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The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31), L.H. Mills, tr. [1886], at sacred-texts.com
1. Frashaostra, the holy, asked the saintly Zarathustra: Answer me, O thou most eminent Zarathustra, what is (in very truth) the memorised recital of the rites?
What is the completed delivery of the Gâthas 1? 2. Upon this Zarathustra said: (It is as follows.) We worship Ahura Mazda with our sacrifice (as) the holy lord of the ritual order; and we sacrifice to Zarathustra likewise as to a holy lord of the ritual order; and we sacrifice also to the Fravashi of Zarathustra, the saint. And we sacrifice to the Bountiful Immortals, (the guardians 2) of the saints. 3. And we sacrifice to (all) the good heroic and bounteous Fravashis of the saints, of the bodily (world on earth), and of the mental (those in Heaven). And we worship that one of ritual lords who attains the most his ends; and we sacrifice to that one of the Yazads, lords of the ritual order, who is the most strenuous, who gains the most, who reaches most to what he seeks, even that well-timed Prayer which is the prayer of that holy ritual lord, and which has approached the nearest (to us for our help).
4. We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the holy lord of
the ritual order, and we worship His entire body 1, and we worship the Bountiful Immortals all; and we worship all the ritual lords. And we sacrifice to the entire Mazdayasnian Faith. And we worship all the sacred metres.
5. And we worship the entire bounteous Mãthra, even the entire system of the Faith set up against the Daêvas; and we worship its complete and long descent. And we sacrifice to all the holy Yazads, heavenly and earthly; and we worship all the good, heroic, and bountiful Fravashis of the saints. 6. And we worship all the holy creatures which Mazda created, and which possess the holy institutions 2, which were established holy in their nature 3, which possess the holy lore, and the holy sacrifice, which are holy, and for the holy, and to be worshipped by the holy. And we worship all the five 4 Gâthas, the holy ones, and the entire Yasna [its flow and its ebb 5, and the sounding (of its chants)]. 7. And we sacrifice to all the Praises of the Yasna, and to all the words which Mazda spake, which are the most fatal to evil thoughts, and words, and deeds; (8) and which designate 6 the evil thought, and word, and deed, and which then cut down and fell every evil thought, and word, and deed. [(Pâzand.) One would think of it as
when the fire cuts, sucks out, and consumes the dry wood which has been sanctified and carefully selected (for its flame).] And we sacrifice to the strength, the victory, the glory, and the speed of all these words (as they go forth for their work). 9. And we sacrifice to all the springs of water, and to the water-streams as well, and to growing plants, and forest-trees 1, and to the entire land and heaven, and to all the stars, and to the moon and sun, even to all the lights without beginning (to their course) 2. And we sacrifice to all cattle, and to the aquatic beasts, and to the beasts that live on land, and to all that strike the wing, and to the beasts that roam the plains, and to those of cloven hoof. 10. And to all Thy good and holy female (creatures) in the creation do we sacrifice, (O Thou who art) Ahura Mazda 3 the skilful maker! on account of which Thou hast made many things and good things (in Thy world). And we sacrifice to those male creatures in the creation which are Thine and which are meet for sacrifice because of Asha Vahista (of Righteousness the Best). And we sacrifice to all the mountains brilliant with holiness, and to all the lakes which Mazda created, and to all fires. And we sacrifice to all the truthful and correctly spoken words, (11) even those which have both rewards and Piety within them. Yea, we worship (you) for protection and shielding, for guarding and watching; and may ye be to me for preparation.
I call upon the Gâthas here, the bountiful holy ones,
ruling in the ritual order; yea, we sacrifice to you, (O ye Gâthas!) for protection and shielding, for guarding and watching. Mine may ye be as a preparation. For me, for (mine) own soul I call on (you) 1, and we would worship (you) for protection and for shielding, for guarding and for watching. 12. And we sacrifice to Weal, the complete welfare, holy and ruling in its course in the ritual order; and we sacrifice to Deathlessness (the immortal being of the good), holy, and ruling in the ritual order. And we sacrifice to the question of the Lord, and to His lore, the holy chiefs, and to the heroic Haptanghâiti, the holy lord of the ritual order. 13. (Frasha.) Let the holy Zarathustra himself seek out a friend and a protector. And I say 2 to thee (O Zarathustra!) to make to thee a friend holy beyond the holy, and truer than the true, for that is the better thing; for he is evil who is the best to the evil, and he is holy to whom the holy is a friend 3, (14) for these are the best of words, those which Ahura Mazda spoke to Zarathustra.
And 4 do thou, O Zarathustra! pronounce these words at the last ending of (thy) life. 15. For if, O Zarathustra! thou shalt pronounce these words at the last ending of (thy) life I, Ahura Mazda, will keep your soul away from Hell. Yea, so far away shall I hold it as is the breadth and extension of the earth [(Pâzand) and the earth is as wide as it is long].
16. As thou dost desire, O holy (one)! so shalt thou be, holy shalt thou cause (thy) soul to pass over
the Kinvat Bridge; holy shalt thou come into Heaven. Thou shalt intone the Gâtha Ustavaiti, reciting the salvation hail 1.
17. We sacrifice to the active man, and to the man of good intent, for the hindrance of darkness, of wasting of the strength and life, and of distraction. And we sacrifice to health and healing, to progress and to growth, for the hindrance of impurity, and of the diseases of the skin 2.
18. And we sacrifice to the (Yasna's) ending words, to those which end the Gâthas. And we sacrifice to the bounteous Hymns themselves which rule in the ritual course, the holy ones.
And we sacrifice to the Praise-songs of the Yasna which were the products of the world of yore; yea, we sacrifice to all the Staota-Yêsnya hymns. And we sacrifice to (our) own soul and to (our) Fravashi. 19-21. (See Y. VI, 14-16.) 22. I praise, invoke, and I weave my song to the good, heroic, bountiful Fravashis of the saints, to those of the house, and of the village, the district and the province, and to those of the Zarathustrôtemas. 23. And we sacrifice to the Fire, Ahura Mazda's son, the holy ritual chief.
And we sacrifice to this Baresman having the Zaothra with it, and its girdle with it, and spread with sanctity, the holy ritual chief. And we sacrifice to Apãm-napât, and to Nairya-sangha, and to that Yazad, the wise man's swift Curse.
And we sacrifice to the souls of the dead, [which are the Fravashis of the saints]. 24. And we sacrifice to that lofty Lord who is Ahura Mazda Himself.
25. And we pray (again) for the Kine (once more) with these gifts and (ceremonial) actions which are the best 1. 26-28. (See Y. VIII, 5-7.) 29-31. (See Y. LX, II-13.)
327:1 This, while very ancient as regards us, is of course not genuine in its present shape. It was doubtless composed long after Frashaostra and Zarathustra had ceased to live. It may be, however, an expansion of an earlier document.
327:2 'The Amesha Spenta of the holy ones.'
328:1 The heavenly bodies are thus termed elsewhere, and the sun is called his eye.
written for
.
328:2 Possibly, 'were created pure.'
328:3 'Shaped holy.'
328:4 Or, 'are worshipped as holy,' vahmyaka, or yêsnyaka.
328:5 This figure is too advanced to be probable. The text has been disturbed. The words describe the waters elsewhere.
328:6 So with the Pahlavi, referring the word to the third kar, the root of khratu, passive (?) form, with active sense. It also, however, not impossibly might mean 'cut around,' preparatory to felling.
329:1 Elsewhere rendered 'stems.'
329:2 Not determined like the course of a planet.
329:3 We should expect the vocative after 'Thy.'
330:1 Or, 'I would invoke (mine) own soul;' see verse 18.
330:2 Possibly the rejoinder of Frashaostra, or these are 'the best words' referred to in verse 14; but the section is a dialogue.
330:3 Y. XLVI, 6.
330:4 Ahura speaks.
331:1 Y. XLIII, 1 follows.
331:2 Diseases arising from filth.
332:1 See Y. XXXV, 4; Y. XLVIII, 6.