Yasna LX. Prayers for the Dwelling of the Sacrificer

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

YASNA LX (SP. LIX).

PRAYERS FOR THE DWELLING OF THE SACRIFICER ².

1. Thus that better than the good may he approach, who shows to us straight paths of profit appertaining to this bodily life and to the mental likewise, in the eternal (?) realms where dwells Ahura; yea, may he approach it, who is Thy worthy servant, and good citizen, O Great giver Lord ³!

2. May these blessings approach this house, which are the wise perceptions of the saints, the sacred blessings bestowed through the ritual, their guileless characteristics, together with their recognition of what is due; and may the Righteous Order appear for this village, and the Divine Sovereign Power, together with the benefit and glorious welfare (which ensues),

3. And with these the long enduring prominence of this Religion of Ahura's, the Zarathustrian Faith. And may the Kine ⁴ be now with greatest speed within (the farm-yard of) this house, most speedily

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may the rewarded sanctity and the strength of the holy man be here, most speedily as well Ahura's lore. 4. And may the good and heroic and bountiful Fravashis of the saints come here, and may they go hand in hand with us with the healing virtues of (their) blessed gifts as wide-spread as the earth, as far-spread as the rivers, as high-reaching ¹ as the sun, for the furtherance ² of the better men, for the hindrance of the hostile, and for the abundant growth of riches and of glory.

5. May Sraosha (Obedience) conquer disobedience ³ within this house, and may peace triumph over discord here, and generous giving over avarice, reverence ³ over contempt, speech with truthful words over lying utterance. May the Righteous Order gain the victory over the Demon of the Lie ⁴.

6. As in this (house) the Bountiful Immortals seek for good Yasnas and good praises from the blessed Sraosha (who governs here), and as they seek for (one) good sacrifice and act of homage (more especially their own) which is a good offering ⁵ (to them) for (our) salvation, and a good offering in praise, together with a long continued offering of the entire self ⁶, (7) let not then (their) brilliant glory ⁷ ever desert this house, nor the bright abundance, nor an illustrious ⁸ offspring legitimately ⁹ born, nor that long continued companionship which is the

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furtherance of that good blessedness which teaches concerning glory ¹. 8-10 (= Y. VIII, 5-7).

11. In order that our minds may be ² delighted, and our souls the best, let our bodies be glorified as well, and let them, O Mazda! go likewise openly (unto Heaven) as the best world ³ of the saints as devoted to Ahura, (12) and accompanied by Asha Vahista (who is Righteousness the Best), and the most beautiful! And may we see Thee, and may we, approaching, come around about Thee, and attain to entire companionship with Thee! And we sacrifice to the Righteous Order, the best, the most beautiful, the bounteous Immortal!

Footnotes

310:2 Said on the visitation of farm-houses by the travelling priest.

310:3 See Y. XLIII, 3.

310:4 Gaus seems feminine here, and used collectively, and haka has the Indian sense of saka.

311:1 Earth-wide, stream-long, sun-high.

311:2 Isti seems a dative.

311:3 The name Sraosha had not lost its original meaning; so of Ar(a)maiti.

311:4 Asha-Drugem?

311:5 Possibly, 'good support.'

311:6 Pahl. benafsman.

311:7 Hvâthravat hvarenô determines the sense.

311:8 See 'hvâthravat.'

311:9 The Pahl. does not necessarily render 'heavenly;' the word elsewhere means 'original.'

312:1 Or, 'welfare.'

312:2 Aunghãn.

312:3 The nom. is difficult. The Ashem Vohû and Ahuna follow.