THE GÂHS.

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

p. 376 p. 377

p. 378 p. 379

THE GÂHS.

THE Gâhs are the five divisions of the day. The Hâvani from 6 to 10 A.M., the Rapithwina from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M., the Uzayêirina from 3 to 6 P.M., the Aiwisrûthrima from 6 to 12 P.M., the Ushahina from 12 P.M. to 6 A.M. The Gâhs here following are prayers which must be recited at the Gâhs of the day; hence their name ¹.

I. THE GÂH HÂVAN ².

Unto Ahura Mazda be propitiation. A blessing is Righteousness (called) the Best—.

1. I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper, of Zarathustra's order, a foe to the Daêvas, devoted to the lore of the Lord, for the holy Hâvani, regulator of the ritual order, for its sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and praise, and for Sâvanghi and Vîsya, the righteous regulator(s) of the ritual order, for their homage, sacrifice, propitiation, and praise, and for those of the Asnya, the day-lords during daylight, and the Ayara, lords of the days in their length, and for the Mâhya, the month-lords, and the Yâirya, year-lords, and for those of the especial seasons.

2. And to Mithra of the wide pastures, of the thousand ears, of the myriad eyes, the Yazad of the spoken name ³, be sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and praise, and to Râman Hvâstra.

3, 4. And we sacrifice to Ahura Mazda the holy

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lord of the ritual Order, and to Zarathustra, and to the Fravashi of Zarathustra, the saint. And we sacrifice to the Bounteous Immortals, (the guardians) of the saints, and to the good, heroic, and bounteous Fravashis of the saints (of the living and of the dead), of the bodily, and of those in heaven. And we sacrifice to the highest of the lords, the one that most attains its ends; and we sacrifice to the most strenuous of the Yazads, the most satisfying of the lords of the ritual order, the one who reaches (what he seeks), the most infallibly of those who have as yet approached the nearest in the ritual, even to the timely prayer of the saint who rules in the ritual order. 5. And we sacrifice to the Hâvani, the holy lord of the ritual order, and to the Universal Weal, the holy, ruling in the ritual order, and to Deathlessness, the holy, ruling in the ritual order. And we sacrifice to the question and lore of the holy lord of the ritual. And we sacrifice to that heroic mighty Yasna, the Haptanghâiti, the lord of the ritual order. 6. And we sacrifice to Sâvanghi and Vîsya, the holy lord(s) of the ritual order; and we sacrifice to the Airyemâ-ishyô ¹, the holy lord of the ritual order, the powerful, victoriously smiting, that which no hate can reach, which overwhelms all torments, and which passes over all torments with victory, which is the uppermost, and the middle, and the foremost, for the effective invocation of that surpassing Mãthra, the five Gâthas.

7, 8. And we sacrifice to Mithra of the wide pastures—, and to Râman Hvâstra, for the worship and exaltation of Vîsya, the chief. And we sacrifice to

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[paragraph continues] Vîsya, the holy lord of the ritual order, and to Mithra, and to Râman Hvâstra—.

9-11. And we sacrifice to thee, the Fire, O Ahura Mazda's son, the holy lord of the ritual order. And we sacrifice to this Baresman which has the Zaothra with it, and the girdle with it, and which is spread with exact sanctity, itself the holy lord. And we sacrifice to the Apãm-napât, and to Nairya-sangha, and to that Yazad, the swift curse of the wise. And we sacrifice to the souls of the dead, [which are the Fravashis of the saints]. And we worship that exalted Lord who is Ahura Mazda, the highest object of the ritual order, who is the one who has attained the most to homage in the ritual. And we sacrifice to all the words which Zarathustra spake, and to all the deeds well done, and to those which shall yet be done in days to come. (And) we sacrifice to that male one of beings whose (gift) in the offering Ahura doth know to be better, and of female saints, the same. As the Ahû is to be (revered and) chosen, 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) to Ahura, which to the poor shall offer a nurturer—.

Footnotes

379:1 The term Gâh, itself, may have arisen from the practice of chanting the Gâthas at different fixed times in the day.

379:2 To be recited every day at the time of Hâvani.

379:3 Having a special Yast.

380:1 The personified prayer; see Y. LIV.