AvestaZoroastrianismAccepted ScriptureAvestanShareYashts Vtetasp YashtDarmesteter and Mills / Sacred Books of the East - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableDarmesteter and Mills / Sacred Books of the EastLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Vendidad Fargard 1Vendidad Fargard 2Vendidad Fargard 3Vendidad Fargard 4Vendidad Fargard 5Vendidad Fargard 6Vendidad Fargard 7Vendidad Fargard 8Vendidad Fargard 9Vendidad Fargard 10Vendidad Fargard 11Vendidad Fargard 12Vendidad Fargard 13Vendidad Fargard 14Vendidad Fargard 15Vendidad Fargard 16Vendidad Fargard 17Vendidad Fargard 18Vendidad Fargard 19Vendidad Fargard 20Vendidad Fargard 21Vendidad Fargard 22Sirozah Sirozah 1Yashts KhorshedSirozah Sirozah 2Yashts Ormazd YashtYashts ArdibehioT 1 YashtYashts Khordad YashtYashts Aban YashtYashts Khorshed YashtYashts Mah YashtYashts Tlr YashtYashts G oS YashtYashts Mihir / Mithra YashtYashts Sraosha Yasht HadhoKhtYashts Rashn YashtYashts Bahram YashtYashts Ram YashtYashts Ashi YashtYashts Aytad YashtYashts Zamyad YashtYashts Van Ant YashtYashts Yasht FragmentYashts Vtetasp YashtNyayis Khorshed? NyayiyNyayis Mihir / Mithra NyayiyNyayis Aban NyayiyNyayis Atay NyayisYasna Yasna 28Yasna Yasna 34Yasna Yasna 30Yasna Yasna 31Yasna Yasna 32Yasna Yasna 33Yasna Yasna 43Yasna Yasna 44Yasna Yasna 11Yasna Yasna 45Yasna Yasna 46Yasna Yasna 47Yasna Yasna 48Yasna Yasna 49Yasna Yasna 50Yasna Yasna 51Yasna Yasna 60Yasna Yasna 53Yasna Yasna 1Yasna Yasna 2Yasna Yasna 3Yasna Yasna 4Yasna Yasna 5Yasna Yasna 6Yasna Yasna 7Yasna Yasna 8Yasna Yasna 9Yasna Yasna 10Yasna Yasna 12Yasna Yasna 13Yasna Yasna 22Yasna Yasna 14Yasna Yasna 15Yasna Yasna 16Yasna Yasna 17Yasna Yasna 19Yasna Yasna 18Yasna Yasna 20Yasna Yasna 21Yasna Yasna 29Yasna Yasna 23Yasna Yasna 24Yasna Yasna 25Yasna Yasna 26Yasna Yasna 27Yasna Yasna 35Yasna Yasna 36Yasna Yasna 37Yasna Yasna 38Yasna Yasna 39Yasna Yasna 40Yasna Yasna 41Yasna Yasna 42Yasna Yasna 52Yasna Yasna 54Yasna Yasna 55Yasna Yasna 56Yasna Yasna 57Yasna Yasna 58Yasna Yasna 59Yasna Yasna 61Yasna Yasna 62Yasna Yasna 65Yasna Yasna 66Yasna Yasna 68Yasna Yasna 70Yasna Yasna 71Yasna Yasna 72Visparad Visparad 1Visparad Visparad 2Visparad Visparad 11Visparad Visparad 3Visparad Visparad 4Visparad Visparad 5Visparad Visparad 7Visparad Visparad 8Visparad Visparad 9Visparad Visparad 10Visparad Visparad 12Visparad Visparad 13Visparad Visparad 14Visparad Visparad 15Visparad Visparad 16Visparad Visparad 18Visparad Visparad 19Visparad Visparad 20Visparad Visparad 21Visparad Visparad 23Afrinagan AfrinaganGahs Gah 1Gahs Gah 2Gahs Gah 3Gahs Gah 4Gahs Gah 5Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 1Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 2Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 3Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 4Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 5Miscellaneous Fragments Miscellaneous FragmentsMiscellaneous Fragments Fragment 9›Vtetasp YashtYashts Vtetasp YashtListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1‘I am a pious man, who speaks words of blessing,’ thus said Zarathustra to the young king Vlstaspa 1.—‘She 2 appears to me full of Glory, O Zarathuvtra!’—‘O young king Vbtaspa! [I bless thee 3 ] with the living of a good life, of an exalted life, of a long life. May thy men live long! May thy women live long! May sons be born unto thee of thy own body 4! 2‘ Mayest thou thyself 5 be holy, like Zarathustra! ‘Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwyanide 6! ‘ Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pouru^-aspa 7! ‘ Mayest thou have a good share of bliss 8, like king Husravah! ‘ Mayest thou have strength to reach the Rangha, whose way lies afar, as Vafra Nav&za did 9. ahlayih patmanik, amargig (Pahl.). vi-STASP YAST. 3‘ May ten sons be born of thy own body 1! three as Athravans 2 3, three as warriors s, three as tillers of the ground 4! May one of them be like Aamaspa 5, that he may bless thee with great and ever greater happiness 6! 4‘ Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like Pesho-tanu 7. ‘ Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra! ‘ Mayest thou be warm, like the moon! ‘ Mayest thou be 8 resplendent, like fire! ‘ Mayest thou be long-lived, as long-lived as an old man can be 9! 5‘ And when thou hast fulfilled a duration of a thousand years, [mayest thou obtain] the bright, allhappy, blissful abode of the holy Ones! ‘Ashem Vohfi: Holiness is the best of all good.... agros denuo coluit, qui in optimam, qua antehac floruerant, conditionem redierunt,’ Hamzah Ispahensis, p. 24 of the Gottwaldt translation). 7‘Ye gods of full Glory, ye gods of full healing, let your greatness become manifest! ’ 8Zarathustra addressed him, saying: ‘ O young king Vbtaspa! 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 6, of Rita 7, with eyes of love.’ 9Pirewdi 8, of the light chariot, follows: ‘ Mayest thou 9 become manifest unto him, the young king Vistaspa! ‘ May plenty dwell in this house, standing upon high columns and rich in food 10! Thou wilt never priest. vIstAsp yast. 33i offer and give bad food to a priest: for a priest must be to thee like the brightest 1 2 offspring of thy own blood.’ 10Zarathustra spake unto him: ‘ O young king Vfotcispa! ‘ 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 V 11The holy Zarathustra preached that law to Frashao-stra 3 and Gamaspa: ‘May ye practise holiness and thrive, O young Frashaoitra (and Gamas pa)! ’ 12Thus said Ahura Mazda unto the holy Zarathustra, and thus again did Zarathustra say unto the young king Vlstaspa: ‘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 4 5. ‘ Ashem Vohfi: Holiness is the best of all good.... 13‘ When I teach thee, that thou mayest do the same to thy son 6, O Vtstdspa! receive thou well that teaching; that will make thee rich in children and rich in milk; rich in seed, in fat, in milk 6. 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 1 no faithful man 2 can know holiness. ‘To thee 3 come every Havanan, every Atarevakhsha, every Frabaretar, every Abere/, every Asnatar, every Rathwukar, every Sraoshd-varez 4; 16‘ 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; 17‘ 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 5; every itinerant priest; every mistress of a house; every wandering priest, obedient to the Law. 18‘To thee come all the performers 6 (of holi¬ ness), all the masters of holiness, who, to the note 1). B The ^z»afitv6datha (Vend. Introd. p. xlv, note 7; see West, Pahlavi Texts, II, 389 seq.). VIjSTASP vast. number of three and thirty 1, stand next to H&vani, being masters of holiness. 19‘May they be fully protected 2 in thee, O young king Vlstaspa! While thou smitest thy ad¬ versaries, thy foes, those who hate thee, a hundred times a hundred for a hundred 3, 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.’ ‘ With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship, with what manner of sacrifice shall I worship and forward this creation of Ahura Mazda?’ 22Zarathustra answered: ‘We will make it known unto thee, O young king Virtcispa! ‘ Go towards that tree that is beautiful, highgrowing, and mighty amongst the high-growing trees, and say thou these words: “ Hail to thee! O good, holy tree, made by Mazda! Ashem Vohh!” 23‘ Let the faithful man cut off twigs of baresma, either one, or two, or three: let him bind them and s He kills a hundred times a hundred of them, while they kill a hundred of his people. VASTS AND s!r6zAHS. 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 Vohfi: Holiness is the best of all good.... ‘ 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 2 * 4. 26‘ Proclaim thou those prayers: they will cleanse thy body from deeds of lust 8, O young king Vistispa! ‘ 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 Drug, the slothful ones 5 *, the wicked Daeva-worshippers, who live in sin. Vend. XVI, 14 (paourvd-vasna rkynothna). Dru^? see Bund. XXXI, 6). Vt-STASP YA&T. 27‘He 1 trembles at the way 2 made by Time and open both to the wicked and to the righteous. ‘ They 3 tremble at the perfume of his soul 4, as a sheep does on which a wolf is falling. 28‘ Reciting the whole collection of the Staota Yesnya 5 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 Zarathustra 6! who commits the Baodh6-(vawta) crime 7 with a damsel and an old woman 8,’ said Zarathustra to the young king Vfotispa. ‘ Let him 9 praise the Law, O Spitama Zarathustra! 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 Drufes 10. 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. a The A’lnvaZ-bridge (Vend. XIX, 29). rSs yakhsfintt). YASTS AND s!r6zAHS. ‘ He who wishes to seize the heavenly reward 1, will seize it by giving gifts to him who holds up (the Law) to us 2 in this world here below 3.... 31‘Let him 4 give (the Law) to him who is unfriendly to her, that he may become friendly. ‘Wash thy hands with water, not with g6m£z 5, and let thy son, who will be born of thy wife 6, do the same. ‘ Thus thy thought will be powerful to smite him 7, who is not so 8; 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 9! ”—We, the Amesha-Spe?ztas, will come and show thee, O Zarathustra! the way to that world 10, to long glory in the spiritual world, to long happiness of the soul in Paradise; 33‘To bliss and Paradise, to the Gar6-nmana of Ahura Mazda, beautifully made and fully adorned, dir 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. 39). The unclean man washes himself with gomez first and with water last. XXXIII, n). 10 The world above. visl'ASP VAST. 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 Vohft: Holiness is the best of all good.... 341 They 1 will impart to thee full brightness and Glory. ‘ They will give him 2 quick 8 and swift horses, and good sons. ‘ He wishes to go to the Law, the young king Vistas pa.’ Zarathortra 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 4! ” Thus the Drug' will not fall upon thee and throw thee away; thou wilt wield kingly power there 5. 36‘ The Law of Mazda will not deliver thee unto pain 6. Thou art entreated (for charity) by the whole of the living world, and she 7 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. Comm.). YASTS AND sfRdzAHS. ‘ Ever will that bread be burning coal upon thy head 1. ‘ The good, holy Rita 2, made by Mazda, goes and nurses thy bright offspring 3.’ 37Zarathustra addressed Vbtaspa, saying: ‘O young king Vbtispa! 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 4 *. 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-nmina of Ahura Mazda. He will 7 first formula is found in the Aban Nyayir, § 8. enter there. Therefore do thou pronounce these prayers. ‘ Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... 40‘ Converse ye with the Amesha-Spe/ztas,’ said Zarathiutra unto the' young king Vbtaspa, ‘and with the devout Sraosha, and Nairyo-sangha, the tail-formed, and Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda, and the well-desired kingly Glory. 41‘ Men with lustful deeds address the body 1; 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 3 belong to the wisest of all beings, O Zarathustra! May their lord belong to the wisest, O Zarathustra! 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 Afinva t -bridge *, the well-kept, and kept by virtue. 43‘ How the worlds were arranged was said to thee first, O Zarathustra! Zarathustra said it again to the young king Vfotaspa; therefore do thou 8 praise him 6 who keeps and maintains the moon and the sun. ‘ He who has little friendship for the Law, I have placed him down below to suffer.’ 44Thus 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 who in¬ flicts wounds pays for it as for wilful murder x. ‘ 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 Vohft: Holiness is the best of all good.... 45‘ Mayest thou receive 1 2, O holy young king Vbtispa! (a house) with a hundred.... 3, ten thou¬ sand large windows, ten thousand small windows, all the year long 4, O holy Vbtaspa! 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-Spewtas impart to thee their brightness and glory and plenty 5! May they give him quick and swift horses and good sons, strong, great in all things, powerful to sing the hymns. VlsTASP VAST. 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 Zarathustra! who gives royalty unto thee with good will 1 2. 50‘ Do not deliver me 4 * into the hands of the fiend 8; if the fiend take hold of me, then fever with loss of all joy will dry up the milk of the good Spe»ta-Armaiti 6. 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, Ahura Mazda, takes them 1 away from afar;.... 2; and all those that harm the creation of the Good Spirit are destroyed 3; 52‘ Whom Mithra, and Rashnu Razista, 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;... 4 ‘Ashem Vohft: Holiness is the best of all good.... 53‘The words of the Vahbtdbti 6 Gatha are to be sung; “ Happy is he, O holy Vbtaspa! 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 7? ’ 54Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ O my son, Frashaoxtra! It takes its seat near the head, singing the Urtavaiti Gatha and proclaiming happiness: “ Happy is he, happy the man whoever he be [” ‘ On the first night, his soul sits in Good Words 8; thya/sairimananam (sairi mananam,W.)bakhedhrai (trans¬ lated as hakhedhrii: ddstth, friendship). Not in the Good-Word Paradise, to which he will go later on the second night, it sits in Good Deeds; on the third night, it goes along the ways (to Gar6-nmana). 55‘At the end of the third night, O my son, Frashaostra! 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 inhaling that wind with the nose, and it asks, saying: “ Whence does that wind blow, the sweetest-scented wind I ever inhaled with my nose? ” 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, tailformed, 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). VASTS AND SIRdzAHS. dost appear to me; [and so thou, 0 youth of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, of good religion! 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 x ] making derision and deeds of idolatry, or rejecting (the poor) and shutting (his door), then, thou wouldst sit, singing the Githas, and worshipping the good waters, and Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda, and rejoicing the faithful that would come from near or from afar. 601 “ 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, vlsTASP VAST. thou holy man! from the abodes full of cattle and full of the wishes and enjoyments of love? from the material world into the world of the spirit? from the decaying world into the undecaying one? How long did thy felicity last? ” ’ 63And Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Ask him not what thou askest him, who has just gone the dreary way, full of fear and distress, when the body and the soul part from one another. 64‘ [Let him eat] of the food brought to him, of the oil of Zaremaya: this is the food for the youth of good thoughts, of good words, of good deeds, of good religion, after he has departed this life; this is the food for the holy woman, rich in good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, well-principled, and obedient to her husband, after she has departed this life.’ 65Spitama Zarathustra said to the young king VLtaspa: ‘To what land shall I turn, O Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying 1? ’ Ashem Vohti: Holiness is the best of all good.... n yAyis. A Nyayif is properly a begging prayer, as opposed to Sitayir, a prayer of praise. It is a term particularly applied to five prayers addressed to the Sun, to Mithra, to the Moon, to Waters, and to Fire. Every layman over eight years old is bound to recite the Ny&yif: he recites it standing and girded with his Kosti. The Sun Ny&yij is recited three times a day, at the rising of the sun (Gah Havan), at noon (Gah Rapitvin), and at three o’clock in the afternoon (Gah Uziren). The Mithra Nyayif is recited with the Sun Nyayif, as Mithra follows the sun in its course (see Yt.X,i 3 ). The Moon Nyfiyif is recited three times a month: first, at the time when it begins to be seen; second, when it is at the full; third, when it is on the wane. The Waters NyfiyLr and the Fire Nyayi-r are recited every day, when one finds oneself in the proximity of those elements. The Fire Nydyif is recited with the Penom on (see Vend. p. 168, 7). The first four Nyayif must be recited especially on the days over which the Izads invoked preside; that is to say, on the Khorsheif, Mihir, Mfih, and Aban days (the eleventh, sixteenth, twelfth, and tenth days of the month) 1. ‹Previous chapterYashts Yasht FragmentNext chapterNyayis Khorshed? Nyayiy›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public-domain 1880/1883/1887 English translation