* Is the same with it, is as powerful.
^ Doubtful (varethrem dare^ta .... zak dr%- varti dajtartum),
* See p. 23.
■^ Or, ' is the best of all fiend-smiters in battle.' ^ This chapter (Pahl. Comm.).
holiness, with deeds all intent on holiness, when he
is in fear either of high waters or of the darkness
of a rainy night ;
Or at the fords of a river, or at the branching-off of roads ;
Or in the meeting together of the faithful, or
the rushing together of the worshippers of the
Daevas ^ ;
5. Whether on the road ^ or in the law ^ he has
to fear, not in that day nor in that night shall the
tormenting fiend, who wants to torment him, prevail
to throw upon him the look of his evil eye, and the
malice of the thief ^ who carries off cattle shall not
reach him.
6. Pronounce then that word, O Zarathu^tra ! that
word to be spoken ^ when thou fall upon the idola-
ters ^ and thieves and Daevas rushing together.
Then the malice of the wicked worshippers of the
Daevas, of the Yatus and their followers, of the
Pairikas and their followers, will be affrighted and
rush away. Down are the Daevas ! Down are the
Daeva-worshippers, and they take back their mouths
from biting'^.
* Different words are used, as usual, to express the same con- flict, according as it refers to the faithful or to the idolaters.
' Aipi-ayanam: madam ras.
'Arethyanam: dadistan (from aretha, meaning dina, dadistan).
* Gadha: nn'szmsa. (Neriosengh) ; the Pahlavi has ^aj, a Saka, a Scythe.
^ The praise of Sraosha.
^ Keresas/^-a: krasiak; cf. Neriosengh ad Yasna IX, 24 [75]; that name was in the later periods applied to Christians, as if keresa were the name of Christ ; cf. Bahman Yast II, 19 ; III, 2.
^ Doubtful.
1 62 YA5TS AND siROZAHS.
7. And therefore we take around us the holy-
natured Sraosha, the holy, the fiend-smiter, as one
does with shepherds' dogs ; therefore we sacrifice
unto the holy-natured Sraosha, the holy, the fiend-
smiter, with good thoughts, good words, and good
deeds.
8 \ For his brightness and glory, for his strength
and victorious power, for his offering sacrifices unto .
the gods^, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being
heard. I will offer up libations unto the holy
Sraosha, unto the great Ashi Vanguhi ^, and unto
Nairyo-sangha *, the tall-formed.
So may the holy Sraosha, the fiend-smiter, come to us for help !
9. We worship the holy Sraosha ; we worship the
great master, Ahura Mazda, who is supreme in holi-
ness, who is the foremost to do deeds of holiness.
We worship all the words ^ of Zarathu^tra, and
all the good deeds, those done and those to be
done.
Y6«h6hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda ....
10". We sacrifice unto the holy, tall -formed, fiend -smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness ;
Who strikes the evil-doing^ man, who strikes the evil-doing woman ; who smites the fiendish
1 §§ 8-9=Yasna LVII, 3-4 [LVI, i, 6-12].
2 See Vend. Introd. IV, 31. =* See Yt. XVII. ' See Vend. XXII, 7 [22] and Sirozah I, 9.
^ The words of the law.
« §§ io-i3=Yasna LVII, 15-18 [LVI, 7].
' Cf Yt. I, 19.
Srosh Ya5t Hadhokht. 1 63
Dru^, and is most strong and world - destroying ;
who maintains and looks over all this moving ^
world ;
11. Who, never sleeping, wakefully guards the
creation of Mazda ; who, never sleeping, wakefully
maintains the creation of Mazda ; who protects all
the material world with his club uplifted, from the
hour when the sun is down ;
12. Who never more did enjoy sleep from the
time when the two Spirits made the world, namely,
the good Spirit and the evil One ; who every day,
every night, fights with the Mazainya Daevas.
13. He bows not for fear and fright before the
Daevas : before him all the Daevas bow for fear
and fright reluctantly, and rush away to darkness ^
For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power . . . .^
14. Yatha ahii vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness ;
Who with peace and friendship* watches the
Dru^ and the most beneficent Spirit : so that the
Amesha-Spe/2tas may go along the seven Karsh-
vares of the earth ^ ; who is the teacher of the
^ Cf. above, p. 145, note i. ^ To hell.
^ As above, §§ 8-9, * To the creation of Ormazd.
- Doubtful. The Yasna has: 'Through whose strength, vic- torious power, wisdom, and knowledge the Amesha-Spewtas go (avan; Phi. satiinand) along the seven Karshvares of the earth' (LVII, 23 [LVI, 10, 2]).
1 64 YA5TS AND sIroZAHS.
Law 1 : he himself was taught it by Ahura Mazda, the holy One.
For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power ....
15. Yatha ahft vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness ;
Whom the holy Ahura Mazda has created to
withstand Aeshma, the fiend of the wounding spear ;
we sacrifice unto Peace, whose breath is friendly,
and unto the two withstanders of sin and guilt 2,
16. The friends of the holy Sraosha ;
The friends of Rashnu Razi^ta^
The friends of the good Law of the worshippers
of Mazda ;
The friends of Arsta.^\ who makes the world
o-row. who makes the world increase, who makes
the world prosper ;
The friends of Ashi Vanguhi 5;
The friends of the good A^isti ^ ;
The friends of the most right iTista^;
^ He teaches the law to the three saviours to come, Oshedar Bami, OshSdar Mah, and Soshyos (Yasna LVII, 24 [LVI, 10, 2]; Phi. tr.).
2 Pare^tasy^a mravaya^^s-^a, to be corrected, according to various readings, into staretas^a m^-vaydoska. or something like it ; the two genii here alluded to are An a star eta and Amuyamna, Sinlessness and Innocence, who are invoked in company with Akhjti hamvaiwti in Visperad VIII, 4.
» See Yt. XII. * See Yt. XVII.
^ See Vend. XIX, 39. ' See ibid.
^ See Yt. XVI, I.
Srosh Ya^T Hadiiokht. 165
1 7. The friends of all gods ;
The friends of the Mathra Spe/^ta ;
The friends of the fiend-destroying Law ;
The friends of the long-traditional teaching ;
The friends of the Amesha-Spe;^tas ;
The friends of ourselves, the Saoshya;//s \ the
two-footed part of the holy creation ;
The friends of all the beings of the holy world.
For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power ....
18. Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness ;
The first [Sraosha], the next, the middle, and the
highest ; with the first sacrifice, with the next, with
the middle, and with the highest 2. We sacrifice
unto all [the moments]^ of the holy and strong
Sraosha, who is the incarnate Word ;
19. The strong Sraosha, of the manly courage,
the warrior of the strong arms, who breaks the
skulls of the Daevas ; who smites with heavy blows ^
and is strong to smite ; the holy Sraosha, who smites
^ The faithful, as helping through their good deeds in the work of final restoration, to be performed by Saoshya«/ (cf. Yt. XIII, 1 7).
^ The first sacrifice is the Yasna sacrifice; the next (literally, superior) is the Visperad; the middle sacrifice is the Hadhokht [and] evak homast ; the highest sacrifice is the Dvazdah homast (Pahl.Comm.). Sraosha is called the first, next, middle, and highest, accordingly as he presides over one or the other of those sacrifices. For a definition of the evak homast and Dvazdah homast, see West, Pahlavi Texts, I, 212, note 5.
' Vispan, translated harvisp zaman.
* Literally, the smiter who smites with smitings.
with heavy blows ; we sacrifice unto the crushing Ascendant of both the holy Sraosha and Ar^ti ^
20. We sacrifice for all the houses protected by
Sraosha, where the holy Sraosha is dear and friendly
treated and satisfied, as well as the faithful man^
rich in good thoughts, rich in good words, rich in
good deeds.
21. We sacrifice unto the body of the holy Sraosha ;
We sacrifice unto the body of Rashnu Razi^ta ;
We sacrifice unto the body of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures ;
We sacrifice unto the body of the holy wind ;
We sacrifice unto the body of the good Law of the worshippers of Mazda ;
We sacrifice unto the body of Ari-ta/, who makes
the world grow, who makes the world increase, who
makes the world prosper ;
We sacrifice unto the body of Ashi Vanguhi ;
We sacrifice unto the body of the good A"isti ;
We sacrifice unto the body of the most right /Tista ;
We sacrifice unto the bodies of all the gods ;
22. We sacrifice unto the body of the Mathra SpeJtta. ;
We sacrifice unto the body of the fiend-destroying Law ;
We sacrifice unto the body of the long-traditional teaching ;
We sacrifice unto the bodies of the Amesha- Spe?^tas ;
1 The same as Arsta/. Cf. Yasna LVII, 34-35 [LVI, 13, 3-7]. ^ He receives alms (the asho-dad).
Srosh Yast Hadhokht. 167
We sacrifice unto the bodies of ourselves, the
Saoshya;2/s, the two-footed part of the holy crea-
tion ;
We sacrifice unto the bodies of all the beings of the holy world ^
For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power ....
23. Yatha ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
I bless the sacrifice and prayer, the strength and
vigour of the holy, strong Sraosha, who is the in-
carnate Word, a mighty-speared and lordly god.
[Give] unto that man^ brightness and glory, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones !
^ Cf. §§ 16-17. ^ Who sacrifices to Sraosha.
1 68 YA5TS AND SlRdZAHS.
XII. RASHN VAST.
Rashnu Razi^ta, 'the truest True,' is the Genius of Truth : he is one of the three judges of the departed, with Mithra and Sraosha : he holds the balance in which the deeds of men are weighed after their death : ' he makes no unjust balance . . . . , neither for the pious nor yet the wicked, neither for lords nor yet rulers ; as much as a hair's breadth he will not vary, and he shows no favour V He is an offshoot either of Mithra, the God of Truth and the avenger of lies, or of Ahura Mazda himself, the all-knowing lord (§ 2 seq.).
This Yai-t seems to be an appeal made to Rashnu to come and attend the performance of the var nirang or ordeal (see p. 170, note 3), of which Rashnu, as the Genius of Truth, was the natural witness and arbiter (cf. Vend. IV, 54-55 [154-156]). As a god of Truth must know everything and be present everywhere, he is called from whatever part of the world he may actually be in. This brings about an enumeration of all the parts of the world, from this earth (§§ 9-22) to the highest heaven (§ 37), passing through the Alborz (§§ 23-26), the star region (§§ 26-32), the moon region (§ 33), and the sun region (§ 34 ; cf. p. 73, note^2).
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced ! . . . .
AshemVohu: 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 Rashnu Razi^ta ; unto Ar^tat, who makes
the world grow, who makes the world increase ; unto
the true-spoken speech, that makes the world grow^;
^ Minokhirad II, 120-12 1 (tr. West). ^ Sirozah I, 18.
Rashn Ya5'T. 1 69
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorifi- cation.
YathS ahii vairy6: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
1. The holy (Zarathuj'tra) asked him M ' O holy
Ahura Mazda! I ask thee ; answer me with words of
truth, thou who knowest the truth. Thou art unde-
ceivable, thou hast an undeceivable understanding ;
thou art undeceivable, as thou knowest everything.
' What of the Holy Word is created true? what is
created progress-making ? what is fit to discern ?
what is healthful ? what is wise .'* what is happy and
more powerful to destroy than all other creatures ^ V