Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 23 — The Zend-Avesta, Part II / Yasts & Nyayis (Darmesteter, page scans)

al interpretation, I have tried, however, to reduce the sphere of etymological guesswork to its narrowest limits, with the help of different Pahlavi, Persian, and Sanskrit translations, which are as yet unpublished, and have been neglected by former translators. I found such translations for the Sirozahs, for Ya^ts I, VI, VII, XI, XXIII, XXIV, and for the Nyayi^^ (besides the already published translations of Yaj-ts XXI and XXII).

Of the remaining Yaj-ts, which are mostly of an epical character, there is no direct translation available; but a close comparison of the legends in Firdausi's Shah Namah seems to throw some light, even as regards philological points, on not a (tw obscure and important passages. This has enabled me, I believe, to restore a few myths to their original form, and to frame a more correct idea of others''^.

In this volume, as in the preceding one, I have to thank Mr. West for his kind assistance in making my translation more readable, as well as for valuable hints in the interpretation of several passages.

JAMES DARMESTETER.
Paris,
13 December, 1882.

* These translations have been edited in our Etudes Iraniennes, II, 253 seq. (Paris, Vieweg, 1883). ^ See ibidem, II, 206 seq.

A A

YA5TS AND SIROZAHS

r

0 ■ ' /

^^''

YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.

The word ya^t, in Zend ye^ti, means properly 'the act of worshipping,' the performance of the yasna; and it is often used in Parsi tradition as synonymous with yasna. But it has also been particularly applied to a certain number of writings in which the several Izeds are praised and magnified. These writings are generally of a higher poetical and epical character than the rest of the Avesta, and are most valuable records of the old mythology and historical legends of Iran.

The Parsis believe that formerly every Amshaspand and every Ized had his particular Ya.st, but we now possess only twenty Yajts and fragments of another ^ The writings known as Yajt fragments, the Afrin Zartujt, and Vijtasp Yast (printed as Yajts XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV in Westergaard's edition), are not proper Yai'ts, and have no liturgical character ; they are not devoted to the praise of any Ized.

The order in which the Yajts have been arranged by the Parsis follows exactly the order of the Sirozah, which is the proper introduction to the Yajts.

s1r6zah.

Sirozah means 'thirty days:' it is the name of a prayer composed of thirty invocations addressed to the several Izeds who preside over the thirty days of the month.

exactly the order of the Sirozah, which is the proper introduction to the Yajts.

s1r6zah.

Sirozah means 'thirty days:' it is the name of a prayer composed of thirty invocations addressed to the several Izeds who preside over the thirty days of the month.

There are two Sirozahs, but the only difference between them is that the formulas in the former are shorter '', and there is also, occasionally, some difference in the epithets, which are fuller in the latter.

* The Bahman Yajt (see Yt. I, §§ 24 and following).

^ In the greater Sirozah the names of the gods invoked are introduced with the word yazamaide, ' we sacrifice to;' in the lesser Sirozah there is no introductory word, the word khshnaothra, ' propitiation,' being understood, as can be seen from the introductory formulas to the several Ya^ts.

YAS'TS AND siROZAHS.

In India the Sirozah is recited in honour of the dead, on the thirtieth day after the death, on the thirtieth day of the sixth month, on the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, and then every year on the thirtieth day from the anniversary day (Anquetil, Zend- Avesta, II, 315). ^

The correspondence between the formulas of the Sirozah and the Ya^ts is as follows :

I.

Ormazd.

Ormazd Yaj't (I, 1-23).

2.

Bahman,

Bahman Yajt (I, 24-33).

3-

ArdibeheJt.

Ardibehe^t Ya^t (III).

4-

Shahrevar.

5.

Sapendarmad.

6.

Khordad.

Khorddd Ya^t (IV).

7-

Murdad.

8.

Dai pa Adar.

9-

Adar.

10.

Aban.

Aban Yaj-t (V).

II.

Khorshed.

Khorshgd Yast (VI).

12.

Mah.

Mah Yajt (VII).

13-

Tir.

Tir Yajt (VIII)'.

14.

Goi-.

G6^ Ya^t (IX).

15-

Dai pa Mihir.

16.

Mihir.

Mihir Yajt (X).

n-

Srosh.

Srosh Yajrt (XI).

18.

Rashn.

Rashn Ya^t (XII).

19.

Farvardin.

Farvardin Yajt (XIII).

20.

Bahram.

Bahram Ya^t (XIV).

21.

Ram.

RamYart(XV).

22.

Bad.

23-

Dai pa Din.

24.

Din.

Din Ya^t (XVI).

25.

Ard.

Ashi Yast (XVII).

26.

A^tad.

A^ytad Ya^t (XVIII).

27.

Asman.

28,

Zemyad.

Zemyad Ya^t (XIX).

29.

Mahraspand.

30-

Aneran.

The Yajts that have been lost are, therefore, those of Khshathra-vairya.

, Spewta-Armaiti,

Amereta/, Atar, Vata, Asman, Mathra-

Sp.e;2ta, ar

id Anaghra rnokau. The second Ya^'t, or Yai-t of the seven Amshaspands, appean

5 to have been no independent Yast :

it was common to all the seven Ya^ts devoted to the several stR6zAH T. ^ v5

Amshaspands, and, accordingly, it is recited on the first seven days of the month. One might suppose that it was originally a part of the Ormazd Yajt, as the Amesha-Spewtas are invoked in company with Ahura Mazda (Sirozah i, 8, 15, 23).

stR6zAH T. ^ v5

Amshaspands, and, accordingly, it is recited on the first seven days of the month. One might suppose that it was originally a part of the Ormazd Yajt, as the Amesha-Spewtas are invoked in company with Ahura Mazda (Sirozah i, 8, 15, 23). There may, indeed, have been several Yajts for one and the same formula of the Sirozah, as in all of these formulas more than one Ized are invoked : this would apply not only to the Yajt of the seven Amshaspands, but also to the Vana«/ Yast {Yzst XX), which, in that case, ought to follow the Tir Ya^-t (see Sirozah 13).

Not every Yajt, however, is devoted to the Ized whose name it bears : thus the Ardibehejt Ya^t is mostly devoted to Airyaman ; the Ram-Yaj-t and the Zemyad-YaJt are devoted to Vayu and to the ^z'areno : but Airyaman, Vayu, and the I/varend are invoked in the same Sirozah formulas as Ardibehe^t, Ram, and Zemyad, and a Yajt is named from the opening name in the correspondent Sirozah formula.

The systematic order so apparent in the Sirozah pervades the rest of the liturgy to a great extent : the enumeration of Izeds in Yasna XVII, 12-42 (XVI, 3-6) follows exactly the order of the Sirozah, except that it gives only the first name of each formula; and the question may be raised whether this passage in the Yasna is taken from the Sirozah, or whether the Sirozah is developed from the Yasna.

The very idea of the Sirozah, that is to say the attribution of each of the thirty days of the month to certain gods, seems to have been borrowed from the Semites : the tablets found in the^brary of Assurbanipal contain an Assyrian Sirozah, that is, a complete list of the Assyrian gods that preside over the thirty days of the month ^.

s1r6zah I.

I. Ormazd.

To Ahura Mazda, bright and glorious ^ and to the Amesha-Spe;7tas ^

^ J. Halevy, Revue des Etudes Juives, 188 1, October, p. 188. 2 SeeYt. I, 1-23. » See Yt. II.

B 2

YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.

2. Bahman.

To Vohii-Mano^; to Peace ^, whose breath is friendly ^, and who is more powerful to destroy than all other creatures^; to the heavenly Wisdom^, made by Mazda ; and to the Wisdom acquired through the ear ^, made by Mazda,

3. Ardibehej-t.

To Asha-Vahi^ta, the fairest^; to the muchdesired Airyaman, made by Mazda "^ ; to the instrument made by Mazda ^ ; and to the good Saoka ^ with eyes of love ^°, made by Mazda and holy.

^ SeeYt. I, 24-33.

^ Akh^ti does not so much mean Peace as the power that secures peace ; see note 4.

^ Ham-vai«ti, from ham-va (Yt.