Sacred Texts Zoroastrianism
The Zend Avesta, Part III
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 31
translated by L.H. Mills
[1887]
And we sacrifice to the lights of dawn which are radiant with their light, and fleetest horses which sweep over the sevenfold earth.... --Gâh Ushahin, (p. 387).
This is part III of the Sacred Books of the East Zend Avesta, translated by L.H. Mills, who took up the task after James Darmesteter, the translator of the first two parts. It includes liturgical material, some of which is almost completely unchanged from the earliest period of Zoroastrianism, and still in use today. Of great interest are some of the oldest formulations of dualism, which later became a core concept of other middle eastern religions, including Judaism, and later Christianity. Moreover, the texts in this part of the Avesta are not so far removed from Vedic-era Hinduism, and as such represent a link between the later great Eastern and Western religions.
The Gâthas
The Yasna
Yasna I. The Sacrifice Commences
Yasna II. The Sacrifice Continues
Yasna III. The Yasna Advances to the Naming of the Objects of Propitiation
Yasna IV. The Offering Takes Place
Yasna VI. The Sacrifice Continues With Fuller Expression
Yasna VII. Presentation of Offerings by the Priest with the Object of Propitiation Named
Yasna VIII. Offering of the Meat-Offering in Particular
Yasna IX. The Hôm Yast
Yasna XI. Prelude To The H(a)oma-Offering
Yasna XII. The Mazdayasnian Confession
Yasna XIII. Invocations and Dedications
Yasna XIV. Dedications
Yasna XV. The Sacrifice Continues
Yasna XVI. The Sacrifice Continues with Increased Fulness of Expression
Yasna XVII. To the Fires, Waters, Plants, &c.
Yasna XIX. Zand or Commentary on the Ahuna-vairya Formulas
Yasna XX. Zand, or Commentary, on the Ashem Vohû
Yasna XXI. Catechetical Zand, Or Commentary Upon The Yênhê Hâtãm
Yasna XXII. The Sacrifice Continues
Yasna XXIII. The Fravashis of the Saints; Prayers for Their Approach
Yasna XXIV. Presentations
Yasna XXVI. The Fravashis; Sacrifice and Praise to Them
Yasna XXVII. Prelude to the Chief Recital of the Ahuna-vairya
Yasna XXXV. Yasna Haptanghâiti
Yasna XXXVI. To Ahura and the Fire
Yasna XXXVII. To Ahura, the Holy Creation, the Fravashis of the Just, and the Bountiful Immortals
Yasna XXXVIII. To the Earth and the Sacred Waters
Yasna XXXIX. To the Soul of the Kine, &c
Yasna XL. Prayers for Helpers
Yasna XLI. A Prayer to Ahura as the King, the Life, and the Rewarder
Yasna XLII. A Supplement to the Haptanghâiti
Yasna LII. A Prayer for Sanctity and its Benefits
Yasna LIV. The Airyemâ-ishyô
Yasna LV. The Worship of the Gâthas as Concluded, and That of the Staota Yêsnya as Beginning
Yasna LVI. Introduction to the Srôsh Yast
Yasna LVII. The Srôsh Yast
Yasna LVIII. The Fshûshô-Mãthra
Yasna LIX. Mutual Blessings
Yasna LX. Prayers for the Dwelling of the Sacrificer
Yasna LXV. To Ardvi Sûra Anâhita, And The Waters
Yasna LXVI. To the Ahurian One
Yasna LXVIII. To the Ahurian One, and the Waters
Yasna LXX. To the Bountiful Immortals, and the Institutions of Religion