PREFACE v

Avesta.

The Trustees of the Parsi Punchayat of Bombay therefore took upon themselves to carry out this fundamental duty, and decided to get the Gujarati translation of Khordeh Avesta-Bā-Māyeni of Ervad K. E. Kanga rendered into English. This task they then entrusted to another celebrated scholar of international repute, namely, the late Prof. Ervad Maneck Furdoonji Kanga, who was incidentally a relative of the late Ervad Kavasji Kanga. Prof. M. F. Kanga has written innumerable articles on Iranian subjects for various journals, books, memorial and commemorative volumes throughout the scholarly world.

The terms of reference of this work entrusted to Prof. M. F. Kanga were to carry out a faithful word-by-word translation into English language from the original Gujarati of Ervad K. E. Kanga, and also to include the text in the Roman script, without any alteration. Prof. M. F. Kanga completed the work with meticulous care and brought to bearing on it his vast knowledge and experience. By Divine Grace, Prof. M. F. Kanga not only carried out this work, but also transliterated and translated into English Kavasji Kanga’s two other works, namely, Gātha-Bā-Māyeni and Yasht-Bā-Māyeni before his sad demise in October 1988 at the age of 80 years.

The Trustees of the Parsi Punchayat of Bombay deserve to be complimented for the publication of this work, and it is earnestly hoped that they will also authorise the publication as early as possible, of the two other works, namely, Gātha-Bā-Māyeni and Yasht-Bā-Māyeni, completed by the late Prof. M. F. Kanga, for the benefit of the Parsi Community.

Ervad Dr. Rooyintan Peshotan Peer

Jt. Principal, M. F. Cama Athornan Institute,

Andheri Bombay,

1st January, 1993.

PREFACE TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION

The last edition of this book was published in January 1926. Since then various small Avesta prayer-books were published by cheap-rate dealers. Nevertheless there was a demand as usual for the present edition make by the co-religionists which proves still the high degree of their zeal and devotion for the recital of Avesta prayers in correct orthography and for understanding the sense thereof.

There may be numerous editions of prayer-books with incorrect pronunciations prevalent among the Parsees, yet the demand for Ervad Kavasji Kanga’s publications with correct pronunciation has remained constant, inas-