has been suggested as the meaning here.
* The later Zendiks are of course not meant, unless we have an
interpolation.
3 Citation from the GAthas, Y. XLV, 6. * Citations follow.
314 YASNA LXII.
of salvation, even as δὴ offering of praise with benedic-
tions, to thee, the Fire, O Ahura Mazda’s son! Meet
for sacrifice art thou, and worthy of (our) homage.
And as meet for sacrifice, and thus worthy of our
homage, may’st thou be in the houses of men (who
worship Mazda). Salvation be to this man who
worships thee in verity and truth, with wood in
hand, and Baresman ready, with flesh in hand, and
holding too the mortar. 2. And may’st thou
be (ever) fed with wood as the prescription orders.
Yea, may’st thou have thy perfume justly, and thy
sacred butter without fail, and thine andirons regu-
larly placed. Be of full-age as to thy nourishment,
of the canon's age as to the measure of thy food, O
Fire, Ahura Mazda's son! 3. Be now aflame! within
this house; be ever without fail in flame; be all
ashine within this house ; be on thy growth * within
this house ; for long time be thou thus to the further-
ance of the heroic (renovation), to the completion of
{all) progress, yea, even till the good heroic (millennial)
time when that renovation shall have become com-
plete. 4. Give me, O Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son! a
speedy glory, speedy nourishment, and speedy booty,
and abundant glory, abundant nourishment, abun-
dant booty, an expanded mind, and nimbleness
of tongue for soul and understanding, even an
understanding continually growing in its largeness,
and that never wanders ὃ, and long enduring virile
power, (5) an offspring sure of foot, that never
sleeps on watch [not for a third part of the day,
or night], and that rises quick from bed‘, and
' Or, ‘for giving light.’
* Or, ‘to give light’? comp. ukhshané and ukhsha.
ὃ Read apairy&threm. 4 Or, ‘has the quickest place.’
aes
~ ταν
YASNA LXIl/
likewise a wakeful offspring, με
reclaim, legitimate, keeping order in men’s meet-
ings, (yea,) drawing men to assemblies through
their influence and word, grown to power, skilful,
redeeming others from oppression, served by many
followers, which may advance my line (in pros-
perity and fame), and (my) Vis, and my Zamtu, and
(my) province, (yea, an offspring) which may deliver
orders to the Province as (firm and righteous
rulers). 6. And may’st thou grant me, O Fire, Ahura
Mazda’s Son! that whereby instructors may be
(given) me, now and for evermore, (giving light to me
of Heaven) the best life of the saints, brilliant, all
glorious. And may I have experience! of the good
reward, and the good renown, and of the long fore-
casting preparation of the soul. 7. The Fire of Ahura
Mazda addresses this admonition to all for whom he
cooks the night and morning (meal). From all
these, O Spitama! he wishes? to secure good care,
and healthful care (as guarding for salvation), the
care of a true praiser. 8. At both the hands of all
who come by me, I, the Fire, keenly look: What
brings the mate to his mate (thus I say to him), the
one who walks at large, to him who sits at home ?
[We worship the bounteous Fire, the swift-driving
charioteer 3.
9. And if this man who passes brings him wood
brought (with good measure that is) with sacred care,
or if he brings the Baresman spread with sanctity, or
? Bartholomae follows tradition boldly here, rendering ‘ aushalten,
festhalten an; giriftar yehvnani(f).’
? Or, ‘is worshipped for.’
3. This curious gloss seems thrown in as a solace to the Fire for
the expression preceding. It savours of the Azk.
416 YASNA LXV.
the Hadhdnaépata plant, then afterwards Ahura
Mazda’s Fire will bless him, contented, not offended,
and in (its) satisfaction (saying thus). 10. May a
herd of kine be with thee, and a multitude of men,
may an active mind go with thee, and an active soul
as well. As a blest soul may’st thou live through
thy life, the nights which thou shall live. This is
the blessing of the Fire for him who brings it wood
(well) dried, sought out for flaming, purified with the
earnest blessing of the sacred ritual truth. 11. We
strive after the flowing on of the good waters, and
their ebb ? as well, and the sounding of their waves,
desiring their propitiation; 1 desire to approach
them with my praise*, 12=Y. III, 24, 25.
YASNA LXIII¢ (Sp. LXII).
(See Y. XV, 2; Υ. LXVI, 2; Y. XX XVIII, 3)
YASNA LXIV (Sp. LXIII).
(See Y. XLVI, 3; Y. L, 6-11.)
YASNA LXV (Sp. LXIV).
To Arpvi SOra ANAHITA, AND THE WATERS.
1. I will praise the water Ardvi Sfra Andhita, the
wide-flowing (as it is) and healing in its influence,
1 The Ashem Vohfi occurs here. 2. Or, ‘falling.’
* See as alternative Darmesteter’s masterly rendering of the Atas
Ny4yis, 7-18.
‘ This chapter is composed of short passages from other
portions of the Yasna collected together possibly for the purpose
of filling out the number of sections to some figure no longer
known.
YASNA LXV. 317
efficacious against the Daévas, devoted to Ahura’s
lore, and to be worshipped with sacrifice within the
corporeal world, furthering all living things'(?) and
holy, helping on the increase and improvement of our
herds and settlements, holy, and increasing our wealth,
holy,and helping on the progress of the Province, holy
(as she is)? 2. (Ardvi Sara Andhita) who purifies the
seed of all male beings, who sanctifies the wombs of
all women to the birth, who makes all women fortu-
nate in labour, who brings all women a regular and
timely flow of milk, (3) (Ardvi Sara Andhita) with
a volume sounding from afar 2, which is alone equal
in its bulk to all the waters which flow forth upon
earth, which flows downwith mighty volume from high
Hukairya to the sea Vouru-kasha. 4. And all the
gulfs § in Vouru-kasha are stirred (when it falls down),
all the middle doth well up when Ardvi Sara Andhita
rushes in, when she plunges foaming into them, she,
whose are a thousand tributaries, and a thousand
outlets, and each as it flows in, or rushes out, is a
forty days’ ride in length to a rider mounted well.
5. And the (chief) outlet to this one water (Ardvi
Sara An4hita) goes apart, dividing to all the seven
Karshvars. And this outlet to my river, Ardvi
Sdra Andhita, bears off its waters always in summer
and in winter. This my river purifies the seed of
men, and wombs of women, and women’s milk 4,
6. Let the saints’ Fravashis now draw near, those
of the saints who live, or have lived, of those born,
or yet to be born; yea, let them come near which
1 The Pahlavi has g4n, or ρῇγ, in which latter case the meaning
‘springs’ would be better.
3 Or, ‘famed from afar.’ 3 Lit, ‘sides,’
4 See Darmesteter’s Abin Yast, I-V.
418 YASNA LXV.
have borne these waters up stream from the nearest
ones (that lie below as the outlet pours away 1).
7. Let not our waters be for the man of ill intent, of
evil speech, or deeds, or conscience ; let them not be
for the offender of a friend, not for an insulter of a
Magian 2, nor for one who harms the workmen, nor
for one who hates his kindred. And let not our
good waters (which are not only good, but) best, and
Mazda-made, help on the man who strives to mar our
settlements which are not to be corrupted, nor him
who would mar our bodies, (our) uncorrupted (selves),
(8) nor the thief, or bludgeon-bearing ruffian who would
slaughter the disciples, nor a sorcerer, nor a burier
of dead bodies, nor the jealous, nor the niggard, nor
the godless heretic who slays disciples, nor the evil
tyrant among men. Against these may our waters
come astorments. As destructive may these come(?),
may they come to him who has done those first (foul
evils), as to him who does the last®. |
9. O waters! rest‘ still within your places while
the invoking priest shall offer.
Shall not the invoker make offering to these good
waters, and with the inculcated words? (And how
shall this be done?) Shall he not be tongue-fettered,
if he offers else than with the ritual? Shall (not)
the words be so delivered as the Aéthrapaiti teaches?
Where shall the blessings be (inserted)? Where the
supplications with confessions? Where the gifts of
those that offer? τοῦ. (It shall be only thus) as Ahura
Mazda showed before to Zarathustra, and as Zara-
1 Or, ‘drawn up in vapours for the supply of the waters by
the rain.’
3. So the indication of the Pahlavi.
5 {-di. * Or, ‘rejoice ye.’ 5 Response.
YASNA LXV. 319
thustra taught the corporeal worlds (thé men on
earth)! Thou shalt pray the first petition to the
waters, O Zarathustra, and after that thou shalt offer
the Zaothras to the waters, sanctified, and sought
out with pious care; and thou shalt pronounce these
words (as follows, thus) : (11) O ye waters, I beseech of
you this favour; and grant ye me this great one in
whose bestowal ye flow down to me for the bettering
(of my state), with a never-failing truth. O ye
waters, I beseech of you for wealth of many kinds.
(which gives) power (to its holder '), and for an off-
spring self-dependent whom multitudes will bless,
and for whose wasting, or defeat, or death, or
vengeful punishment, or overtaking, no one prays.
12. And this do I beseech of you, O waters, this,
O ye lands, and this, ye plants! This wealth and
offspring I beseech of You, O Ye Bountiful Immor-
tals, who rule aright, who dispose (of all) aright, O
Ye good beings, male and female 2, givers of good
things ; and this I beseech of you, O ye beneficent,
mighty, and overwhelming Fravashis of the saints,
and this (of thee), O Mithra of the wide pastures,
and this of thee, O blest and stately Sraosha; and
of thee, O Rashnu the most just, and of thee, O Fire,
Ahura Mazda’s son; and of thee, O lofty lord, the
royal Apam-nap4é, of the fleet horses ; aye, of You
all, ye Yazads, bestowers of the better gifts and
holy. 13. And this do ye therefore grant me, O
ye holy waters, and ye lands *!
14. And grant me likewise what is still greater
than this all, and still better than this all, and more
' Powerful. 2 Some of the names are in the feminine.
5. Here repeat as above from ‘O ye plants: to ‘givers of the
better thing and holy.’
320 YASNA LXVII.
beautiful, and more exceeding precious (and that is,
Immortality and Welfare '), O Ye Yazads, holy and
ruling mightily, and powerful at once, and grant it
speedily according to this Gathic (?) word: (Yea), by
veritable grace let that be done?(?) for us which is
most promotive of our weal. 15. And according to
this further word again: Grant me, Thou who art
maker of the Kine, the plants, and the waters,
Immortality and likewise Weal, O Ahura Mazda,
Thou most bounteous Spirit, And grant me these
two eternal gifts through Thy Good Mind in the
doctrine 3.
16-18. (See Y. XV, 2; Y. LVI, 3-4%)
YASNA LXVI (Sp. LXV).
To THE AHURIAN ONES,
1. I am now offering this Zaothra here with sanc-
tity 5, together with the Haoma and the flesh, and
the Hadh4naépata lifted up with sacred regularity as
to thee,O Ahurian One, for the propitiation of Ahyra
Mazda, of the Bountiful Immortals, of Sraosha
(Obedience) the blessed, and of the Fire of Ahura
Mazda, the ritual’s lofty lord. 2. Y.VII, 5-19. 3. Y.
XXII, XXVIII, 24-27.
YASNA LXVII (Sp. LXVI).
1-4. (See Y. X XIII, 1-4, replacing ‘I desire to ap-
proach with sanctity’ by ‘I offer with sanctity ;’ see
also Y.VII, 24.) 5-7. (See Y. XXXVIII, 3-5.)
1 See below. 2 See Y. L, 11. 5 See Y. LI, 7.
4 The Ahuna and Ashem Vohfi follow.
5 J should say Ardvi Sfira Andhita; see Y. LXVIII, 10, where
the good waters are addressed as Ahurian Ones of Ahura.
4 Or, ‘for a blessing.’
YASNA LXVIII. 321
YASNA LXVIII (Sp. LXVII).
To THE AHURIAN ONE, AND THE WATERS.
1. We offer this to thee, O Ahurian (daughter)
of Ahura! asa help!(?) forlife. Ifwe have offended
thee, let this Zaothra then attain to thee (for satis-
faction), for it is thine with its Haoma, and its milk,
and its Hadhanaépata. 2. And may’st thou approach
to me for milk and for libation, O Zaothra! as
health, for healing, and for progress, for growth and
in preparation for ceremonial merit, for good renown,
for equanimity 2, and for that victory which makes
the settlements advance.
3. Yea, we worship thee with sacrifice, O thou
Ahurian (daughter) of Ahura with the Zaothras of
the good thought; and we worship, O Ahura, one
. with the Zaothras of the good word and deed (4) for
the enlightenment of the thoughts, and words, and
actions, for preparation for the soul, for the settle-
ment’s advance, and to prepare the saints endowed
with ritual merit. .
5. And grant me, O thou Ahurian One! Heaven,
and to have an offspring manly and legitimate, who
may promote my house, my village, my tribe and
province, and the authority thereof.
6. We sacrifice to thee, O thou Ahurian one!
And we sacrifice to the sea Vouru-kasha, and to all
waters upon earth, whether standing, or running, or
waters of the well, or spring-waters which peren-
1 The Pahlavi translator saw the root av in this sense here
with K4, 11; P6, but the form is strange.
3. So the Pahlavi indicates with no impossible suggestion.
[31] Υ
322 YASNA LXVIII.
nially flow, or the drippings of the rains, or the irriga-
tions of canals, 7. With this hymn from the (spirit of)
the Yasna do we worship thee, and with the homage
which it offers as it is the most legitimate! Yasna,
and homage of them (all) because of Righteousness
the Best. We sacrifice to the good waters, and to
the best, which Mazda created. 8. And we sacri-
fice to the two, to the milk and to the libation, which
make the waters flow, and the plants sprout forth,
opposing therein the Dragon Daéva-made, for the
arrest of that cheat the Pairika, and to contradict
the insulting malice of the Ashemaogha (the dis-
turber and destroyer of our Faith), and of the
unholy tyrant full of death, and of the human
Daéva (worshipper) of hateful malice (and intent).
9. And may’st thou hear our sacrificial chants,
O thou Ahurian (daughter) of Ahura! Yea, be
propitiated by our Yasna, O Ahurian one! and so
may’st thou be present? at our Yasna; may’st thou
come to us to help, as we chant our full-offered Yast,
with the full offering of Zaothras.
10. If any man shall sacrifice to you, O ye good
waters, the Ahurian ones of Ahura! with the best
and most fitting Zaothras offered piously, (11) to
that man ye give both splendour and glory, with
health and vigour of the body and prominence of
form; yea, to him ye give possessions which entail
abundant glory, and a legitimate scion, and a long
enduring life, and (Heaven at the last), the best life
of the saints, shining, all glorious. 12. And to me
also do ye now give it, to me who am offering
this Yasna as a priest *
1 Or ‘virtuous,’ with Darmesteter. 3 May’st thou sit,
8. ΖόΟιδ ἢ yastar h6manam,
YASNA ΓΧΥΤῚ]. 223
(Response!.) And to us Mazdayasnians who are
likewise offering sacrifice, do ye grant (both the
desire and knowledge of the path that is correct’),
to us colleagues, and disciples, Aéthrapaitis and
Aéthryas, men and women as well as children, and
maidens of the field, (13) who think good only, for
the overwhelming of oppression and of malice in
the raids of the invader, and in face of foes who
hate. Grant to us both the desire® of, and the
knowledge of that straightest path, the straightest
because of Righteousness, and of (Heaven) the best
life of the Saints, shining, all glorious. As the Aha
is excellent, so is the 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) for Ahura, which to the poor may offer nurture.
14. (The Zaotar speaks): I beseech with my bene-
diction for a safe abode, for a joyful and a long
abode for the dwellers in this village from whence
these Zaothras (which I offer come). And I pray
in my benediction for a safe abode, and a quiet and
a joyful one, and a long abiding to every Mazda-
yasnian village, and for a succour even with my
wants, for a succour with salutations of salvation,
and for one with praises, O Fire‘! and for thee, O
Ahurian one of Ahura! do I ask the fullest Yast.
15. And I pray for(?) Raman /7/vastra for this
Province, and for healthfulness and healing. And
I pray for it with my blessing for you pious men,
for all. And I pray for him who is saintly with (true)
goodness, whosoever he may be, between heaven
? Or, ‘the priest continues speaking for the people.’ * See below,
5 Or, ‘this desire, the knowledge.’ * Or, ‘of the Fire.’
Y2
224 ΥΑΒΝΑ LXVIII
and the earth, for a thousand healing remedies, and
for ten thousand of the same.
16-19. (See Y. VIII, 5-8.) 20. Thus may it
happen as I pray. 21. And by this may I gain?
(that) blessing, the good Blessedness (our sanctity
rewarded). And we address, and we invoke reli-
gious zeal and capability, and the waters with our
Yasna* thus: O ye good waters! since (they are)
yours, do ye, as you are asked, grant splendour
and grant glory, ye who are well able so to give;
and do ye,O ye waters! grant (once more) that
helpful blessing which was gained from you of old!
22. Praise (be) to Ahura Mazda, and to the
Bountiful Immortals. Praise (be) to Mithra of the
wide pastures. Praise to the fleet-horsed sun.
Praise to (the star which so we name, and with this
sun) Ahura Mazda’s eyes. Praise to the Kine $ (the
herds of blessed gift). Praise to Gaya (Maretan)
and to the Fravashi of Zarathustra (first of) saints ;
yea, praise to the entire creation of the holy (and
the clean), to those now living, and to those just
passing into life, and to those of days to come.
23. And do Thou then Ahura, as in answer to these
our prayers and songs of praise, cause us to prosper
to salvation through Thy Good Mind, the Sovereign
Power, and Thy Righteous Order (in Thy ritual
and law ‘*) !
1 Or, ‘the good wisdom’ from the second ἀᾷ (good adjustment).
* Passages follow from Y. XXXVIII, 2-5.
3 The Gathic Kine.
4 See Y. XXXIII, 10. Citations follow from Y. XXXVI, 6;
Y. XLIII, 6, also the Ashem and Y. III, 24,25; then Y. XLVII, 1-7.
Then the words ‘ we worship the chapter Spent4-mainyu from the
beginning,’ then the Yénhé hAtdm.
YASNA LXX. 325
YASNA LXIX (Sp. LXVIII).
This chapter is composed of fragments: see Y.
XV, 2; and Y. LI, 1 and 22.
YASNA LXX (Sp. LXIX).
To tHE BountiruL IMMORTALS, AND THE
INSTITUTIONS OF RELIGION.
1. 1 would worship these (the Bountiful Im-
mortals) with my sacrifice, those who rule aright,
and who dispose (of all) aright, and this one (es-
pecially) I would approach with my praise, (Ahura
Mazda). He is thus hymned (in our praise-songs).
Yea, we worship in our sacrifice that deity and
lord, who is Ahura Mazda, the Creator, the gracious
helper, the maker ! of all good things; and we wor-
ship in our sacrifice Zarathustra Spitdma, that
chieftain (of the rite).
2. And we would declare those institutions
established for us, exact (and undeviating as they
are). And I would declare forth those of Ahura
Mazda, those of the Good Mind, and of Asha
Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best), and those
of Khshatra-vairya (the Realm to be desired), and
those of the Bountiful Aramaiti (the Piety within
us), and those of Weal and Immortality, and those
which appertain to the body*® of the Kine, and
to the Kine’s soul, and those which appertain to
Ahura Mazda’s Fire, (3) and those of Sraosha (Obe-
’ Reading tashvaunghem(?) (comp. dadhvaunghem), according to
the indication of the Pahlavi.
2 Tashan with change of accent. So the Pahlavi indicates.
226 YASNA LXX.
dience) the blessed, and of Rashnu the most just,
and those of Mithra of the wide pastures, and of
(the good and) holy Wind, and of the good Mazda-
yasnian Religion, and of the good and pious Prayer
for blessings, and those of the good and pious
Prayer which frees one from belying, and the good
and pious Prayer for blessing against unbelieving
words', 4. (And these we would declare) in order
that we may attain unto that speech which is uttered
with (true) religious zeal, or that we may be as
prophets of the provinces, that we may succour him 5
who lifts his voice (for Mazda’), that we may be as
prophets who smite with victory, the befriended of
Ahura Mazda, and persons the most useful to Him‘,
holy men (indeed) who think good thoughts, and
speak good words, and do good deeds. 5. That
he may approach us with the Good Mind, and that
(our souls) may advance in good, let it thus come;
yea, ‘how may my soul advance in good? let it
thus advance δ.
6. We praise ‘the flood and ebb of the good
waters, and their roar, and that high Ahura, the
royal Apam-napaé, the glittering one, of the fleet
horses; and this for the sacrifice, and homage, and
propitiation, and praise of the entire holy creation;
and may Sraosha (Obedience) be here (to aid us).
7. (Yea), we sacrifice to Sraosha, Obedience the
blessed 1,
1 Read the gloss to the Pahlavi in Visp. IX, 3, anéranthé.
2 Or, barentfi, ‘let them lift.’
3 Y.XXXI, 12. * See Y. XXXI, 22. 5 Y. XLIV, «.
° Y. XLIV, 8. 7 The Yénhé hat&m.
YASNA LXXIL. 327
YASNA LXXI (Sp. LXX).
Tue Yasna Conccupinc.
1. Frashaostra, the holy, asked the saintly Zara-
thustra: Answer me, O thou most eminent Zara-
thustra, what is (in very truth) the memorised recital
of the rites ?
What is the completed delivery of the Gathas? ?
2. Upon this Zarathustra said : (It is as follows.) We
worship Ahura Mazda with our sacrifice (as) the holy
lord of the ritual order; and we sacrifice to Zara-
thustra likewise as to a holy lord of the ritual order ;
and we sacrifice also to the Fravashi of Zarathustra,
the saint. And we sacrifice to the Bountiful Im-
mortals, (the guardians?) of the saints. 3. And we
sacrifice to (all) the good heroic and bounteous
Fravashis of the saints, of the bodily (world on
earth), and of the mental (those in Heaven).
And we worship that one of ritual lords who attains
the most his ends ; and we sacrifice to that one of the
Yazads, lords of the ritual order, who is the most
strenuous, who gains the most, who reaches most to
what he seeks, even that well-timed Prayer which is
the prayer of that holy ritual lord, and which has
approached the nearest (to us for our help).
4. We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the holy lord of
1 This, while very ancient as regards us, is of course not genuine
in its present shape. It was doubtless composed long after Frasha-
ostra and Zarathustra had ceased to live. It may be, however, an
expansion of an earlier document.
? «The Amesha Spenta of the holy ones.’
228 YASNA LXXI, ἡ
the ritual order, and we worship His entire body’,
and we worship the Bountiful Immortals all; and we
worship all the ritual lords. And we sacrifice to the
entire Mazdayasnian Faith. And we worship all the
sacred metres.
5. And we worship the entire bounteous Mathra,
‘even the entire system of the Faith set up against
the Daévas; and we worship its complete and long
descent. And we sacrifice to all the holy Yazads,
heavenly and earthly; and we worship all the
good, heroic, and bountiful Fravashis of the saints.
6. And we worship all the holy creatures which
Mazda created, and which possess the holy institu-
tions 3, which were established holy in their nature 3,
which possess the holy lore, and the holy sacrifice,
which are holy, and for the holy, and to be worshipped
by the holy. And we worship all the five * GAthas,
the holy ones, and the entire Yasna [its flow and its
ebb 5, and the sounding (of its chants)]. 7. And we
sacrifice to all the Praises of the Yasna, and to all the
words which Mazda spake, which are the most fatal
to evil thoughts, and words, and deeds; (8) and which
designate 5 the evil thought, and word, and deed, and
which then cut down and fell every evil thought, and
word, and deed. [(Pazand.) One would think of it as
1 The heavenly bodies are thus termed elsewhere, and the sun is
called his eye. written for 18.
? Possibly, ‘ were created pure.’
3 «Shaped holy.’
4 Or, ‘are worshipped as holy,’ vahmyaéa, or yésnyAfa.
δ This figure is too advanced to be probable. The text has
been disturbed. The words describe the waters elsewhere.
® So with the Pahlavi, referring the word to the third kar, the root
of khratu, passive (?) form, with active sense. It also, however, not
impossibly might mean ‘cut around,’ preparatory to felling.
YASNA [,ΧΧΙ. 329
when the fire cuts, sucks out, and consumes the dry
wood which has been sanctified and carefully selected
(for its flame).] And we sacrifice to the strength, the
victory, the glory, and the speed of all these words
(as they go forth for their work). 9. And we sacrifice
to all the springs of water, and to the water-streams
as well, and to growing plants, and forest-trees *, and
to the entire land and heaven, and to all the stars,
and to the moon and sun, even to all the lights with-
out beginning (to their course)* And we sacrifice
to all cattle, and to the aquatic beasts, and to the
beasts that live on land, and to all that strike the
wing, and to the beasts that roam the plains, and to
those of cloven hoof. 10. And to all Thy good and
holy female (creatures) in the creation do we sacrifice,
(O Thou who art) Ahura Mazda ὃ the skilful maker!
on account of which Thou hast made many things
and good things (in Thy world). And we sacrifice to
those male creatures in the creation which are Thine
and which are meet for sacrifice because of Asha
Vahista (of Righteousness the Best). And we
sacrifice to all the mountains brilliant with holiness,
and to all the lakes which Mazda created, and to all
fires. And we sacrifice to all the truthful and cor-
rectly spoken words, (11) even those which have
both rewards and Piety within them. Yea, we >
worship (you) for protection and shielding, for
guarding and watching; and may ye be to me for
preparation.
I call upon the Gathas here, the bountiful holy ones,
' Elsewhere rendered ‘stems.’
3. Not determined like the course of a planet.
* We should expect the vocative after ‘ Thy.’
330 YASNA ΧΙ.
ruling in the ritual order; yea, we sacrifice to you, (O
ye Gathas !) for protection and shielding, for guarding
and watching. Mine may ye beasa preparation. For
me, for (mine) own οι] I call on (you) ?, and we would
worship (you) for protection and for shielding, for
guarding and for watching. 12. And we sacrifice to
Weal, the complete welfare, holy and ruling in its
course in the ritual order; and we sacrifice to Death-
lessness (the immortal being of the good), holy, and
ruling in the ritual order. And we sacrifice to the
question of the Lord, and to His lore, the holy chiefs,
and to the heroic Haptanghaiti, the holy lord of the
ritual order. 13. (Frasha.) Let the holy Zarathustra
himself seek out a friend and a protector. And I say?
to thee (O Zarathustra !) to make to thee a friend holy
beyond the holy, and truer than the true, for that is
the better thing ; for he is evil who is the best to the
evil, and he is holy to whom the holy is a friend ὅ,
(14) for these are the best of words, those which
Ahura Mazda spoke to Zarathustra.
And* do thou, O Zarathustra! pronounce these
words at the last ending of (thy) life. 15. For if,
O Zarathustra! thou shalt pronounce these words
at the last ending of (thy) life I, Ahura Mazda, will
keep your soul away from Hell. Yea, so far away
shall I hold it as is the breadth and extension of
the earth [(P4zand) and the earth is as wide as it
is long}.
16. As thou dost desire, O holy (one)! so shalt
thou be, holy shalt thou cause (thy) soul to pass over
1 Or, ‘I would invoke (mine) own soul ;’ see verse 18.
3. Possibly the rejoinder of Frashaostra, or these are ‘the best
words’ referred to in verse 14; but the section is a dialogue.
* Y. XLVI, 6. * Ahura speaks.
YASNA LXXI. 331
the Xinvaé Bridge; holy shalt thou come into Heaven.
Thou shalt intone the Gatha Ustavaiti, reciting the
salvation hail}.
17. We sacrifice to the active man, and to the man
of good intent, for the hindrance of darkness, of
wasting of the strength and life, and of distraction.
And we sacrifice to health and healing, to progress
and to growth, for the hindrance of impurity, and of
the diseases of the skin ".
18. And we sacrifice to the (Yasna’s) ending words,
to those which end the Gathas. And we sacrifice to
the bounteous Hymns themselves which rule in the
ritual course, the holy ones.
And we sacrifice to the Praise-songs of the Yasna
which were the products of the world of yore; yea,
we sacrifice to all the Staota-Yésnya hymns. And we
sacrifice to (our) own soul and to (our) Fravashi.
19-21. (See Y. VI, 14-16.) 22. 1 praise, invoke, and
I weave my song to the good, heroic, bountiful
Fravashis of the saints, to those of the house,
and of the village, the district and the province, and
to those of the Zarathustrétemas. 23. And we sacri-
fice to the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son, the holy ritual
chief.
And we sacrifice to this Baresman having the
Zaothra with it, and its girdle with it, and spread
with sanctity, the holy ritual chief. And we sacrifice
to Apim-napa/, and to Nairya-sangha, and to that
Yazad, the wise man’s swift Curse.
And we sacrifice to the souls of the dead, [which
are the Fravashis of the saints]. 24. And we sacri-
fice to that lofty Lord who is Ahura Mazda Himself.
» Y. XLII, 1 follows. * Diseases arising from filth.
332 YASNA LXXII.
25. And we pray (again) for the Kine (once more)
with these gifts and (ceremonial) actions which are
the best’. 26-28. (See Y. VIII, 5-7.) 29-31. (See
Y. LX, 11-13.)
YASNA LXXII. (See Y. LX1.)
1 See Y. XXXV, 4; Y. XLVIII, 6.
VISPARAD.
Digitized by Google
VISPARAD I.
1. I announce 5, and (will) complete (my Yasna) to
the lords? of the spiritual creatures, and to the lords
of the earthly creatures, to the lords* of those which
live under the waters, and to the lords of those
which live upon land, to the lords of those which
strike the wing, and to the lords of those which roam
(wild) upon the plains, to the lords of those of (home-
beasts) of the cloven hoof, holy lords of the ritual
order.
2. I announce, and I (will) complete (my Yasna) to
the Yearly festivals, the lords of the ritual order,
to Maidhyé-zaremaya, the milk-giver, the holy lord of
the ritual order, and to Maidhyé-shema, the pasture-
giver, and to Paitishahya, the corn-giver, and to
Ayathrima, the furtherer or breeder, the spender of
the seed of males, and to Maidhydirya the cold ¢, the
holy lord of the ritual order, and to Hamaspath-
maédhaya, the especial time for ritual deeds ὅ, holy
lords of the ritual order.
1 This Visparad consists of additions to various portions of the
Yasna ; and its several chapters generally follow the corresponding
portions of the Yasna in the Vendidad Sadah. The word Visparad
means ‘all the chiefs,’ referring to the ‘lords of the ritual.’ Chapter I
should be read immediately after Yasna I, 9.
3 Or, ‘I invite.’
® Lords because ruling as chief objects of attention during their
mention in the course of the sacrifice, also, as in this case, genii
guarding over all of their class.
* So De Harlez, admirably following ¢he Pahl. sardik (sic).
* Pavan yazisn kardarih.
236 VISPARAD I.
3. 1 announce, and I (will) complete (my Yasna)
to the settlements of the future one, when the future !
shall produce them as it were anew, and I celebrate
and will complete (my Yasna) to the Praises of the
Yasna? collected, completed, and much-offered, and
to the Myazdas of the saints of the ritual, male and
female.
4. And I announce, and will complete (my Yasna)
to the Seasons, the lords of the ritual order, and
to the heard recital of the Ahuna-vairya, and to
Righteousness the Best, to him who has (9) our
praise, and to the Yénhé hatim, the frequent chant
of sacrifice ", the holy, and ruling in the ritual order.
5. And I announce and complete (my Yasna) to
the Gatha Ahunavaiti, the holy, ruling in the ritual
order, and to those women who bring forth many
sons of many talents, Mazda-given, and holy lords of
the ritual order, and to that (chant) which has its AhQ
and its Ratu ὁ (before it in the Yasna).
And I celebrate, and will complete (my sacrifice)
to the Yasna HaptanghAiti®, holy, and ruling in the
ritual order, [and to the water Ardvi Anéhita 5]
6. And I announce, and I (will) complete (my
Yasna) to the Gatha Ustavaiti, the holy, ruling in
the ritual order, and to the mountains which shine
1 Aunghairyé, a collective, or zizanen, a participle.
5 Here is praise to a part of the Yasna itself, although not yet
recited in the V.S.
5. Its chief word is yazamaidé, it is ‘the well-sacrificed,’ the
word often occurring.
“ Or, ‘to him who is devoted to the Ahuna, with its AhQ and
Ratu (?).’
5 Observe the priority of the Haptanghfiti; it should be read
first.
4 Interpolated.
VISPARAD 1. 337
with holiness, the abundantly brilliant? and Mazda-
made, the holy lords of the ritual order.
And I announce, and (will) complete (my Yasna)
to the Gatha Spemt4-mainyu, the holy, ruling in
the ritual order; and I celebrate and will complete
(my Yasna) to Verethraghna (the blow of victory *)
Ahura-given, the holy lord of the ritual order.
7. And I announce, and (will) complete (my Yasna)
to the Gatha Vohu-khshathra, holy, ruling in the
ritual order, and to Mithra of the wide pastures, and
to Raman //vAstra, the holy lords of the ritual order.
And I celebrate and will complete my Yasna to the
GAatha Vahistdisti, the holy, ruling in the ritual order.
And I celebrate and will complete my Yasna to
the good and pious Prayer for blessings, the bene-
diction of the pious 5, and to that Yazad, the redoubted
and swift Curse of the wise, the holy lord of the ritual
order.
8. And I announce, and (will) complete (my Yasna)
to the Airyem4-ishy6, the holy lord of the ritual order,
and to the Fshishé-mathra, and to that lofty lord
Hadhaokhdha ¢, the holy lord of the ritual order.
g. And I announce, and (will) complete (my Yasna)
to the questions asked of Ahura, and to the lore of
Ahura, to the Ahurian DaZvyuma (Dahyuma), and
to the Ahurian Zarathustrétema, holy lords of the
ritual order, and to the farm-house with its pastures
1 This sense is most obvious.
3 The ‘fiend-smiting’ is the common meaning of vritrahf; but
verethra is clearly ‘victory’ in Zend; vritr4 also equals defensive
valour.
® Can dahmahééa mean ‘ the departed saint’ here?
‘ A lost part of the Avesta, two fragments of which only survive.
[37 Ζ
428 VISPARAD II.
which give pasture to the Kine of blessed gift, and
to the holy cattle-breeding man’.
VISPARAD 115.
1. In this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire to
approach the lords of (the ritual) which are spiritual
with my praise; and I desire to approach the earthly
lords (as well). And I desire to approach the lords
of the water with my praise, and the lords of the
land; and I desire to approach with my praise those
chiefs which strike the wing, and those which wander
wild at large, and those of the cloven hoof, who are
chiefs of the ritual (in their turn).
2. In this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire to
approach the holy Yearly festivals with my praise,
the lords of the ritual order, Maidhyé-zaremaya, the
milk-giver, and Maidhyé-shema, the pasture-giver,
and Paitishahya, the corn-giver, and Aydthrima the
breeder, the spender of the seed of males, Maidhy-
4irya, the cold, Hamaspathmaédhaya, the especial
time for ritual duties, the holy lords of the ritual
order.
3. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the future one of the settlements with
my praise, the holy lord of the ritual order, when the
future one shall produce (them as it were anew).
And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach all these chieftains of the ritual with my
praise whom Ahura Mazda mentioned to Zarathustra
1 Comp. Y. XXIX, 2. Y.1, 10-23 follows.
* Visparad II should be read after Yasna II, 8, of which it is an
extension.
VISPARAD II. 339
for sacrifice and homage because of Asha Vahista (of
Righteousness the Best).
4. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach Thee’, the lord, with my praise, Thou
who art Ahura Mazda, the spiritual lord and regu-
lator? of the spiritual creatures [the lord and regulator
of the spiritual creation].
And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach thee, Zarathustra Spitama, with my
praise, the terrestrial (lord and regulator) of the
terrestrial creation, [the lord and regulator of the
terrestrial creation].
5. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the man who recites the ritual rites with
my praise, who is maintaining thus the thought well
thought, and the word well spoken, and the deed well
done, and Piety the bountiful, even him ὃ who main-
tains the Mathra of the Saoshyazt, by whose actions
the settlements are advanced in the righteous order.
6. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the (yearly) Seasons with my praise, the
holy lords of the ritual order, and the Ahuna-vairya
as itis recited, and Asha Vahista when he is lauded 4,
and the Yéwhé hatam, the frequent chant of sacrifice.
7. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the Gatha Ahunavaiti with my praise.
1 It is certainly not impossible that the idea of ‘invoking the
approach of Ahura’ was meant, but ‘approaching him’ is more
natural.
3 Ahiiméa ratfiméa, applied to the same person, the usage
arising from an erroneous rendering of the Ahuna-vairya; see
Y. XIX, x2.
8. Y6, with ΚΡ, Καὶ, daretem, passive form; or, ‘who (has) the
Ma&thra held.’ The text must, however, be in disorder.
* In the Ashem Vohf..
Z2
340 VISPARAD IL.
And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire to
worship those women with my praise who are well-
portioned}, and of good parentage, and who are
stately in their growth; yea, I desire to approach
that chant in my praise which has the Ahd and the
Ratu, [for He is verily the one who has the Aha and
the Ratu, that is, Ahura Mazda 5].
And I desire to approach the heroic Yasna Hap-
tanghditi in my praise, the holy, and ruling in the ritual
order; and Ardvi Sfra Andhita, the holy, and ruling
in the ritual order.
8. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the Gatha Ustavaiti with my praise, the
holy, and ruling in the ritual order; and I desire to
approach those mountains® with my praise which
shine with holiness, abundantly glorious, Mazda-
made, the holy lords of the ritual order, and the
GAtha Spezt4-mainyu, and Verethraghna, the blow of
victory, Mazda-given, the holy lord of the ritual order,
and the Victorious Ascendency (which it bestows).
9. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the G&atha Vohu-khshathra with my
praise, the holy, and ruling in the ritual order, and
Mithra of the wide pastures, and Raman /7vAstra,
and the Gatha Vahistéisti, and the pious and good
prayer for blessings, and the pious and holy man, and
that Yazad, the redoubted and swift curse of the wise.
to. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I
desire to approach the Airyem4-ishyS with my
1 So the Pahlavi. 3 Erroneous Pazand.
8. This sentence affords support to my rendering of 4yésé, as
expressing a desire to approach, rather than one for the approach of
(the Genius of) the Mountain ; at the same time the latter idea may
very possibly be the correct one. (Expressions are curtailed.)
VISPARAD III.
ce oS
RES Ν } δ
UNIS ERSTTQYy
praise, and the Fshdshé-m&thra, and that To
the Hadhaokhdha, holy lord(s) of the ritual order.
11, Andin this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire
to approach the question asked of Ahura, and the lore
of the Lord (which he reveals in answer), and the
farm-house of the man possessed of pastures, and
the pasture produced for the Kine of blessed gift,
and the holy cattle-breeding man’.
VISPARAD III.
BEGINNING OF THE HaomMa OFFERING; ROLL-CALL
OF THE PRIEST 3.
1. (The Zaotar speaks.) (I call for) the Havanan ὃ,
and would have him here.
(The Ratu answers.) I will come (and fulfil his
duties).
(The Zaotar speaks.) I would have the Atare-
vakhsha 4 here.
(The Ratu answers.) I will come (and fulfil the
services which fall to his charge).
(The Zaotar.) I would have the Frabaretar δ,
(The Ratu.) I will come (and fulfil the services
which fall to his charge).
(The Zaotar.) I would have the Aberet® present.
(The Ratu.) I will come (for him).
' Y. II, ro follows Visparad II, 11.
3 This chapter 1-5 follows Y. XI, 1-8 in the Vendidid Sadah;
so, appropriately.
5 The Ratu answers for all according to the rubric printed by
Westergaard, but of later origin than the text. It arose from the
fact that the several offices were later united in that of the Ratu.
Originally the corresponding official answered to his title. The
Havanan was the Mobad who pounded the Haoma in the mortar.
“ The Mobad who fed the Fire.
5 The Mobad who aided the presentations. 5 The water carrier.
242 VISPARAD III.
(The Zaotar.) I would have the Asnatar ?.
(The Ratu.) I will come (and do the duties which
he serves).
(The Zaotar.) I would have the Raéthwiskar ? to
be here.
(The Ratu.) I will come (for him).
(The Zaotar.) I would have the Sraosh4vareza °
present, the wisest one, the most correct and veracious
in his speech.
(The Ratu.) I will come. 2. (The Zaotar.) I
would have the Fire-priest to be here, and the warrior,
and the thrifty tiller + of the earth, and the house-lord,
and the lords of the Vis and the Zaztu.
3. And I summon the youth of holy thoughts,
words and works, and of good conscience ; (yea), the
youth of good speech, given (in marriage) to his kin‘.
And I summon the province-ranger, and the itinerant
of many arts, and the house-mistress.
4. And I summon the woman advanced in her holy
thoughts, and words, and deeds, and well subordinated,
whose ruler is her lord δ, the holy one, who is (as) the
bounteous Aramaiti; (yea), I summon even Thy
wives, O Ahura! And I summon likewise the holy
man advanced in his good thoughts, and words, and
deeds, who is learned in pious lore, and innocent of
the Kayadha, and by whose deeds the settlements are
furthered in the righteous order.
1 The washer.
* The mixer (?), or the Mobad who attended to disinfections.
® The Mobad who attended to penance.
4 The typical layman.
® This important custom was fully treated in the lost Nask,
No. 16 (or No. 18; by another reckoning).
* So the most, but ratukhshathra means elsewhere ‘ruling in
the ritual as supreme.’
VISPARAD IV. 343
5. Yea, we summon you, whoever you may be, if
only chiefs of the Mazdayasnians; and we summon
the Bounteous Immortals, and the pious Saoshyamts
(the prophets for our help), the most correct and
truthful in their speech, the most zealous, the most
glorious in their thoughts, the greatest ones, and the
powerful; and we summon the Fire-priests, and the
warriors, and the diligent husbandman of the Mazda-
yasnian Faith.
61. (The Zaotar.) As an Ahf to be (revered and)
chosen, the Atarevakhsha (announcing) speaks forth "
to me.
(The Ratu[?].) So let the Ratu from his righteous-
ness, holy and learned, speak forth.
(The Ratu.) Asan Ahi to be (revered and) chosen,
the Zaotar (announcing) speaks forth ? to me.
(The Zaotar.) So let the Ratu from (his) righteous-
ness, holy and learned, speak forth.
(The Ratu.) Thou art the announcer for us, O
Fire-priest! [(PAazand.) It is {πε Zaotar (who is
meant). |
(The Zaotar.) I will come as this Zaotar, and recite
the Staota Yésnya with memorised intoning, chanting,
and praise.
VISPARAD IV (Sp. δ)".
1. (Yea,) we sacrifice to the thoughts of the mind,
and to the good wisdom, and to the good and blessed
1 This section follows Y. XI, 9-15 in the V.S., preceding a
section described as Y. XI, 59, 60, in the B. V.S.
3 Probably in an imperative sense, or, with some, an infinitive.
8 Read Zaotasti which contains sandhi. It seems a gloss to
explain the Athraom (sic). It is zaot asti.
4 This section, preceding Y. XI, closed in the B.V. S., seems to me
244 VISPARAD V.
sanctity, and to the good religious knowledge, and
to good health (of soul and body). [At their (several)
seasons, and with the presence of seasonable circum-
stances, they are hymned!.] 2. Confession is to
be made for the Kine; we, Zarathustrian Mazda-
yasnians, celebrate at the sacrificial time for the
Myazda-offering, at the time for the Ratufrtti, the
prayer for blessings, for the sacrificial worship,
homage, propitiation, and praise of the entire crea-
tion of the holy (and the clean).
VISPARAD V (Sp. Νὴ 3.
1. I come to You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals! as
a praiser priest, and invoker, as a memoriser, reciting
(Your ritual), and as a chanter for Your sacrifice and
homage, Your propitiation, and Your praise ; (yea,
for Yours) the Bountiful Immortals, and for our
preparation, (O ye holy Saoshyazts!) and for your
well-timed prayer for blessings, and your sanctifi-
cation, and for our victorious smiting of our foes,
beneficial (as it is) for our souls, for ours, the
Saoshyazts, (with you), and holy. 2. And I make
my offering to You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals,
who rule aright, and who dispose (of all) aright!
(Yea), I offer You the flesh of my very body, and
all the blessings of my life as well.
3. And I confess my belief in Thee, O Ahura
to belong properly after Yasna VIII, and the Myazda offering with
the Ratufriti.
1 Pazand.
* This piece should be read after Yasna XIV, with which it is
nearly identical. The language of the translation is slightly varied
to relieve the effect of sameness.
VISPARAD VI, VII. 345
Mazda! and as a Mazdayasnian of the order of
Zarathustra, and in accordance with his Faith.
VISPARAD VI (Sp. VII)?
In accordance with the precept, with praise, and
with the joyful reception of grace, with Zaothras
intelligently offered, with sacrificial words correctly
spoken, I call the good Amesha Spexta by their
names of beauty; yea, I worship the Bountiful
Immortals by their beautiful names, with the blessing
of the ritual Order, with the longing blessing of
Righteousness the good.
VISPARAD VII (Sp. VIII) %
1. We worship the (sacrificial) words correctly
uttered, and Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, and
the good Ashi, (the blest order of our rites), and
Nairya-sangha. And we worship the victorious
Peace as the unprostrated and unmoved. And we
sacrifice to the Fravashis of the saints, and to the
Kinvat Bridge, and to the Garé NmAna of Ahura,
even Heaven, the best world of the saints, the shining
and all glorious!
2. And we sacrifice to that better path ὃ that leads
to that Best World (as well). And we worship
Arstaz (Justice) the good, which helps the settlements
to advance and flourish, benefiting them thereby,
that Arst4¢ which is the Mazdayasnian Faith; and
(with her) we worship Rashnu the most just, and
1 Nearly identical with Yasna XV.
* This chapter should be read after Yasna XVII, which it appro-
priately follows in the Vendidad Sadah.
5 Possibly ‘the best (better) course of that best world.’
246 VISPARAD VII.
Mithra of the wide pastures. And we worship
Parendi the wealthy, wealthy with a wealth of
thoughts, with a throng of words, and with a breadth
of actions, [for she makes our persons agile (for
good thoughts and words and actions)]. 3. And
we worship that virile defensive’ Heroism which
possesses men who think beforehand, and heroic
men, which is fleeter? than the fleet, stronger than
the strong, which comes to him who is endowed by
God, which, when especially made theirs by men,
produces one who is a freer of the body. And we
worship Sleep’, the Mazda-made, the gladdener of the
herd and men. 4. And we worship those things in
the creation of the holy which are the ancient insti-
tutions, those formed before the sky, the water, the
land, the plants, and the Kine of blessed gift. And
we worship the sea Vouru-kasha, and the stormy
wind which is made by Mazda, and the shining
heaven, of old created, the first-made earthly object
of (all) the earthly world.
5. And we worship thee, the Fire, O Ahura
Mazda’s son! the holy lord of the ritual order, and
this Baresman, having the Zaothra with it, and the
girdle with it, spread out with sanctity, the holy
ritual chief, and we worship Apam-napaé (the son
of waters).
1 One might consider, ‘ virile power which has men and heroes
in the mind beforehand ;’ but vareti=gfirdth.
3. Asyayau (sic) and takhmétdsyayau (sic) agree with feminines ;
possibly because of the male qualities referred to. They might be
said to be in apposition rather than in agreement with the feminine.
8. Sleep is elsewhere an evil; a Demon, Bashydsta, rules it; but
this is untimely sleep; see, on the other hand, Y. XLIV, δ.
VISPARAD VIII, IX. 347
VISPARAD VIII (Sp. IX).
1. With this word be Thou approached !, with the
proper word be Thou present here, Thou who art
Ahura Mazda, the holy, together with the good
Yazads who are the Bountiful Immortals, who rule
aright, and dispose (of all) aright, together with fifty,
and a hundred, and a thousand, and ten thousand, and
millions, and yet more.
2. And to Him who rules the best let the King-
dom be 5
VISPARAD IX (Sp. X)*
1, (I desire to offer my homage and my praise ‘) to
the offered Haomas and Zaothras, and to those also
which shall yet be offered, which smite victoriously,
and are foes of hatred, and following in company (as
they do) with the healing virtues of sanctity, following
also in company with those of isti (religious know-
ledge), and with the remedies of Mazda, and with
those of Zarathustra and the Zarathustrétema, (2) and
to the offered Haomas and Zaothras which accompany
those remedies which belong to the holy disciple well
versed in good devices δ, and accompanying those of
the itinerant also versed in good devices®, and accom-
panying those likewise of the good Mazdayasnian
Faith, and those of the pious and beneficent Prayer
for blessings, and of the pious and good veracity, and
’ Mediated’ (?), or ‘known,’ madhayangha (-uha).
3 See Y. XXXV, 5.
® This section should be read before Y. XXII.
* Supplied necessarily from Visp. X, 2; see its genitive.
δ Or, ‘sciences’ (in some cases medical).
348 VISPARAD IX.
of the pious word against unbelief, (3) for information
and explanation, for preparation (?) and devotion, for
the libation and complete offering, for the complete
recital of the liturgy memorised as well ; and to those
Haomas which are pungent, bounteous, holy, and
offered with sanctity (and for a blessing), to those
which are yet to be offered with sanctity, and which
are now being celebrated, and which are likewise in
the future to be celebrated, to those which are being
pressed with sanctity, and to those which are yet to
be pressed, (to these I desire to approach, and to
express my homage and my praise). 4. And I desire
to express my homage and my praise to the strength
of the strong, and to the victorious blow of the mighty,
to the powerful Rectitude and Blessedness, to Xisti
and the Priority for the powerful Ascendency, and
to these powerful Yazads which are the Bountiful
Immortals, who rule aright, and dispose of all aright,
ever-living, ever-helpful, who, male and female, dwell
together with the Good Mind, (to these I desire in my
homage and my praises to approach); (5) (yea, I
desire to approach for homage and praises toward)
our Universal Weal and Immortality, to the body of
the Kine, and to the Kine’s Soul. (And I desire to
approach) the Fire of the spoken name’, and toward
that farm-house which is sanctified and which has
fields and comfort®, and mercy (for the poor); (6)
as a praiser with praise for the sacrifice, homage,
which is this praise of Ahura Mazda, of the Bountiful
Immortals, and of the holy and lofty Lord, for the
sacrifice, and homage of the Lord that most attains
his ends, and which is this praise of that blessedness
1 Having a Yast.
2 Here is an instance where Avathra may mean ‘comfort.’
VISPARAD X, ΧΙ. 349
which has approached us, and of that well-timed
prayer for blessings offered in the ritual, (7) which is
likewise the praise of the Mathra Spenta (the boun-
teous word of reason), and of the Mazdayasnian
Religion, and the Praises of the Yasnas', which is
also that of all the lords of the ritual, and of all the
well-timed prayers for blessings, for the sacrifice,
homage, propitiation, and glorification of the entire
creation of the holy (and the clean).
VISPARAD X (Sp. XI)2%
1. I desire to approach the Arezahis with my praise,
and the Savahis, and Fradadhafshu,and Vtdadhafshu,
and Vouru-baresti, and Vouruyaresti, and this Karsh-
var which is vaniratha. 2. And I desire to ap-
proach the stone mortar with my praise, and the
iron mortar, and the cup that holds the Zaothra, and
the hair (which stays the spilling), and Thy Bares-
man spread with sanctity. And I desire to approach
the Ahuna-vairya with my praise, and the ritual
prayers beside Ahuna, and the standing offices of
the Mazdayasnian Faith.
VISPARAD XI (Sp. XII).
1. To Ahura Mazda would we present ¢ our offered
Haomas and that which is lifted up, as the most
1 Perhaps ‘the Yasts in the Yasna,’ otherwise the latter portion
of the Yasna.
3 This section follows Y. XXII.
* The varesa consists (as used at present) of three, five, or seven
hairs from the tail of a white bull, which are tied to a gold, silver,
copper, or brass ring. This can be used as long as the bull lives,
but as often as it is used it must be reconsecrated. (Haug.)
‘ The wording is purposely varied in the renderings to avoid
sameness.
350 VISPARAD XI.
beneficial to Verethraghna (the blow of victory) which
furthers the settlements; and that which is offered
to the good and holy king, and that which is offered to
the holy ruler which rules according to, or in the
ritual, and we make known our Haomas to the Boun-
tiful Immortals, and to the good waters; and we
present our Haomas each to (our) own soul!; and
we announce our Haomas in our celebration to the
entire creation of the holy (and the clean).
2. Yea, we present these Haomas and Haoma-
implements,and these spread mats, and these Myazdas,
these stones, the first in the creation, the stone mortar
brought here with the yellow? Haoma in it, and the
iron mortar brought here with the yellow Haoma in
it, this Haoma-water, and this Baresman spread
with sanctity, (3) these bodies, and (their) forces, these
striving Zaothras (that seek to find Thy grace), this
holy Haoma, and the flesh, and the holy man, and
the saint's innate thoughts, even the Saoshyamts’
innate thoughts.
And we present this fresh milk as an offering,
now lifted up with sanctity, and this Hadh4naépata
plant, lifted up with sanctity; (4) and we offer, and
present these Zaothras with our celebration, having
the Haoma with them, and the milk, and the Hadha-
naépata, to the good waters and offered up with
piety. And we present the Haoma-water in our
celebrations to the good waters, and both the stone
and the iron mortar, (5) and this branch for the
Baresman, and the prayer for blessings uttered at
the fitting moment which has approached (for our
help in its order with the prayers), and the recollec-
1 To the soul of the person who may be reciting.
3 Zé4iri with K4.
VISPARAD ΧΙ. 351
tion and practice of the good Mazdayasnian law, and
the heard recital of the Gathas, the well-timed prayer
for blessings as it comes uttered by the saint (and for
our help), and ruling (while it is spoken) as a ritual
lord, and these wood-billets, and the perfume even
Thine, the Fire’s,O Ahura Mazda’s son! and all good
objects (which are ours), and Mazda-made, and which
have the seed of sanctity (or are that seed).
6. Yea, these we make known and we announce
in this our celebration to Ahura Mazda (as our gift),
and to Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, and to Ashi
(who is the recompense), and to Rashnu the most just,
and to Mithra of the wide pastures, and to the Boun-
tiful Immortals, and the Fravashis of the saints, and
to their souls, and to the Fire of Ahura Mazda, the
lord, and to the lofty lord (the Ap&im-nap�), and
to the Myazda, the lord, and to the well-timed prayer
for blessings as it rules in the order of our prayers,
for the sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and adoration
of the entire creation of the holy (and the clean).
7. Yea, these we make known in this our celebra-
tion hereby for the Fravashi of Zarathustra Spitama,
the saint, for its sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and
praise, and to the (Fravashi) of Anghuyu (?)! who hath
loved righteousness, together with all the holy Fra-
vashis of the saints, of those now dead, and of those
of the living, and of those of men unborn, of the
prophets that shall serve us, bringing on the renova-
tion of the completed world. 8-11, see verses 2-5.
12. Yea, we would make these known hereby in
our celebrations to the Bountiful Immortals, who rule
1 Here, erroneously, a proper name asin Yast XIII. Possibly
of that Zarathustrian world (period) which loved righteousness ; the
word occurs after the name of Z. I think, that “γ᾽ should be ‘v.’
352 VISPARAD XI.
aright, and who dispose (of all) aright, the ever-living,
ever-helpful, who are good (?), and bestowers of the
good, who dwell with the Good Mind [(P4zand) for
they who are the Bountiful Immortals abide with
the Good Mind, they who rule aright, and dispose
(of all) aright, for thence they are regulated, and
thence they arose, (namely,) from the Good Mind 1].
13. And we make known these our celebrations as
the more promotive for this? house, for the fur-
therance of this house, and as benefits for this house,
because of the increase of this household, as over-
coming the restrictions which impede this household,
and as overcoming the harmful malice which may
mar this house, to bless its herds, and its retainers,
born, and yet to be born, for the saints of the house
as it was aforetime, of it as it? stands here now, and
to which we likewise now belong as the Saoshyazts of
the provinces, (14) [which (is that we are Saoshyazts)
for the saints who do good deeds, and of the female
saints who do good deeds, and of the saints who do
the deeds conspicuously good, and of the females
likewise thus, of the saints who do good deeds upon
good deeds, and of the females thus the same].
15. And we make these known in our celebrations
to the good Fravashis of the saints which are for-
midable and overwhelming in their aid. 16. And
we make these known in our celebrations hereby to
Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, and to the good
τ Vohu Manah certainly appears the most prominent here. They
arose from the ‘ good thought’ of Ahura.
3 This office was celebrated in private houses by itinerant priests.
8 ‘Yénhé aém might be a citation from some lost prayer. The
singular aém may, however, be taken collectively, as families are
spoken of.
VISPARAD XII. 253
Blessedness, and to Nairya-sangha, and to the vic-
torious Peace, and to Ahura Mazda’s Fire, and to
the lofty lord, for sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and
for praise, to the entire creation of the holy and the
clean. 17,18=Visp. X, 1, 2.
19. (Sp. XIII.) Yea, we make that known which is
lifted up in offering, and which is the Avesta! as the
holy Ahura Mazda directed that it should be said,
and as Zarathustra, the holy, directed, and as I, the
priest, who am acquainted with their sacrifice and
homage, am now letting it be known. I who under-
stand the lawful and legitimate Avesta*, and the
ritual prescripts (20) for Your sacrifice, homage, and
propitiation, O Ye who are the Bountiful Immortals,
and for our preparation (?), and for the success of our
well-uttered prayer for blessings, for victory, sanctifi-
cation, and the well-being of our souls, (of ours), for
(we are) the holy Saoshyaxts.
21. Yea, we make these known in our celebrations
here, and we offer them to Him who is Ahura Mazda,
of all the greatest, the master and the Lord.
VISPARAD XII (Sp. XIV)*.
1. For the offered Haomas which have been offered
in libation to that lofty Lord Ahura Mazda and to
the holy Zarathustra Spitama (produce) abundance
in cattle and in men; and this * abundance is (as) the
good Sraosha, who accompanies (us) with the great
1 Avista probably= Avesta; compare Veda. The moral and
ceremonial laws.
3. Avestic. 5 Follows Y. XXVII.
4“ Ha seems to have a certain conjunctive force like sa in com-
position, ‘ And thereto the good Sraosha ;’ or is it an interjection?
[31] Aa
354 VISPARAD XII.
splendour of sanctity, and may he! be here with
energetic effort (to aid us in our worship).
2. We offer the wise offerings of the Ahuna-vairya
intoned with sanctity and yet to be intoned, possessing
their many teachings of religious wisdom (as they do),
and those of the two mortars which pour the Haomas
out, and which are pushed forward with precision 5,
and are now in the course of being thus advanced
once more*. 3. (And so we teach as well the many
teachings of the religious wisdom) contained in the
words correctly spoken, in the Zarathustrian utter-
ances‘, and in the ceremonies correctly practised,
and the Baresmans spread exactly, and the Haomas
pressed correctly, and the praise, Yasnas, and the
doctrines of the Mazdayasnian Religion with their
recitations, and their movements. 4. For thus they
may become to us more full of devices and of wisdom,
and so we offer these wise ritual deeds in the creation,
so we impart them with their many points of meaning
while we (ourselves) still ponder them as those which
Ahura Mazda, the holy One, delivered, which have
(as if) their nourishment from Vohu Manah® and
their growth from the Righteous Order, which are
the greatest of all beings, the best, and the most
beautiful ; for thus shall these be to us the more full
of wisest meaning, and more full of incitation 5, and
may we be among those (who are) of Spevta Mainyu’s
world in that we are imparting (to the chosen) these
1 Recall he#a of Y. XLVI, 1.
3 With punctilious sanctity.
5 The Parsi priests at present make appropriate manipulations here.
4 In the now ancient GAthas, &c.
> Compare gaéthau vispau yau νομῇ thraosté manangh§.
* Or, ‘may we be more zealous than any. who are in the
creation of the bounteous spirit.’
VISPARAD XIII. 355
precepts of the wisest meaning and these incitations
which are contained therein. 5. And full of wisest
meaning be ye two to us, O (thou) stone mortar, and
(thou) the iron one, as ye are now turned, and as ye
are now being advanced!, ye two mortars of the
house, [and of the village, of the tribe, and of the
province, and ye who are in this house (itself), this
village, tribe, and province]; yea, in those which are
ours, Mazdayasnians, who are steadfast in our wor-
ship, who appear with our wood-billets and our
perfumes, and with our supplicated blessings [(P4-
zand) for so may they be to us, the more full of
wisest teaching].
VISPARAD XIII (Sp. XV)?
1. According to the ritual we worship Ahura
Mazda; according to the ritual we worship the Boun-
tiful Immortals; and we sacrifice to the sacrificial
word correctly spoken, and to every Mathra (as to a
sacred word of reason). And we sacrifice to Zara-
thustra, him who is especially the possessor of the
Mathra*; and we sacrifice to the ‘blessings for the
saints’*; and we worship the ‘hail’® addressed to
the Bountiful Immortals.
2. Also we worship the three principal (chapters)
uttered (in the Yasna) without addition or omission®;
1 Referring to manipulations.
* This fragment follows Y. XXX in the Vendtd4d SAdah, and
was written in allusion to Y. XXVIII, Y. XXIX, and Y. XXX.
* Referring to mathra srevaém4 in Yasna XXVIII, 8.
4“ Referring to the words sava#4 ashavabyé in Yasna XXX, 11.
5 Referring to the word ust4 in Yasna XXX, 11.
* The three first chapters XXVIII-XXX; the text has bad
grammar, or broken connection.
Aa2
256 VISPARAD XIV.
and we worship the three principal ones without
addition or omission; we worship the three com-
mencing ones entire without addition or omission?.
And we worship the entirety? of the three principal
ones without addition or omission; and their HAs,
their metrical lines, their words, and their word-
structure [and their recital, memorising, chanting, and
their steadfast offering].
VISPARAD XIV (Sp. XVI)*.
1. (We worship Ahura Mazda, the holy Lord of the
ritual order‘; and we sacrifice to the GAtha Ahuna-
vaiti) with its measures, and word-structure, and its
Zand, with its questions and counter-questions, with
its words and its metric feet. And we sacrifice to
these as well-recited, and now in the course of being
recited, as well-worshipped, and now in the course of
being used in worship’. 2. (Yea, we sacrifice to it) in
1 It is difficult to see how anapishfita can mean ‘without retrench-
ment,’ but the context seems to require it, and the Pahlavi transla-
tion bears evidence to it. Perhaps read anapashfta.
* «The whole three first.’ Some suppose the three prayers to be
intended (the Ahuna-vairya, the Ashem Vohf, and the Yénhé
hatam). I think that the three chapters XXVIII-XXX are meant.
As the piece follows those three chapters in the Vendfd&d Sadah, so
its expressions indicate a reference to them. This might tend to
show that the Ahunavaiti was at one time, if not originally, divided
at this place.
8. This fragment was written in evident allusion to the entire
Ahunavaiti, which it follows in the Vendidad Sadah. It expresses
the veneration acquired by the first Gatha long after its com-
position.
4 From the Vendid4d Sadah.
* Frayazentim may be a metaplasm; otherwise ‘of the sacri-
ficers.’
VISPARAD XV. 357
its own ‘wisdom ’?, in its own ‘clearness 2, in its own
‘loving intention’’, in its sovereignty, and its own
ritual order, and its ‘acquired boon’ ", which is also
that given by Ahura Mazda for the promotion of
piety, for that thought which originates from the
‘heart-devoted self’?,
3. (Sp. Chapter XVII.) Also we worship the
Ahuna-vairya, the holy lord of the ritual order, the
holy lord with its Ahf and its Ratu [(PAzand) ; for
He is the one with the title Ahi and Ratu, who is
Ahura Mazda*], 4. And we sacrifice to the con-
Stituent parts of the Gatha Ahunavaiti, to its chapters,
and its metrical lines, its words, and word-structure,
{and to its heard-recital, and memorised recital, its
continuous and its steadfast offering].
VISPARAD XV (Sp. XVIIT)+.
1. Hold your feet in readiness, and your two hands,
and your understandings *®, O ye Zarathustrian Maz-
dayasnians! for the well-doing of lawful deeds in
accordance with the sacred Order, and for the
avoidance of the unlawful and evil deeds which
are contrary to the ritual. Let the good deeds for the
furtherance of husbandry be done‘ here. Render
ye the needy rich’. 2. Let Sraosha (Obedience)
be present here for the worship of Ahura Mazda,
1 Dami with K4. Possibly in their own house (dimi=dani).
3 These words probably allude severally, say, to dim in Y.
XXXI, 7, Aithra in Y. XXXI, 22, zaoshé in Y. XXXIII, 2, το,
ayapté in Y. XXVIII, 8, to zarzdau in Y. XXXI, 1.
5 Erroneous.
‘ This piece is a later composed prelude to the Haptanghiiti,
which it precedes in the Vendid4d Sadah.
® Sursum corda |! * Comp. gav6i verezy4tam, Y. XLVIII, 5.
7 «Place the needy with those without need.’
358 VISPARAD XVI.
the most helpful, and the holy, who is so desired by
us in the pronunciation, and for the service, and the
pondering? of the Yasna Haptanghiiti, for the heart’s
devotion to it, for its memorisation, and its victorious
and holy recital (or for the victorious saint), without
addition or omission, (3) which has been intoned, and
which shall yet be uttered as great, powerful, smiting
with victory, separate from harmful malice, for the
pronunciation of victorious words for Ahura Mazda’s
Fire. (4, 5 are identical with Visp. IX, 6, 7.)
VISPARAD XVI (Sp. XIX)*.
1. And we worship the Fire here, Ahura
Mazda’s son, and the Yazads having the seed of
fire in them, and the Rashnus having the seed of
fire* in them; and we worship the Fravashis of the
saints. And we worship Sraosha who smites with
victory, and the holy man, and the entire creation
of the holy (and the clean). 2. And we worship
the Blessedness and the Fravashi of Zarathustra
Spitama, the saint. And we worship the saints and
their blessed Fravashis (as of one). And we worship
all their Fravashis (as considered each apart), and
those of the saints within the Province, and those of
the saints without the Province; yea, we worship the
Fravashis of holy men and holy women (wherever
they may be, those devoted to the Order of the
Faith). And we sacrifice to those whose (service)
1 Possibly mazdataésa.
* This piece follows the Haptanghditi in the Vendiddd S4dah;
it was intended as a sequel to it.
5. Having the power to propagate its worship, maintaining it
unextinguished. De Harlez makes the admirable suggestion,
‘bright as flame’; but the Pahlavi renders tokhmak.
VISPARAD XVII, XVIII. 359
for us in the Yasna Ahura Mazda, the holy, has
known as the better !, and of these Zarathustra is the
living chief? and master. And we sacrifice to the fields
and the waters, the lands and the plants, and to the
constituent parts of the Yasna Haptanghditi, its
chapters, its metred lines, its words, and word-
structure.
VISPARAD XVII (Sp. XX)*
And we strive after the good thoughts, words, and
deeds inculcated in the Yasna Haptanghaiti. A
blessing is the Right (called) the Best, (there is)
weal; (there is) weal for this (man) when toward
Righteousness Best (there is) right.
VISPARAD XVIII (Sp. XXI)+*.
1. Weworship Ahura Mazda with the usta’, And
we worship the Amesha Spevta with the usta, and the
holy man, the saint. And we worship the prior world
of the holy (and of the clean) with an usta, and the
State of weal and salvation for the holy man (the saint).
2. And we worship that life-long state of blessed-
ness (for the holy) which is the evil man’s calamity®;
yea, we worship his eternal” salvation, and with the
salvation prayer. And we sacrifice to every saint who
1 Comp. Y. LI, 22.
* Anghuséa ratuska here referred to the same person; comp. Δ.
5 An addition to chapter XVI.
‘ This piece having reference to various expressions in the
G&tha Ustavaiti, follows it in the Vendid4d Sadah.
δ Referring to usta in Y. XLIII, 1. ® See Y. XLV, 7.
7 Akaranem=the eternal thing; otherwise an adjective of two
terminations ; or, finally, read -im.
360 VISPARAD XIX.
exists, who is now coming into existence, and who
shall exist in future.
VISPARAD XIX (Sp. XXII)
1. We worship Ahura Mazda the bountiful; and
we worship the Bountiful Immortals (saying the
Spezta). And we sacrifice to the bountiful saint,
and to the bountiful anticipative understanding ?.
Also we sacrifice to the good and bountiful Aramaiti
(the ready mind). And we worship her together
with ὁ the bountiful creatures in the creation of the
pure. And we sacrifice to the holy creatures who
have intelligence as their first *, (to those foremost
in their mind). And we worship the omniscient
understanding, and Him who is Ahura Mazda (Him-
self), 2. And we sacrifice to the shining sun, which
is the highest of the high; yea, we worship the
sun together with the Bountiful Immortals, and the
M&thras with their good ceremonies’, Also we
sacrifice to the glorious achievements, and to this
glory (which we have gained). And we sacrifice to
the herds which have the Fire and its blessings ὅ,
Also we worship the holy benefit which is so widely
1 The word spenta throughout alludes to the Gatha Spenté-
mainyu, but it is of course not without grammatical application.
* In the Bundahis especially referred to Ahura.
5 Or, ‘together with the bountiful creatures we worship the holy
creatures,”
‘ This expression may have been accidentally determined by
the position of the word mand in the Ahuna-vairya formula; see
Y. XIX. 12.
5 Or, ‘the well-fulfilled.’
* ‘Fire-made’ is unintelligible ; ‘fire gifts-having’ may refer to
the flocks and herds, as expressing the source of that prosperity
which is represented by the holy Fire. ᾿
VISPARAD XX. 361
diffused !, and that wisdom which is the bounteous
Aramaiti, whose are the laws? of the Righteous
Order, and of those holy creatures who have Righte-
ousness as their first.
VISPARAD XX (Sp. XXIIT)*
1, (Homage to the Gatha Vohu-khshathra‘! We
sacrifice to the Vohu-khshathra), (the good king-
dom) even the Khshathra-vairya, the kingdom to
be desired ; and we sacrifice to the iron-founding ὅ,
and to the (sacrificial) words ὁ correctly spoken which
smite (the foe) with victory, and which hold the
Daévas subject.
And we worship that reward and that health, that
healing and that progress, that growth and that
victorious smiting’ (2) which are between the
Vohu-khshathra and the Vahistéisti *, (and which are
acquired by us) by the memorised recital of the good
thoughts, good words, and good deeds, for the with-
standing of evil thoughts, and words, and deeds;
yea, for the undoing of all treacherous thoughts
(directed) against me, and of all false words, and
unfair deeds. 3. [And we sacrifice to the later
Yasna, the heroic Haptanghaiti®, (and which as it
recurs becomes) the holy ritual chief.]
1 Pahl. fravaft std. ? DAthra with Κα.
δ This piece from the later Avesta follows Y. LI, in the Vendt-
dad Sadah.
* From the Vendidéd Sadah.
5 Associated with this GAtha from Y. LI, 9.
5 Compare Y. LI, 3. ΤΥ LI, 9; also perhaps Y. LIII, 8, 9.
5 Between; that is, described in the space between the Vohu-
khshathra and the Vahist6isti, i.e. in Y. 111. See hamisteé in
Y. LII, 4, and paitistiteé in Visp. XX, 2.
® This would seem misplaced; perhaps Y. XLII is meant, which
follows the Haptanghiiti.
362. tate + VISPARAD XXI, XXII.
VISPARAD XXI (Sr. XXIV).
1. We strive earnestly, and we take up our Yasna
and our homage to the good waters, and to the fertile
fruit-trees (which bear as of themselves), and to the
Fravashis of the saints; yea, we take up our Yasna,
and our homage earnestly to those beings which are
(so) good, the waters, and the trees, and the Fravashis
of the saints, (2) and to the Kine, and to Gaya
(Maretan), and to the Mathra Spezta (the bounteous
word-of-reason), the holy, which works (within and for
us with effect), to these we take up our Yasnas and
our homage with earnest zeal, and to Thee, O Ahura
Mazda! and to thee, O Zarathustra, we do the same;
and to thee, O lofty lord (the Apaim-nap4¢), and to
the Bountiful Immortals. 3. And we sacrifice to the
listening (that hears our prayers) and to that mercy,
and to the hearing of (our spoken) homage, and to that
mercy which is (shown in response to our offered)
praise. And we sacrifice to the frarditi vidushé,
which is contained in the piece vadaén4is ashaonts ;
and we sacrifice to ‘the good praise which is without
hypocrisy, and which has no malice (as its end)’;
and we sacrifice to the later Yasna and to its
offering; and we sacrifice to the chapters of the
later Yasna, and to its metrical lines, its words, and
word-structure.
VISPARAD XXII (Sp. XXV).
With this chant (fully) chanted, and which is for
the Bountiful Immortals and the holy Saoshyamts
(who are the prophets who shall serve us), and by
means of these (ceremonial) actions, which are (of all)
VISPARAD XXIII.
the best, we desire to utter our supplications for the
Kine. It is that chant which the saint has recognised
as good and fruitful of blessed gifts, and which the
sinner does not know. May we never reach that
(ill-luck that the sinner) may outstrip us (in our
chanting), not in the matter of a plan (thought out),
or of words (delivered), or ceremonies (done ”), nor
yet in any offering whatever when he (?) approaches
(us for harm).
VISPARAD XXIII (Sp. XXVI)*%
1. We worship Ahura Mazda as the best‘ (worship
to be offered in our gifts). We worship the Amesha
Spezta (once more, and as) the best. We worship
Asha Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best). And
we Sacrifice to those (prayers) which are evident as
the best; that is, the Praises of the Yasnas.
Also we sacrifice to that best wish, which is that
of Asha Vahista, and we worship Heaven, which is
the best world of the saints, bright and all-glorious ;
and we sacrifice likewise to that best approach which
leads ἰοῦ it. 2. And we sacrifice to that reward,
1 The parties are divided by knowledge and ignorance (compare
the Gnosis). See Y. XXXI, 12
2 Not in thought, word, or deed may we reach (his) priority
in progress.
5 This piece from the later Avesta follows Y. LIII, in the Ven-
didad Sadah, and has reference to its expressions.
‘ It is an important suggestion which holds vahistem as equal
to ‘saying vahistem,’ in allusion to the Vahist4 fstis; but as the
word is inflected further on (see vahistahé), and as it moreover
once applies to Asha, as Asha Vahista, it is better to render it
as having adjective application throughout, being none the less, of
course, an intentional echo of the first word of Y. LIII, 1.
® Or, ‘of it.’
264 VISPARAD XXIII.
health, healing, furtherance, and increase, and to
that victory which is within! the two, the Ahuna-
vairya and the Airyem4-ishyé, through the memor-
ised recital of the good thoughts, words, and deeds
(which they enjoin).
1 Possibly ‘between them,’ meaning the GAthas which are so
placed.
AFRINAGAN.
Digitized by Google
AFRINAGAN.
AS to the present use of these blessings, says Haug
(ed. West): ‘Afrinagan are blessings which are to be recited
over a meal consisting of wine, milk, and fruits, to which an
angel, or the spirit of a deceased person, is invited, and
in whose honour the meal is prepared. After the con-
secration (which only a priest can perform) is over, the
meal is eaten by those who are present. The performance
of these Afrinag4n is required of every Parsi at certain
fixed seasons of the year. These are the six Gahanbars,
each lasting five days (at the six original seasons of the
year) for which the Afrinagan Gahanbar is intended, the
five Gatha-days (the five last days of the year), during
which the Afrinagan GAtha must be used ; and, lastly, the
third day (Ardibahist) of the first month (Fravardin) in the
year, at which the performance of Afrinagin Rapithwin,
devoted to the spirit presiding over the southern quarter
(who is the guardian of the way to paradise), is enjoined
to every Parsi whose soul wants to pass the Kinvad after
death. (Essays, 2nd edition, page 224.)
I. AFRIN[-AGAN] GAHANBAR}.
1. I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper, and of
Zarathustra’s order, a foe of the Daévas, devoted to
the lore of the Lord, for the holy Havani', the regu-
lator of the ritual order (and its lord in its turn), for
its sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and praise; (and I
confess myself) for Savanghi and for Visya, the holy
lords of the ritual order, for their sacrifice, homage,
1 The Afrin for the morning hours from 6 to 10.
268 Arrin[-aGAn] 1.
propitiation, and praise, and for that of the Asnya,
the day-lords of the days during daylight, and of the
days in their length, for the MAhya, month-lords, and
the Y4irya, year-lords, and for those of the especial
seasons, and for the worship, homage, propitiation,
and praise of that lofty lord who is the Ritual
Righteousness (itself) ; yea, for the worship, homage,
propitiation, and praise of the lords of the days,
months, years, and seasons—for those lords of the
ritual order who are of all the greatest, who are the
regulators of the ritual at the time of HAvani.
2. To Maidhyé-zaremya ', the lord [or to Maidhyé-
shema |, the lord, or to Paitishahya?, the lord, or to
Ayathrima', Maidhydirya’, or Hamaspathmaédhayal],
be propitiation, homage, and praise.
3. O ye Mazdayasnians who are here present!
offer ye? this ritual service, and present ye the Myazda
which is that of the Maidhyé-zaremaya, taking a piece
of sound flesh from a choice beast, with a full flow of
milk.
4. If ye are able to do this, (well) ; if ye are unable
to do it, ye may take then (a portion) of some liquor
of equal value, it matters not which it is, and have it
consumed as it is proper; and so be ye discreet from
your obedience, most correctly faithful in your speech,
most saintly from your sanctity, best ordered in your
exercise of power, least straitened by oppressions,
heart-easy with rejoicings, most merciful of givers,
most helpful to the poor, fulfilling most the ritual,
the blest and longed-for Asha, (coy ?) riches woman-
minded (?) bringing (as reward). If ye can do this
1 The name of the season at the time present, when the text is
recited, is to be used.
3 Bring ye, O these Mazdayasnians !
Arrtn[-aGAn] 1. 269
and with vigour, (well); (5) if not, bring wood to the
Ratu’s house. It matters not what [kind, so it be
well cut, and very dry, and inloads of fitting size.
If that is possible, (well); if not, then leta man bring
wood to the Ratu’s dwelling, and heap it up as high
as the ear, or to reach the fore-shoulder, or with the
fore-arm measure, (or at least as high as the end of the
hanging hand). If that is possible, (well); (6) but if it
has not been possible, then let the worshipper (with the
mind's offering) ascribe the power to him who rules the
best, Ahura, (saying’): Wherefore for this cause verily
we offer and ascribe the Sovereign Power to Ahura
Mazda, who rules the best, and to Righteousness (the
ritual and moral Order), and we complete our sacri-
fice to them. Thus is the Myazda offered with the
well-timed prayer for blessings.
7. Incase that a man does not give of the first
Myazda which is that of the Maidhyé-zaremaya, O
Spitama Zarathustra! the Ratu that has the right to
that Myazda, and who has this person under his
guidance, expels? that (false) disciple who has not
his Myazda with him, as a man that does not worship,
from the midst of the Mazda-worshippers. 8. In the
case that a man does not give of the second Myazda,
O Spitama Zarathustra! which is that of the Mai-
dhyé-shema, then let? the Ratu to whom the Myazda
should come, and who has the person under his
guidance, expel that disciple, since he comes without
his Myazda, as he would a man who refuses to recite
his vows, from among the number of the Mazda-
1 Or, ‘because we offer.’
* Not ‘renders him (detected) among the Mazdayasnians ;’
compare for form antaré-mrfiyé; see also fra-dasti and fra-perena-
oiti; also the present may be used for the imperative.
(31) Bb
370 Arrin[-aGAn] 1.
worshippers. 9. In the case that a man does ποῖ
give of the third Myazda, O Spitama Zarathustra!
which is that of Paitishahya, then let the Ratu who
ought to receive that Myazda, and who has had the
person under his guidance, expel that disciple which
brings no Myazda, as a detected! reprobate, from
among the number of the Mazdayasnians. το. In
case that a man does not offer of the fourth Myazda,O
Spitama Zarathustra! which is that of the Ayathrima,
let the Ratu who ought to receive that Myazda, and
who has the person under his guidance, expel that dis-
ciple, since he brings no Myazda, as a refuse * beast
from among the number of the Mazdayasnians, 11. In
the case that a man does not give of the fifth Myazda,
which is that of the Maidhydirya, then let the Ratu
to whom that Myazda belongs as a perquisite, and
who has that person under his guidance, expel him,
since he brings no Myazda, as an alien’, from among
the number of the Mazdayasnians. 12. In case that
a man does not give of the sixth Myazda, which is
that of the Hamaspathmaédhaya, O Spitama Zara-
thustra! let the Ratu to whom that Myazda belongs
as a perquisite, and who has this person under his
discipline to learn him the lore of Ahura, expel him,
(as ignorant) since he brings no Myazda, from among
the number of the Mazdayasnians, 13.. And let
him decry him afterwards without hesitation‘, and
drive > him out; and let that Ratu lay upon him after-
1 Possibly ‘having a breast burnt by the ordeal,’ and so ‘detected;’
or ‘hot-breasted, vehement’ (?); comp. tiras.
* It may be ‘(his) excluded beast,’ or ‘his stray beast’ (?).
* Or, possibly, ‘he is rejected when offering himself as arrived
from the settlements’ (?).
4 “Without recoiling.’ 5 Syazday6is.
Arrin[-acAn] 1. 371
wards the expiating deeds without reserve; and in
accordance with these rules, let the disciple treat the
Ratu. (Let him beware of failure to bring his
Myazda, or if he fails let the disciple bear, as is
befitting, what is due.) A blessing is Righteousness
(called) the Best, it is weal, it is weal for this (man)
when toward Righteousness Best there is right.
14. I bless with my prayer the royal Province-chiefs
(who are faithful worshippers) of Ahura Mazda, the
resplendent, the glorious, (beseeching) for superior
strength for them, and for more important victory,
and more influential rule, and desiring for them fur-
ther authoritative power, and helpful support, and
long duration to their reign, and the prolonged
vitality of their frames, and health. 15. And I pray
in my benediction for strength well-shaped and stately
of growth, and which smites victoriously, Ahura-
made, and crushing, and for an ascendency abun-
dantly subduing all who are filled with furious hate,
assaulting the evil-minded enemies, and destroying,
as if at once, the deadly, godless! foes.
16. And I pray in my blessing that he (the
province-governor) may conquer in victorious battles
every malicious foe, and each malignant, profane in
thoughts, and words, and actions, (17) that he may
indeed be constantly victorious in his own religious
thoughts, and words, and deeds, and unvarying in
the smiting of every foe, and of every Daéva-
worshipper, and that he may, as he proceeds?, be
well rewarded, and of good repute, possessing a far-
foreseeing preparation of the soul. 18. And I pray
with blessings thus: Live thou long and blessed be
1 Unfriendly and untrue; ‘* avraty4.’
3. Recall ydi zazenté vangh4u sravahi.
Bb2
372 Arrin[-aGAn] 1.
thou, ‘hail’ to thee; live for the aid of holy men,
and for the crushing of the evil; and I pray for
Heaven (for thee) the best world of the saints,
shining, all glorious. And thus may it happen as I
pray—*. 19. And I bless in my prayer the sacrifice,
and homage, and the strength, and swiftness of the
day-lords during daylight, and of the lords of the days
in their length, of the month-lords, and the year-lords,
and of the lords of the seasons? (in their course), and
for the worship, homage, propitiation, and praise of
the lofty lord who is the Righteous Ritual itself,
and of those lords of the ritual who are of all the
greatest, and who are the lords of the ritual at the
time of Havani, for Maidhy6-zaremaya the lord, [(or)
for Maidhyé-shema the lord, (or) for Paitishahya? the
lord, or for AyAthrima, Maidhy4irya, or Hamaspath-
maédhaya 35].
I. AFRIN-AGAN]‘ GATHA‘
1. As the Ahd is (revered and) to be chosen, so (is)
the Ratu (one who rules) from the Righteous Order, a
creator of mental goodness, and of life’s actions done
for Ahura, and the Kingdom (is) to Mazda, which to
the poor may offer a nurturer.
I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper—for the
praise of Ahura Mazda, the resplendent, the glorious,
and of the Bountiful Immortals, for the bountiful and
1 See Y. XXXV, 2. The Ahuna follows.
? The name varies with the season in which the sacrifice is made.
® As in 18.
4 Recited during the days called after the Gathas, the last five
of the year. A long period of time must have elapsed since the
GAthas were composed, as they probably were not originally ‘five,’
and yet seem to have been only remembered as such.
Arrin[-aGAn] 1. 373
holy Gathas which rule in the ritual order. (Pro-
pitiation and praise be) to the Gatha Ahunavaiti, and
to the Gatha Ustavaiti, to the GAtha Spewt4-mainyu,
and to the Gatha Vohu-khshathra, and to the (λίπα
Vahist6isti. 2. Propitiation to the Fravashis of the
Saints, the mighty, overwhelming, even to those of
the saints of yore, who held the primeval faith (the
Gathic faith), and to those of the next of kin.
3. We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the resplendent,
the glorious; and we sacrifice to the Amesha Spenta
who rule aright, and who dispose (of all aright).
And we sacrifice to the bounteous and holy Gathas,
which rule (as the first) in the ritual order.
We sacrifice to the GAtha Ahunavaiti, the holy,
as it rules in the ritual order; and we sacrifice to the
Gatha Ustavaiti, the holy, as it rules in the ritual
order ; and we sacrifice to the Gatha Spezt4-mainyu,
the holy, as it rules in the ritual order; and we sacri-
fice to the Gatha Vohu-khshathra, the holy, as it
rules in the ritual order; and we sacrifice to the
GAatha Vahistéisti, the holy, as it rules in the ritual
order. 4=Yt. XIII, 49-521,
11. AFRIN-AGAN]? RAPITHVIN 5.
1. I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper, of Zara-
thustra’s order, a foe to the Daévas, devoted to the
lore of the Lord, for Rapithwina, the holy lord of
the ritual order, for sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and praise, and for FrAda¢-fshu® and Zaztuma‘,
7 1 Verses 5, 6=A. I, 14-18; for verse 6, see verses 1, 2; also see
A. I, 19.
? To be recited on the third day (Ardibahist) of the first month
(Fravardin). 5 A genius who furthered cattle.
4 The genius of the Zaatu, presiding over this Gah Rapithvin.
374 Arrin[-aGAN] 111.
the holy lord(s) of the ritual order. 2. And to Ahura
Mazda, the resplendent, the glorious, and to the
Bountiful Immortals, be propitiation, and to Asha
Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best), and to the
Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son, and to all the holy Yazads,
heavenly and earthly, and to the Fravashis of the
saints, the mighty and overwhelming—.
3. For thus did Ahura Mazda speak to Spitama
Zarathustra the word which was spoken for the ritual
time of the Rapithwina, (saying): Ask us, O holy
Zarathustra ', what are Thy questions to be asked of
us ἢ, for Thy question is as that mighty one when Thy
ruler speaks his mighty wish. 4. Then Zarathustra
asked Ahura Mazda: O Ahura Mazda, most boun-
tiful® creator of the material worlds and holy! what
does that man acquire, what does he merit, what re-
ward shall there be for that man (5) who shall recite
the Rapithwina office with the Rapithwina prayer for
blessing, and who shall sacrifice with* the Rapithwina
office with hands (well) washed, and with (well)
washed mortars, with the Baresman spread, and
with Haoma high uplifted, and with fire brightly
flaming, with Ahuna-vairya loud intoned, with Haoma-
moistened tongue, and with a body Mathra-bound ?
6. And Ahura Mazda answered him: As the wind from
the southern quarter, O Spitama! causes the entire
material world to advance and to increase, and as it
will bless it®, rejoice it, and cause it to progress §,
such a like reward does such a man receive, (7) who
! Erroneous, 2 AhmAi; see Y. XLII, 10 with chmé.
5 Insert ‘ spirit’ * Or, ‘to.’
δ᾽ Saoshyati4a; or can saoshyamti be a locative absolute, pre-
serving a fuller form?
* Or, ‘causes it to enter into helpful joy’ (ὃ).
Arrtn[-aGAn] 111. 375
recites the Rapithwina-ratu with the Rapithwina
blessing, and sacrifices with! it with (well) washed
hands, and mortars, with Baresman spread, and
Haoma lifted, with fire brightly flaming, and with
Ahuna-vairya loud intoned, and with Haoma-mois-
tened tongue, and a body M&athra-bound! 8. Thus
hath Ahura Mazda declared to Spitama Zarathustra
the word which (should be) spoken at the Rapithwina
time. 9, 10. (See A. I, 14-19.)
1 Or, ‘to.’
Digitized by C3 oogle
THE GAHS.
Digitized by Google
THE GAHS.
THE Gahs are the five divisions of the day. The Havani
from 6 to 10 A.M., the Rapithwina from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M.,
the Uzayéirina from 3 to 6 P.M., the Aiwisrithrima from
6 to 12 P.M., the Ushahina from 12 P.M. to 6 A.M. The
Gahs here following are prayers which must be recited
at the G4hs of the day; hence their name.
I. THE GAH HAVAN:
Unto Ahura Mazda be propitiation. A blessing
is Righteousness (called) the Best —.
1. I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper, of Zara-
thustra’s order, a foe to the Daévas, devoted to the
lore of the Lord, for the holy HAvani, regulator of
the ritual order, for its sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and praise, and for Savanghi and Visya, the righteous
regulator(s) of the ritual order, for their homage, sa-
crifice, propitiation, and praise, and for those of the
Asnya, the day-lords during daylight, and the Ayara,
lords of the days in their length, and for the M4hya,
the month-lords, and the Y4irya, year-lords, and for
those of the especial seasons.
2. And to Mithra of the wide pastures, of the
thousand ears, of the myriad eyes, the Yazad of
the spoken name, be sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and praise, and to Raman /7vAstra.
3, 4. And we sacrifice to Ahura Mazda the holy
1 The term Gah, itself, may have arisen from the practice of
chanting the Gathas at different fixed times in the day.
? To be recited every day at the time of HAvani.
* Having a special Yast.
380 GAH 1.
lord of the ritual Order, and to Zarathustra, and to the
Fravashi of Zarathustra, the saint. And we sacrifice
to the Bounteous Immortals, (the guardians) of the
saints, and to the good, heroic, and bounteous Fra-
vashis of the saints (of the living and of the dead), of
the bodily, and of those in heaven. And we sacrifice
to the highest of the lords, the one that most attains
its ends; and we sacrifice to the most strenuous of
the Yazads, the most satisfying of the lords of the
ritual order, the one who reaches (what he seeks),
the most infallibly of those who have as yet
approached the nearest in the ritual, even to the
timely prayer of the saint who rules in the ritual
order. 5. And we sacrifice to the HAvani, the holy
lord of the ritual order, and to the Universal Weal,
the holy, ruling in the ritual order, and to Deathless-
ness, the holy, ruling in the ritual order. And we
sacrifice to the question and lore of the holy lord of
the ritual. And we sacrifice to that heroic mighty
Yasna, the HaptanghAiti, the lord of the ritual order.
6. And we sacrifice to Savanghi and Visya, the holy
lord(s) of the ritual order; and we sacrifice to the
Airyem4-ishyé ', the holy lord of the ritual order,
the powerful, victoriously smiting, that which no hate
can reach, which overwhelms all torments, and which
passes over all torments with victory, which is the
uppermost, and the middle, and the foremost, for
the effective invocation of that surpassing Mathra,
the five Gathas.
7, 8. And we sacrifice to Mithra of the wide pas-
tures—, and to Raman /7z4stra, for the worship and
exaltation of Visya, the chief. And we sacrifice to
? The personified prayer ; see Y. LIV.
GAH II. 381
Visya, the holy lord of the ritual order, and to
Mithra, and to Raman A/vastra —.
g-11. And we sacrifice to thee, the Fire,O Ahura
Mazda’s son, the holy lord of the ritual order. And
we sacrifice to this Baresman which has the Zaothra
with it, and the girdle with it, and which is spread
with exact sanctity, itself the holy lord. And we
sacrifice to the Apam-nap4¢, and to Nairya-sangha,
and to that Yazad, the swift curse of the wise.
And we sacrifice to the souls of the dead, [which are
the Fravashis of the saints} And we worship that
exalted Lord who is Ahura Mazda, the highest object
of the ritual order, who is the one who has attained
the most to homage in the ritual. And we sacrifice
to all the words which Zarathustra spake, and to all
the deeds well done, and to those which shall yet be
done in daysto. come. (And) we sacrifice to that male
one of beings whose (gift) in the offering Ahura doth
know to be better, and of female saints, the same.
As the Ahfi is to be (revered and) chosen, so (is) the
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 shall offer a nurturer—.
Il. GAH RAPITHVIN}
1. Propitiation to Ahura Mazda. A blessing is
Asha Vahista. I confess as a Mazda-worshipper, and
of Zarathustra’s order—for Rapithwina, the holy lord
of the ritual order, for sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and for praise, and for Frada¢-fshu and Zamtuma, the
holy lord(s) of the ritual order, for sacrifice, homage,
1 Recited every day at the hour of Rapithwina.
482 GAH IL
propitiation, and for praise. 2. And propitiation be
to Asha Vahista, and to Ahura Mazda's Fire, for
sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and praise’, 3, 4.
(See Y. LX XI, 2, 3.)
5. And we sacrifice to the Rapithwina, the holy lord
of the ritual order, and to the Gatha Ahunavaiti, the
holy, and ruling in the ritual order ; and to the Gatha
Ustavaiti, and to the Gatha Spet4-mainyu, and to the
G&tha Vohu-khshathra, and to the Gatha Vahistéisti,
holy, and ruling in the ritual order. 6. And we sa-
crifice to FrAdaé-fshu, and to Zamtuma, and to the
Fshdshé-mathra, even to the word correctly spoken,
and we sacrifice to the (many) words correctly spoken,
even to the victorious ones which slay the Demon-
gods (the Daévas*). And we sacrifice to the waters
and the lands, and to the plants, and to the heavenly
Yazads who are givers of the holy and the good.
And we sacrifice to the Bountiful Immortals, (the
guardians) of the saints.
7. And we sacrifice to the good, heroic, bountiful
Fravashis of the saints, and to the heights of Asha
(called) Vahista, and to the greatest Mathras as
moving us to action, the greatest as teaching faith-
fulness to holy vows, the greatest as referring to
actions which are evidently just, and the greatest
for the acquisition of the Mazdayasnian Faith.
8. And we sacrifice to that assembly and reunion
which the Bountiful Immortals hold when they
gather (?) on the heights of Heaven, for the sacrifice
and homage of Zaztuma, the lord.
And we (therefore) sacrifice to Zaztuma (as) the
holy lord of the ritual order. 9. And we sacrifice
? The Ahuna follows.
® Zarathustra conquered the Demon with the Ahuna-vairya.
GAH Ill. 383
to Asha Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best), and
to the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son—. 10. Yea, we sacri-
fice to Thee, the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son, the holy
ritual lord —.
I bless the sacrifice, homage, strength, and _ swift-
ness of Asha Vahista, and of the Fire, of Ahura
Mazda—. And to this one be the glory!
Ill. GAH UZIREN}
1. Propitiation to Ahura Mazda! A blessing is
Asha Vahista—. I confess myself a Mazdayasnian of
the order of Zarathustra, a foe to the Daévas, devoted
to the lore of the Lord, for the Uzayéirina, the holy lord
of the ritual order, for sacrifice, homage, propitiation,
and praise, and for Frada¢-vira and Davyuma, the
holy lord(s) of the ritual order, for their sacrifice,
homage, propitiation, and praise. 2. And to that
lofty Ahura, Apam-nap4¢, and to the waters which
Mazda created be sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and
praise?! 3, 4. (G.I, 3,4.) 5. We sacrifice to the Uza-
yéirina, the holy lord of the ritual order. And we sa-
crifice to the Zaotar, the holy lord of the ritual order,
and to the HAvanan, and to the Atarevakhsha, and to
the Frabaretar, and to the Abere/, and to the Asnatar,
and the Raéthwiskar, and to the Sraoshavareza, holy
lords of the ritual order. 6. And we sacrifice to
Frada¢-vira and Dakvyuma, the holy lord of the
ritual order, And we sacrifice to the stars, the moon,
and the sun, and to the constellations (?), and we
sacrifice to the stars without beginning (to their
course ?), and to the glory of the doctrinal proclama-
1 Recited every day at the hour of Uzayéirina.
3 The Ahuna follows.
484 GAH IV.
tions which are the evil man’s distress! 7. And
we sacrifice to the manifest performer of the truth
(the correct maintainer of the rites), the holy lord of
the ritual order. And we sacrifice to the later lore;
yea, we sacrifice to the manifest fulfiller of the
truth, and to the (entire) creation of the holy (and
the clean) by day and by night with Zaothras together
with offered prayers, for the sacrifice and homage of
Dakvyuma, the lord. And we sacrifice to Dakvyuma,
the holy lord of the ritual order. 8. And we sacrifice
to that lofty and royal lord, the brilliant Apaim-
napa¢ of the fleet horses; and we sacrifice to the
water which is Mazda-made and holy. 9, 10. And
we sacrifice to thee, the Fire, Ahura Mazda’s son 2.
11%, And I bless the sacrifice, homage, strength, and
swiftness of that lofty Ahura Nap4¢-apim, and of
the water which Mazda created ‘.
Iv. GAH AIWISRUTHRIMA 5.
1. Propitiation be to Ahura Mazda. A blessing
is Asha Vahista—. I confess myself a Mazdayasnian,
and of Zarathustra’s order, a foe to the Daévas,
devoted to the lore of the Lord, for Aiwisrdithrima,
and Aibigaya 5, the holy lord(s) of the ritual order, for
their sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and praise, and
for Fradaé-vispim-hugyditi’? and Zarathustrétema °,
the holy lord(s) of the ritual order, for their sacrifice,
homage, propitiation, and praise. 2. And to the
1 See Y. XLV, 7. 3 The Yénhé h&t&m here follows.
5. The Ahuna follows. * The Ashem follows.
5 Recited every day at the hour of Aiwisrfthrima,
4“ Or, ‘that furthers life.’
7 The genius presiding over all that furthers happiness.
* The genius presiding over the highest office in a province.
GAH ιν. 385
Fravashis of the saints, and to the women who have
many sons, and to that prosperity of home which
lasts without reverse throughout the year, and to
Strength, well-shaped and stately, and to the victorious
Blow Ahura-given, and for the crushing Ascendency
which it bestows, (to all) be propitiation—. 3, 4. (See
Gh I, 3, 4.) 5. And we sacrifice to Aiwisrdthrima
(and) Aibigaya, the holy lord(s) of the ritual order,
and to thee, O Ahura Mazda’s Fire! And we sacri-
fice to the stone-mortar, and to the iron-mortar,
and to this Baresman spread with sanctity, with the
Zaothra, and with its girdle, holy lords of the ritual
order. Also we sacrifice to the sacred two, to the
waters and the plants, and to the sacred vows
for the soul, (as) holy lord(s) of the ritual order.
6. Also we sacrifice to Frédat-vispim-hug yditi (as)
ruling in the ritual order; and we sacrifice to Zara-
thustra, the holy lord of the ritual; also we sacrifice
to the Mathra Spezta, (the bounteous word of
reason’), and to the soul of the Kine, and to the
Zarathustrétema?. 7. Also we sacrifice to the Fire-
priest, the holy lord of the ritual order, and to the
charioteer (the warrior), the holy lord of the ritual
order. Also we sacrifice to the thrifty tiller of the
earth, the holy lord of the ritual order. And we sacri-
fice to the house-lord, and to the village-chief, and
to the Zamtu-chief, and to the province-chief of the
province, the holy lord of the ritual order. 8. And
we sacrifice to the youth of the good thoughts, good
words, and good deeds, even to the youth of good
conscience, the holy lord of the ritual order; yea, we
1 The Gathas and Vendidéd; the first verse of the GAthas
mentions the Kine’s soul.
3 «And to Zarathustra.’
[31] cece
486 GAH ιν.
sacrifice to the youth of the spoken word (who spoke
the words which we hold so dear’), the holy lord of
the ritual order. Yea, we sacrifice to the youth who
is given to his kin (and married to his blood), the
holy lord of the ritual order. And we sacrifice to
him who ranges through the province *, and to the
itinerant with his many arts%, the holy ritual lords.
And we sacrifice to the house-mistress, holy, and
ruling in the ritual order. 9. And we sacrifice to the
holy woman forward‘ in good thoughts, and words,
and deeds, receiving her instructions well, having her
husband as her lord, the holy, and such as Aramaiti,
the bounteous, is, and such as are thy wives, O Mazda,
Lord!
And we sacrifice to the holy man most forward in
good thoughts, and words, and works, wise as to
piety, simple as to sin, by whose deeds the settle-
ments advance in the holy order, for the worship and
homage of the Zarathustrétema, the lord. And we
sacrifice to the Zarathustrétema, the holy lord of the
ritual order. 10. And we sacrifice to the good,
heroic, bountiful Fravashis of the saints, and to the
women who have many sons, and to that Prosperity
which endures throughout the year, and to the well-
shaped and stately Strength. And we sacrifice to
the Blow of Victory, Ahura-given, and to the crushing
Ascendency which it secures. 11, 12. (See Gah I, 9,
10.) 13. (The Ahuna-vairya, &c.)
1 See Yast XXII.
* It is very probable that the Yasna was at that period celebrated
from house to house.
> Medical?
4.18 it possibly, ‘favouring good thoughts,’ &c.?
GAH V. 387
v. GAH USHAHIN?.
1. Propitiation to Ahura Mazda. I confess myself
a Mazda-worshipper, of the order of Zarathustra, a foe
to the Daévas, devoted to the lore of the Lord, for
the Ushahina, for sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and
praise, and to Beregya and Nmfnya, the holy lord(s)
of the ritual order. 2. Propitiation be to Sraosha
(Obedience) the blessed, endowed with recompense,
smiting with the blow of victory, and causing the
settlements to advance and to increase.
3, 4. (See Gdh I, 3, 4.) 5. We sacrifice to Usha-
hina, the holy lord of the ritual order; and we
sacrifice to the beautiful Aurora, and to the dawn of
morning; yea, we sacrifice tothe morning, the shining?,
of the glittering horses, having the men of forethought
(as its servants), yea, having men of forethought and
heroes (awake and at their work), to the morning
which gives light within the house *. And we sacrifice
to the lights of dawn which are radiant with their light
and fleetest horses which sweep over (?) the seven-
fold earth. And we sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the
holy lord of the ritual order, and to the Good Mind,
and to Asha Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best),
and to Khshathra-vairya, and to Aramaiti, the boun-
teous and the good.
6. And we sacrifice to Beregya, even the holy
lord of the ritual order, even to Nmanya with the
longing desire for the good Asha, and with the longing
desire for the good Mazdayasnian law, for the worship
1 Recited every day at the hour of Ushahina.
* So, better than ‘royal,’ which is, however, possible.
3 Or, ‘while it abides.’
Cc 2
488 GAH ν.
and homage οὗ Nmanya,thelord. 7. And we sacrifice
to Sraosha, and to Rashnu, the most just, and to
Arst4¢, who causes the settlements to advance and
to increase. 8,9. (See Gah I, 9,10.) 10. And I
bless the sacrifice, homage, strength, and swiftness
of Sraosha (Obedience) the blessed, endowed with
sanctity, smiting with the blow of victory, and who
causes the settlements to advance; and I bless the
sacrifice of Rashnu, the most just, and that of Arst4d,
who causes the settlements to advance and to in-
crease 1,
1 The Ashem and the Ahmfi raésfa.
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS.
I.
1. (An. incitation to the priest or worshipper.) As
thou keepest company with the Good Mind, and
with Righteousness the Best, and with Khshathra-
vairya (the Kingdom to be desired), speak to the
male and female disciples of Zarathustra Spitama
the saint, (and declare) the praise which is to be
spoken, that of the Yasna, even the words against
which no anger’ shall prevail.
2. And do thou, O Zarathustra?! declare our
words for sacrifice and worship, ours, the Bountiful
Immortals’, that the waters may (thus) be sacrificed to
by thee, and the plants, the Fravashis of the saints,
and the created Yazads, heavenly and earthly, which
are holy and beneficent.
Il.
1. I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper—for the
praise of Thraétaona, the Athwyan. Let them de-
clare it—. Propitiation be to the Fravashi of Thraé-
taona, the Athwyan, the saint. 2. We sacrifice to
Thraétaona, the Athwyan, the holy lord of the ritual
order; and may we be free from the dog Kuro,
and the Tarewani*, and the Karpan, (we who are)
of* those who sacrifice in order. 3. (The Ahuna
Others ‘the unrestricted words.’
? Perhaps ‘ Zarathustra’ is here merely the equivalent of ‘ priest.”
5 Obscure. * Awkward formations.
390 MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS.
follows.) Sacrifice, homage, strength, and swiftness
be to the Fravashi of Thraétaona, the saint. (The
Ahem and Ahmii raéséa follow.)
III.
1. All good thoughts, and all good words, and all
good deeds are thought, and spoken, and done with
intelligence ; and all evil thoughts, and words, and
deeds are thought, and spoken, and done with folly.
2. And let (the men who think, and speak, and do)
all good thoughts, and words, and deeds inhabit?
Heaven (as their home). And let those who think,
and speak, and do evil thoughts, and words, and
deeds abide in Hell. For to all who think good ©
thoughts, speak good words, and do good deeds,
Heaven, the best world, belongs. And this is evident,
and as of course (?) (or, ‘and therewith their seed’).
IV.
1. I proclaim the Airyem4-ishyéd as the greatest
of all authoritative prayers, O Spitama! as the most
influential and helpful for progress; and may the
Saoshyasts (who would further us) use it and
revere it.
2. I am speaking in accordance with it, O Spitama!
and therefore I shall rule as sovereign over creatures
which are mine, I who am Ahura Mazda. Let no
one rule as Angra Mainyu? over realms that are his
own, O Zarathustra Spitama! 3. Let Angra Mainyu
be hid beneath the earth *. Let the Daévas likewise
_ 7 Ashaéta=4-+shaéta used subjunctively.
3 Insert ‘ of the evil faith.’
* In Y. IX, 14, 18, it is the Ahuna-vairya which drives the
Daێvas beneath the earth.
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS. 391
disappear. Let the dead arise (unhindered by these
foes), and let bodily life be sustained in these now
lifeless bodies.
V.
1, To Ahura Mazda, the radiant, the glorious, to
the Bountiful Immortals, to Force well-shaped and
stately, to the Blow of Victory, Ahura-given, to the
Victorious Ascendency (which it secures), to the path
of pleasantness, to the good Zarenumazt?, to the
‘Glowing’ Mountain made by Mazda, and to all
the Yazads! 2. We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the
radiant, the glorious, and to the Bountiful Immortals
who rule aright, who dispose (of all) aright, and to
Force well-shaped and stately, and to the Blow of
Victory, and to the Ascendency of Victory, and
to the path of pleasantness, and to Zarenumazt, the
good, which Mazda created, and to the ‘Glowing’
Mount, and to every saint.
VI3,
Propitiation be to the created body of the Kine
of blessed endowment, and to the Kine’s soul (so,
if there is one cow presented*), Propitiation be to
the body and soul of you two (so, if there are two ὃ).
—To your body and soul (if there are three, or the
entire herd*). (The Ahuna follows.)
1 According to the Bundahis, the name of a lake.
3 This fragment was spoken when the milk was drawn from the
cow, or cows, for the offering, and when the water was received
with which the udder of the cow was to be washed. (Sp. transl.
vol. iii, p. 254.)
δ These words are in Persian introduced as rubric.
392 MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS.
ΝΠ",
1. To the good waters, and to all the waters which
Mazda created, and to that lofty lord, Apam-nap4/,
and to thee, O Ahurian One of Ahura, that water
which Mazda created! be sacrifice, homage, propitia-
tion, and praise. (The Ahuna follows.) 2. We utter
our praises forth to thee, O Ahurian One of Ahura!
and we complete good sacrifices, and deeds of adora-
tion, with good gifts of offering, and gifts with praise,
which are appropriate to thee among the holy Yazads.
I will seek to render thee content. I will pour thee
out. [Let them now recite the lofty G4thas which
belong to the ritual.]
VIII?
1, The moons* of the season will wane. Let the
Mazdayasnian (pray) for a smiter who may destroy
quickly (the demon who causes their decrease). And
quickly indeed may the malignant one die off—. For
no one of her adherents can maintain this Drug(k)
by prayers.
2. Smiting fiercely* with her weapon, she, the
Drug(k), goes on, and most mighty she has been.
And she wanders on, O Zarathustra! as mindful of
her might, and strong‘ in proportion as she advances
1 This was to be spoken when the vessel containing the Zaothras
was taken in hand (Sp.).
3 This fragment is very much broken in its connections, and most
corrupt in its grammatical forms. The translation is entirely
conjectural. Section IX has also irregularities.
* Some form of dva may be conjectured.
* “With her weapon.’
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS, 393
as the sinful Drug(k). But may Khshathra? be with
me—, so that.... the deadly one may die away,
for thereupon the blow of destruction shall come
upon the Drug(k) 3.
IX.
1. The Ahuna-vairya is a prayer to be (revered
and) chosen as the choice one of Mazda. The
Khshathra-vairya is likewise such, and the Y&
daéna*. They (it) will gain the reward. Yatha
ah vairyé. It is the word of Mazda. They are
the words in season. It is the M&thra-spezta
word, the unsubdued, the undeceived, the victorious,
the opponent of malice, the healing and victorious
word of Mazda, which, as it is pronounced‘, gives
most the victory to him who utters it. 2. I have
declared the hymn which is most helpful and victo-
rious against the words of Aéshma, which is health-
giving and healing, and conducive to progress, the
multiplier, and the furtherer of growth. And let
the worshipper present it with a liberal offering... .
with its pleasing words. Let that be done through
veritable grace which helps us on the most®, The
Kingdom (is) to Ahura, which to the poor may grant
a nurturer °,
1 Khshathraa ? 2 See Y. XXX, το.
* So I conjecture as the commencing words of some piece.
‘ ‘For healing.’ ® Y.L, 11.
4 Last line of the Ahuna.
Digitized by Goog le
INDEX.
Aéshma, page xix, xxi, 161, 280, 393.
Aéthrapaiti, 279, 318, 323.
Aéthrya, 323.
Age of the Gathas, &c., xxviii-xxxvii;
age as compared with one an-
other, xxvii, 92.
Agni, 80, 129.
Ahi, 233.
Ahuna-vairya, 2, 194, 227, 228, 254,
260, 261, 264, 293, 303, 309,
312, 336, 349, 354) 356, 357,
360, 364, 372, 374, 375, 384,
386, 391, 392, 393.
Ahunavaiti(i), xxvii, 2, 3, 91, 92,
336, 339, 373, 382.
Aburian, 287, 320, 321, 322, 323,
337, 392.
ΑΙ, 228, 230, 255, 259, 262, 281,
_ 309; 323, 336, 357, 372, 381.
Aibigaya, 197, 201, 204, 209, 215,
419, 384, 385.
Airyema-ishy6, 293, 337, 340, 364,
380, 390,
Airyéna Vaégah, 235.
Aiwisrfthrima, 197, 201, 204, 209,
215, 219, 224, 379, 384, 385.
Aka Manah, xviii, xix, 60.
Alborg, 19.
Alexander, xl.
Ameretat&, 66, 76, 207, 211, 213,
226, 237, 228, 252, 256.
Amesha Spenta, xxx, 281, 327, 345,
351, 363.
Ameshéspends, 11, 13, 14, 27, 145,
a“ 269; (bidden to approach,
77).
Anfhita, xxx.
Angra Mainyu, xxx, 25, 110, 233»
272, 298, 312, 390.
Ap&m-napas, 197, 204, 209, 215, 219,
224, 319, 326, 331, 346, 351,
362, 381, 383, 384, 392.
Arani, 41.
Archangels, xxiv, 27, 124, 178.
Arda Viraf, xl.
Ardibahist, 367.
Ardvi Sra Andhita, 316, 336, 340.
Arezahi, 349.
Armenian, xiii.
Arsacids, xli.
Arst2t, 198, 205, 209, 215, 220, 224,
256, 345, 388.
Arsti, 306.
Artaxerxes Mnemon, xxx.
Artaxerxes, the Sasanian, xli.
pre ie x, xviii, xxiv, xlii, 1.
Asha, xxiv, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16,
33) 39) 44, 68, 77, 89, 94, 127,
157, 159, 161, 162, 164, 165,
168, 176, 182, 191, 225, 248,
295, 302, 311, 368, 387.
Vahista, 2, 201, 218, 267, 268,
281, 309, 312, 325, 329, 339,
363, 374, 382, 383, 384.
Ashem Vohfi, 293, 356.
Ashi, 200, 345.
Ashi Vanguhi, 206, a11.
Asiatic Commentaries, xxxvii-xliii.
Asnya, 196, 219, 223, 368, 379.
Aurora; 114, 175, 387.
Authorship of the Gathas, xxiii, 2,
167-169, 173.
Avesta, xxix, xxxi, xxxiii, xxxv,
xxxix, xli, xlii, xlvi, xlvii, 15, 17,
40, 51, 68, 71, 78, 88, 126, 167,
184, 185, 282, 293, 337, 353,
361.
Ayara, 379.
Ayathrima, 198, 205, 210, 216, 220,
224, 335, 338, 368, 370, 372.
Azhi Dahika, 233.
Abere?, 341, 383.
Adarbad Mahraspend, xli.
Afrinagin, ix, 367.
Aramaiti(i), xii, 14, 15, 27) 32, 33»
46, 58, 77, 87, 88, ror, 109, 124,
126, 146, 148, 149, 150, 152,
155, 156, 159, 167, 176, 180,
296
186, 191, 256, 257, 269, 311,
325, 342, 360, 361, 386.
Asnatar, 342, 383.
Atarevakhsha, 255, 341, 343, 383.
Atharvan, 251.
Athwya, 233, 389.
Babylon, xxxv.
Bactria, xxviii, xxix, xxxii, xxxv.
Bagahya, xxx.
Bardiya, xxxv.
Baresman, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207,
208, 213, 246, 253, 270, 299,
309, 314) 315, 331, 338, 339,
340, 341, 346, 349, 350, 354)
374, 381.
Battle, 39, 50, 110, 118, 154, 162,
189.
Behistun, xxix, xxxv.
Bendva, xxvi, 160, 162, 163.
Beregya, perhaps better as adj.,
197, 205, 209, 215, 220, 224,
387.
Bridge, 140, 154) 183, 194, 261.
Bundahis, 37, 360, 391.
Burial, xxxi.
Bashydsta, 346.
Captivity, xlvi.
Conversion of all men, 41.
Cow, 45, 391.
Creation, 108, 196.
Cremation, xxxi.
Croesus, xxxi.
Cuneiform Ins., xxix, xxxiv.
Cyrus, xxxv.
Daéna, 124, 126, 155, 161, 165, 169,
189.
Daéva, xix, xx, xxi, 8, 26, 27, 39, 51,
54) 57, 58, 59, 70, 85, IIo, 111)
121, 122, 129, 132, 153, 160,
161, 164, 189, 199, 202, 211)
212, 231, 235, 236, 241, 247,
249, 260, 272, 280, 281, 292,
301, 302, 305, 306, 317, 322,
366, 371, 379, 387, 390.
Dahika, 233, 245.
Daévyuma (Dahyuma), 197,
209, 215, 219, 224, 251,
278, 337, 384.
Dakhma, xxxi.
Darius, xxx, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxv,
xxvii,
Daughter, 37, 92, 123, 146.
204,
259,
INDEX.
Demi-gods, 4, 85, 240, 260,
Dog, 389. :
Dragon, xxvi, 233, 234, 239, 322.
Draogha, xxx.
Drfig (Drug), xix, 33, 35, 40, 160,
163, 192, 233, 313, 392, 393.
Dualism, xix, 25, 26, 123.
Erethe, 226.
Fire, 41, 80, 84, 95, 96, 100, 102,
116, 132, 138, 147, 150, 177»
182, 196, 199, 204, 206, 208,
209, 210, 212, 214) 215, 216,
219, 220, 222, 223, 224, 235,
227, 258, 260, 270, 271, 272,
274, 275, 276, 277, 281, 284,
285, 314, 315, 316, 319, 320,
323) 325) 331, 346, 348, 351,
353, 358, 360, 374, 375, 381,
_ 383, 384, 385.
Fire priest, 243.
— Berezi-savangha, 258.
— Spenista, 258.
— Urvazista, 258.
— Vazista, 258.
— Vohu-fryana, 258.
Frabaretar, 341, 383.
Frangrasyan, 246.
Frashakard, 27, 82, 96, 101.
Frashaostra, xxvi, xxviii, 14, 15, 22,
69, 76, 92, 133, 142, 153, 161,
165, 168, 169, 185, 190, 247,
250, 327, 330.
Fravashi, 27, 32, 197, 199, 201, 204,
205, 207, 208, 209, 212, 214,
215, 216, 218, 219, 223, 224,
227, 244, 255, 256, 259, 272,
273, 275, 278, 279, 281, 286,
294, 296, 309, 311, 317, 319,
324, 327, 328, 331, 345, 351,
352, 358, 362, 374, 381, 382,
385, 386.
Fradat-fshu, 197, 204, 209, 215, 219,
223, 373, 381, 382.
Fradat-vira, 197, 204, 209, 215, 219,
224, 383. ΝΜ
Fradat-vispam-hugyaiti, 204, 209,
215, 219, 224, 384, 385.
Fry4na, 133, 141, 190.
Fshfish6-mathra, 303, 306, 310, 337)
341, 382.
Gahanbiar, 367.
Ganrak Minavad, 35.
INDEX.
397
Gar6dman, 19, 109, 170, 173, 184,
45.
Gaya Maretan, 252, 260, 324, 362.
Gah, ix, 373, 379.
Gatha(4), ix-xlvii, 1-194, 195, 208,
213, 214, 230, 231, 243, 270,
281, 282, 293, 295, 299, 329,
330, 331, 336, 337, 339) 340,
351, 356, 372, 373, 392.
Geus Urvan, 11.
Gnostic, xiv, xx, xlvi, 71.
Grehma, xxvi, 63, 64.
Gaini, 192, 242.
Gamispa, xxvi, xxviii, 76, 94,
153, 166, 168, 169, 185,
250.
Hadhaokhdha, 337, 341.
Hadhanaépata, 208, 270, 316,
321, 350.
Haékat-aspa, xxvi, 142, 191.
Hamaspathmaédhaya, 198, 205, 210,
216, 220, 225, 335, 338, 379,
372.
Haméstaga, 72.
Haoma, 158, 208, 213, 214, 227, 228,
230, 231, 232, 233, 235-246, 271,
302, 321, 347) 349, 350, 353,
354» 374, 375+
Haoma-water, 208, 227, 228, 270,
143,
247)
320,
271.
Haptanghiiti(i), 91, 247, 281, 303,
330, 336, 340, 380,
Haraiti, 241, 302, 303.
Haurvadad, 119.
Haurvatat, 66, 76, 207, 211, 213,
226, 228, 252, 256.
HaAvan, 379.
Havanan, 341, 383.
Havani, 196, 198, 201, 202, 205, 207,
209, 210, 211, 212, 215, 219,
222, 223, 226, 231, 254, 367,
368, 372, 379, 380,
Heaven, a spiritual state, xx, xlvii,
25, 30.
Hegelianism, xix.
Hell, a spiritual state, xx, xlvii, 25,
30.
Heptade, xviii.
Herodotus, xxix, xxx, xxxv, 69,
120.
Historical character of the Gathas,
Ἧ a ἢ
oshanggi G., 240, 251.
Hém Yat, a a
Hukairya, 317.
Hvaniratha, 305, 349.
Hvégva, xxvi, xxviii, 92, 94, 133,
142, 185.
Immortality, 94.
India, xxxii, 137.
Indo-aryans, xxxiii.
Inscriptions, xxx, xxxiv.
Iran, xxxvii, 137.
Irano-aryans, xxxiii.
Isha-khshathra, 97.
Israel, 160.
fsti, 97, 135.
Kasvaredhas, 312.
Karpans, xxvi, 63, 65, 66, 121, 140,
158, 177, 184, 236, 389.
Karshvar, 58, 305, 313, 317, 349.
Kavis, xxvi, 56, 64, 65, 66, 121, 140,
142, 183, 185, 186, 190, 236,
247, 250, 273.
Kayadha, 301, 313, 342.
K§aidhya, 301.
Keresani, 237.
Keresdspa, 234.
Khrafstra, 20, 85, 87, 260, 281.
Khshathra, xxiv, 12, 14, 33, 55, 128,
146, 152, 162, 178.
Khshathra-vairya, 182, 256, 325, 361,
_ 387, 389.
Kine, xix, xx, cp. xxix, 14, 36, 38,
44, 46, 55, 56, 62, 63, 65, 69, 72,
73, 82, 90, 111, 114, 121, 131,
135, 136, 137, 146, 147, 148,
149, 152, 171, 176, 177, 180,
184, 196, 226, 227, 244, 248,
249, 259, 262, 283, 286, 307,
310, 320, 325, 332, 346, 348,
363, 385, 391.
Kuro, 389.
. Kinvat Bridge, 141, 161, 173, 183,
(331 345, 367.
Kisti, 152, 177, 200, 211, 226, 347.
Last judgment, 95, 100.
Magavan, 70.
Maghavan, 75.
Magi, xxxv.
Magian, xxxi, 185, 318.
Magic, 239.
Maidhyairya, 198, 205, 210, 216, 220,
225, 335, 338, 368, 370, 372.
Maidhyé-mah, xxvi, xxviii, 186,
398
INDEX.
_ eee
Maidhy6é-shema, 198, 205, 210, 216,
220, 224, 335, 338, 368, 369,
372.
Maidhy6-zaremaya,
216, 220, 224,
369, 372.
arriage song, 187.
Maruts, 108.
Mazainya, 280.
Mazdaism, xxix seq.
Mazdayasnian, 206, 217, 225, 229,
238, 247, 253, 256, 270, 272,
277, 282, 323, 328, 343) 344,
347) 349) 351, 354) 355,
357, 368, 369, 370, 382, 383,
387.
Mazendran, 305.
Mah-rQ, 246.
Mahya, 198, 205, 220, 224, 368, 379.
Mazanian, 3032.
Mathra, XX, 10,15, 21, 25, 37) 74) 105,
110, 119, 123, 126, 172, 173,
174, 176, 179, 181, 185, 199,
206, 208, 213, 214, 217, 218,
227, 228, 238, 256, 259, 266,
267, 272, 277, 290, 297, 302,
305, 306, 307, 310, 328, 339,
341, 349, 355) 360, 362, 374,
375, 380, 382, 385, 393.
Medes, xxxi.
Medh§, 8, 9, 104.
Media, xxxiv, xxxv.
Metres, xviii, xlii, 133.
Mithra, xxx, 196, 199, 204, 205, 209,
210, 216, 219, 220, 223, 225,
256, 271, 319, 326, 337, 346,
351, 379, 380, 381.
obad, 341, 342.
Mohammed, 160.
Moon, 113.
Mortar, 270, 350, 354, 355) 3745 385.
Mount Alborg, 19.
Méghu, 185.
Mfirakas, 245.
Myazdas, 207, 214, 226, 228, 229,
350, 368, 369, 370, 371.
Nairya-sangha, 258, 298, 331, 345,
353, 381.
Neryosangh, xii, xiv, xxxix.
Nm§anya, 197, 205, 209, 215, 220,
224, 387, 388.
198, 205,
335, 338,
210,
368,
Omniscience of Ahura, 47, 101.
Origin of evil, xix, 25, 29, 30, 31.
Originality of the Gathas, xx.
Padokhshah, 273.
Paederast, 183,
Pairika, 257.
Paitishahya, 198, 205, 210, 216,
220, 224, 335, 338, 368, 370,
372.
Pantheism, xviii.
Paradise, 71, 143, 261.
Parahaoma, 208, 214.
Parendi, 251, 346.
Parsi, xxxix, xl, 48, 108.
Piitirasp, 235.
Perozes, xxii.
Persepolis, xxix, x1.
Persian, xi, xxxi, xxxix, xl, xlii, xlvi,
6, 34, 69.
Personification of Ameshéspends,
xxiv.
Place of Origin of the Gathas, xxviii-
xxxiii,
Pleiades, 238.
Pouruéista, 191.
Pourushaspa, 235.
Pufgab, xxzxiii.
Raéthwiskar, 342, 383.
Ragha, xxviii, xxix.
Rakshas, 249.
Rapithwina, 197, 201, 204, 209, 215, |
219, 223, 367, 373, 374) 379,
381, 382.
Ras&staz, 200, 211, 217, 226.
Rashnu, 198, 205, 209, 215, 220, 224,
256, 319, 326, 345, 351, .358,
388.
Raspi, 246.
Ratu, 3, 12, 41, 66, 71, 73, 78, ΤΟΙ,
146, 163, 176, 177, 180, 208,
213, 228, 230, 246, 250, 253,
254, 259, 262, 309, 323, 336,
340, 343, 357, 369, 370, 371,
372.
Ratufriti, 344.
Rama, 163.
Raman Hvistra, 196, 204, 309, 256,
271, 323, 337, 340, 379, 380.
Recompense to the good and evil,
34) 35) 52, 100, 161, 167.
Renovation of the world, 33, 82, 90,
131.
Resurrection, 391.
Rig-veda, xxxvi, xxxvii, xl, xlv, 35,
114, 139, 162, 199, 233.
Riks, xv, xxxvi, xxxviii, xlv, 20, 24,
70, 80, 315.
Rsshi, 91.
ὲ INDEX,
Sadduceeism, xxxii.
Saoshyant, 71, 82, 101) 124, 129, 131,
132, 136, 153, 158, 176, 189,
191) 232, 250, 266, 309, 339,
343» 344, 350 352, 362, 390.
ids, xxii.
Satan, 26, 54.
Savahis, 349.
Saviours, 89, 94, 131, 133) 189.
Samas, 233.
Savanghi, 196, 201, 202, 204, 207,
209, 212, 215, 219, 222, 223,
254, 367, 379, 380.
Sayana, xl. .
Scyths, xxxii.
Shapur I], xli.
Snaithis, 110, 123, 305.
Soma, 158, 231.
Sovereignty of Ahura, 8.
awe fire, 258.
Spenta mainyu, 45, 67, 70, 83, 106,
145) 199, 201, 210, 211, 216,
217, 225, 226, 229, 272, 277.
Spenta-mainyu Gatha, xxvii, 92, 145,
307, 337, 340, 360, 373, 381,
382.
Spitami, 191.
Spit&ama (Spitama), xxvi, xxviii, 92,
133, 141, 182, 186, 188, 190,
212, 218, 227, 255, 264, 299,
313) 315, 325, 339, 351, 353)
379, 374, 3759 389, 390.
Sraosha (transl. Obedience), 15, 20,
74, 93) 95, 96, 97, 101, 103,
104, 105, 127, 197, 205, 208,
209, 212, 215, 218, 221, 222,
224, 254, 256, 271, 274, 280,
296, 297-306, 311, 319, 320,
325, 326, 352, 353, 357, 358,
388.
Sraoshavareza, 342, 383.
Srésh Yast, 296, 297.
Staota Yésnya, 294, 331.
Texts, xliv.
Thraétaona, 233, 389, 390.
Thrita, 233.
Tistrya, 199, 210, 216, 225, 256, 280,
Tradition, xii.
Traitan4, 233.
Trishtup, xliii, 91, 145, 162.
Turanian, xxi, 133, 141, 188, 246,
Unicorn (?), 291.
Urvikhshaya, 234.
Urvazista, 258.
399
Ushahina, 197, 202, Pn 209, 215,
219, 224, 379, 387.
Ushi-darena, 200, 206, any 225,259,
2
Usig( (ey “xvi, 121.
Ustavaiti(i), xxvii, 91, 92, 331, 336,
340, 359, 373) 382.
sta, 7, 91.
Uzayéirina, 197, 201, 204, 209, 215,
219, 224, 379, 383.
Vahista Manah, 31, 66.
Vahist6isti(i), 293, 337, 340, 361,
373, 382.
Varenya, 280.
Varesa, 349.
Vayu, xix, 189,192, 193, 271, 273.
Veda, xxix, xxxix, xliv, 14, 32, 102,
136, 143, 164.
Vedic, x, xv, xxix, xxxvi, xiii, xlvi,
14, 32) 102, 136, 143, 164.
iene xxiii, xxvi, xxx, xxxiii, 1,
8, 81, 95; 110, 149-
Vendidad Sadah, 17, 195, 335, 355»
356, 358, 359, 361, 363.
Verethraghna, 337, 340, 350.
Visparad, ix, 332, ἄς,
Vivasvat, 232.
Vidadhafshu, 349.
Vidhatu, 304.
Vis, 259, 315) 342.
Vistaspa, xxv, xxviii, xxix, xxxiii, 14,
15, 22, 69, 76, 133, 142, 153,
166, 168, 169, 170, 185, 186,
190, 247, 250.
Visya, 196, 202, 204, 209, 212, 215,
219, 223, ἐὸν" 367, 379, 380.
Vivanghusha, 6
Vivanghvant, 2 oa
Vohu-fryana, 258.
Vohu-khshathra, 337, 340, 361, 373,
382.
Vohu Manah, xii, xxiv, 5, 12, 16, 33,
66, 127, 148, 154, 162, 256, 353,
354-
Vologeses I, xli.
Vouru-kasha, 317, 321, 346.
Waters, 286, 316, 392.
Yama, 232.
Yasna, ix, 1, 91, 195.
Yast, 1.
Yazad, 207, 209, 212, 218, 227, 258,
258, 259, 272, 306, 320, 327,
406 π΄ 1"
INDEX.
-----.» .,τ--ρ---ἰ.....- --- sa
3 ΚΗ ΠΩ
328, 331, 337, 347, 348, 374,
4 380, 389, 391, 392.
Yairya, 198, 368, 379.
Yénhé hataim, 228, 268, 281, 336.
Yima, 61, 232.
Zand, 40, 356.
Zandas, 313.
Zantu, 230, 251, 315, 342, 373, 385.
Zantuma, 197, 204, 209, 215, 219,
223, 259, 373, 381, 382.
Zaotar, 149, 213, 228, 230, 246, 254,
342, 343, 383.
Zaothra, 203, 204, 206, 207, 213,
214, 255, 309, 321, 323, 338,
339, 340, 341, 350, 384, 385.
Zarathustra, personal history, xxiii,
xxiv; call, 9; unfavourable re-
ception, 5,11, 101, 103; Conse-
cr.tion to Ahura, 79, 108; suf-
fering, 93,134; trustin Ahura, 81.
Zarathustrétema, 197, 204, 209, 215,
224, 259, 331, 337, 347) 384,
385, 386.
Zarenumant, 391.
Zendiks, 313.
In addition to the occurrences cited above, the words aéshma, aka
manah, ameretat&s, amesha spenta, asha, ashi vanguhi, asnya, 4ramaiti,
Atharvan, drfig, frashakard, ganrak minavad, haurvatar, fsti, khshathra,
Ainvat, disti, mazdayasnian, mahya, mathra, ratu, spexta mainyu, sraosha,
vahista manah, verethraghna, visya, vohu manah, zaotar occur as translated.
With regard to the subject indexed as the originality of the Gathas, it is
not intended to deny that the original migrations of the entire Aryan race
may have been from the North-west.
On page 198 read Maidhy6é-shema, Maidhy6-zaremaya; p. 204, -gyaiti;
P- 209, -gyaité,
TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPWA®RYBS ΕἼ: 40%
tee BRAD Sec es eI ie . Bie oe ΠῚ
feed ἘΠῚ 3 3 sectoral] & ᾿ "δ 1.0}.
ΟΣ 2 3 ξτῷ R BE eee δ . .
Ξ yy forest eretece|eee es κα 10. yy
miles Ὶ eee
.
σι ++ + sreseyy “ 2
cee + ejeuidse 7 91
theses s epaw 91
syedse “ = py
ttre eee eee ee gmuay ΟῚ
(‘oz “Β9181818α)
6BIVIBIpoM se[Vimjyyny
ΒΠΊΒΟΙΣΙ tedse “Ὁ 11
syeony 5109] “OT
seonyaedse “ὃ 6
eee ee 5109] 6c 8
eee ee eee eee eee eeee eee ee ee y, eee ce 8 9 ΒΏΛΒΟΙΑΙ 5109 “ ZI
eRe { δὴν fae ae hie | Si aces tar anal ees Lael ae
ἐπ ΡῈ ἢ OC ik eed bea μὸν τὴ elas Ue
SA ay | Shel een hae lns wal actelltanay bale
sud] a fos | on | κ f(aya)al a fess} | gq fee
"ts + gadew engindg 2
s oe oe ++ + (3a) u ee eee sees 9s + SITEBBAT 9
ΤΣ ΤΣ sierqef-ornzny) 9
c eeceleee Σ m4 Rh ee eelare 43 tse es saqeidee “ φ
ome ζ ἐλ} 9 ς ῷ " ΡΨ ὧδ 1:1. soe es eipay 6
Te Cc lececloccl o@ τ᾿ Ἐ 11 10|1109] χὰ 1101. ον awendse “ ¢
q € @ @ (4 ¢ & ὑ ας ars) Gere 4 ἘΣ ε κι ee ee φησ 1
*seTeingyn
SSID 111 | SSID 11} SCID T
“osausqD | “maIqeH | “WQrav | cuessog | ᾿λοιηρα “pusz ἥμχταες ΞΦΙΝΥΝΟΘΝΟΟ
“LHAVHdTV AUVNOISSIC
ἋΞΥΉ AHL 10 SHOCG GaYOVS AHL 40
SNOILVISNVY] FHL ΟΖ AGALOAV SLAGVHATY ‘IVLNGIYQ) JO NOILVAALIISNVY 1,
pd
[31]
TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPHABETS
402
z Φ,ἀ ὺ
cee ore
‘asouyyD | mozqoq,
olay
et
a a
ς ¢
¢ ς
ἴω χὰ
a Cr]
ie ed
αν | WeIss9g
μομρα
“pusz
“yaysues
—
-
~
S-
.
-
-
-
-
.
φοίτα Ζ
(9)...
eee elewe 8
1 Δ Δ ere is
eee 1 Fe gs
Cee en Te al δ᾽ Me Ὁ 4
oer ἃ 2 ee Nd
eee 3 τ
SSLID ΠῚ | SStID 11} “SSID T
.-.-..-ςςς..Ἑ.ςς...
“LHAVHdTV AUVNOISSIN
‘+ gsnumaodss “ 2g
vey snutiaedse a 98
ceoveces {6 “ gg
seeeegasdsse “ 59
sess puodse snyuidg gg
‘e*gayou “5. φᾷ
eee 1 5ποῦι nad 18
ss eee 8% βηθοολίαιθα 08
Ὁ τ δυο wie 8848: BERR AT ES
"cos eyepiqisse “BZ
sees es egiendss “ 7Z
settee eee © apa 9Z
seo + eyurqisse “ 6g
cceeeecuiendse Ҥ 5g
seers eee © gmuay 5
“solejyu0og
SNYVIIGISSB ΒΙΠ9] Ὁ BS
snyeriqusse sadew =“ 1G
tee ee stor * 08
see ees godse snyndg 61
τσ + βηβοολίαιος 91
“(panuszuo)
SLNVNOSNOD
gle
Digitized by Goo
403
FOR THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST.
ΠΣ
ζ ¢ | ob
σι “9
A) d 4
“~ “Ὁ _
eee a 9
eee ας το O-
ζ΄ CG?
ee ce οοςδ
᾿ «
; qo ere
.
coe ees + πἤλβειλ 6S
sree *eipasnuy 89
see esa zg
++ gadse snqindg 90
-eyudse “ 99
s+ οι βηθοολίαιος Fg
coc ee 9 © ΒΙΒΌΝ ES
eocee * smlssiInuay, ςς
“5. eendss ““ Tg
δ λ εν σα ΦΙΡΘΙΣ 09
++ eqendse “ 6p
sores es sinual gp
“soTSIqe'y
ceecsua § ZF
++ sadsu snyindg oF
sooep “ SP
“ aqBorly τ, ῬΡ
cee 2 βηθοολῖτσος EP
soe e ee ΒΠΕΒΌΝ CP
eee eyerdee τι ΤΡ
cee ees 8|ρ0915 OF
“9. eyundss “ 68
coe sees eee sinuay 88
(‘omy ‘sopen3ut])
eEBIVOYTPOUL Β9181τι9Ω
TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPHABETS.
404
‘esau
ἌΘΩ}
6] τὸ 1: (δ) νῷ
a.) ΣΕ Σ᾿
...[..ὁ. ς QR οἱ
es rr ee (2) ἃ (9) το
Coty ΟΣ -
ἘΝ ie ΚΝ ἄν Ν᾿ ἐς
ce el ree eo. ce ee cs
a a ee χ Ὲ
ΚΣ ἘΝ 5.5 S Ὲ
7 7 w wr us
= = PRUE v &
a ia 0} a 11.
WIIG “pusz “usysueg
eee ol ww ο
ee eel ewe n
eee elo ee L
eee efore ΓῚ
see! (np) ng
tee} (0) (ne) 9
ee eeleoee ο
Ὁ ως + + 4 /(NQ) 10
cee see | (Ig) 19
sees] (ὦ) 1B
oe ee (a) (18) 9
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ow 5 ὦ «5
“SSID TIT | SSID IT] SSID I
ae |
“LHAVHATV AUMVNOISSHT
τσ 9 + 82084) sITBIgRl-oangynyy LZ
tse e e+ moms sITBIqeT 92
tse ee + πη; oyezereg οὗ
Tore + + wpoey sipemyny Τῷ
ες
ΓῚ
« εζ
se 22
sTTBIqeI-OmN}4NF smnBuoqiydiq 1Z
eoee 8800] “ 02
Ὁ + Σ τ sraadg swIgu-omnging GT
ες
«
“ 81
δ aI
syezejed-o1nygn3 snBuoyyydiq 91
++ eBuoy
staaiq Βηθ18|8ἀ- απ) FT
eocoee 8300} oe el
.
.
.
.
.
.
« ΟἹ
* stacaq Β]Β[48Ί ZI]
efuy = TT
βῖλϑαα βθη αν} ΟἹ
. 8300] se 6
* stacdq sIfequEq 8
‘eduoy “og
* slaadq SITBIB[ed 9
8300] - 9
Β[Α910 SITBINFANY) Ὁ
ΒΠΒ] =“ gg
5118}8184--οϑα (191 Z
Stee eee ee ΘΠΌΠΠΟΝ 1
“STSMOA
Digitized by Google
Digitized by Goog le
HOME USE
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
MAIN LIBRARY
This book is due on the last date stamped below.
1-month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405.
6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books
to Circulation Desk.
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior
to due date,
ALL BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO RECALL 7 DAYS
AFTER DATE CHECKED OUT.
LD21—A-40m-5,’74 General Library
(R81911L) University of California
Berkeley
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11