s §§ 8-10= Yt. XVII, 28-30; cf. Yasna IX, 4-5 [11-20]; Yt. V, 25-27.
Cos Vast. ' 113
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 worth being heard ....
12. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful DrvSspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health ....
Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful.
13 \ To her did Thraetaona, the heir of the
valiant Athwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the four-
cornered Varena, with a hundred male horses, a
thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an
offering of libations :
14, ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent
Drvaspa! that I may overcome A^i Dahaka, the
three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who
has a thousand senses, that most powerful, fiendish
Dru^, that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest
Dru^ that Angra Mainyu created against the mate-
rial world, to destroy the world of the good principle ;
and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghava/^
and Erenava/^, who are the fairest of body amongst
women, and the most wonderful creatures in the
worlds'
15. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the
holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon,
as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri-
ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that
boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard ....
^ Yt. V, 34; XV, 24; XVII, 34. [23] I
114 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
16. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps flocks in health ....
Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful.
I7\ To her did Haoma^ offer up a sacrifice,
Haoma, the enhvening, the healing, the beautiful,
the lordly, with golden eyes, upon the highest height
of the Haraiti Bareza. He begged of her a boon,
saying :
18. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent
Drvaspa ! that I may bind the Turanian murderer,
Franghrasyan^ that I may drag him bound, that I
may bring him bound unto king Husravah, that king
Husravah may kill him, behind the A!'ae/'asta lake*,
the deep lake of salt^ waters, to avenge the murder
of his father Syavarshana^ a man, and of Aghrae-
ratha, a semi-man"^.'
1 §§i7-i9=Yt. XVII, 37-38.
^ Cf. Yasna XI, 7 [20-21]. The destruction of the fiends, being one of the principal effects of sacrifice, is ascribed to Haoma as the most powerful element in the sacrifice. In the Shah Namah, the god Haoma has been turned into a hermit who, living near the cave in which Afrasyab had taken refuge (see above, Yt. V, 41), overhears his lamentations, takes him by surprise, binds him, and delivers him into the hands of Khosrav (Etudes Iraniennes, II, 227).
^ See p. 64, note i. * See above, p. 66, note 2.
^ See p. 66, note 3. ® See p. 64, note i.
' Doubtful (nar a V a, as opposed to nara). Aghraeratha (Aghre- rath) was a brother of Afrasyab's; he was a righteous man, and Afrasyab killed him for his having saved the Iranian king Mino- ^ihr with his army, when captive in the Padashkhvar mountains (Bundahij' XXXI, 21). Yet he is still Hving as an immortal in the land of Saukavastan, under the name of Gopatshah (the king of the bulls) ; ' from foot to mid-body he is a bull, and from mid-body to
Go^ Vast. 115
19. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the
holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon,
as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri-
ficing, and entreating that she would give him that
boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard ....
20. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health ....
Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful.
21 ^ To her did the gallant Husravah, he who
united the Arya 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 thou-
sand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and an offering of
libations :
22. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent
Drvaspa! that I may kill the Turanian murderer,
Franghrasyan, behind the /ifae/'asta lake, the deep
lake of salt waters, to avenge the murder of my
father Syavarshana, a man, and of Aghraeratha,
a semi- man ^.'
23. The powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the
holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon,
as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacri-
the top he is a man ; at all times he stays on the sea-shore, and always performs the worship of God, and always pours holy-water into the sea' (Minokhired LXII, 31 seq., tr. West; Bund. XXIX, 5); according to Bund. XXXI, 20, Aghrerath was not Gopatshah, he was his father. Cf. Yt. XIX, 93,
^ §§ 2 1-22 =Yt. XVII, 41-42.
"^ See p. 114, note 7.
ficing, and entreating that she would grant him that
boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard ....
24. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health ....
Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful.
25^. To her did the holy Zarathu^tra 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. He begged of
her a boon, saying :
26. ' O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! grant me
this boon, that I may bring the good and noble
Hutaosa^ to think according to the law, to speak
according to the law, to do according to the law,
that she may spread my Mazdean law and make it
known, and that she may bestow beautiful praises
upon my deeds.'
27. The strong Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the
holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, 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 worth being heard ....
^ §§ 25-26=XVII, 44-45; cf Yt. V, 104.
^ Hutaosa was the wife of king ViJtaspa; cf. Yt. XV, 37.
Cos Yast. I I 7
28. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health ....
Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful.
29 ^ To her did the tall Kavi Vi^-taspa offer up
a sacrifice behind the waters of the river Daitya,
with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten
thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations :
30. ' Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent
Drvaspa ! that I may put to flight Ai-ta-aurva;z/, the
son of Vispa-thaurvo-asti, the all-affficting, of the
brazen helmet, of the brazen armour, of the thick
neck, behind whom seven hundred camels . . . .^ ; that
I may put to flight the Z^z^yaona murderer, Are^a/-
aspa^ ; that I may put to flight Dar^inika^ the wor-
shipper of the Daevas ;
31. And that I may smite Tathrava;^/'^ of the
bad law ; that I may smite Spin^aurui-ka^, the wor-
shipper of the Daevas ; and that I may bring unto
the ofood law the nations of the Varedhakas and of
the //z/yaonas^ ; and that I may smite of the ZTz^yaona
nations their fifties and their hundreds, their hun-
dreds and their thousands, their thousands and their
1 §§ 29-31 =Yt. XVII, 49-51. 2 ? G^ainySvara/.
^ See above, p. 79, note 4. * "Ana^ Xtyofievos.
^ Mentioned Yt. V, 109 and XIX, 87.
" The ZTfyaonas seem to have been the Chionitae, a bellicose tribe, near the land of Gilan, often at war with the first Sassanides (Amm. Marcellinus XVII, 5). The name of the Varedhakas re- minds one of the Vertae who are mentioned once in company with the Chionitae (ibid. XIX, i) ; but their geographical situation is not ascertained. In any case the proximity of the Daitya (§ 29) shows that both people must have inhabited the western coast of the Caspian sea.
I 1 8 YA^TS AND siROZAHS.
tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads.
32. The strong Drvaspa, made by Mazda, the
holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that
boon, as he was offering up Hbations, giving gifts,
sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him
that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer her a sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda and holy ; we offer her 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.
Yatha ahfi vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness ....
I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength
and vigour of the powerful Drvaspa, made by Mazda
and holy.
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.
Mihir Vast. I 19
X. MIHIR YA6^T.
This Yajt, one of the longest of the Avesta and one of the most interesting in a literary point of view, is not very instructive for mythology. It consists of long descriptive pieces, sometimes rather spirited, and of fervent prayers and invocations for mercy or protection. Originally INIithra was the god of the heavenly light (§§ 12, 50, 67, 104, 124 seq., 136 seq., &c.); and in that character he knows the truth, as he sees everything ; he is therefore taken as a witness of truth, he is the preserver of oaths and good faith (§§ 2, 44 seq., 79 seq., 81 seq., &c.) ; he chastises those who break their promises and lie to IMithra, destroys their houses and smites them in battle (§§ 17 seq., 28 seq., 35 seq., 47 seq., 99 seq., 105 seq., 112 seq., 128 seq., &c.).
Particularly interesting are §§ 11 5-1 18, as giving a sketch of moral hierarchy in Iran, and §§ 121-122, as being perhaps the source of the trials in the later Roman Mithriacism. Cf. Vend. Introd. IV, 8 and Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 59-61.
o. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced ! . . . .
Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zara- thujtra, 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 Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a
thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked
by his own name, and unto Rama //z^astra^
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo : The will of the Lord is the law of holi- ness ....
I. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathuj-tra, saying : ' Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of
' Sirozah I, 16.
I20 YA^-TS AND SIROZAHS.
wide pastures, O Spitama ! I created him as worthy
of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura
Mazda \
2. 'The ruffian who Hes unto Mithra^ brings death
unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful
world as a hundred evil-doers^ could do. Break not
the contract, O Spitama ! neither the one that thou
hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the
one that thou hadst entered into with one of the
faithful who is one of thy own faith*. For Mithra
stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful.
3. ' Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swift-
ness to the horses of those who lie not unto
Mithra.
' Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, gives the straight- est way to those who lie not unto Mithra.
' The good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the
faithful give a virtuous offspring to those who lie
not unto Mithra.
4. ' For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto
him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto
Mithra, the lord of wide pastures.
' We offer up libations unto Mithra, the lord of
wide pastures, who gives a happy dwelling and a
good dwelling to the Aryan nations.
5. ' May he come to us for help ! May he come
to us for ease ! May he come to us for joy ! May
he come to us for mercy ! May he come to us for
health ! May he come to us for victory ! May he