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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1the rightly-spoken words. Yatha ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness .... I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy. Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good .... [Give] unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones. MIHIR VAST. I 19 X. MIHIR YA6^T. This Yajt, one of the longest of the Avesta and one of the most interesting in a literary point of view, is not very instructive for mythology. It consists of long descriptive pieces, sometimes rather spirited, and of fervent prayers and invocations for mercy or protection. Originally INIithra was the god of the heavenly light (§§ 12, 50, 67, 104, 124 seq., 136 seq., &c.); and in that character he knows the truth, as he sees everything ; he is therefore taken as a witness of truth, he is the preserver of oaths and good faith (§§ 2, 44 seq., 79 seq., 81 seq., &c.) ; he chastises those who break their promises and lie to IMithra, destroys their houses and smites them in battle (§§ 17 seq., 28 seq., 35 seq., 47 seq., 99 seq., 105 seq., 112 seq., 128 seq., &c.). Particularly interesting are §§ 11 5-1 18, as giving a sketch of moral hierarchy in Iran, and §§ 121-122, as being perhaps the source of the trials in the later Roman Mithriacism. Cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 8 and Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 59-61. o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced ! . . . . Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good .... I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zara- thujtra, one who hates the Daevas, and obeys the laws of Ahura ; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness .... Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name, and unto Rama //z^astra^ Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness .... I. I. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathuj-tra, saying : ' Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of ' Sirozah I, 16. I20 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS. wide pastures, O Spitama ! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda \ 2. 'The ruffian who Hes unto Mithra^ brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers^ could do.
2S. wide pastures, O Spitama ! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda \ 2. 'The ruffian who Hes unto Mithra^ brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers^ could do. Break not the contract, O Spitama ! neither the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the faithful who is one of thy own faith*. For Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful. 3. ' Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swift- ness to the horses of those who lie not unto Mithra. ' Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, gives the straight- est way to those who lie not unto Mithra. ' The good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the faithful give a virtuous offspring to those who lie not unto Mithra. 4. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. ' We offer up libations unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who gives a happy dwelling and a good dwelling to the Aryan nations. 5. ' May he come to us for help ! May he come to us for ease ! May he come to us for joy ! May he come to us for mercy ! May he come to us for health ! May he come to us for victory ! May he ' Cf. Yt. VIII, 50. ^ The Mithradru^: one might also translate 'who breaks the contract,' as mithra, as a common noun, means 'a contract.' ^ Kayadhas; cf. Yt. I, 19. "* Cf. Arda Viraf, chap. lii. MIHIR VAST. 121 come to us for good conscienceM May he come to us for bliss 2 ! he, the awful and overpowering, worthy of sacrifice and prayer, not to be deceived anywhere in the whole of the material world, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. 6. ' I will offer up libations unto him, the strong Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the creatures : I will apply unto him with charity^ and prayers : I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard unto him, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wis- dom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words. *Ye7zhe hatam : All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda* .... II. 7. *We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge^, strong, sleepless, and ever awake ^ ; ^ Cheerfulness at the head of the Alnva/ bridge (Yasna LXII, 6 [LXI, 17]; cf.
3ide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge^, strong, sleepless, and ever awake ^ ; ^ Cheerfulness at the head of the Alnva/ bridge (Yasna LXII, 6 [LXI, 17]; cf. Vend. XVIII, 6). ^ The condition of the blessed in the next world. ^ Va«ta, 'assistance, that is, making ^adangoi' (Yasna LXII [LXI], I ; ^adangoi is making a collection for the poor (fitudes Iraniennes, II, 155). * As p. 30. ^ Perethu-vaedhayana: sampurwavittaram karyanyayanam (Khorshcf/ Nyayij 6). "G^aghaurvawnghem: this word, strangely enough, is generally translated 'who has most strong arms'(balish/,^abhui''am); ^agauru is translated in the same way. 122 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS. 8. ' To whom the chiefs of nations offer up sacri- fices, as they go to the field, against havocking hosts, against enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting nations. 9. ' On whichever side he has been worshipped first in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, to that side turns Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the fiend-smiting wind, with the cursing thought of the wise \ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard .... III. 10. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake. II.' Whom the horsemen worship on the back of their horses, begging swiftness for their teams, health for their own bodies, and that they may watch with full success those who hate them, smite down their foes, and destroy at one stroke their adver- saries, their enemies, and those who hate them^. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard .... IV. 12. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake ; 1 3. * Who first of the heavenly gods reaches over the Hara^ before the undying, swift-horsed sun*; ^ See p. 12, note 13. ^ cf yt. V, 53 ; X, 94. ^ Mount Alborz, whence the sun rises ; see § 50. * Mithra is closely connected with the sun, but not yet identical with it, as he became in later times (.-fr-*, the sun; Deo invicto Soli Mithrae). MIHIR YAST. 123 who, foremost in a golden array, takes hold of the beautiful summits, and from thence looks over the abode of the Aryans with a beneficent eye. 14.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1the rightly-spoken words. Yatha ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness .... I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy. Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good .... [Give] unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones. MIHIR VAST. I 19 X. MIHIR YA6^T. This Yajt, one of the longest of the Avesta and one of the most interesting in a literary point of view, is not very instructive for mythology. It consists of long descriptive pieces, sometimes rather spirited, and of fervent prayers and invocations for mercy or protection. Originally INIithra was the god of the heavenly light (§§ 12, 50, 67, 104, 124 seq., 136 seq., &c.); and in that character he knows the truth, as he sees everything ; he is therefore taken as a witness of truth, he is the preserver of oaths and good faith (§§ 2, 44 seq., 79 seq., 81 seq., &c.) ; he chastises those who break their promises and lie to IMithra, destroys their houses and smites them in battle (§§ 17 seq., 28 seq., 35 seq., 47 seq., 99 seq., 105 seq., 112 seq., 128 seq., &c.). Particularly interesting are §§ 11 5-1 18, as giving a sketch of moral hierarchy in Iran, and §§ 121-122, as being perhaps the source of the trials in the later Roman Mithriacism. Cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 8 and Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 59-61. o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced ! . . . . Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good .... I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zara- thujtra, one who hates the Daevas, and obeys the laws of Ahura ; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness .... Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name, and unto Rama //z^astra^ Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness .... I. I. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathuj-tra, saying : ' Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of ' Sirozah I, 16. I20 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS. wide pastures, O Spitama ! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda \ 2. 'The ruffian who Hes unto Mithra^ brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers^ could do.
2S. wide pastures, O Spitama ! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda \ 2. 'The ruffian who Hes unto Mithra^ brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers^ could do. Break not the contract, O Spitama ! neither the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the faithful who is one of thy own faith*. For Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful. 3. ' Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swift- ness to the horses of those who lie not unto Mithra. ' Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, gives the straight- est way to those who lie not unto Mithra. ' The good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the faithful give a virtuous offspring to those who lie not unto Mithra. 4. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. ' We offer up libations unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who gives a happy dwelling and a good dwelling to the Aryan nations. 5. ' May he come to us for help ! May he come to us for ease ! May he come to us for joy ! May he come to us for mercy ! May he come to us for health ! May he come to us for victory ! May he ' Cf. Yt. VIII, 50. ^ The Mithradru^: one might also translate 'who breaks the contract,' as mithra, as a common noun, means 'a contract.' ^ Kayadhas; cf. Yt. I, 19. "* Cf. Arda Viraf, chap. lii. MIHIR VAST. 121 come to us for good conscienceM May he come to us for bliss 2 ! he, the awful and overpowering, worthy of sacrifice and prayer, not to be deceived anywhere in the whole of the material world, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. 6. ' I will offer up libations unto him, the strong Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the creatures : I will apply unto him with charity^ and prayers : I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard unto him, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wis- dom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words. *Ye7zhe hatam : All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda* .... II. 7. *We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge^, strong, sleepless, and ever awake ^ ; ^ Cheerfulness at the head of the Alnva/ bridge (Yasna LXII, 6 [LXI, 17]; cf.
3ide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge^, strong, sleepless, and ever awake ^ ; ^ Cheerfulness at the head of the Alnva/ bridge (Yasna LXII, 6 [LXI, 17]; cf. Vend. XVIII, 6). ^ The condition of the blessed in the next world. ^ Va«ta, 'assistance, that is, making ^adangoi' (Yasna LXII [LXI], I ; ^adangoi is making a collection for the poor (fitudes Iraniennes, II, 155). * As p. 30. ^ Perethu-vaedhayana: sampurwavittaram karyanyayanam (Khorshcf/ Nyayij 6). "G^aghaurvawnghem: this word, strangely enough, is generally translated 'who has most strong arms'(balish/,^abhui''am); ^agauru is translated in the same way. 122 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS. 8. ' To whom the chiefs of nations offer up sacri- fices, as they go to the field, against havocking hosts, against enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting nations. 9. ' On whichever side he has been worshipped first in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, to that side turns Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the fiend-smiting wind, with the cursing thought of the wise \ ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard .... III. 10. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake. II.' Whom the horsemen worship on the back of their horses, begging swiftness for their teams, health for their own bodies, and that they may watch with full success those who hate them, smite down their foes, and destroy at one stroke their adver- saries, their enemies, and those who hate them^. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard .... IV. 12. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake ; 1 3. * Who first of the heavenly gods reaches over the Hara^ before the undying, swift-horsed sun*; ^ See p. 12, note 13. ^ cf yt. V, 53 ; X, 94. ^ Mount Alborz, whence the sun rises ; see § 50. * Mithra is closely connected with the sun, but not yet identical with it, as he became in later times (.-fr-*, the sun; Deo invicto Soli Mithrae). MIHIR YAST. 123 who, foremost in a golden array, takes hold of the beautiful summits, and from thence looks over the abode of the Aryans with a beneficent eye. 14.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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