form didhishu; (cp. RV., X, 18, 8 hastagrdbhdsya didhishés tdve *dém pdtyur — janitvudm abhi sdm babhiitha) ‘This F. the H. has presented to me a beloved . person that I should wed her, as A. M. can bestow a desired gift upon a good being (? daé¢)naydi vanhuydi) to attain the desire (cp. gridh) of — Righteousness’. The Pahl. trlr. (with the later Avesta, and the later tra-_ dition) names the wife of Z. Hvégvi, obviously a fem. of Hvogva. We may — then suppose that Frashaostra was an elder brother, or father (so the Pahl. trlr.), and presented her to Z., which would place this composition celebrat- _ ing the event at an earlier period in Z.’s life, whereas Y. 53, as celebrating — the marriage of his daughter would fall some fifteen years later. That Z.’s — daughter, Pouruchista, was afterwards married to a Jamaspa, and that Frashaostra and a Jamaspa were supposed to have been brothers makes: scarcely any difficulty, as names have in all ages constantly descended from father to son; also an elder brother might present a bride. Perhaps this bride’s name was Chisti (cp. paouruchista); or she may have been regarded a as impersonating ‘wisdom’; cp. similar Semitic use; see Y. 29, 1. There the Kine (i. e. the people) wail (gerezhdd) for the help of Asha. If this piece were composed at the marriage stage of Z.’s life, the troubles © were fresh to him; few victories had been won; and the wailing cry was appropriate. Read is(k)yam. D. has frashdshtar 7 - + nikezdd kerpat in a, ychabiindd, gl.; diné ¢ shapir - - va 2ak 4 Gné, or avd (?) b, om. va (so Mt) inc. Read dentman as better than dartman. The trir, saw the intens., also improp. conj. (see D.), also the imper. rendered by the conj. Arete here perhaps = ‘the desired thing’. Gerez®, as = grih®, suggested griha, hence the blunder in c; gridh is the underlying word, or garh, J.* has also Hiog® (the letter resembling rte is av old fashioned o). J.* has also” mulyena and prob. patarajnt?, or jad? (anusvara omitted). J.4 is reported patardjndmcha. Ner. inserted sadai’va on account of the syllable °am. which in Pahl. char. might be read ham, suggesting hamd. Yédchandm - ‘the object of prayer’ here, = ‘the thing to be desired’. Dei points to yehabtinéd (2) as a 274 pl, imper. Better ‘through (or as) the worth, the valued price of Righteousness’, I suppose that pata® must have reference to house-furniture; house-drapery. I had followed Sp.’s griha® in 4 uncertainty. I had no intention to maintain (myself personally) any connec- tion between gariram and ciras. iu
18, Read final and Leligionem suam. Some scholars would tak
Parendo as nom. sg. masc., and I think this well possible. Also khshathre mananhé vanheus is rendered, as paourvatdtem in Y. 33, 14 ought to be i e. as ‘predominance in piety’ (?). Rapén might be a pres part.,
joicing in Thee’. Verenté(¢) 34 sg. (cp. vrinite, see also Y. 43, 16) or again 3r4 pl. (stem vera). Read as altern.: ‘O De J. Hv. they are choosing -- -; they obtaining’ (v#dé pl.), etc.; see 8. B. E. XXXI, p. 185. Rapén should equal ‘joyfully receive’ perhaps; ‘which Thine (Thy saints) joyfully receive’. Or, reading rapem (see MSS.); ‘that I may rejoicingly--’. D. om. 7 after zak, has gadman va, otherwise as DJ., but has frdrind, and 7 lak. M.1 as KS (Sp.). As Pahl. without Gaitha, read; ‘He whois: -’. Védo is taken as abl. gen. of origin or causality; (c)is free, perhaps, ‘a making of joy to (of, or for) this one who is Thine’; rapén as pres. part. = ‘Thou making joy’. Nirvanajiah is not accidental; two renderings again blend in it; farja° and fared, the first. suggesting farjdm = ‘end’, are spelt by the same Pahl. char., see elsewhere. Huastdbhydm shows yadman read for gadman (same characters in Pahl.). J.* has abhildshapsayd (sic); uttamamandh was intended; the visarga was accidentally omitted. For ‘through the person (man) of i read ‘as regards the person’; i. e. ‘for him’; or ‘as established by the person of superior - ’. Manyatdé is one of Ner.’s abstracts, or poss. a pres. part. act., cp. manyané? (prop. name); ‘through his thoughtful (?) good conduct’ (see the Pahl.). I cannot improve on khér-i-md; but it is barely possible that # may be the letter deciphered m, and carelessly scrawled for h, (hd, the pl.), or again khurhd (?) = nourishment’ = darendo to bar (?) = ‘to eat’.
19. Some scholars might prefer: ‘That should every (?) man take (?) to himself (?) (ahmdi, see the Pahl.), gaining it as his possession, who seeks after the heavenly life. He should recognize Mazda’s commands as the best for his actions in life’. Tad(t) refers back to tad(t) in v. 18. Mid. forms of da, dhd occur in active sense in the Veda, and oftener in the Gatha; for ‘gives’ we need not read dazd? (J.2 now an Oxford MS.). Vaée(é)demné poss. = ‘acquiring’, but see the connection. Ahmdi poss. = ‘to us’, better ‘to him - - - who (yé)’.. ‘Seeking after life’ recalls ahimbis as = *aswm- bhiksh. By ‘through the deeds the better’ understand, ‘the highest good’ (= vanhéus vahyéd elsewhere) which is realized by obeying the laws in the
‘deeds of life’, Read final qs. D. has maidydk°®, man min, om. ash (a),
zak ¢ din 7, om. 7 bef. pavan (6), has 7 shapir (c). M.t as K.5. I had ven- tured on mozdd, but read as altern. mozd va. ‘The trir. seems to render dazdé(é) by ‘gift received’; see avd nafshman. But for the gl. dkds-dahishnih might be an adj. (bahuy.) = vaé(¢)d°. Read in ¢ (lit.) ‘through the deed _ of his life good’, jan of course gen. J. has avabodhanam, J.*, J.4, P. jivitavyam, J.* vidadhyate (so), J.2 J.* jévitavyam vi; J.4as J.3 inc, gl. except kambalam for sam®; J.* as J3. Ner.’s anayoh is pure error. Perhaps c. gl. is better _ thus; ‘he makes energetic by (in) deed what ¢s spoken by word’. Sambalam
must = tékhshék°*, see Parsi-pers. kushishn. 1 have read Sivitasya, after C.’s jévitasyam ((?)so reported). *Or tdshaké was read altern., ep. Y..50, 1.
20. Daidydi infin. in sense of imper.; hentt understood. In 8. B. E. XXXI, p. 186 I render Ashem in the acc. Perhaps my verbatim here is better. Ashem, nom, with V. M. (sociative instr.), and then Aramaiti (ob- liquely mentioned). These three represent the Immortals, who are referred to also in verse 22, and they are hazaosha like the seven in Yt. 13, 83. Some scholars refer all directly to the people. ‘Then are ye all in common with us to afford advancement with the congregation (Voht Mananha), and the Law (Ashem) in that manner in which (?) (= yads) Ar(a)maiti is prescribed to us (wkhdhé nom. sg. fem. ?), while ye pray, lowly in mind (nemanhd) for the help of Mazda, desiring it’, Yazemndonhé may of course = ‘being sacrificed to’. Chagedé, formerly thought to be a dual, is a nom. pl. from a stem. chaged probably related to kd (kan), poss. by reduplication. Can it be a deponent participle?, cp. dvareté. Some might colour: ‘Do Ye with united powers afford all service to the Faith (Ashem) in common with the congregation (Voh@ M.), as (ydi§) the religious devotion (Ar.) is prescribed — (wkhdhé), since Ye are praying for M.’s help, lowly in mind (nemanhd), — desiring it’, I would now modify: ‘Ye, or they, the Holy Order, (personified), together with the Good Mind (personified) are of one accord (with each other) to afford us (i. e. let them afford us) Your help, being sacrificed to, and desiring for us (ep. Y. 46, 2) Mazda’s - .’. D. as DJ., but om. first 7 in a. | Chagedé is accidentally rendered by vddéindni (so, better than °dnd (same char.). The trlr. understood chagvdo, Y. 46, 2, and chagemd, Y. 38, 3, see his kémak, J.3 sampitrnena. One does not expect vachanam karaniyam in | the sense ‘the word is to be executed’; ‘to be obeyed’, and so ‘heard’ is _ better. Punyam seems governed by dadémi, but ‘sanctity is to be practised so long as until the word is to be fulfilled with . -’; SO possibly.
21. Some might render: ‘That man, who through disposition, word, and deed of faith (Ar(a)matérs) is ennobled (sperté) will himself of his own person (daé(é)nd) exalt (spénvad(t) as a verb) the law (Ashem), from grace (vohti mananhé) will A, give him the power (khshathrem) thereto. 1 will pray Him (Mazda [°dah]) for the happy contingency, or reward’. Spenvad(t), looks more like a neut. adj. or part.; see Ashem. In the effort to dissever this word from the root of spenta (spa = ¢gvd, ea), some might think of pan (ep. skar = kar, spag = pag); the will glorify Asha by his religious wisdom, words, and deeds 7 etc. “Dichas gabra 7 in a, mozdé (or m° va), min valman, and tarsakdish (sic vid.) in c, M1 as K5 (Sp.). I was too unfavourable to the trlr. in 3; read; ‘andof the sovereignty through Y.’. Perhaps ‘recom- pense and the reward’ would be better everywhere. I have been too cautious
perhaps in reading min; the clumsy mén valman of D. and the Parsi-pers. is better; see Ner., or drop the mn, as it is quite absurd to treat the Pahl. without the slightest emendation; ‘that I pray for as, or in regard to (pavan) the good revering recognition’, J.* has sampirna, Ner.’s voc. in ¢ is a natural transition. He takes tarsakdsh (°akdsih) too literally, as was natural. I have elsewhere given reasons why tarsakdsth should express ‘venerating recognition in the sense of recompense’.
22. Vaé(¢)dd, reminds us of Ashdd(t) hachd Mazddo (?) vaé(é)dd ye im ddd(t). Ahura should not be said ‘to know’ Himself; although one of the Seven might be meant. Some might colour: ‘Since to me upon my prayer M. A. according to His custom (ashdd(t) hachd@) assigns (vaé(e)dd) the best, he and the eternal ‘ones, I - - - approach Him with prayer’. But Z. is here instigating the faithful to liberality in the sacrifice. Ndménis is a peculiar instr. Whether a transfer to the a declension (; read °ndis) explains it is a question; perhaps the word, like wsté, had become indeclinably
fixed., or the word is namédis, the letter j having lost its end became n }.
This seems the most probable. D. has yezbekhtinam, om. 7 in c, M.1 as K.5 (Sp.). Li = méi properly belongs in the text, or, more probably, a dz after mtn has fallen out. The gl. in 6 is harmless enough, That in ¢ is correct and important. J.3, J have tvam in b, J.3 jidtvd. The formation mat + td occurs often with Ner. J.* also has °mattamam. lzaddn is plainly written, not yazddn or yazadan.
Gatha(a) Vahishtdisti(i).
For introduction, summary, and further comments, see 8. B. E. vol. XXXI, p. 187—189. Changes in opinions arrived at since its publication are not always noted here, and it is taken for granted that the contents of the other work are carefully read, as they form an integral part of this exposition.
1. Some scholars suggest: ‘The dearest wish of Z. runs thus - -’, Others see an historical past in sr@v?, supposing that it proves Z, to have been no longer living. Some suggest eis before yaé(é)chd, ‘and to those’; this is well possible. Some recoil so decidedly from dadben in the sense of ‘deceived’ that they would alter the text without authority from MSS. to daden, I have also given an alternative to this effect. Others would reduce daben to dven (cp. daibishenti from dvish). This dven is referred to a root du = ‘to have desire for’ (?); ‘and to all those who desire (?) the word and works of his good religion, and learn them’, comparing Sansk. dévas(?).