AvestaZoroastrianismAccepted ScriptureAvestanShareYashts Yasht FragmentDarmesteter 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›Yasht FragmentYashts Yasht FragmentListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘ O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the mate¬ rial world, thou Holy One! ‘ What is the only word in which is contained the glorification of all good things, of all the things that are the offspring of the good principle?’ 2Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It is the praise of Holiness \ O Spitama Zarathuitra! 3‘ He who recites the praise of Holiness 1, in the fulness of faith and with a devoted heart, praises me, Ahura Mazda; he praises the waters, he praises the earth, he praises the cattle, he praises the plants, he praises all good things made by Mazda, all the things that are the offspring of the good principle. 41 For the reciting of that word of truth, O Zarathustra! the pronouncing of that formula, the Ahuna Vairya, increases strength and victory in one’s soul and piety. 5‘For that only recital of the praise of Holiness is worth a hundred khshnaothras of the beings of Holiness 1, when delivered while going to sleep, a thousand when delivered after eating, ten thousand when delivered during cohabitation, or any number when delivered in departing this life.’ 6* What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth ten others in greatness, good¬ ness, and fairness? ’ 7Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is that one, O holy Zarathmtra! that a man delivers when eating the gifts of Haurvata/ and Amereta/ 2, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.’ 8‘ What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth a hundred others in great¬ ness, goodness, and fairness? ’ 9Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is that one, O holy Zarathostra! that a man delivers while drinking of the Haoma strained for the sacrifice, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.’ 10‘What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth a thousand others in great¬ ness, goodness, and fairness? ’ ix. Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers when starting up from his bed or going to sleep again, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.’ 12‘What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth ten thousand others in great¬ ness, goodness, and fairness? ’ 13Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers when waking up and rising from sleep, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.’ 14‘What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth this Karshvare of ours, AAaniratha 1, with its cattle and its chariots, without its men, in greatness, goodness, and fairness? ’ 15Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers in the last moments of his life, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.’ 16‘What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth all that is between the earth and the heavens, and this earth, and that luminous space, and all the good things made by Mazda, that are the offspring of the good principle in greatness, goodness, and fairness?’ 17Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers to renounce evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds 2.’ YASTS AND s!r6zAHS. This YaJt is a description of the fate that attends the soul of the righteous (§§ 1-18) and the soul of the wicked (§§ 19-37) after death. They spend the first three nights (the sadis or sidds; cf. Commentaire du Vendidad, XIII, 55) amongst the highest enjoy¬ ments or pains; they are then met by their own conscience in the shape of a beautiful heavenly maiden (or a fiendish old woman 1 ), and are brought in four steps up to heaven or down to hell, through the three paradises of Good-Thought, Good-Word, and Good- Deed, or the three hells of Evil-Thought, Evil-Word, and Evil- Deed: there they are praised and glorified by Ahura, or rebuked and insulted by Angra Mainyu, and fed with ambrosia or poison. Similar developments are to be found in Yart XXIV, 53-65; Arda Vtraf XVII; Minokhired II, 123-194. 1Zarathastra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! ‘ When one of the faithful departs this life, where does his soul abide on that night?’ Ahura Mazda answered: 2‘ It takes its seat near the head, singing the Ustavaiti Gatha 2 and proclaiming happiness: “Happy is he, happy the man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives the full accomplishment of his wishes!” On that night his soul tastes 3 as much of pleasure as the whole of the living world can taste.’ s Literally, sees, perceives. 3—‘ On the second night where does his soul abide?’ 4Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It takes its seat near the head, singing the Ustavaiti Gatha and pro¬ claiming happiness: “Happy is he, happy the man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives the full accomplishment of his wishes!” On that night his soul tastes as much of pleasure as the whole of the living world can taste.’ 3—‘On the third night where does his soul abide?’ 6Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It takes its seat near the head, singing the Ustavaiti Gatha and proclaiming happiness: “Happy is he, happy the man, whoever he be, to whom Ahura Mazda gives the full accomplishment of his wishes!” On that night his soul tastes as much of pleasure as the whole of the living world can taste.’ 7At the end 1 of the third night, 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 blowing from the region of the south, from the regions of the south, a sweetscented wind, sweeter-scented than any other wind in the world. 8And it seems to the soul of the faithful one as if he were inhaling that wind with the nostrils, and he thinks: 1 Whence does that wind blow, the sweetestscented wind I ever inhaled with my nostrils?’ 9And 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- VASTS AND SIRdzAHS. 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. 10And the soul of the faithful one addressed her, asking: ‘ What maid art thou, who art the fairest maid I have ever seen? ’ 11‘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, good¬ ness, fairness, sweet-scentedness, victorious strength and freedom from sorrow, in which thou dost appear to me; 12‘And so thou, O 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. x 3. ‘ When thou wouldst see a man making deri¬ sion 1 2 and deeds of idolatry, or rejecting 3 (the poor) and shutting his door 4 5, then thou wouldst sit singing the Gathas and worshipping the good waters and Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda, and rejoicing 6 the faithful that would come from near or from afar. 14‘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 unt'o and conversed with Ahura Mazda. 15‘ The first step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Good-Thought 1 Paradise; ‘ The second step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Good-Word 2 Paradise; ‘ The third step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Good-Deed 3 4 Paradise; ‘ The fourth step that the soul of the faithful man made, placed him in the Endless Lights V 16Then one of the faithful, who had departed before him, asked him, saying: ‘How didst thou depart this life, thou holy man? How didst thou come, 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?’ 17And Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Ask him not what thou askest him, who has just gone the dreary way, full of fear and distress, where the body and the soul part from one another. 18‘ [Let him eat] of the food brought to him, of the oil of Zaremaya 1: 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.’ 19Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘ O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! ‘When one of the wicked perishes, where does his soul abide on that night? ’ 20Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It rushes and sits near the skull, singing the Kim a 2 Gatha, O holy Zarathustra! ‘“To what land shall I turn, O Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying?” 21—‘On the second night, where does his soul abide?’ 22Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It rushes and sits near the skull, singing the Kima Gatha, O holy Persian might perhaps be better translated ‘butter;’ the milk made in the middle of spring was said to be the best (Visp6rad I, 2; Pahl. Comm.; cf. Dadistan XXXI, 14). Zarathostra! “To what land shall I turn, 0 Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying?” ‘On that night his soul tastes as much of suffering as the whole of the living world can taste.’ 23—‘On the third night, where does his soul abide?’ 24Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It rushes and sits near the skull, singing the Kima Gatha, O holy Zarathuitra! “To what land shall I turn, O Ahura Mazda? To whom shall I go with praying?” ‘ On that night his soul tastes as much of suffering as the whole of the living world can taste.’ 25At the end of the third night, O holy Zarathustra! when the dawn appears, it seems to the soul of the faithful one as if it were brought amidst snow and stench, and as if a wind were blowing from the region of the north, from the regions of the north, a foul-scented wind, the foulest-scented of all the winds in the world. 26-32. And it seems to the soul of the wicked man as if he were inhaling that wind with the nostrils, and he thinks: ‘Whence does that wind blow, the foulestscented wind that I ever inhaled with my nostrils 1?’ Then that wicked soul spoke thus: ‘ Who art thou? than whom I never saw any one of the creatures of Auharmazd and Akharman uglier, or filthier or more stinking’ (-cf. § 10). To him she spoke thus: ‘ I am thy bad actions, O youth of evil thoughts, of evil words, of evil deeds, of evil religion 1 It VASTS AND siRdZAHS. 33The first step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Evil-Thought Hell; The second step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Evil-Word Hell; The third step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Evil-Deed Hell; The fourth step that the soul of the wicked man made laid him in the Endless Darkness. 34Then one of the wicked who departed before him addressed him, saying: ‘How didst thou perish, O wicked man? How didst thou come, O fiend! 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 is on account of thy will and actions that I am hideous and vile, iniquitous and diseased, rotten and foul-smelling, unfortunate and distressed, as appears to thee (cf. §§ 11-12). ‘ When thou sawest any one who performed the Yazishn and Dron ceremonies, and praise and prayer and the service of God, and preserved and protected water and fire, cattle and trees, and other good creations, thou practisedst the will of Akharman and the demons, and improper actions. And when thou sawest one who provided hospitable reception, and gave something deservedly in gifts and charity, for the advantage of the good and worthy who came from far, and who were from near, thou wast avaricious, and shuttedst up thy door (cf. § 13). ‘And though I have been unholy (that is, I have been considered bad), I am made more unholy through thee; and though I have been frightful, I am made more frightful through thee; though I have been tremulous, I am made more tremulous through thee; 34.2though I am settled in the northern region of the demons, I am settled further north through thee; through these evil thoughts, through these evil words, and through these evil deeds, which thou practisedst. They curse me, a long time, in the long execration and evil communion of the Evil Spirit (cf. § 14). ‘Afterwards that soul of the wicked advanced the first footstep on Dfish-hfimat (the place of evil thoughts), &c.’ (The Book of Ardd Viraf, XVII, 12-27,as translated by Haug). world into the undecaying one? How long did thy suffering last?’ 35Angra Mainyu, the lying one, said: ‘Ask him not what thou askest him, who has just gone the dreary way, full of fear and distress, where the body and the soul part from one another. 36‘ Let him eat of the food brought unto him, of poison and poisonous stench 1: this is the food, after he has perished, for the youth of evil thoughts, evil words, evil deeds, evil religion after he has perished; this is the food for the fiendish woman, rich in evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds, evil religion, ill-principled, and disobedient to her husband. ‘ We worship the understanding of Ahura Mazda, to study the Holy Word. ‘We worship the tongue of Ahura Mazda, to speak forth the Holy Word. ‘ We worship the mountain that gives under¬ standing, that preserves understanding; [we worship it] by day and by night, with offerings of libations well-accepted \ 40Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They manifest themselves from goodness of spirit and excellence of mind 5.’ Atar looks at the hands of all those who pass by: ‘What does the friend bring to his friend....?’ (Atash N. 14.) And if that passer-by brings him wood holily brought, or bundles of baresma holily tied up...., then Atar.... will bless him thus: May herds of oxen grow for thee.... (Atash N. 15-16). In the first part of the night, Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, calls the master of the house for help, saying: ‘Up! arise, thou master of the house....’ (Vend. XVIII, 18-19). ‘ Then towards the dawning of the dawn.... ’ (see the text). 42Here the fiendish Bfishyasta, the long-handed, rushes from the region of the north, from the regions of the north, speaking thus, lying thus: ‘ Sleep on, O men! Sleep on, O sinners! Sleep on and live in sin.’ supplied from the Pahlavi translation; the words in brackets refer to Zend texts lost to us: ‘Then he flaps his wings and lifts up his voice, saying: “Arise, O menl [and also women, grown-up people, and children, &c. Put on well your girdle and shirt, wash your hands, put your girdle around your body, go and give food to the cattle and recite aloud the five holy Gfithas of Spitama Zarathustra.”] ‘ Here the fiendish Bfishyasta... (see the text). Then the Pahlavi translation has: ‘ Never care for the three excellent things, good thoughts, good words, good deeds’ (cf. Vend. VASTS AND sflvOZAHS. xxiii-xxiv. AfrIn paighambar zar- TtlYT AND VtSTASP YA6T. ‘God taught the Zendavasta to Zartusht—a sublime work.... God said to Zartusht, “Go and before Shah Gushtasp read this book, that he may come into the faith.... keep all my counsel and repeat it word by word to Shah Gushtasp V Zartusht, in obedience to God, went to the court of Gushtasp: ‘ He came forward and called down a blessing on the Shah 1 2.’ Then he read to him the Zandavasta and said: * Learn its statutes and walk therein. 42.2If your desire is towards its laws, your abode shall be in the paradise of heaven. But if you turn away from its command¬ ments, you shall bring down your crowned head to the dust. Your God will be displeased with you, and will overthrow your pros¬ perous condition. At the last you shall descend into hell, if you hear not the counsel of the Almighty 3.’ These lines of the Zartusht-Namah are a summary of the following two Yarts. The first, entitled ‘ The blessing of the prophet ZartfLt,’ contains the words of blessing addressed by Zarathustra when appearing before the king. These words seem to have followed a similar blessing pronounced by GSmaspa 4, the prime minister of VLctaspa 5. Ya.rt XXIV contains the exhortations of the prophet to the king to follow and closely adhere to the Law of Mazda. It is a counterpart to the XIXth Fargard of the Vendidad, as Zarathustra plays here the same part to Virt&spa as Ahura does there to Zarathustra. It is, therefore, a summary of the Law, of the duties it (Zend-Avesta II, 623) rests on independent tradition or only on the text of our Yart is not clear. enforces and of the rewards it promises. 42.3This accounts for the strange disconnection apparent in it, which makes it a crux interpretum, as, besides the very corrupt state of the text, the chief difficulty of this Yajt arises from the fact that many passages in it are incomplete quotations from the Vendidad, or allusions to statements therein 1, which, when supplied, help a good deal to relieve this Yart from its apparent state of utter incoherence. For this translation I was able to avail myself of a Pahlavi trans¬ lation, of which a copy was kindly lent to me by Mr. West. That translation is apparently of late date and often manifestly wrong; yet it was very useful to me in several passages, besides its giving a Zend text generally more correct and more correctly divided than the text in Westergaard’s edition 2. Yart XXIII was originally no independent Yart, being nothing more than the beginning of Yart XXIV, detached from it, with some slight alterations and inversions. XXIII. AfrIN PAIGHAMBAR ZARTC.ST. 1‘I am a pious man, who speaks words of blessing.’ —‘ Thou appearest unto me full of Glory.’ And Zarathustra spake unto king Vbtaspa, say¬ ing: ‘ I bless thee, O man! O lord of the country! 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! 2‘ Mayest thou have a son like G&m&spa, and may he bless thee as (£r dm is pa blessed) Vbtdspa (the lord) of the country 3! ‘ Mayest thou be most beneficent, like Mazda! ‘ Mayest thou be fiend-smiting, like Thra6taona 1! ‘ Mayest thou be strong, like £r 4 mdspa 2! ‘ Mayest thou be well-armed, like Takhma- Urupa 3! 3‘ Mayest thou be glorious, like Yima Khsha&ta, the good shepherd! ‘ Mayest thou be instructed with a thousand senses, like Azi Dahaka, of the evil law 4! ‘ Mayest thou be awful and most strong, like Keresaspa 5! ‘ Mayest thou be a wise chief of assemblies, like Urvakhshaya 6! ‘ Mayest thou be beautiful of body and without fault, like Syavarshina 7! 4‘ Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwyanide 8! ‘ Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pouras-aspa 9! ‘ Mayest thou be holy, like Zarathustra Spitama! ‘ Mayest thou be able to reach the Rangha, whose shores lie afar, as Vafra Navaza was 10! ‘ Mayest thou be beloved by the gods and reve¬ renced by men 11! a member. All of them bore names that show them to have been rich in cattle: Pur-t6r&, Sok-torS, B6r-t6ra, &c. (‘one with abundant oxen, with useful oxen, with the brown ox, Sic.,’ Bundahij, tr.West, XXXI, 7, note 8). 5‘ May ten sons be born of you 1! In three of them mayest thou be an Athravan! In three of them mayest thou be a warrior! In three of them mayest thou be a tiller of the ground 2! And may one be like thyself, O Vfstdspa! 6‘ Mayest thou be swift-horsed, like the Sun 3! ‘ Mayest thou be resplendent, like the moon! ‘ Mayest thou be hot-burning, like fire! ‘ Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra! ‘ Mayest thou be tail-formed and victorious, like the devout Sraosha 4 *! 7‘ Mayest thou follow a law of truth, like Rashnu 6! ‘ Mayest thou be a conqueror of thy foes, like Verethraghna 6, made by Ahura! ‘ Mayest thou have fulness of welfare, like Rima ZA 4 stra 7! ‘ Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like king Husravah 8! 8‘ Then the blessing goes for the bright, allhappy, blissful abode of the holy Ones 9. ‘May it happen unto thee according to my blessing! ‘ 10 Let us embrace and propagate the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds that have been done and that will be done here and elsewhere, that we may be in the number of the good. ‘Yathd ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... ‘Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... ‘ [Give] unto that man brightness and glory,.... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.’ ‹Previous chapterYashts Van Ant YashtNext chapterYashts Vtetasp Yasht›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