Yasna LXVIII. To the Ahurian One, and the Waters

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

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YASNA LXVIII (SP. LXVII).

TO THE AHURIAN ONE, AND THE WATERS.

1. We offer this to thee, O Ahurian (daughter) of Ahura! as a help ¹ (?) for life. If we have offended thee, let this Zaothra then attain to thee (for satisfaction), for it is thine with its Haoma, and its milk, and its Hadhânaêpata. 2. And may’st thou approach to me for milk and for libation, O Zaothra! as health, for healing, and for progress, for growth and in preparation for ceremonial merit, for good renown, for equanimity ², and for that victory which makes the settlements advance.

3. Yea, we worship thee with sacrifice, O thou Ahurian (daughter) of Ahura with the Zaothras of the good thought; and we worship, O Ahura, one with the Zaothras of the good word and deed (4) for the enlightenment of the thoughts, and words, and actions, for preparation for the soul, for the settlement's advance, and to prepare the saints endowed with ritual merit.

5. And grant me, O thou Ahurian One! Heaven, and to have an offspring manly and legitimate, who may promote my house, my village, my tribe and province, and the authority thereof.

6. We sacrifice to thee, O thou Ahurian one! And we sacrifice to the sea Vouru-kasha, and to all waters upon earth, whether standing, or running, or waters of the well, or spring-waters which perennially

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flow, or the drippings of the rains, or the irrigations of canals. 7. With this hymn from the (spirit of) the Yasna do we worship thee, and with the homage which it offers, as it is the most legitimate ¹ Yasna, and homage of them (all) because of Righteousness the Best. We sacrifice to the good waters, and to the best, which Mazda created. 8. And we sacrifice to the two, to the milk and to the libation, which make the waters flow, and the plants sprout forth, opposing therein the Dragon Daêva-made, for the arrest of that cheat the Pairika, and to contradict the insulting malice of the Ashemaogha (the disturber and destroyer of our Faith), and of the unholy tyrant full of death, and of the human Daêva (worshipper) of hateful malice (and intent).

9. And may’st thou hear our sacrificial chants, O thou Ahurian (daughter) of Ahura! Yea, be propitiated by our Yasna, O Ahurian one! and so may’st thou be present ² at our Yasna; may’st thou come to us to help, as we chant our full-offered Yast, with the full offering of Zaothras.

10. If any man shall sacrifice to you, O ye good waters, the Ahurian ones of Ahura! with the best and most fitting Zaothras offered piously, (11) to that man ye give both splendour and glory, with health and vigour of the body and prominence of form; yea, to him ye give possessions which entail abundant glory, and a legitimate scion, and a long enduring life, and (Heaven at the last), the best life of the saints, shining, all glorious. 12. And to me also do ye now give it, to me who am offering this Yasna as a priest ³.

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(Response ¹.) And to us Mazdayasnians who are likewise offering sacrifice, do ye grant (both the desire and knowledge of the path that is correct ²), to us colleagues, and disciples, Aêthrapaitis and Aêthryas, men and women as well as children, and maidens of the field, (13) who think good only, for the overwhelming of oppression and of malice in the raids of the invader, and in face of foes who hate. Grant to us both the desire ³ of, and the knowledge of that straightest path, the straightest because of Righteousness, and of (Heaven) the best life of the Saints, shining, all glorious. As the Ahû is excellent, so is the Ratu (one who rules) from the Righteous Order, 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 nurture. 14. (The Zaotar speaks): I beseech with my benediction for a safe abode, for a joyful and a long abode for the dwellers in this village from whence these Zaothras (which I offer come). And I pray in my benediction for a safe abode, and a quiet and a joyful one, and a long abiding to every Mazdayasnian village, and for a succour even with my wants, for a succour with salutations of salvation, and for one with praises, O Fire ⁴! and for thee, O Ahurian one of Ahura! do I ask the fullest Yast.

15. And I pray for (?) Râman Hvâstra for this Province, and for healthfulness and healing. And I pray for it with my blessing for you pious men, for all. And I pray for him who is saintly with (true) goodness, whosoever he may be, between heaven

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and the earth, for a thousand healing remedies, and for ten thousand of the same.

16-19. (See Y. VIII, 5-8.) 20. Thus may it happen as I pray. 21. And by this may I gain ¹ (that) blessing, the good Blessedness (our sanctity rewarded). And we address, and we invoke religious zeal and capability, and the waters with our Yasna ² thus: O ye good waters! since (they are) yours, do ye, as you are asked, grant splendour and grant glory, ye who are well able so to give; and do ye, O ye waters! grant (once more) that helpful blessing which was gained from you of old!

22. Praise (be) to Ahura Mazda, and to the Bountiful Immortals. Praise (be) to Mithra of the wide pastures. Praise to the fleet-horsed sun. Praise to (the star which so we name, and with this sun) Ahura Mazda's eyes. Praise to the Kine ³ (the herds of blessed gift). Praise to Gaya (Maretan) and to the Fravashi of Zarathustra (first of) saints; yea, praise to the entire creation of the holy (and the clean), to those now living, and to those just passing into life, and to those of days to come. 23. And do Thou then Ahura, as in answer to these our prayers and songs of praise, cause us to prosper to salvation through Thy Good Mind, the Sovereign Power, and Thy Righteous Order (in Thy ritual and law ⁴)!

Footnotes

321:1 The Pahlavi translator saw the root av in this sense here with K4, 11; P6, but the form is strange.

321:2 So the Pahlavi indicates with no impossible suggestion.

322:1 Or 'virtuous,' with Darmesteter.

322:2 May’st thou sit.

322:3 Zôtŏ î yastar hômanam.

323:1 Or, 'the priest continues speaking for the people.'

323:2 See below.

323:3 Or, 'this desire, the knowledge.'

323:4 Or, 'of the Fire'

324:1 Or, 'the good wisdom' from the second dâ (good adjustment).

324:2 Passages follow from Y. XXXVIII, 2-5.

324:3 The Gâthic Kine.

324:4 See Y. XXXIII, 10. Citations follow from Y. XXXVI, 6; Y. XLIII, 6, also the Ashem and Y. III, 24, 25; then Y. XLVII, 1-7. Then the words 'we worship the chapter Spentâ-mainyu from the beginning,' then the YêNhê hâtãm.