2. Ahura Mazda answered : ' I will declare that unto thee, O pure, holy Spitama !
'The most glorious Holy Word (itself), this is what
in the Holy Word is created true, what is created
progress making, what is fit to discern, what is
healthful, wise, and happy, what is more powerful to
destroy than all other creatures.'
3. Ahura Mazda said : ' Bind up a three-twigged
baresma against the way of the sun, [Address]
unto me, Ahura Mazda, these words : " We invoke,
we bless [Ahura]'^; I invoke the friendship [of Ahura]
towards this var* prepared, towards the fire and
the baresma, towards the full boiling [milk^], towards
the var ^ of oil and the sap '^ of the plants."
* Ahura Mazda. 2 q^ Yt. I, i seq.
' The text is apparently corrupt and has Uterally, ' We invoke, we bless me, Ahura Mazda.'
* See following page, note 3.
^ Possibly, waters; cf. Yt. V, 132 and Vend. IV, 46 [128], 54 [154] seq.
" Literally, the fat.
170 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
4. 'Then I, Ahura Mazda, shall come for help
unto thee, towards this var prepared, towards
the fire and the baresma, towards the full boiling
[milk], towards the var of oil and the sap of the
plants ;
'Along with the fiend-smiting Wind, along with the
cursing thought of the wise \ along with the kingly
Glory, along with Saoka -, made by Mazda.
5. ' We invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong ; I
invoke his friendship towards this var ^ prepared,
towards the fire and the baresma, towards the full
boiling [milk], towards the var of oil and the sap of
the plants.
6. 'Then Rashnu the tall, the strong, will come
for help unto thee, towards this var prepared, towards
the fire and the baresma, towards the full boiling
[milk], towards the var of oil and the sap of the
plants :
'Along with the fiend-smiting Wind, along with the
cursing thought of the wise, along with the kingly
Glory, along with Saoka, made by Mazda.
7. ' O thou, holy Rashnu ! O most true Rashnu !
most beneficent Rashnu ! most knowing Rashnu !
most discerning Rashnu ! most fore -knowing
Rashnu! most far-seeing Rashnu! Rashnu, the
^ See p. 12, note 13. ^ See Vend. XXII, 3.
^ Var 6; this seems to be the Var nirang or ordeal which is alluded to in several passages of the Avesta ; of. Afrigan I, 9 ; Yasna XXXI, 3 b (see Pahl. Comm. ; of. Coram, ad XXXIV, 4 a) ; cf. Vend. IV, 46, 55. According to the Dinkart, there were thirty- three kinds of var ordeals (Haug, Arda Viraf, p. 145); the most common was to pour melted copper upon the breast of the man whose truth was to be tested : if he went off uninjured, he was considered to have spoken the truth. Cf Vend. Inirod. Ill, 9.
Rashn Vast. I7i
best doer of justiceM Rashnu, the best smiter of thieves ;
8. ' The uninjured, the best killer, smiter, de-
stroyer of thieves and bandits ! in whatever part of
the world thou art watching the doings ^ of men and
making the account , . . . ^
9. ' Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in the
Karshvare Arezahi*, we invoke, we bless Rashnu,
the strong. I invoke his friendship towards this
var prepared^ .... in whatever part of the world
thou art
10. ' Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in the
Karshvare Savahi^ we invoke, we bless Rashnu.
I invoke his friendship towards this var prepared
.... in whatever part of the world thou art.
11. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
Karshvare Fradadhafshu *, we invoke, we bless
Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship towards
this var prepared .... in whatever part of the
world thou art.
12. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
^ ArethamaZ-bairishta: aretha is dina, dadistan (law, justice).
' Keja=kartari (Pahl. Comm. ad Vend. XXI, 3 [14]).
^ I cannot make anything of the rest of the sentence hadhana tanasuj; cf. § 38.
* See Yt. X, 15, note 5. ** The rest as in §§ 5-8.
172 VASTS AND SIROZAHS.
Karshvare Vidadhafshu ^, we invoke, we bless
Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship towards
this var prepared .... in whatever part of the
world thou art.
13. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
Karshvare Vouru-barei"ti \ we invoke, we bless
Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship towards
this var prepared .... in whatever part of the
world thou art.
14. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in the
Karshvare Vouru-^are^ti \ we invoke, we bless
Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship towards
this var prepared .... in whatever part of the
world thou art.
15. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in this
Karshvare, the bright ^6^aniratha \ we invoke, we
bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship
towards this var prepared .... in whatever part
of the world thou art.
16. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
sea Vouru-Kasha ^, we invoke, we bless Rashnu, the
strong. I invoke his friendship towards this var
prepared .... in whatever part of the world
thou art.
^ See Yt. X, 15, note 5. ^ See p. 54, note 6.
Rasiin Vast. 173
1 7. ' Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art on the
tree of the eagle ^, that stands in the middle of the
sea Vouru-Kasha, that is called the tree of good
remedies, the tree of powerful remedies, the tree of
all remedies, and on which rest the seeds of all
plants ; we invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I
invoke his friendship towards this var prepared ....
18. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art on the
Aodhas ^ of the Rangha, we invoke, we bless
Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship towards
this var prepared ....
19. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art on the
Sanaka^ of the Rangha, we invoke, we bless Rashnu,
the strong. I invoke his friendship towards this
var prepared ....
^ The SaSna, in later mythology the Si namril or Simfirgh; his 'resting-place is on the tree which is Ja.d-hesh (opposed to harm) of all seeds; and always when he rises aloft, a thousand twigs will shoot forth from that tree ; and when he alights, he will break off the thousand twigs, and he sheds their seed therefrom. And the bird Chanmr6sh for ever sits in that vicinity; and his work is this, that he collects that seed which sheds from the tree of all seeds, which is JatZ-besh, and conveys it there where Tishtar seizes the water, so that Tishtar may seize the water with that seed of all kinds, and may rain it on the world with the rain' (Minokhirad LXII, 37; tr. West).
"^ By the floods (? Vend. I, 26); it has probably a geographical meaning ; cf. the following paragraph ; perhaps the marshy country at the mouth of the Tigris.
^ Cf.Yt.X,io4; aodhas and sanaka may refer to the southern and northern basin of the Tigris.
YA5'TS AND SIROZAHS.
20. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art at one
of the angles of this earth, we invoke we bless
Rashnu. I invoke his friendship towards this var
prepared ....
21. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art at the
boundary of this earth, we invoke, we bless Rashnu.
I invoke his friendship towards this var prepared ....
22. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in any
place of this earth, we invoke, we bless Rashnu. I
invoke his friendship towards this var prepared ....
23. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art on the
Hara Berezaiti, the bright mountain around which
the many (stars) revolve, where come neither night
nor darkness, no cold wind and no hot wind, no
deathful sickness, no uncleanness made by the
Daevas, and the clouds cannot reach up unto the
Haraiti Bareza^; we invoke, we bless Rashnu. I in-
voke his friendship towards this var prepared
24. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art upon
the highest Hukairya, of the deep precipices ^ made
of gold, wherefrom this river of mine, Ardvi Sura
Anahita, leaps from a thousand times the height of
a man, we invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I
invoke his friendship towards this var prepared ....
1 Cf. Yt. X, 50.
2 Reading vispo-vaemem; cf. Yt.V, 96, note 7.
Rashn Yast. I 75
25. * Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art upon
the Taera of the height Haraiti, around which the
stars, the moon, and the sun revolve ^ we Invoke,
we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friend-
ship towards this var prepared ....
26. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
star Vana??/ ^, made by Mazda, we invoke, we bless
Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship towards
this var prepared ....
• XX.
27. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
bright and glorious star Tii'trya ^ we invoke, we
bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship
towards the var prepared ....
28. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
group of the Haptoiri/^ga stars ^, we invoke, we
bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship
towards this var prepared ....
29. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in those stars that have the seed of the waters in them ^, we
^ See Bund. V, 3 seq. ; cf. Yt. X, 1 3, 50.
2 Cf. Yt. XX and Yt. VIII, 1 2. ' Cf. Yt. VIII, 12.
* ' The star of water essence is for the increase of water ; and the star of earth essence, for the increase of earth ; and the star of tree essence, for the increase of trees ; and the star of cattle essence,
176 YASTS AND siROZAHS.
invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friendship tOAvards this var prepared ....
30. * Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in those
stars that have the seed of the earth in them \ we
invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his
friendship towards this var prepared ....
31. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in those
stars that have the seed of the plants in them\ we
invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his
friendship towards this var prepared ....
32. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
stars that belong to the Good Spirit ^ we invoke,
we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his friend-
ship towards this var prepared ....
33. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art In the
moon which has the seed of the Bull in it^ we in-
voke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his
friendship towards this var prepared ....
for the increase of cattle ; and the essence of water, and earth, and trees, and cattle is created for the increase of man ' (Minokhirad XLIX, 7, tr. West).
* See preceding note.
^ Excluding the planets which belong to Ahriman (Minokhirad VIII, xg; Bund. Ill, 25 ; V, i).
^ See above, p. 8, note 8.
Rashn Yast. 177
34. ' Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in the
swift-horsed sun, we invoke, we bless Rashnu, the
strong. I invoke his friendship towards this var
prepared ....
35. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
sovereign endless Light, we invoke, we bless Rashnu,
the strong. I invoke his friendship towards this var
prepared ....
36. ' Whether thou, O holy Rashnu ! art in the
bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones, we
invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke his
friendship towards this var prepared ....
Sy. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art in the
shining Garo-demana^ we invoke, we bless Rashnu,
the strong. I invoke his friendship towards this var
prepared ....
XXXI.
38. 'Whether thou, O holy Rashnu! art ... .2
we invoke, we bless Rashnu, the strong. I invoke
his friendship towards this var prepared ....
39. ' For his brightness and glory, I will ofler unto him a sacri- fice worth being heard ....
' The highest heaven, the abode of Ormazd.
^ ?Upa hadhana hadhana tanasui'; cf. § 8, p. 171, note 3.
[23] N
178 YA^-TS AND stROZAHS.
' Yewhe hatam : All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda .... 40. ' Yatha ahft vairy6 : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
' I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength
and vigour of Rashnu Razi^ta ; of Ar^-ta/, who
makes the world grow, who makes the world in-
crease ; and of the true-spoken speech that makes
the world grow.
'AshemVohu: 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.'
^ Who shall have worshipped Rashnu.
FARVARdJn YA.ST. I 79
XIII. farvardIn ya^t.