# Yashts — Yasht 10

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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')
> 
> Avesta -- Zoroastrian Archives
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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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> — *Yashts — Yasht 10 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))*