IX. Gô<I>s</I> Ya<I>s</I>t
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The Zend Avesta, Part II (SBE23), James Darmesteter, tr. [1882], at sacred-texts.com
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IX. GÔS YAST.
Gôs, 'the cow,' κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν, is a personation of the animal kingdom which she maintains and protects. She is also called Drvâspa and Gosûrûn: Drvâspa means 'she who keeps horses in health,' and is nothing more than an epithet of Gôs: Gôsûrûn (from the Zend Geus urvan) means 'the Soul of the Bull' (the primeval Bull). Although urvan is a masculine noun in Zend, yet Gôsûrûn is considered a female angel, as this name is only a substitute for Gôs.
Gôs is the angel of the 14th day (Sîrôzah I, 14), and her Yast is recited during the Gâh Usahin, on the days of Gôs, Bahman, Mâh, and Râm (the same days as those on which the Mâh Yast is recited; see above, p. 88).
Gôs is hardly described in this Yast (§§ 1-2); the greater part of it being filled with the several prayers addressed to her by the Iranian heroes, Haoshyangha (§ 3), Yima (§ 8), Thraêtaona (§ 13), Haoma (§ 17), Husravah (§ 21), Zarathustra, and Vîstâspa. Her worshippers and their prayers to her are the same as in the case of Ashi Vanguhi (see Yt. XVII).
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0. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! May Angra Mainyu be afflicted! . . . .
Ashem Vohû: Holiness is the best of all good . . . .
I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathustra, one who hates the Daêvas and obeys the laws of Ahura;
For sacrifice, prayer, satisfaction, and glorification unto Hâvani, the holy and master of holiness.
Unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy 1,
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yathâ ahû vairyô: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness. . . .
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I.
1. We sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health, the herds in health, the grown-up 1 (cattle) in health, the young ones in health; who watches well from afar, with a wide-spread and long-continued welfare-giving friendship;
2. Who yokes teams of horses, who makes her chariot turn and its wheels sound, fat and glistening 2, strong, tall-formed, weal-possessing, health-giving, powerful to stand and powerful to turn for assistance to the faithful.
3. To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhâta 3, offer up a sacrifice on the enclosure of the Hara, the beautiful height, made by Mazda, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations:
4. 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvâspa! that I may overcome all the Daêvas of Mâzana 4; that I may never fear and bow through terror before the Daêvas, but that all the Daêvas may fear and bow in spite of themselves before me, that they may fear and flee down to darkness 5.'
5. The powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
6. 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
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[paragraph continues] Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvâspa, 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.
Yênhê hâtãm: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda . . . . 1
II.
7. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health . . . .
Who yokes teams of horses . . . . for assistance to the faithful 2.
8. To her did Yima Khshaêta, the good shepherd, offer up a sacrifice from the height Hukairya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations:
9. 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvâspa! that I may bring fatness and flocks down to the world created by Mazda; that I may bring immortality down to the world created by Mazda;
10. 'That I may take away both hunger and thirst, from the world created by Mazda; that I may take away both old age and death, from the world created by Mazda; that I may take away both hot wind and cold wind, from the world created by Mazda, for a thousand years 3.'
11. The powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon,
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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 . . . .
III.
12. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health . . . .
Who yokes teams of horses . . . . for assistance to the faithful.
13 1. To her did Thraêtaona, the heir of the valiant Âthwya 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 Drvâspa! that I may overcome Azi Dahâka, the three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses, that most powerful, fiendish Drug, that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Drug that Angra Mainyu created against the material world, to destroy the world of the good principle; and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghavâk and Erenavâk, who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful creatures in the world 1.'
15. The powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, 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 . . . .
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IV.
16. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps flocks in health . . . .
Who yokes teams of horses . . . . for assistance to the faithful.
17 1. To her did Haoma 2 offer up a sacrifice, Haoma, the enlivening, 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 Drvâspa! that I may bind the Turanian murderer, Franghrasyan 3 that I may drag him bound, that I may bring him bound unto king Husravah, that king Husravah may kill him, behind the Kaêkasta lake 4, the deep lake of salt 5 waters, to avenge the murder of his father Syâvarshâna 6, a man, and of Aghraêratha, a semi-man 7.'
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19. The powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would give him that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard . . . .
V.
20. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health . . . .
Who yokes teams of horses . . . . for assistance to the faithful.
21 1. To her did the gallant Husravah, he who united the Arya nations into one kingdom, offer up a sacrifice, behind the Kaêkasta lake, the deep lake of salt waters, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and an offering of libations:
22. 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvâspa! that I may kill the Turanian murderer, Franghrasyan, behind the Kaêkasta lake, the deep lake of salt waters, to avenge the murder of my father Syâvarshâna, a man, and of Aghraêratha, a semi-man 2.'
23. The powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing,
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and entreating that she would grant him that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard . . . .
VI.
24. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health . . . .
Who yokes teams of horses . . . . for assistance to the faithful.
25 1. To her did the holy Zarathustra offer up a sacrifice in the Airyana Vaêgah, by the good river Dâitya, 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 Drvâspa! grant me this boon, that I may bring the good and noble Hutaosa 2 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 Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, 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 . . . .
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VII.
28. We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy, who keeps the flocks in health . . . .
Who yokes teams of horses . . . . for assistance to the faithful.
29 1. To her did the tall Kavi Vîstâspa offer up a sacrifice behind the waters of the river Dâitya, 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 Drvâspa! that I may put to flight Asta-aurvant, the son of Vîspa-thaurvô-asti, the all-afflicting, of the brazen helmet, of the brazen armour, of the thick neck, behind whom seven hundred camels . . . . 2; that I may put to flight the Hvyaona murderer, Aregat-aspa 3; that I may put to flight Darsinika 4, the worshipper of the Daêvas;
31. And that I may smite Tãthravant 5 of the bad law; that I may smite Spingauruska 4, the worshipper of the Daêvas; and that I may bring unto the good law the nations of the Varedhakas and of the Hvyaonas 6; and that I may smite of the Hvyaona nations their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their
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tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads.'
32. The strong Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, 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; I will offer her a sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvâspa, 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.
Yathâ ahû vairyô: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness . . . .
I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda and holy.
Ashem Vohû: 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.
Footnotes
111:1 Doubtful; possibly 'the friend in health, the child in health.'
112:1 As above, p. 30.
112:3 §§ 8-10 = Yt. XVII, 28-30; cf. Yasna IX, 4 [10-20]; Yt. V, 25-27.
113:1 Yt. V, 34; X, 24; XVII, 34.
114:1 §§ 17-19 = Yt. XVII, 37-38.
114:2 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 Shâh Nâmah, the god Haoma has been turned into a hermit who, living near the cave in which Afrâsyâb 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 (Études Iraniennes, II, 227).
114:4 See above, p. 66, note 2.
114:7 Doubtful (narava, as opposed to nara). Aghraêratha (Aghrêrath) was a brother of Afrâsyâb's; he was a righteous man, and Afrâsyâb killed him for his having saved the Iranian king Minokihr with his army, when captive in the Padashkhvâr mountains (Bundahis XXXI, 21). Yet he is still living as an immortal in the land of Saukavastân, under the name of Gôpatshâh (the king of the bulls); 'from foot to mid-body he is a bull, and from mid-body to p. 115 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, Aghrêrath was not Gôpatshâh, he was his father. Cf. Yt. XIX, 93.
115:1 §§ 21-22 = Yt. XVII, 41-42.
116:1 §§ 25-26 = XVII, 44-45; cf. Yt. V, 104.
116:2 Hutaosa was the wife of king Vîstâspa; cf. Yt. XV, 37.
117:1 §§ 29-31-Yt. XVII, 49-51.
117:3 See above, p. 79, note 4.
117:5 Mentioned Yt. V, 109 and XIX, 87.
117:6 The Hvyaonas 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 reminds one of the Vertae who are mentioned once in company with the Chionitae (ibid. XIX, 1); but their geographical situation is not ascertained. In any case the proximity of the Dâitya (§ 29) shows that both people must have inhabited the western coast of the Caspian sea.
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