1 See Yt. XVII. ^ See above, p. 1 1, note 5.
2 Doubtful. Mount ^z^anvaw/, being situated in the sea Vouru- Kasha (as appears from Ti^trya travelling towards that sea, § 38), seems to be the same with Mount Ausindom (§ 32).
* Cf. above, § 8.
Tir Ya-S-T. 105
pastures, even to the roots of the plants, that they may grow with a powerful growth ?"
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
43. * We sacrifice unto Tii-trya, the bright and
glorious star, who washes away all things of fear ^
who stunts the growth of all ... . ^, and brings health
to all these creations, being most beneficent, when
he has been worshipped with a sacrifice and pro-
pitiated, rejoiced, and satisfied.
' For his brightness and glory, I will oflfer him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
44. * I will sacrifice unto Tii^trya, the bright and
glorious star, whom Ahura Mazda has established
as a lord and overseer above all stars ^, in the same
way as he has established Zarathu^tra above men ;
whom neither Angra Mainyu, nor the Yatus and
the Pairikas, nor the men Yatus * can deliver unto
death, nor can all the Daevas together prevail for
his death.
* For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
^ Sim^?^, meaning sahmgftn, bhayamkara (Yasna IX, 38
^ ? Vazdrij.
^ In the Bundahij it is especially the leader of the eastern stars ; but the Minokhired calls it the first star (XLIX, 5; cf above, § 12).
* See above, p. 38, note 3.
I06 Ya^-Ts and Sirozahs
45. 'We sacrifice unto Tutrya, the bright and
glorious star, to whom Ahura Mazda has given a
thousand senses ^ and who is the most beneficent
amonpfst the stars that have in them the seed of the
waters :
46. ' Who moves in Hght with the stars that have
in them the seed of the waters : he, from the sea
Vouru-Kasha, the powerful sea, the large-sized,
deep, and salt of waters, goes to all the lakes, and
to all the beautiful caves, and to all the beautiful
channels ^, in the shape of a white, beautiful horse,
with golden ears and a golden caparison.
47. ' Then, O Spitama Zarathuj-tra ! the waters
flow down from the sea Vouru-Kasha, mother-like ^,
friendly, and healing : he divides them amongst
these countries, being most beneficent, when he has
been worshipped with a sacrifice and propitiated,
rejoiced, and satisfied ^
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
48. ' We sacrifice unto Tii"trya, the bright and glo-
rious star, for whom long all the creatures of Spe;-5ta-
Mainyu, those that live under the ground, and those
that live above the ground ; those that live in the
waters, and those that live on dry land ; those that
fly, and those that run in the plains^; and all those
^ See Yt. X, 82, note.
2 Those of Ardvi Sura Anahita; cf. Yt. V, 4, loi.
^ Cf. Yt.V, 15. * Cf.§43.
^ See Yt. XIII, 10, note; cf. Visperad I, i, and Bundahii- XXIV, tr. West, note i.
Tir Ya5t. 107
that live within this boundless and endless world of the holy Spirit.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
49. ' We sacrifice unto Tii-trya, the bright and glo-
rious star, the healthful, wise, happy, and powerful,
who is the lord of a thousand boons, and grants
many boons to that man who has pleased him,
whether begging or not begging for them.
50. 'I, O Spitama Zarathui-tra! have created
that star Ti^-trya as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy
of prayer, as worthy of propitiation, as worthy of
glorification as myself, Ahura Mazda ^;
51. 'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to
afflict, to drive back the malice of that Pairika Du^-
yairya^, whom evil-speaking^ people call Huyairya*.
52. ' Had I not created that star Ti^trya as worthy
of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer, as worthy of propi-
tiation, as worthy of glorification as myself, Ahura
Mazda ;
53. 'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to
afflict, to drive back the malice of that Pairika Du^-
yairya, whom evil-speaking people call Huyairya ;
' Cf. Yt. X, I.
^ Bad year, that is to say, sterility, drought. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, also deprecates Duzyairya in one of his inscriptions : ' May Ahura Mazda keep this country from the hostile host, from sterility (du^iyara), from lying (disloyalty) : may never the foreigner enter this country, nor the hostile host, nor sterility, nor lying' (Persepolis, H, 15).
^ People who object to rain and are fond of fine weather (?).
* Good year.
I08 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
54. 'Then all day long, all night long, that Pairika
Du^'yairya would wage war against this material
world of mine, wanting to extinguish its life ^ and
she goes on, rushing upon and around it.
55. ' But the bright and glorious Ti^trya keeps
that Pairika in bonds, with twofold bonds, with
threefold bonds, that cannot be overcome, with
bonds all over the body : it is as if there were a
thousand men keeping one man in bonds, a thou-
sand men of those who are the strongest in
strength.
56. 'If the Aryan countries, O Spitama Zara-
thui^tra ! would perform in honour of the bright and
glorious Tii'trya the due sacrifice and invocation,
just as that sacrifice and invocation ought to be per-
formed in the perfection of holiness ; never should a
hostile horde enter these Aryan countries, nor any
plague, nor leprosy, nor venomous plants 2, nor the
chariot of a foe, nor the uplifted spear of a foe.'
57 ^ Zarathurtra asked : 'What is then, O Ahura
Mazda! the sacrifice and invocation in honour of the
bright and glorious Ti^-trya, as it ought to be per-
formed in the perfection of holiness ? '
58. Ahura Mazda answered : ' Let the Aryan
nations bring libations unto him ; let the Aryan
nations tie bundles of baresma for him ; let the
Aryan nations cook for him a head of cattle, either
white, or black, or of any other colour, but all of
one and the same colour.
^ Reading ava[-derenam] ; cf. Vend. XVIII, 18 [45].
^ Kapasti is properly the colocynthis or bitter-apple:
' Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni
Occidet.' (Eel. IV, 24, 25.)
' §§ 57-6i=Yt. XIV, 49-53; cf. Yt.V, 89 seq.
TiR YAST. 109
59. ' Let not a murderer take of these offerings, nor a whore, nor a .... ^ who does not sino- the
Gathas, who spreads death in the world and with- stands the law of Mazda, the law of Zarathui-tra.
60. ' If a murderer take of these offerinofs, or a
whore, or a ... . who does not sing the Gathas,
who spreads death in the world and withstands
the law of Mazda, the law of Zarathunra, then the
bright and glorious Ti^trya takes back his healing
virtues.
61. 'Plagues will ever pour upon the Aryan na-
tions ; hostile hordes will ever fall upon the Aryan
nations ; the Aryans will be smitten, by their fifties
and their hundreds, by their hundreds and their
thousands, by their thousands and their tens of
thousands, by their tens of thousands and their
myriads of myriads.
62. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
' I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength
and vigour of Tii-trya, the bright and glorious star,
and of the powerful Satavaesa, made by Mazda, who
pushes waters forward.
' Ash em Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
' [Give] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the
bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones
^ ? Ashaovo. 2 Cf. Yt. I, 33.
no YA5?TS AND sIroZAHS.
IX. GO^" YA^'T.
Gos, ' the cow,' kut i^oxhv, is a personation of the animal king- dom which she maintains . and protects. She is also called Drvaspa and Gojurun : Drvaspa means ' she who keeps horses in health,' and is nothing more than an epithet of Gbs : Go^urun (from the Zend Gews urvan) means 'the Soul of the Bull' (the primeval Bull). Although urvan is a masculine noun in Zend, yet Gojurun is considered a female angel, as this name is only a substitute for Gbs.
Gos is the angel of the 14th day (Sirozah I, 14), and her Yajt is recited during the Gah U^ahin, on the days of Gbs, Bahman, Mah, and Ram (the same days as those on which the Mah Ya^t is recited ; see above, p. 88).
Gbs is hardly described in this Ya^t (§§ 1-2); the greater part of it being filled with the several prayers addressed to her by the Iranian heroes, Haoshyangha (§ 3), Yima (§ 8), Thraetaona (§ 13), Haoma (§ 17), Husravah (§ 21), Zarathui-tra, and Vutaspa. Her worshippers and their prayers to her are the same as in the case of Ashi Vanguhi (see Yt. XVII).
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! May Angra Mainyu be afflicted !
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, satisfaction, and glorification unto Havani, the holy and master of holiness.
Unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holyS
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness ....
^ Sirozah I, 14.
GO^- YAST. Ill
1. We sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made
by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health,
the herds in health, the grown-up i (cattle) in health,
the young ones in health ; who watches well from
afar, with a wide-spread and long-continued welfare-
giving friendship ;
2. Who yokes teams of horses, who makes
her chariot turn and its wheels sound, fat and
glistening ^ strong, tall-formed, weal- possessing,
health -giving, powerful to stand and powerful to
turn for assistance to the faithful.
3. To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata^ offer
up a sacrifice on the enclosure of the Hara, the
beautiful height, made by Mazda, with a hundred
male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand
lambs, and with an offering of libations :
4. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent
Drvaspa ! that I may overcome all the Daevas of
Mazana* ; that I may never fear and bow through
terror before the Daevas, but that all the Daevas
may fear and bow in spite of themselves before me,
that they may fear and flee down to darkness ^'
5. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the
holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon,
as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing,
and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
6. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her
a sacrifice worth being heard ; I will offer her a
sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful
^ Doubtful ; possibly ' the friend in health, the child in health.' 2 Doubtful. 3 cf_ p_ ^c>^ j^Qtg j_
* Cf. p. 59, note 2. ^ To hell.
112 YA.STS AND siROZAHS.
Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy. We offer up
libations to the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda
and holy ; we offer her the Haoma and meat, the
baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells,
the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-
spoken words.
Ye;2he hatam : All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda . . . .^
7. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health ....
Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful ^.
8. To her did Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd,
offer up a sacrifice from the height Hukairya, with a
hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand
lambs, and with an offering of libations :
9. 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent
Drvaspa ! that I may bring fatness and flocks down
to the world created by Mazda ; that I may bring
immortality down to the world created by Mazda ;
10. 'That I may take away both hunger and thirst,
from the world created by Mazda ; that I may take
away both old age and death, from the world created
by Mazda ; that I may take away both hot wind and
cold wind, from the world created by Mazda, for a
thousand years ^'
11. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon.
^ As above, p. 30. ^ § 7=§§ 1-2.