26. We sacrifice unto Verethraghna, made by Ahura.
Zarathujftra asked Ahura Mazda: 'Ahura Mazda,
most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world,
thou Holy One !
' Who is the best-armed of the heavenly gods?'
Ahura Mazda answered : 'It is Verethraghna,
made by Ahura, O Spitama Zarathu^tra !'
27. Verethraghna, made by Ahura, came to him
the tenth time, running in the shape of a man, bright
and beautiful, made by Mazda: he held a sword with
a golden blade, inlaid with all sorts of ornaments.
Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good
Glory made by Mazda, the Glory made by
Mazda ....
28. We sacrifice unto Verethraghna, made by
Ahura, who makes virility, who makes death, who
makes resurrection, who possesses peace, who has
a free way.
Unto him did the holy Zarathu^-tra offer up a
sacrifice, [asking] for victorious thinking, victorious
speaking, victorious doing, victorious addressing, and
victorious answering.
29. Verethraghna, made by Ahura, gave him the
Bah Ram Yas-T. 239
fountains of manliness ^ the strength of the arms,
the health of the whole body, the sturdiness of the
whole body, and the eye-sight of the Kara fish ^
that lives beneath the waters and can measure =^ a
rippling of the water, not thicker than a hair, in the
Rangha whose ends lie afar, whose depth is a thou-
sand times the height of a man ^.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
30. We sacrifice unto Verethraghna, made by
Ahura, who makes virility, who makes death, who
makes resurrection, who possesses peace, who has
a free way.
Unto him did the holy Zarathu^tra offer up a
sacrifice, [asking] for victorious thinking, victorious
speaking, victorious doing, victorious addressing,
and victorious answering.
31. Verethraghna, made by Ahura, gave him the
fountains of manliness, the strength of the arms, the
health of the whole body, the sturdiness of the whole
body, and the eye-sight of the male horse, that, in
the dark of the night, in its first half ^ and through
the rain, can perceive a horse's hair lying on the
ground and knows whether it is from the head or
from the tail *'.
1 Erezi, Pahl. gond (Old Zand-Pahlavi Dictionary, p. 11).
2 See Vendidad XIX, 42. ' Possibly, perceive.
* Cf. Yt. XVI, 7, and Bundahij XVIII, 6 : 'those fish . . . . know the scratch of a needle's point (or better hole) by which the water shall increase, or by which it is diminishing ' (tr. West).
"^ Avakhshaityau, the night before hu-vakhsha (before the time when the light begins to grow ; midnight).
« Cf Yt. XVI, 10, and Bundahi^ XIX, 32 : ' Regarding the Arab
240 YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
32. We sacrifice unto Verethraghna, made by
Ahiira, who makes virility, who makes death, who
makes resurrection, who possesses peace, who has
a free way.
Unto him did the holy Zarathu5tra sacrifice,
[asking] for victorious thinking, victorious speaking,
victorious doing, victorious addressing, and vic-
torious answermg.
33. Verethraghna, made by Ahura, gave him the
fountains of virility, the strength of the arms, the
health of the whole body, the sturdiness of the
whole body, and the eye-sight of the vulture with
a golden collar ^ that, from as far as nine districts,
can perceive a piece of flesh not thicker than the
fist, giving just as much light as a needle gives, as
the point of a needle gives 2.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
34. We sacrifice unto Verethraghna, made by Ahura.
Zarathu^tra asked Ahura Mazda : * Ahura Mazda,
most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world,
thou Holy One !
horse, they say that if, in a dark night, a single hair occurs on the ground, he sees it ' (tr. West).
1 Possibly the Gypaetus, the vautour dore,
2 ' Even from his highest flight, he (the vulture) sees when flesh the size of a fist is on the ground' (Bund. XIX, 31 ; tr.West). Cf. Horapollo (I, ii).
Bah Ram Vast. 24 1
* If I have a curse thrown upon me, a spell told
upon me by the many men who hate me, what is the
remedy for it ? '
35. Ahura Mazda answered : ' Take thou a feather
of that bird with . . . .^ feathers, the Vare;^fana,
O Spitama Zarathu^-tra ! With that feather thou
shalt rub thy own body^ with that feather thou
shalt curse back thy enemies.
36. ' If a man holds a bone of that strong bird,
or a feather of that strong bird, no one can smite
or turn to flight that fortunate man. The feather
of that bird of birds brings him help ; it brings unto
him the homage of men, it maintains in him his
glory.
7,y. 'Then the sovereign, the lord of countries,
will no longer kill his^ hundreds, though he is a
killer of men ; the ...."* will not kill at one stroke ;
he alone smites and goes forwards.
38. ' All tremble before him who holds the
feather, they tremble therefore before me ; all my
enemies tremble before me and fear my strength
and victorious force and the fierceness established
in my body.
39. 'He^ carries the chariot of the lords; he
carries the chariots of the lordly ones, the chariots
of the sovereigns. He carried the chariot of Kavi
^ Pesho-parena. The Varew^ana is the same bird as the Vara- ghna, the raven.
2 The feather of the Varew^ana plays here the same part as the Simurgh's feather in the Shah Namah. When Riadabah's flank was opened to bring forth Rustem, her wound was healed by rubbing it with a Simurgh's feather ; Rustem, wounded to death by Isfendyar, was cured in the same manner.
^ Of him who holds that feather.
* ? Vaesaepa. ' That bird.
242 Yas-Ts and Sirozahs
Usa^ ; upon his wings runs the male horse ^ runs the burden-bearing camel, runs the water of the river.
40. ' Him rode the gallant Thraetaona, who smote
Az'i Dahaka, the three-mouthed, the three-headed,
the six-eyed, who had a thousand senses ; that most
powerful, fiendish Dru^, that demon, baleful to the
world, the strongest Dru^ that Angra Mainyu
created against the material world, to destroy the
world of the good principled
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
41. 'We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by
Ahura.
' Verethraghna confounds the glory of this house
with its wealth in cattle. He is like that great bird,
the Saena * ; he is like the big clouds, full of water,
that beat the mountains.
' For his brightness and glory, I will oflfer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
42. *We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura.'
Zarathu^tra asked Ahura Mazda : 'Ahura Mazda,
most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world,
thou Holy One !
' Where is it that we must invoke the name of Verethraghna, made by Ahura ? Where is it that
1 Kai Kaus; when he tried to ascend to heaven on a throne carried by eagles (Journal Asiatique, 1 881, I, 513).
2 A metaphor to express the swiftness of the wind, of the camel, and of the rivers.
' Cf. Yt.V, 34. * The Simurgh; cf. p. 241, note 2.
Bahram Vast. 243
we must praise him ? That we must humbly praise him?'
43. Ahura Mazda answered : ' When armies meet
together in full array, O Spitama Zarathu^tra ! (ask-
ing) which of the two is the party that conquers^ and
is not crushed, that smites and is not smitten ;
44. 'Do thou throw ^ four feathers ^ in the way.
Whichever of the two will first worship the well-
shapen Strength, andVerethraghna, beautiful of form,
made by Mazda, on his side will victory stand.
45. ' I will bless Strength and Victory, the two
keepers, the two good keepers, the two maintainers ;
the two who . . . .^, the two who . . . .^ the two
who ... .3; the two who forgive, the two who
strike off, the two who forget*.
46. 'O Zarathu^tra! let not that spell be shown to
any one, except by the father to his son, or by the
brother to his brother from the same womb, or by
the Athravan to his pupiP. These are words that
are awful and powerful, awful and assembly-ruling,
awful and victorious, awful and healing; these are
words that save the head that was lost and chant
away the uplifted weapon.'
47. We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura : who goes along the armies arrayed, and goes here
^ Doubtful.
^ Or an arrow feathered with four Vare?/^ana's feathers. ' A-dhwaozen, vi-dhwaozen, fra-dhwaozen. * Amarezen, cf. ^JJo^^^T; vimarezen, cf. Yt. I, 2 ; fra mare- zen, cf. ^Jiy^. « Cf. Yt. IV, 10.
244 YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
and there asking, along with Mithra and Rashnu :
' Who is it who hes unto Mithra ? Who is it who
thrusts [his oath] against Rashnu^ ? To whom shall
I, in my might, impart illness and death ^ ?'
48 ^ Ahura Mazda said : * If men sacrifice unto
Verethraghna, made by Ahura, if the due sacrifice
and prayer is offered unto him just as it ought to
be performed in the perfection of holiness, never
will a hostile horde enter the Aryan countries, nor
any plague, nor leprosy, nor venomous plants,
nor the chariot of a foe, nor the uplifted spear of
a foe.'
49*. Zarathui-tra asked :' What is then, O Ahura
Mazda ! the sacrifice and invocation in honour of
Verethraghna, made by Ahura, as it ought to be
performed in the perfection of holiness?'
50. 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.
51. ' Let not a murderer take of those offerings,
nor a whore, nor a .... , who does not sing
the Gathas, who spreads death in the world and
withstands the law of Mazda, the law of Zara-
thui^tra.
52. ' If a murderer take of those offerings, or a
whore, or a .... , who does not sing the Gathis,
then Verethraghna, made by Ahura, takes back his
healing virtues.
Against truth. ^ Cf. Yt. X, 108 seq.
§ 48 ; cf. Yt. VIII, 56. * §§ 49-53 = Yt. VIII, 57-61.
Bahram Ya^T. 245
53. ' 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.'
54. There Verethraghna, made by Ahura, pro-
claimed thus : ' The Soul of the Bull \ the wise
creature, does not receive from man due sacrifice
and prayer ; for now the Daevas and the wor-
shippers of the Daevas make blood flow and spill it
like water ;
55. 'For now the . . . .^ Daevas and the wor-
shippers of the Daevas bring to the fire the plant
that is called Haperesi, the wood that is called
Neme/ka^ ;
56. ' (Therefore) when the . . . .- Daevas and the
worshippers of the Daevas bow their backs, bend
their waists, and arrange all their limbs'*, they think
they will smite and smite not, they think they will
kill and kill not ; and then the . . . . ^ Daevas and the
worshippers of the Daevas have their minds con-
founded and their eyes made giddy ^'
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
^ Gojurun or Drvaspa ; see Yt. IX. The destruction of any living being is an injury to Drvaspa.
"^ ? Vyambura.
^ The Haperesi and the N erne /k a are probably some species of green wood ; it is forbidden to put green wood in the fire as it kills it, and injures the Genius of Water at the same time.
* In order to strike.
^ The general meaning of the last four clauses is that the impious are defeated.
246 YA.STS AND siROZAHS.
57. We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura. I offer up Haoma, who saves one's head^ ; I offer
up the victorious Haoma ; I offer him up, the good
protector; I offer up Haoma, who is a protector to
my body, as a man who shall drink ^ of him shall
win and prevail^ over his enemies in battle ;