' Naedh/^a vanghe paiti ujta vangho buya/; saoshyas dis verethraga. I cannot make anything of these words, nor reconcile them with the Pahlavi translation : ' It is not fair when he wishes weal for his own person ; that is to say, when, being satisfied himself, he does not satisfy other people and wishes comfort for himself. (Make the Law of Mazda current, till the time when) the victorious Soshyosh will make it current.' The last three Zend words appear to be abridged from a longer passage.
* The faithful man.
^ This is an allusion to the Bareshnum purification (Vend. VIII, 39). The unclean man washes himself with gom^z first and with water last.
* Doubtful. "^ The sinner. * Friendly to the Law.
® He recites the prayer Sraota me, mere^data me (Yasna XXXIII, 11). '" The world above.
vii^TASP YAST. 337
when his soul goes out of his body through the will
of fate, when I, Ahura Mazda, when I, Ahura
Mazda, gently show him his way as he asks for it.
'Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
34. ' They ^ will impart to thee full brightness and Glory.
'They will give him^ quick ^ and swift horses, and good sons.
* He wishes to go to the Law, the young king Vi^taspa.'
Zarathujtra said : ' Let him who is unfriendly to
her become a follower of the Law of Mazda, such
as we proclaim it.
35. ' Proclaim thou ever (unto the poor) : " Ever
mayest thou wait here for the refuse that is brought
unto thee, brought by those who have profusion of
wealth M" Thus the Dru^ will not fall upon thee
and throw thee away ; thou wilt wield kingly power
there ^.
36. ' The Law of Mazda will not deliver thee unto
pain^ Thou art entreated (for charity) by the
whole of the living world, and she "^ is ever standing
at thy door in the person of thy brethren in the
faith : beggars are ever standing at the door of the
stranger, amongst those who beg for bread.
' The Amesha-Spewtas (see § 46).
2 To Vutaspa. » Hathwadh/^a : Pahl. ttz/Ji.
* Cf. Vend. Ill, 29.
^ If he practises charity he will be a king even in Garothman.
* Aspahe, from a-spa (no comfort, anasanih tangih, Pahl. Comm.).
''The Law.
338 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
' Ever will that bread be burning coal upon thy head \
' The good, holy Rata 2, made by Mazda, goes and nurses thy bright offspring ^.'
37. Zarathu5tra addressed Virtaspa, saying: 'O
young king Vij-taspa ! The Law of Mazda, O my
son ! will give thy offspring the victorious strength
that destroys the fiends.
' Let no thought of Angra Mainyu ever infect
thee, so that thou shouldst indulge in evil lusts,
make derision and idolatry, and shut (to the poor)
the door of thy house *.
38 ^ ' Atar thus blesses the man who brings in-
cense to him, being pleased with him and not angry,
and fed as he required : " May herds of oxen grow
for thee, and increase of sons ! May fate and its
decrees bringf thee the boons thou wishest for !
Therefore do thou invoke and praise (me) excel-
lently in this glorious world ! That I may have
unceasing food, full of the glory of Mazda ^ and with
which I am well pleased."
39. ' O Mazda ! take for thyself the words of our
praise : of these words I speak and speak again, the
strength and victorious vigour, the power of health
and healing, the fulness, increase, and growth.
' Bring it together with the words of hymns up to the Garo-nmana of Ahura Mazda. He will '^ first
^ Hvarishni dagh pun r6ii-mani lak yahv&nat (Pahl. Comm.). ^ Charity.
^ If thou art charitable, thy children will thrive. ' See Yt. XXII, 13. « Cf. Vend. XVIII, 27.
^ ZTwarnamazdau (W.).
'' He who will pronounce all prayers and hymns : the full formula is found in the Aban Nyayij, § 8.
Vwtasp Ya5'T. 339
enter there. Therefore do thou pronounce these prayers.
' Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
40. ' Converse ye with the Amesha-Spe;^tas,' said
Zarathu^tra unto the young king Vi^tispa, * and
with the devout Sraosha, and Nairyo-sangha, the
tall-formed, and Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda, and
the well-desired kingly Glory.
41. ' Men with lustful deeds address the body ^ ; but
thou, all the night long, address the heavenly Wis-
dom 2 ; but thou, all night long, call for the Wisdom
that will keep thee awake.
' Three times a day raise thyself up and go to take care of the beneficent cattle.
42. * Of these men may the lordship ^ belong to the
wisest of all beings, O Zarathu^'tra ! May their lord
belong to the wisest, O Zarathui"tra ! Let him show
them the way of holiness, let him show them at once
the way thereto, which the Law of the worshippers
of Mazda enters victoriously. Thus the soul of
man, in the joy of perfect holiness, walks over the
bridge, known afar, the powerful A^inva/- bridge*,
the well-kept, and kept by virtue.
43. 'How the worlds were arranged was said to
thee first, O Zarathu^tra ! Zarathu^'tra said it again
to the young king Vii-taspa ; therefore do thou ^
praise him *^ who keeps and maintains the moon
and the sun.
1 Cf. § 26. 2 cf. Vend. IV, 45 ; XVIII, 6.
* The supervision and care, * See § 27.
^ Thou Vutaspa. " Ahura Mazda.
340 YA.STS AND SIROZAHS.
' He who has little friendship for the Law, I have placed him down below to suffer.'
44. Thus said Angra Mainyu, he who has no
Glory in him, who is full of death : ' This is an
unbeliever, let us throw him down below ; this is a
liar, or a traitor to his relatives, and like a mad dog
who wounds cattle and men ; but the dog v^^ho in-
flicts wounds pays for it as for wilful murder ^.
' The first time he shall smite a faithful man, the
first time he shall wound a faithful man, he shall pay
for it as for wilful murder.
'Ashem Voh^ : Holiness is the best of all good ....
45. * Mayest thou receive ^ O holy young king
Vii-taspa ! (a house) with a hundred . . . . ^ ten thou-
sand large windows, ten thousand small windows,
all the year long ^, O holy Vi-ftaspa ! never growing
old, never dying, never decaying, never rotting,
giving plenty of meat, plenty of food, plenty of
clothes to the other worshippers of Mazda.
46. ' May all boons be bestowed upon thee, as I
proclaim it unto thee! May the Amesha-Spe/ztas
impart to thee their brightness and glory and plenty ^'
May they give him quick and swift horses and good
sons, strong, great in all things, powerful to sing the
hymns.
' See Vend. XIII, 31.
2 In Paradise ; see Vend. XVIII, 28, text and note. ^ Satayare: that stands a hundred years (?). The Vend. XVIII, 28 has 'with a hundred columns.' * Uninjured by the changes of temperature. ' Cf. § 34-
Vi5tasp Vast. 341
47. 'He wields his power according to the wish
of Ahura Mazda, the Good Spirit, and for the de-
struction of the Evil Spirit, whichever of two men
goes quicker to perform a sacrifice (to Ahura) ; but
if he chooses to perform the sacrifice and prayer to
us not in the right way, he does not wield the right
power, he will not reign ^.
48. ' He will receive bad treatment in the next
world, though he has been the sovereign of a country,
with good horses to ride and good chariots to drive.
Give royalty to that man, O Zarathui'tra ! who gives
royalty unto thee with good will ^.
49 ^ ' Thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy
spell : " Of thee [O child !] I will cleanse the birth
and growth ; of thee [O woman !] I will make the
body and the strength pure ; I make thee a woman
rich in children and rich in milk ; a woman rich in
seed, in milk, and in offspring. For thee I shall
make springs run and flow towards the pastures that
will give food to the child."
50. ' Do not deliver me ^ into the hands of the
fiend ^ ; if the fiend take hold of me, then fever with
loss of all joy will dry up the milk of the good
Spe;2ta-Armaiti ^ The fiend is powerful to distress,
and to dry up the milk of the woman who indulges
in lust and of all females.
51. 'The perfume of fire, pleasant to the Maker,
^ In Paradise (Pahl. Comm.).
2 Doubtful. ' Cf. Vend. XXI, 6-7.
* The Law.
^ That is to say, let not impiety prevail.
« If impiety prevails, the earth will grow barren (cf. Vend. XVIII, 64).
342 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
Ahura Mazda, takes them ^ away from afar ; . . . . ^ ;
and all those that harm the creation of the Good
Spirit are destroyed 3;
52. 'Whom Mithra, and Rashnu Razi^ta, and the
Law of the worshippers of Mazda wish to be taken far
away, longing for a man who is eager to perform and
does perform the ceremonies he has been taught ; . . .^
'Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good . . • .
VHP.
53. 'The words of the Vahii-toi^ti "^ Gatha are to
be sung : " Happy is he, O holy ViMspa ! happy the
man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives
the full accomplishment of his wishes."
' Where does his soul abide on that night ' ? '
54. Ahura Mazda answered : ' O my son, Frashao-
rtra ! It takes its seat near the head, singing the
U^tavaiti Gatha and proclaiming happiness : " Happy
is he, happy the man whoever he be ! "
' On the first night, his soul sits in Good Words ^ ;
1 The demons (see Vend. VIII, 80).
2 Noi/ ta/ paiti vohu mano katha sisraya aya-^a. The
Pahlavi Commentary has : ' That is to say, good will happen to
thee through the good will of Atar (fire).'
2 Te >^inashanya (W. ; — read tae/^'a nashanya?); aigh harvaspin beshitaran min spinak minoi daman Ivit apetak avin yahvunit (Pahl. Comm.).
* Yatha ya/ te fravaoiami (fravao/^ama,W.) puthro bere-
thya/ sairimananam (sairi mananam,W.) bakhedhrai (trans-
lated as hakhedhrai: dostih, friendship).
^ This chapter is borrowed, though slightly altered, from Yt. XXII.
« Read u.rtavaiti (?cf. § 54 andYt. XXII, 2) : the Vahi.yt6i.rti Gatha is the fifth and last Gatha.
'' On the night of his departmg.
^ Not in the Good- Word Paradise, to which he will go later
Vi5tasp Yast. 343
on the second night, it sits in Good Deeds ; on the third night, it goes along the ways (to Garo-nmina).
55. 'At the end of the third night, O my son,
Frashaoi^tra ! when the dawn appears, it seems to the
soul of the faithful one as if it were brought amidst
plants [and scents : it seems as if a wind were blow-
ing from the region of the south, from the regions
of the south] \ a sweet-scented wind, sweeter-scented
than any other wind in the world, and it seems to his
soul as if he were inhalino- that wind with the nose,
and it asks, saying : " Whence does that wind blow,
the sweetest-scented wind I ever inhaled with my
nose r
56. ' And it seems to him as if his own conscience
were advancing to him in that wind, in the shape
of a maiden fair, bright, white-armed, strong, tall-
formed, high-standing, thick-breasted, beautiful of
body, noble, of a glorious seed, of the size of a maid
in her fifteenth year, as fair as the fairest things in
the world.
57. 'And the soul of the faithful one addressed
her, asking : " What maid art thou, who art the fairest
maid I have ever seen ?"
58. ' And she, being his own conscience, answers
him : " O thou youth, of good thoughts, good words,
and good deeds, of good religion ! I am thy own
conscience.
* " Everybody did love thee for that greatness,
goodness, fairness, sweet-scentedness, victorious
strength, and freedom from sorrow, in which thou
(§ 61). but in the thought and delightful remembrance of his good words (cf. Yt. XXII, 2).
1 Supplied from Yt. XXII, 7.
344 VA5'TS AND siROZAHS.
dost appear to me ; [and so thou, O youth of good
thoughts, good v/ords, and good deeds, of good
rehgion ! didst love me for that greatness, goodness,
fairness, sweet-scentedness, victorious strength, and
freedom from sorrow, in which I appear to thee.
59. ' " When thou wouldst see a man ^] making
derision and deeds of idolatry, or rejecting (the
poor) and shutting (his door), then, thou wouldst
sit, singing the Gathas, and worshipping the good
waters, and Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda, and
rejoicing the faithful that would come from near or
from afar.
60. ' " I was lovely, and thou madest me still
lovelier ; I was fair, and thou madest me still fairer ;
I was desirable, and thou madest me still more
desirable ; I was sitting in a forward place, and thou
madest me sit in the foremost place, through this
good thought, through this good speech, through
this good deed of thine ; and so henceforth men
worship me for my having long sacrificed unto and
conversed with Ahura Mazda."
61. * The first step that the soul of the faithful
man made, placed him in the Good-Thought
Paradise ; the second step that the soul of the
faithful man made, placed him in the Good- Word
Paradise ; the third step that the soul of the faithful
man made, placed him in the Good-Deed Paradise ;
the fourth step that the soul of the faithful man
made, placed him in the Endless Light.
62. 'Then one of the faithful, who had departed
before him, asked, saying : " How didst thou depart
this life, thou holy man ? How didst thou come,