Visparad III

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

VISPARAD III.

BEGINNING OF THE HAOMA OFFERING; ROLL-CALL OF THE PRIEST ².

1. (The Zaotar speaks.) (I call for) the Hâvanan ³, and would have him here.

(The Ratu answers.) I will come (and fulfil his duties).

(The Zaotar speaks.) I would have the Âtarevakhsha ⁴ here.

(The Ratu answers.) I will come (and fulfil the services which fall to his charge).

(The Zaotar.) I would have the Frabaretar ⁵.

(The Ratu.) I will come (and fulfil the services which fall to his charge).

(The Zaotar.) I would have the Âberet ⁶ present.

(The Ratu.) I will come (for him).

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(The Zaotar.) I would have the Âsnatar ¹.

(The Ratu.) I will come (and do the duties which he serves).

(The Zaotar.) I would have the Raêthwiskar ² to be here.

(The Ratu.) I will come (for him).

(The Zaotar.) I would have the Sraoshâvareza ³ present, the wisest one, the most correct and veracious in his speech.

(The Ratu.) I will come. 2. (The Zaotar.) I would have the Fire-priest to be here, and the warrior, and the thrifty tiller ⁴ of the earth, and the house-lord, and the lords of the Vîs and the Zantu.

3. And I summon the youth of holy thoughts, words and works, and of good conscience; (yea), the youth of good speech, given (in marriage) to his kin ⁵. And I summon the province-ranger, and the itinerant of many arts, and the house-mistress.

4. And I summon the woman advanced in her holy thoughts, and words, and deeds, and well subordinated, whose ruler is her lord ⁶, the holy one, who is (as) the bounteous Âramaiti; (yea), I summon even Thy wives, O Ahura! And I summon likewise the holy man advanced in his good thoughts, and words, and deeds, who is learned in pious lore, and innocent of the Kayadha, and by whose deeds the settlements are furthered in the righteous order.

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5. Yea, we summon you, whoever you may be, if only chiefs of the Mazdayasnians; and we summon the Bounteous Immortals, and the pious Saoshyants (the prophets for our help), the most correct and truthful in their speech, the most zealous, the most glorious in their thoughts, the greatest ones, and the powerful; and we summon the Fire-priests, and the warriors, and the diligent husbandman of the Mazdayasnian Faith.

6 ¹. (The Zaotar.) As an Ahû to be (revered and) chosen, the Âtarevakhsha (announcing) speaks forth ² to me.

(The Ratu [?].) So let the Ratu from his righteousness, holy and learned, speak forth.

(The Ratu.) As an Aha to be (revered and) chosen, the Zaotar (announcing) speaks forth ² to me.

(The Zaotar.) So let the Ratu from (his) righteousness, holy and learned, speak forth.

(The Ratu.) Thou art the announcer for us, O Fire-priest! [(Pâzand.) It is the ³ Zaotar (who is meant).]

(The Zaotar.) I will come as this Zaotar, and recite the Staota Yêsnya with memorised intoning, chanting, and praise.

Footnotes

341:2 This chapter 1-5 follows Y. XI, 1-8 in the Vendîdâd Sâdah; so, appropriately.

341:3 The Ratu answers for all according to the rubric printed by Westergaard, but of later origin than the text. It arose from the fact that the several offices were later united in that of the Ratu. Originally the corresponding official answered to his title. The Hâvanan was the Mobad who pounded the Haoma in the mortar.

341:4 The Mobad who fed the Fire.

341:5 The Mobad who aided the presentations.

341:6 The water carrier.

342:1 The washer.

342:2 The mixer (?), or the Mobad who attended to disinfections.

342:3 The Mobad who attended to penance.

342:4 The typical layman.

342:5 This important custom was fully treated in the lost Nask, No. 16 (or No. 18, by another reckoning).

342:6 So the most, but ratukhshathra means elsewhere 'ruling in the ritual as supreme.'

343:1 This section follows Y. XI, 9-15 in the V.S., preceding a section described as Y. XI, 59, 60, in the B.V.S.

343:2 Probably in an imperative sense, or, with some, an infinitive.

343:3 Read Zaotasti which contains sandhi. It seems a gloss to explain the Âthraom (sic). It is zaotâ asti.