Yasna Haptanghaiti
Old Avestan prose preserved beside the Gathas.
Old Avestan prose preserved beside the Gathas.
Yasna Haptanghaiti (chapters 35-42)
2 We are praisers of good thoughts, of good words, and of good actions, of those now and those hereafter [(Pazand) of those being done; and of those completed]. We implant (?) them (with our homage, and we do this) the more, and yet the more since we are (praisers) of the good (from whom they spring).
3 That, therefore, would we choose, O Ahura Mazda! and thou, O Righteousness the beauteous! that we should think, and speak, and do those thoughts, and words, and deeds, among actual good thoughts, and words, and actions, which are the best for both the worlds;
4 and together with these gifts (?) and actions which are thus the best, we would pray for the Kine (which represents the pure creation), that she may have comfort and have fodder from the famed! and from the humble, from the potent and the weak.
5 To the best of good rulers (is) verily the Kingdom, because we render and ascribe it to Him, and make it thoroughly His own (?), to Mazda Ahura do we ascribe it, and to Righteousness the Best.
6 As thus both man or woman knows (the duty), both thoroughly and truly, so let him, or her, declare it and fulfill it, and inculcate it upon those who may perform it as it is.
7 We would be deeply mindful of Your sacrifice and homage, Yours, O Ahura Mazda! and the best, (and we would be mindful) of the nurture of the Kine. And that let us inculcate, and perform for You according as we may; and (for) such (praisers as we are).
8 Under the shelter of the ritual Order let us do so in the active fulfillment of its (precepts) toward every one of the (clean) and better creatures which are fit to live, with a gift for both the worlds.
9 Yea, those words and sayings, O Ahura Mazda! we would proclaim as Righteousness, and as of the better mind (?); and we would make Thee the one who both supports (us in our proclamation) of them, and who throws still further light upon them (as they are),
10 And by reason of Thy Righteous Order, Thy Good Mind, and Thy Sovereign Power, and through the instrumentality of our praises of Thee, O Ahura Mazda! and for the purpose of (still further) praises, by Thy spoken words, and for (still further) spoken words, through Thy Yasna, and for (still further) Yasnas (would we thus proclaim them, and make Thee the bestower of our light).
Chapter 36
0 TO AHURA AND THE FIRE.
1 We would approach You two, O (Ye) primeval ones in the house of this Thy holy Fire, O Ahura Mazda, Thou most bounteous Spirit! Who brings pollutions to this (Thy flame) him wilt Thou cover with pollutions (in his turn).
2 But as the most friendly do Thou give us zeal, O Fire of the Lord! and approach us, and with the loving blessing of the most friendly, with the praise of the most adored. Yea, may'st thou approach to aid us in this our greatest (undertaking) among the efforts of our zeal.
3 The Fire of Ahura Mazda art thou verily; yea, the most bounteous one of His Spirit, wherefore Thine is the most potent of all names (for grace), O Fire of the Lord!
Yasna Haptanghaiti (chapters 35-42)
4 And therefore we would approach Thee, (O Ahura!) with the help of Thy Good Mind (which Thou dost implant within us), with Thy (good) Righteousness, and with the actions and the words inculcated by Thy good wisdom!
5 We therefore bow before Thee, and we direct our prayers to Thee with confessions of our guilt, O Ahura Mazda! with all the good thoughts (which Thou dost inspire), with all the words well said, and the deeds well done, with these would we approach Thee.
6 And to Thy most beauteous body do we make our deep acknowledgments, O Ahura Mazda! to those stars (which are Thy body); and to that one, the highest of the high, [such as the sun was called]!
Chapter 37
0 TO AHURA, THE HOLY CREATION,
1 Thus therefore do we worship Ahura Mazda, who made the Kine (the living creation), and the (embodied) Righteousness (which is incarnate in the clean), and the waters, and the wholesome plants, the stars, and the earth, and all (existing) objects that are good.
2 Yea, we worship Him for His Sovereign Power and His greatness, beneficent (as they are), and with priority among the Yazads who abide beside the Kine (and care for her protection and support).
3 And we worship Him under His name as Lord, to Mazda dear, the most beneficent (of names). We worship him with our bones, and with our flesh, (with our bodies and our life). And we worship the Fravashis of the saints, of holy men, and holy women;
4 and Righteousness the Best do we worship, the most beauteous, the Bountiful Immortal and that which is endowed with light in all things good.
5 And we worship the Good Mind (of the Lord), and His Sovereign Power, and the Good Faith, the good law of our thrift, and Piety the ready mind (within Thy folk)!
Chapter 38
0 TO THE EARTH AND THE SACRED WATERS.
1 And now we worship this earth which bears us, together with Thy wives, O Ahura Mazda! yea, those Thy wives do we worship which are so desired from their sanctity.
2 We sacrifice to their zealous wishes, and their capabilities, their inquiries (as to duty), and their wise acts of pious reverence, and with these their blessedness, their full vigor and good portions, their good fame and ample wealth.
3 O ye waters! now we worship you, you that are showered down, and you that stand in pools and vats, and you that bear forth. (our loaded vessels?) ye female Ahuras of Ahura, you that serve us (all) in helpful ways, well forded and full-flowing, and effective for the bathings, we will seek you and for both the worlds!
Yasna Haptanghaiti (chapters 35-42)
4 Therefore did Ahura Mazda give you names, O ye beneficent ones! when He who made the good bestowed you. And by these names we worship you, and by them we would ingratiate ourselves with you, and with them would we bow before you, and direct our prayers to you with free confessions of our debt. O waters, ye who are productive, and ye maternal ones, ye with heat that suckles the (frail and) needy (before birth), ye waters (that have once been) rulers of (us) all, we will now address you as the best, and the most beautiful; those (are) yours, those good (objects) of our offerings, ye long of arm to reach our sickness, or misfortune, ye mothers of our life!
Chapter 39
0 TO THE SOUL OF THE KINE, &C.
1 And now we sacrifice to the Kine's soul, and to her created body, and we sacrifice to the souls of cattle who are fit to live (for us), and whose (we?) are, such as are the same to them.
2 And we worship the souls of those beasts which are tame and broken in, and of wild herds, and the souls of the saints wherever they were born, both of men and of women, whose good consciences are conquering in the strife against the Daevas, or will conquer, or have conquered.
3 And now we worship the Bountiful Immortals (all) the good, and both those male, and those female (by their names). The males among them do we worship, ever living, and ever helpful, who dwell beside the pious, and the females thus the same.
4 As Thou, O Ahura Mazda! hast thought and spoken, as thou hast determined, and hast done these things (effecting) what is good, therefore do we offer to Thee, therefore do we ascribe to Thee our praises, and worship Thee, and bow ourselves before Thee; and therefore would we direct our prayers to Thee, Ahura! with confessions of our sin.
5 And we thus draw near to Thee together with the good kinship of our kindred, with that of Righteousness the blessed, and the good law of thrift and energy and the good Piety, the ready mind (within Thy folk)!
Chapter 40
0 PRAYERS FOR HELPERS.
1 And now in these Thy dispensations, O Ahura Mazda! do Thou wisely act for us, and with abundance with Thy bounty and Thy tenderness as touching us; and grant that reward which Thou hast appointed to our souls, O Ahura Mazda!
2 Of this do Thou Thyself bestow upon us for this world and the spiritual; and now as part thereof (do Thou grant) that we may attain to fellowship with Thee, and Thy Righteousness for all duration.
3 And do Thou grant us, O Ahura! men who are righteous, and both lovers and producers of the Right as well. And give us trained beasts for the pastures, broken in for riding, and for bearing, (that they may be) in helpful companionship with us, and as a source of long enduring vigor, and a means of rejoicing grace to us for this.
Yasna Haptanghaiti (chapters 35-42)
4 So let there be a kinsman lord for us, with the laborers of the village, and so likewise let there be the clients (or the peers). And by the help of those may we arise. So may we be to You, O Mazda Ahura! holy and true, and with free giving of our gifts.
0 A PRAYER TO AHURA AS THE KING,
1 Praises, and songs, and adorations do we offer to Ahura Mazda, and to Righteousness the Best; yea, we offer and we ascribe them, and proclaim them.
2 And to Thy good Kingdom, O Ahura Mazda! may we attain for ever, and a good King be Thou over us; and let each man of us, and so each woman, thus abide, O Thou most beneficent of beings, and for both the worlds!
3 Thus do we render Thee. the helpful Yazad, endowed with good devices, the friend of them (who worship Thee) with (welladjusted) ritual; so may'st Thou be to us our life, and our body's vigor, O Thou most beneficent of beings, and that for both the worlds!
4 Aye, let us win and conquer (?) long life, O Ahura Mazda! in Thy grace, and through Thy will may we be powerful. May'st Thou lay hold on us to help, and long, and with salvation, O Thou most beneficent of beings!
5 Thy praisers and Mathra-speakers may we be called, O Ahura Mazda! so do we wish, and to this may we attain. What reward most meet for our deserving Thou hast appointed for the souls, O Ahura Mazda!
6 of that do Thou bestow on us for this life, and for that of mind. Of that reward (do Thou Thyself grant this advantage), that we may come under Thy protecting guardianship, and that of Righteousness for ever. We sacrifice to that brave Yasna, the Yasna Haptanghaiti, the holy, the ritual chief!
0 A SUPPLEMENT TO THE
1 We worship You, O Ye Bountiful Immortals! the entire collection of this Yasna, Haptanghaiti (as we sum up all). And we sacrifice to the fountains of the waters, and to the fordings of the rivers, to the forkings of the highways, and to the meetings of the roads.
2 And we sacrifice to the hills that run with torrents, and the lakes that brim with waters! and to the corn that fills the corn-fields; and we sacrifice to both the protector and the Creator, to both Zarathushtra and the Lord.
3 And we sacrifice to both earth and heaven, and to the stormy wind that Mazda made, and to the peak of high Haraiti, and to the land, and all things good.
4 And we worship the Good Mind (in the living) and the spirits of the saints. And we sacrifice to the fish of fifty-fins, and to that sacred beast the Unicorn (?) which stands in Vouru-kasha, and we sacrifice to that sea of Vouru-kasha where he stands,
5 and to the Haoma, golden-flowered, growing on the heights; yea, to the Haoma that restores us, and aids this world's advance. We sacrifice to Haoma that driveth death afar,
Yasna Haptanghaiti (chapters 35-42)
6 and to the flood-streams of the waters, and to the great flights of the birds, and to the approaches of the Fire-priests, as they approach us from afar, and seek to gain the provinces, and spread the ritual lore. And we sacrifice to the Bountiful Immortals all!
Chapter 43
1 To each several man, to whom Mazda Ahura ruling at his will grant after the (petitioner's) will, I will after his will that he attain permanence and power, lay hold of Right grant this, O Piety, - the destined gift of wealth, the life of the Good Thought,
2 and it shall be for him the best of all things. After his longing for bliss may one be given bliss, through the provident most holy spirit, O Mazda, even the blessings of Good Thought which thou wilt give through Right all the days with joy of enduring life.
3 May he attain to that which is better than the good, who would teach us the straight paths of blessedness in this life here of the body and in that of thought - true paths that lead to the world where Ahura Mazda dwells - a faithful man, well-knowing and holy like thee, O Mazda.
4 Then shall I recognize thee as strong and holy, O Mazda, when by the hand in which thou thyself dost hold the destinies that thou wilt assign to the Liar and the Righteous, by the glow of thy Fire whose power is Right, the might of Good Thought shall come to me.
5 As the holy one [spenta] I recognize thee, Mazda Ahura, when I saw thee in the beginning at the birth of Life, when thou madest actions and words to have their meed — evil for the evil, a good destiny for the good — through thy wisdom when creation shall reach its goal.
6 At which goal thou wilt come with thy holy Spirit, O Mazda, with Dominion, at the same with Good Thought, by whose action the settlements will prosper through Right. Their judgments shall Piety proclaim, even those of thy wisdom which none can deceive.
7 As the holy one I recognized thee, Mazda Ahura, when Good Thought came to me and asked me: "Who art thou? to whom dost thou belong? By what signs wilt thou appoint the days for questioning about thy possessions and thyself?"
8 Then I said to him: "To the first (question), Zarathushtra am I, a true foe to the Liar, to the utmost of my power, but a powerful support would I be to the Righteous, that I may attain the future things of the infinite Dominion, according as I praise and sing thee, O Mazda.
9 As the holy one I recognize thee, Mazda Ahura, when Good Thought came to me. To his question, "For which wilt thou decide" (I made reply). "At the gift of adoration to thy Fire, I will bethink me of Right so long as I have power.
10 Then show me Right, upon whom I call. (Mazda:) "Associating him with Piety, I have come hither. Ask us now what things are here for thee to ask. For thy asking is as that of a mighty one, since he that is able should make thee as a mighty one possessed of thy desire."
11 As the holy one I recognized thee, Mazda Ahura, when Good Thought came to me, when first by your words I was instructed. Shall it bring me sorrow among men, my devotion, in doing that which ye tell me is the best.
Historic translation; verify the status and source notes for public redistribution.
Your notes stay in this browser and are not uploaded to the server.