3 Cf. Yt. XIII, 90.
* See above, §§ 56-64. ^ Cf. §§ 56, 59, 62.
^ Zarathujtra and Vijtaspa(?); cf. §§ 84-87.
^ Meaning my law. » Cf. Yt. XIII, 89, note 5.
306 YAi'TS AND SIROZAHS
83. We sacrifice unto the awful kingly Glory, made by Mazda ....
84. That clave unto king Vi^taspa, so that he
thought according to the Law, spake according to
the Law, and did according to the Law ; so that he
professed that Law, destroying his foes and causing
the Daevas to retire.
85 \ Who, driving the Dru^ before him ^ sought
wide room for the holy religion ; who, driving the
Dru^ before him, made wide room for the holy
religion ; who made himself the arm and support of
this law of Ahura, of this law of Zarathurtra ;
S6. Who took her, standing bound, from the hands
of the Hunus, and established her to sit in the middle
[of the world], high ruling, never falling back, holy,
nourished with plenty of cattle and pastures, blessed
with plenty of cattle and pastures.
87. The valiant king VUtaspa conquered all
enemies, Tathrava;^^' of the evil law, Peshana, the
worshipper of the Daevas, and the fiendish wicked
Are^a/-aspa and the other wicked Zfz/yaonas ^.
For its brightness and glory, I will offer it a sacrifice ....
88. We sacrifice unto the awful kingly Glory, made by Mazda ....
89*. That will cleave unto the victorious Sao- shya;z/ and his helpers ^ when he shall restore the
1 §§ 85-86= Yt. XIII, 99-100.
^ Or ' with his spear pushed forwards ;' see p. 205, note i. ' Of. Yt. V, 109. * §§ 89-90=§§ 11-12.
^ See p. 117, note 6.
ZAMYAD YAiS-T. 3O7
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 ;
90. 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.
For its brightness and glory, I will offer it a sacrifice ....
91. We sacrifice unto the awful kingly Glory, made by ]\Iazda ....
92. When AstvaZ-ereta ^ shall rise up from Lake
Kasava -, a friend of Ahura Mazda, a son of Vispa-
taurvairi ^, knowing the victorious knowledge.
It was that Glory that Thraetaona bore with him when A^'i Dahaka was killed*;
93. That Frangrasyan, the Turanian, bore when Drv«u° was killed, when the Bull was killed'' ;
That king Husravah bore when Frangrasyan, the Turanian, was killed "^ ;
^ Saoshya;//; cf. Yt. XIII, 129.
2 Cf.§ 66 and Vend. XIX, 5 {18).
=> See Yt. XIII, 142. " Cf. § 36. ' Or 'the demon.'
® This Hne is in contradiction with w^hat we know of the Frangra- syan legend, unless the text is corrupt and the name of Frangrasyan has been introduced here by mistake (for Keresaspa?). Yet it may allude to brighter sides, unknown to us, of the Turanian hero : the Bull (gauj) may be his brother Aghraeratha, the Bull-man (Gopatishah) ; see p. 114, note 7.
' See §77.
308 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
That king Vt^t^spa bore, when he victoriously
maintained HoHness against the host of the fiends
and took off the Dru^ from the world of the good
principle ^
94. He ^, with the eye of intelligence ", shall look
down upon all the creatures of the Paei'i^ "*, her of
the evil seed : he shall look upon the whole living
world with the eye of plenty, and his look shall
deliver to immortality the whole of the living
creatures.
95. And there shall his friends ^ come forward,
the friends of AstvaZ-ereta, who are fiend-smiting,
well-thinking, well-speaking, well-doing, following the
good law, and whose tongues have never uttered
a word of falsehood.
Before them shall Aeshma of the wounding spear,
who has no Glory, bow and flee ; he shall smite the
most wicked Dru^, her of the evil seed, born of
darkness.
96. Akem-Mano '^ smites, but Vohu-Mano shall
smite him ; the Word of falsehood smites, but the
Word of truth shall smite it. Haurvata/ and Ame-
reta/' shall smite both hunofer and thirst: Haur-
vata/ and Amereta/ shall smite the evil hunger and
the evil thirst. The evil-doing Angra Mainyu bows
and flees, becoming powerless.
For its brightness and glory, I will offer it a sacrifice ....
97. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
^ Cf. § 84. 2 Saoshyaw/. ' Cf. Yt. I, 28.
* A name of the Dru_^. ^ See p. 220, note i.
® See p. 297, note 4. ' The Genii of the waters and of the plants (cf. Vend. Introd.
iv, 34).
Zamyad Ya^T. 309
I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength
and vigour of Mount Ushi-darena, made by
Mazda, the seat of holy happiness ; of the kingly
Glory, made by Mazda; of the Glory that cannot
be forcibly seized, made by Mazda \
Ashem Vohia : 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.
^ Cf §0. 2 Who sacrifices to the kingly Glory.
310 YA^TS AND siROZAHS.
XX. VAN ANT VAST.
This Yast ought to follow immediately after the Tir Yajt, as it is derived from the same Sirozah formula ; the one in which Ti.f- trya is invoked along with Vana«/ and Haptoiriwga (Sirozah, § 13). It is a mere supplement to that Yajt. On Vana«/, see p. 97, note 6.
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced 1 . . . .
Ashem Vohfi : 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 the star Vana;^/, made by Mazda,
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation,
and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
1. We sacrifice unto the star Vana;//, made by Mazda, the holy and master of holiness.
I will sacrifice unto Vanan^, strong, invoked by
his own name ^ healing, in order to withstand the
accursed and most fiDul Khrafstras ^ of the most
abominable Angra Mainyu.
2. Yatha ahij vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the star Vana;//, made by Mazda.
Ashem Vohu : 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. 13, note 2.
^ The reptiles and other Ahrimanian creatures (Vendidad, Introd. V, 11) which are destroyed by the rain (Bund. VII, 7). ^ Who sacrifices to Vanaw/.
Ya5'T Fragment. 3 ^ ^
XXI AND XXII. YA^-T FRAGMENTS.
These two Yajts or Ya^t fragments are known among the Parsis as the Hadhokht Nask, though their context does not correspond to any part of the description of that Nask as given in the Din- kart (West, Pahlavi Texts, I, 224, note 8). A Pahlavi translation of these Ya^ts has been edited by Haug and West (The Book of Arda Viraf, p. 269 seq.).
XXI. YA^'T FRAGMENT.
Yajt XXI is a eulogy of the AshemVohu prayer, the value of which rises higher and higher, according as the circumstances under which it is being recited are of greater importance.
1. Zarathu^tra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura
Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the mate-
rial world, thou Holy One!
' What is the only word in which is contained the
glorification of all good things, of all the things that
are the offspring of the good principle ?'
2. Ahura Mazda answered : ' It is the praise of Holiness \ O Spitama Zarathu^tra !
3. ' He who recites the praise of Holiness\ in the
fulness of faith and with a devoted heart, praises
me, Ahura Mazda ; he praises the waters, he praises
the earth, he praises the catde, he praises the plants,
he praises all good things made by Mazda, all the
things that are the offspring of the good principle.
4. ' For the reciting of that word of truth, O
Zarathu^tra ! the pronouncing of that formula, the
Ahuna Vairya, increases strength and victory in
one's soul and piety.
' Asha: the Ashem Vohu..
5. ' For that only recital of the praise of Holiness
is worth a hundred khshnaothras of the beings
of Holiness \ when delivered while going to sleep, a
thousand when delivered after eating, ten thousand
when delivered during cohabitation, or any number
when delivered in departing this life.'
6. ' What is the one recital of the praise of
Holiness that is worth ten others in greatness, good-
ness, and fairness ? '
7. Ahura Mazda answered : ' It is that one, O
holy Zarathu-ytra ! that a man delivers when eating
the gifts of Haurvata/ and Amereta/^ at the same
time professing good thoughts, good words, and
good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words,
and evil deeds.'
8. ' What is the one recital of the praise of
Holiness that is worth a hundred others in great-
ness, goodness, and fairness ? '
9. Ahura Mazda answered : 'It is that one, O
holy Zarathui'tra ! that a man delivers while drinking
of the Haoma strained for the sacrifice, at the same
time professing good thoughts, good words, and
good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words,
and evil deeds.'
10. 'What is the one recital of the praise of
Holiness that is worth a thousand others In great-
ness, goodness, and fairness ? '
11. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathui-tra ! that a man delivers when starting
* A hundred times the formula: 'Be propitiation (khshnao- thra) unto N, . . . , the holy and master of holiness' (cf p. i, note 2). - Eating or drinking (see Vendidad, Introd. IV, 33).
Yast Fragment. 3 I
up from his bed or going to sleep again, at the same
time professing good thoughts, good words, and
good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words,
and evil deeds.'
12. 'What is the one recital of the praise of
Holiness that is worth ten thousand others in great-
ness, goodness, and fairness ? '
13. Ahura Mazda answered: ' It is that one, O
holy Zarathu^tra ! that a man delivers when waking
up and rising from sleep, at the same time professing
good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and
rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
14. 'What is the one recital of the praise of
Holiness that is worth this Karshvare of ours,
/z^iyaniratha \ with its cattle and its chariots, without
its men, in greatness, goodness, and fairness ? '
15. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O
holy Zarathu^tra ! that a man delivers in the last
moments of his life, at the same time professing
good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and
rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'
16. 'What is the one recital of the praise of
Holiness that is worth all that is between the earth
and the heavens, and this earth, and that luminous
space, and all the good things made by Mazda, that
are the offspring of the good principle in greatness,
goodness, and fairness ?'
17. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O
holy Zarathu5tra ! that a man delivers to renounce
evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds ^.'
' See p. 123, note 5.
^ In a conversion, or in the recital of the penitential prayers.
314 YA5TS AND siRdZAHS.
YA^-T XXII.
This Ya^t is a description of the fate that attends the soul of the righteous (§§ 1-18) and the soul of the wicked (§§ 19-37) after death. They spend the first three nights (the sadis or sidos; of. Commentaire du Vendidad, XIII, 55) amongst the highest enjoy- ments or pains ; they are then met by their own conscience in the shape of a beautiful heavenly maiden (or a fiendish old woman ^), and are brought in four steps up to heaven or down to hell, through the three paradises of Good -Thought, Good -Word, and Good- Deed, or the three hells of Evil -Thought, Evil -Word, and Evil- Deed : there they are praised and glorified by Ahura, or rebuked and insulted by Angra Mainyu, and fed with ambrosia or poison.