V. Âta<I>s</I> Nyâyi<I>s</I>
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The Zend Avesta, Part II (SBE23), James Darmesteter, tr. [1882], at sacred-texts.com
V. ÂTAS NYÂYIS
1 6. Take me out 7, O Ahura! give me perfect piety and strength . . . .
4 8. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! . . . .
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Hail unto thee, O Fire, son of Ahura Mazda, thou beneficent and most great Yazata!
1Ashem Vohû: Holiness is the best of all good . . . .
I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda . . . .
For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification . . . .
Unto Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda; unto thee Âtar, son of Ahura Mazda!
5 2. Unto Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda; unto the Glory and the Weal, made by Mazda; unto the Glory of the Aryas, made by Mazda; unto the Glory of the Kavis, made by Mazda.
Unto Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda; unto king Husravah; unto the lake of Husravah; unto Mount Âsnavant, made by Mazda; unto Lake Kaêkasta, made by Mazda; unto the Glory of the Kavis, made by Mazda.
6. Unto Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda; unto Mount Raêvant, made by Mazda; unto the Glory of the Kavis, made by Mazda.
Unto Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda.
Unto Âtar, the beneficent, the warrior; the God who is a full source of Glory, the God who is a full source of healing.
Unto Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda, with all Âtars; unto the God Nairyô-sangha, who dwells in the navel of kings;
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
Yathâ ahû vairyô: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness . . . .
7 3. I bless the sacrifice and invocation, and the
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good offering, the beneficent offering, the offering of assistance offered unto thee, O Âtar, son of Ahura Mazda!
Thou art worthy of sacrifice and invocation; mayest thou receive the sacrifice and the invocation in the houses of men.
Well may it be unto the man who ever worships thee with a sacrifice, holding the sacred wood in his hand, the baresma in his hand, the meat in his hand, the mortar 1 in his hand.
8. Mayest thou have the right 2 wood! Mayest thou have the right incense! Mayest thou have the right food! Mayest thou have the right fuel 3!
Mayest thou be full-grown for protecting (this house)! Mayest thou grow excellent for protecting!
9. Mayest thou burn in this house! Mayest thou ever burn in this house! Mayest thou blaze in this house! Mayest thou increase in this house! Even for a long time, till the powerful restoration of the world, till the time of the good, powerful restoration of the world!
10. Give me, O Âtar, son of Ahura Mazda! lively welfare, lively maintenance, lively living; fulness of welfare, fulness of maintenance, fulness of life;
Knowledge, sagacity; quickness of tongue; (holiness of) soul; a good memory; and then the understanding that goes on growing and the one that is not acquired through learning 4;
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And then the manly courage,
11. Firm-footed, unsleeping, (sleeping only) for a third part of the day and of the night, quick to rise up from bed, ever awake;
And a protecting, virtuous offspring, able to rule countries and assemblies of men, well growing up, good, freeing us from the pangs (of hell), endowed with a good intellect, that may increase my house, my borough, my town, my country, my empire.
12. Give me, O Âtar, son of Ahura Mazda! however unworthy I am 1, now and for ever, a seat in the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.
May I obtain the good reward, a good renown 2, and long cheerfulness for my soul 3!
13. Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda, lifts up his voice to all those for whom he cooks their evening meal and their morning meal 4. From all those he wishes a good offering, a beneficent offering, an offering of assistance, O Spitama!
14. Âtar looks at the hands of all those who pass by: 'What does the friend bring to his friend? What does he who comes and goes bring to him 5 who stays motionless?'
We sacrifice unto Âtar, the valiant warrior 6.
15. And if the passer-by brings him wood holily brought, or bundles of baresma holily tied up, or
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twigs of Hadhânaêpata 1 then Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda, well pleased with him and not angry, and fed as required, will thus bless him:
16. 'May herds of oxen grow for thee, and increase of sons; may thy mind be master of its vow, may thy soul be master of its vow, and mayest thou live on in the joy of the soul all the nights of thy life.'
This is the blessing which Âtar speaks unto him who brings him dry wood, well-examined by the light of the day, well-cleansed with godly intent 2.
17. 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 Âtar, the son of Ahura Mazda 3 . . . .
Ashem Vohû: Holiness is the best of all good . . .
18 3. We gladden by our virtue thy mighty Fire, O Ahura! thy most quick and powerful Fire, who shows his assistance 4 to him who has ever comforted him, but delights in taking vengeance with his hands on the man who has harmed him.
Footnotes
357:6 §§ 1-3 = Yasna XXXIII, 12-14.
357:7 'Deliver me from Ahriman' (Pahl. Comm.).
358:3 §§ 7-16 = Yasna LXII, 1-10 (LXI). See the Sanskrit translation in Études Iraniennes, II.
359:1 The mortar for pounding the Haoma.
359:2 In quality and quantity.
359:3 Upasayêni: what is added to keep up the fire when lighted (Pers. transl.).
359:4 The gaoshô-srûta khratu and the âsna khratu (see p. 7. note 1).
360:1 Yâ mê afrasaunghau anghat: yâ me abhût ayogyatâ (Sansk. trans.).
360:4 Khshafnîm, sûirîm (Études Iraniennes, II, 161).
360:6 'Bodily he is infirm (armêst, motionless); spiritually he is a warrior' (Pahl. Comm.).
361:1 See Vend. p. 94, note 1.
361:4 'In the var nîrang' (Pahl. Comm.), that is to say, in the fire ordeal; see above, p. 170, note 3.
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