II. Mihir Nyâyi<I>s</I>

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

II. MIHIR NYÂYIS.

1 ⁴. Hail unto thee, O Ahura Mazda, in the threefold way! [Hail unto thee] before all other creatures!

Hail unto you, O Amesha-Spentas, who are all of you of one accord with the Sun!

May this prayer come unto Ahura Mazda! May it come unto the Amesha-Spentas! May it come unto the Fravashis of the holy Ones! May it come unto the sovereign Vayu of the long Period!

2. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! . . . .

3. I praise well-thought, well-spoken, and well-done thoughts, words, and deeds . . . .

4. I give sacrifice and prayer unto you, O Amesha-Spentas! . . . .

5. Hail to Ahura Mazda! . . . .

May I grow in health of body through Vohu-Manô, Khshathra, and Asha, and come to that luminous space, to that highest of all high things, when the world, O Spenta Mainyu, has come to an end!

6 ⁵. We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand

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eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake.

7. We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of all countries, whom Ahura Mazda made the most glorious of all the heavenly gods.

So may Mithra and Ahura, the two great gods, come to us for help!

We sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun.

8 ¹. We sacrifice unto Tistrya, whose sight is sound . . . .

9. We sacrifice unto all the holy gods of the world unseen . . . .

10 ². I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathustra . . . .

11 ³. We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with a thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake.

We sacrifice unto the Mithra around countries;

We sacrifice unto the Mithra within countries;

We sacrifice unto the Mithra in this country;

We sacrifice unto the Mithra above countries;

We sacrifice unto the Mithra under countries;

We sacrifice unto the Mithra before countries;

We sacrifice unto the Mithra behind countries.

12. We sacrifice unto Mithra and Ahura, the two great, imperishable, holy gods; and unto the stars, and the moon, and the sun, with the trees that yield baresma. We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of all countries.

13 ⁴. For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard . . . .

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We offer up libations unto Mithra . . . .

14. May he come to us for help! May he come to us for ease! . . . .

15. I will offer up libations unto him, the strong Yazata, the powerful Mithra . . . .

Yênhê hâtãm: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda . . . .

16 ¹. Yathâ aha vairyô: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness . . . .

I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of Mithra . . . .

Ashem Vohû: Holiness is the best of all good . . . .

[Give] unto that man brightness and glory, . . . . give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.

Footnotes

353:4 §§ 1-5 = Khôrshêd Nyâyis, §§ 1-5.

353:5 §§ 6-7 = Khôrshêd Nyâyis, §§ 6-7.

354:1 § 8-9 = Khôrshêd Nyâyis, §§ 8-9.

354:2 Yt. X, 0.

354:3 §§ 11-12 = Yt. X, 144-145.

354:4 §§ 13-15 = Yt. X, 4-6.

355:1 Yt. X, 146.