58. That I may smite this army, that I may
smite down this army, that I may cut in pieces this
army that is coming behind me.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
59. We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura. The prince and his son and his sons who are chiefs
of myriads^ offer him up a bright . . . . ^ [saying] :
* He is strong, and Victorious is his name ; he is
victorious, and Strong is his name ;'
60. That I may be as constantly victorious as any
one of all the Aryans^ ; that I may smite this army,
that I may smite down this army, that I may cut in
pieces this army that is coming behind me.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
^ ? Sairi-baoghem; cf. § 46.
2 Nivazaiti; literally, swallow (? frot 6 bun burtan, Vend. V, 8 [26]).
' Literally, overtake. " Cf. Yt. V, 85.
^ ? Asanem sighftire. « Cf. Yt. V, 69.
Bahram Vast. 247
61. We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
In the ox is our strength, in the ox is our need ^ ;
in the ox is our speech, in the ox is our victory ; in
the ox is our food, in the ox is our clothing ; in the
ox is tillage, that makes food grow for us.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
62. We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura; Who breaks the columns asunder, who cuts the
columns to pieces, who wounds the columns, who
makes the columns shake ; who comes and breaks
the columns asunder, who comes and cuts the columns
to pieces, who comes and wounds the columns,
who comes and makes the columns shake, both of
Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the
oppressors, the blind, and the deaf.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
63. We sacrifice to Verethraghna, made by Ahura. When Verethraghna, made by Ahura, binds the
hands, confounds the eye-sight, takes the hearing
^ From Yasna X, 20 (62), where, instead of the words, ' in the ox is our strength (aniem), in the ox is our need,' the text has, ' in the ox is his need, in the ox is our need,' meaning, ' when we give him his need (water and grass), he gives us our need (milk and calves),' (Pahl. tr.).
248 YA5'TS AND sIrOZAHS.
from the ears of the Mithradrii^es^ marching in
cohimns, alHed by cities, they can no longer move
their feet, they can no longer withstand.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
64. 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 Verethraghna, made by Mazda ; and
of the crushinp- Ascendant.
AshemVohu: 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.
^ See p. 120, note 2.
^ Who shall offer a sacrifice to Verethraghna.
Ram Vast. 249
XV. RAM YA^-T.
This Ya^t bears the name of Rama Z^z^astra, the Genius who presides over the 21st day of the month (Sirozah, § 21), and is devoted to his Hamkar, Vayu.
Regarding Rama ffvastra., the Genius that gives good abodes and good pastures, and his connection with Vayu, see Vend. Introd. IV, and Etudes Iraniennes, II, 187.
This Ya^t can be divided into two parts. The first part (§§ 1-140) contains an enumeration of worshippers who sacrificed to Vayu : Ahura Mazda (§ 2), Haoshyangha (§ 7), Takhma Urupa (§ 11), Yima (§ 15), Az'i Dahaka (§ 19), Thraetaona {§ 23), Keresaspa (§ 27), Aurvasara (§ 31), Hutaosa (§ 35), and Iranian maids (§ 39). The second part (§§ 42-58) contains a special enumeration and glorification of the many names of Vayu (§§ 42-50).
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 Rama HvsLStra, unto Vayu who works
highly and is more powerful to afflict than all other
creatures \
Be propitiation from me, for sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
I. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who
divides them 2. I will sacrifice to Peace, whose breath
is friendly, and to Weal, both of them.
^ Cf. Sirozah I, 21.
2 Apam Napa/ (Yt. VIII, 34) or Tijtrya (Yt. VIII, i).
250 YA5TS AND SIRdZAHS.
To this Vayu do we sacrifice,' this Vayu do we
invoke, for this house, for the master of this house,
and for the man here who is offering Hbations and
giving gifts. To this excellent God do we sacrifice,
that he may accept our meat and our prayers, and
grant us in return to crush our enemies at one
stroke.
2 \ To him did the Maker, Ahura Mazda, offer
up a sacrifice in the Airyana Vae^ah^ on a golden
throne, under golden beams - and a golden canopy,
with bundles of baresma and offerings of full-boiling
[milk]^
3. He begged of him a boon, saying: ' Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly^, that I may
smite the creation of Angra Mainyu, and that nobody
may smite this creation of the Good Spirit !'
4. Vayu, who works highly, granted him that boon, as the Maker, Ahura Mazda, did pursue it.
5. We sacrifice to the holy Vayu : we sacrifice to Vayu, who works highly.
To this part of thee do we sacrifice, O Vayu ! that belongs to Spewta Mainyu ^
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him
a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the awful
Vayu, who works highly. We offer up a sacri-
fice unto the awful Vayu, who works highly, with
the libations, with the Haoma and meat, with the
baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the
1 Cf. Yt. V, 17. 2 Fraspa/, Persian ,_^ji.
^ Cf. p. 169, note 5. * See p. 10, note 4.
^ As Vayu, the atmosphere, is the place in which the conflict of the two principles takes place, one part of him belongs to the Evil Spirit (see Vend. Introd. IV, 17).
Ram Yast. 251
holy Spells, the words, the deeds, the libations, and the well-spoken words.
Ye«he hatam : All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda ....
6. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayii do we
invoke . . . .^
7. To him did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata, offer
up a sacrifice on the Taera of the Hara, bound with
iron^ on a golden throne, under golden beams and
a golden canopy, with bundles of baresma and offer-
ings of full-boiling [milk].
8. He begged of him a boon, saying : ' Grant me,
O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may smite
two-thirds of the Daevas of Mazana and of the fiends
ofVarena^'
9. Vayu, who works highly, granted him that boon, as the Maker, Ahura Mazda^ did pursue It.
We sacrifice to the holy Vayu ....
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
10. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
* The rest as in clause i.
2 Cf.Yt.V, 21, p. 58, note 2. ' Cf.Yt.V, 21-23.
* Introduced from § 4 into this and all similar clauses, except the one relating to Asi Dahaka (§ 21).
252 YA.STS AND SIROZAHS.
1 1. To him did Takhma Urupa^ the well-armed^,
offer up a sacrifice on a golden throne, under golden
beams and a golden canopy, with bundles of baresma
and offerings of full-boiling [milk].
12. He begged of him a boon, saying : ' Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may
conquer all Daevas and men, all the Yatus and
Pairikas, and that I may ride Angra Mainyu, turned
into the shape of a horse, all around the earth from
one end to the other, for thirty years.'
13. Vayu, who works highly, granted him that boon^, as the Maker, Ahura Mazda, did pursue it.
We sacrifice to the holy Vayu ....
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
. IV.
14. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
15. Unto him did the bright Yima, the good shep-
^ Takhma Urupa (in later legend Tahmiaraf) was a brother to Yima. He reigned for thirty years and rode Ahriman, turned into a horse. But at last his wife, deceived by Ahriman, revealed to him the secret of her husband's power, and Tahmuraf was swallowed up by his horse. But Yima managed to take back his brother's body from the body of Ahriman and recovered thereby the arts and civilisation which had disappeared along with Tah- muraf (see Minokhired XXVII, 32 ; Ravaet apud Spiegel, Einleitung in die traditionelle Literatur, pp. 317 seq.; Ormazd et Ahriman, § 137 seq.; cf above, p. 60, note i).
2 Azinava^z/ or zaenahvaw/: he kept that epithet in later tra- dition : Zinavend, ' quod cognomen virum significat armis probe instructum' (Hamza Ispahensis, p. 20, tr. Gottwaldt).
' As told Yt. XIX, 29.
Ram Ya^T. 253
herd, sacrifice from the height Hukairya, the all-
shining and golden, on a golden throne, under golden
beams and a golden canopy, with bundles of baresma
and offerings of full-boiling [milk].
16. He begged of him a boon, saying : ' Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may
become the most glorious of the men born to behold
the sun : that I may make in my reign both animals
and men undying, waters and plants undrying, and
the food for eating creatures never-failing\'
In the reign of the valiant Yima there was neither
cold wind nor hot wind, neither old age nor death,
nor envy made by the Daevas^
17. Vayu, who works highly, granted him that boon, as the Maker, Ahura Mazda, did pursue it.
We sacrifice to the holy Vayu ....
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
18. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
19. Unto him did the three-mouthed Kz\ Dahaka offer up a sacrifice in his accursed palace of Kviri;/ta^,
^ Cf. Yasna IX, 4-5 (11-20) and Yt. XIX, 31 seq.
"^ This passage is interpolated from Yasna IX, 5 (17-19).
' Or, 'his accursed palace of the Stork' (upa kviri«tem duzitem). 'Azi Dahaka,' says Hamza (p. 32 in the text, p. 22 in the transla- tion), 'used to live in Babylon (cf. Yt.V, 29), where he had built a palace in the form of a stork; he called it Kuleng Dis ((_^j dli^, the fortress of the Stork; the inhabitants called it Dis Het (o^ ^j-^.^)' Kuleng Dis was in Zend Kviriwta daeza and Dis Het is nothing else than Duzita. One may doubt
254 YA^-TS AND stR6zAHS.
on a golden throne, under golden beams and a golden
canopy, with bundles of baresma and offerings of
full-boiling [milk],
20. He begged of him a boon, saying : ' Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may
make all the seven Karshvares of the earth empty
of men\'
21. In vain did he sacrifice, in vain did he beg, in
vain did he invoke, in vain did he give gifts, in vain
did he bring libations ; Vayu did not grant him that
boon.
For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
22. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
23. Unto him did Thraetaona, the heir of the
valiant Athwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the
four-cornered Varena, on a golden throne, under
golden beams and a golden canopy, with bundles of
baresma and offerings of full-boiling [milk].
24. He begged of him a boon, saying : ' Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may
overcome A^i Dahaka, the three -mouthed, the
three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand
senses, that most powerful, fiendish Dru^, that