Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn
- Language:
- English
- Translation:
- James Darmesteter
- Status:
- Selection or partial work
- Authorship:
- Anonymous or composite
- Condition of the text:
- Some scanning errors (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand) · 3 illegible passages, excluded from answers
- Extent:
- ~110,000 words · 530 passages
Cite this work
- APAAvesta. (n.d.). The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Sirozahs, Yasts, Nyayis (SBE vol. XXIII) [Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn] (James Darmesteter, Trans.). Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/avesta/the-zend-avesta-part-ii-sirozahs-yasts-nyayis-sbe-vol-xxiii
- MLAAvesta. The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Sirozahs, Yasts, Nyayis (SBE vol. XXIII) [Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn]. Translated by James Darmesteter. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/avesta/the-zend-avesta-part-ii-sirozahs-yasts-nyayis-sbe-vol-xxiii.
- ChicagoAvesta. The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Sirozahs, Yasts, Nyayis (SBE vol. XXIII) [Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn]. Translated by James Darmesteter. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/avesta/the-zend-avesta-part-ii-sirozahs-yasts-nyayis-sbe-vol-xxiii.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
The second part of the Avesta in the 'Sacred Books of the East': the Yashts, the Sirozahs and the Nyayishes — the hymns to the divinities and the daily prayers.
Context and history
The Yashts are the most literary part of the Avesta and also the part that preserves most material older than Zoroaster: they are hymns to divine figures — Mithra, Anahita, Verethragna, the Fravashis — which Zoroastrianism absorbed rather than suppressed, and they therefore have a double value, religious and mythological. The Yasht of Mithra in particular is a principal source on a god who ended up with a cult of his own throughout the Roman empire. The Nyayishes are prayers to the sun, the moon, the waters and fire; the Sirozahs are invocations for the thirty days of the month. The religious core of the Avesta — the Gathas, of Zoroaster — is in part three. Darmesteter's translation, of 1883.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
We sacrifice unto Rashnu Razii-ta ; we sacrifice unto Ar^-ta/, who makes the world grow, who makes the world increase ; we sacrifice unto the true-spoken speech that makes the world grow. 19. Farvardin. We sacrifice unto the good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the holy ones. 20. Bah ram. We sacrifice unto the well-shapen, tall-formed Strength ; we sacrifice untoVerethraghna, made by Ahura ; we sacrifice unto the crushing Ascendant. We sacrifice unto Rama i/z^astra; we sacrifice unto the holy Vayu ; we sacrifice unto Vayu, who works highly and is more powerful to destroy than all other creatures. Unto that part of thee do we sacrifice, O Vayu, that belongs to Spe;^ta-Mainyu. We sacrifice unto the sovereign Sky ; we sacrifice unto the Boundless Time ; we sacrifice unto the sovereio-n Time of the lono- Period. We sacrifice unto the beneficent, bounteous Wind ; we sacrifice unto the wind that blows below ; we sacrifice unto the wind that blows above ; we sacrifice unto the wind that blows before ; we sacrifice unto the wind that blows behind. We sacrifice unto the manly Courage. 23. Dai pa Din. We sacrifice unto the Maker Ahura Mazda, the bright and glorious ; we sacrifice unto the Amesha- Spe;^tas. We sacrifice unto the most right A'ista, made by Mazda and holy ; we sacrifice unto the good Law of the worshippers of Mazda. We sacrifice unto Ashi Vanguhi, the bright, hieh, strone, tall-formed, and merciful ; we sacrifice unto the Glory made by Mazda ; we sacrifice unto the Weal made by Mazda. We sacrifice unto Pare;^di, of the li^ht chariot; we sacrifice unto the Glory of the Aryas, made by Mazda ; we sacrifice SIROZAH II. 19 unto the awful kingly Glory, made by Mazda ; we sacrifice unto that awful Glory, that cannot be forcibly seized, made by Mazda ; we sacrifice unto the Glory of Zarathu^tra, made by Mazda.…