^ Dusava/: both the reading and the meaning are doubtful, Mr. West suggests, 'sends to hell' (reading dusanghva/ or duzangha/).
" Doubtful. ' Reading ashava instead of aso ava.
A holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightlyspoken words.
12. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...'I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour ofHaurvata/, the master; of the prosperity of the seasons and of the years, the masters of holiness.
'Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good...' [Give] unto that man ^ brightness and glory,...give him the bright, all happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.'
V. ABAN VAST.
The Aban Ya^t (or Yast of the Waters) is devoted to the great goddess of the waters, the celebrated Ardvi Sura Anahita, the 'AvaiTii of the Greeks. Ardvi Sura Anahita (' the high, powerful, undefiled ') is the heavenly spring from which all waters on the earth flow down; her fountains are on the top of the mythical mountain, the Hukairya, in the star region. Her descent from the heavens is described in §§ 85 seq.; it reminds one of the Indian legend of the celestial Ganga.
This Yaxt contains much valuable information about the historical legends of Iran, as it enumerates the several heroes who worshipped Ardvi Sijra and asked for her help. First of all is Ahura himself (§ 16); then came Haoshyangha (§ 21), Yima (§ 25), A0i Dahaka (§ 29), Thraetaona (§ 33), Keresaspa (§ 37), Franghrasyan (§ 41), Kava Usa (§45), Husravah (§ 49), Tusa (§53), Vaesaka's sons (§ 57), Vafra Navaza (§ 61), G^amaspa (§ 68), Ashavazdah, the son of Pourudhakhjti, and Ashavazdah and Thrita, the sons of Sayuzdri (§ 72), Vistauru (§ 76), Yoijta (§81); the Hvovas and the Naotaras (§ 98), Zarathujtra (§103), Kava Vijtaspa (§ 107), Zairivairi (§ 112), Are^a/-aspa and Vandaremaini This enumeration is interrupted by a description of the descent of Ardvi Sura from the heavens (§§ 85-89), and of certain rules for her sacrifice given by herself to Zarathu^rtra (§§90-97). This interruption may have been intentional, as it takes place just when ^ Who shall have sacrificed to Haurvata/.
ABAN YA5T. 53 ihe course of the enumeration brings us to the times of Zarathujtra and of the institution of the new religion.
The Yajt is opened with a laudation of the benefits bestowed by Ardvi Sura (§§ 1-16), and it closes with a description of her garments and apparel.
The first record of the worship of Ardvi Sura is in a cuneiform inscription by Artaxerxes Mnemon (404-361), in which her name is corrupted into Anahata. Artaxerxes Mnemon appears to have been an eager promoter of her worship, as he is said 'to have first erected the statues of Venus-Anahita ('A(^/)o8it7J9, 'Ai/atViSos) in Babylon, Suza, and Ecbatana, and to have taught her worship to the Persians, the Bactrians, and the people of Damas and Sardes ' (Clemens Alexandrinus, Protrept. 5, on the authority of Berosus; about 260 B.C.). My friend M. Halevy suggests to me that the detailed and circumstantial description of Anahita's appearance and costume (in §§ 1 26-1 31) shows that the writer must have described her from a consecrated type of statuary.
The principal data of the Greek writers on Anahita will be found in Windischmann's Essay (Die persische Anahita oder Anaitis, 1856). One must be cautious in the use of the Greek sources, as the Greeks, with the eclectic turn of their mind, were inclined to confound under the name of Anahita all the great female deities of Asia Minor, and her name became a common appellation for the Aphrodites as well as for the Artemides of the East..
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!...Ashem Vohu: Hohness is the best of all good...I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathujtra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness...Unto the good Waters, made by Mazda; unto the holy water-spring Ardvi Anahita; unto all waters, made by Mazda; unto all plants, made by Mazda \ Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and orlorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...Sirozah I, 10.
I.
1. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathu-S"tra, saying: ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathuj"tra I unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita, the wide-expanding^ and heakh-giving, who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy of sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in the material world; the life-increasing ^ and holy, the herd-increasing and holy, the fold-increasing and holy, the wealth-increasing and holy, the countryincreasing and holy; 2. ' Who makes the seed of all males pure^, who makes the womb of all females pure for bringing forth"*, who makes all females bring forth in safety, who puts milk into the breasts of all females in the right measure and the right quality; 3. ' The large river, known afar, that is as large as the whole of the waters that run along the earth; that runs powerfully from the height Hukairya^ down to the sea Vouru- Kasha ^.
4. ' All the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are ^ 'As she comes down to all places' (Phi. tr. ad Yasna LXV, i ^ Ad hu, translated ^an; 'she makes life longer ' (Aspendiarji). Perhaps adhu will be better translated springs, rivers (reading ^uy instead of^an; cf. Yt. VIII, 29).
^ ' Pure and sound, without blood and filth' (Phi. tr.).
* ' So that it may conceive again ' (Phi. tr.).
^ ' Hugar the lofty is that from which the water of Aredvivsur leaps down the height of a thousand men' (Bundahi^' XII, 5, tr. West); cf. infra, §§ 96, 121, 126; Yt. XIII, 24. The Hukairya is mentioned again § 25 and Yt. IX, 8; Yt. X, 88; Yt. XV, 15; Yt. XVII, 28. It appears to be situated in the west (Bundahii' XXIV, 17; II, 7; Minokhired XLIV, 12).
^ The earth-surrounding Ocean; cf. Vendidad V, 15 (49) seq., text and notes.
A BAN VAST. 55 boiling over, all the middle of it is boiling over, when she runs down there, when she streams down there, she, Ardvi Sura Anahita, who has a thousand cells and a thousand channels ^: the extent of each of those cells, of each of those channels is as much as a man can ride in forty days, riding on a good horse.
5. ' From this river of mine alone flow all the waters that spread all over the seven Karshvares; this river of mine alone goes on bringing waters, both in summer and in winter. This river of mine purifies the seed in males, the womb in females, the milk in females' breasts.
6. ' I, Ahura Mazda, brought it down with mighty vigour, for the increase of the house, of the borough, of the town, of the country, to keep them, to maintain them, to look over them, to keep and maintain them close.
7. ' Then Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! proceeded forth from the Maker Mazda. Beautiful were her white arms, thick as a horse's shoulder or still thicker; beautiful was her...^ and thus came she, strong, with thick arms, thinking thus in her heart: 8. ' " Who will praise me? Who will offer me a sacrifice, with libations cleanly prepared and wellstrained, together with the Haoma and meat? To whom shall I cleave, who cleaves unto me, and thinks with me, and bestows gifts upon me, and is of good will unto me? ^ " 9. ' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her ^ See the description §101 seq.
^ Zaoja or zui'a, an arra^ \ey6yievov, seems to designate a part a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer up unto the holy Ardvi Sura Anahita a good sacrifice with an offering of libations; — thus mayest thou advise us when thou art appealed to! Mayest thou be most fully worshipped, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the words, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words.
'Ye^^he hatam^: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda...lo. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita, the wide-expanding and health-giving, who hates the Da^vas and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy of sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in the material world; the life-increasing and holy, the herd-increasing and holy, the fold-increasing and holy, the wealth-increasing and holy, the country-increasing and holy^; II. 'Who drives forwards on her chariot, holding the reins of the chariot. She goes, driving, on this chariot, longing for men^ and thinking thus in her heart: " Who will praise me? Who will offer me a sacrifice, with libations cleanly prepared and wellstrained, together with the Haoma and meat? To whom shall I cleave, who cleaves unto me, and thinks with me, and bestows gifts upon me, and is of good will unto me?"
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice, worth being heard \...^ As above, p. 30; § 9 is repeated at the end of every chapter.
' Viz. for their worshipping; cf. Yasna XXIII, 2 [5], paitijmarefiti = Phl. humitinit, they hope, they expect. Cf. § 123.
ABAN YA5T. 5/ III.
12. 'Offer up a sacrifice,0 Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sfira Anahita \...13. 'Whom four horses carry, all white, of one and the same colour, of the same blood, tall, crushing down the hates of all haters, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, of the blind and of the deaf-.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...IV.
14. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Siira Anahita...15. ' Strong and bright, tall and beautiful of form, who sends down by day and by night a flow of motherly^ waters as large as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and who runs powerfully*.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...V.
16. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^-tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...1 7. ' To her did the Maker Ahura Mazda offer up a sacrifice^ in the Alryana Vae^ah, by the good river Daitya^; with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the words, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words ^ ' Doubtful; cf. Yt. VIII, 47. " Cf above, § 3.
* Cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 9, 40. This is the heavenly prototype of the Mazdean sacrifice as it was later shown to men by Zarathujtra; cf. § loi.
« Cf. Yt. I, 4 and notes. ' Cf. Yt. Ill, 18.
^ 18. * He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may bring the son of Pourushaspa, the holy Zarathu5tra, to think after my law, to speak after my law, to do after my law! " 19. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and begging that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...VL 20. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra I unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...2 1. 'To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata\ offer up a sacrifice on the enclosure ^ of the Hara^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs.
22. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sfira Anahita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the ^ Haoshyangha was the first king of the Paradhata (Peshdadyan) dynasty (cf, above, p. 7, note 2, and Bundahij XXXI, i). It is related in Firdausi's Shah Namah that he was the grandson of Gayomarth, the first man and king, and the son of Syamak; that his father having been killed by the black Div, he encountered him at the head of an army of lions, tigers, birds, and Paris, and destroyed him; he then succeeded his grandfather, and reigned supreme over the seven Keshvars of the earth.
"^ Doubtful: upabda=upabanda, as thribda (Yt. VIII, 55) = thribanda; it appears from Yt. XV, 7 that the place meant here is the Taera which is said in the Bundahij (V, 7) to be surrounded by the Alborz (the Hara).
^ The Hara berezaiti or Alborz, in Mazandaran, south of the Caspian Sea, was supposed to surround the earth; cf Yt. X, 56.
Yatiis and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the bhnd and the deaf; and that I may smite down two thirds^ of the Daevas of Mazana^ and of the fiends of Varena^" 23. ' Ardvl Sura Anahlta granted him that boon, as he was offering hbations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...VII.
24. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zaralhujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvl Sura Anahita...25. 'To her did Yima Khshaeta'*, the good shepherd, offer up a sacrifice from the height Hukairya•^ with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
26. ' He begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that I may take from the Daevas both ^ A formula frequently used, not only in the Avesta, but also in the Shah Namah.
"^ The Daevas in IMazandaran. Mazandaran was held a place of resort for demons and sorcerers, and was in the Iranian legend nearly the same as Ceylon is in the Ramaya;/a. The Damavand mountain, to which Asi Dahaka was bound, is the southern boundary of Mazandaran.
' See Vend. Introd. IV, 23; cf. this Yajt, § 33.
* Yima Khshaeta ((?emshid), as an earthly king, ruled over the world for a thousand years, while he made immortality reign in it (Yt. IX, 8; XV, 15; cf. Vendidad II, Introd.).
6o YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
riches and welfare, both fatness and flocks, both weal and Glory\" 27. ' Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...28. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...29. * To her did A^-i Dahaka^ the three-mouthed, offer up a sacrifice in the land of Bawri^, with a ^ After his brother Takhma Urupa, who reigned before him, had been killed and devoured by Angra Mainyu (Yt. IV, 11, note).
2 When Yima began to sin and lost the HvsiXtwo (Glory), he was overthrown by Azi Dahaka (Zohak), who seized the power and reigned in his place for a thousand years (cf. Yt. XIX, 33 seq.).
Asi Dahaka, literally 'the fiendish snake,' was first a mythical personage; he was the ' snake ' of the storm-cloud, and a counterpart of the Vedic Ahi or Vr/tra. He appears still in that character in Ya^t XIX seq., where he is described struggling for the HvdiXtnb against Atar (Fire), in the sea Vourukasha (Vendidad, Introd. IV, 38; cf this Ya^t, § 90). His struggle with Yima Khshaeta bore at first the same mythological character, • the shining Yima ' being originally, like the Vedic Yama, a solar hero: when Yima was turned into an earthly king, Kz'x underwent the same fate. In the Shah Namah he is described as a man with two snakes springing from his shoulders: they grew there through a kiss of Ahriman's. For the myths referring to Azi, see Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 91—95.
^ Babylon (cf Yt. XV, 19). The usurper Asi, being a non- Aryan, was identified with the hereditary foe, the Chaldseans: the name of Babylon united in it, at the same time, a dim historical record of the old Assyrian oppression, then shaken off and forgotten, and an actual expression of the national antipathy of the Iranians for their Semitic neighbours in Chalda^a. After the conquest of Persia by the Musulmans, Kzx was turned at last into an Arab. The original seat of the kz\ myths was on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea (Etudes Iraniennes, II, 210).
ABAN YA,ST. 6 I hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs.
30. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may make all the seven Karshvares of the earth empty of men."
31. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant him that boon, although he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating her that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...IX.
32. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto Ardvi Sura Anahita...33. 'To her did Thraetaona^ the heir^ of the valiant Athwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the fourcornered Varena^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
34. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome Asi Dahaka, the threemouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses^, that most powerful, fiendish Dru^, ^ Thraetaona (Feridun), son of Athwya, conquered Azi and bound him to Mount Damavand, where he is to stay till the end of the world, when he shall be let loose and then killed by Keresaspa (Vendidad, Introd. IV, 12, 18; Bahman Ya^t III, 55 seq.; Bund. XXIX, 8 seq.).
^ Vis6-puthra=Pahlavi barbita (see £tudes Iraniennes, II, * Cf. Vend. I, 18 and Introd. IV, 12. Modern tradition supposes Varena to have been the region of Ghilan (very likely on account of its proximity to Mazandaran and Mount Damavand).
62 YASTS AND stROZAHS.
that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Drii^ that Angra Mainyu created against the material world, to destroy the world of the good principle ^; and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghava/^ and Erenavai^ who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful creatures in the worlds" 35. ' Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...X.
36. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! unto Ardvi Sura Anahita...37. 'To her did Keresaspa *, the manly-hearted, offer up a sacrifice behind the Vairi Pisanah ^ with a ^ The two daughters of Yima, who had been ravished by Asi: they are called in the Shah Namah Shahrinaz and Arnavaz (see £tudes Iraniennes, II, 213, Savanghava/i' et Erenava/^). Thraetaona delivered them, and then married them; he had a son, Airyu, from Arnavaz, and two sons from Shahrinaz, Tura and Sairima; Airyu, Tura, and Sairima became the kings of Iran, Turan, and Rum.
3 Cf Yt. IX, 14; XV, 24; XVII, 34.
* Keresaspa (Garshasp), one of the greatest heroes in the Avestean romance, although Firdausi has all but passed him over in silence. See his feats, Yt. XIX, 38 seq.; cf Yt. V, 27 seq.; Yasna IX, 10 (29); Vend. I, 10 (36).
^ The Pi^in valley, south of Cabool. It was in the land of Cabool that the Keresaspa legend had its rise, or at least it was localised there. It is in the plain near the Pi^in valley that Keresaspa lies asleep, till the end of the world comes (see Yt XIII, 61, note).
ABAN VAST. 6^, hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
2)S. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the golden-heeled Ga7zdarewa\ thouo-h all the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over; and that I may run up to the stronghold of the fiend on the wide, round earth, whose ends lie afar."
39. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...^ A Parsi poem, of a very late date, gives further details about Gandarewa. It was a monster who lived ' in the sea, on the mountain, and in the valley/ he was called Pashnah zarah, because the sea did not go above his heel (a misinterpretation of his Avestean epithet zairi pashna, golden-heeled, the Zend zairi being mistaken for the Persian zarah i', sea); his head would rise to the sun and rub the sky; he could swallow up twelve men at once. Keresaspa fought him for nine days and nine nights together; he drew him at last from the bottom of the sea and smashed his head with his club: when he fell on the ground, many. countries were spoiled by his fall (Spiegel, Die traditionnelle Literatur der Parsen, p. 339, and West, Pahlavi Texts, II, pp. 369 seq.).
In the Vedic mythology the Gandharva is the keeper of Soma, and is described now as a god, now as a fiend, according as he is a heavenly Soma-priest or a jealous possessor who grudges it to man. What was the original form of the myth in Mazdeism is not clear. In the Shah Namah he appears as the minister of Azi Dahaka. Cf Yt. XV, 27 seq., and Ormazd et Ahriman, pp. 99, XL 40. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...41. * To her did the Turanian murderer, Frangrasyan^, offer up a sacrifice in his cave under the earth ^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
42. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may seize hold of that Glory "\ that is waving in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha ^ and ^ Frangrasyan (Afrasyab) was king of Turan for two hundred years. The perpetual struggle between Iran and Turan, which lasts to this day, was represented in the legend by the deadly and endless wars between Afrasyab and the Iranian kings from Mino-^ihr down to Kai Khosrav (Kavi Husravah). The chief cause of the feud was the murder of Syavakhsh (Syavarshana) by Afrasyab; Syavakhsh, son of Kai Kaus (Kava Usa), having been exiled by his father, at the instigation of his mother-in-law, took refuge with Afrasyab, who received him with honour, and gave him his daughter in marriage: but the fortune of Syavakhsh raised the jealousy of Afrasyab's brother, Karsivaz (Keresavazda), who by means of calumnious accusations extorted from Afrasyab an order for putting him to death (see Yt. XIX, 77). Syavakhsh was revenged by his son, Kai Khosrav, the grandson of Afrasyab ^ Ha;/kane: Firdausi speaks of a cave on the top of a mountain, near Barda (on the frontier of Adarbai^an), where Afrasyab, when defeated, took refuge, and was discovered by Kai Khosrav; that cave was called 'the cave of Afrasyab' (hang i Afrasiab; Shah Namah, IV, 196). In an older form of the legend, that cave was a palace built under-ground, with walls of iron and a hundred columns: its height was a thousand times a man's size (Aogemaid^, § 61; cf Bund. XII, 20: see Etudes Iraniennes, II, 225, Le Hang d' Afrasyab).
ABAN YAST. 65 that belongs to the Aryan people, to those born and to those not yet born, and to the holy Zarathiutra." • 43. 'Ardvi Sljra Anahita did not grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice..,.
XII.
44. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...45. 'To her did the great, most wise Kavi Usa^ offer up a sacrifice from Mount Erezifya^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
46. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me, this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Andhita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf."
47. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XIIL 48. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...49. 'To her did the gallant Husravah^ he who ' Kavi Usa (Kai Kaus), the son of Kavi Kavata (Kai Kobad) and the father of Syavakhsh (see p. 64, note i), was the second king of the Kayanian dynasty.
^ Mount Erezifya has been supposed to be the same as the Sariphi Monte s in Ptolemaeus, which stretch between Margiana and Ariana (Burnouf, Commentaire sur le Yasna, p. 436).
' Kai Khosrav; cf. p. 64, notes 1 and 2.
united the Aryan nations into one kingdom \ offer up a sacrifice behind the A^ae/^asta lake ^, the deep lake, of salt waters ^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
50. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Siira Anahita! that I may become the sovereign lord of all countries, of Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that I may have the lead in front of all the teams * and that he may not pass through ^ the forest ^, he, the murderer'^, who now is fiercely^ striving against me ^ on horseback ^'^."
51. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XIV.
52. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^-tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...53. 'To her did the valiant warrior Tusa^^ offer ^ Doubtful.
^ A lake in Adarbai^an, with salt water: fish cannot live in it (Bundahii- XXII, 2). It is the same as Lake Urumiah. Its name is miswritten in Firdausi (Khan^ast for ^e^ast, o.»,^s^^ for ^ Doubtful; see Etudes Iraniennes, II, uruyapa, p. 1^9.
* In pursuing his adversary. ^ Doubtful (cf Yt. XV, 32).
* The White Forest (ibid.). '' Aurvasara (ibid.).
* Doubtful. ^ Trying to flee and escape. ^° Possibly, ' vieing in horses ' (for the swiftness of the race): " Tusa, in the Shah Namah Tus; one of the most celebrated Pahlavans of Kai Khosrav; he was the son of king Naotara (Nodar).
ABAN YA^T. d'] worship on the back of his horse \ begging swiftness for his teams, health for his own body, and that he might watch with full success ^ those who hated him, smite down his foes, and destroy at one stroke his adversaries, his enemies, and those who hated him ^ 54. 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the gallant sons of Vaesaka^, by the castle Khshathro-saoka, that stands high up on the lofty, holy Kangha^; that I may smite of the Turanian people their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads."
55. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon *', as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...^ He offers not a full sacrifice, being on horseback.
^ Not to be taken by surprise.
* Vaesaka was the head of the Vis ah family, whose foremost member was Pi ran Visah, the clever and upright minister of Afrasyab, the Turanian Nestor; but his counsels were despised for the common ruin, and himself perished with all his sons in the war against Iran.
^ Kangha was a town founded by Syavarshana, during his exile, in a part of the land of Khvarizm, which is described as an earthly paradise. This city was built on the top of a high mountain (Awtare-Kangha, Yt. XIX, 4). The Khshathro-saoka castle is called in the Shah Namah Kang dez, 'the fortress of Kangha;' and, possibly, Khshathro-saoka is a mere epithet of dvarem, ' the castle of kingly welfare.'
® According to the Shah Namah, Kang dez was stormed by Kai Khosrav himself.
XV.
56. ' Offer up a sacrifice, 0 Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Siira Anahita...57. ' To her did the gallant sons ofVaesaka offer up a sacrifice in the castle Khshathro-saoka, that stands high up on the lofty, holy Kangha, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
58. 'They begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant us this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that we may overcome the valiant warrior Tusa, and that we may smite of the Aryan people their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads \" 59. *Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant them that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XVI.
60. ' Offer up a sacrifice, 0 Spitama Zarathu^tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sfara Anahita...61. 'The old^ Vafra Navaza worshipped her, when the strong fiend-smiter, Thraetaona, flung him up in the air in the shape of a bird, of a vulture ^ ^ Doubtful (pourvo); perhaps 'the man of the primitive faith' (the paoiryo-Zkaesha; cf. Yt. XIII, o, note): the sacrifice he offers is quite a Zoroastrian one (cf. §§ 17, 104, and note 2 to the latter).
' An allusion is made here to a myth, belonging to the Thraetaona cyclus, of which no other trace is found in the Avesta (except in Yt. XXIII, 4). It referred most likely to the time when ABAN YA5T. 69 62. 'He went on flying, for three days and three nights, towards his own house; but he could not, he could not turn down. At the end of the third nio-ht when the beneficent dawn came dawning up, then he prayed unto Ardvi Sura Anahita, saying: 63. ' "Ardvi Sura Anahita! do thou quickly hasten helpfully and bring me assistance at once. I will offer thee a thousand libations, cleanly prepared and well strained, along with Haomas and meat, by the brink of the river Rangha, if I reach alive the earth made by Ahura and my own house."
64. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened unto him in the shape of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tallformed, high-girded, pure, nobly born of a glorious race, wearing shoes up to the ankle, wearing a golden...^, and radiant ^.
65. ' She seized him by the arm: quickly was it done, nor was it long till, speeding, he arrived at the earth made by Mazda and at his own house, safe, unhurt, unwounded, just as he was before.
[66. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, entreating that she would grant him that boon^] 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...Thraetaona, on his march to Bawri, the capital of Asi (cf. § 29), arrived at the Tigris (the Rangha); an angel then came and taught him magic to enable him to baffle the sortileges of Asi (Shah Namah). We have in this passage an instance of his talents as a wizard, and one which helps us to understand why Thraetaona is considered as the inventor of magic, and his name is invoked in spells and incantations (Hamzah Ispahanensis, p. loi; Anquetil, II, pp. 135 seq.). Cf. Yt. XIV, 40 and note.
^ Urvikhi-na, a word of doubtful meaning.
^ This clause is no doubt spurious here.
67. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...68. ' To her did 6^amaspa^ offer up a sacrifice, with a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, when he saw the army of the wicked, of the worshippers of the Daevas, comin<^^ from afar in battle array.
69. 'He asked of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this, O o:ood, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may be as constantly victorious as any one of all the Aryans ^."
70. ' Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...7t. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...72. ' To her did Ashavazdah, the son of Pouru- ^ (ramaspa, the prime minister of Vutaspa (Kai Gmtasp), appears here in the character of a warrior, though generally he is described as a sage and a prophet (Yasna XLIX [XLVIIl], 9; LI [L], 8; Zardmt Namah; yet cf. Yt. XXIII, 2). The Shah Namah has an episode which recalls this one, although very different in its spirit, and more in accordance with the general character of (zamaspa. At the moment when the two armies meet together, Gu^tasp asks G^amasp to reveal to him the issue of the encounter: (?amasp obeys reluctantly, as the issue is to be fatal to the Iranians. G'amasp belonged to the Hvova family.
^ Or, • as all the rest of the Aryans together.'
ABAN YAST. 7 1 dhdkh^ti \ and Ashavazdah and Thrita, the sons of Sayu^'dri^, offer up a sacrifice, with a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, by Apam Napa/, the tall lord, the lord of the females, the bright and swift-horsed \ yT,. 'They begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant us this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi S<ira Anahita! that we may overcome the assemblers of the Turanian Danus ^ Kara Asabana ^ and Vara Asabana, and the most mighty Duraekaeta, in the battles of this world ".
74. * Ardvi Stira Anahita granted them that boon, as they were offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant them that boon.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XIX.
75. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sfira Anahita...76. ' Vistauru, the son of Naotara ^, worshipped ^ Cf Yt. XIII, 112. Ashavazdah, the son of Pourudhakhjti, is one of the immortals who will come forth to help Saoshya«/ in the final struggle (Bundahij XXIX, 6; Yt. XIX, 95).
2 Cf. Yt. XIII, 113. ^ Cf. above, p. 6, note i.
* A Turanian tribe, Yt. XIII, 37-38.
** Asabana is very likely an epithet; possibly, 'who kills with a stone ' (asan-ban); the sling was, as it seems, the favourite weapon of the Danus (Yt. XIII, 38).
* This section is the only fragment left of the legend of Ashavazdah, which must have been an important one, since Ashavazdah is one of the immortals (Yt. XIX, 95).
' Cf. Yt. XIII, 102. Vistauru, being the son of Naotara, is the brother of Tusa, which identifies him with the Gustahm ( ^ a •; ^ r) in the Shah Namah: Nodar had two sons, Tus and Gustahm.
•^2 YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
her by the brink of the river Vitanghuhaiti \ with well-spoken words, speaking thus: ^']. "'This is true, this is truly spoken, that I have smitten as many of the worshippers of the Daevas as the hairs I bear on my head. Do thou then, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! leave me a dry passage, to pass over the good Vitanghuhaiti."
78. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened unto him in the shape of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tallformed, high-girded, pure, nobly born of a glorious race, wearing shoes up to the ankle, with all sorts of ornaments and radiant ^. A part of the waters she made stand still, a part of the waters she made flow forward, and she left him a dry passage to pass over the good Vitanghuhaiti ^ [79. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon ^] * For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...XX.
80. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...81. 'To her did Yoina, one of the Fryanas^, ^ A river not mentioned elsewhere.
* Firdausi has no mention of this episode.
* Spurious.