XXI. Ya<I>s</I>t Fragment

The Zend Avesta, Part II (SBE23), James Darmesteter, tr. [1882], at sacred-texts.com

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XXI AND XXII. YAST FRAGMENTS.

These two Yasts or Yast fragments are known among the Parsis as the Hâdhôkht Nask, though their context does not correspond to any part of the description of that Nask as given in the Dîn-kart (West, Pahlavi Texts, I, 224, note 8). A Pahlavi translation of these Yasts has been edited by Haug and West (The Book of Ardâ Vîrâf, p. 269 seq.).

XXI. YAST FRAGMENT.

Yast XXI is a eulogy of the Ashem Vohû prayer, the value of which rises higher and higher, according as the circumstances under which it is being recited are of greater importance.

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1. Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

What is the only word in which is contained the glorification of all good things, of all the things that are the offspring of the good principle?'

2. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the praise of Holiness ¹, O Spitama Zarathustra!

3. 'He who recites the praise of Holiness ¹, in the fulness of faith and with a devoted heart, praises me, Ahura Mazda; he praises the waters, he praises the earth, he praises the cattle, he praises the plants, he praises all good things made by Mazda, all the things that are the offspring of the good principle.

4. 'For the reciting of that word of truth, O Zarathustra! the pronouncing of that formula, the Ahuna Vairya, increases strength and victory in one's soul and piety.

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5. 'For that only recital of the praise of Holiness is worth a hundred khshnaothras of the beings of Holiness ¹, when delivered while going to sleep, a thousand when delivered after eating, ten thousand when delivered during cohabitation, or any number when delivered in departing this life.'

6. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth ten others in greatness, goodness, and fairness?

7. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers when eating the gifts of Haurvatât and Ameretât ², at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'

8. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth a hundred others in greatness, goodness, and fairness?'

9. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers while drinking of the Haoma strained for the sacrifice, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'

10. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth a thousand others in greatness, goodness, and fairness?'

11. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers when starting

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up from his bed or going to sleep again, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'

12. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth ten thousand others in greatness, goodness, and fairness?'

13. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers when waking up and rising from sleep, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'

14. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth this Karshvare of ours, Hvaniratha ¹, with its cattle and its chariots, without its men, in greatness, goodness, and fairness?'

15. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers in the last moments of his life, at the same time professing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and rejecting evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.'

16. 'What is the one recital of the praise of Holiness that is worth all that is between the earth and the heavens, and this earth, and that luminous space, and all the good things made by Mazda, that are the offspring of the good principle in greatness, goodness, and fairness?'

17. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is that one, O holy Zarathustra! that a man delivers to renounce evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds ².'

Footnotes

311:1 Asha: the Ashem Vohû.

312:1 A hundred times the formula: 'Be propitiation (khshnaothra) unto N. . . ., the holy and master of holiness' (cf. p. 1, note 2).

312:2 Eating or drinking (see Vendîdâd, Introd. IV, 33).

313:1 See p. 123, note 5.

313:2 In a conversion, or in the recital of the penitential prayers.