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 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 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 holi- ness ....
Sirozah I, 10.
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 country-
increasing 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 [LXVI, 2]).
^ 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 main-
tain them, to look over them, to keep and maintain
them close.
7. ' Then Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Spitama Zara-
thu^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 well-
strained, 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
of the body; of. § 126.
» Cf. §§ II, 124.
56 YAS'TS AND SIROZAHS.
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 mate- rial 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 well-
strained, 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. ' § io = § 2.
' Viz. for their worshipping; cf. Yasna XXIII, 2 [5], paitijma- refiti = Phl. humitinit, they hope, they expect. Cf. § 123. * As above, § 9.
Aban Ya5t. 5/
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, crush-
ing 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 ....
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 ....
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 ^
^ As above, § 10. ^ Cf. p. 26, note 2.
' 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 Zara- thujtra; cf. § loi.
« Cf. Yt. I, 4 and notes. ' Cf. Yt. Ill, 18.
58 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
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 ....
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 Ana-
hita ! 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 (Pesh- dadyan) dynasty (cf, above, p. 7, note 2, and Bundahij XXXI, i). It is related in Firdausi's Shah Namah that he was the grand- son 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.
Aban Ya5t. ' 59
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 ....
24. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zaralhujtra ! unto this spring of mine, Ardvl Sura Anahita ....
25. 'To her did Yima Khshaeta'*, the good shep-
herd, 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 Ana-
hita ! 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.).
^ See above, § 3.
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.).