^ This legend is fully told in the Pahlavi tale of Gojti Fryan (edited and translated by West): a sorcerer, named Akht, comes with an immense army to the city of the enigma-expounders, threatening to make it a beaten track for elephants, if his enigmas are not solved. A Mazdayasnian, named Gojti FrySn, guesses the ABAN YA^T. J^ offer up a sacrifice with a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs on the P^dvaepa^ of the Rangha.
82. * He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the evil-doing Akhtya, the offspring of darkness, and that I may answer the ninety-nine hard riddles that he asks me maliciously, the evil-doing Akhtya, the offspring of darkness. " ^T,. '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...XXI.
84. ' Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathu^tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...85. 'Whom Ahura Mazda the merciful ordered thus, saying: " Come, O Ardvi Sura Anahita, come from those stars ^ down to the earth made by Ahura, thirty-three riddles proposed by Akht; then, in his turn, he proposes him three riddles which the sorcerer is unable to guess, and, in the end, he destroys him by the strength of a Nirang. Cf. Yt. XIII, 120. This tale, which belongs to the same widespread cycle as the myth of Oedipus and the Germanic legend of the Wartburg battle, is found in the Zarathujtra legend too (Vendidad XIX, 4).
' Perhaps an affluent of the Rangha (cf Yt. XIII, 1 9, 1 9; X V, 2 7).
^ Between the earth and the region of infinite light there are three intermediate regions, the star region, the moon region, and the sun region. The star region is the nearest to the earth, and the sun region is the remotest from it. Ardvi Sura has her seat in the star region (Yasna LXV [LXIV], i; Phi. tr.); that the great lords may worship thee, the masters of the countries, and their sons.
86. ' " The men of strength^ will beg of thee swift horses and supremacy of Glory.
' " The Athravans who read ^ and the pupils of the Athravans will beg of thee knowledge and prosperity, the Victory made by Ahura, and the crushing Ascendant.
87. '"The maids of barren womb ^ longing for a lord ^ will beg of thee a strong husband; ' "Women, on the point of bringing forth, will beg of thee a good delivery.
' "All this wilt thou grant unto them, as it lies in thy power, O Ardvi Sdra. Anihita \" 88. 'Then Ardvi Siara Anahita came forth, O Zarathu5tra! down from those stars to the earth made by Mazda; and Ardvi Silra Anahita spake thus: 89. '"O pure, holy Zarathu^tra! Ahura Mazda has established thee as the master of the material world: Ahura Mazda has established me to keep the whole of the holy creation.
' " Through my brightness and glory flocks and herds and two-legged men go on, upon the earth: I, forsooth, keep all good things, made by Mazda, the offspring of the holy principle, just as a shepherd keeps his flock.''
90. ' Zarathu^tra asked Ardvi Sura Anahita: " O Ardvi Sura Anahita! With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship thee? With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship and forward thee? So that Mazda may make thee run down (to the earth), that ' The warriors. ^ To teach. ' Doubtful.
ABAN VAST. 75 he may not make thee run up into the heavens, above the sun ^; and that the Serpent ^ may not injure thee with...^ with...■*, with...^ and...poisons*'."
91. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita answered: "O pure, holy Spitama! this is the sacrifice wherewith thou shalt worship me, this is the sacrifice wherewith thou shalt worship and forward me, from the time when the sun is rising to the time when the sun is setting.
'" Of this libation of mine thou shalt drink, thou A who art an Athravan, who hast asked and learnt the revealed law, who art wise, clever, and the Word incarnate.
92. ' " Of this libation of mine let no foe drink, no man fever-sick, no liar, no coward, no jealous one, no woman, no faithful one who does not sing the Gathas, no leper to be confined '^.
93. ' " I do not accept those libations that are drunk in my honour by the blind, by the deaf, by the wicked, by the destroyers, by the niggards, by the...^ nor any of those stamped with those characters which have no strength for the holy Word 9.
^ When the beds of the rivers are dry, the cause is that Ardvi Sura sends up her waters to the higher heavens (to the sun region) instead of sending them down to the earth (cf. p. 73, note 2).
^ The serpent, Azi, is here Azi in his original naturalistic character, the storm-fiend (cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 38 and this Yast, § 29, note). The uncleanness and unhealthiness of the rivers are ascribed to his poison.
^ Arethna, an ana^ 'Xtyoufvov. * Vawzaka, idem.
^ Varenva, idem. "^ Varenva poisons.
' Cf. Vend. II, 29. ' «? Ranghaw.
' Which incapacitate one for religious works.
76 YA-STS AND sfROZAHS.
* " Let no one drink of these my libations who is hump-backed or bulged forward; no fiend with decayed teethe" 94. 'Then Zarathui"tra asked Ardvi Sura Anahita: " O Ardvi Sura Anahita! What becomes of those libations which the wicked worshippers of the Daevas bring unto thee after the sun has set^?"
95. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita answered: "O pure, holy Spitama Zarathui^tra! howling, clapping, hopping, and shouting ^ six hundred and a thousand Daevas, who ought not to receive that sacrifice ^ receive those libations ^ that men bring unto me after [the sun has set]^" 96. * I will worship the height Hukairya, of the deep precipices ^, made of gold, wherefrom this mine Ardvi Sura Anahita leaps, from a hundred times the height of a man ^, while she is possessed of as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and she runs powerfully ^.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...97. ' Oflfer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathmtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...98. ' Before whom the worshippers of Mazda 2 Cf Vend. VII, 79 and note 2; cf. above, § 91.
^ For joy. The translations of those several words are not certain.
* Doubtful. ^ Perhaps, those cups (yamaw).
^ Filled up from § 94.
'' The text here has vispo-vahmem, ' worthy of all prayer;' the reading vtspo-vaemem from Yt. XII, 24 seems to be better.
Stand with baresma in their hands: the Hvovas did worship her, the Naotaras did worship her ^; the Hvovas asked for riches, the Naotaras asked for swift horses. Quickly was Hvova blessed with riches and full prosperity; quickly became Vii-taspa, the Naotaride, the lord of the swiftest horses in these countries ^.
99. ['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...
100. 'Offer up a sacrifice,© Spitama Zarathuj-tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...loi. '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 ^. In each channel there stands a palace, well-founded, shining with a hundred windows, with a thousand columns, well-built, with ten thousand balconies, and mighty.
102. ' In each of those palaces there lies a welllaid, well-scented bed, covered with pillows, and * The Hv6va or Hvogva family plays as great a part in the religious legend, as the Naotara family in the heroic one. Two of the Hvovas, Frashaojtra and Gamaspa, were among the first disciples of Zarathujtra and the prophet married Frashao^tra's daughter, Hvogvi (cf. Yt.XIII, 139). For the Naotaras, see above, §§ 53) 76. According to the Bundahij, ViJtaspa did not belong to the Naotara family (XXXI, 28): perhaps he was considered a Naotaride on account of his wife Hutaosa, who was one (Yt. XV, 35).
^ His very name means ' He who has many horses.'
yS YAS-TS AND SIROZAHS.
Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Zarathui-tra! runs down there from a thousand times the height of a man, and she is possessed of as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and she runs powerfully \ 103. -'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra I unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...104. ' Unto her did the holy Zarathu5tra offer up a sacrifice in the Airyana 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 speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words 2.
105. ' He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may bring the son of Aurva/-aspa ^, the valiant Kavi Vi^aspa, to think according to the law, to speak according to the law, to do according to the law^" 106. '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...2 Cf. § 1 7. It is to be noticed that only Ahura and Zarathujtra (and perhaps Vafra Navaza; see p. 68, note 2) offer the pure Zoroastrian sacrifice.
3 Called Lohrasp in Parsi tradition.
* Cf. § 18. The conversion of Vijtaspa by Zarathuj'tra is the turning-point in the earthly history of Mazdeism, as the conversion of Zarathu^tra by Ahura himself is in its heavenly history. Cf. Yt. XXIV and IX, 26.
abAn ya^t. 79 XXV.
107. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathuj'tra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...108. * Unto her did the talP Kavi Virtaspa^ offer up a sacrifice behind Lake Frazdanava ^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
109. *He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome Tathrava?^/, of the bad law, and Peshana, the worshipper of the Daevas, and the wicked Are^a/-aspa ^ in the battles of this world!"
no. '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...^ Berezaidhi, translated buland (Yasna LVII, 11 [LVI, 5, 2]).
* A lake in Seistan (Bundahii- XXII, 5); from that lake will rise Hoshedar Bami (UkhshyaZ-ereta), the first of the three sons of Zarathujtra, not yet born (Bahman Ya^t III, 13; cf Yt. XIII, 98).
* Of these three, Are^a/-aspa alone is known to Firdausi; he is the celebrated Ar^asp, who waged a deadly war against Gui-tasp to suppress the new religion: he stormed Balkh, slaughtered Lohrasp and Zartujt (Zarathujtra), and was at last defeated and killed by Gui-tasp's son, Isfendyar. He is the Afrasyab of the Zoroastrian period. In the Avesta he is not called a Turanian (Tura), but a //^'yaona; see Yt. IX, 30.
8o YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
III. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi SCira Anahita...112. 'Unto her did Zalri-vairi ^, who fought on horseback, offer up a sacrifice behind the river Daltya^, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
113. * He begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant me this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome Pesho-A'angha the corpse-burier ^, Humayaka^ the worshipper of the Daevas, and the wicked Are^a/-aspa ^ in the battles of this world.
1 14. '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...
115. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...116.' Unto her did Are^a^aspa and Va;zdaremaini'^ 1 Zarir in Firdausi, the brother of Vutaspa; cf Yt. V, 117; XIII, loi.
^ The Araxes (Vendidad I, 3).
3 Doubtful (cf. Vend. Ill, 36 seq.).
* This is perhaps an epithet to Pesho-^angha, 'the most malicious.'
" If we may trust the Shah Namah, she did not grant her favour to the last, as Zarir was killed by one of the generals of Ar§-asp, Bidirafi-h.
^ A brother of Ar^asp's: his name is slightly altered in Firdausi (Andariman miswritten for Vandariman,,jU.3^jol for ^jUj^aJj; see!Etudes Iraniennes, p. 228).
ABAN YA^T. 8 I offer up a sacrifice by the sea Vouru-Kasha, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
117.' They ^ begged of her a boon, saying: " Grant us this, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that we may conquer the valiant Kavi Vii'taspa and Zairivairi who fights on horseback, 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."
1 18. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant them^ that favour, though they were offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she should grant them that favour.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...119. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtral unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...1 20. ' For whom Ahura Mazda has made four horses — the wind, the rain, the cloud, and the sleet — and thus ever ^ upon the earth it is raining, snowing, hailing, and sleeting; and whose armies are so many and numbered by nine-hundreds and thousands.
12 1. 'I will worship the height Hukairya, of the ^ The text has the singular here and in the rest of the sentence: the names of the two brothers form a sort of singular dvandva; of Franghrasyanem Keresavazdem (Yt. XIX, 77); Ashavazdangho Thritahe (Yt. XIII, 113; and same Yast, 115), and in the present passage ViJ-taspo Zairivairij (see ]^tudes Iraniennes, II, 229).
2 Both were killed by Isfendyar (Shah Namah).
^ ]\Iijli translated hamejak, sada (Yt. VII, 4).
deep precipices, made of gold, wherefrom this mine Ardvi Sura Anahita leaps, from a hundred times the height of a man, while she is possessed of as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and she runs powerfully \ ' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...122. 'Offer up a sacrifice,© Spitama Zarathmtra! unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita...
123. 'She Stands, the good Ardvi Stira Anahita, wearing a golden mantle ^, waiting for a man who shall offer her libations and prayers, and thinking thus in her heart: 124. * " 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...XXX.
125. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathujtra! unlo this spring of mine, Ardvi Siira Anahita...126. 'Ardvi Sura Anahita, who stands carried forth in the shape of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girded, pure, nobly born of ^ Paitidana, a mande, a tunic (Vend. XIV, 9 [28]).
ABAN VAST. 83 a glorious race ^ wearing along her...^ a mantle fully embroidered with gold; 127. * Ever holding the baresma in her hand, according to the rules, she wears square golden earrings on her ears bored '\ and a golden necklace around her beautiful neck, she, the nobly born Ardvi Sura Anahita; and she girded her waist tightly, so that her breasts may be well-shaped, that they may be tightly pressed *.
128. * Upon her head Ardvi Sura Anahita bound a golden crown, with a hundred stars ^ with eight rays, a fine...^, a well-made crown, in the shape of a...'^, with fillets streaming down.
129. 'She is clothed with garments of beaver^, Ardvi Siira Anahita; with the skin of thirty beavers of those that bear four young ones, that are the finest kind of beavers; for the skin of the beaver that lives in water is the finest-coloured of all skins, and when worked at the right time it shines to the eye with full sheen of silver and gold.
130. 'Here, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Siira Anahita! I beg of thee this favour: that I, fully blessed, may conquer large kingdoms, rich in horses^, with high tributes, with snorting horses, sounding chariots, flashing swords, rich in aliments, with stores of food, with well-scented beds^"; that I may have ' Doubtful (sispemna, from sif, ^j:J^). * Doubtful. ^ Gems.
^? Anupoithwaitim.
'? Ratha; the usual meaning of ratha is 'a chariot;' perhaps the round shape of the chest of a chariot is meant.
' Possibly otter, Vend. XIV. » Doubtful.
8'4 YA^TS AND SIROZAHS.
at my wish the fulness of the good things of life and whatever makes a kingdom thrive \ 131. ' Here, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Stara Anahita! I beg of thee two gallant companions, one two-legged and one four-legged ^: one two-legged, who is swift, quickly rushing, and clever in turning a chariot round in battle; and one four-legged, who can quickly turn towards either wing of the host with a wide front, towards the right wing or the left, towards the left wing or the right.
132. 'Through the strength of this sacrifice, of this invocation, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! come down from those stars ^, towards the earth made by Ahura, towards the sacrificing priest, towards the full boiling [milk '^J; come to help him who is offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that thou wouldst grant him thy favours; that all those gallant warriors may be strong, like king Vii-taspa.
' For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice...133. ' Yatha ahfl vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...' I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the holy water-spring Anahita.
'AshemVohu: 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!'
^ The translation of the last clause is doubtful.
^ A good horse and a good driver.
KHORSHED YA^T. 85 (Ya^t to the Sun.)
This Yajt is recited at any time, but particularly on the days consecrated to the sun and to Khshathra-Vairya (Shahrivar), Mithra (IMihir), Asman (Asman), and Anaghra rao/^a« (Aniran ^): the last three, Mithra, Asman (the Heaven), Anaghra (the infinite Light), have a natural connection with the sun, but its connection with Khshathra-Vairya is not so clear.
Of this Yart we have a Pahlavi (East India Office, XII), a Persian (ibid. XXIV), and a Sanskrit translation (Fonds Burnouf V; all three edited in lEtudes Iraniennes, II).
0. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced I...Ashem Vohu: Holiness 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 undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun^; Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- 1. We sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swifthorsed Sun.
When the light of the sun waxes warmer *, when the brightness of the sun waxes warmer, then up ^ Or the nth, i6th, 27th, and 30th days of the month (Anquetil, That is to say, rises up ' (Phi. tr.).
Stand the heavenly Yazatas, by hundreds and thousands: they gather together its Glory, they make its Glory pass down, they pour its Glory upon the earth made by Ahura, for the increase of the world of holiness, for the increase of the creatures of holiness \ for the increase of the undying, shining, swifthorsed Sun.
2. And when the sun rises up, then the earth, made by Ahura, becomes clean 2; the running waters become clean, the waters of the wells become clean, the waters of the sea become clean, the standing waters become clean; all the holy creatures, the creatures of the Good Spirit, become clean.
3. Should not the sun rise up, then the Daevas would destroy all the things that are in the seven Karshvares, nor would the heavenly Yazatas find any way of withstanding or repelling them in the material world.
4. He who offers up a sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun — to withstand darkness, to withstand the Daevas born of darkness, to withstand the robbers and bandits, to withstand the Yatus and Pairikas, to withstand death that creeps in unseen — offers it up to Ahura Mazda, offers it up to the Amesha-Spe;/tas, offers it up to his own soul^ He rejoices all the heavenly and worldly Yazatas, who offers up a sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swifthorsed Sun.
5. I will sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide ' Literally ' of the body of holiness,' that is to say, of the bodily creatures that incorporate holiness.
"^ ' From the uncleanness that the Daevas mix with the earth during the night ' (Phi. tr.).
^ As he benefits them and himself thereby.
KHORSHEZ) VAST. 87 pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes.
I will sacrifice unto the club of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, well struck down ^ upon the skulls of the Daevas.
I will sacrifice unto that friendship, the best of all friendships, that reigns between the moon and the sun ^.
6. For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the undying, shining, swifthorsed Sun. Unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words ^.
Yewhe hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda...7. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...I bless the sacrifice and the invocation, and the strength and vigour of the undying, shining, swifthorsed Sun.
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good...Give unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body,...give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.
^ Hunivikhtem: suniyuktam (Sansk. tr.); s^il^j ljj.* (Pers.tr.). ^ As they succeed one another in regular order.
^ 88 YAS-TS AND SIROZAHS VII. MAH YA^r.
This Yajt to the Moon is recited on the day of the Moon, and on those of Bahman, Gos, and Ram^ (Anquetil, II, 185). Bahman and Gos are so far connected with the Moon that all three are gao/^ithra: ' Bahman ^ the Moon, and Gds\ all three, are having in them the seed of the bull; Bahman can neither be seen nor seized with the hand; the Moon proceeded from Bahman * and can be seen, but cannot be seized with the hand; G6s proceeded from the Moon ^ and can both be seen and seized with the hand ^' Ram is referred to here as being;^z;astra, ' lord of good pastures V Of this Yajt we have translations in Pahlavi, Persian, and Sanskrit (edited in Etudes Iraniennes, II).
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!...Ashem Vohii: Holiness is the best of all good...I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathu^tra, 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 Moon that keeps in it the seed of the ^ The 1 2th, 2nd, 14th, and 21st days of the month.
2 The Amshaspand Bahman is entrusted with the care of cattle ^ The Genius of Cattle; see Yt. IX.
* Bahman is 'good thought, good mind,' Vohu-Mano; in the Vedas the moon is said to have been made out of the mind (man as) of Puruja. For an explanation of that old mystical myth, see Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 74, note 3.
« Pahlavi commentary to this Ya^t, I.
^ Vend. Introd. IV, 16, and tindes Iraniennes, II, 187 seq.
Bull; unto the only-created Bull and unto the Bull^ of many species; Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and crlorification.
o Yatha ahii vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...1. Hail to Ahura Mazda! Hail to the Amesha- Spe;^tas! Hail to the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the BulP! Hail to thee when we look at thee! Hail to thee when thou lookest at us ^!
2, How does the moon wax? How does the moon wane?
For fifteen days does the moon wax*; for fifteen days does the moon wane. As long as her waxing, so long is the waning^; as long as her waning, so long is the waxing.
* Who is there but thee ^ who makes the moon wax and wane '?'
^ Sirozah I, 12. ^ See Vend. XXI, i, text and note.
* When the moon allows itself to be perceived.
* The Pahlavi translation has the following interesting details: ' For fifteen days they take good deeds from the earthly creatures and the rewards for virtue from the heavens; for fifteen days they make the rewards pass to the earth and the good deeds pass to the heavens.' The moon is thus a sort of moral clearing-house between earth and heaven, ^ According to the Parsis this waning does not refer to the moon, but to the constellations that help it in the struggle against the planets, which are supposed to belong to the Ahrimanian world (see Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 223-226): 'while it waxes — namely, the moon — they wane, — namely, those that are opposed to the planets, to the bad stars; for instance, Haftoiring, Va.na.nd, Tijtar, Satves;...while it wanes — namely, the moon — they wax, that is to say, they are strong for doing good.' Thus the moon and the stars relieve each other in the batde against Ahriman.
« Ahura.
' Quoted from Yasna XLIV [XLIII], 3.
3. We sacrifice unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, the holy and master of holiness.
Here I look at the moon, here I perceive the moon; here I look at the light of the moon, here I perceive the light of the moon. The Amesha-Spe;^tas stand up \ holding its glory; the Amesha-Spe;^tas stand up, pouring its glory upon the earth, made by Mazda ^.
4. And when the light of the moon waxes warmer, golden-hued plants grow on^ from the earth during the spring ^ We sacrifice unto the new moons, the full moons, and the Vtshaptathas^.
We sacrifice unto the new moon, the holy and master of holiness; We sacrifice unto the full moon, the holy and master of holiness; We sacrifice unto the Vishaptatha, the holy and master of holiness.
^ As soon as the moon appears. ^ Cf. Yt. VI, 2.
' Mijti, meaning sada, &..t. » fe; cf. mi-^a/^i.
* Zaremaem, meaning vasantamase,^lp. ^J^p.; it has the same meaning in Vend. XVIII, 9 [23]; cf. Yt. XXII, 18.
^ New moon and full moon are not used here in the English meaning: the month was divided into six parts, of five days each (the Norse fimt or five days' week; see Vigfusson, Icelandic Dictionary, s. v.): the first five days (pan/^ak fartum) formed the new moon or awtare-mcz/ngha, literally ' the moon within;' the next five days (pan/^ak datigar) formed the peren6-maMngha, literally ' the moon full,' which in fact partly answered to our first quarter; the next five days (pan/^ak sitigar), belonging to the full moon, were called the Vishaptatha; no mention is made of the last three pan;6ak, forming the second half of the month. It may be they were not mentioned, as belonging to the waning period, when the powers of the moon are suffering an eclipse. Cf. Neriosengh to 5. I will sacrifice unto the Moon, that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, the liberal, bright, glorious, water - giving \ warmth - giving, wisdom - giving ^, wealth-giving ^ riches-giving, thoughtfulness-giving ^, weal-giving, freshness -giving^, prosperity -giving^, the liberal, the healing.
6. For its brightness and glory, I will offer unto it a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull.
Unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words.
Ye?/he hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura ]\Iazda...7. Yathaahiivairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the Moon, that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, and of the only-created Bull, and of the Bull of many species.
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.
Give unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body,...give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.
^ Or possessing: giving may be replaced by possessing in this word as in the following.
^ Vare>^angha«tem: danak (Phi.); ^wanitaram (Sansk.).
* Khjtavawtem: lakshmivantam (Sansk.).
* Yaokhjtiva«tem, 'pondering on what good is to be done' (vi/^aryavantam karyanyayanam; J jj:. XS sjo,b dLo is^AJl).
^ Zairimyavawtem: haritavarwavantam, kila pr/thivi(m) sardrataram karoti (Sansk.).
* Vohvavawtem: uttamasamr/ddhimantam (Sansk.).
92 YA5TS AND SIROZAIIS.
VIII. TIR YA^T.
Tijtrya is the leader of the stars against the planets, as stars and planets belong, respectively, to the worlds of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu (Vend. Introd. IV, 36; Bund. II, 5 seq.).
This Yast is a description of the production of the rain through the agency of the star Tij-trya. It has to struggle against the Daeva of Drought, Apaosha, is first overcome and conquers at last. This seems to be a refacimento of the old storm myths, which have been in so far renewed as the role of the hero in the original myth has been transferred to a star. It is to be noticed, however, that Apaosha is not described as a planet.
Tijtrya is Sirius \ It presides over the first month of summer (21 June-2i July). This Ya^t appears thus to have been written in a part of Iran where the dog-days must have fallen in July, and the rainy season began in the last days of July, unless the place of Tijtrya in the calendar has been changed at some later period.
This Yajt is recited on the days of Tijtrya, Haurvata/ (as the Genius of Waters), Farvardin (as the Fravashis are his allies in the struggle; § 34), and Bad (the wind; § 32).
The struggle between Tiotrya and Apaosha is described in the Bundahij- (VII), but it has there a cosmological character: it has not for its object the annual and regular return of the rains after the dog-days, but the production of the seas and lakes in the first ages of the world.
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced I...Ashem Voh{i: Holiness 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 Ti.ytrya, the bright and glorious star, and unto the powerful Satavaesa, made by Mazda, who pushes waters forward ^, ^ "Eva S' dcrrepa npo ndvTcov, olov (})v\aKa Koi Trpoonrrjp fyKarearrjae, top 2(ipiop (Plutarchus, de Iside et Osiride, § 47; cf. infra, § 48). ^ Sirozah I, 13.
TIR VAST. 93 Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness...I.
1. Ahiira Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathui-tra, saying: ' We worship the lordship and mastership [of Ti^trya], whereby he protects ^ the Moon, the dwelling, the food, when my glorious stars come along and impart their gifts ^ to men. I will sacrifice unto the star Tijtrya, that gives the fields their share [of waters].
2. ' We offer up libations unto Tij-trya, the bright and glorious star, that gives happy dwelling and good dwelling; the white, shining, seen afar, and piercing; the health-bringing, loud-snorting ^, and high, piercing from afar with its shining, undefiled rays; and unto the waters of the wide sea, the Vanguhi of wide renown ^, and the species ^ of the Bull, made by Mazda, the awful kingly Glory, and the Fravashi of the holy Spitama Zarathui-tra.
3. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the star Ti.ytrya.
' Unto Ti^trya, the bright and glorious star, we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightlyspoken words ".
^ Doubtful. 2 The rain.
^ In his disguise as a horse; § 18, ^ Numa; see Etudes Iraniennes, II, 124. ^ Cf. p. 47.
K.
94 YA5'TS AND SIROZAHS 'Ye;2he hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda...II.
4. ' We sacrifice unto Ti^trya, the bright and glorious star, who is the seed of the waters, powerful, tall, and strong, whose light goes afar; powerful and highly^ working, through whom the brightness and the seed of the waters come from the high Apam Napa/^.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...'o III.
5. * We sacrifice unto Tirtrya, the bright and glorious star; for whom long ^ flocks and herds and men. looking forward for him and deceived in their hope*: "When shall we see him rise up, the bright and glorious star Ti^trya? When will the springs run with waves as thick as a horse's size and still thicker? Or will they never come?"
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...IV.
6. 'We sacrifice unto Tii-trya, the bright and glorious star; who flies, towards the sea Vouru-Kasha ^, as swiftly as the arrow darted through the heavenly ^ Powerfully.
^ Or, 'through whom the beauty of the waters comes from Bereza, and their seed from Apfun Napa/.' Bereza, the high, the tall, an epithet of Apam Napa/, became one of his names (Ized Bor^; cf. § 34); for Apam Napa/, see above, p. 6, note i.
* Or better, ' in their looking.'
A TIR YAST. 95 Space \ which Erekhsha ^, the swift archer, the Arya amongst the Aryas whose arrow was the swiftest, shot from Mount Khshaotha to Mount //zja.nv3.nl ^ 7. * For Ahura Mazda gave him assistance; so did the waters and the plants; and Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, opened a wide way unto him.
' For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard...V.
8. *We sacrifice unto Ti^trya, the bright and glorious star, that afflicts the Pairikas, that vexes the Pairikas, who, in the shape of worm-stars^, fly * Mainivas^?/=mainyu-as«?^ (meaning pun minoi ^ivakih, svargasthanam, Yasna LVII, 27 [LVI, 11, 3]).