To this part of thee do we sacrifice, O Vayu ! that belongs to the Good Spirit.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the awful Vayu, who works highly ....

58. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....

I bless the sacrifice and invocation unto, and the ^ Etudes Iraniennes, II, no.

Ram Va^T. 263

Strength and vigour of Rama i7'^^astra, and Vayu, who
works highly, more powerful to afflict than all the
other creatures : this part of thee that belongs to
the Good Spirit.

Ashem Vohii : 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.

264 YAS-TS AND sIrOZAHS.

XVI. DlN VAST.

Din (Daena) presides over the 24th day of the month (Sirozah 24) and gives it her name ; she is invoked in company with ^ista, and in fact this Ya^t, though it bears the name of Daena, is consecrated to jSTista (§§ 2, 7). These two Genii are, however, very closely connected in their nature, as Daena is the impersonation of the Zoroastrian Law or Religion, and A'ista is religious knowledge, the knowledge of what leads to bliss (far^anak, nirvawa^ilana ; the same as ^isti).

The description of Alsta is rather pallid, and does not rise above abstractions (see, however, Mihir Ya-rt, § 126). She was not wor- shipped by the old epic heroes as Anahita was, but by Zarathujtra and his wife, because she must have been, from her very name and nature, a goddess of Zoroastrian origin and growth.

o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced ! . . . .

AshemVohu: Holiness is the best of all good ....

I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathu^tra, 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 ....

To the most right iv'ista, made by Mazda and
holy, and to the good Law of the worshippers of
Mazda,

Be propitiation from me, for sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.

Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....

I. We sacrifice to the most right A'ista, made by
Mazda and holy : we sacrifice to the good Law of
the worshippers of Mazda, the supplier of good

dJn vast. 265

stores, who runs quickly to the goal and frees one
best from dangers ^ who brings libations, who is
holy, clever, and renowned, speedy to work and
quick of work ; who goes quickly and cleanses well ;
the good Law of the worshippers of Mazda ;

2. To whom Zarathui"tra did sacrifice, saying :
' Rise up from thy seat, come forward from the
Abode 2, thou most right Arista, made by Mazda and
holy. If thou art before me, stay for me; if thou
art behind me, overtake me.

3. ' Let everything be as friendly to us as any-
thing can be : may we go smoothly along the roads,
find good pathways in the mountains, run easily
through the forests, and cross happily the rivers!'

4. For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto
her a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the
most right Arista, made by Mazda and holy. I will
offer up a sacrifice unto the most right A'ista,
made by Mazda and holy, with the libations, with
the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the
wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the
words and deeds, with the libations, with the well-
spoken words.

YenhQ hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda ....

5. We sacrifice to the most right Arista, made by
Mazda and holy : we sacrifice to the good Law of
the worshippers of Mazda . .

^ Reading nimarezijta; cf. vimarezijtem, Yt. I, 2. 2 The heavenly abode, the Garolhmdn. ' The rest as in § i.

266 YASTS AND siROZAHS.

6. To whom Zarathiutra did sacrifice for right-
eousness of thought, for righteousness of speech, for
righteousness of deed, and for this boon,

7. That the most right ATista, made by Mazda
and holy, would give him the swiftness of the feet,
the quick hearing of the ears, 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 waters not thicker than a hair, in
the Rangha, whose ends lie afar and whose depth is
a thousand times the height of a man \

For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto her a sacrifice worth bemg heard ....

8. We sacrifice to the most right Arista, made by
Mazda and holy : we sacrifice to the good Law of
the worshippers of Mazda ....

9. To whom Zarathu^tra did sacrifice for righteous-
ness of thought, for righteousness of speech, for
righteousness of deed, and for this boon,

10. That the most right Arista, made by Mazda
and holy, would give him the swiftness of the feet,
the quick hearing of the ears, 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, through the rain,
the snow, the hail, or the sleet, from as far as nine
districts, can perceive a horse's hair, mingled with
the earth, and knows whether it is from the head or
from the tail ^.

1 Cf.Yt. XIV, 29. ' Cf.Yt.XIV, 31.

Din Va5t. 267

For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto her a sacrifice worth being heard ....

lY.

11. We sacrifice to the most right A'ista, made
by Mazda and holy : we sacrifice to the good Law
of the worshippers of Mazda ....

12. To whom Zarathu^tra did sacrifice for right-
eousness of thought, for righteousness of speech, for
righteousness of deed, and for this boon,

13. That the most right TiTista, made by Mazda
and holy, would give him the swiftness of the feet,
the quick hearing of the ears, 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 dis-
tricts, can perceive a piece of flesh, not thicker than
a fist, giving just as much light as a needle gives, as
the point of a needle gives \

For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto her a sacrifice worth being heard ....

14. We sacrifice to the most right A'ista, made by
Mazda and holy : we sacrifice to the good Law of
the worshippers of Mazda ....

15. To whom the holy Hvovi^ did sacrifice with
full knowledge, wishing that the holy ZarathuJtra
would give her his good narcotic ■\ that she might

' Cf. Yt. XIV, 33. ^ Zarathu.ftra's wife.

3 JBangha; the so-called Bang of Zoroaster (Vend. XV, 14 [44] ; Phi. tr.). What must have been its virtue may be gathered from the legends of Gu^tasp and Arda Viraf, who are said to have been transported in soul to the heavens, and to have had the higher

268 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.

think according to the law, speak according to the law, and do according to the law.

For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto her a sacrifice

worth being heard

1 6. We sacrifice to the most right Arista, made
by Mazda and holy : we sacrifice to the good Law
of the worshippers of Mazda ....

1 7. To whom the Athravans, sent afar ^ did sacri-
fice ^ wishing a good memory to preach the law, and
wishing strength for their own body.

For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto her a sacrifice worth being heard ....

18. We sacrifice to the most right Arista, made by
Mazda and holy: we sacrifice to the good Law of
the worshippers of Mazda ....

19. To whom the king of the country, the lord of
the country does sacrifice, wishing peace for his
country, wishing strength for his own body.

For her brightness and glory, I will offer unto her a sacrifice worth being heard ....

20. Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of hoUness ....

I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength

mysteries revealed to them, on drinking from a cup prepared by the prophet (Zardu^t Namah), or from a cup of Gmtasp-bang (Arda Viraf, II, 29).

1 The itinerant priests, the ancestors of the modern dervishes.

2 Or better, do sacrifice ; cf. Yt. XIV, 39.

dJn yast. 269

and vigour of the most right A'ista, made by Mazda
and holy, and of the good Law of the worshippers
of Mazda.

Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....

[Give] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him long, long life, give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.

270 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.

XVII. ASHI YAST.

Ashi Vanguhi or 'the good Ashi^'is a feminine impersonation of piety ^ and she is, at the same time, the source of all the good and riches that are connected with piety ■'. She is described, there- fore, as a goddess of Fortune and Wealth, and is invoked in com- pany with Pare;;di, the goddess of Treasures {Sirozah 25)

She appears in the latter character in the first part of the Yast (§§ 1-14); she praises and loves Zarathujtra (§§ 15-21). She is worshipped by Hao^yangha(§ 26), Yima (§ 28), Thraetaona (§ 33), Haoma (§ 37), Husravah (§ 41), Zarathui'tra (§ 45), and Vij'taspa (§ 49)*. She rejects the offerings of all sterile people (old men, courtezans, and children, §§ .53-61).

1 . We sacrifice to Ashi Vanguhi, who is shining,
high, tall-formed, well worthy of sacrifice, with a
loud-sounding chariot, strong, welfare-giving, healing,
with fulness of intellect^, and powerful ;

2. The daughter of Ahura Mazda, the sister of the Amesha-Spe;^tas, who endows all the Sao-

^ In Parsi Ardijvang or Ard (Ardii- from Artij-, the Persian form of Ashij); she presides over the 25th day of the month; cf. Sirozah 25.

^ Ashi is not the feminine adjective of Ash a, as the i was originally short (genitive ashoij, not ashyau); ashi is ar-ti, and means bhakti, piety (Neriosengh).

^ The so-called Ashi's remedies (ashoi^ baeshaza; cf. Yt. XIII, 32).

* This enumeration is the same as in the Gos Ya^t (§§ 3, 8, 14, 17, 21, 26, 29).

° Perethu-vira; see Etudes Iraniennes, II, 183.

Asiii Yast. 271

shya;^/s ^ with the enlivenhig intelhgence ; she also
brings heavenly wisdom at her wish, and comes to
help him who invokes her from near and him who
invokes her from afar, and worships her with offerings
of libations.

32. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her
a sacrifice worth being heard ; I will offer up unto
Ashi Vansfuhi a orood sacrifice with an offering of
libations. We sacrifice unto Ashi Vanguhi with
the libations ; with the Haoma and meat, with the
baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the
holy spells, with the words, with the deeds, with
the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words.

Ye;^he hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura

Mazda ....

4. We sacrifice to Ashi Vanguhi, who is shining, high, tall- formed, well worthy of sacrifice, with a loud-sounding chariot, strong, welfare-giving, healing, with fulness of intellect, and powerful.

5. Homage unto Haoma, and unto the Mathra^ and unto the holy Zarathu^tra !

Homage unto Haoma, because all other drinks
are attended with Aeshma ^ the fiend of the wound-
ing spear : but the drinking of Haoma is attended
with Asha and with Ashi Vanguhi herself ^

6. Ashi is fair ; Ashi is radiant with joy ; she is far-piercing with her rays. Ashi gives good Glory

^ The allies of Saoshya?;/, who are to be active in the restoration of the world to eternal life (frasho-kereti). Cf. p. 165, note i. Ashi gives them the ' intelligence of life' (frasha khratu), through which they will be enabled to perform their task.

2 Cf Yt. V, 10. ' The Holy Word.

* The Daeva of anger.

^ As drinking Haoma is an act of religion (cf Yasna XI, 12 [31] seq.).

272 YA,STS AND SIROZAHS.

unto those men whom thou dost follow, O Ashi!
Full of perfumes is the house in which the good,
powerful Ashi Vanguhi puts her . . . .^ feet, for long
friendship.

7. Those men whom thou dost attend, O Ashi !
are kings of kingdoms, that are rich In horses, with
large tributes, with snorting horses, sounding chariots,
flashing swords, rich in aliments and in stores of
food 2; well-scented where the beds are spread and
full of all the other riches that may be wished for.
Happy the man whom thou dost attend ! do thou
attend me, thou rich in all sorts of desirable things
and strong !

8. Those men whom thou dost attend, O Ashi Van-
guhi! have houses that stand well laid up, rich in
cattle, foremost in Asha, and long-supported. Happy
the man whom thou dost attend ! Do thou attend
me, thou rich in all sorts of desirable things and
strong !

9. The men whom thou dost attend, O Ashi Van-
guhi! have beds that stand well-spread, well-adorned,
well-made, provided with cushions and with feet
inlaid with gold. Happy the man whom thou dost
attend ! Do thou attend me, thou rich in all sorts
of desirable things and strong !

10. The men whom thou dost attend, O Ashi
Vanguhi ! have their ladies that sit on their beds,
waiting for them: they He on the cushions, adorning
themselves, . . . . ^, with square bored ear-rings and
a necklace of gold : ' When will our lord come ?
when shall we enjoy in our bodies the joys of love?'