Yasna XXVII. Prelude to the Chief Recital of the Ahuna-vairya

The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31), L.H. Mills, tr. [1886], at sacred-texts.com

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YASNA XXVII.

PRELUDE TO THE CHIEF RECITAL OF THE AHUNA-VAIRYA.

1. This is to render ¹ Him who is of all the greatest, our lord ² and master ³ (even) Ahura Mazda. And this to smite ⁴ the wicked Angra Mainyu, and to smite Aêshma of the bloody spear, and the Mazainya Daêvas, and to smite all the wicked Varenya Daêvas.

2. And this is to further Ahura Mazda, the resplendent, the glorious, to further the Bountiful Immortals, and the influences of the star Tistrya, the resplendent, the glorious, (and) to the furtherance of the holy man, and of all the (bountiful and) holy creatures of the Bounteous Spirit.

3-5 ⁵. 6. The Haomas are crushed, O Mazda, Khshathra, and Asha, O ye Lords! Good is Sraosha who accompanies the sacrifice with the great glory ⁶, and may he be present affording strenuous help.

7. We are offering saving acts of wisdom and of worship with the sacred gift of the Ahuna-vairya intoned with sanctity, and of the two mortars here

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brought forward ¹ with holy act, and with that of the correctly uttered words likewise; and therefore may they be to us the more saving in their wise significance

8-12 ². 13. As the Ahû is excellent, so is the Ratu (one who rules) from (his) sanctity, a creator of mental goodness, and of life's actions done for Mazda; and the Kingdom (is) for Ahura, which to the poor may offer a nurturer. 14. (What is Your Kingdom, Your riches; how may I be Your own in my actions, to nourish Your poor, O Mazda? Beyond; yea, beyond all we declare You, far from Daêvas and Khrafstra-accursed mortals ³!)

15. We worship the Ahuna-vairya. We worship Asha Vahista, the most beautiful ⁴, the Bountiful Immortal ⁵.

Footnotes

280:1 Dazdyâi would be an infin. for an imperative; but it here refers to the Ahuna. We might say, 'Let this render,' &c.

280:2 See Y. XXXIV, 5.

280:3 Referring to the Ahû and Ratu of the Ahuna, but with erroneous application.

280:4 Comp. Vend. XIX, 9 (Wg.).

280:5 The Ahuna appears here in the MS. with Y. XXXIV, 5, the â airyemâ, and the Ashem Vohû.

280:6 Mãzâ rayâ; otherwise mãzarayâ, with greatness (see Y. XLIII, 12).

281:1 Here the Parsi priests now manipulate the mortars.

281:2 See Y. XXXIII, 11-14; and Y. I, 23, and Y. XII.

281:3 See Y. XXXIV, 15. The Ashem follows.

281:4 Or, 'the best.'

281:5 The YêNhê hâtãm follows. For Y. XXVIII-XXXIV, see the Gâtha Ahunavaiti above, pp. 2-194.