' Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra ! ' Mayest thou be warm, like the moon ! ' Mayest thou be ^ resplendent, like fire ! ' Mayest thou be long-lived, as long-lived as an old man can be ^ !
5. ' And when thou hast fulfilled a duration of a
thousand years, [mayest thou obtain] the bright, all-
happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones !
'Ashem Vohfi : Holiness is the best of all good ....
1 Cf. Yt. XXIII, 5.
2 ' Like Aturpat, the son of Mahraspand ' (Pahl. Comm.). ^ ' Like Spenddat (Isfendyar), the son of Gmtasp ' (ibid.).
* ' Like Zav' (Uzava ; ' Zav .... urbes et castella, quae Afras- siab deleverat, refici jussis, aperuit fluvios, quos ille operuerat, .... agros denuo coluit, qui in optimam, qua antehac floruerant, conditionem redierunt,' Hamzah Ispahensis, p. 24 of the Gottwaldt translation).
° Cf. Yt. XXIII, 2.
* W. has the same text as Yt. XXIII, 2 : yatha dangh^ uj Vijtas- pai, which is interpreted afrin pataj obdunat X-igun Gamasp kart madam matapat Gfijtasp.
"^ Peshotanu was a son of ViJtaspa: Zarathujtra made him drink of a certain sort of milk, and ' he forgot death.' He is one of the seven immortals, and reigns in Kangdez (Zartusht-Namah and Bundahij XXIX, 5).
8 Bavahi (W.).
» Doubtful. The Pahlavi translation follows Yt. XXIII, 4, though the text is the same as in Westergaard (only bavai and zarnumato instead of bavahi, zaranumato).
330 YAS-TS AND SIROZAHS.
6 ^ ' Give ^ him strength and victory ! Give him
welfare in cattle and bread ^ ! ' thus said Zarathiutra
to the young king Vi^taspa ! ' Give him a great
number* of male children, praisers^ [of God] and
chiefs in assemblies, who smite and are not smitten,
who smite at one stroke their enemies, who smite
at one stroke their foes, ever in joy and ready to
help.
7. ' Ye gods of full Glory, ye gods of full healing, let your greatness become manifest ! '
8. Zarathu^tra addressed him, saying : ' O young
king Vktaspa! May their greatness become manifest
as it is called for !
' Ye Waters, impart and give your Glory to the man who offers you a sacrifice !
* This is the boon we beg (for thee) of Ashi Vanguhi ^ of Rata \ with eyes of love.'
9. Pare^^di ^ of the light chariot, follows : ' Mayest
thou^ become manifest unto him, the young king
ViJtaspa !
'May plenty dwell in this house, standing upon high columns and rich in food ^^ ! Thou wilt never
^ For §§ 6-7, cf. Mah Nyayij, lo-ii. 2 The prayer is addressed to Waters. ^ Zfz^athro-nahim: asanih lahmak. * Paourvatatem: kebad farzand. ^ Stahyanam : kebad stayitar.
« See Yt. XVI. ' See Vend. Introd. IV, 30.
8 See p. II, note 5. ® Parewdi.
" Plenty will reign in thy house, if thou wilt be liberal to the priest.
vbrAsp YA-sT. 331
offer and give bad food to a priest : for a priest
must be to thee like the brightest ^ offspring of thy
own blood.'
10. Zarathiutra spake unto him : ' O young king Vi^^taspa !
' He who supports the Law of the worshippers of
Mazda, as a brother or as a friend, he who treats
her friendly in any way, looks to keep off want of
food from her ^Z
11. The holy Zarathuj^tra preached that law to
Frashao^tra ^ and 6'amaspa : ' May ye practise
holiness and thrive, O young Frashao^tra (and
6"amaspa) !'
12. Thus said Ahura Mazda unto the holy Zara-
thu5tra, and thus again did Zarathui^tra say unto the
young king Vi^taspa : ' Have no bad priests or
unfriendly priests ; for bad priests or unfriendly
priests will bring about much harm, and, though
thou wish to sacrifice, it will be to the Amesha-
Spe/ztas as if no sacrifice had been offered *.
' Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
in.
1 3. ' When I teach thee, that thou mayest do the
same to thy son ^, O Vii-taspa ! receive thou well
that teaching ; that will make thee rich in children
and rich in milk ; rich in seed, in fat, in milk ^
^ Ra6vatam ^a (not rashvatam /('a) belongs to § 9 (W.).
^ W. has, hanaire vaem aiwi vaina/ (vaem = Sansk.vayas?).
' See Yt. XIII, 103. Frashaojtra and Gamaspa were brothers.
* Cf. Vend. XVIII, 1-13. Perhaps, ' Be not bad to the priests! Be not unfriendly to the priest I For he who is bad to the priest, he who is unfriendly to the priest . . . .'
» Doubtful. « Cf. Vend. XXI, 6-7.
332 YAi'TS AND SIROZAHS.
14. 'Thus do we announce unto thee, Ahura
Mazda, and Sraosha, and Ashi, and the Law of the
worshippers of Mazda, with the whole of all her
hymns, with the whole of all her deeds, with the whole
of her performances ; the Law of Mazda, who obtains
her wishes, who makes the world grow, who listens
to the songs and rejoices the faithful man at his
wish ; who protects the faithful man, who maintains
the faithful man ;
15. 'From whom come the knowledge of holi-
ness and the increase in holiness of the world of the
holy Principle, and without whom ^ no faithful man ^
can know holiness.
' To thee ^ come every Havanan, every Atare-
vakhsha, every Frabaretar, every Abere/, every
Asnatar, every Rathwi^kar, every Sraosha-varez ^ ;
1 6. ' Every priest, every warrior, every husbandman ;
every master of a house, every lord of a borough,
every lord of a town, every lord of a province ;
1 7. ' Every youth of good thoughts, good words,
good deeds, and good religion ; every youth who
speaks the right words ; every one who performs
the next-of-kin marriage ^ ; every itinerant priest ;
every mistress of a house ; every wandering priest,
obedient to the Law.
18. 'To thee come all the performers ^ (of holi- ness), all the masters of holiness, who, to the
2 Saoshya;/tem, W. has srashyawtem. ^ To the Law.
* The seven priests engaged in the sacrifice (Vendidad, p. 64, note i).
^ The /zz'agtvodatha (Vend. Introd. p. xlv, note 7 ; see West, Pahlavi Texts, II, 389 seq.).
6 Thatu^: kar kartar (Pahl.).
Vwtasp Yas't. 32)3
number of three and thirty \ stand next to Havani, beine masters of holiness.
1 9. ' May they be fully protected ^ in thee, O
young king Vii-taspa ! While thou smitest thy ad-
versaries, thy foes, those who hate thee, a hundred
times a hundred for a hundred ^ a thousand times
a thousand for a thousand, ten thousand times ten
thousand for ten thousand, myriads of myriads for
a myriad.
20. ' Proclaim thou that word, as we did proclaim it unto thee !
' O Maker of the good world ! Ahura Mazda,
I worship thee with a sacrifice, I worship and for-
ward thee with a sacrifice, I worship this creation
of Ahura Mazda.'
21'^. The young king Vi^taspa asked Zarathu^tra :
' With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship, with
what manner of sacrifice shall I worship and forward
this creation of Ahura Mazda ?'
22. Zarathunra answered: 'We will make it known unto thee, O young king Vij-taspa !
' Go towards that tree that is beautiful, high-
growing, and mighty amongst the high-growing trees,
and say thou these words : "Hail to thee ! O good,
holy tree, made by Mazda ! Ash em Vohu !"
23. ' Let the faithful man cut off twigs of baresma, either one, or two, or three : let him bind them and
^ See Yasna I, 10 (33).
^ Thratotemo belongs to § 19 (W.).
' He kills a hundred times a hundred of them, while they kill a hundred of his people.
* For this clause and the following two, cf. Vend. XIX, 17 seq., text and notes.
334 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
tie them up according to the rites, being bound and unbound according to the rites.
' The smallest twig of Haoma, pounded according
to the rules, the smallest twig prepared for sacrifice,
gives royalty to the man (who does it).'
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good ....
24 ^ Zarathu^tra said : ' O young king Vi-Jtispa !
' Invoke Ahura Mazda, who is full of Glory, Ahura
Mazda, and the sovereign Heaven, the boundless
Time, and Vayu who works highly.
25. ' Invoke the powerful Wind, made by Mazda, and Fate.
' Repeat thou those words, that the god invoked
may give thee the boon wished for ; that thou,
strong, and belonging to the creation of the good
Spirit, mayest smite and take away the Dru^ and
watch with full success those who hate thee ; smite
down thy foes, and destroy at one stroke thy adver-
saries, thy enemies, and those who hate thee ^.
26. ' Proclaim thou those prayers : they will cleanse thy body from deeds of lust^ O young king Virtaspa !
' I will worship thee, O Fire, son of Ahura
Mazda, who art a valiant warrior. He falls upon
the fiend Ku/^da ^ who is drunken without drinking,
upon the men of the Dru^, the slothful ones ^ the
wicked Daeva-worshippers, who live in sin.
1 Cf. Vend. XIX, 13. ' Cf. Yt. V, 53.
' Paourvo vasta jaota: read jkyaothna (cf. § 40), as in Vend. XVI, 14 (paourv6-vasna j-kynothna).
* Cf. Vend. XI, 9 and Bundahi^r XXVIII, 42.
•^ Cf. Vend. XIX, 41 ; better : 'on the Dru^askan' (the sons of the Dru^^? see Bund. XXXI, 6).
Vi^Tasp Yast. 335
27. 'He^ trembles at the way^ made by Time and open both to the wicked and to the righteous.
' They ^ tremble at the perfume of his soul ^ as a sheep does on which a wolf is falling.
28. ' Reciting the whole collection of the Staota
Yesnya^ prayers brings one up all the way to the
blessed Garo-nmana, the palace beautifully made.
That indeed is the way.
29, ' That man does not follow the way of the Law,
O Zarathui^tra ^ ! who commits the Baodh6-(vari"ta)
crime "^ with a damsel and an old woman ^,' said
Zarathu^tra to the young king Vi^taspa.
* Let him^ praise the Law, O Spitama Zarathu^tra !
and long for it and embrace the whole of the Law,
as an excellent horse turns back from the wrong
way and goes along the right one, smiting the many
Drupes ^'\
30. ' Go forward with praises, go forward the
way of the good Mazdean law and of all those who
walk in her ways, men and women.
^ The dead man.
2 The A"inva/-bridge (Vend. XIX, 29).
* The fiends (Vend. XIX, 33). * The soul of the righteous. ^ See page 152, note i.
® The Pahlavi has, 'the way of Zarathujtra' (la Zartuh^tig ras yakhsunit).
■^ Wilful murder (Vend. p. 84, note i).
* To procure miscarriage (see Vend. XV, 12-14). ° The sinner.
^" 'As a horseman on the back of a good horse, when he has gone the wrong way, perceiving that he has lost his way, turns back his horse from that direction and makes him go the right way ; so thou, turn back thy horse to the right way ; that is to say, turn him to the way of the Law of Mazda ; that is to say, receive the Law' (Pahl. Comm.).
336 YA^TS AND siROZAHS.
'He who wishes to seize the heavenly reward ^
will seize it by giving gifts to him who holds up
(the Law) to us^ in this world here below ^ ....
31. 'Let him* give (the Law) to him who is unfriendly to her, that he may become friendly.
'Wash thy hands with water, not with gomez^,
and let thy son, who will be born of thy wife ^, do
the same.
' Thus thy thought will be powerful to smite him ^
who is not so ^ ; thy speech will be powerful to smite
him, who is not so ; thy deed will be powerful to
smite him.
32. ' " Hear me ! Forgive me ^ ! " — We, the Ame-
sha-Spe;2tas, will come and show thee, O Zara-
thu^tra ! the way to that world ^^, to long glory in
the spiritual world, to long happiness of the soul in
Paradise ;
33. ' To bliss and Paradise, to the Garo-nmana of Ahura Mazda, beautifully made and fully adorned,
^ Bliss, eternal life.
^ Y6 no ... . nidar6 anghe: lanman dm bara dashtar (Pahl).