‘ Invoke, O Zarathustra! the powerful Wind, made by Mazda, and Spewta [Armaiti]1, the fair daughter of Ahura Mazda.
14(46). ‘Invoke, O Zarathustra! my Fravashi 2, who am Ahura Mazda, the greatest, the best, the fairest of all beings, the most solid 3, the most intelligent, the best shapen, the highest in holiness, and whose soul is the holy Word 4!
1 Invoke, O Zarathustra! this creation of mine, who am Ahura Mazda.’
15 (50). Zarathmtra took those words from me, (and said): ‘ I invoke the holy creation of Ahura Mazda.
‘I invoke Mithrafi, the lord of wide pastures, a god armed with beautiful weapons, with the most glorious of all weapons, with the most fiend-smiting of all weapons.
‘ I invoke the holy, tail-formed Sraosha G, who wields a club in his hand, to bear upon the heads of the fiends.
16 (54). ‘ I invoke the most glorious holy Word.
‘ I invoke the sovereign Heaven, the boundless Time, and Vayu, whose action is most high.
‘ I invoke the mighty Wind, made by Mazda, and Spe«ta (Armaiti), the fair daughter of Ahura Mazda.
‘ I invoke the good law of Mazda, the fienddestroying law of Zarathiutra.’
1 7 (58). Zarathurtra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘ O Maker of the good world, Ahura*. Mazda! With 1 See Introd. IV, 30. a See Introd. IV, 37.
, See Introd. IV, 5. * Miithra Spewta; see Introd. IV, 40.
* See Introd. IV, 8.
6 See Introd. IV, 31, and cf. Farg. XVIII, 2a seq.
what manner of sacrifice shall I worship, with what manner of sacrifice shall I worship and forward this creation of Ahura Mazda?’
18 (60). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Go, O Spitama Zarathu.ftra! towards that tree1 that is beautiful, high-growing, and mighty amongst the high-growing trees, and say thou these words: “ Hail to thee! O good, holy tree, made by Mazda! Ashem vohu2!”
19 (63). ‘ Let the faithful man cut off a twig of baresma, long as a ploughshare, thick as a barleycorn 3. The faithful one, holding it in his left hand, shall not leave off keeping his eyes upon it 4 *, whilst he is offering up the sacrifice to Ahura Mazda and to the Amesha-Spe;ztas, and to the high and beautiful golden Haomas, and to Vohu-man6r’ and to the good RAta 6 7 8, made by Mazda, holy and excellent V 20(67). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘O thou, all-knowing Ahura Mazda! thou art never asleep, never intoxicated, thou Ahura Mazda! Vohu-mano * gets directly defiled: Vohu-mano gets indirectly de- 1 The tree, whatever it is, from which the baresma is taken.
4 The Parsis arc recommended to keep their eyes on the baresma during the sacrifice: 4 A man is offering the Darun, he has said all the required Avesta, but he has not looked at the baresma: what is the rule? It would have been better if he had looked at it: however he may proceed to the meal ’ (Old Rav. 97 b).
• See Introd. IV,?. 0 See Inlrod. IV, 30.
7 Doubtful. Possibly, ‘While he is offering up the high and beautiful Haomas, and Vohu-man6 (good thoughts) and the good R$ta (sacrificial presents).’
8 Vohu-mand is often used as a designation of the faithful one, literally, ‘the good-minded;’* this is the meaning which is given to it in this passage by the Commentary, and it certainly belongs filed; the Daevas defile him from the bodies smitten by the Daevas 1: let Vohu-man6 be made clean.’
21(70). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Thou shalt take some gomez from a bull ungelded and such as the law requires it2; thou shalt take the man who is to be cleansed 3 to the field made by Ahura 4, and the man that is to cleanse him shall draw the furrows ®.
22 (73). ‘He shall recite a hundred Ashem vohu: “Holiness is the best of all good. Happy, happy the man who is holy with perfect holiness! ” ‘He shall chant two hundred Ahuna-Vairya: “ The will of the Lord is the law of holiness; the riches of Vohu-man6 shall be given to him who works in this world for Mazda, and wields according to the will of Ahura the power he gave to him to relieve the poor.”
‘He shall wash Vohu-mano four times with the gomez from the ox, and twice with the water made by Mazda ".
to it in the second part of § 25; but in the first part of the same clause it is translated ‘clothes,’ a meaning which is not unlikely in itself, as Vohu-mano, being the Amshaspand of cattle, may designate, and in fact did designate, the skins of cattle and leather (Comm, ad Farg. XVIII, 2). On the whole the description in the text applies to the cleansing both of the man and of the clothes, and Vohu-man6 sometimes means the one, and sometimes the other.
1 From dead bodies.
2 The so-called VarasiS; ‘it must be of a white colour; if a single hair on its body be found other than white, the animal is rejected as unfit for the purpose ' (Sorabji Kavasji Khamb&ta, in the Indian Antiquary, VII, 180).
3 Or better, ‘ the things that are to be cleansed.’
4 The place of the cleansing, the Barashnflm-gah (see Farg.
* See Farg. IX, 10.
* This can hardly refer to the cleansing of the man, as the man 23 (76). ‘ Thus Vohu-mano shall be made clean, and clean shall be the man. Then he shall take up Vohu-mano1 with his left arm and his right, with his right arm and his left: and thou shalt lay down Vohu-mand under the mighty structure of the bright heavens, by the light of the stars made by the gods, until nine nights have passed away 2.
24 (80). ‘ When nine nights have passed away, thou shalt bring libations unto the fire, thou shalt bring hard wood unto the fire, thou shalt bring incense of Vohu-gaona unto the fire, and thou shalt perfume Vohu-mano therewith.
25 (82). ‘ Thus shall Vohu-mano become clean, thus shall the man be clean3: he shall take up Vohu-mano with the right arm and the left, with the left arm and the right, and Vohu-mano * shall say aloud: “ Glory be to Ahura Mazda! Glory be to the Amesha-Spewtas! Glory be to all the other holy beings.” ’ 26 (85). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘ O thou all-knowing Ahura Mazda: Should I urge upon the godly man, should I urge upon the godly woman, should I urge upon the wicked Daevaworshipper who lives in sin, that they have once to leave behind them the earth made by Ahura, ought to be washed six times with g6mcz and three times with water (see Farg. VIII, 37 seq.; IX, 28 seq.)
1 ‘ The clothes ’ (Comm.)
a The clothes of tile unclean shall be exposed to the air for nine nights, all the time while he himself is confined in the Arm&rt-gfih. The rules for the cleansing of clothes that have been worn by the dead himself are different (see Farg. VII, 12 seq.)
3 ‘ Thus Vohu-man6 shall be clean — the clothes; thustheman shall be clean — he who wears those clothes’ (Comm.)
4 The faithful one.
that they have to leave the water that runs, the corn that grows, and all the rest of their wealth 1?’
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Thou shouldst, O holy Zarathuitra.’
27 (89). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Where are the rewards given? Where does the rewarding take place? Where is the rewarding fulfilled? Whereto do men come to take the reward that, in their life in the material world, they have won for their souls?
28 (90). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ When the man is dead, when his time is over, then the hellish, evil-doing Daevas assail him; and when the third night is gone, when the dawn appears and brightens up, and makes Mithra, the god with beautiful weapons, reach the all-happy mountains, and the sun is rising: 29 (94). ‘ Then the fiend, named Vlzaresha, carries off in bonds 2 the souls of the wicked Daeva-worshippers who live in sin. The soul enters the way made by Time, and open both to the wicked and to the righteous. At the head of the Khwad bridge, the holy bridge made by Mazda 3, they ask for their spirits and souls the 1 ‘Linquenda tellus, et domus ct placens Uxor, nec harum, quas colis arborum...'
The translation is doubtful in its details; yet there is little doubt that the sentence refers to future life (cf. § 27). Aspendiarji translates, ‘ Shall the godly man...arise (from tlje dead)...? ’ which seems to be the meaning of the Pahlavi Commentary too.
* ‘ Every one has a noose cast around his neck: when a man dies, if he has been a righteous man, the noose falls from his neck; if a wicked, they drag him with that noose down into hell' (Comm.; cf. Farg. V, 8, add Introd. IV, 26).
* The JPlnvarf bridge extends over hell and leads to paradise: for the souls of the righteous it widens to the length of nine javelins; reward for the worldly goods which they gave away here below1.
30 (98). 4 Then comes the well-shapen, strong and tail-formed maid 2, with the dogs at her sides one who can distinguish 4, who is graceful 5, who does what she wants, and is of high understanding.
4 She makes the soul of the righteous one go up above the Hara-berezaiti above the K'mv&d bridge she places it in the presence of the heavenly gods themselves.
31 (102). ‘Up rises Vohu-mano7 from his golden seat; Vohu-mano exclaims: 44 How hast thou come to us, thou holy one, from that decaying world into this undecaying one 8? ” for the souls of the wicked it narrows to a thread, and they fall down into hell (cf. Ar</a VirafV, i). This bridge is known in many mythologies; it is the Sirath bridge of the Musulmans; not long ago they sang in Yorkshire of ‘ the Brig o’ Dread, na brader than a thread' (Thoms, Anecdotes, 89), and even nowadays the peasant in Nifcvre tells of a little board — 4 Pas pu longue, pas pu large Qu'un ch’veu de la Sainte Viargc/ which was put by Saint Jean d’Archange between the earth and paradise: ‘Ceux qu'saront la raison (=l'oraison?) d’Dieu Par dessus passeront.
Ceux qu’la sauront pas Au bout mourront.’ (Mdlusine, p. 70.)
1 Cf. Farg. Ill, 34,.35; XVIII, 33 seq.
2 The soul of the dead, on the fourth day, finds itself in the presence of a maid, of divine beauty or fiendish ugliness, according as he himself was gofcd or bad, and she leads him into heaven or hell: this maid is his own conscience ( Yasht XXII).
8 The dogs that keep the ATinva^/ bridge (see Farg. XIII, 9).
4 The good from the wicked. 6 Doubtful.
6 The heavenly mountain, whence the sun rises, and upon which the abode of the gods rests. * 7 The door-keeper of paradise; a Zoroastrian Saint-Pierre.
32 (105). ‘ Gladly pass the souls of the righteous to the golden seat of Ahura Mazda, to the golden seat of the Amesha-Spewtas, to the Garo-nm&nem l, the abode of Ahura Mazda, the abode of the Amesha-Spetttas, the abode of all the other holy beings.
33 (108). ‘As to the godly man that has been cleansed 2, the wicked evil-doing Daevas tremble at the perfume of his soul after death, as a sheep does on which a wolf is falling 3.
34 (x 10). ‘The souls of the righteous are gathered together there: Nairyo-sangha4 is with them; a friend of Ahura Mazda is Nairyo-sangha.
‘ Do thou thyself invoke, O Zarathiutra! this world of Ahura Mazda.’
35 (1 14). Zarath lustra took those words from Ahura Mazda: ‘ I invoke the holy world, made by Ahura Mazda.
‘ I invoke the earth made by Ahura, the water made by Mazda, the holy trees.
‘ I invoke the sea Vouru-kasha®.
‘ I invoke the shining sky.
‘ I invoke the eternal and sovereign luminous space #.
1 The Garothmdn of the Parsis; literally, ‘the house of songs.’
s That has performed the BarashnQm.
3 Ormazd is all perfume, Ahriman is infection and stench (Bundahir I; Eznig, Rcfutatio Haeresiarum II); 'the souls of their followers partake of the same qualities, and by the performance of the BarashnQm both the body and the soul are perfumed and sweetened.
4 The messenger of Ahura Mazda (cf. Farg. XXII, 7).
3 See Introd. IV, 1 r.
* See Introd. IV, 42.
36 (120). 1 1 invoke the bright, all glorious, blissful abode of the holy ones.
‘ I invoke the Gar6-nmdnem, the abode of Ahura Mazda, the abode of the Amesha-Spewtas, the abode of all the other holy beings.
‘ I invoke the sovereign place of eternal weal \ and the K'mva.d bridge made by Mazda.
37 (123). ‘I invoke the good Saoka2, whose looks go far and wide.
‘ I invoke the mighty Fravashis3 of the righteous.
‘ I invoke the whole creation of weal.
‘I invoke Vercthraghna4 * 6, made by Ahura, who wears the glory made by Mazda *.
‘ I invoke Tistrya 8, the bright and glorious star, in the shape of a golden-horned bull.
38 (127). ‘I invoke the holy, beneficent Gdthas 7, who rule over the rat 11s3: ‘ I invoke the Ahunavaiti Gdtha; ‘ I invoke the Ustavaiti Gdtha; ‘ I invoke the Spewta-mainyu Gdtha; ‘ I invoke the Vohu-khshathra Gdtha; 1 Misvana gatva, another name of the heavenly spaces.; it designates heaven as the abode and source of all blessings, of all savah, or saoka.
2 A personification of the Ormazdean weal.
3 See Introd. IV, 37.
4 See Introd. IV, 14, and Yasht XIV.
6 The ^z»areno or light of sovereignty (Introd. IV, n).
6 See Introd. IV, 13, and Yasht VIII.
7 The five collections of hymns which form the oldest and holiest part of the Yasna and of the Avesta (Yasna XXVIII-XXXIV; XLIII-XLVI; XLVII-L; LI; L1II); they are named after their first words.
8 The chiefs of creation (Introd. IV, 35); ‘they rule over the ratus insomuch as it is \>y their means that other beings are invoked ' (Comm.)
‘ I invoke the Vahi.yt6i.fti Githa.
39(129). ‘I invoke the Karshvares of Arzahe and Savahe; ‘ I invoke the Karshvares of Fradadhafshu and Vidadhafshu; ‘ I invoke the Karshvares of Vourubaresti and Vouruzare.fti; ‘ I invoke the bright Hv aniratha 1; ‘ I invoke the bright, glorious Haetumawt2; ‘ I invoke the good Ashi 3; ‘ I invoke the most right Avista,r>; ‘ I invoke the glory of the Aryan regions0; ‘ I invoke the glory of the bright Yima, the great shepherd 7.
40(133). ‘Let him be worshipped with sacrifice, let him be gladdened, gratified, and satisfied, the holy Sraosha, the tail-formed, fiend-smiting, holy Sraosha *.
‘ Bring libations unto the Fire, bring hard wood unto the Fire, bring incense of Vohu-gaona unto the Fire.
’ Offer up the sacrifice to the Vazi-fta fire, which 1 See Introd. IV, 7. 2 See Farg. I, 14.
3 See Introd. IV, 30.
1 An angel of knowledge; the clause is found only in the Vendidad Sadah.
5 Religious knowledge.
8 The light of sovereignty, ^areno, whidii if secured by the Aryans makes them rule over their enemies (cf. Introd. IV, n).
7 See Introd. IV, 18, and Farg. II.
8 This praise of Sraosha was probably introduced here with reference to the jgreat part he plays in the fate of the soul after death, and to the performance of the sadis ritual (see above, smites the fiend Spen^aghra 1: bring unto it the cooked meat and the offerings of boiling milk 2.
41 (1 37)- ‘Offer up the sacrifice to the holy Sraosha, that the holy Sraosha may smite down the fiend Kuwda3, who is drunken without drinking. He will fall upon the men of the Dru^, the slothful ones 4 * * 7, the wicked Daeva-worshippers, who live in sin.
[42s. ‘ I invoke the Kara fish0, who lives beneath waters in the bottom of the deep lakes.
‘ I invoke the ancient and sovereign Merezu the greatest seat of battle in the creation of the two spirits 8.
‘ I invoke the seven bright Sravah 9 with their sons and their flocks.
III.
43. ‘ They run about to and fro, their minds waver to and fro10, Angra Mainyu the deadly, the 1 Seelntrod. IV, 13. a Doubtful.
3 The same as Ku«di; see Farg. XI, 9.
4 Those who neglect their religious duties. The translation is doubtful.
8 From the Vcndfdad Sadah, The clause may have belonged to the original text; it is preceded by another clause which certainly did not belong to it, and part of which is cited in the Commentary ad Farg. VIII, 103, where it would have been more suitably placed: ‘ When he has been cleansed in the next inhabited place, he may then sow and till the pasture fields, as food for the sheep and as food for the ox.’
7 According to Professor Justi, ‘the milky way’ (Handbuch der Zendsprache s. v.), an Iranian representative of the Eddie liifrost. There is much probability in that translation.
8 Doubtful., 9 A word of unknown meaning.
10 Up and down, in hope and despair.
Daeva of the Daevas; I«dra the Daeva, Sduru the Daeva, Nawnghaithya the Daeva, Taurvi and Zairi1, Aeshma of the wounding spear2 3, Akatasha the Daeva ', Zaurva4 * *, baneful to the fathers, Btaiti the Daeva °, Driwi 8 the Daeva, Daiwi 7 the Daeva, Kasvi 8 the Daeva, Paitisha 0 the most Daeva-like amongst the Da&vas.]
44 (140). ‘And he said, the guileful, the evildoing Daeva, Angra Mainyu the deadly: “What! let the wicked, evil-doing Daevas gather together at the head of Arezhra10.”
45 ( 1 4 1 ). ‘ They rush, they run away, the wicked, evil-doing Da&vas; they run away with shouts, the wicked, evil-doing Daevas; they run away casting the evil eye, the wicked, evil-doing Daevas: “ Let us gather together at the head of Arezura!
46 (143). ‘ “ For he is just born the holy Zarathurtra, in the house of Pourushaspa. How can we procure his death? He is the stroke that fells the fiends: he is a counter-fiend to the fiends; he is a Druf to the Driyf. Down are the Daeva-worshippers, the Nasu made by the Daeva, the falsespeaking Lie!”
47 (147). ‘They run away, they rush away, the wicked, evil-doing Daevas, into the depths of the dark, horrid world of hell.
1 See Introd. IV, 34. 2 Seelntrod. IV, 22.
3 Poverty; see above, Farg. II, 29.
1 Lying; see above, Farg. II, 29.
8 Meanness; see above, Farg. II, 29.
of Ahriman and of his marring power.
10 At the gate of hell; see above, p. 24, n. r.
FARGARD XX.
‘Ashem vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.’
Fargard XX.
Thrita, the First Healer.
Thrita was the first who drove back death and disease, as Ahura Mazda had brought to him down from heaven ten thousand healing plants that had been growing up around the tree of eternal life, the white Hum or Gaokerena.
This Thrita is mentioned only once again in the Avesta, in Yasna IX, 7, where he appears to have been one of the first priests of Haoma. This accounts for his medical skill; as Haoma is a source of life and health, his first priests must have been the first healers.
Thrita was originally the same as Thra&aona1. On one hand, wc see that in the Rig-veda the great feat of Thraetaona is ascribed to Trita as well as to Traitana, and Trita Aptya, ‘the son of the waters/ was as well the celestial priest who pours Haoma into rain as the celestial hero who kills the snake in storms. On the other hand, we see that Thraetaona fulfilled the same functions as Thrita: according to Hamza he was the inventor of medicine 2 3; the Tavids8 against sickness are inscribed with his name, and we find in the Avesta itself the Fravashi of Thraetaona invoked ‘ against itch, hot fever, humours, cold fever4 * 6 *, vavareshi, against the plagues created by the serpent V We see from this passage that disease was understood as corning from the serpent; in other words, that it was considered a sort of poisoning fi, and this is the reason why the 1 See Introd. IV, 14.
2 Ed. Gottwaldt, p. 23; cf. Mirkhond, Early Kings of Persia, 3 Formules of exorcism.
fi Yasht XIII, 131.
6 This theory, which modern science would not utterly reject, accounts for the great part.which the serpent plgys in the worship of Asklepios; as sickness comes from him, from him too must or may come the healing.
VENDlDAD.
killer of the serpent was invoked to act against it. Thus Thrita-Thraetaona had a double right to the title of the first of the healers, both as a priest of Haoma and as the conqueror of the serpent1.
i. Zarathiutra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘ Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who was he who first of the healthful2, the wise, the happy, the wealthy, the glorious, the strong men of yore 3, drove back sickness to sickness, drove back death to death 4 *, and first turned away the point of the poniard and the fire of fever from the bodies of mortals.’
2(ir). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Thrita it was who first of the healthful, the wise, the happy, the wealthy, the glorious, the strong man of yore, drove back sickness to sickness, drove back death to death, and first turned away the point of the poniard and the fire of fever from the bodies of mortals.
3 (12). ‘ He asked for a source of remedies6; he obtained it from Khshathra -Vairya B, to withstand sickness and to withstand death, to withstand pain and fever, to withstand the disease 7, rottenness and 1 It seems as if in the Vedas, too, Trita had been a healing god 3 Whom no weapon could wound, like Isfendiar (Comm.)
3 Or better, Paradhata (or Peshdad), 1 the kings of yore,’ which became the name of the first Iranian dynasty.
4 ‘ That is to say, wIjo kept sickness in bonds, who kept death in bonds ’ (Comm.)
* Doubtful. 4 “ As Khshathra -Vairya presides over metals, it was a knife he received, ‘ of which the point and the base were set in gold.’ He was therefore the first who healed with the knife (cf. Farg.VII, 44); and it appears frqm § 4 that he was aljo the first who healed with herbs. As for the healing with the holy word, sec Farg. XXII.
1 Doubtful.
FARGARD XX.
infection which Angra Mainyu had created by his witchcraft against the bodies of mortals1.
4 (15). ‘And I Ahura Mazda brought down the healing plants that, by many hundreds, by many thousands, by many myriads, grow up all around the one Gaokerena'2.
5 (18). ‘All this (health) do we call by our blessing-spells, by our prayers, by our praises, upon the bodies of mortals3.
7(i9)4. ‘To thee, O Sickness, I say avaunt! to thee, O Death, I say avaunt! to thee, O Pain, I say avaunt! to thee, O Fever, I say avaunt! to thee, O Disease, I say avaunt 8!
1 The Vcndidad Sadah has here eight names of diseases: to withstand Sarana (head-ache), to withstand Sarastya (cold fever), to withstand Azana, to withstand A saliva, to withstand Kurugha, to withstand Azi vSka, to withstand Duruka, and to withstand Astairya.
s The white Horn, which is the king of healing plants (see Introd. IV, 28). The healing plants are said to have been created ten thousand in number, in order to oppose so many diseases that had been created by Ahriman (Bundahi.r IX; cf. Farg. XXII, 2). In India also, healing plants are said to have Soma for their king, and to have come down from heaven: ‘ Whilst coming down from heaven, the plants said: lie will never suffer any wound, the mortal whom we touch’ (Rig-veda X, 97, 17; cf. HaurvatiV et Amcrcta/, 3 Or possibly, All those (plants) do we bless, all those (plants) do we pray, all those (plants) do we praise, for (the weal of) the bodies of mortals.
4 Vendidad S&dah: 6. To withstand sickness, to withstand death, to withstand pain, to withstand fever, to withstand SArana, to withstand Sarastya, to withstand Azana, to withstand Azahva, to withstand Kurugha, to withstand Azivaka, to withstand Duruka, to withstand Astairya, to withstand the disease, rottenness, and infection which Angra Mainyu fcas created by his wi^fheraft against the bodies of mortals.
6 Vendid&d Sadah: To thee, 0 Sarana, I say avaunt! to thee, vend!dAd.
8(21). ‘By their might may we smite down the Dru^! By their might may we smite the Dru^! May they give to us strength and power, O Ahura 1!
9 2 (23). ‘I drive away sickness, I drive away death, I drive away pain and fever3, I drive away the disease, rottenness, and infection which Angra Mainyu has created by his witchcraft against the bodies of mortals.
10 (25). ‘I drive away all manner of diseases and deaths, all the Y&tus and Pairikas4, and all the wicked Cainis6.
1 1 (26). ‘ May the much-desired Airyaman6 come here, for the men and women of Zaratlnutra to rejoice, for the faithful to rejoice; with the desirable reward that is won by means of the law, and with that boon for holiness that is vouchsafed by Ahura!
O S&rastya, I say avaunt! to thee, O Azana, I say avaunt! to thee, 0 Azahva, I say avaunt! to thee, 0 Kurugha, I say avaunt! to thee, O Azivaka, I say avaunt! to thee, O Duruka, I say avaunt! to thee, O A stair y a, I say avaunt!
1 This clause is borrowed, with some alteration, from Yasna XXXI, 4; the original text is, ‘ May the strong power come to me, by the might of which we may smite down the Dru^! ' 2 The Vendidad Sadah has, ‘I drive away I shire, I drive away AghfiirS, I drive away Aghra, I drive away Ughra.* 3 The Vendidad Sadah has, ‘ I drive away Sarana, I drive away Sarastya, I drive away Azana, I drive away Azahva, I drive away Kurugha, I drive away Azivaka, I drive away Duruka, I drive away Astairya/ 4 See Introd. IV, 20-21.
5 ‘ Gai ' (Comm.), that is Gahi (see Introd. IV, 5); cf. p. 89, note 1, and Farg. XXII, 2, note.
8 Or better, ‘ Afryaman, the bestower of good.* On Airyaman, see Farg. XXII. Clauses 11-12 are borrowed from Yasna LIV, 1, and form the prayer known as Airyama-ishyfi.
FARGARD XXI.
all manner of diseases and deaths, all the Y&tus and Pairikas, and all the wicked Gainis.’
[13. Yath£ ahft vairy6: — the will of the Lord is the law of holiness; the riches of Vohu-mand shall be given to him who works in this world for Mazda, and wields according to the will of Ahura the power he gave to him to relieve the poor.
K*m n& mazdi: — whom hast thou placed to protect me, O Mazda! while the hate of the fiend is grasping me? Whom but thy Atar and Vohumand, by whose work the holy world goes on? Reveal to me the rules of thy law!
Ke verethrem g&: — who is he who will smite the fiend in order to maintain thy ordinances? Teach me clearly thy rules for this world and for the next, that Sraosha may come with Vohu-mano and help whomsoever thou pleasest.
Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Armaiti Spewta! Perish, O fiendish Dru^-! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, O Dru/! Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of the holy spirit!] 1 Fargard XXI.
Waters and Light.
I (1). Praise of tb# holy bull.
II (2-3). Invocation addressed to rain as a healing power.
III a (4-7). Joint invocation addressed to the waters and to the light of the sun.
Ill b (8-1 1 ). Joint invocation addressed to the waters and to the light of the moon. • % 1 From the Vendidad Sadah.
IIIc (12-17). Joint invocation addressed to the waters and to the light of the stars.
IV (18-21). Spells against disease.
I.
1. Hail, holy bull 1! Hail to thee, beneficent bull! Hail to thee, who makest increase! Hail to thee, who makest growth! Hail to thee, who dost bestow thy gifts upon the excellent faithful, and who wilt bestow them on the faithful yet unborn! Hail to thee, whom the Cahi kills2, and the ungodly Ashemaogha, and the wicked tyrant.
II.
2 (3). ‘ Come, come on, O clouds, along the sky, through the air, down on the earth, by thousands of drops, by myriads of drops: ’ thus say, O holy Zarathmtra! ‘ to destroy sickness altogether, to destroy death altogether, to destroy altogether the sickness made by the 6*aini 3, to destroy altogether the death made by the Gaini, to destroy altogether Gadha and Apagadha 4.
3 (9). ‘If death come at eve, may healing come at daybreak!
‘ If death come at daybreak, may healing come at night!
1 The primeval bull who was created by Ormazd and killed by Ahriman with the help of the (?ahi. The praise of the holy bull serves as an introduction to the praise of the waters. There were old myths in which a cloud was compared to a bull in the atmosphere, from whom rain was supposed to conie. (See Orm. Ahr. §122 seq.; cf. Introd.V, si Clause 1 is to be recited when one meets an ox or any kind of cattle, Gr. Rav. 386.)
* Possibly, ‘ who dost kill the 6-ahi 1 (by means of gfimez).
3 The Gahi (sqe Farg. XX, 10) as.bringing sickness (cf. Farg.
4 Names of diseases.
FARGARD XXI.
' If death come at night, may healing come at dawn!
‘ Let showers shower down new waters, new earth, new trees, new health, and new healing powers.
Ill a.
4 (15). ‘As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters \ rise up, go up the aerial way and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way2. Rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the aerial way 5(20). ‘Up! rise up and roll along! thou swifthorsed sun, above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and mayst thou [O man!] rise up there, if thou art to abide in Gar6-nmdncnr’)r', along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened.
J Waters and light are believed to flow from the same spring and in the same bed: ‘ As light rises up from llara Berezaiti [Alborz, the mountain by which the earth is surrounded], so waters spring up from it and come back to it’ (Bund. XX); every day the sun, moon, and stars rise up from Alborz, and every day all die waters on the earth come back together to the sea Vouru-kasha, and there collected come down again to the earth from the peaks of Alborz (Bund. VII, Gr. Rav. 431; cf. Farg. V, 15 seq.) As light comes from three different sources, the sun, the moon, and the stars, the waters are invoked three times, first in company with the sun, then with the moon, lastly with the stars, as if there should be three different movements of the rain connected with the three movements of light.
2 Waters come down from the sky to the earth and come up back from the earth to the sky (see Farg. V, 15 seq.)
3 Doubtful.. • 4 * If thou art a righteous man ’ (Comm.)
6 The translation of this clause is doubtful.
6(23). ‘And thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy spell 1: Of thee [O child!] I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee [O woman!] I will make the body and the strength pure; I make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk; 7 (27). ‘A woman 2 3 rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.
Ill b.
8 (30). ‘As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, rise up, go up the aerial way, and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the earth \ 9 (31). ‘Up! rise up, thou moon, that dost keep in thee the seed of the bull4, rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and mayst thou [O man!] rise up there, if thou art to 1 Doubtful; the text is corrupt. The spell refers to the cleansing and generative power of the waters; cf. the invocation to Ardvi SGra, Farg. VII, 16: the waters are supposed to make females fertile as they make the earth. This spell was probably pronounced to facilitate childbirth.
2 Or better, ‘ a female there are, in the text, two words for ‘ milk,’ the one referring to the milk of women, the other to the milk of cows.
3 Doubtful.
4 When the bull died, ‘ what was bright and strong in his seed was brought to the sphere of the moon, and when it was cleansed there in the ligljt of the astre, two creatures were shaped with it, a male and a fesiale, from which came two hundred and seventytwo kinds of animals' (Bund. IV, X; cf. Orm. Ahr. §§ 125 and FARGARD XXI.
abide in Garo-nm&nem), along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the. watery way they opened.
10(32). ‘And thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy spell: Of thee [O child!] I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee [O woman!] I will make the body and the strength pure; I make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk; 11 (32). ‘A woman rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.
Ill c.
12 (32). ‘As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, rise up, go up the aerial way, and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made everything grow1.
13 (33)* ‘Up! rise up, ye stars, that have in you the seed of waters z, rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and mayst thou [O man!] rise up there, if thou art to abide in Gardnmdnem), along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened.
14 (34). ‘And thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy spell: ©f thee [O child!] I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee [O woman!] I will make 1 Doubtful.
* When Tijtrya,»the storm god who gives raifc, became a star (see Introd. IV, 36), it was thought that there was a relation between the stars and rain.
the body and the strength pure; I make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk; 15 (34). ‘A woman rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.
16 (34). ‘As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, rise up and gather together, go up the aerial way and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Rise up and roll along!
1 7 (35). ‘Up! rise up! away will the Ka/wu/i 1 fly and cry, away will Ayehi 2 fly and cry, away will the Gahi, who is addicted to the Yatti, fly and cry.
IV.
[18. ‘I drive away Ishire, I drive away Aghtiire, I drive away Aghra, I drive away Ughra; I drive away sickness, I drive away death, I drive away pain and fever; I drive away Sarana, I drive away Sarasti, I drive away Asana, I drive away A^ahva, 1 drive away Kurugha, I drive away Asivaka, I drive away Duruka, I drive away Astairya; I drive away the disease, rottenness, and infection which Angra Mainyu has created by his witchcraft against the bodies of mortals.
19. ‘I drive away all manner of diseases and deaths, all the Y&tus and Pairikas, and all the wicked Gainis.
20. ‘ May the much-desired Airyaman come here, for the men and women of Zarathustra to rejoice, for the faithful to rejoice; with the desirable reward 1 * He who diminishes light, Ahriman ' (Comm.)
2 ‘ Sterility, Ahriman ’ (Comm.)
FARGARD XXII.
that is won by means of the law, and with that boon for holiness that is vouchsafed by Ahura!
21. ‘May the much-desired Airyaman smite all manner of diseases and deaths, all the Ydtus and Pairikas, and all the wicked <7ainis.
22. ‘Yathd ahti vairyo: — the will of the ‘ K*m na mazda: — whom hast thou placed to protect me...1?
‘ Ke verethrem: — who is he who will smite 23. ‘ Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Armaiti Spe/rta! Perish, O fiendish Dr 11^! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, 0 Dru^! Perish, away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of the holy spirit! ’ Fargard XXII.
Angra Mainyu creates 99,999 diseases: Ahura Mazda applies for healing to the holy word and to Airyaman.
Airyaman is an old Indo-Iranian god: in the Rig-veda he is an Adilya (Aryaman), who is seldom invoked alone, but nearly always in company with Mitra and Varuwa. IJis name, like Mitra's, means, ‘ the friend/ and, like Mitra, he is the god of heavenly light, kind, beneficent, and helpful to man.