The Fravashi is the inner power in every being that maintains it and makes it grow and subsist. Originally the Fravashis were the same as the Pitr/s of the Hindus or the Manes of the Latins, that is to say, the everlasting and deified souls of the dead (see §§ 49~52) ; but in course of time they gained a wider domain, and not only men, but gods and even physical objects, like the sky and the earth, &c. (§§ 85-86), had each a Fravashi (see Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 111-113).
This Yajt is to be divided into two parts. The former part (§§ 1-84) is a glorification of the powers and attributes of the Fravashis in general; the latter part (§§ 85-158) is an enumeration of the Fravashis of the most celebrated heroes of Mazdeism, from the first man, Gaya Maretan, down to the last, Saoshyaw/.
This latter part is like a Homer's catalogue of Mazdeism. The greatest part of the historical legends of Iran lies here con- densed into a register of proper names. This enumeration is divided into seven chapters :
The first (XXIV, §§ 85-95) contains the names of several gods, of the first man, Gaya Maretan, the first law-giver, Zarathujtra, and his first disciple, Maidhyo-maungha ;
The second part (XXV, §§ 96-110) contains the names of the disciples of Zarathujtra, most of them belonging to the epical cyclus of Vii'taspa (Gui'tasp) ;
The third part (XXVI, §§ 111-117) is of uncertain character, and no name contained in it is found in the epical legends ;
The fourth part (XXVII, §§ 118-128) seems to be devoted to the heroes of the other Karshvares and to mythical beings, born or unborn (cf. §§ 121, 122, 127, 128) ;
The fifth part (XXVIII, § 129) is devoted to Saoshyaw/ alone;
The sixth part (XXIX, §§ 130-138) is devoted to the heroes before the time of Zarathujtra ;
The seventh part (XXX, §§ 139-142) is devoted to the holy women of Mazdeism from Hvovi, Zarathujtra's wife, down to SrutaZ-fedhri, Vanghu-fedhri, and EredaZ-fedhri, the future mothers of his three unborn sons.
The second, third, and fourth enumerations all end with the
l8o YA^-TS AND stROZAHS.
name of AstvaZ-ereta (that is to say, Saoshya«/), which shows that they do not refer to successive generations, but to three inde- pendent branches, which are each developed apart down to the time of the Saviour.
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 the awful, overpowering Fravashis of the
faithful ; unto the Fravashis of the men of the pri-
mitive law^; unto the Fravashis of the next-of-kin,
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glori- fication.
Yatha ahii vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness ....
1. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathu^tra,
saying : ' Do thou proclaim, O pure Zarathui^tra ! the
vigour and strength, the glory, the help and the joy
that are in the Fravashis of the faithful, the awful
and overpowering Fravashis ; do thou tell how they
come to help me, how they bring assistance unto
me, the awful Fravashis of the faithful ^.
2. ' Through their brightness and glory, O Zara-
thu^tra ! I maintain that sky, there above, shining
and seen afar, and encompassing this earth all
around.
3. 'It looks like a palace, that stands built of a
* The so-called paoiryo-Zkaesha: the primitive law is what 'is considered as the true Mazdayasnian religion in all ages, both before and after the time of Zaratia^t ' (West, Pahlavi Texts, I, 242, note i); of. § 150.
' Cf. §19.
farvardJn yas'T. i8i
heavenly substance ', firmly established, with ends
that lie afar, shining in its body of ruby over the
three-thirds (of the earth)-; it is like a garment
inlaid with stars, made of a heavenly substance, that
Mazda puts on, along with Mithra and Rashnu and
Spe;zta-Armaiti, and on no side can the eye perceive
the end of it.
4. * Through their brightness and glory, O Zara-
thui-tra ! I maintain Ardvi Siira Anahita, the wide-
expanding and health-giving, who hates the Daevas
and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy of
sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in
the material w^orld ; the life-increasing and holy, the
flocks-increasing and holy, the fold-increasing and
holy, the wealth-increasing and holy, the country-
increasing and holy^^;
5 *. ' Who makes the seed of all males pure, who
makes the womb of all females pure for bringing
forth, who makes all females bring forth in safety,
who puts milk in the breasts of all females in the
right measure and the right quality;
6. * The large river, known afar, that is as large
as the whole of all the waters that run along the
earth ; that runs powerfully from the height Hukairya
down to the sea Vouru-Kasha.
7. ' All the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over, all the middle of it is boiling over,
' Reading mainyu-taj-to ; cf. Yt. X, 90, 143, and in this very paragraph vanghanem mainyu-tajtem.
^ A division of the earth different from and older than the division into seven Karshvares ; cf. Yasna XI, 7 [21]; this division was derived by analogy from the tripartite division of the universe (earth, atmosphere, and heaven).
' Yt.V, I. * §§5-8=Yt.V, 2-5.
1 82 YAS'TS AND stROZAHS.
when she runs down there, when she streams down
there, she, Ardvi Sura Anahita, who has a thousand
cells and a thousand channels ; the extent of each of
those cells, of each of those channels, is as much
as a man can ride in forty days, riding on a good
horse.
8. ' From this river of mine alone flow all the
waters that spread all over the seven Karshvares ;
this river of mine alone goes on bringing waters,
both in summer and in winter. This river of mine
purifies the seed in males, the womb in females, the
milk in females' breasts ^
9. ' Through their brightness and glory, O Zara-
thui'tra ! I maintain the wide earth made by Ahura,
the large and broad earth, that bears so much that
is fine, that bears all the bodily world, the live and
the dead, and the high mountains, rich in pastures
and waters ;
10. * Upon which run the many streams and
rivers ; upon which the many kinds of plants grow
up from the ground, to nourish animals and men,
to nourish the Aryan nations, to nourish the five
kinds of animals ^, and to help the faithful.
1 1. * Through their brightness and glory, O Zara-
thui-tra ! I maintain in the womb the child that has
been conceived, so that it does not die from the
^ §§4-8=Yt.V, 1-5.
^ There are five classes of animals : those Hving in waters (upapa), those living under the ground (upasma = upa-zema), the flying ones (fraptar^at), the running ones (ravas/^arant), the grazing ones (>^angrangha>('); Visperad I, i seq.; Yt. XIII, 74. The representatives of those several classes are the kar ma hi fish, the ermine, the kar^ipt, the hare, and the ass -goat (Pahl. Comm. ad Visp. 1. 1.).
Farvardin Yast. 1 83
assaults of Vidotu \ and I develop in it ^ the bones,
the hair, the . . . . ^, the entrails, the feet, and the
sexual organs.
12. ' Had not the awful Fravashis of the faithful
given help unto me, those animals and men of mine,
of which there are such excellent kinds, would not
subsist ; strength would belong to the Dru^, the
dominion would belong to the Dru^, the material
world would belong to the Dru^.
1 3 ' Between the earth and the sky the immaterial
creatures would be harassed by the Dru^ ; between
the earth and the sky the immaterial creatures would
be smitten by the Dru^; and never afterwards would
Angra-Mainyu give way to the blows of Spe;/ta-
Mainyu.
14. 'Through their brightness and glory the
waters run and flow forward from the never-failing
springs ; through their brightness and glory the
plants grow up from the earth, by the never-failing
springs ; through their brightness and glory the
winds blow, driving down the clouds towards the
never-failing springs.
15. 'Through their brightness and glory the
females conceive offspring ; through their brightness
and glory they bring forth in safety ; it is through
their brightness and glory when they become blessed
with children.
16. 'Through their brightness and glory a man
is born who is a chief in assemblies and meetings *,
who listens well ^ to the (holy) words, whom Wisdom
1 See Vend. IV, 40 [137]. ^ Doubtful.
' ? Derewda. * A ivoihtjv Xaa>v.
* Who learns well, who has the gaosho-srGta khratu.
184 YAS'TS AND SIROZAHS.
holds dear \ and who returns a victor from discus- sions with Gaotema, the heretic ^.
' Through their brightness and glory the sun goes
his way ; through their brightness and glory the
moon goes her way ; through their brightness and
glory the stars go their way.
17. * In fearful battles they are the wisest for help, the Fravashis of the faithful.
'The most powerful amongst the Fravashis of
the faithful, O Spitama ! are those of the men of
the primitive law ^ or those of the Saoshya;^/s ■• not
yet born, who are to restore the world. Of the
others, the Fravashis of the living faithful are more
powerful, O Zarathui^tra ! than those of the dead,
O Spitama !
18. 'And the man who in life shall treat the
Fravashis of the faithful well, will become a ruler
of the country with full power, and a chief most
strong ; so shall any man of you become, who shall
treat Mithra well, the lord of wide pastures, and
Ari-ta/, who makes the world grow, who makes the
world increase.
19. 'Thus do I proclaim unto thee, O pure Spi-
tama ! the vigour and strength, the glory, the help,
and the joy that are in the Fravashis of the faithful,
^ Or, 'who wishes for wisdom' (lore; khratukata=khratu- ^inah).
" Y6 naidhyangho gaotemahe par6 ayau par^toi/ avaiti. This seems to be an allusion to controversies with the Buddhists or Gotama's disciples, whose religion had obtained a footing in the western parts of Iran as early as the second century before Christ. Naidhyangho means a heretic, an Ashemaogha (see Pahl. Comm. ad Yasna XXXIV, 8).
^ See above, p. 180, note i. * See above, p. 165, note i.
Farvardin \Ast. I 85
the awful and overpowering Fravashis ; and how
they come to help me, how they bring assistance
unto me, the awful Fravashis of the faithful \'
20. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zara-
thui-tra, saying : ' If in this material world, O Spi-
tama Zarathui-tra ! thou happenest to come upon
frightful roads, full of dangers and fears, O Zara-
thui-tra ! and thou fearest for thyself, then do thou
recite these words, then proclaim these fiend-smiting
words, O Zarathui'tra !
21. ' " I praise, I invoke, I meditate upon, and we
sacrifice unto the good, strong, beneficent Fravashis
of the faithful. We worship the Fravashis of the
masters of the houses, those of the lords of the
boroughs, those of the lords of the towns, those of
the lords of the countries, those of the Zarathui'tro-
temas ^ ; the Fravashis of those that are, the Fra-
vashis of those that have been, the Fravashis of
those that will be ; all the Fravashis of all nations ^,
and most friendly the Fravashis of the friendly
nations ;
22. '"Who maintain the sky, who maintain the
waters, who maintain the earth, who maintain the
cattle, Avho maintain in the womb the child that has
been conceived, so that it does not die from the
assaults of Vidotu, and develop in it the bones, the
hair, the . . . . , the entrails, the feet, and the sexual
organs * ;
23. '"Who are much -bringing, who move with
^ Cf. § I. 2 See Yt. X, 115, note.
' See § 143, text and note. * See § 11.
1 86 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
awfulness, well-moving, swiftly moving, quickly
moving, who move when invoked ; who are to be
invoked in the conquest of good, who are to be in-
voked in fights against foes, who are to be invoked
in battles ;
24. ' " Who give victory to their invoker, who give
boons to their lover, who give health to the sick
man, who give good Glory to the faithful man that
brines libations and invokes them with a sacrifice
and words of propitiation ^ ;
25. '"Who turn to that side where are faithful
men, most devoted to holiness, and where is the
greatest piety ^ where the faithful man is rejoiced ^
and where the faithful man is not ill-treated ^" '