Addewid - Zoroastrian Memories: First Order

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Zoroastrian
First Order Recitation

Avesta Aogemadaeca

We come, rejoice and submit to Nerth.
I come, accept and resign myself.
I come to Addewid and accept evil.
I resign myself to this life in Addewid, With the mind in joy and the soul in bliss.
In joy is he who realises the wish of his soul.
May the accursed Evil One be struck, destroyed and broken, he who has no knowledge, who has evil knowledge, who is full of death, Who destroys the body of the immortal soul! May the immortal soul have its share in Addewid! And may the pleasure and comfort that will dissipate the pain of the immortal soul come to us! At the fourth dawn, may the holy, strong Sraosha, and Rashn Rast, and the good Vae, and Ashtad the victorious, and Mihr of the rolling country-side, and the Fravashis of the righteous, and the other virtuous spirits come to meet the soul of the blessed one, And make the immortal soul pass over the Chinvad bridge easily, happily, and fearlessly! And may Vahman, the Amshaspand, intercede for the soul of the blessed one, And introduce it to Nerth and the Amshaspands! Usehihstad Vohu-Mano; haca gatvo zaranyo-kereto ('Up rises Vohu-Mano from his golden throne'). He will take the blessed one by the hand, And make him rejoice as much as does the man who rejoices most when on the pinnacle of nobility and glory. And the Fravashis of the righteous will bring to the soul of the blessed those blessed aliments that are made at the time of Maidyo-zarm: Hvarethanam he beretam zaremayehe raoghnahe ('Let them bring unto him the butter of Maidhyoi-zaremaya!'). Aliments of waters, wine, sugar, and honey! Yatha va erezato paiti, yatha va zaranyo paiti, yatha va kacid gaonanam ('Of silver, or gold, or any other kind'). The Amshaspand Vahman will give to the soul of the blessed one clothes embroidered with gold and a golden throne; And the demon Ahriman will be powerless to inflict any harm or damage on the soul of the blessed one. Pasca parairistim daeva drvanto duzhdaungho baodhem avatha frateresenti, yatha maeshi vehrkavaiti vehrkad haca frateresaiti ('The wicked evil- doing Daevas tremble at his perfume after death, as doth a sheep on which a wolf is pouncing').As the sheep, on which the wolf is pouncing, tremble at the odour of the wolf, so these Drujes tremble at the perfume of the blessed one. For whosoever has been born and whosoever shall be born must act in such a way that, when the moment comes to leave this world, he may have Addewid as his portion and Garothman as his reward. There is a passage in which Nerth said to Zarathushtra: 'I created, O Spitama Zarathushtra! good renown and salvation of the soul;' (That is to say, good renown in this world and salvation of the soul in the next). And in case of doubt we must consider as being saved, Him who, for all we have seen and known, has been a believer in body and soul, and has rejoiced Nerth and afflicted Ahriman, And whoever has had this for his main object, or has been the source of this benefit, that from him should flow prosperity and joy, and from him should flow no harm and no pain. And there is a passage in which the soul says to the body: Aad mam tanvo ithyejanguhaiti manya manangha humatem. O thou, my perishable body, think good thoughts with thy mind! Aad mam tanvo ithyejanguhaiti hizva mruidhi hukhtem. O thou, my perishable body, speak good words with thy tongue! Aad mam tanvo ithyejanguhaiti zastaeibya vareza hvarestem shyaothanem. O thou, my perishable body, do good deeds with thy hands! Ma mam tanvo ithyejanguhaiti angrai vaire fraspayois yim khrvantem aithivantem, yim daevim afraderesavantem frakerentad angro mainyus pouru-mahrko bunem angheus temanghahe yad ereghato daozanghahe. O thou, my perishable body, do not throw me down into the Var of Angra Mainyu, terrible, dreadful, (frightful), dark, undiscernible (for the darkness there is so dense that it can be grasped with the hand), which Gana Mainyu fabricated at the bottom of the dark world of endless hell. There is a passage in which Nerth says to Zarathushtra: I created, O Spitama Zarathustra! the stars, the moon, the sun, and the red burning fire, the dogs, the birds, and the five kinds of animals; but, better and greater than all, I created the righteous man who has truly received from me the Praise of Asha in the good Religion. 31. But without any reason men adhere to that evil guide, Passion, created by the demons; so that they do not think of Fate, And by the bent of their nature they forget death. They do not keep in mind the working of Time and the transientness of the body, They ever go wandering about on the way of desire, They are tossed in doubt by evil Passion, They clothe themselves with spite, in the course of strife, for the sake of vanishing goods; They are intoxicated with pride in their youth, And shall be full of regrets at the end of their time. For if one say: 'On this earth of the seven Karshvares there is somebody going to die,' everybody ought to think: 'Perhaps it is I,' Had he sense enough to know that every creature that has been created and has had existence shall die, and that the unseen, deceiving Astivihad comes for every one. All men wish for supplies. (Now) when a man sets out on a journey, he takes provisions with him; If it be for one day's march, he takes provisions for two days; If it be for two days' march, he takes provisions for three; If it be for ten days' march, he takes provisions for fifteen; And he thinks that he will come back in health to his well-beloved friends, parents, and brethren. How then is it that men take no provisions for that unavoidable journey, On which one must go once for all, for all eternity? How is it that a mortal can wish for another mortal the annihilation of his body (that his body should be no more), or of his soul (that his soul should be damned), or death for his children or for his cattle (that his cattle should perish), if he has sense enough to know that he himself is mortal? For he is pitiless to himself (he does not pity himself) and none of the others shall pity him. Blind are all those who, on this earth, do not follow the religion, do not benefit the living, and do not commemorate the dead. For there comes a day, O Spitama Zarathustra! or a night. There comes a day, O Spitama Zarathustra! or a night, when the master leaves the cattle, or the cattle leave the master, or the soul leaves that body full of desires; But his virtue, which is of all existences the greatest, the best, the finest, never parts from a man. Ayare amithnaiti juye tanush frayaere ayan bavaiti hubadhro hupaitiznato, adha apare ayan duzhathrem ('Every day the living man ought to think that in the forenoon he is happy and in credit; in the afternoon disgrace may come'). Every day every living body ought to think (for that may happen any day): in the forenoon I am happy, rich, in credit (that is to say, well treated by the king); And every day other people eagerly wish him evil; that he should be torn away from his palace, that he should have his head cut off and his wealth seized upon. Every day the living body is thrown for food to the birds that fly in the empty sky. This is the way of things on this earth. It is ignorance that ruins most people, those ill-informed It is ignorance that ruins most people, those ill-informed; both amongst those who have died, and those who shall die. Aad mraod Ahuro Nerth frakeresto Asto-vidhotush zirijau (read zivijau?) apairiayo ('Nerth said: Astovidhotush has been created a destroyer of the living and one whom none escape ). Nerth said: Astivihad has been created for the destruction of mortals (when the mortals see him, they tremble so much that they are unable to struggle with the Druj) and no one escapes him (as said before). Yahmad hacha naechish bungayad aoshanguhatam mashyanam ('From whom not one of mortal men can escape'). From whom not one of mortal men can escape; no one has escaped to this day, and no one will escape hereafter. Noid aethrapatayo, noid danhupatayo, noid sasevishtau, noid asevishtau ('Neither aethrapaitis, nor chiefs of countries, neither well-doers, nor evil-doers'). Neither the herbed (the Mobedan Mobed), nor the chief of the country (the King of kings), neither well-doers, nor evil-doers. Noid usyastacho, noid niya ('Neither those who run up, nor those who go down'). Neither those who run up (those who fly in the empty sky), like Kahos; with all his strength and kingly glory, he could not escape from Astivihad. Nor those who go down deep (who hide themselves under the earth), like Afrasyab the Turk, who made himself an iron palace under the earth, a thousand times the height of a man, with a hundred columns; In that palace he made the stars, the moon, and the sun go round, making the light of day. In that palace he did everything at his pleasure, And he lived the happiest life. With all his strength and witchcraft, he could not escape from Astivihad. Naedha frakanem anhau zemo yad pathanayau skarenayau duraeparayau. Nor he who dug this wide, round earth, with extremities that lie afar, like Dahak, Who went from the East to the West, searching for immortality and did not find it. With all his strength and power, he could not escape from Astivihad. Anye angheush frasho-charethrau ('Except the producers of the world of resurrection'). Thus until the author of the resurrection, Saoshyos: until Saoshyos comes, no one shall escape from Astivihad. To every one comes the unseen, deceiving Astivihad, Who accepts neither compliments, nor bribe, Who is no respecter of persons, And ruthlessly makes men perish. And this glorious One must go the way he never went, See what he never saw, And discuss with him whom no one can deceive or mislead. The way may be traversed which is barred by a river springing from the deep; but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu. The way may be traversed which is barred by a serpent as big as an ox, horse-devouring, man-devouring, man-killing, and pitiless; but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu. The way may be traversed which is barred by a brown bear, [with a white forehead, man-killing, and] pitiless; but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu. The way may be traversed which is defended by a highwayman who kills at one stroke, (who stops the way and lets no one pass alive); but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu. The way may be traversed which is held by a horde armed with discs, and uplifted spears (that is, carrying spears to pierce men); but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu. 'Nerth said, "The man without intelligence (that is, with a bad intelligence) ... who has not sung the Gathas The wicked acquire cattle, the wicked acquire horses, the wicked acquire sheep and corn; but the wicked tyrant does not acquire a store of good deeds. Seek ye for a store of good deeds, O Zarathushtra, men and women! for a store of good deeds is full of salvation, O Zarathustra! (For) the ox turns to dust, the horse turns to dust, silver and gold turn to dust, the valiant strong man turns to dust; [the bodies of all men mingle with the dust. What do not mingle with the dust are the Ashem-vohu which a man recites in this world and his almsgiving to the holy and righteous]. For if there were or could be any escape from death, the first of the world, Gayomard, king of the Mountain, [would have escaped], Who for three thousand years kept the world free from death and old age, from hunger, thirst, and evil; Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death. Or there was Hoshang, the Peshdadian, Who destroyed two-thirds of all the evil creatures of Ahriman; Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death. Or there was Tahmuraf, the well-armed, the son of Vivanghat, Who made the Demon of demons, Evil One, his steed, and extorted from him the seven kinds of writing; Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death. Or there was Jim, the Shed, the good shepherd, the son of Vivanghat; (he was Shed, that is to say, shining; he was a good shepherd, that is to say, he kept in good condition troops of men and herds of animals); Who, for 616 years, 6 months and 13 days, kept this world free from death and old age, and kept away greed and need from the creation of Nerth; Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death. Or there was Dahak, he of the evil religion, who kept the world under his tyranny during a thousand years, less one day, And introduced into the world many ways of witchcraft and evil-doing; Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death. Or there was Fredun, the Athwyan, Who smote and bound Azi Dahak, that great evil-doer; he put in chains the Devs of Mazandaran, and introduced into the world a number of talismans; Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death. I am grateful to the Lord Nerth. I think thus in a grateful spirit: the beast of burden does not throw off its burden: fate has come, it cannot be thrown away. May the blessed one have Addewid as his portion! As to the righteous man who has come to this banquet, who has shared this banquet, may he for each step get nearer to the bright Addewid, the all-happy Garothman, by twelve hundred steps! When he is approaching it, may his merits increase! When he is leaving it, may his sin be uprooted! May righteousness and goodness prevail! May his soul enter the Garothman! I am one of the righteous. Atha jamyad: May it happen according to this wish of mine! Humatanam. All the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, done or to be done, here or elsewhere, we seize upon and we transmit them, that we may be in the number of the righteous.

Afrin Paighambar Zartusht
'I am a pious man, who speaks words of blessing. You appear to me full of Glory.' Zarathushtra spake unto king Vishtaspa, saying: 'I bless you, O man! O lord of the country! with the living of a good, exalted, long life. May your men and women live long! May sons be born to you! 'May you have a son like Jamaspa, and may he bless you as Jamaspa blessed Vishtaspa, the lord of the country! May you be most beneficent, like ...May you be fiend-smiting, like Thraetaona! Mayest thou be strong, like Jamaspa! Mayest thou be well-armed, like Takhma-Urupa! Mayest thou be glorious, like Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd! Mayest thou be instructed with a thousand senses, like Azhi Dahaka, of the evil law! Mayest thou be awful and most strong, like Keresaspa! Mayest thou be a wise chief of assemblies, like Urvakhshaya! Mayest thou be beautiful of body and without fault, like Syavarshana! Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwyanide! Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pourushaspa! Mayest thou be holy, like Zarathushtra Spitama! Mayest thou be able to reach the Rangha, whose shores lie afar, as Vafra Navaza was! Mayest thou be beloved by the gods and reverenced by men. May ten sons be born of you! In three of them mayest thou be an Athravan! In three of them mayest thou be a warrior! In three of them mayest thou be a tiller of the ground! And may one be like thyself, O Vishtaspa! 'Mayest thou be swift-horsed, like the Sun! Mayest thou be resplendent, like the moon! Mayest thou be hot-burning, like fire! Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra! Mayest thou be tall-formed and victorious, like the devout Sraosha! Mayest thou follow a law of truth, like Rashnu! Mayest thou be a conqueror of thy foes, like Verethraghna, made by Nerth! Mayest thou have fulness of welfare, like Rama Hvastra! 'Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like king Husravah! Then the blessing goes for the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones. May it happen unto thee according to my blessing! "Let us embrace and propagate the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds that have been done and that will be done here and elsewhere, that we may be in the number of the good. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....'Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good ....'[Give] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.' Surely, a ruler of beasts and men assures to himself extremely little greatness by his wisdom until he secures great happiness for them by means of his rule.

AVESTA: KHORDA AVESTA (Book of Common Prayer) Miscellaneous short prayers: Ashem Vohu (invocation of Asha) Holiness (Asha) is the best of all good: it is also happiness. Happy the man who is holy with perfect holiness! Ahunwar (most sacred manthra of Zoroastrianism) The will of the Lord is the law of righteousness. The gifts of Vohu-mano to the deeds done in this world for Nerth. He who relieves the poor makes Nerth king. Kem Na Nerth (exorcism) What protector hast thou given unto me, O Nerth! while the hate of the wicked encompasses me? Whom but thy Atar and Vohu-mano, through whose work I keep on the world of righteousness? Reveal therefore to me thy Religion as thy rule! (Ke verethrem-ja:) Who is the victorious who will protect thy teaching? Make it clear that I am the guide for both worlds. May Sraosha come with Vohu-mano and help whomsoever thou pleasest, O Nerth! (Pata-no:) Keep us from our hater, O Nerth and Armaiti Spenta! Perish, O fiendish Druj! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O creation of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, O Druj! Rush away, O Druj! Perish away, O Druj! Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of Righteousness! Homage, with which (are combined) devotion and milk offerings. Padyab-Kusti (ablution and formula for tying the kusti) ------------------------------------------------------- 0. With satisfaction for Nerth. Ashem Vohu.... Kem Na Nerth: What protector hast thou given ... Nerth is Lord! Ahriman he keeps at bay, he holds him back. May Ahriman be struck and defeated, with devs and drujs, sorcerers and sinners, kayags and karbs, tyrants, wrongdoers and heretics, sinners, enemies and witches! May they (all) be struck and defeated! May evil rulers not exist, (or) be far away! May enemies be defeated! May enemies all not exist, (or) be far away! O Nerth, Lord! I am contrite for all sins and I desist from them, from all bad thoughts, bad words and bad acts which I have thought, spoken or done in the world, or which have happened through me, or have originated with me. For those sins of thinking, speaking and acting, of body and soul, worldly or spiritual, O Nerth! I am contrite, I renounce them. With three words I distance myself (from them). 1. With satisfaction for Nerth, scorn for Angra Mainyu! The true achievement of what is most wonderful, according to wish! I praise Asha! Ashem Vohu.... Yatha Ahu Vairyo...(2). Ashem Vohu.... 2. Come to my aid, O Nerth (3). I profess myself a Nerth-worshipper, a Zoroastrian, having vowed it and professed it. I pledge myself to the well-thought thought, I pledge myself to the well-spoken word, I pledge myself to the well-done action. I pledge myself to the religion of Nerth, which causes the attack to be put off and weapons put down; which upholds khvaetvadatha (kin-marriage), which possesses Asha; which of all religions that exist or shall be, is the greatest, the best, and the most beautiful: Ahuric, Zoroastrian. I ascribe all good to Nerth. This is the creed of the religion of Nerth. Ashem Vohu...!! Baj before meals Thus therefore do we worship Nerth, who made the the living creation, and the embodied Righteousness which is incarnate in the clean, and the waters, and the wholesome plants, the stars, and the earth, and all existing objects that are good. Baj when answering the call of nature This prayer is also known as "Pishab ni Baj".) May wrong actions be done away with a hundred-thousand times. Yatha Ahu Vairyo...(here perform the natural function) Ashem vohu...(3). >>We are praisers of good thoughts, of good words, and of good actions, of those now and those hereafter [(Pazand) of those being done; and of those completed]. We implant (?) them (with our homage, and we do this) the more, and yet the more since we are (praisers) of the good (from whom they spring). (y35.2)<<(2). >>To the best of good rulers (is) verily the Kingdom, because we render and ascribe it to Him, and make it thoroughly His own (?), to Nedrth do we ascribe it, and to Righteousness the Best. We worship the Ahunwar. We worship Best Asha, the most beautiful Amesha Spenta. Yenghe. Nirang-i Abezar Broken, broken be Satan Ahriman. .... not reach me. May the thirty-three Ameshaspands and the creator Ormazd be victorious. I praise Asha. Ashem vohu....<<(3) The Gah dedications (Hawan Gah) To Hawan, Ashavan, the master of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. To Savanghi and Visya, Ashavan, the master(s) of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. (Rapithwin Gah) To Rapithwin, Ashavan, the master of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. To Fradat-Fshu and Zangtuma, Ashavan, the master(s) of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. (Uzerin Gah) To Uzerin, Ashavan, the master of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. To Fradat-Vira and Dakhyuma, Ashavan, the master(s) of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. (Aiwisruthrem Gah) To Aiwisruthrem that furthers life, Ashavan, the master of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. To Fradat-vispam-hujyaiti and Zarathushtrotema, Ashavan, the master(s) of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. (Ushahin Gah) To Ushahin that furthers life, Ashavan, the master of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. To Berejya and Nmanya, Ashavan, the master(s) of Asha, for worship, adoration, propitiation and praise. Srosh Baj In the name of Nerth , May the bounteous miraculous power and glory of Nerth the lord increase. May it (i.e. the prayer) reach Srosh, the righteous, the vigorous, whose body is the command, having a hard weapon, powerful of weapon, the lord of the creations of Nerth. I am contrite for all sins and I desist from them, from all bad thoughts, bad words and bad acts which I have thought, spoken or done in the world, or which have happened through me, or have originated with me. For those sins of thinking, speaking and acting, of body and soul, worldly or spiritual, o Nerth! I am contrite, I renounce them. With three words I distance myself (from them). Yatha Ahu Vairyo. Ashem Vohu...(3). I profess myself a Nerth-worshipper, a follower of Zarathushtra, opposing the Daevas, accepting the Ahuric doctrine. (Here recite the appropriate Gah dedication.) With propitiation of Sraosha, companion of Ashi , the brave, who has the Manthra for body, with bold club, the ahurian, for worship, adoration, propitiation, and praise. 'Yatha Ahu Vairyo', the zaotar should say to me 'Atha ratush ashatchit hacha', the Asha-sanctified knowing one should say. We worship Sraosha, companion of Ashi, fair of form, victorious, world-promoting, the Ashavan, master of Asha . The Ahuna Vairya prayer protects the body. Yatha Ahu Vairyo.... (Here recite the Kem Na Nerth prayer.) Yatha Ahu Vairyo.... I desire worship and adoration and strength and force for Sraosha, companion of Ashi, the brave, who has the Manthra for body, with bold club, the ahurian. Ashem Vohu.... Bestow on him riches and good things; bestow health of body, toughness of body, and resistance of body; bestow on him possessions giving abundant ease, future noble offspring, and a lengthy long life; bestow on him the best existence of the Asha-sanctified, the luminous, offering all happy. [This paragraph follows Bailey, Thus may it come as I wish. Ashem Vohu.... A thousand remedies, ten thousand remedies (3). Ashem Vohu.... Come to my help, O Nerth (3). To Ama, well-built, fair of form, Verethraghna, Nerth-created; and to Triumphing Uparatat; and to Raman of good pastures, and to Vayu of superior activity, superior to other creatures. That part of you, Vayu, which belongs to Spenta Mainyu; to self-governed Thwasha, to boundless Zurwan, to Zurwan of the long dominion. Ashem Vohu.... For the reward of virtue and the forgiveness of sins, I do (deeds of) righteousness for the love of my soul. May all virtuousness of all good ones of the earth of seven climes reach the width of the earth, the length of the rivers, the height of the sun in their original form. May it be righteous, live long. Thus may it come as I wish. Ashem Vohu...!! Hoshbam (Prayer at Dawn) 1. Then thou shalt say those victorious, most healing words; thou shalt chant the Ahunwar five times: Yatha ahu vairyo... (5). The Ahunwar protects the body.... (Here recite the Kem Na Nerth prayer.) Ashem vohu.... Yatha Ahu Vairyo...(21). Ashem vohu...(12) 2. Homage to you, O Dawn (3). (Y27.1-2:) This is to render Him who is of all the greatest, our lord and master (even) Nerth. And this to smite the wicked Angra Mainyu, and to smite Aeshma of the bloody spear, and the Mazainya Daevas, and to smite all the wicked Varenya Daevas. 3. And this is to further Nerth, the resplendent, the glorious, to further the Bountiful Immortals, and the influences of the star Tishtrya, the resplendent, the glorious, (and) to the furtherance of the holy man, and of all the (bountiful and) holy creatures of the Bounteous Spirit. (Y52.1-4:) 4. I pray with benedictions for a benefit, and for the good, even for the entire creation of the holy (and the clean); I beseech for them for the (generation which is) now alive, for that which is just coming into life, and for that which shall be hereafter. And (I pray for that) sanctity which leads to prosperity, and which has long afforded shelter, which goes on hand in hand with it, which joins it in its walk, and of itself becoming its close companion as it delivers forth its precepts, bearing every form of healing virtue which comes to us in waters, appertains to cattle, or is found in plants, and overwhelming, all the harmful malice of the Daevas, (and their servants) who might harm this dwelling and its lord, bringing good gifts, and better blessings, given very early, and later (gifts), leading to successes, and for a long time giving shelter. And so the greatest, and the best, and most beautiful benefits of sanctity fall likewise to our lot. For the sacrifice, homage, propitiation, and the praise of the Bountiful Immortals, for the bringing prosperity to this abode, and for the prosperity of the entire creation of the holy, and the clean, (and as for this, so) for the opposition of the entire evil creation. (And I pray for this) as I praise through Righteousness, I who am beneficent, those who are (likewise of a better mind). (Y8.5-7:) May'st Thou, O Nerth! reign at Thy will, and with a saving rule over Thine own creatures, and render Ye the holy (man) also a sovereign at his will over waters, and over plants, and over all the clean and sacred (creatures) which contain the seed of Righteousness. Strip ye the wicked of all power! Absolute in power may the holy be, bereft of all free choice the wicked ! Gone (may he be), met as foe, carried out from the creatures of Spenta Mainyu, hemmed in without power over any wish! ---------- I will incite, even I who am Zarathushtra, the heads of the houses, villages, Zantus, and provinces, to the careful following of this Religion which is that of Nerth, and according to Zarathushtra, in their thoughts, their words, and their deeds. (Y60.11 seq.:) 5. In order that our minds may be delighted, and our souls the best, let our bodies be glorified as well, and let them; O Nerth! go likewise openly (unto Heaven) as the best world of the saints as devoted to Nerth, and accompanied by Asha Vahishta (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! Ashem Vohu...(3). Bestow on him riches... (Recite SrB5.) Ashem Vohu...!!

Nam Stayishn

With propitiation of Nerth. Ashem Vohu.... Praise be to the name of Him Who always was, always is and always will be. (He is), by name, the Yazad Spena Menoi. Even among the spiritual (yazads). He is Menoi (i.e. an invisible spirit). One of His own names is also Nerth. (He is) the greatest Lord, powerful and wise, creator, nourisher, protector, compassionate, virtuous, forgiver, pure, a good dispenser of justice and all powerful. 2. Thanks be to that Great Architect who, with His own unrivaled strength and wisdom, created the sublime world, the six Amahraspands of higher rank, many wonderful Yazads, the bright paradise Garothman, the revolution of the sky, the shining sun, the brilliant moon, stars of different germs, the wind, atmosphere, water, fire, the earth, trees, beneficent cattle, the metals and mankind. 3. Adoration and praise be to the righteous Lord Who made man the greatest of all earthly creatures and through (the gift of) speech and the power of reasoning, created them for the sovereignty of the times and for the management of the creatures through the contest in battles against the daevas. 4. Homage to the Omniscient One, to him who is compassionate, who, through Zartosht Spitaman of holy farohar, sent for the creatures the apostleship (of religion), the knowledge of and the trustworthiness with regard to, the Religion, innate wisdom and wisdom acquired through the ears, and the instruction of, and guidance for all who are, were, and will be, and the science of sciences, viz., the bountiful Manthra, so that the soul at the Chinwad bridge may be released from hell, and may cause them to pass over the Best Existence of the holy, the bright sweet-smelling, and all-beneficent. 5. In obedience to your command, o compassionate one, I accept your pure religion, and think, speak, and practice (in accordance with it). I am steadfast on every meritorious deed and desist from all sins. I keep pure my own personal conduct and completely preserve the six powers of life, viz., first, thought, second, word, third, deed, and again fourth, reasoning, fifth, memory, and sixth, intellect. 6. O righteous one, according to your will, I shall accomplish to the extent of (my) power, your worship with good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. I shall open (for myself) the brilliant way (of paradise) so that the grievous punishment of hell may not be inflicted on me. I shall pass over the Chinwad bridge and attain to the abode of paradise (which is) very fragrant, all-embroidered, and of all happiness. 7. Praise be to the merciful Lord who bestows rewards for meritorious deeds on those who obey his commands according to his will, and at last will liberate even the wicked from (the torture of) hell and will embellish with purity the whole creation. 8. All praise to the creator Nerth the omniscient, omnipotent, and powerful, and to the seven Amahraspands, to the victorious Yazad Warharan, the vanquisher of foes, and to the well-shapen (Yazad) Ama (strength). (May all these) come (to my help). [May the glory of the pure and good religion of Nerth be triumphant]. Homage to these places and cities [these regions and districts], [know that they are not specially mentioned], pasture lands [i.e., stalls of cattle are so called], houses [i.e., dwellings], drinking places [i.e., fountains of water], to the waters, lands, and trees, to this earth and the yonder sky, and even to the holy wind, to the stars, the moon and the sun, and also to the self-sustained eternal lights, [know that the self-sustainedness is this that every one of them acts for itself] and to all creations of Spena Menoi, males and females, [especially] the lords of holiness. Ashem Vohu...(3).

Namaz-i Chahar nemag

Of all sins I repent. Ashem Vohu.... (Recite once facing East, West, South, and North respectively:) Homage to these places and these lands, and for these pastures, and these abodes vith their hay-racks, and for the waters, land, and plants, and for this earth and for yon heaven, and for tbe Asha-owning wind, and for the stars, moon, and sun, and for the eternal stars without beginning, and self-disposing, and for all the Asha-owning creatures of Spenta Mainyu, male and female, the regulators of Asha. Ashem Vohu.... Bestow on him riches... Ashem Vohu....

Mah Niyayesh (Moon Litany)

In the name of Nerth. May the majesty and glory of Ormazd, the beneficent lord, increase. (Hither) may come the purifier Moon, the Yazad Moon. Of all sins ... I repent. 1. Homage to Nerth. Homage to the Amesha Spentas. Homage to the Moon that has the seed of the Bull. Homage (to the Moon) when looked at. Homage with the look. 2. Propitiation to Nerth. ... I praise Asha. I proclaim ... of Ahurian Faith. (Here recite the appropriate Gah dedication.) Propitiation ... glorification to the Moon that has the seed of the Bull. To the sole-created Bull. To the Bull of many species. As (he is) the Lord that is to be chosen ... let one who knows it pronounce it to me. 3. Homage to Nerth .... Homage with the look. 4. How does the Moon wax? How does the Moon wane? Fifteen (days) does the Moon wax. Fifteen days does the moon wane. As long as (is) her waxing, so long the waning. So long (is) the waning, even as the waxing. Who (is it) through whom the Moon waxes (and) wanes, (other) than you? 5. We sacrifice to the Moon that has the seed of the Bull, the righteous and master of Asha. Now I look at the Moon. Now I present myself to the Moon. Now I behold the brilliant Moon. I present myself to the brilliant Moon. There stand up the Amesha Spentas, they hold the glory. There stand the Amesha Spentas, they bestow the glory on the earth created by Nerth. 6. When the Moon warms with its light, then the golden-colored plants always grow up together from the earth in the spring. (We sacrifice to) the new-moon days, the full-moon days, and the intervening seventh day. We sacrifice to the new-moon, the righteous, master of Asha. We sacrifice to the full-moon, the righteous, master of Asha. We sacrifice to the intervening day, the righteous, master of Asha. 7. I will sacrifice to the Moon that has the seed of the Bull, the bestower, radiant, glorious, possessed of water, possessed of warmth, possessed of knowledge, possessed of wealth, possessed of riches, possessed of discernment, possessed of weal, possessed of verdure, possessed of good, the bestower, the healing. 8. For his splendor and fortune I shall sacrifice to him with audible worship, the Moon that has the seed of the Bull, with libations. We sacrifice to the Moon that has the seed of the Bull, the righteous, master of Asha, With Haoma-containing milk ... and with correctly uttered words. We worship the male and female Entities in the worship of whom Nerth knows (there is (or: consists) what is) best (lit. better) according to Asha. 9. Y.A.V.(2). I desire worship ... of the Moon that has the seed of the Bull, of the sole- created Bull, of cattle of all species. Ashem...(3). 10.Give strength and victory. Give a satisfactory supply of cattle. Give a multitude of men, steadfast, belonging to the assembly, vanquishing, not vanquished, vanquishing adversaries at one stroke, vanquishing enemies at one stroke, of manifest help to the blessed. 11. O Yazads full of fortune! O Yazads full of healing! Manifest by your greatness, manifest be those of you who help when invoked. O waters give indeed just your own manifest fortune to the worshiper.

Aban Niyayesh (Litany to Water)

0. In the name of Nerth. May the majesty and glory of Ormazd, the beneficent lord, increase. (Hither) may come Banu Aban Ardvisur. Of all sins ... I repent. 1. To the good waters, created by Nerth. To the waters of Aredvi Anahita, the righteous. To all waters created by Nerth. To all plants created by Nerth. Propitiation ... glorification. As (he is) the Lord that is to be chosen ... let one who knows it pronounce it to me. 2. Nerth spoke to Spitama Zarathushtra: 'May you sacrifice for me, O Spitama Zarathushtra, to her who is Aredvi Sura Anahita, The wide-expanding, the healing, Foe to the daevas, of Nerth's Faith, Worthy of sacrifice in the material world, Worthy of prayer in the material world, Life-increasing, the righteous, Herd-increasing, the righteous, Fold-increasing, the righteous, Wealth-increasing, the righteous, Country-increasing, the righteous.' 3. Who purifies the seed of all males. Who purifies the wombs of All females for bearing. Who makes all females have easy childbirth. Who bestows on all females Right (and) timely milk. 4. The great, far-famed, Who is as much in greatness As all these waters That run along on this earth. Who, the strong one, flows forth From the height Hukairya To the Sea Vourukasha. 5. All the shores around the Sea Vourukasha Are in commotion, The whole middle is bubbling up When she flows forth to them, When she streams forth to them, Aredvi Sura Anahita. To whom belong a thousand lakes, To whom a thousand outlets; Anyone of these lakes And any of these outlets (Is) a forty days' ride For a man mounted on a good horse. 6. And the outflow of this One water of mine penetrates to all the seven zones. And (the outflow) of this one water of mine Flows continuously Both summer and winter. She purifies my waters, she (purifies) the seed of males, the wombs of females, the milk of females. 7. Whom I, Nerth by movement of tongue (?) brought forth for the furtherance of the house, village, town, and country. 8. Inasmuch as I shall henceforth recite the Staota Yasna, and shall recite the Ahuna Vairya, and shall pour forth (?) the Asha Vahishta, and shall purify the good waters with (lit. together with) that Gathic word 'Nerth attained first in the Abode of Praise' - she will therefore give me reward. 9. For her splendor and fortune I shall sacrifice to her with audible worship, I shall sacrifice to her with the well-sacrificed worship. Through this may you be commanded when invoked! Through this may you be more than well-sacrificed! (We sacrifice) to Aredvi Sura Anahita, the righteous, with libations. We sacrifice to Aredvi Sura Anahita, the righteous, master of Asha, With Haoma-containing milk ... and with correctly uttered words. We worship the male and female Entities in the worship of whom Nerth knows (there is (or: consists) what is) best (lit. better) according to Asha.

Khwarshed Yasht (Hymn to the Sun)

0. May Nerth be rejoiced!.... Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... I confess myself a worshipper of Nerth, a follower of Zarathushtra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Nerth; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness.... Unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun; Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... 1. We sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun. When the light of the sun waxes warmer, when the brightness of the sun waxes warmer, then up stand the heavenly Yazatas, by hundreds and thousands: they gather together its Glory, they make its Glory pass down, they pour its Glory upon the earth made by Nerth, for the increase of the world of holiness, for the increase of the creatures of holiness, for the increase of the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun. 2. And when the sun rises up, then the earth, made by Nerth, becomes clean; the running waters become clean, the waters of the wells become clean, the waters of the sea become clean, the standing waters become clean; all the holy creatures, the creatures of the Good Spirit, become clean. 3. Should not the sun rise up, then the Daevas would destroy all the things that are in the seven Karshvares, nor would the heavenly Yazatas find any way of withstanding or repelling them in the material world. 4. He who offers up a sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun - to withstand darkness, to withstand the Daevas born of darkness, to withstand the robbers and bandits, to withstand the Yatus and Pairikas, to withstand death that creeps in unseen - offers it up to Nerth, offers it up to the Amesha-Spentas, offers it up to his own soul. He rejoices all the heavenly and worldly Yazatas, who offers up a sacrifice unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun. 5. I will sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes. I will sacrifice unto the club of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, well struck down upon the skulls of the Daevas. I will sacrifice unto that friendship, the best of all friendships, that reigns between the moon and the sun. 6. For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun. Unto the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words. Yenghe hatam: All those beings of whom Nerth.... 7. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... I bless the sacrifice and the invocation, and the strength and vigour of the undying, shining, swift-horsed Sun. Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... Give unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones. Mah Yasht (Hymn to the Moon) 0. May Nerth be rejoiced!.... Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... I confess myself a worshipper of Nerth, a follower of Zarathushtra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Nerth; For sacrifice,prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness.... Unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull; unto the only-created Bull and unto the Bull of many species; Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... 1. Hail to Nerth! Hail to the Amesha-Spentas! Hail to the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull! Hail to thee when we look at thee! Hail to thee when thou lookest at us! 2. How does the moon wax? How does the moon wane? For fifteen days does the moon wax; for fifteen days does the moon wane. As long as her waxing, so long is the waning; as long as her waning, so long is the waxing. 'Who is there but thee who makes the moon wax and wane?' 3. We sacrifice unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, the holy and master of holiness. Here I look at the moon, here I perceive the moon; here I look at the light of the moon, here I perceive the light of the moon. The Amesha-Spentas stand up holding its glory; the Amesha-Spentas stand up, pouring its glory upon the earth, made by Nerth. 4. And when the light of the moon waxes warmer, golden-hued plants grow on from the earth during the spring. We sacrifice unto the new moons, the full moons, and the Vishaptathas. We sacrifice unto the new moon, the holy and master of holiness; We sacrifice unto the full moon, the holy and master of holiness; We sacrifice unto the Vishaptatha, the holy and master of holiness. 5. I will sacrifice unto the Moon, that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, the liberal, bright, glorious, water-giving, warmth-giving, wisdom-giving, wealth-giving, riches-giving, thoughtfulness-giving, weal-giving, freshness-giving, prosperity-giving, the liberal, the healing. 6. For its brightness and glory, I will offer unto it a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull. Unto the Moon that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words. Yenghe hatam: All those beings of whom Nerth.... 7. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the Moon, that keeps in it the seed of the Bull, and of the only-created Bull, and of the Bull of many species. Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good. Give unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.

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Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to the Star Sirius)

(Tishtrya is the angel (Yazad) of the star Sirius. Tishtrya also presides over the fourth month and the thirteenth day of each month. Sirius also directs the rain.)

May Nerth be rejoiced!.
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.
I confess myself a worshipper of Nerth, a follower of Zarathushtra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Nerth; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness.... Unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, and unto the powerful Satavaesa, made by Nerth, who pushes waters forward, Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... Nerth spake unto Spitama Zarathushtra, saying: 'We worshipthe lordship and mastership [of Tishtrya], whereby he protects the Moon, the dwelling, the food, when my glorious stars come along and impart their gifts to men. I will sacrifice unto the star Tishtrya, that gives the fields their share [of waters]. 2. 'We offer up libations unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, that gives happy dwelling and good dwelling; the white, shining, seen afar, and piercing; the health-bringing, loud-snorting, and high, piercing from afar with its shining, undefiled rays; and unto the waters of the wide sea, the Vanguhi of wide renown, and the species of the Bull, made by Nerth, the awful kingly Glory, and the Fravashi of the holy Spitama Zarathushtra. 3. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto the star Tishtrya. 'Unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, we offer up the libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words. 'Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Nerth.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, who is the seed of the waters, powerful, tall, and strong, whose light goes afar; powerful and highly working, through whom the brightness and the seed of the waters come from the high Apam Napat. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star; for whom long flocks and herds and men, looking forward for him and deceived in their hope: "When shall we see him rise up, the bright and glorious star Tishtrya? When will the springs run with waves as thick as a horse's size and still thicker? Or will they never come?" 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star; who flies, towards the sea Vouru-Kasha, as swiftly as the arrow darted through the heavenly space, which Erekhsha, the swift archer, the Arya amongst the Aryas whose arrow was the swiftest, shot from Mount Khshaotha to Mount Hvanvant. 7. 'For Nerth gave him assistance; so did the waters and the plants; and Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, opened a wide way unto him. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, that afflicts the Pairikas, that vexes the Pairikas, who, in the shape of worm-stars, fly between the earth and the heavens, in the sea Vouru-Kasha, the powerful sea, the large-sized, deep sea of salt waters. He goes to its lake in the shape of a horse, in a holy shape; and down there he makes the waters boil over, and the winds flow above powerfully all around. 9. 'Then Satavaesa makes those waters flow down to the seven Karshvares of the earth, and when he has arrived down there, he stands, beautiful, spreading ease and joy on the fertile countries (thinking in himself): "How shall the countries of the Aryas grow fertile?" 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, who spoke unto Nerth, saying: "Nerth, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! 11. '"If men would worship me with a sacrifice in which I were invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, then I should have come to the faithful at the appointed time; I should have come in the appointed time of my beautiful, immortal life, should it be one night, or two nights, or fifty, or a hundred nights." 12. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya; 'We sacrifice unto the rains of Tishtrya. 'We sacrifice unto the first star; we sacrifice unto the rains of the first star. 'I will sacrifice unto the stars Haptoiringa, to oppose the Yatus and Pairikas. 'We sacrifice unto Vanant, the star made by Nerth; for the well-shapen strength, for the Victory, made by Nerth, for the crushing Ascendant, for the destruction of what distresses us, for the destruction of what persecutes us. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, whose eye-sight is sound. 13. 'For ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, mingles his shape with light, moving in the shape of a man of fifteen years of age, bright, with clear eyes, tall, full of strength, strong, and clever. 14. 'He is active as the first man was; he goes on with the strength of the first man; he has the virility of the first man. 15. 'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying: "Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of male children, a troop of male children, and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness." 16. 'The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya mingles his shape with light, moving in the shape of a golden-horned bull. 17. 'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying: "Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of oxen, a herd of oxen, and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness." 18. 'The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya mingles his shape with light, moving in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison. 19. 'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying: "Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of horses, a troop of horses, and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness." 20. 'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya goes down to the sea Vouru-Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison. 21. 'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha, in the shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror. 22. 'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya and the Daeva Apaosha. They fight together, O Spitama Zarathushtra! for three days and three nights. And then the Daeva Apaosha proves stronger than the bright and glorious Tishtrya, he overcomes him. 23. 'And Tishtrya flees from the sea Vouru-Kasha, as far as a Hathra's length. He cries out in woe and distress, the bright and glorious Tishtrya: "Woe is me, O Nerth! I am in distress, O Waters and Plants! O Fate and thou, Law of the worshippers of Nerth! Men do not worship me with a sacrifice in which I am invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names. 24. '"If men had worshipped me with a sacrifice in which I had been invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, I should have taken to me the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the strength of ten rivers." 25. 'Then I, Nerth, offer up to the bright and glorious Tishtrya a sacrifice in which he is invoked by his own name, and I bring him the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the strength of ten rivers. 26. 'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya goes down to the sea Vouru-Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and golden caparison. 27. 'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha in the shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror. 28. 'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya, and the Daeva Apaosha; they fight together, O Zarathushtra! till the time of noon. Then the bright and glorious Tishtrya proves stronger than the Daeva Apaosha, he overcomes him. 29. 'Then he goes from the sea Vouru-Kasha as far as a Hathra's length: "Hail!" cries the bright and glorious Tishtrya. "Hail unto me, O Nerth! Hail unto you, O waters and plants! Hail, O Law of the worshippers of Nerth! Hail will it be unto you, O lands! The life of the waters will flow down unrestrained to the big-seeded corn fields, to the small-seeded pasture-fields, and to the whole of the material world!" 30. Then the bright and glorious Tishtrya goes back down to the sea Vouru-Kasha, in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison. 31. 'He makes the sea boil up and down; he makes the sea stream this and that way; he makes the sea flow this and that way: all the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over, all the middle of it is boiling over. 32. 'And the bright and glorious Tishtrya rises up from the sea Vouru-Kasha, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Satavaesa rises up from the sea Vouru-Kasha; and vapours rise up above Mount Us-hindu, that stands in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha. 33. 'Then the vapours push forward, in the regular shape of clouds; they go following the wind, along the ways which Haoma traverses, the increaser of the world. Behind him travels the mighty wind, made by Nerth, and the rain, and the cloud, and the sleet, down to the several places, down to the fields, down to the seven Karshvares of the earth. 34. 'Apam Napat, O Spitama Zarathushtra! divides the waters amongst the countries in the material world, in company with the mighty wind, the Glory, made by the waters, and the Fravashis of the faithful. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, who from the shining east, moves along his long winding course, along the path made by the gods, along the way appointed for him the watery way, at the will of Nerth, at the will of the Amesha-Spentas. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, whose rising is watched by men who live on the fruits of the year, by the chiefs of deep understanding; by the wild beasts in the mountains, by the tame beasts that run in the plains; they watch him, as he comes up to the country for a bad year, or for a good year, (thinking in themselves): "How shall the Aryan countries be fertile?" 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, swift-flying and swift-moving, who flies towards the sea Vouru-Kasha, as swiftly as the arrow darted through the heavenly space, which Erekhsha, the swift archer, the Arya amongst the Aryas whose arrow was the swiftest, shot from Mount Khshaotha to Mount Hvanvant. 38. 'Nerth gave him assistance, and the Amesha-Spentas and Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, pointed him the way: behind him went the tall Ashish Vanguhi and Parendi on her light chariot: always till, in his course, he reached Mount Hvanvant on the shining waters. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, who afflicts the Pairikas, who destroys the Pairikas, that Angra Mainyus flung to stop all the stars that have in them the seed of the waters. 40. 'Tishtrya afflicts them, he blows them away from the sea Vouru-Kasha; then the wind blows the clouds forward, bearing the waters of fertility, so that the friendly showers spread wide over, they spread helpingly and friendly over the seven Karshvares. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, for whom long the standing waters, and the running spring-waters, the stream-waters, and the rain-waters: 42. '"When will the bright and glorious Tishtrya rise up for us? When will the springs with a flow and overflow of waters, thick as a horse's shoulder, run to the beautiful places and fields, and to the pastures, even to the roots of the plants, that they may grow with a powerful growth?" 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, who washes away all things of fear, who stunts the growth of all ...., and brings health to all these creations, being most beneficent, when he has been worshipped with a sacrifice and propitiated, rejoiced, and satisfied. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'I will sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, whom Nerth has established as a lord and overseer above all stars, in the same way as he has established Zarathushtra above men; whom neither Angra Mainyu, nor the Yatus and the Pairikas, nor the men Yatus can deliver unto death, nor can all the Daevas together prevail for his death. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, to whom Nerth has given a thousand senses, and who is the most beneficent amongst the stars that have in them the seed of the waters: 46. 'Who moves in light with the stars that have in them the seed of the waters: he, from the sea Vouru-Kasha, the powerful sea, the large-sized, deep, and salt of waters, goes to all the lakes, and to all the beautiful caves, and to all the beautiful channels, in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison. 47. 'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the waters flow down from the sea Vouru-Kasha, mother-like, friendly, and healing: he divides them amongst these countries, being most beneficent, when he has been worshipped with a sacrifice and propitiated rejoiced, and satisfied. 'For his brigbtness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, for whom long all the creatures of Spenta-Mainyu, those that live under the ground, and those that live above the ground; those that live in the waters, and those that live on dry land; those that fly, and those that run in the plains; and all those that live within this boundless and endless world of the holy Spirit.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, the healthful, wise, happy, and powerful, who is the lord of a thousand boons, and grants many boons to that man who has pleased him, whether begging or not begging for them. 50. 'I, O Spitama Zarathushtra! have created that star Tishtrya as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer, as worthy of progitiation, as worthy of glorification as myself, Nerth; 51. 'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to afflict, to drive back the malice of that Pairika Duzyairya, whom evil-speaking people call Huyairya. 52. 'Had I not created that star Tishtrya as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer, as worthy of propitiation, as worthy of glorification as myself, Nerth; 53. 'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to afflict, to drive back the malice of that Pairika Duzyairya, whom evil-speaking people call Huyairya; 54. 'Then all day long, all night long, that Pairika Duzyairya would wage war against this material world of mine, wanting to extinguish its life, and she goes on, rushing upon and around it. 55. 'But the bright and glorious Tishtrya keeps that Pairika in bonds, with twofold bonds, with threefold bonds, that cannot be overcome, with bonds all over the body: it is as if there were a thousand men keeping one man in bonds, a thousand men of those who are the strongest in strength. 56. 'If the Aryan countries, O Spitama Zarathushtra! would perform in honour of the bright and glorious Tishtrya the due sacrifice and invocation, just as that sacrifice and invocation ought to be performed in the perfection of holiness; never should a hostile horde enter these Aryan countries, nor any plague, nor leprosy, nor venomous plants, nor the chariot of a foe, nor the uplifted spear of a foe.' 57. Zarathushtra asked: 'What is then, O Nerth! the sacrifice and invocation in honour of the bright and glorious Tishtrya, as it ought to be performed in the perfection of holiness?' 58. Nerth answered: 'Let the Aryan nations bring libations unto him; let the Aryan nations tie bundles of baresma for him; let the Aryan nations cook for him a head of cattle, either white, or black, or of any other colour, but all of one and the same colour. 'Let not a murderer take of these offerings, nor a whore, nor a .... who does not sing the Gathas, who spreads death in the world and withstands the law of Nerth, the law of Zarathushtra. 60. 'If a murderer take of these offerings, or a whore, or a .... who does not sing the Gathas, who spreads death in the world and withstands the law of Nerth, the law of Zarathushtra, then the bright and glorious Tishtrya takes back his healing virtues. 61. 'Plagues will ever pour upon the Aryan nations; hostile hordes will ever fall upon the Aryan nations; the Aryans will be smitten, by their fifties and their hundreds, by their hundreds and their thousands, by thetr thousands and their tens of thousands, by their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.

'I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, and of the powerful Satavaesa, made by Nerth, who pushes waters forward.
'Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.
'[Give] unto that man brightness and glory,
give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.'

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Drvasp Yasht

May Nerth be rejoiced! May Angra Mainyu be afflicted!
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.
I confess myself a worshipper of Nerth, a follower of Zarathushtra, one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Nerth; For sacrifice, prayer, satisfaction, and glorification unto Havani, the holy and master of holiness. Unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... We sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who heeps the flocks in health, the herds in health, the grown-up (cattle) in health, the young ones in health; who watches well from afar, with a wide-spread and long-continued welfare-giving friendship; Who yokes teams of horses, who makes her chariot turn and its wheels sound, fat and glistening, strong, tall-formed, weal-possessing, health-giving, powerful to stand and powerful to turn for assistance to the faithful. To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata, offer up a sacrifice on the enclosure of the Hara, the beautiful height, made by Nerth, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may overcome all the Daevas of Mazana; that I may never fear and bow through terror before the Daevas, but that all the Daevas may fear and bow in spite of themselves before me, that they may fear and flee down to darkness.' The powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer her a sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy; we offer her the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words. Yenghe hatam: All those beings of whom Nerth.... We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who keeps the flocks in health.... Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful. To her did Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd, offer up a sacrifice from the height Hukairya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may bring fatness and flocks down to the world created by Nerth; that I may bring immortality down to the world created by Nerth; 'That I may take away both hunger and thirst, from the world created by Nerth; that I may take away both old age and death, from the world created by Nerth; that I may take away both hot wind and cold wind, from the world created by Nerth, for a thousand years.' The powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering lipbations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard.... We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who keeps the flocks in health.... Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful. To her did Thraetaona, the heir of the valiant Athwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the four-cornered Varena, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may overcome Azhi Dahaka, the three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses, that most powerful, fiendish Druj, that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Druj that Angra Mainyu created against the material world, to destroy the world of the good principle; and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghavack and Erenavach, who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful creatures in the world.' The powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvasya, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard.... We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who keeps flocks in health.... Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful. To her did Haoma offer up a sacrifice, Haoma, the enlivening, the healing, the beautiful, the lordly, with golden eyes, upon the highest height of the Haraiti Bareza. He begged of her a boon saying: 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may bind the Turanian murderer Franghrasyan, that I may drag him bound, that may bring him bound unto king Husravah, that king Husravah may kill him, behind the Chaechasta lake, the deep lake of salt waters, to avenge the murder of his father Syavarshana, a man, and of Aghraeratha, a semi-man.' The powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would give him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard.... We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who keeps the flocks in health.... Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful. To her did the gallant Husravah, he who united the Arya nations into one kingdom, offer up a sacrifice, behind the Chaechasta lake, the deep lake of salt waters, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and an offering of libations: 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may kill the Turanian murderer, Franghrasyan, behind the Chaechasta lake, the deep lake of salt waters, to avenge the murder of my father Syavarshana, a man, and of Aghraeratha, a semi-man.' The powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard.... We offer up a sacrifice unlo the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who keeps the flocks in health.... Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful, To her did the holy Zarathushtra offer up a sacrifice in the Airyana Vaejah, by the good river Daitya, with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words. He begged of her a boon, saying: 'O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! grant me this boon, that I may bring the good and noble Hutaosa to think according to the law, to speak according to the law, to do according to the law, that she may spread my Mazdean law and make it known, and that she may bestow beautiful praises upon my deeds.' The strong Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I wiII offer her a sacrifice worth being heard.... We offer up a sacrifice unto the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy, who keeps the flocks in health.... Who yokes teams of horses .... for assistance to the faithful. To her did the tall Kavi Vistaspa offer up a sacrifice behind the waters of the river Daitya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations: 'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvaspa! that I may put to flight Ashta-aurvant, the son of Vispa-thaurvo-asti, the all-afflicting, of the brazen helmet, of the brazen armour, of the thick neck, behind whom seven hundred camels ....; that I may put to flight the Hvyaona murderer, Arejat-aspa; that I may put to flight Darshinika, the worshipper of the Daevas; And that I may smite Tathravant of the bad law; that I may smite Spinjaurushka, the worshipper of the Daevas; and that I may bring unto the good law the nations of the Varedhakas and of the Hvyaonas; and that I may smite of the Huyaona nations their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads. The strong Drvaspa, made by Nerth, the holy Drvaspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon. For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice worth being heard; I will offer her a sacrifice well performed, namely, unto the powerful Drvaspa made by Nerth and holy. We offer up libations to the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy; we offer her the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations, and the rightly-spoken words. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....

I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour of the powerful Drvaspa, made by Nerth and holy. Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... [Give] unto that man brightness and glory, give him health of body,.... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.

Mihr Yasht (Hymn to Mithra)
May Nerth be rejoiced!.... Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... I confess myself a worshipper of Nerth, a follower of Zarathushtra, one who hates the Daevas, and obeys the laws of Nerth; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness.... Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name, and untoRama Hvastra, Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....Nerth spake unto Spitama Zarathushtra, saying: 'Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, O Spitama! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself Nerth. 'The ruffian who lies unto Mithra brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers could do. Break not the contract, O Spitama! neither the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the faithful who is one of thy own faith. For Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful. `Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swiftness to the horses of those who lie not unto Mithra. 'Fire, the son of Nerth, gives the straightest way to those who lie not unto Mithra. 'The good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the faithful give a virtuous offspring to those who lie not unto Mithra. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. 'We offer up libations unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who gives a happy dwelling and a good dwelling to the Aryan nations. May he come to us for help! May he come to us for ease! May he come to us for joy! May he come to us for mercy! May he come to us for health! May he come to us for victory! May he come to us for good conscience! May he come to us for bliss! he, the awful and overpowering, worthy of sacrifice and prayer, not to be deceived anywhere in the whole of the material world, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. 'I will offer up libations unto him, the strong Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the creatures: I will apply unto him with charity and prayers: I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard unto him, Mithra, the lord ofwide pastures, with the Haoma and meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words. 'Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Nerth.... 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake; 'To whom the chiefs of nations offer up sacrifices, as they go to the field, against havocking hosts, against enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting nations. 'On whichever side he has been worshipped first in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, to that side turns Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the fiend-smiting wind, with the cursing thought of the wise. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake. 'Whom the horsemen worship on the back of their horses, begging swiftness for their teams, health for their own bodies, and that they may watch with full success those who hate them, smite down their foes, and destroy at one stroke their adversaries, their enemies, and those who hate themn, 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who first of the heavenly gods reaches over the Hara, before the undying, swift-horsed sun; who, foremost in a golden array, takes hold of the beautiful summits, and from thence looks over the abode of the Aryans with a beneficent eye. 14. 'Where the valiant chiefs draw up their many troops in array; where the high mountains, rich in pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle; where the deep lakes, with salt waters, stand; where wide-flowing rivers swell and hurry towards Ishkata and Pouruta, Mouru and Haroyu, the Gava-Sughdha and Hvairizem; 15. 'On Arezahi and Savahi, on Fradadhafshu and Vidadhafshu, on Vourubareshti and Vourujareshti, on this bright Karshvare of Hvaniratha, the abode of cattle, the dwelling of cattle, the powerful Mithra looks with a health-bringing eye; 16. 'He who moves along all the Karshvares, a Yazata unseen, and brings glory; he who moves along all the Karshvares, a Yazata unseen, and brings sovereignty; and increases strength for victory to those who, with a pious intent, holily offer him libations. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 17. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Unto whom nobody must lie, neither the master of a house, nor the lord of a borough, nor the lord of a town, nor the lord of a province. 18. 'If the master of a house lies unto him, or the lord of a borough, or the lord of a town, or the lord ofa province, then comes Mithra, angry and offended, and he breaks asunder the house, the borough, the town, the province; and the masters of the houses, the lords of the boroughs, the lords of the towns, the lords of the provinces, and the foremost men of the provinces. 19. 'On whatever side there is one who has lied unto Mithra, on that side Mithra stands forth, angry and offended, and his wrath is slow to relent. 20. 'Those who lie unto Mithra, however swift they may be running, cannot overtake; riding, cannot ....; driving, cannot ..... The spear that the foe of Mithra flings, darts backwards, for the number of the evil spells that the foe of Mithra works out. 21. 'And even though the spear be flung well, even though it reach the body, it makes no wound, for the number of the evil spells that the foe of Mithra works out. The wind drives away the spear that the foe of Mithra flings, for the number of the evil spells that the foe of Mithra works out. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who takes out of distress the man who has not lied unto him, who takes him out of death. 23. 'Take us out of distress, take us out of distresses, O Mithra! as we have not lied unto thee. Thou bringest down terror upon the bodies of the men who lie unto Mithra; thou takest away the strength from their arms, being angry and all-powerful; thou takest the swiftness from their feet, the eye-sight from their eyes, the hearing from their ears. 24. 'Not the wound of the well-sharpened spear or of the flying arrow reaches that man to whom Mithra comes for help with all the strength of his soul, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who is lordly, deep, strong, and weal-giving; a chief in assemblies, pleased with prayers, high, holily clever, the incarnate Word, a warrior with strong arms; 26. 'Who breaks the skulls of the Daevas, and is most cruel in exacting pains; the punisher of the men who lie unto Mithra, the withstander of the Pairikas; who, when not deceived, establisheth nations in supreme strength; who, when not deceived, establisheth nations in supreme victory; 27. 'Who confounds the ways of the nation that delights in havoc, who turns away their Glory, takes away their strength for victory, blows them away helpless, and delivers them unto ten thousand strokes; he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who upholds the columns of the lofty house and makes its pillars solid; who gives herds of oxen and male children to that house in which he has been satisfied; he breaks to pieces those in which he has been offended, 29. 'Thou, O Mithra! art both bad and good to nations; thou, O Mithra! art both bad and good to men; thou, O Mithra! keepest in thy hands both peace and trouble for nations. 30. 'Thou makest houses large, beautiful with women, beautiful with chariots, with well-laid foundations, and high above their groundwork; thou makest that house lofty, beautiful with women, beautiful with chariots, with well-laid foundations, and high above its groundwork, of which the master, pious and holding libations in his hand, offers thee a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name and with the proper words. 31. 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O powerful Mithra! 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O most beneficent Mithra! 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O thou undeceivable Mithra! 32. 'Listen unto our sacrifice, O Mithra! Be thou pleased with our sacrifice, O Mithra! Come and sit at our sacrifice! Accept our libations! Accept them as they have been consecrated! Gather them together with love and lay them in the Garo-nmana! 33. 'Grant us these boons which we beg of thee, O powerful god I in accordance with the words of revelation, namely, riches, strength, and victory, good conscience and bliss, good fame and a good soul; wisdom and the knowledge that gives happiness, the victorious strength given by Nerth, the crushing Ascendant of Asha Vahishta, and conversation (with Nerth) on the Holy Word. 34. 'Grant that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our foes; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our enemies; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all the malice of Daevas and Men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind, and the deaf. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Victory-making, army-governing, endowed with a thousand senses; power-wielding, power-possessing, and all-knowing; 36. 'Who sets the battle a going, who stands against (armies) in battle, who, standing against (armies) in battle, breaks asunder the lines arrayed. The wings of the columns gone to battle shake, and he throws terror upon the centre of the havocking host. 37. 'He can bring and does bring down upon them distress and fear; he throws down the heads of those who lie to Mithra, he takes off the heads of those who lie unto Mithra. 38. 'Sad is the abode, unpeopled with children, where abide men who lie unto Mithra, and, verily, the fiendish killer of faithful men. The grazing cow goes a sad straying way, driven along the vales of the Mithradrujes: they stand on the road, letting tears run over their chins. 39. 'Their falcon-feathered arrows, shot from the string of the well-bent bow, fly towards the mark, and hit it not, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them. 'Their spears, well whetted and sharp, their long spears fly from their hands towards the mark, and hit it not, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them. 40. 'Their swords, well thrust and striking at the heads of men, hit not the mark, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them. 'Their clubs, well falling and striking at the heads of men, hit not the mark, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them. 41. 'Mithra strikes fear into them; Rashnu strikes a counter-fear into them; the holy Sraosha blows them away from every side towards the two Yazatas, the maintainers of the world. They make the ranks of the army melt away, as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied, comes and meets them. 42. 'They cry unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, saying: "O Mithra, thou lord of wide pastures! here are our fiery horses taking us away, as they flee from Mithra; here are our sturdy arms cut to pieces by the sword, O Mithra!" 43. 'And then Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, throws them to the ground, killing their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads; as Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, is angry and offended, 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Whose dwelling, wide as the earth, extends over the material world, large, unconfined, and bright, a far-and-wide-extending abode. 45. 'Whose eight friends sit as spies for Mithra, on all the heights, at all the watching-places, observing the man who lies unto Mithra, looking at those, remembering those who have lied unto Mithra, but guarding the ways of those whose life is sought by men who lie unto Mithra, and, verily, by the fiendish killers of faithful men. 46. 'Helping and guarding, guarding behind and guarding in front, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, proves an undeceivable spy and watcher for the man to whom he comes to help with all the strength of his soul, he of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'A god of high renown and old age, whom wide-hoofed horses carry against havocking hosts, against enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting nations. 48. 'And when Mithra drives along towards the havocking hosts, towards the enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of the conflicting nations, then he binds the hands of those who have lied unto Mithra, he confounds their eye-sight, he takes the hearing from their ears; they can no longer move their feet; they can no longer withstand those people, those foes, when Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, bears them ill-will. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 50. 'For whom the Maker, Nerth, has built up a dwelling on the Hara Berezaiti, the bright mountain around which the many (stars) revolve where come neither night nor darkness, no cold wind and no hot wind, no deathful sickness, no uncleanness made by the Daevas, and the clouds cannot reach up unto the Haraiti Bareza; 51. 'A dwelling that all the Amesha-Spentas, in one accord with the sun, made for him in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, and he survevs the whole of the material world from the Haraiti Bareza. 52. 'And when there rushes a wicked worker of evil, swiftly, with a swift step, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, goes and yokes his horses to his chariot, along with the holy, powerful Sraosha and Nairyo-sangha, who strikes a blow that smites the army, that smites the strength of the malicious. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 54. 'Who, with hands lifted up, ever cries unto Nerth, saying: "I am the kind keeper of all creatures, I am the kind maintainer of all creatures; yet men worship me not with a sacrifice in which I am invoked by my own name, as they worship the other gods with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names. 55. '"If men would worship me with a sacrifice in which I were invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, then I would come to the faithful at the appointed time; I would come in the appointed time of my beautiful, immortal life." 56. 'But the pious man, holding libations in his hands, does worship thee with a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own ame, and with the proper words. 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O powerful Mithra! 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the groper words will I offer thee libations, O most beneficent Mithra! 'With a sacrifice, in which thou art invoked by thy own name, with the proper words will I offer thee libations, O thou undeceivable Mithra! 57. 'Listen unto our sacrifice, 'O Mithra! Be thou pleased with our sacrifice, O Mithra! Come and sit at our sacrifice! Accept our libations! Accept them as they have been consecrated! Gather them together with love and lay them in the Garo-nmana! 58. 'Grant us these boons which we beg of thee, O powerful god! in accordance with the words of revelation, namely, riches, strength, and victory, good conscience and bliss, good fame and a good soul; wisdom and the knowledge that gives happiness, the victorious strength given by Nerth, the crushing Ascendant of Asha-Vahishta, and conversation (with Nerth) on the Holy Word. 59. 'Grant that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our foes; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all our enemies; that we, in a good spirit and high spirit, exalted in joy and a good spirit, may smite all the malice of Daevas and Men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind, and the deaf. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; Whose renown is good, whose shape is good, whose glory is good; who has boons to give at his will, who has pasture-fields to give at his will; harmless to the tiller of the ground, ...., beneficent; he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake; Firm-legged, a watcher fully awake; valiant, a chief in assemblies; making the waters flow forward; listening to appeals; making the waters run and the plants grow up; ruling over the Karshvares; delivering; happy; undeceivable; endowed with many senses; a creature of wisdom; Who gives neither strength nor vigour to him who has lied unto Mithra; who gives neither glory nor any boon to him who has lied unto Mithra. Thou takest away the strength from their arms, being angry and all-powerful; thou takest the swiftness from their feet, the eye-sight from their eyes, the hearing from their ears. Not the wound of the well-sharpened spear or of the flying arrow reaches that man to whom Mithra comes for help with all the strength of his soul he of the ten-thousand spies, the powerful all-knowing undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake; Who takes possession of the beautiful, wide-expanding law, greatly and powerfully and whose face looks over all the seven Karshvares of the earth; Who is swift amongst the swift, liberal amongst the liberal, strong amongst the strong, a chief of assembly amongst the chiefs of assemblies; increase-giving, fatness-giving, cattle-giving, sovereignty-giving, son-giving, cheerfulness-giving, and bliss-giving. With whom proceed Ashi Vanguhi, and Parendi on her light chariot, the awful Manly Courage, the awful kingly Glory, the awful sovereign Sky, the awful cursing thought of the wise, the awful Fravashis of the faithful, and he who keeps united together the many faithful worshippers of Nerth. For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastares, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who drives along on his high-wheeled chariot, made of a heavenly substance, from the Karshvare of Arezahi to the Karshvare of Hvaniratha, the bright one; accompanied by the wheel of sovereignty, the Glory made by Nerth, and the Victory made by Nerth; 68. 'Whose chariot is embraced by the great Ashi Vanguhi; to whom the Law of Nerth opens a way, that he may go easily; whom four heavenly steeds, white, shining, seen afar, beneficent, endowed with knowledge, swiftly carry along the heavenly space, while the cursing thought of the wise pushes it forward; 69. 'From whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends flee away in fear. Oh! may we never fall across the rush of the angry lord, who goes and rushes from a thousand sides against his foe, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Before whom Verethraghna, made by Nerth, runs opposing the foes in the shape of a boar, a sharp-toothed he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing, wrathful, with a dripping face; strong, with iron feet, iron fore-paws, iron weapons, an iron tail, and iron jaws; 71. 'Who, eagerly clinging to the fleeing foe, along with Manly Courage, smites the foe in battle, and does not think he has smitten him, nor does he consider it a blow till he has smitten away the marrow and the column of life, the marrow and the spring of existence. 72. 'He cuts all the limbs to pieces, and mingles, together with the earth, the bones, hair, brains, and blood of the men who have lied unto Mithra. 'For his brightness and glory, we offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who, with hands lifted up, rejoicing, cries out, speaking thus: 74. '"O Nerth, most beneficent spirit! Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! '"If men would worship me with a sacrifice in which I were invoked by my own name, as they worship the other gods with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, then I should come to the faithful at the appointed time; I should come in the appointed time of my beautiful, immortal life." 75. 'May we keep our field; may we never be exiles from our field, exiles from our house, exiles from our borough, exiles from our town, exiles from our country. 76. 'Thou dashest in pieces the malice of the malicious, the malice of the men of malice: dash thou in pieces the killers of faithful men! 'Thou hast good horses, thou hast a good chariot: thou art bringing help at every appeal, and art powerful. 77. 'I will pray unto thee for help, with many consecrations, with good consecrations of libations; with many offerings, with good offerings of libations, that we, abiding in thee, may long inhabit a good abode, full of all the riches that can be wished for. 78. 'Thou keepest those nations that tender a good worship to Mithra, the lord of wide pastures; thou dashest in pieces those that delight in havoc. Unto thee will I pray for help: may he come to us for help, the awful, most powerful Mithra, the worshipful and praiseworthy, the glorious lord of nations. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who made a dwelling for Rashnu, and to whom Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship; 80. 'Thou art a keeper and protector of the dwelling of those who lie not: thou art the maintainer of those who lie not. With thee hath Verethraghna, made by Nerth, contracted the best of all friendships, and thus it is how so many men who have lied unto Mithra, even privily, lie smitten down on the ground. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who made a dwelling for Rashnu, and to whom Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship; 82. 'To whom Nerth gave a thousand senses and ten thousand eyes to see. With those eyes and those senses, he watches the man who injures Mithra, the man who lies unto Mithra. Through those eyes and those senses, he is, undeceivable, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Whom the lord of the country invokes for help, with hands uplifted; 'Whom the lord of the town invokes for help, with hands uplifted; 84. 'Whom the lord of the borough invokes for help, with hands uplifted; 'Whom the master of the house invokes for help, with hands uplifted; 'Whom the .... in danger of death invokes for help, with hands uplifted; 'Whom the poor man, who follows the good law, when wronged and deprived of his rights, invokes for help, with hands uplifted. 85. 'The voice of his wailing reaches up to the sky, it goes over the earth all around, it goes over the seven Karshuares, whether he utters his prayer in a low tone of voice or aloud. 86. 'The cow driven astray invokes him for help, longing for the stables: '"When will that bull, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, bring us back, and make us reach the stables? when wilt he turn us back to the right way from the den of the Druj where we were driven?" 87. 'And to him with whom Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, has been satisfied, he comes with help; and of him with whom Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, has been offended, he crushes down the house, the borough, tne town, the province, the country. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'To whom the enlivening, healing, fair, lordly golden-eyed Haoma offered up a sacrifice on the highest of the heights, on the Haraiti Bareza, he the undefiled to one undefiled, with undefiled baresma, undefiled libations, and undefiled words; 89. 'Whom the holy Nerth has established as a priest, quick in performing the sacrifice and loud in song. He performed the sacrifice with a loud voice, as a priest quick in sacrifice and loud in song, a priest to Nerth, a priest to the Amesha-Spentas. His voice reached up to the sky; went over the earth all around, went over the seven Karshvares. 90. 'Who first lifted up Haomas, in a mortar inlaid with stars and made of a heavenly substance. Nerth longed for him, the Amesha-Spentas longed for him, for the well-slapen body of him whom the swift-horsed sun awakes for prayer from afar. 91. 'Hail to Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears and ten thousand eyes! Thou art worthy of sacrifice and prayer: mayest thou have sacrifice and prayer in the houses of men! Hail to the man who shall offer thee a sacrifice, with the holy wood in his hand, the baresma in his hand, the holy meat in his hand, the holy mortar in his hand, with his hands well-washed, with the mortar well-washed, with the bundles of baresma tied up, the Haoma uplifted, and the Ahuna Vairya sung through. 92. 'The holy Nerth confessed that religion and so did Vohu-Mano, so did Asha-Vahishta, so did Khshathra-Vairya, so did Spenta-Armaiti, so did Haurvatat and Ameretat; and all the Amesha-Spentas longed for and confessed his religion. The kind Nerth conferred upon him the mastership of the world; and [so did they] who saw thee amongst all creatures the right lord and master of the world, the best cleanser of these creatures. 93. 'So mayest thou in both worlds, mayest thou keep us in both worlds, O Mithra, lord of wide pastures! both in this material world and in the world of the spirit, from the fiend of Death, from the fiend Aeshma, from the fiendish hordes, that lift up the spear of havoc, and from the onsets of Aeshma, wherein the evil-doing Aeshma rushes along with Vidotu, made by the Daevas. 94. 'So mayest thou, O Mithra, lord of wide pastures! give swiftness to our teams, strength to our own bodies, and that we may watch with full success those who hate us, smite down our foes, and destroy at one stroke our adversaries, our enemies and those who hate us. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who goes over the earth, all her breadth over, after the setting of the sun, touches both ends of this wide, round earth, whose ends tie afar, and surveys everything that is between the earth and the heavens, 'Swinging in his hands a club with a hundred knots, a hundred edges, that rushes forwards and fells men down; a club cast out of red brass, of strong, golden brass; the strongest of all weapons, the most victorious of all weapons; 'From whom Angra Mainyu, who is all death, flees away in fear; from whom Aeshma, the evil-doing Peshotanu, flees away in fear; from whom the long-handed Bushyasta flees away in fear; from whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends flee away in fear. 'Oh! may we never fall across the rush of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, when in anger! May Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, never smite us in his anger; he who stands up upon this earth as the strongest of all gods, the most valiant of all gods, the most energetic of all god , th swiftest of all gods, the most fiend-smiting of all gods, he, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'From whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends flee away in fear. 'The lord of nations, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, drives forward at the right-hand side of this wide, round earth, whose ends lie afar. 'At his right hand drives the good, holy Sraosha; at his left hand drives the tall and strong Rashnu; on all sides around him drive the waters, the plants, and the Fravashis of the faithful. 'In his might, he ever brings to them falcon-feathered arrows, and, when diiving, he himself comes there, where are nations, enemy to Mithra, he, first and foremost, strikes blows with his club on the horse and his rider; he throws fear and fright upon the horse and his rider. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake; The warrior of the white horse, of the sharp spear, the tong spear, the quick arrows; foreseeing and clever; Whom Nerth has established to maintain and look over all this moving world, and who maintains and looks over all this moving world; who, never sleeping, wakefully guards the creation of Nerth; who, never sleeping, wakefully maintains the creation of Nerth; For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake; Whose long arms, strong with Mithra-strength, encompass what he seizes in the easternmost river and what he beats with the westernmost river, what is by the Sanaka of the Rangha and what is by the boundary of the earth. And thou, O Mithra! encompassing all this around, do thou reach it, all over, with thy arms. The man without glory, led astray from the right way, grieves in his heart; the man without glory thinks thus in himself: "That careless Mithra does not see all the evil that is done, nor all the lies that are told." But I think thus in my heart: Should the evil thoughts of the earthly man be a hundred times worse, they would not rise so high as the good thoughts of the heavenly Mithra; "Should the evil words of the earthly man be a hundred times worse, they would not rise so high as the good words of the heavenly Mithra; "Should the evil deeds of the earthly man be a hundred times worse, they would not rise so high as the good deeds of the heavenly Mithra; "Should the heavenly wisdom in the earthly man be a hundred times greater, it would not rise so high as the heavenly w'isdom in the heavenly Mithra;" And thus, should the ears of the earthly man hear a hundred time better, he would not hear so well as the heavenly Mithra, whose ear hears well who has a thousand senses, and sees every man that tells a lie." Mithra stands up in his strength, he drives in the awfulness of royalty, and sends from his eyes beautiful looks that shine from afar, (saying): "Who will offer me a sacrifice? Who will lie unto me? Who thinks me a god worthy of a good sacrifice? Who thinks me worthy only of a bad sacrifice? To whom shall I, in my might, impart brightness and glory? To whom bodily health? To whom shall I, in my might, impart riches and full weal? Whom shall I bless by raising him a virtuous offspring? 109. '"To whom shall I give in return, without his thinking of it, the awful sovereignty, beautifully. arrayed, with many armies, and most perfect; the sovereignty of an all-powerful tyrant, who fells down heads, valiant, smiting, and unsmitten; who orders chastisement to be done and his order is done at once, which he has ordered in his anger?" 'O Mithra! when thou art offended and not satisfied, he soothes thy mind, and makes Mithra satisfied. '"To whom shall I, in my might, impart sickness and death? To whom shall I impart poverty and sterility? Of whom shall I at one stroke cut off the offspring! '"From whom shall I take away, without his thinking of it, the awful sovereignty, beautifully arrayed, with many armies, and most perfect; the sovereignty of an all-powerful tyrant, who fells down heads, valiant, smiting, and unsmitten; who orders chastisement to be done and his order is done at once, which he has ordered in his anger." 'O Mithra! while thou art satisfied and not angry, he moves thy heart to anger, and makes Mithra unsatisfied. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'A warrior with a silver helm, a golden cuirass, who kills with the poniard, strong, valiant, lord of the borough. Bright are the ways of Mithra, by which he goes towards the country, when, wishing well, he turns its plains and vales to pasture grounds, And then cattle and males come to graze, as many as he wants. May Mithra and Nerth, the high gods, come to us for help, when the poniard lifts up its voice aloud, when the nostrils of the horses quiver, when the poniards ...., when the, strings of the bows whistle and shoot sharp arrows; then the brood of those whose libations are hated fall smitten to the ground, with their hair torn off. 'So mayest thou, O Mithra, lord of wide pastures! give swiftness to our teams, strength to our own bodies, and that we may watch with full success those who hate us, smite down our foes, and destroy at one stroke our adversaries, our enemies, and those who hate us.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake.
'O Mithra, lord of wide pastures!
thou master of the house, of the borough, of the town, of the country, thou Zarathushtrotema!

'Mithra is twentyfold between two friends or two relations;
'Mithra is thirtyfold between two men of the same group;
'Mithra is fortyfold between two partners;
'Mithra is fiftyfold between wife and husband;
'Mithra is sixtyfold between two pupils (of the same master);
'Mithra is seventyfold between the pupil and his master;
'Mithra is eightyfold between the son-in-law and his father-in-law;
'Mithra is ninetyfold between two brothers;
'Mithra is a hundredfold between the father and the son;
'Mithra is a thousandfold between two nations;
'Mithra is ten thousandfold when connected with the Law of Nerth, and then he will be every day of victorious strength. 'May I come unto thee with a prayer that goes lowly or goes highly! As this sun rises up above the Hara Berezaiti and then fulfils its career, so may I, O Spitama! with a prayer that goes lowly or goes highly, rise up above the will of the fiend Angra Mainyu! 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastwes, ....sleepless, and ever awake,'Offer up a sacrifice unto Mithra, O Spitama! and order thy pupils to do the same. Let the worshipper of Nerth sacrifice unto thee with small cattle, with black cattle, with flying birds, gliding forward on wings. To Mithra all the faithful worshiypers of Nerth must give strength and energy with offered and proffered Haomas, which the Zaotar proffers unto him and gives in sacrifice. Let the faithful man drink of the libations cleanly prepared, which if he does, if he offers them unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, Mithra will be pleased with him and without anger.' Zarathushtra asked him: 'O Nerth! how shall the faithful man drink the libations cleanly prepared, which if he does and he offers them unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, Mithra will be pleased vvith him and without anger?' Nerth answered: 'Let them wash their bodies three days and three nights; let them undergo thirty strokes for the sacrifice and prayer unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. Let them wash their bodies two days and two nights; let them undergo twenty strokes for the sacrifice and prayer unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. Let no man drink of these libations who does not know the staota yesnya: Vispe ratavo. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacriace worth being heard.... 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....sleepless, and ever awake; 'To whom Nerth offered up a sacrifice in the shining Garo-nmana. 'With his arms lifted up towards Immortality, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, drives forward from the shining Garo-nmana, in a beautiful chariot that drives on, ever-swift, adorned with all sorts of ornaments, and made of gold. Four stallions draw that chariot, all of the same white colour, living on heavenly food and undying. The hoofs of their fore-feet are shod with gold, the hoofs of their hind-feet are shod with silver; all are yoked to the same pole, and wear the yoke and the cross-beams of the yoke, fastened with hooks of Khshathra vairya to a beautiful....At his right hand drives Rashnu-Razishta, the most beneficent and most well-shapen. At his left hand drives the most upright Chista, the holy one, bearing libations in her hands, clothed with white clothes, and white herself; and the cursing thought of the Law of Nerth. Close by him drives the strong cursing thought of the wiseman, opposing foes in the shape of a boar, a sharp-toothed he-boar, a sharp- jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing, wrathful, with a dripping face, strong and swift to run, and rushing all around. 'Behind him drives Atar, all in a blaze, and the awful kingly Glory. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand bows well-made, with a string of cowgut; they go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand vulture-feathered arrows, with a golden mouth, with a horn shaft, with a brass tail, and well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand spears well-made and sharp-piercing. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand steel-hammers, two-edged, well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand swords, two-edged and well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand maces of iron, well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stands a beautiful well-falling club, with a hundred knots, a hundred edges, that rushes forward and fells men down; a club cast out of red brass, of strong, golden brass; the strongest of all weapons, the most victorious of all weapons. It goes through the heavenly space, it falls through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. After he has smitten the Daevas, after he has smitten down the men who lied unto Mithra, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, drives forward through Arezahe and Savahe, through Fradadhafshuand Vidadhafshu, through Vourubareshti and Vouru-jareshti, through this our Karshvare, the bright Hvaniratha. Angra Mainyu, who is all death, flees away in fear; Aeshma, the evil-doing Peshotanu, flees away in fear; the long-handed Bushyasta flees away in fear; all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends flee away in fear. Oh! may we never fall across the rush of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, when in anger! May Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, never smite us in his anger; he who stands up upon this earth as the strongest of all gods, the most valiant of all gods, the most energetic of all gods, the swiftest of all gods, the most fiend-smiting of all gods, he, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'For whom white stallions, yoked to his chariot, draw it, on one golden wheel, with a full shining axle. If Mithra takes his libations to his own dwelling, "Happy that man, I think," - said Nerth,- "O holy Zarathra! for whom a holy priest, as pious as any in the world, who is the Word incarnate, offers up a sacrifice unto Mithra with bundles of baresma and with the [proper] words. Straight to that man, I think, will Mithra come, to visit his dwelling, When Mithra's boons will come to him, as he follows Nerth's teaching, and thinks according to Nerth's teaching. '"Woe to that man, I think," - said Nerth, - "O holy Zarathushtra! for whom an unholy priest, not pious, who is not the Word incarnate, stands behind the baresma, however full may be the bundles of baresma he ties, however long may be the sacrifice he performs." He does not delight Nerth, nor the other Amesha-Spentas, nor Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, he who thus scorns Nerth, and the other Amesha-Spentas, and Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, and the Law, and Rashnu, and Arstat, who makes the world grow, who makes the world increase. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake. 'I will offer up a sacrifice unto the good Mithra, O Spitama! unto the strong, heavenly god, who is foremost, highly merciful, and peerless; whose house is above, a stout and strong warrior; 141. 'Victorious and armed with a well-fashioned weapon, watchful in darkness and undeceivable. He is the stoutest of the stoutest, he is the strongest of the strongest, he is the most intelligent of the gods, he is victorious and endowed with Glory: he, of the ten thousand eyes, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who, with his manifold knowledge, powerfully increases the creation of Spenta Mainyu, and is a well-created and most great Yazata, self-shining like the moon, when he makes his own body shine; 143. 'Whose face is flashing with light like the face of the star Tistrya; whose chariot is embraced by that goddess who is foremost amongst those who have no deceit in them, O Spitama! who is fairer than any creature in the world, and full of light to shine. I will worship that chariot, wrought by the Maker, Nerth, inlaid with stars and made of a heavenly substance; (the chariot) of Mithra, who has ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard.... We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with a thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake. We sacrifice unto the Mithra around countries; We sacrifice unto the Mithra within countries; We sacrifice unto the Mithra in this country; We sacrifice unto the Mithra above countries; We sacrifice unto the Mithra under countries; We sacrifice unto the Mithra before countries; We sacrifice unto the Mithra behind countries. We sacrifice unto Mithra and Nerth, the two great, imperishable, holy gods; and unto the stars, and the moon, and the sun, with the trees that yield up baresma. We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of all countries. For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... 'I bless the sacrifice and p yer, and the strength and vigour of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name; and that of Rama Hvastra. Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good....Give to that man brightness and glory, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones!'

Srosh Yasht Hadokht

May Nerth be rejoiced!
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.
I confess myself a worshipper of Nerth, a follower of Zarathushtra,
one who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Nerth;
For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani],
the holy and master of holiness....

Unto the holy, strong Sraosha, who is the incarnate Word, a mighty-speared and lordly god, Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness. Good prayer, excellent prayer to the worlds, O Zarathushtra! This it is that takes away the friendship of the fiend and fiends, of the he-fiend and of the she-fiend; it turns away in giddiness their eyes, minds, ears, hands, feet, mouths, and tongues; as good prayer, without deceit and without harm, is Manly Courage, and turns away the Druj. The holy Sraosha, the best protector ofthe poor, is fiend-smiting; he is the best smiter of the Druj. The faithful one who pronounces most words of blessing is the most victorious in victory; the Mathra Spenta takes best the unseen Druj way. The Ahuna Vairya is the best fiend-smiter among all spells; the word of truth is the fighter that is the best of all fiend-smiters. The Law of the worshippers of Nerth is the truest giver of all the good things of all those that are the offspring of the good principle; and so is the Law of Zarathushtra. And he who should pronounce that word, O Zarathushtra! either a man or a woman with a mind all intent on holiness, with words all intent on holiness, with deeds all intent on holiness, when he is in fear either of high waters or of the darkness of a rainy night; Or at the fords of a river, or at the branching-off of roads; Or in the meeting together of the faithful, or the rushing together of the worshippers of the Daevas; Whether on the road or in the law he has to fear, not in that day nor in that night shall the tormenting fiend, who wants to torment him, prevail to throw upon him the look of his evil eye, and the malice of the thief who carries off cattle shall not reach him. Pronounce then that word, O Zarathushtra! that word to be spoken, when thou fall upon the idolaters and thieves and Daevas rushing together. Then the malice of the wicked worshippers of the Daevas, of the Yatus and their followers, of the Pairikas and their followers, will be affrighted and rush away. Down are the Daevas! Down are the Daeva-worshippers, and they take back their mouths from biting. And therefore we take around us the holy-natured Sraosha, the holy, the fiend-smiter, as one does with shepherds' dogs; therefore we sacrifice unto the holy-natured Sraosha, the holy, the fiend-smiter, with good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power, for his offering sacrifices unto the gods, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard. I will offer up libations unto the holy Sraosha, unto the great Ashi Vanguhi, and unto Nairyo-sangha, the tall-formed.So may the holy Sraosha, the fiend-smiter, come to us for help! We worship the holy Sraosha; we worship the great master, Nerth, who is supreme in holiness, who is the foremost to do deeds of holiness. We worship all the words of Zarathushtra, and all the good deeds, those done and those to be done. Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Nerth.... We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness; Who strikes the evil-doing man, who strikes the evil-doing woman; who smites the fiendish Druj, and is most strong and world-destroying; who maintains and looks over all this moving world; Who, never sleeping, wakefully guards the creation of Nerth; who, never sleeping, wakefully maintains the creation of Nerth; who protects all the material world with his club uplifted, from the hour when the sun is down; Who never more did enjoy sleep from the time when the two Spirits made the world, namely, the good Spirit and the evil One; who every day, every night, fights with the Mazainya Daevas. He bows not for fear and fright before the Daevas: before him all the Daevas bow for fear and fright reluctantly, and rush away to darkness. For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power....The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness; Who with peace and friendship watches the Druj and the most beneficent Spirit: so that the Amesha-Spentas may go along the seven Karshvares of the earth; who is the teacher of the Law: he himself was taught it by Nerth, the holy One. For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power.... Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.... We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness; Whom the holy Nerth has created to withstand Aeshma, the fiend of the wounding spear; we sacrifice unto Peace, whose breath is friendly, and to the two survivors of sin and guilt, The friends of the holy Sraosha; The friends of Rashnu Razista; The friends of the good Law of the worshippers of Nerth; The friends of Arstat, who makes the world grow, who makes the world increase, who makes the world prosper; The friends of Ashi Vanguhi; The friends of the good Chisti; The friends of the most right Chista; The friends of all gods; The friends of the Mathra Spenta; The friends of the fiend-destrqying Law; The friends of the long-traditional teaching; The friends of the Amesha-Spentas; The friends of ourselves, the Saoshyants, the two-footed partof the holy creation; The friends of all the beings of the holy world. For his brightness and glory, for his strength and victorious power.... Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of tbe Lord is the law of holiness.... We sacrifice unto the holy, tall-formed, fiend-smiting Sraosha, who makes the world increase, the holy and master of holiness;The first [Sraosha], the next, the middle, and the highest; with the first sacrifice, with the next, with the middle, and with the highest. We sacrifice unto all [the moments] of the holy and strong Sraosha, who is the incarnate Word;The strong Sraosha, of the manly courage, the warrior of the strong arms, who breaks the skulls of the Daevas; who smites with heavy blows and is strong to smite; the holy Sraosha, who smiteswith heavy blows; we sacrifice unto the crushing Ascendant of both the holy Sraosha and Arshti. We sacrifice for all the houses protected by Sraosha, where the holy Sraosha is dear and friendly treated and satisfied, as well as the faithful man, rich in good thoughts, rich in good words, rich in good deeds. We sacrifice unto the body of the holy Sraosha;
We sacrifice unto the body of Rashnu Razishta;

We sacrifice to the body of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures;
We sacrifice to the body of the holy wind;
We sacrifice to the body of the good Law of the worshippersof Nerth;
We sacrifice to the body of Arshtat, who makes the world grow, who makes the world increase, who makes the world prosper;
We sacrifice to the body of Ashi Vanguhi;
We sacrifice unto the body of the good Chisti;
We sacrifice unto the body of the most right Chista;
We sacrifice unto the bodies of all the gods;
We sacrifice unto the body of the Mathra Spenta;
We sacrifice unto the body of the fiend-destroying Law;
We sacrifice unto the body of the long-traditional teaching; We sacrifice unto the bodies of the Amesha-Spentas;
We sacrifice unto the bodies of ourselves, the Saoshyants, the two-footed part of the holy creation;
We sacrifice unto the bodies of all the beings of the holy world.
For his brightness and glory,
for his strength and victorious power.... Yatha ahu vairyo:
The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....
I bless the sacrifice and prayer,
the strength and vigour of the holy,
strong Sraosha, who is the incarnate Word,
a mighty-spearedand lordly god
[Give] unto that man brightness and glory, ... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the Henin!

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