60. Ahura Mazda answered : ' O fair and wise Ashi, go not back to the heavens, sink not into the
[§§ 48-52] and the last but one clause of the Ya^t refer). She tried to flee in the way practised by Ulysses in the Cyclops' cavern ; both parties were pursuing the animal that bore her, though they knew not what it bore, till children discovered her.
282 YA-STS AND stROZAHS.
earth ! Stay here and walk inside the fine kingly palace.'
6t. I shall worship thee with such a sacrifice, I
shall worship and forward thee with such a sacrifice
as Vii-taspa offered unto thee, behind the river
Daitya ^ The Zoatar lifted up a loud voice, with
baresma before him. With that sort of sacrifice
shall I worship thee ? With that sort of sacrifice
shall I worship and forward thee, O fair and wise
Ashi ?
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard ....
62. 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 Ashi Vanguhi ; of the good TTisti ; of
the good Ereth^; of the good Rasasta/; of the
Glory and Weal, made by Mazda I
Ashem VohA: Holiness is the best of all good ....
[Give] unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.
' Cf. §§ 49 seq. ' Cf. Sirozah, § 25.
AST Ad vast. 283
Arsti/ is Truthfulness: she is invoked in company with the Genius of Truth, Rashnu Razi^ta (Sirozah, § i8), on the day Rashn. On the day especially dedicated to her, the 26th day of the month, she is invoked in company with Mount Ushi-darena, which accounts for the singular fact that her Ya^t is wholly devoted to the Hv^xtno, and thus is hardly distinguishable from the Zamyad Ya^t, as Mount Ushi-darena is the actual seat of the Hvdstnb (Yt. I, 31, text and note ; cf. Yt. XIX, 66). Whence comes this particular connection of Kxsiil with Mount Ushi-darena is uncertain, unless it alludes to the fact that the possession of the HvdiXenb can be secured only through truthfulness : as soon as Yima ' began to find delight in words of falsehood and untruth,' the Hvzxtnb flew away from him (Yt. XIX, 34).
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>ftra, 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 Glory of the Aryans, made by Mazda,
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation,
and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
I. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathui-tra,
saying : ' I made the Aryan Glory, rich in food, rich
in flocks, rich in wealth^, rich in Glory ; provided with
full store of intelligence, with full store of money, to
withstand Need, and to withstand enemies.
^ As it gives food, flocks, and wealth to those who get possessed of it.
284 Ya^-Ts and Sirozahs
2. ' It destroys Angra Mainyu, who is all death ;
it destroys Aeshma, the fiend of the wounding spear^ ;
it destroys the yellow Bushyasta^; it destroys the
contagion^of Aekha*; it destroys the fiend of death,
Apaosha^ ; it destroys the non-Aryan nations.
3. ' And I made the great Ashi Vanguhi ; she
comes in, amid the family ; she comes in, inside the
fine royal palace*'.
4. ' Let Ashi, with fulness of welfare, follow the
man who gladdens the faithful with his gifts ^! she
comes in, inside his family; she comes in, inside his
fine royal palace.
' With all sorts of flocks, with all victory, with all
intelligence, with all Glory, the great Ashi Vanguhi
puts one foot^ inside his family ; she comes in, inside
his fine royal palace.
5. ' Horses multiply a thousandfold, flocks multi-
ply a thousandfold; and so does his virtuous off-
spring, (as) the bright, glorious star Ti^trya moves
on equally^ and so does the strong wind made by
Mazda, and so does the Glory of the Aryas.
6. 'And they bring increase on the tops of all
mountains, down the depths of all vales ; they bring
increase to all the growing plants '^ the fair, the
golden-hued. And they bring (away)^^ the contagion
1 See Vendidad, Introd. IV, 22.
2 Ibid. Introd. IV, 24. ^ Doubtful.
* ? A daeva or a disease. ^ See Yt. VIII, 22.
« See Yt. XVII.
"^ Who gives alms to the poor Mazdayasnians.
8 Even one foot(?), when she stays not there 'for long friend- ship' (Yt. XVII, 6).
9 So that the rain falls in due time (Yt. VIII, 11).
10 Cf. Yt. VIII, 29. " Cf. § 2.
A^Tad Yast. 285
of Aekha, they bring (away) the fiend of death, Apaosha.
7. ' Hail to the bright and glorious star Ti^trya !
Hail to the strong wind, made by Mazda ! Hail to
the Glory of the Aryas !
' Yatha ahft vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
'Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
8. ' We worship the Ahuna Vairya.
' We worship Asha-Vahi^ta, the fairest Amesha- Spe;^ta.
* We worship the rightly-spoken Words\ fiend- smiting and healing.
' We worship the healing, well-spoken Words, the fiend-smitingr.
' We worship the Mathra Spe;^ta and the Law of
Mazda, and (piety) that delights in Haoma^.
' We worship the Glory of the Aryas.
' Yewhe hatam : All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda ....
9. 'Yatha ahii vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
' I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength
and vigour of the Glory of the Aryas, made by
Mazda.
'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.*
^ Arshukhdha va.k6, the words conformable to the rites. ^ Haoma/^inem; see Etudes Iraniennes, II, 148. ^ Who shall have sacrificed to the Aryan Glory.
286 YA^'TS AND siROZAHS.
XIX. ZAMYAD YA^'T.
This Yast, inscribed to the Genius of the Earth, is devoted to a description of the mountains and the kingly Glory (kavaem IlvzTend), which are invoked, together with the Earth, in the corresponding formula of the Sirdzah (§ 28): there is no Ya^t devoted to the Earth itself
The mountains are simply enumerated (§§ 1-8). The rest of the Yajt is devoted to the praise of the ffvaveno, or, more pre- cisely, to that of those who possessed it, whose powers or feats are described. The list begins with Ahura Mazda (§ 10), and closes with Saoshya«/ (§ 89); that is to say, it begins with the beginning of the world, and closes with its end. It includes the Amesha- Spewtas (§ 15), Haoshyangha {§ 26), Takhma Urupa (§ 28), Yima (§ 31), Mithra (§ 35), Thraetaona (§ 36), Keresaspa (§ 38), the kings of the Kaianyan dynasty (§§ 66-72), Kavi Husravah (§ 74), Zarathujtra (§ 79), Vi^taspa (§ 84). The unsuccessful efforts of Franghrasyan to take possession of it are described at length
This Yaj-t would serve as a short history of the Iranian monarchy,
an abridged Shah Namah.
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced ! . . . .
Ashem Vohu: Hohness 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 Mount Ushi-darena, made by Mazda, the
seat of holy happiness ; unto the kingly Glory, made
by Mazda ; unto that Glory that cannot be forcibly
seized, made by Mazda \
^ Sirozah I, 28.
zamyAd vast. 287
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ah(a vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
1. The first mountain that rose up out of the
earth, O Spitama Zarathu^-tra ! was the Haraiti
Barez^ That mountain stretches all along the
shores of the land washed by waters^ towards
the east.
The second mountain was Mount Zeredho, out-
side^ Mount Manusha^: this mountain too stretches
all along the shores of the land washed by waters
towards the east.
2. From there grew up Mount Ushi-dh^u
Ushi-darena^, Mount Erezifya®, and Mount
Fraorepa.
The sixth was Mount Erezura'^. The seventh was Mount Bumya^. The eighth was Mount Raoidhita^.
^ The same as the Hara Berezaiti, the later Alborz; see p. 58, note 3.
^ The Caspian sea.
' Doubtful: pare«tarem aredho; possibly beyond.
* According- to the Bundahij, Manusha is another name of
Mount Zeredho (XII, 2). It is the mountain on which Manm/iihar
was born (ibid. 10).
® * The mountain that gives understanding, that preserves under- standing,' the later Mount O^da^tar; see p. 33, note i.
'' Sec p. 65, note 2.
' Mount Arziir 'is a summit at the gate of hell' (Bundahij XII, 8; cf.Vend. Ill, 7 (23); XIX, 140).
* The Arzur Bdm of Bundahijr XII, 2, which ' is in the direction of Arum ' (Asia Minor, Bundahij XII, 16).
^ The Royijn-omand mountain of Bundahij XII, 27; its name
288 VASTS AND SIROZAHS.
The ninth was Mount Mazl^i^v^u. The tenth was Mount A^^tare-danghu. The eleventh was Mount Erezisha. The twelfth was Mount Vaiti-gaesa^
3. And Mount Adarana, Mount Bayana, Mount
I^kata Upairi-saena^, with the . . . .^ snows;
the two Hama;2kuna mountains, the eight Vasna
mountains, the eight powerful Frava^^ku, the four
Vidhvana summits;
4. Mount Aezakha, Mount Maenakha, Mount
Vakhedrakae, Mount Asaya, Mount Tudhaskae,
Mount li'avae, Mount Draoshii-v^u, Mount Sii-
riv^u, Mount Nanghui'm^u, Mount Kakahyu,
Mount A;2tare-Kangha*;
5. Mount Si/^idava^ Mount Ahuna, Mount Raemana, Mount Asha-stembana, Mount Uru-
nyo-vaidhkae, Mount Asnava/2/°, Mount Usha-
oma, Mount Usta.-/iva.ren2ih, Mount Syamaka"^,
Mount Vafray^u, Mount Vourusha;
means 'the mountain on which vegetation has grown' (ibid. tr. West).
^ The Badghes mountain near Herat, jjMwJ:.>b.
^ Or * Mount Ijkata (" rugged "), belonging to the Upairi-saena ridge.' The Upairi-saena ridge or Aparsen ridge is ' the moun- tain of Persia, and its beginning is in Seistan and its end in Susiana' (Bund. XII, 9).
^ ? Kaso-tafedhra; possibly the name of a mountain : Mount Kaso-tafedhra Vafra.
* See p. 67, note 4.
^ ' Si/^idav, a mountain among those which are in Kangdez' (Bund. XII, 2, tr.West).
" See p. 7, note 5.
■^ The Mount Siyak-omand ('the black mountain') and Mount Vafar-omand ('the snowy mountain') of Bundahij XII, 22, which are said to have grown out of the Aparsen ridge and to extend towards China.
Zamyad Yast. 289
6. Amongst which stand Mount 6^atara, Mount
Adhutav^u, Mount Spitavarena, Mount Spento-
data^, Mount Kadrva-aspa^, Mount Kaoirisa^,
Mount Taera*, Mount Baro-srayana, Mount Ba-
rana, Mount Frapay^Ju, Mount Udrya, and
Mount 'Ra.evB.n^^, and all those heights to which
men have given the name of mount,
7. To the number of two thousand mountains,
and two hundred and forty and four^, O Spitama
Zarathu^tra !
8. For its brightness and glory, I will offer it a
sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the awful
kingly Glory. Unto the awful kingly Glory we offer
up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma,
the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech,
the deeds, the libations, and the rightly- spoken
words ''.
Ye;2he hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda "^ ....
9. We sacrifice unto the awful kingly Glory, made
by Mazda ; most conquering, highly working, that
possesses health, wisdom, and happiness, and is
more powerful to destroy than all other creatures ;
^ The Spendyad mountain, near Mount Revand (Bundahix XII, 23).
2 The K6ndrasp mountain, by the town of Tiis (in Khorasan, Bund. XII, 24).
^ The Koiras mountain in Iran-Ve^ (Bund. XII, 25).
* Cf. Yt. XV, 7, and p. 58, note 2.
^ See p. 8, notes i and 2.
^ ' The other mountains have grown out of AlbCir^, in number 2244 mountains' (Bund. XII, 2).
' See notes to Yt. Ill, 17 (p. 47).
290 YA^TS AND siROZAHS.
10. That belongs to Ahura Mazda, as (through it)
Ahura Mazda made the creatures, many and good,
many and fair, many and wonderful, many and pros-
perous, many and bright ;
11^. So that they may restore the world, which
will (thenceforth) never grow old and never die,
never decaying and never rotting, ever living and
ever increasing, and master of its wish, when the
dead will rise, when life and immortality will come,
and the world will be restored at its wish ;
12. When the creation will grow deathless, — the
prosperous creation of the Good Spirit, — and the
Dru^ shall perish, though she may rush on every
side to kill the holy beings ; she and her hundred-
fold brood shall perish, as it is the will of the
Lord ^.