His lord-kinsman will pray (as I Zarathustra prayed), and his labouring villagers, with his (trusted) peers, and his (fellow) Daêva-worshippers . But in my mind is the friendship of Ahura Mazda, the Great Creator, the living Lord; and Thine heralds, O Ahura! may we be; may we hold back those who hate and who offend You!

To these (for whom the prophet spake) Ahura Mazda answered, ruling as He does through His Good Mind (within their souls), He replied from His Sovereign Power, our good friend (as he is) through His surpassing Righteousness: We have accepted your good and bountiful Piety, and we have chosen her; ours shall she be !

But you, O ye Daêvas! are all a seed from the Evil Mind . He who offers sacrifice to You the most is of the Lie-demon, and (he is a child) of perversion . In advance (are your) deceits whereby ye are famed in the sevenfold earth!

For ye (are) confusing our thoughts , whereby men, giving forth the worst deeds, will speak , as of the Demon-gods beloved, forsaken by the Good Mind , (far) astray from the understanding of the Great Creator, the Living Lord, and (far astray) from His Righteousness!

Therefore ye would beguile mankind of happy life (upon earth) and of Immortality (beyond it), since the Evil Spirit (has ruled) you with his evil mind. Yea, he has ruled you, (ye) who are of the Demon-gods, and with an evil word unto action, as his ruler (governs) the wicked !

Full of crime (your leader) has desired to destroy us, wherefore he is famed, (and his doctrine is declared); but if this be so of these, then in the same manner, O Ahura! Thou possessest (because Thou knowest) the true (teachings) in Thy memory . And in Thy kingdom and Thy Righteous Order I will establish Thy precepts (in Thy name) .

Among these wretched beings (this their leader ) knows not that those things which are declared as victorious (by his allies) are bound together for the smiting; yea, those things by which he was famed (as victorious) by his (blade of) glittering iron . But the utter destruction of those things Thou, O Ahura Mazda! knowest , most surely !

Of these wretched beings Yima Vîvanghusha was famed to be; he who, desiring to content our men, was eating kine's flesh in its pieces. But from (such as) these, O Ahura Mazda! in Thy discerning discrimination, am I (to be seen as distinct ).

An evil teacher (as that leader is), he will destroy (our) doctrines, and by his teachings he will pervert the (true) understanding of life, seizing away (from me) my riches , the choice and real wealth of (Thy) Good Mind. To You and to Asha, O Ahura Mazda! am I therefore crying with the voice of my spirit's (need)!

Aye, this man will destroy my doctrines (indeed, for he blasphemes the highest of creatures that live or are made). He declares that the (sacred) Kine and the Sun are the worst of things which eye can see; and he will offer the gifts of the wicked (as priest to their Demon-gods). And at the last he will parch our meadows with drought, and will hurl his mace at Thy saint (who may fall before his arms ).

Yea, these will destroy my life, for they consult with the great of the wicked (enlightening themselves by their words ). And they are seizing away the gifts of inherited treasures from both household-lord and from house-wife ; (wretched men that they are), and those who will fiercely wound (my folk, repelled and in no way kindly moved) by the better mind of the holy .

(But Ahura will speak His rebuke, for) as to those doctrines which (such) men may be (basely) delivering (repelled) by the holiest action, (and galled by its sacred truth) God hath said: Evil (are they! Yea, unto these He hath said it) who have slain the Kine's life by a blessing (and have cursed her while they offered to help her ), men by whom Grehmas are loved above Righteousness, and the Karpans, and the Throne of those who have wished for the Demon of lies (as their deity and friend ).

And the Grehma will seek for these things by means of his (evil) kingdom in the abode of (Hell which is ) the Worst Mind (who both are together) the destroyers of life, and who, O Mazda! will bewail with glad but (envious) wish the message of Thy prophet. (But he will not abate with his vengeance), he will hold them afar from the sight of the truth!

His is Grehma ; aye, his! And to (oppose) Thee he will establish the Kavis and (their) scheming plans. Their deeds of power are but deceits since they have come as an aid to the wicked , and since he has been (falsely) said (to be set) to conquer the Kine , he who shall kindle that (very) help of grace which removes our death afar, (and lightens Thy saving flame).

And therefore will I drive from hence the Karpans’ and Kavis’ disciples. And after these (have thus been driven hence and away) then these (my princely aiding saints) whom they (now) render no longer rulers at will over life, (and deprive of their absolute power), these shall be borne (at last) by the (immortal ) two to the home of (Thy) Good Mind (in Heaven) !

(And) this entire (reward of the righteous) is from that Best One who teaches in the wide (mental) light of the pious , ruling (as supreme), O Mazda Ahura ! whose are my woes and my doubtings (yea, they lie in His power to heal), when I shall make (my prophets) men to be sought for the harm of the wicked. And this I shall do by the word of my mouth (to defend and avenge my saints)! 56:1 See, however, the notes. 56:2 Compare XXXI, 15, 18. 57:1 Some prominent teacher, representing the entire Daêva-party, is alluded to; see verses 6, 7, 9, 10. 57:2 Compare yâsâ in XXVIII, 2. 57:3 Or, 'his are the Daêvas;' but the verb yâsat perhaps affords a sufficient expression for Daêvâ; yâsen or hentî may be understood. We may also understand the Daêvas here, as the embodied Daêvas, in the manner in which the pious worshipper is called Vohu Manah. That Daêva should however be used quite simply for Daêva-worshipper in this early composition is not probable. In the later Avesta it is frequent usage. 57:4 Or, 'the friend;' I recoil as much as possible from abstracts, but the Pahlavi has hû-ravâkh-manîh, and Geldner admirably proposed brahman. 57:5 Aîghsân min Lekûm lakhvâr yakhsenunêm; so the Pahlavi translation, first venturing on the meaning 'holding back from;' dar in the sense of pâ, which latter in Iranian can mean hold back from advantages as well as from misfortunes. High modern authority coincides with the most ancient authority on this latter point. It is apt to be a subject of scepticism with some who neglect the evidence of tradition. 57:6 'Pavan sardârîh î Vohûman;' Ner. svâmîtâyâm*. It seems difficult to apply the meaning 'being as a refuge' here; see the following 'from His Kingdom.' 57:7 Lit. 'glorious.' This casts light upon the expression hvanvaitîs verezô. 58:1 Aîgh Spendarmad Lekûm raî sapîr dôshêm [bûndak minisnîh] zak î lanman aîtŏ [aîghmânŏ pavan tanû mâhmân yehevûnâd]. Neryosangh: To these the Great Wise (One), the Lord, answered in the lordship of the highest (best) mind; [that is, if, or since, Gvahmana had arrived, as a guest, within (their) body]; from Saharevara he answered [ ] through (their) righteousness, from the well-inclined, and through good conduct, [if truly good conduct had arrived as a guest within (their) body]. And he said: I befriend your Earth (so Âramaiti was later understood), the perfect-minded one, and your highest one; she is mine [ ]. 58:2 Compare Yasna XXX, 6. Where the Daêvas are approached by the worst mind as they are consulting. 58:3 As those who offer sacrifice to these Daêvas are mentioned separately, we are forced to concede a large idea to the composer. He addresses the Daêvas as poetically conceived to be present, and not merely their worshippers as in verse 1. And this must have its weight in the exegesis of other passages. 58:4 The Pahlavi translator has kabed. Or mas for mashyô (?). 58:5 Or possibly arrogance, avarmînisntar; Ner. apamanastaraska. 58:6 Sâtûnînêd freely, but indicating the root. The word is a locative. 58:7 The seven karshvars, or quarters of the earth, were already known. 58:8 I correct frô me (= man) mathâ (adj. nom. pl.; compare yimâ keredushâ and ma mashâ). I do so after the admirable reading of the Pahlavi translator, as frâz mînisnŏ vardînêd [aîghas barâ frîfêd, afas mînisnŏ barâ avŏ vinâs kardanŏ vardînêd]. Ner. prakrishtam manah—mathnâti. Notice that akistâ is awkward as a masc., although I have so rendered as more personal. 58:9 Vakhshyentê stood in the ancient writing used by the Pahlavi translator, as also now in some of our surviving MSS.; otherwise p. 59 reading vakhshentê with Justi and most others, and mîmathâ with Bartholomae: 'Ye have caused that men who produce the worst results are flourishing, loved of the Daêvas (as they are).' But in the Casuslehre, Hübschmann preferred 'sie sprechen was den Devas angenehm ist,' also reading vakhshentê (?) (page 240). 59:1 So the Pahlavi also indicates asân Vohûman sîzd; Ner. Gvahmanah* dûre* âste. 59:2 Improper subjunctive; otherwise ye (have) beguiled. 59:3 The Pahlavi also freely frîfêd ansûtâân pavan hû-zîvisnîh. 59:4 Frakinas far from necessarily means 'gave'; 'assigned,' 'indicated' renders it more closely. The Pahlavi has here correctly, but freely, kâshêd. 59:5 The Pahlavi has here salîtâîh for khshayô, and in XXVIII, 8 it has pâdakhshâ for khshayâ. I do not think that the word is an accusative there. A simple accusative does not so naturally fall to the end of the sentence in Gâthic; it is generally in apposition when so situated. The nominatives tend toward the end of the sentence. 59:6 Ner.: It is through both of these that he is deceiving (sic, unable to follow the Pahlavi which probably renders as a second plural; see mûn lekûm) mankind in regard to prosperity and immortality, [(saying) if it is possible to live, immortality lies in our path]. Since he is yours, O ye base-minded! O ye base Devas! he is inculcating the lowest actions [of the miscreants; he says that sovereignty [is from Âharmana; (that is, the sovereignty) of certain ones (meaning over every one)]. The Gâthic verbatim is as follows: Therefore ye beguiled (would beguile) man of-happy-life, of-immortality-and since you with-evil mind (you) who-(are)-and Daêvas’ (worshippers) the evil-and spirit with an-evil (-word as concerning) action with-word (rules), by p. 60 which (same) means (has-)commanded the wicked (his) ruler (nom. sing. masc.; see Y. XXVIII, 8). The nom., as in Vedic, at the end. 60:1 Or, Full of crime ye have striven to attain your ends (?) by those things which are reported. (If verse 5 originally preceded) enakhstâ would naturally be regarded as a singular as paouru-aênâo is an impossible plural masculine. It might, however, be a singular used collectively. In that case we could put the verb in the plural with verse 5 in view. As to concrete or abstract, the first is obviously correct, and is also so rendered by the Pahlavi translation. 60:2 Vid (with the perf. vaêdâ) seems to occur in the Gâthas in this sense. Or, 'Thou knowest with the Best Mind.' 60:3 Or 'in the memorised recital;' Ner. prakatam kalayati. 60:4 Parsi-persian MS.: Bisyâr kînah-varzandah kînah ‘hwâhad, [kûs wanâh-kârân pâdafrâh kûnêd], kih, guft + srûd îstêd [kih guft îstêd]; kû, kih ôsân bî-sumâr [kû, pâdafrâh pah ân zamân tamâm bih kunand, kih ruwân bâz ân tan dehad]. Z̤âhir sumâr-kunandah Hôrmuzd [kû pah wanâh wa kirfah sumâr-kunand]; wân i buland âgâh pah Bahman [muzd dânad; kû ân kih bâyad dâdan]. Pah ân i Tû i Sumâ, Hôrmuzd! ‘hudâ, ân i Ṣawâb âmû‘htan bih dânêstuwân (sic vid); [kih Sumâ padisâhî tamâm bih bêd + ya‘hnî + bâsad, har kas pah nêkî âgâh bih bâsad]. 60:5 The Pahlavi has kînîkânŏ. 60:6 The hvaêtu of the first verse, the dussasti of the ninth, &c. 60:7 The Pahlavi curiously errs with his rôshanŏ = clear; Ner. parishphutatarah. It would be straining a point to call him free in interpreting what is 'collected' and so 'obvious' as 'clear.' We must, however, never forget that the supposed error of the Pahlavi is sometimes the reflex of our own (often necessary) ignorance. Vîdvau must refer back to the same subject as a yâ in the first verse, or possibly to Aka Manah, going a step further back. 61:1 Possibly, 'which are by Thee announced as destined and proper to be smitten.' The Pahlavi has mûn zanisnŏ âmûkhtênd (sic). Jôyâ = jâyâ to jan, as âkâyia is to kan. 61:2 Compare other allusions to weapons, snaithisâ, and possibly dakhshtem. 61:3 So also the Pahlavi, ristak and pâdafrâs. 61:4 Naêkît vîdvau and vaêdistô ahî are in antithesis and emphatic. 61:5 A literal rendering of this difficult verse would be as follows: Of these wretches, nothing knowing (is he that) for the smiting (dat. jâ, jan; cp. form Sk. jâ, jan) (are) the-collected-things, which things (as) victorious (read jayâ) are declared forth, by which things) he has been heard (of) through glittering iron, of which things Thou, O-Ahura I the ruin, O-Mazda! most knowing art. Others take senghaitê in the sense of 'cut' (?) and render very differently. 61:6 The Pahlavi has shedâân; Ner. tân dveshinah. 61:7 Or 'teaching,' so the Pahlavi; Ner. samâsvâdayati. 61:8 The Pahlavi translator hits the true rendering here: 'from among these I am chosen out by Thee.' Otherwise we have a question: Am I of these? The allusion is to the fall of Yima. As to the first eating of the flesh of beasts, recall Genesis ix. 3. Some have rendered: With regard to these I am of Thine opinion, O Mazda (?). 61:9 The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows: Among (of) these demons Yima of the Vîvanhânas is famed to have been a wicked scourge. It was he who taught men thus: Eat ye our flesh in pieces [wide as the beast, long as the arm—(or better with West, 'in lapfuls and armfuls')]. From among these [ ] I am chosen out by Thee, O Aûharmazd! hereafter; [that is, even by Thee I am considered as good]. 62:1 An improper subjunctive. Otherwise: He (has) destroyed (not irretrievably, of course; the case was not decided, and finally issued favourably). 62:2 Apô—yantâ; otherwise 'they would take'; Ner. apaharati. 62:3 Zak î li îshtî avôrtŏ [—khvâstak î pavan dastôbar]. 62:4 Pavan valmansân milayâ î mînavadîhâ; Ner. vâgbhih mânasavrittyâ aham—âkrandaye (not following our present Pahlavi text, the gloss however). Observe that in reading Ner. we by no means ipso facto read the Pahlavi, either in correct translation, or as following our texts., Compare XLVI, 2. 62:5 One thinks somewhat of the familiar foes of the Vedic kine; but there can be of course no connection. The Iranian sacred Cow did not represent the rain cloud, at least not at all directly. 62:6 Read viyâpat as a demon. without sign: 'v' was miswritten for 'y' as often 'y' for 'v.' The Pahlavi language, not to speak of the Pahlavi translation, suggests it. How are we to account for the word vîyâvânînêd? We should not arrest our philology at the Zend and Sanskrit. The long vowel is most awkward for a comparison with the Indian vap = shear. And I think that 'destroying the means of irrigation' gives good a meaning as 'shearing the land.' Notice that elsewhere a more correct form appears, vîâpôtemem (Vd. III, 15, (51 Sp.))=viyâpôtemem. 62:7 Literally, 'he will discharge his club at the righteous.' 63:1 The Pahlavi translator erroneous, or free, as to kikôiteres, indicates the proper sense of mazibîs by pavan masâî [—pavan pêshpâyîh va pâspâyîh—]; but Neryosangh, mahattayâ-purah-saratayâ. 63:2 Comp. XXXI, 12, 'there high his voice lifts the truthful or liar.' 63:3 Literally, 'he takes.' 63:4 Riknah vindisnŏ. 63:5 Kadak-khûdâî gabrâ nêsman. 63:6 Reshînênd; see V, 10. The ablative of the cause, comp. ashât hakâ; otherwise with Hübschm., 'Sie die Schaden nehmen mögen durch den besten heiligen Geist, O Mazda!' (Casuslehre, s. 241.) 63:7 The Pahlavi translator had probably before him a text reading rashayen; he renders freely rêsh srâyênd. With such a text which is far preferable to the one afforded by the MSS. we may read: Whereby (yéna) men will be opposing and retarding (literally wounding) the doctrines which (are derived) from the best (moral and ceremonial) action; but to these men Mazda declared: Evil (are ye). See the previous verse. 63:8 See the previous verse. 63:9 The Pahlavi has hû-ravâkh-manîh yemalelûnd. 64:1 So also indicated by the Pahlavi bavîhûnd. 64:2 There is elsewhere evidence enough of a desire to encroach upon the truth. 64:3 So also indicated by bavîhûnêd. 64:4 Or, 'which kingdoms, sovereign power.' 64:5 Comp. XXX 6. 64:6 Or, 'they gladly complain;' so also the Pahlavi: Mûn—garzisnŏ kâmak. The singular gîgerezat is difficult with yaêkâ. Many would alter the text at once, and the temptation is great. 64:7 Hübschm., 'ye îs pât daresât ashahyâ der sie abhalte vom Schauen des Asha' (Casus. 241). So of XLVI, 4. So also indicated by pâdênd mîn nikêzisnŏ î Aharâyîh; evidence of a struggle, or at least of a desire on the part of a rival party to possess themselves of some religious privilege or precedence. See the previous verse; also XXXI, in: Never, O Mazda! never shall the thriftless and thieving one share the good doctrine. See still further XLIV, 15, where the two hosts meet in hostility 'on account of the doctrinal vows.' 64:8 Grehma appertains to, but is not the particular evil teacher referred to throughout. The Pahlavi translator indicates bribery as the meaning of the word. Possibly some impious chieftain is meant whose procedure was of that nature. The word omits in the plural. 64:9 Â hôi; Thwôi is difficult. Or (see Y. XLIV, 14), 'Thine understanding has subdued the Kavis.' The Pahlavi translator renders masîh, as if he had read ahuthwôi, offering an important alternative. p. 65 Read: In his dominion he has established the Kavis and their intended plans. Reading hôithôi, 'his G. is to be bound.' 65:1 The predecessors of the Pahlavi translator seem to have understood the word var(e)kau as conveying the idea of power rather than that of brilliancy. He renders freely pavan zak î varzânân avârûnŏ dânâkânŏ. Supposing the text to stand, and not supplying a formation from var(e)z, we may hold that there existed a var(e)k beside var(e)z, as there undoubtedly was a har(e)k (see hareke) beside har(e)z. This casts light on the Vedic várkas. 65:2 Amatik padîrênd valman darvandân aîyyârîh [ ] amatik avŏ Tôra zanisnŏ gûftŏ. The sufferings of the sacred Kine form the central thought of much that occurs. 65:3 Can gâus be a genitive here? But if a nominative, must not ye refer to it? How then could the Kine 'kindle' the aid of grace? A genitive looks difficult. It is, however, accepted by Spiegel, although he renders differently from my translation. The Pahlavi may give us invaluable relief here by restoring the text. The ancient translator read vaokayat. Reading with him, we might render: When the Kine which (yâ?) caused a death-removing help to be declared, was said to be meet for subjection (or slaying, reading an infinitive from gan). This rendering is more probable than that from saokayat. The Kine distinctly caused this help to be declared. See XXIX. But I make it a matter of principle to follow the MSS. in a first translation, where that is at all possible. 65:4 The Pahlavi translator differs greatly here, having taken anâis with adverbial force, and as possessing the a priv. (they being p. 66 not inclined). He also read somewhat as follows: anâis avaênî(?) as ye = from his non-inclination he was blind who (belongs to the Karpan and to the Kavi). Whether a truer text is indicated by him here is doubtful on account of XLIV, 13, and its nâshâmâ; but the unvarying explanation of the Kavis as blind probably derives its origin from some such reading here, or elsewhere in lost documents. Certainly if âis can be used as a particle, anâis is not altogether impossible in some such sense. Moreover, the Pahlavi translation here and elsewhere has afforded us such a multitude of valuable concretes, that we shall do well to think twice before we reject its most startling suggestions. Lit. trl. 'what (things are) of the K.' 66:1 The Pahlavi translation gives a fine suggestion in the concrete sense here; seeing the dual âbyâ, it explains it as referring to Haurvatât and Ameretatât, which is very probably correct. So Spiegel also renders. It is very difficult to decide in which sense yeng daintî nôit jyâteus khshayamaneng vasô is to be taken. If in an evil sense (as vase-khshayant is sometimes elsewhere taken) one might think of such a rendering as this: I have driven the Karpans' and Kavis' disciples hence to those (evil rulers) whom they (my servants) render no longer wanton tyrants over life. But these (my champion saints) shall be borne by the two to the home of Thy Good Mind. But strict grammar demands of us that tôi should refer back to yeng. Accordingly I suggest as above first. 66:2 Observe that Vohu Manah equals heaven. Recall XXX, 4, 'but for the holy Vahista Manah; that is heaven.' 66:3 The Pahlavi has ham; Neryosangh has sarvam. 66:4 Reading sâk(a)yãskît (P11, skyaskît; Pahlavi, âmûkhtisnŏ (sic); Ner., sikshâpanam). Otherwise syaskît, which may well mean 'lying, reposing' in the wide (mental) light of the pious (or of the offering). Geldner lately admirably suggests a 2nd sg. 66:5 Pavan farâkhû hûshîh. 66:6 If this 'best one' is the Ratu of XXXIII, 1, all is grammatically clear; but the expressions are rather strong in view of p. 67 XLVIII, 9, where similar language is certainly applied to Ahura. If Ahura is here meant, we have only one instance more to add to the many in which Ahura is spoken of in the third person, with an address to Him thrown in. See the differing views of XLV, 11. Possibly the 'Best One' was Ahura's Spenta Mainyu. 67:1 Zak î pavan gûmânîkîh. As to âithi, âithivant seems to prove that its meaning must be calamity also in this place. Otherwise one is strongly tempted to heed the vigorous indication of the Pahlavi translator. Here and in XLVIII, 9, he renders 'manifest,' 'what is clear in the midst of my doubt.' The etymology would be far simpler. Alternatively dvaêthâ = terror (bî). 67:2 Valman î pûmman khvâstâr. The Pahlavi sees 'to be desired' in ishyeng. Otherwise one might render: I will cause (verbal) missiles (comp. zastâ-istâis) to be cast forth from the mouth for the harm of the wicked. (SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. 'Parch with drought' in verse 10 may be regarded as having figurative application. The destruction of the means of irrigation, so often resorted to in the same regions later, would point also to a literal sense, but 'waste our meadows like drought' is a safer expression. See further vivâpat, and vî âpem = vîyâpat, viyâpem.) Next: Yasna XXXIII Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism