whether Kviri;2ta is the name of a place or the Zend form of Kuleng, a stork : in any case it was a palace in Bawri (Babylon). In the Shah Namah it is called Di3ukht(dus-ukhta for duz-ita; see Etudes Iraniennes, II, 211). 1 Cf Yt.V, 30 seq.
Ram Vast. 255
demon baleful to the world, the strongest Druc^ that
Angra Mainyu created against the material world, to
destroy the world of the good principle ; and that I
may deliver his two wives, Savanghava./^ and Erena-
vak, who are the fairest of body amongst women, and
the most wonderful creatures in the world \'
25. 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 ....
26. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
27. To him did the manly-hearted Keresaspa^
offer up a sacrifice by the Gudha^, a channel of the
Rangha, made by Mazda, upon a golden throne, under
golden beams and a golden canopy, with bundles of
baresma and offerings of full-boiling [milk].
28. He begged of him a boon, saying : 'Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may suc-
ceed in avenging my brother Urvakhshaya*, that I
may smite Hitaspa and yoke him to my chariot.'
The Ga;^darewa, who lives beneath the waters.
^ Yt.V,34; IX, 14; XVII, 34.
2 Cf.Yt.V, 37 seq.
^ An unknown affluent of the Rangha (Tigris).
* Sama had two sons, Keresaspa, a warrior, and Urvakhshaya, a judge and law-giver (Yasna IX, 10 [29 seq.]). We have no further details about Urvakhshaya's legend than that he was killed by ' Hitaspa, the golden-crowned' (cf. Yt. XIX, 41), and avenged by Keresaspa.
256 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
is the son of Ahura in the deep, he is the only master of the deep\
29. 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 ....
30. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
31. To him did Aurvasara2,the lord of the country,
offer up a sacrifice, towards the White Forest ^ by the
White Forest, on the border of the White Forest, on
a golden throne, under golden beams and a golden
canopy, with bundles of baresma and offerings of
full-boiling [milk].
32. He begged of him a boon, saying : 'Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that the gallant
Husravah, he who unites the Aryan nations into one
kingdom*, may not smite us; that I may flee from
king Husravah^ ; . . . .
^ A disconnected allusion to the struggle of Keresaspa with the Gawdarewa (Yt.V, 38, text and notes; XIX, 41). On the words ' the son of Ahura , . . . ' cf. Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 215, note i.
^ No other mention is made of Aurvasara in the Avesta, unless he is alluded to in Yt.V, 50. He does not appear to have been known to Firdausi.
2 Spaetinij razura is called 'the chief of forests' (Bund. XXIV, 16). According to the Bahman Ya^t (III, 9), it was the seat of the last and decisive battle between Ar^asp and Gujlasp.
* Cf.Yt.V, 49 ; IX, 21. ' Cf.YtV, 50.
Ram Vast. 257
'That king Husravah and all the Aryans in the Forest may smite him\'
2,3. 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 ....
34. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
35. To him did Hutaosa, she of the many
brothers^, of the Naotara house ^, offer up a sacri-
fice, on a golden throne, under golden beams and a
golden canopy, with bundles of baresma and offerings
of boiling milk.
36. She begged of him a boon, saying : 'Grant me
this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that I may be
dear and loved and well-received in the house of
king ViJtaspa.'
37. Vayu, who works highly, granted her that boon, as the Maker, Ahura Mazda, did pursue it.
We sacrifice to the holy Vayu ....
For his brightness and glory, 1 will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard ....
38. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
^ This line looks as if it should belong to a counter-prayer by Husravah, which was heard by Vayu, as appears from Yt. V, 50. 2 See Yt. IX, 26. ^ See p. 77, note i.
258 YAi'TS AND SIROZAHS.
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
39. To him did^ the maids, whom no man had
known, offer up a sacrifice on a golden throne, under
golden beams and a golden canopy, with bundles of
baresma and offerings of boiling milk.
40. They begged of him a boon, saying : ' Grant
us this, O Vayu ! who dost work highly, that we
may find a husband, young and beautiful of body,
who will treat us well, all life long, and give us off-
spring ; a wise, learned, ready-tongued husband.'
41. Vayu, who works highly, granted them 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 ....
42. I will sacrifice to the Waters and to Him who divides them ....
To this Vayu do we sacrifice, this Vayu do we invoke ....
We sacrifice to that Vayu that belongs to the Good Spirit", the bright and glorious Vayu.
43. My name is Vayu, O holy Zarathujrtra ! My
name is Vayu, because I go through (vyemi) the
two worlds ^ the one which the Good Spirit has
^ It may be doubted whether the allusion here is to a legend of marriage en masse, following the marriage of Hutaosa with Vij- taspa, or whether the aorist is used with an indicative meaning : ' To him do the maids who have known no man .... They beg of him a boon, saying . . . .' Cf.Yt. XVI, 17.
2 Cf. § 5, note 5.
^ An attempt to an etymological explanation of the name Vayu.
Cf § 53.
Ram Ya5t. 259
made and the one which the Evil Spirit has made.
My name is the Overtaker (apaeta), O holy
Zarathui'tra ! My name is the Overtaker, because I
can overtake the creatures of both worlds, the one
that the Good Spirit has made and the one that the
Evil Spirit has made.
44. My name is the All-smiting, O holy Zarathui"tra !
My name is the All-smiting, because I can smite the
creatures of both worlds, the one that the Good
Spirit has made and the one that the Evil Spirit
has made.
My name is the Worker of Good, O holy Zara-
thui-tra ! My name is the Worker of Good, because
I work the good of the Maker, Ahura Mazda, and of
the Amesha-Spe/;tas\
45. My name is He that goes forwards. My name is He that goes backwards. My name is He that bends backwards. My name is He that hurls away.
My name is He that hurls down.
My name is He that destroys.
My name is He that takes away.
My name is He that finds out.
My name is He that finds out the Glory (Z/z'areno).
46. My name is the Valiant ; my name is the Most Valiant.
My name is the Strong ; my name is the Strongest. My name is the Firm ; my name Is the Firmest. My name is the Stout ; my name is the Stoutest. My name is He that crosses over easily. My name is He that goes along hurling away.
' He is their agent and instrument. S 2
26o YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
My name is He that crushes at one stroke. My name is ... .^
My name is He that works against the Daevas. My name is ... .^
47. My name is He that prevails over maHce ; my name is He that destroys maHce.
My name is He that unites ; my name is He that re-unites ; my name is He that separates.
My name is the Burning ; my name is the Quick of intelHgence^,
My name is DeHverance ; my name is Welfare*.
My name is the Burrow^ ; my name is He who
destroys the burrows^; my name is He who spits
upon the burrows ^
48. My name is Sharpness of spear ; my name is He of the sharp spear.
My name is Length of spear; my name is He of the long spear.
My name is Piercingness of spear ; my name is He of the piercing spear.
My name is the Glorious ; my name is the Over- glorious.
49 ^ Invoke these names of mine, O holy Zara-
thui'tra ! in the midst of the havocking hordes, in the
midst of the columns moving forwards, in the strife
of the conflicting nations.
^ Ainiva(?). ^ Keredharii'a(?).
^ Doubtful; bao/^a, cf. UJ>.
* Reading sudhij.
^ Gere dha is the burrow of an Ahrimanian creature (see Vend. Ill, 10 [33] ; VII, 24 [61]) : Vayu, in that half of him that belongs to the Evil Spirit, is the seat (the burrow) of Ahriman ; but with his better half, he struggles against the fiend and destroys him.
« Cf.Yt. 1,11,16.
Ram Ya5t. 26 1
50. Invoke these names of mine, O holy Zara-
thujtra! when the all-powerful tyrant of a country
falls upon thee, rushes upon thee, deals wounds upon
thee, or hurls his chariot against thee, to rob thee^
of thy wealth, to rob thee of thy health.
51. Invoke these names of mine, O holy Zara-
thu^tra! when the unholy Ashemaogha falls upon
thee, rushes upon thee, deals wounds upon thee, or
hurls his chariot against thee, to rob thee of thy
strength, to rob thee of thy wealth, to rob thee of
thy health.
52. Invoke these names of mine, O holy Zara-
thu^tra ! when a man stands in bonds, when a man
is being thrown into bonds, or when a man is being
dragged in bonds : thus the prisoners flee from the
hands of those who carry them, they flee away out
of the prison ^
53.0 thou Vayu ! who strikest fear upon all men
and horses, who in all creatures workest against the
Daevas, both into the lowest places and into those
a thousand times deep dost thou enter with equal
power ^
54. * With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship
thee ? With what manner of sacrifice shall I forward
and worship thee ? With what manner of sacrifice
will be achieved thy adoration, O great Vayu ! thou
who art high-up girded, firm, swift-moving, high-
footed, wide-breasted, wide-thighed, with untrembling
eyes, as powerful in sovereignty as any absolute
sovereign in the world ? '
' Literally, coveting,
2 The translation of this clause is doubtful ; the text is corrupt.
^ Cf. § 42.
262 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
55. 'Take thou a baresma, O holy Zarathu^tra !
turn it upwards or downwards, according as it is full
day or dawning ; upwards during the day, down-
wards at the dawn\
56. ' If thou makest me worshipped with a sacri-
fice, then I shall say unto thee with my own voice
things of health, made by Mazda and full of glory,
so that Angra Mainyu may never do harm unto thee,
nor the Yatus, nor those addicted to the works of the
Yatu, whether Daevas or men.'
57. We sacrifice unto thee, O great Vayu ! we sacrifice unto thee, O strong Vayu !
We sacrifice unto Vayu, the greatest of the great ; we sacrifice unto Vayu, the strongest of the strong.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden helm.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden crown.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden necklace.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden chariot.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden wheel.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden weapons.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden garment.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden shoe.
We sacrifice unto Vayu, of the golden girdle.
We sacrifice unto the holy Vayu ; we sacrifice unto Vayu, who works highly.