Yasna XL. Prayers for Helpers

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

YASNA XL.

PRAYERS FOR HELPERS.

1. And now in these Thy dispensations, O Ahura Mazda! do Thou wisely ⁴ act for us, and with abundance

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with Thy bounty and Thy tenderness ¹ as touching us; and grant that reward which Thou hast appointed to our souls, O Ahura Mazda! 2. Of this do Thou Thyself bestow upon us for this world and the spiritual; and now as part thereof (do Thou grant) that we may attain to fellowship with Thee, and Thy Righteousness for all duration.

3. And do Thou grant us, O Ahura! men who are righteous, and both lovers and producers of the Right as well. And give us trained beasts for the pastures, broken in for riding ², and for bearing, (that they may be) in helpful ³ companionship with us, and as a source of long enduring vigour, and a means of rejoicing grace to us for this ⁴.

4. So let there be a kinsman lord for us, with the labourers of the village, and so likewise let there be the clients (or the peers ⁵). And by the help of those may we arise.

So may we be to You, O Mazda Ahura! holy and true ⁶, and with free giving of our gifts.

Footnotes

288:4 A fem. noun mazdâ = medhâ.

289:1 Otherwise, 'understanding which protects' (?).

289:2 So the Pahlavi and Ner.

289:3 Bezvaitê.

289:4 May we be rejoicing(?).

289:5 Hakhemã (= -a) replacing the airyaman of the Gâthas, and throwing light upon its meaning. The form is irregular.

289:6 Or, 'holy rishis' (ereshayô?).