The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. MUCH-nam'd, and best of dæmons, hear my pray'r, The desart-loving, deck'd with tender hair; Joy to diffuse, by all desir'd is thine, Much form'd, Eubulus; aliment divine Female and Male, all charming to the sight, Adonis ever flourishing and bright; At stated periods doom'd to set and rise, With splendid lamp, the glory of the skies. 8 Two-horn'd and lovely, reverenc'd with tears, Of beauteous form, adorn'd with copious hairs. Rejoicing in the chace, all-graceful pow'r, Sweet plant of Venus, Love's delightful flow'r: Descended from the secret bed divine, Of lovely-hair'd, infernal Proserpine. 'Tis thine to fink in Tartarus profound, And shine again thro' heav'ns illustrious round, With beauteous temp'ral orb restor'd to sight; Come, with earth's fruits, and in these flames delight.

(17) (And not alone amidst our princes hath sanctity been marked), Frashaostra, the Hvôgva, hath presented a blest and an endeared form (his child ); and may Ahura Mazda, who has the Sovereign Power, grant her (to us), who is so much to be beloved. And for the (progress of the) good Religion do ye, O ye people! receive her with desire , and for the gaining of Asha; (she will help the great cause).

(12) As [in] the flowers in the meadows, every one receiveth its colour from its quality, and is named also according to its quality, so are the holy angels also: Some are strongest in the astringent quality, and those are of a [dusky or grey] brownish light, and are nearest of quality to the cold.

(55) Sandal-wood or Tagara, a lotus-flower, or a Vassikî, among these sorts of perfumes, the perfume of virtue is unsurpassed.

(5) Flowers were chosen as symbols for many reasons. The great variety of flora made it possible to find some plant or flower which would be a suitable figure for nearly any abstract quality or condition. A plant might be chosen because of some myth connected with its origin, as the stories of Daphne and Narcissus; because of the peculiar environment in which it thrived, as the orchid and the fungus; because of its significant shape, as the passion flower and the Easter lily; because of its brilliance or fragrance, as the verbena and the sweet lavender; because it preserved its form indefinitely, as the everlasting flower; because of unusual characteristics as the sunflower and heliotrope, which have long been sacred because of their affinity for the sun.

(35) The herbs of the fields were sacred to the early pagans, who believed that the gods had made plants for the cure of human ills. When properly prepared and applied, each root and shrub could be used for the alleviation of suffering, or for the development of spiritual, mental, moral, or physical powers. In The Mistletoe and Its Philosophy, P. Davidson pays the following beautiful tribute to the plants: "Books have been written on the language of flowers and herbs, the poet from the earliest ages has held the sweetest and most loving converse with them, kings are even glad to obtain their essences at second hand to perfume themselves; but to the true physician--Nature's High-Priest--they speak in a far higher and more exalted strain. There is not a plant or mineral which has disclosed the last of its properties to the scientists. How can they feel confident that for every one of the discovered properties there may not be many powers concealed in the inner nature of the plant? Well have flowers been called the 'Stars of Earth,' and why should they not be beautiful? Have they not from the time of their birth smiled in the splendor of the sun by day, and slumbered under the brightness of the stars by night? Have they not come from another and more spiritual world to our earth, seeing that God made 'every plant of the field BEFORE it was in the earth, and every herb of the field BEFORE IT GREW'?"

(6) For she will grant us pleasing homes , and, (while we live) in this Thy Good Mind's longing prayer (to gain her welfare), she grants us likewise lasting strength (for every deed which that Thy Good Mind moves us to perform), and therefore hath Mazda caused the plants to flourish for her (nurture), He, Ahura, in the generation of primeval life.

(23) There spring up also in these powers and virtues all manner of blossoms and flowers, with fair heavenly colours and smells.

(6) The plant might also be considered worthy of veneration because from its crushed leaves, petals, stalks, or roots could be extracted healing unctions, essences, or drugs affecting the nature and intelligence of human beings--such as the poppy and the ancient herbs of prophecy. The plant might also be regarded as efficacious in the cure of many diseases because its fruit, leaves, petals, or roots bore a resemblance in shape or color to parts or organs of the human body. For example, the distilled juices of certain species of ferns, also the hairy moss growing upon oaks, and the thistledown were said to have the power of growing hair; the dentaria, which resembles a tooth in shape, was said to cure the toothache; and the palma Christi plant, because of its shape, cured all afflictions of the hands.

(24) For of pleasant odour, which is one thing genetically, there are many specific causes, as frankincense, rose, crocus, styrax, myrrh, ointment. For the rose has not the same kind of sweet fragrance as myrrh.

(3) And Thou art therein, O Ahura Mazda! the bountiful One who appertains to, and who possesses, that (most bounteous) spirit in that Thou art He who for this (man, in whom this spirit works) hath made the joy-creating Kine. (And as to her), for her, as joyful meadows of her peace, wilt Thou bestow (Thine) Âramaiti (who is our Piety as earth considered), since he (for her) hath taken counsel with Thy Good Mind, Lord!

(12) (To whom? The answer lieth near.) Such shall be the Saviours of the Provinces, and they who, through Thy Good Mind's grace, shall go on hand in hand with mental keenness (as it spreads among Thy saints) by the doing every deed of Thy commandment, O Ahura! through the help of, and in accordance with, Thy Holy Order; for such as these are set (for us), as steadfast foes of hate! 153:1 The Pahlavi has also pavan zak dahisnŏ; but a false gloss gives an erroneous concrete [pavan tanû î pasînŏ]. Recall âdâi paitî. 153:2 See ashaônô, ashâunê (sic) (Y. XLVII, 4, 5). 153:3 Read 'as âshûtâ'—has been pushed on, enacted. I correct here as seems so evidently necessary; but the Pahlavi anticipates with its amat zak yâmtûnêd. 153:4 Pavan friftârîh. 153:5 See Y. XXIX, 4. 153:6 See Y. XXX, 11, savakâ ashavabyô. 154:1 Meng = mãm or man; -eng is the nasalised vowel. Man is suspiciously significant here; 'mental battles' is rather advanced for the circumstances. It is, however, not impossible. The Pahlavi favours mãm (?) here; it has avŏ li. We might even read menâ on its evidence. The Pahlavi indicates the meaning 'crises' under the figure of the 'Bridge,' which was the last great crisis to every man in the eye of the earlier, as well as of the later, Faith; so also in Y. LI, 12. The 'straits of life' would be an admirable meaning; I differ with hesitation. 154:2 Pahlavi kardârîh. 154:3 See Y. XLIII, 14. 154:4 Yaêkît gûzrâ-senghaunghô. Or, 'knowing also those who are the teachers of secret doctrines.' 154:5 We may, with some effort, connect thwâvãs with vaêdemnâi. Spentô vîdvau, however, must refer to the immediately foregoing Ahurô, especially in view of the tvem vîdvau, Ahurâ, of verse 2. 'The one like Thee' might even, as in other cases, be only an oblique way of rendering 'Thyself;' but the expression 'with the understanding of Vohu Manah' induces me to refer the word Thwâvãs to the servant of Ahura; in this case, however, this last line must of course be drawn to verse 4, although not mechanically separated from verse 3. 155:1 See verse 2. 155:2 Present for imperative, as sometimes in modern languages in giving directions. 155:3 The words are anticipated from the third line. 155:4 I follow the Indian sense here with great reluctance. Nanâ may well be, in Iranian, equivalent to 'each several one,' and in fact may not impossibly teach us the origin of the word ('man, man.' comp. narem,* narem*). The Pahl. trlr. is so decided for a personal sense, that he renders gabrâ nêsman = man and woman. Did he suppose 'woman' to be literally (!) expressed in the text? 155:5 Âramaiti is addressed, unless indeed an instrumental is read without MSS. An instrumental is of course preferable. 155:6 The Pahlavi has, with admirable freedom, zakatŏ hû-khûdâî pâdakhshâyînisn, va al lanman zak î dûs-khûdâî salîtâ yehavûnâdŏ. I read hukhshathrâ khshayeñtãm, mâ ne dûs-khshathrâ, to bring the metre somewhat into order, as some gross irregularity is present; the caesura only, not the sense, is affected by the change. 155:7 Or, 'from the birth-hour on;' so the Pahlavi. Its gloss reads [akhar min zerkhûnisnŏ avinâsîh pâhlûm]. 156:1 So Bartholomae, who now holds to a third singular here, leaving the text undisturbed, and explaining as an optative. 156:2 The Pahlavi seems to render 'comfort' here, using khvârîh in that sense. 156:3 So the Pahlavi correctly indicates by its arzûk; Ner. priyataram. 156:4 Compare Y. LI, 7. Are the plants here mentioned as in connection with Âramaiti in her figurative association with the earth? 156:5 See verses 1, 2. 156:6 Or, 'against the blow,' Y. XXIX, 1. The Pahlavi translator here renders padîrak î arêshak, while in Y. XXIX, 1 he renders î rêshkûn. The variations are probably not real; the renderings referring to some forgotten differences of text; or, as often, he may have anticipated modern freedom, and 'changed his text;' that is, rendered it as if changed to a seemingly more intelligible form; so in a throng of similar cases. This is the only rational explanation of some of his errors. (He was able to render, and has rendered, most grammatical forms in different places.) 156:7 The Pahlavi has, however, navîdîh. Did he read vidhyãm, in itself a very possible text? 157:1 Compare emavantem aêshem, also peresâ nau yâ tôi ehmâ parstâ. Observe that the Pahlavi translator distinguishes the two senses of îsti. In Y. XLVI, 2 he transcribes the Gâthic word, the Persian rendering ‘hezânah; Ner. punyalakshmîm; here, however, he has: Kadâr lak, Aûharmazd, zak î sapîr khvahîsn î khûdâyîh. 157:2 Compare verse 5. 157:3 Ashâ might certainly equal ákhâ here (so Bartholomae) if the constant and intentional repetition of the name and idea of Asha, = the personified Order, would not have caused confusion. 157:4 The Pahlavi translator renders a word which occupied the place of gavarô by yakhsenunîdârîh; Ner. following as to root (freely as to form). As he, however, renders related forms elsewhere by 'living,' 'live,' our only safe conclusion is that he had a different word from gavarô (givarô) before him in his MS. 157:5 Compare Y. XXVIII, 6. 157:6 I am very far from certain that we do not seriously blunder in not following the indication of the Pahlavi here. See remarks Y. XXXII, 16. 157:7 Or, 'let me enjoy as my own;' but môi is difficult. Ûkãm might otherwise be a first personal form in the sense of the Vedic uk. p. 158 Bartholomae's third sing. imper. is also of course well possible; but were not the originally abnormal third singulars in -âm, duhâ´m sayâm, vidâm, taken over from third pl. subj. '-âm' really equalling the nasal vowel merely*? Comp. also Indian ádrisram, ábudhram, ásrigram, Zend vavazirem, -am = an. 'Tradition' has, Pahl. zîvisnîh; Ner. gîvitam; Pers. zîstan, for ûkãm, as if rendering 'enjoyment,' 'experience of life.' *(âm = tâm is more difficult.) 158:1 Comparing vápus; otherwise, with the Pahlavi, 'knowing the destruction (of the evil) which Vohûman works;' see Y. XXIX, 6, where the rendering of the Pahlavi is supported by the previous verse. 158:2 Comp. Y. XLVI, 3. Kadâ Mazda; frârentê*—saoshyantãm khratavô? 158:3 Compare Y. XXXII, 15. 158:4 Is Soma-intoxication here referred to? And was the Haoma-worship in abeyance at the time? The Pahlavi seems to have understood 'magic' here, and in the evil sense, that is, judging from the perhaps later gloss. Aside from the gloss, however, the Pahlavi may well have been, nay, more probably was, intended to be read madîh as = madahyâ. 158:5 As to this word, we cannot do better than follow Justi (although his work is now a score of years old). The Indian várpas, in the sense of deceit, has also been compared. The last Pahlavi translator was probably confused by finding this word, as so often, divided in his MS. He rendered as best he could, or rather he handed down the shattered documents, or oral teachings, of his predecessors with his own too often lame additions, the whole mass being rich in the relics of the truth. 158:6 See verse 5. 159:1 Mat following Ashâ shows that we may also have the preposition in pôi mat. 159:2 As Âramaiti is here spoken of as 'having pasture,' that is, as inspiring the thrifty husbandmen who cultivate the meadows by irrigation, or drainage, she became associated herself with those meadows, and so later with the earth; see Y. XLVII, 2. 159:3 The Pahlavi sees in râmãm enforced quiet not 'from' but 'to' the wicked; 'who shall deal the finishing blow to the wicked?' 159:4 So also the Pahlavi, shnâsinîdârîh. Next: Yasna XLIX 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

(15) But this is the reward which Zarathustra declared before (to his friends who counsel with Asha), and are fitted for the cause ; Ahura Mazda will come the first into His Song Home, Garôdman, and then these gifts will be given you by the Good Mind (within you), and with blessings for the cause of the Righteous Order (in His hosts).

(2) And may Kavi Vîstâspa, and the Zarathustrian Spitâma , and Frashaostra too with them, offer propitiation to Mazda in thought, word, and deed, and Yasna confessions as they render Him praise, making straight paths (for our going), even that Faith of the Saoshyant which Ahura will found .

(20) And, that gift of blessedness for you, all (the Bountiful Immortals) with one consent in sympathy to help us (are disposed ) to grant; (and may they likewise make) the Holy Order (firm) for us through the Good Mind (in our folk); and may they reveal to us the words with which Piety likewise (speaks her truths). And receiving sacrifice with homage (from our praises), may they seek for us Ahura Mazda's grace.