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Source: Avesta.org. The Yashts, Yasht 10, translation: L.H. Mills / J. Darmesteter (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887), Avesta.org. License: Public domain (translation predates 1928).
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AVESTA: KHORDA AVESTA (English): MIHR YASHT ('Hymn to Mithra')
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Avesta: Khorda Avesta
10. MIHR YASHT ("Hymn to Mithra")
This digital edition copyright © 1995 by Joseph H. Peterson.
All rights reserved.
Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East,
American Edition, 1898.)
Spelling has been normalized to conform with other texts in this series.
This Yasht, one of the longest of the Avesta and one of the most
interesting in a literary point of view, is not very instructive for
mythology. It consists of long descriptive pieces, sometimes
rather spirited, and of fervent prayers and invocations for mercy
or protection. Originally Mithra was the god of the heavenly light
(§§ 12, 50, 67, 104, 124 seq., 136 seq., etc.); and in that character
he knows the truth, as he sees everything; he is therefore taken
as a witness of truth, he is the preserver of oaths and good faith
(§§ 2, 44 seq., 79 seq., 81 seq., etc.); he chastises those who break
their promises and lie to Mithra, destroys their houses, and smites
them in battle (§§ 17 seq., 28 seq., 35 seq., 47 seq., 99 seq., 105 seq.,
112 seq., 128 seq., etc.).
Particularly interesting are §§ 115-118, as giving a sketch of
moral hierarchy in Iran, and §§ 121-122, as being perhaps the
source of the trials in the later Roman Mithraism. Cf. Vend.
Intro. IV, 8 and Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 59-61.
0. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!....
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good....
I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathushtra,
one who hates the Daevas, and obeys the laws of Ahura;
For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani],
the holy and master of holiness....
Notes:
Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a
thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked
by his own name, and unto Rama Hvastra,1
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation,
and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....
1. Sirozah 1.16.
I.
1. Ahura Mazda 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, Ahura Mazda.2
2. Cf. Yt8.50.
2. 'The ruffian who lies unto Mithra3 brings death
unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful
world as a hundred evil-doers4 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.5 For Mithra
stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful.
3. The Mithra-druj: one might also translate 'who breaks the
contract,' as mithra, as a common noun, means 'a contract.'
4. Kayadhas; cf Yt1.19.
5. Cf. Arda Viraf, chap. 52.
3. 'Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swiftness
to the horses of those who lie not unto
Mithra.
'Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, 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.
4. '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.
5. '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!6 May he come to
us for bliss!7 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.
6. Cheerfulness at the head of the Chinwad bridge (Yasna 62.6
[61.17]; cf. Vend. 18.6).
7. The condition of the blessed in the next world.
6. 'I will offer up libations unto him, the strong
Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the
creatures: I will apply unto him with charity8 and
prayers: I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard
unto him, Mithra, the lord of wide 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.
8. Vanta, 'assistance, that is, making jâdangôi' (Yasna 62.1);
jâdangôi is making a collection for the poor (Études
Iraniennes, II, 155.)
'Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda....9
9. As Yt1.22. [Yenghe Hatam prayer is imitated from
Y51.22.]
II.
7. '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,10 strong, sleepless,
and ever awake;11
10. Perethu-vaêdhayana: sampûrnavittâram kâryanyâyânam
Ny1.6
11. jaghhâurvaunghem: this word, strangely enough, is generally
translated 'who has most strong arms' (balishthabhujam); jagâuru
is translated in the same way.
8. '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.
9. '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.12
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
12. Sr1.30. 'The blessing (âfriti) is twofold: one by thought, one by
words; the blessing by words is more powerful; the curse
(upamana) in thought is the more powerful' (Neriosengh ad
Yasna I.15). Upamana is the same as the Vedic manyu.
III.
10. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake.
11. '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 them.13
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
13. Cf. Yt5.53; Yt10.94.
IV.
12.
'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
13. 'Who first of the heavenly gods reaches over
the Hara14, before
the undying, swift-horsed sun15;
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. Mount Alburz, whence the sun rises; see § 50.
15. Mithra is closely connected with the sun, but not yet identical
with it, as he became in later times (Pers. mhr, the sun;
Deo invicto Soli Mithrae).
14. 'Where the valiant chiefs draw up their many
troops in array;16 where the high mountains, rich in
pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle;17
where the deep lakes, with salt waters, stand;18
where wide-flowing rivers swell and hurry towards
Ishkata and Pouruta, Mouru and Haroyu, the Gava-Sughdha
and Hvairizem;19
16. In the flat countries.
17. In the mountainous parts of Iran.
18. In the lake regions (Seistan, Farsistan, Adarbaijan [Azarbaijan]).
19. In the country of the large rivers in the East. Mouru is Marv
(Margiana), with the Murghab river (the Margus); Haroyu is the
Herat country, with the Hararud; Gava-Sugdha and Hvarizm are
Sogdiana and Khwarizm, with the Oxus. The situation of Ishkata
and Pouruta is not clear: one might think of Alexander eschata
on the Iaxartes and the Paretacene country between the Oxus
and the Iaxartes.
15. 'On Arezahi and Sawahi, on Fradadhafshu
and Widadhafshu, on Wouru-bareshti and Wourujareshti,
on this bright karshwar of Xwaniratha20, the abode
of cattle, the dwelling of cattle, the powerful Mithra
looks with a health-bringing eye;
20. The earth is divided into seven karshwars, separated from one
another by seas and mountains impassable to men. Arezahi and
Sawahi are the western and the eastern karshwars; Fradadhafshu
and Widadhafshu are in the south; Wouru-bareshti and Wourujareshti
are in the north; Xwaniratha is the central karshwar. Zwaniratha
is the only karshwar inhabited by man (Bundahishn 11.3).
16. 'He who moves along all the karshwars, a
Yazata unseen, and brings glory; he who moves
along all the karshwars, a Yazata unseen, and
brings sovereignty; and increases21 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....
21. Doubtful.
V.
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
of a 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 wrath22 is slow to relent.23
22. Mainyu, in the meaning of the Sanskrit manyu (?).
23. Doubtful; aspachat: cf. [Pers.] spuxtn, to be late.
20. 'Those who lie unto Mithra, however swift
they may be running, cannot overtake;24 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.25
24. Apayêinti, frastanvainti, framayêintê: these are three
technical words for the movements of the three classes of soldiers,
footmen, horsemen, and chariot-men; the last two words are
probably synonymous with the first, but the exact shades of meaning
are not known. Mr. West suggests, cannot outrun, outride,
outdrive him.
25. The sacramental words of the contract, by their not being
kept, turn to evil spells against the contract-breaker.
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.26 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....
26. The sacramental words of the contract, by their not being
kept, turn to evil spells against the contract-breaker.
VI.
22. '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 wound27 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.
27. Doubtful: shanamayô, or shanamaoyô; read shanmaoyô (?),
from shan, Sansk. kshan.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
VII.
25. '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,28 high,
holily clever, the incarnate Word, a warrior with
strong arms;
28. Vahmô-sendah; cf. Visperad 8 (IX, 1), Phl. tr.
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,29 takes
away their strength for victory, blows them away
helpless,30 and delivers them unto ten thousand
strokes; he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful,
all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra.
29. Their khwarenah [khwarrah].
30. Doubtful.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
VIII.
28. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who upholds the columns of the lofty house and
makes its pillars31 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.
31. Ãithya; cf. Lat. antae (Brugmann).
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,32
and high above their groundwork;33 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.
32. Doubtful.
33. Doubtful.
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,34 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!35
Gather them together with love and lay them in
the Garo-nmana!36.
34. Cf. Yt3.18.
35. By the proper prayers (yashtau).
36. [garothman, i.e. Heaven. -JHP]
33. 'Grant us these boons which we beg of thee,
O powerful god! in accordance37 with the words of
revelation, namely, riches, strength, and victory,
good conscience and bliss,38 good fame and a good
soul; wisdom and the knowledge that gives happiness,39
the victorious strength given by Ahura, the
crushing Ascendant of Asha Vahishta, and conversation
(with God) on the Holy Word.40
37. Doubtful.
38. Cf. § 5.
39. Spiritual happiness, bliss.
40. Vd18.51 [III].
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.41
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
41. See above, Yt1.10, note 3. §§ 30-34 = §§56-59.
IX.
35. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Victory-making42, army-governing, endowed with
a thousand senses43; power-wielding, power-possessing,
and all-knowing;
42. Doubtful (reading arenat-jaêsha?).
43. See § 82, note.
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 vales44 of
the Mithradrujes: they45 stand on the road, letting
tears run over their chins46.
44. Doubtful.
45. The cattle.
46. The meaning is, that the cattle of the Mithradrujes do not
thrive, and that their pasture fields are waste.
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; Rashnu47
strikes a counter-fear into them48; the holy Sraosha
blows them away from every side towards the two
Yazatas, the maintainers of the world.49 They make
the ranks of the army melt away, as Mithra, the lord
of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied,
comes and meets them.50
47. See Yt12.
48. As they flee from Mithra, they fall into the hands of Rashnu.
49. Thrâtâra; one might feel inclined to read thrâstâra, 'the
fear-striking;' cf. § 36.
50. Cf. § 99-101
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....
X.
44. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Whose dwelling, wide as the earth, extends over
the material world, large51, unconfined51, and bright,
a far-and-wide-extending abode.
51. Doubtful. The text is corrupt.
45. 'Whose eight friends52 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.
52. Doubtful. The number eight has probably an astronomical
signification, each of the eight râtis of Mithra occupying one of
the eight points of the compass.
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....
XI.
47. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'A god of high renown and old age53, whom wide-hoofed
horses carry against havocking hosts, against
enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting
nations54.
53. Doubtful.
54. Cf. § 8.
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....
XII.
49. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
50. 'For whom the Maker, Ahura Mazda, has
built up a dwelling on the Hara Berezaiti, the bright
mountain around which the many (stars) revolve55,
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 Bareza56;
55. Bundahishn 5.3 seq.;
cf. Yt12.13#section5 and Yt10.13.
56. The Haraiti Bareza is the same as Hara Berezaiti.
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,57 who strikes a blow that smites the
army, that smites the strength of the malicious.58
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
57. Sirozah 1.9, notes 4 and 5.
58. Doubtful (mâyaosh).
XIII.
53. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
54. 'Who, with hands lifted up, ever cries unto
Ahura Mazda, 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.
5559. '"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."
59. Cf. Yt8.11, 24, and Yt10.74.
5660. 'But the pious man, holding libations in his
hands, does worship thee with a sacrifice, in which
thou art invoked by thy own name, 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 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!
60. §§ 56-59 = §§ 30-34.
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 [Garothman i.e. Heaven]!
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 Ahura, the
crushing Ascendant of Asha-Vahishta, and conversation
(with God) 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....
XIV.
60. '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, ....61, 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....
61. The text is corrupt (vasô-yaonânâi inatãm).
XV.
61. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Firm-legged62, 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 karshwars63;
delivering64; happy65; undeceivable;
endowed with many senses66; a creature of wisdom;
62. eredhwô-zeñgãm: sudridhajanghatâ, kila kârye yad pâdâbhyâm
yujyate kartum vyavasâyî shaktashcha (Y62.5).
63. Karshôo-râzanghem: kêshvar vîrâi (Pahl. tr. ibid).
64. From Ahriman; cf. Y29.6 (vyâna = vichârishn, vishuddhatâ.)
65. Yaokhshtivant: kâmakômand (possessing whatever he wishes
for, Vd20.1).
66. See Yt10.82, note.
62. '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.
63. '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 god67.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer
him a sacrifice worth being heard....
67. From Yt10.23-24.
XVI.
64. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who takes possession68 of the beautiful, wide-expanding
law, greatly and powerfully, and whose face
looks over all the seven karshwars of the earth;
68. Cf. Y43.7: vyânayâ: amat vandînît, yat grihnâti.
65. '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, cheerfulness69-giving, and
bliss69-giving.
69. Cf. Yt10.5, notes 6 and 7.
66. 'With whom proceed Ashi Vanguhi, and Parendi
on her light chariot70, the awful Manly Courage,
the awful kingly Glory, the awful sovereign Sky, the
awful cursing thought71 of the wise, the awful Fravashis
of the faithful, and he who keeps united together
the many faithful worshippers of Mazda72.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
70. Cf. Yt8.38.
71. See above, S1.30, note 1.
72. Mithra himself (?).
XVII.
67. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who drives along on his high-wheeled chariot,
made of a heavenly73 substance, from the Karshvare [keshwar]
of Arezahi74 to the Karshvare of Xwaniratha, the
bright one; accompanied by75 the wheel of sovereignty76,
the Glory made by Mazda, and the Victory
made by Ahura;
73. Or 'invisible.'
74. The western keshwar (see above, § 15, note 20); this seems to
refer to the career of Mithra during the night; cf. § 95.
75. And rolling upon it.
76. Cf. Yt13.89, note.
68. 'Whose chariot is embraced77 by the great
Ashi Vanguhi; to whom the Law of Mazda opens a
way, that he may go easily; whom four heavenly
steeds, white, shining, seen afar, beneficent, endowed
with knowledge, swiftly78 carry along the heavenly
space79, while the cursing thought of the wise pushes
it forward;
77. And uplifted.
78. Doubtful.
79. See Yt8.6, note 1.
69. 'From whom all the Daevas unseen and the
Varenya fiends80 flee away in fear. Oh! may we
never fall across the rush of the angry lord81, 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....
80. See Vend. Introd. IV, 23.
81. Cf. § 98.
XVIII.
70. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Before whom Verethraghna, made by Ahura, runs
opposing the foes in the shape of a boar82, a sharp-toothed
he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at
one stroke, pursuing83, wrathful, with a dripping face;
strong, with iron feet, iron fore-paws84, iron weapons,
an iron tail, and iron jaws;
82. See Yt14.15; cf. Yt10.127.
83. Anupôithwa; cf. pôithwa (Vd14) = rânînishn.
84. Literally, hands.
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
marrow85 and the column of life86, the marrow85 and
the spring of existence.
85. Doubtful.
86. The spine.
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 Mithra87.
'For his brightness and glory, we offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
87. Cf. § 80.
XIX.
73. '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 Ahura Mazda, most beneficent spirit!
Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
'"If men would worship me88 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
life89."
88. They have worshipped him and he has subsequently overcome
the Mithradrujes; this accounts for the word rejoicing.
89. Cf. Yt10.55.
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....
XX.
79. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who made a dwelling for Rashnu90, and to whom
Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship;
90. The Genius of Truth (Yt12); Mithra gives a dwelling to
the truthful man in the same way as he destroys the dwelling of the
liar (§ 80).
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 Ahura, contracted the best of all friendships91,
and thus it is how so many men who have
lied unto Mithra, even privily92, lie smitten down on
the ground.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
91. Cf. § 70.
92. Aipi vithishi; Vedic api vyathis (VIII, 45, 19).
XXI.
81. '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 Ahura Mazda gave a thousand
senses93 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....
93. Yaokhshti, the root of Persian nyôshîdan, Pahlavi niyôkhshîtan,
to hear; one might be inclined to translate 'a thousand ears,'
or 'a thousand hearings;' but the meaning of the word must
have been rather more general, as Neriosangh translates it
(pranidhi, IX, 8 [25]).
XXII.
83. '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 ....94 in danger of death95 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.
94. Dvâchina ?
95. Pithê: mrityu (Yasna 53.6).
85. 'The voice of his wailing reaches up to the
sky, it goes over the earth all around, it goes over
the seven karshwars, whether he utters his prayer
in a low tone of voice96 or aloud.
96. Vâchem, the so-called vâj. [Cf. baj. -JHP.]
86. 'The cow driven astray invokes him for help97,
longing for the stables:
'"When will that bull, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,
bring us back, and make us reach the
stables? when will he turn us back to the right
way from the den of the Druj where we were
driven98?"
97. Most manuscripts have added here, from the preceding
clauses, 'with hands uplifted!'
98. An allusion to a myth in which Mithra was described as an
Indra delivering the cows carried away by a Vritra: Firmicus
Maternus called him abactorem boum (De Errore Profan. Relig.
V); Commodianus compares him with Cacus:
'Vrtebatque boves alienos semper in antris
Sicut et Cacus Vulcani filius ille.'
(Apud Windischmann, Mithra, p. 64.)
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, the town, the province, the
country.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
XXIII.
88. '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 Bareza99, he
the undefiled to one undefiled, with undefiled
baresma, undefiled libations, and undefiled words;
99. See above, § 50, note 56.
89. 'Whom100 the holy Ahura Mazda 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 Ahura Mazda, a priest to
the Amesha-Spentas. His voice reached up to the
sky, went over the earth all around, went over the
seven keshwars.
100. Haoma; cf. Yasna 9.26.
90. 'Who first lifted up Haomas, in a mortar
inlaid with stars and made of a heavenly substance.
Ahura Mazda 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
afar101.
101. For the morning service in the Gah Ushahin.
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
hand102, 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.
102. Cf. Vd3.1.
92. 'The holy Ahura Mazda 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 Mazda conferred upon him the mastership
of the world; and [so did they103] who saw thee
amongst all creatures the right lord and master of
the world, the best cleanser of these creatures.
103. The Amesha-Spentas.
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
Aeshma104, 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
Vidotu105, made by the Daevas.
104. See Vend. Introd. IV, 22.
105. See ibid.
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 us106.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
106. See Yt5.53; Yt10.114.
XXIV.
95. '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 sun107, touches both ends of
this wide, round earth, whose ends lie afar, and
surveys everything that is between the earth and
the heavens,
107. It should seem as if Mithra was supposed to retrace his steps
during the night. The Hindus supposed that the sun had a bright
face and a dark one, and that during the night it returned from
the west to the east with its dark face turned towards the earth.
96. '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 weapons108;
108. Cf. § 132.
97. 'From whom Angra Mainyu, who is all death,
flees away in fear; from whom Aeshma, the evil-doing
Peshotanu109, flees away in fear; from whom
the long-handed Bushyasta110 flees away in fear;
from whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya
fiends flee away in fear111.
109. See Vend. Introd. V, 19.
110. See ibid. IV, 24.
111. Cf. § 69.
98. 'Oh! may we never fall across the rush of
Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, when in anger112!
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 pastures113.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
112. Cf. Yt10.69.
113. §§ 97-98 = §§ 134-135.
XXV.
99. '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 fear114.
'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.
114. Cf. § 97.
100. '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.
101. '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....
XXVI.
102. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'The warrior of the white horse, of the sharp
spear, the long spear, the quick arrows; foreseeing
and clever;
103. 'Whom Ahura Mazda has established to
maintain and look over all this moving115 world, and
who maintains and looks over all this moving world;
who, never sleeping, wakefully guards the creation
of Mazda; who, never sleeping, wakefully maintains
the creation of Mazda;
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
115. Fravoish; Parsi tradition translates large: frâz (tr. Phl.),
buland (Asp., Yasna 57.15).
XXVII.
104. '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.
105.
'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."
106.
'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;
107.
'"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):
108.
''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.
110.
'"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!
111.
'"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....
XXVIII.
112.
'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,
113. 'And then cattle and males come to graze, as many as he wants.
'May Mithra and Ahura, 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.
114. '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....
XXIX.
115.
'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!
116.
'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;
117.
'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 Mazda,
and then he will be every day of victorious strength.
118.
'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....
XXX.
119.
'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 Mazda sacrifice unto thee with small cattle,
with black cattle, with flying birds, gliding forward on wings.
120.
'To Mithra all the faithful worshiypers of Mazda 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.'
121.
Zarathushtra asked him: 'O Ahura Mazda! 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?'
122.
Ahura Mazda 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....
XXXI.
123.
'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'To whom Ahura Mazda offered up a sacrifice in the shining Garo-nmana.
124.
'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.
125.
'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....
126.
'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 Mazda.
127. 'Close by him drives the strong cursing thought of the wise
man, 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.
128.
'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.
129.
'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.
130.
'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.
131.
'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.
132. '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.
133.
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 Fradadhafshu
and Vidadhafshu, through Vourubareshti and Vouru-jareshti, through
this our Karshvare, the bright Hvaniratha.
134.
'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.
135.
'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....
XXXII.
136.
'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.
137.
'If Mithra takes his libations to his own dwelling, "Happy
that man, I think," -- said Ahura Mazda, "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,
138.
'"When Mithra's boons will come to him, as he follows
God's teaching, and thinks according to God's teaching.
'"Woe to that man, I think," - said Ahura Mazda, - "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."
139.
'He does not delight Ahura Mazda, nor the other Amesha-Spentas,
nor Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, he who thus scorns Mazda,
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....
XXXIII.
140.
'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....
XXXIV.
142.
'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, Ahura Mazda,
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....
XXXV.
144.
'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.
145.
'We sacrifice unto Mithra and Ahura, 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] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the
bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones!'
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AVESTA: KHORDA AVESTA (English): MIHR YASHT ('Hymn to Mithra')
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Avesta: Khorda Avesta
10. MIHR YASHT ("Hymn to Mithra")
This digital edition copyright © 1995 by Joseph H. Peterson.
All rights reserved.
Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East,
American Edition, 1898.)
Spelling has been normalized to conform with other texts in this series.
This Yasht, one of the longest of the Avesta and one of the most
interesting in a literary point of view, is not very instructive for
mythology. It consists of long descriptive pieces, sometimes
rather spirited, and of fervent prayers and invocations for mercy
or protection. Originally Mithra was the god of the heavenly light
(§§ 12, 50, 67, 104, 124 seq., 136 seq., etc.); and in that character
he knows the truth, as he sees everything; he is therefore taken
as a witness of truth, he is the preserver of oaths and good faith
(§§ 2, 44 seq., 79 seq., 81 seq., etc.); he chastises those who break
their promises and lie to Mithra, destroys their houses, and smites
them in battle (§§ 17 seq., 28 seq., 35 seq., 47 seq., 99 seq., 105 seq.,
112 seq., 128 seq., etc.).
Particularly interesting are §§ 115-118, as giving a sketch of
moral hierarchy in Iran, and §§ 121-122, as being perhaps the
source of the trials in the later Roman Mithraism. Cf. Vend.
Intro. IV, 8 and Ormazd et Ahriman, §§ 59-61.
0. May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced!....
Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good....
I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathushtra,
one who hates the Daevas, and obeys the laws of Ahura;
For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani],
the holy and master of holiness....
Notes:
Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a
thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked
by his own name, and unto Rama Hvastra,1
Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation,
and glorification.
Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....
1. Sirozah 1.16.
I.
1. Ahura Mazda 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, Ahura Mazda.2
2. Cf. Yt8.50.
2. 'The ruffian who lies unto Mithra3 brings death
unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful
world as a hundred evil-doers4 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.5 For Mithra
stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful.
3. The Mithra-druj: one might also translate 'who breaks the
contract,' as mithra, as a common noun, means 'a contract.'
4. Kayadhas; cf Yt1.19.
5. Cf. Arda Viraf, chap. 52.
3. 'Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, gives swiftness
to the horses of those who lie not unto
Mithra.
'Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, 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.
4. '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.
5. '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!6 May he come to
us for bliss!7 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.
6. Cheerfulness at the head of the Chinwad bridge (Yasna 62.6
[61.17]; cf. Vend. 18.6).
7. The condition of the blessed in the next world.
6. 'I will offer up libations unto him, the strong
Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the
creatures: I will apply unto him with charity8 and
prayers: I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard
unto him, Mithra, the lord of wide 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.
8. Vanta, 'assistance, that is, making jâdangôi' (Yasna 62.1);
jâdangôi is making a collection for the poor (Études
Iraniennes, II, 155.)
'Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda....9
9. As Yt1.22. [Yenghe Hatam prayer is imitated from
Y51.22.]
II.
7. '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,10 strong, sleepless,
and ever awake;11
10. Perethu-vaêdhayana: sampûrnavittâram kâryanyâyânam
Ny1.6
11. jaghhâurvaunghem: this word, strangely enough, is generally
translated 'who has most strong arms' (balishthabhujam); jagâuru
is translated in the same way.
8. '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.
9. '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.12
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
12. Sr1.30. 'The blessing (âfriti) is twofold: one by thought, one by
words; the blessing by words is more powerful; the curse
(upamana) in thought is the more powerful' (Neriosengh ad
Yasna I.15). Upamana is the same as the Vedic manyu.
III.
10. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake.
11. '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 them.13
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
13. Cf. Yt5.53; Yt10.94.
IV.
12.
'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
13. 'Who first of the heavenly gods reaches over
the Hara14, before
the undying, swift-horsed sun15;
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. Mount Alburz, whence the sun rises; see § 50.
15. Mithra is closely connected with the sun, but not yet identical
with it, as he became in later times (Pers. mhr, the sun;
Deo invicto Soli Mithrae).
14. 'Where the valiant chiefs draw up their many
troops in array;16 where the high mountains, rich in
pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle;17
where the deep lakes, with salt waters, stand;18
where wide-flowing rivers swell and hurry towards
Ishkata and Pouruta, Mouru and Haroyu, the Gava-Sughdha
and Hvairizem;19
16. In the flat countries.
17. In the mountainous parts of Iran.
18. In the lake regions (Seistan, Farsistan, Adarbaijan [Azarbaijan]).
19. In the country of the large rivers in the East. Mouru is Marv
(Margiana), with the Murghab river (the Margus); Haroyu is the
Herat country, with the Hararud; Gava-Sugdha and Hvarizm are
Sogdiana and Khwarizm, with the Oxus. The situation of Ishkata
and Pouruta is not clear: one might think of Alexander eschata
on the Iaxartes and the Paretacene country between the Oxus
and the Iaxartes.
15. 'On Arezahi and Sawahi, on Fradadhafshu
and Widadhafshu, on Wouru-bareshti and Wourujareshti,
on this bright karshwar of Xwaniratha20, the abode
of cattle, the dwelling of cattle, the powerful Mithra
looks with a health-bringing eye;
20. The earth is divided into seven karshwars, separated from one
another by seas and mountains impassable to men. Arezahi and
Sawahi are the western and the eastern karshwars; Fradadhafshu
and Widadhafshu are in the south; Wouru-bareshti and Wourujareshti
are in the north; Xwaniratha is the central karshwar. Zwaniratha
is the only karshwar inhabited by man (Bundahishn 11.3).
16. 'He who moves along all the karshwars, a
Yazata unseen, and brings glory; he who moves
along all the karshwars, a Yazata unseen, and
brings sovereignty; and increases21 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....
21. Doubtful.
V.
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
of a 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 wrath22 is slow to relent.23
22. Mainyu, in the meaning of the Sanskrit manyu (?).
23. Doubtful; aspachat: cf. [Pers.] spuxtn, to be late.
20. 'Those who lie unto Mithra, however swift
they may be running, cannot overtake;24 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.25
24. Apayêinti, frastanvainti, framayêintê: these are three
technical words for the movements of the three classes of soldiers,
footmen, horsemen, and chariot-men; the last two words are
probably synonymous with the first, but the exact shades of meaning
are not known. Mr. West suggests, cannot outrun, outride,
outdrive him.
25. The sacramental words of the contract, by their not being
kept, turn to evil spells against the contract-breaker.
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.26 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....
26. The sacramental words of the contract, by their not being
kept, turn to evil spells against the contract-breaker.
VI.
22. '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 wound27 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.
27. Doubtful: shanamayô, or shanamaoyô; read shanmaoyô (?),
from shan, Sansk. kshan.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
VII.
25. '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,28 high,
holily clever, the incarnate Word, a warrior with
strong arms;
28. Vahmô-sendah; cf. Visperad 8 (IX, 1), Phl. tr.
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,29 takes
away their strength for victory, blows them away
helpless,30 and delivers them unto ten thousand
strokes; he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful,
all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra.
29. Their khwarenah [khwarrah].
30. Doubtful.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
VIII.
28. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who upholds the columns of the lofty house and
makes its pillars31 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.
31. Ãithya; cf. Lat. antae (Brugmann).
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,32
and high above their groundwork;33 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.
32. Doubtful.
33. Doubtful.
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,34 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!35
Gather them together with love and lay them in
the Garo-nmana!36.
34. Cf. Yt3.18.
35. By the proper prayers (yashtau).
36. [garothman, i.e. Heaven. -JHP]
33. 'Grant us these boons which we beg of thee,
O powerful god! in accordance37 with the words of
revelation, namely, riches, strength, and victory,
good conscience and bliss,38 good fame and a good
soul; wisdom and the knowledge that gives happiness,39
the victorious strength given by Ahura, the
crushing Ascendant of Asha Vahishta, and conversation
(with God) on the Holy Word.40
37. Doubtful.
38. Cf. § 5.
39. Spiritual happiness, bliss.
40. Vd18.51 [III].
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.41
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
41. See above, Yt1.10, note 3. §§ 30-34 = §§56-59.
IX.
35. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Victory-making42, army-governing, endowed with
a thousand senses43; power-wielding, power-possessing,
and all-knowing;
42. Doubtful (reading arenat-jaêsha?).
43. See § 82, note.
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 vales44 of
the Mithradrujes: they45 stand on the road, letting
tears run over their chins46.
44. Doubtful.
45. The cattle.
46. The meaning is, that the cattle of the Mithradrujes do not
thrive, and that their pasture fields are waste.
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; Rashnu47
strikes a counter-fear into them48; the holy Sraosha
blows them away from every side towards the two
Yazatas, the maintainers of the world.49 They make
the ranks of the army melt away, as Mithra, the lord
of wide pastures, angry, offended, and unsatisfied,
comes and meets them.50
47. See Yt12.
48. As they flee from Mithra, they fall into the hands of Rashnu.
49. Thrâtâra; one might feel inclined to read thrâstâra, 'the
fear-striking;' cf. § 36.
50. Cf. § 99-101
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....
X.
44. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Whose dwelling, wide as the earth, extends over
the material world, large51, unconfined51, and bright,
a far-and-wide-extending abode.
51. Doubtful. The text is corrupt.
45. 'Whose eight friends52 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.
52. Doubtful. The number eight has probably an astronomical
signification, each of the eight râtis of Mithra occupying one of
the eight points of the compass.
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....
XI.
47. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'A god of high renown and old age53, whom wide-hoofed
horses carry against havocking hosts, against
enemies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting
nations54.
53. Doubtful.
54. Cf. § 8.
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....
XII.
49. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
50. 'For whom the Maker, Ahura Mazda, has
built up a dwelling on the Hara Berezaiti, the bright
mountain around which the many (stars) revolve55,
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 Bareza56;
55. Bundahishn 5.3 seq.;
cf. Yt12.13#section5 and Yt10.13.
56. The Haraiti Bareza is the same as Hara Berezaiti.
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,57 who strikes a blow that smites the
army, that smites the strength of the malicious.58
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
57. Sirozah 1.9, notes 4 and 5.
58. Doubtful (mâyaosh).
XIII.
53. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
54. 'Who, with hands lifted up, ever cries unto
Ahura Mazda, 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.
5559. '"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."
59. Cf. Yt8.11, 24, and Yt10.74.
5660. 'But the pious man, holding libations in his
hands, does worship thee with a sacrifice, in which
thou art invoked by thy own name, 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 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!
60. §§ 56-59 = §§ 30-34.
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 [Garothman i.e. Heaven]!
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 Ahura, the
crushing Ascendant of Asha-Vahishta, and conversation
(with God) 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....
XIV.
60. '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, ....61, 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....
61. The text is corrupt (vasô-yaonânâi inatãm).
XV.
61. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Firm-legged62, 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 karshwars63;
delivering64; happy65; undeceivable;
endowed with many senses66; a creature of wisdom;
62. eredhwô-zeñgãm: sudridhajanghatâ, kila kârye yad pâdâbhyâm
yujyate kartum vyavasâyî shaktashcha (Y62.5).
63. Karshôo-râzanghem: kêshvar vîrâi (Pahl. tr. ibid).
64. From Ahriman; cf. Y29.6 (vyâna = vichârishn, vishuddhatâ.)
65. Yaokhshtivant: kâmakômand (possessing whatever he wishes
for, Vd20.1).
66. See Yt10.82, note.
62. '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.
63. '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 god67.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer
him a sacrifice worth being heard....
67. From Yt10.23-24.
XVI.
64. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who takes possession68 of the beautiful, wide-expanding
law, greatly and powerfully, and whose face
looks over all the seven karshwars of the earth;
68. Cf. Y43.7: vyânayâ: amat vandînît, yat grihnâti.
65. '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, cheerfulness69-giving, and
bliss69-giving.
69. Cf. Yt10.5, notes 6 and 7.
66. 'With whom proceed Ashi Vanguhi, and Parendi
on her light chariot70, the awful Manly Courage,
the awful kingly Glory, the awful sovereign Sky, the
awful cursing thought71 of the wise, the awful Fravashis
of the faithful, and he who keeps united together
the many faithful worshippers of Mazda72.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
70. Cf. Yt8.38.
71. See above, S1.30, note 1.
72. Mithra himself (?).
XVII.
67. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who drives along on his high-wheeled chariot,
made of a heavenly73 substance, from the Karshvare [keshwar]
of Arezahi74 to the Karshvare of Xwaniratha, the
bright one; accompanied by75 the wheel of sovereignty76,
the Glory made by Mazda, and the Victory
made by Ahura;
73. Or 'invisible.'
74. The western keshwar (see above, § 15, note 20); this seems to
refer to the career of Mithra during the night; cf. § 95.
75. And rolling upon it.
76. Cf. Yt13.89, note.
68. 'Whose chariot is embraced77 by the great
Ashi Vanguhi; to whom the Law of Mazda opens a
way, that he may go easily; whom four heavenly
steeds, white, shining, seen afar, beneficent, endowed
with knowledge, swiftly78 carry along the heavenly
space79, while the cursing thought of the wise pushes
it forward;
77. And uplifted.
78. Doubtful.
79. See Yt8.6, note 1.
69. 'From whom all the Daevas unseen and the
Varenya fiends80 flee away in fear. Oh! may we
never fall across the rush of the angry lord81, 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....
80. See Vend. Introd. IV, 23.
81. Cf. § 98.
XVIII.
70. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Before whom Verethraghna, made by Ahura, runs
opposing the foes in the shape of a boar82, a sharp-toothed
he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at
one stroke, pursuing83, wrathful, with a dripping face;
strong, with iron feet, iron fore-paws84, iron weapons,
an iron tail, and iron jaws;
82. See Yt14.15; cf. Yt10.127.
83. Anupôithwa; cf. pôithwa (Vd14) = rânînishn.
84. Literally, hands.
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
marrow85 and the column of life86, the marrow85 and
the spring of existence.
85. Doubtful.
86. The spine.
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 Mithra87.
'For his brightness and glory, we offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
87. Cf. § 80.
XIX.
73. '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 Ahura Mazda, most beneficent spirit!
Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
'"If men would worship me88 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
life89."
88. They have worshipped him and he has subsequently overcome
the Mithradrujes; this accounts for the word rejoicing.
89. Cf. Yt10.55.
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....
XX.
79. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'Who made a dwelling for Rashnu90, and to whom
Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship;
90. The Genius of Truth (Yt12); Mithra gives a dwelling to
the truthful man in the same way as he destroys the dwelling of the
liar (§ 80).
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 Ahura, contracted the best of all friendships91,
and thus it is how so many men who have
lied unto Mithra, even privily92, lie smitten down on
the ground.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
91. Cf. § 70.
92. Aipi vithishi; Vedic api vyathis (VIII, 45, 19).
XXI.
81. '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 Ahura Mazda gave a thousand
senses93 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....
93. Yaokhshti, the root of Persian nyôshîdan, Pahlavi niyôkhshîtan,
to hear; one might be inclined to translate 'a thousand ears,'
or 'a thousand hearings;' but the meaning of the word must
have been rather more general, as Neriosangh translates it
(pranidhi, IX, 8 [25]).
XXII.
83. '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 ....94 in danger of death95 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.
94. Dvâchina ?
95. Pithê: mrityu (Yasna 53.6).
85. 'The voice of his wailing reaches up to the
sky, it goes over the earth all around, it goes over
the seven karshwars, whether he utters his prayer
in a low tone of voice96 or aloud.
96. Vâchem, the so-called vâj. [Cf. baj. -JHP.]
86. 'The cow driven astray invokes him for help97,
longing for the stables:
'"When will that bull, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,
bring us back, and make us reach the
stables? when will he turn us back to the right
way from the den of the Druj where we were
driven98?"
97. Most manuscripts have added here, from the preceding
clauses, 'with hands uplifted!'
98. An allusion to a myth in which Mithra was described as an
Indra delivering the cows carried away by a Vritra: Firmicus
Maternus called him abactorem boum (De Errore Profan. Relig.
V); Commodianus compares him with Cacus:
'Vrtebatque boves alienos semper in antris
Sicut et Cacus Vulcani filius ille.'
(Apud Windischmann, Mithra, p. 64.)
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, the town, the province, the
country.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
XXIII.
88. '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 Bareza99, he
the undefiled to one undefiled, with undefiled
baresma, undefiled libations, and undefiled words;
99. See above, § 50, note 56.
89. 'Whom100 the holy Ahura Mazda 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 Ahura Mazda, a priest to
the Amesha-Spentas. His voice reached up to the
sky, went over the earth all around, went over the
seven keshwars.
100. Haoma; cf. Yasna 9.26.
90. 'Who first lifted up Haomas, in a mortar
inlaid with stars and made of a heavenly substance.
Ahura Mazda 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
afar101.
101. For the morning service in the Gah Ushahin.
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
hand102, 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.
102. Cf. Vd3.1.
92. 'The holy Ahura Mazda 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 Mazda conferred upon him the mastership
of the world; and [so did they103] who saw thee
amongst all creatures the right lord and master of
the world, the best cleanser of these creatures.
103. The Amesha-Spentas.
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
Aeshma104, 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
Vidotu105, made by the Daevas.
104. See Vend. Introd. IV, 22.
105. See ibid.
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 us106.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
106. See Yt5.53; Yt10.114.
XXIV.
95. '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 sun107, touches both ends of
this wide, round earth, whose ends lie afar, and
surveys everything that is between the earth and
the heavens,
107. It should seem as if Mithra was supposed to retrace his steps
during the night. The Hindus supposed that the sun had a bright
face and a dark one, and that during the night it returned from
the west to the east with its dark face turned towards the earth.
96. '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 weapons108;
108. Cf. § 132.
97. 'From whom Angra Mainyu, who is all death,
flees away in fear; from whom Aeshma, the evil-doing
Peshotanu109, flees away in fear; from whom
the long-handed Bushyasta110 flees away in fear;
from whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya
fiends flee away in fear111.
109. See Vend. Introd. V, 19.
110. See ibid. IV, 24.
111. Cf. § 69.
98. 'Oh! may we never fall across the rush of
Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, when in anger112!
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 pastures113.
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
112. Cf. Yt10.69.
113. §§ 97-98 = §§ 134-135.
XXV.
99. '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 fear114.
'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.
114. Cf. § 97.
100. '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.
101. '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....
XXVI.
102. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'The warrior of the white horse, of the sharp
spear, the long spear, the quick arrows; foreseeing
and clever;
103. 'Whom Ahura Mazda has established to
maintain and look over all this moving115 world, and
who maintains and looks over all this moving world;
who, never sleeping, wakefully guards the creation
of Mazda; who, never sleeping, wakefully maintains
the creation of Mazda;
'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....
115. Fravoish; Parsi tradition translates large: frâz (tr. Phl.),
buland (Asp., Yasna 57.15).
XXVII.
104. '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.
105.
'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."
106.
'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;
107.
'"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):
108.
''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.
110.
'"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!
111.
'"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....
XXVIII.
112.
'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,
113. 'And then cattle and males come to graze, as many as he wants.
'May Mithra and Ahura, 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.
114. '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....
XXIX.
115.
'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!
116.
'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;
117.
'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 Mazda,
and then he will be every day of victorious strength.
118.
'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....
XXX.
119.
'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 Mazda sacrifice unto thee with small cattle,
with black cattle, with flying birds, gliding forward on wings.
120.
'To Mithra all the faithful worshiypers of Mazda 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.'
121.
Zarathushtra asked him: 'O Ahura Mazda! 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?'
122.
Ahura Mazda 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....
XXXI.
123.
'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ....
sleepless, and ever awake;
'To whom Ahura Mazda offered up a sacrifice in the shining Garo-nmana.
124.
'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.
125.
'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....
126.
'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 Mazda.
127. 'Close by him drives the strong cursing thought of the wise
man, 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.
128.
'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.
129.
'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.
130.
'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.
131.
'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.
132. '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.
133.
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 Fradadhafshu
and Vidadhafshu, through Vourubareshti and Vouru-jareshti, through
this our Karshvare, the bright Hvaniratha.
134.
'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.
135.
'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....
XXXII.
136.
'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.
137.
'If Mithra takes his libations to his own dwelling, "Happy
that man, I think," -- said Ahura Mazda, "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,
138.
'"When Mithra's boons will come to him, as he follows
God's teaching, and thinks according to God's teaching.
'"Woe to that man, I think," - said Ahura Mazda, - "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."
139.
'He does not delight Ahura Mazda, nor the other Amesha-Spentas,
nor Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, he who thus scorns Mazda,
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....
XXXIII.
140.
'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....
XXXIV.
142.
'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, Ahura Mazda,
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....
XXXV.
144.
'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.
145.
'We sacrifice unto Mithra and Ahura, 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] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the
bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones!'
Avesta -- Zoroastrian Archives
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