Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn
- Language:
- English
- Translation:
- James Darmesteter
- Status:
- Selection or partial work
- Authorship:
- Anonymous or composite
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text · 3 illegible passages, excluded from answers
- Extent:
- ~110,000 words · 530 passages
Cite this work
- APAAvesta. (n.d.). Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/avesta/the-zend-avesta-part-ii-sirozahs-yasts-nyayis-sbe-vol-xxiii
- MLAAvesta. "Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/avesta/the-zend-avesta-part-ii-sirozahs-yasts-nyayis-sbe-vol-xxiii.
- ChicagoAvesta. Zend-Avesta II: Sīrōzas, Yašts, Nyāyišn. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/avesta/the-zend-avesta-part-ii-sirozahs-yasts-nyayis-sbe-vol-xxiii.
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.
friendly ^, and who is more powerful to destroy than all other creatures^; to the heavenly Wisdom^, made by Mazda ; and to the Wisdom acquired through the ear ^, made by Mazda, 3. Ardibehej-t. To Asha-Vahi^ta, the fairest^; to the muchdesired Airyaman, made by Mazda "^ ; to the instrument made by Mazda ^ ; and to the good Saoka ^ with eyes of love ^°, made by Mazda and holy. ^ Akh^ti does not so much mean Peace as the power that secures peace ; see note 4. ^ Ham-vai«ti, from ham-va (Yt. X, 141); possibly from van, to strike : ' Peace that smites.' * Taradhatem anyaij' daman, interpreted : tarvinitartftm min zaki Sn daman pun anashtih akar kartan (Phi. Comm.), ' more destroying than other creatures, to make Non-peace (Anakhjti) powerless.' ^ Asnya khratu, the inborn intellect, intuition, contrasted with gaosho-sriita khratu, the knowledge acquired by hearing and learning. There is between the two nearly the same relation as between the paravidya and aparavidya in Brahmanism, the former reaching Brahma in se (parabrahma), the latter jabdabrahma, the word-Brahma (Brahma as taught and revealed). The Mobeds of later times interpreted their name Maguj, i^jJ^^, as meaning, ' men without ears,' (_Py\.*, ' pour insinuer que leur Docteur avait puisd toute sa science dans le ciel et qu'il ne I'avait pas apprise par I'ouie comme les autres hommes ' (Chardin, III, 1 30 ; ed. Amsterdam). ' See Yt. III. ' See Vend. XXII. * The 'golden instrument' mentioned in Nyayii- I, 8. ® A personification of the Ormazdean \veal; cf. Vend. XXII, ^° Vouru-doithra, kamak doisr; she is 'the genius of the good SIROZAH I. 5 4. Shahrevar. To Khshathra-vairya; to the metals^; to Mercy and Charity. 5, Sapendarmad. To the good Spe;^ta-Armaiti ^, and to the good Rata ^, with eyes of