# Yashts — Yasht 5

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Avesta.org. The Yashts, Yasht 5, 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): Aban Yasht ('Hymn to the Waters')
> 
> Avesta -- Zoroastrian Archives
> 
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> Avesta: Khorda Avesta
> 
> 5. ABAN YASHT ("Hymn to the Waters").
> 
> 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.)
> 
> 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 [Hawan],
> the holy and master of holiness....
> 
> Unto the good Waters, made by Mazda; unto the holy water-spring
> ARDVI ANAHITA; unto all waters, made by Mazda; unto all plants,
> made by Mazda,
> 
> Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.
> 
> Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....
> 
> NOTES:
> 
> I.
> 
> 1.
> Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathushtra, saying: 'Offer
> up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring of mine,
> Ardvi Sura Anahita, the wide-expanding and health-giving, who
> hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy of
> sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in the material
> world; the life-increasing and holy, the herd-increasing and holy,
> the fold-increasing and holy, the wealth-increasing and holy,
> the country-increasing and holy;
> 
> 2.
> 'Who makes the seed of all males pure, who makes the womb
> of all females pure for bringing forth, who makes all females
> bring forth in safety, who puts milk into the breasts of all females
> in the right measure and the right quality;
> 
> 3.
> 'The large river, known afar, that is as large as the whole
> of the waters that run along the earth; that runs powerfully from
> the height Hukairya down to the sea Vouru-Kasha.
> 
> 4.
> 'All the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over, all
> the middle of it is boiling over, when she runs down there, when
> she streams down there, she, Ardvi Sura Anahita, who has a thousand
> cells and a thousand channels: the extent of each of those cells,
> of each of those channels is as much as a man can ride in forty
> days, riding on a good horse.
> 
> 5.
> 'From this river of mine alone flow all the waters that spread
> all over the seven Karshvares; this river of mine alone goes on
> bringing waters, both in summer and in winter. This river of mine
> purifies the seed in males, the womb in females the milk in females'
> breasts.
> 
> 6.
> 'I, Ahura Mazda, brought it down with mighty vigor, for the
> increase of the house, of the borough of the town, of the country,
> to keep them, to maintain them, to look over them, to keep and
> maintain them close.
> 
> 7.
> 'Then Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Spitama Zarathushtra! proceeded
> forth from the Maker Mazda. Beautiful were her white arms, thick
> as a horse's shoulder or still thicker; beautiful was her ....,
> and thus came she, strong, with thick arms, thinking thus in her
> heart:
> 
> 8.
> '"Who will praise me? Who will offer me a sacrifice,
> with libations cleanly prepared and well-strained, together with
> the Haoma and meat? To whom shall I cleave, who cleaves unto me,
> and thinks with me, and bestows gifts upon me, and is of good
> will unto me?"
> 
> 9.
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice
> worth being heard; I will offer up unto the holy Ardvi Sura Anahita
> a good sacrifice with an offering of libations;- thus mayest thou
> advise us when thou art appealed to! Mayest thou be most fully
> worshipped, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! with the Haoma and meat, with
> the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells,
> with the words with the deeds, with the libations, and with the
> rightly-spoken words.
> 
> 'Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda....
> 
> II.
> 
> 10. 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita, the wide-expanding and health-giving,
> who hates the Daevas and obeys the laws of Ahura, who is worthy
> of sacrifice in the material world, worthy of prayer in the material
> world; the life-increasing and holy, the herd-increasing and holy,
> the fold-increasing and holy, the wealth-increasing and holy,
> the country-increasing and holy;
> 
> 11.
> 'Who drives forwards on her chariot, holding the reins of
> the chariot. She goes, driving, on this chariot, longing for men
> and thinking thus in her heart: "Who will praise me? Who
> will offer me a sacrifice, with libations cleanly prepared and
> well-strained, together with the Haoma and meat? To whom shall
> I cleave, who cleaves unto me, and thinks with me, and bestows
> gifts unto me, and is of good will unto me?"
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice, worth
> being heard....
> 
> III.
> 
> 12.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 13.
> 'Whom four horses carry, all white, of one and the same color,
> of the same blood, tall, crushing down the hates of all haters,
> of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors,
> of the blind and of the deaf.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice ....
> 
> IV.
> 
> 14.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 15.
> 'Strong and bright, tall and beautiful of form, who sends
> down by day and by night a flow of motherly waters as large as
> the whole of the waters that run along the earth, and who runs
> powerfully.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> V.
> 
> 16.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 17.
> 'To her did the Maker Ahura Mazda offer up a sacrifice to
> the Airyana Vaejah, by the good river Daitya; with the Haoma and
> meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the
> holy spells, with the words, with the deeds, with the libations,
> and with the rightly-spoken words.
> 
> 18.
> He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may bring the son of
> Pourushaspa, the holy Zarathushtra, to think after my law, to
> speak after my law, to do after my law!"
> 
> 19.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and begging that she would
> grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> VI.
> 
> 20.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 21.
> 'To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata, offer up a sacrifice
> on the enclosure of the Hara, with a hundred male horses, a thousand
> oxen, and ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 22.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita, that I may become the sovereign
> lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and
> Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that
> I may smite down two thirds of the Daevas of Mazana and of the
> fiends of Varena."
> 
> 23.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> VII.
> 
> 24.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 25.
> 'To her did Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd, offer up a sacrifice
> from the height Hukairya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand
> oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 26.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may become the sovereign
> lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the Yatus and
> Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that
> I may take from the Daevas both riches and welfare, both fatness
> and flocks, both weal and Glory."
> 
> 27.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> VIII.
> 
> 28.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 29.
> 'To her did Azi Dahaka, the three-mouthed, offer up a sacrifice
> in the land of Bawri, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen,
> and ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 30.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this boon,
> O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may make all
> the seven Karshvares of the earth empty of men."
> 
> 31.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant him that boon, although
> he was offering libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating
> her that she would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> IX.
> 
> 32.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto Ardvi
> Sura Anahita....
> 
> 33.
> 'To her did Thraetaona, the heir of the valiant Athwya clan,
> offer up a sacrifice in the four-cornered Varena, with a hundred
> male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 34.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome Azi Dahaka,
> the three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand
> senses, that most powerful, fiendish Druj, that demon, baleful
> to the world, the strongest Druj that Angra Mainyu created against
> the material world, to destroy the world of the good principle;
> and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghavach and Erenavach,
> who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful
> creatures in the world."
> 
> 35.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> X.
> 
> 36.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto Ardvi
> Sura Anahita....
> 
> 37.
> 'To her did Keresaspa, the manly-hearted, offer up a sacrifice
> behind the Vairi Pisanah, with a hundred male horses, a thousand
> oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 38.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the golden-heeled
> Gandarewa, though all the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling
> over; and that I may run up to the stronghold of the fiend on
> the wide, round earth, whose ends lie afar."
> 
> 39.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XI.
> 
> 40.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sara Anahita....
> 
> 41.
> 'To her did the Turanian murderer, Frangrasyan, offer up a
> sacrifice in his cave under the earth, with a hundred male horses,
> a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 42.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may seize hold of that
> Glory, that is waving in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha and
> that belongs to the Aryan people, to those born and to those not
> yet born, and to the holy Zarathushtra."
> 
> 43.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XII.
> 
> 44.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 45.
> 'To her did the great, most wise Kavi Usa offer up a sacrifice
> from Mount Erezifya, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen,
> ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 46.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me, this, O
> good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may become the
> sovereign lord of all countries, of the Daevas and men, of the
> Yatus and Pairikas, of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf."
> 
> 47.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XIII.
> 
> 48.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 49.
> 'To her did the gallant Husravah, he who united the Aryan
> nations into one kingdom, offer up a sacrifice behind the Chaechasta
> lake, the deep lake, of salt waters, with a hundred male horses,
> a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 50.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may become the sovereign
> lord of all countries, of Daevas and men, of the Yatus and Pairikas,
> of the oppressors, the blind and the deaf; and that I may have
> the lead in front of all the teams and that he may not pass through
> the forest , he, the murderer, who now is fiercely striving against
> me on horseback."
> 
> 51.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XIV.
> 
> 52.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 53. 'To her did the valiant warrior Tusa11 offer
> worship on the
> back of his horse, begging swiftness for his teams, health for
> his own body, and that he might watch with full success those
> who hated him, smite down his foes, and destroy at one stroke
> his adversaries, his enemies, and those who hated him.
> 
> 11. Tusa, in the Shah Nameh Tus; one of the most celebrated
> Pahlavans of Kay Khosaw; he was the son of king Naotara
> (Nodar).
> 
> 54.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the gallant
> sons of Vaesaka, by the castle Khshathro-saoka, that stands high
> up on the lofty, holy Kangha; that I may smite of the Turanian
> people 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."
> 
> 55.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XV.
> 
> 56.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 57.
> 'To her did the gallant sons of Vaesaka offer up a sacrifice
> in the castle Khshathro-saoka, that stands high up on the lofty,
> holy Kangha, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten
> thousand lambs.
> 
> 58.
> 'They begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant us this, O
> good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that we may overcome
> the valiant warrior Tusa, and that we may smite of the Aryan people
> 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."
> 
> 59.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant them that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XVI.
> 
> 60.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 61.
> 'The old Vafra Navaza worshipped her when the strong fiend-smiter,
> Thraetaona, flung him up in the air in the shape of a bird, of
> a vulture.
> 
> 62.
> 'He went on flying, for three days and three nights, towards
> his own house; but he could not, he could not turn down. At the
> end of the third night, when the beneficent dawn came dawning
> up, then he prayed unto Ardvi Sura Anahita, saying:
> 
> 63.
> '"Ardvi Sura Anahita! do thou quickly hasten helpfully
> and bring me assistance at once. I will offer thee a thousand
> libations, cleanly prepared and well strained, along with Haomas
> and meat, by the brink of the river Rangha, if I reach alive the
> earth made by Ahura and my own house."
> 
> 64.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened unto him in the shape of a maid,
> fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girdled, pure, nobly
> born of a glorious race, wearing shoes up to the ankle wearing
> a golden...., and radiant.
> 
> 65.
> 'She seized him by the arm: quickly was it done, nor was it
> long till, speeding, he arrived at the earth made by Mazda and
> at his own house, safe, unhurt, unwounded, just as he was before.
> 
> [66.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, entreating that she would
> grant him that boon.]
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XVII.
> 
> 67.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 68.
> 'To her did Jamaspa offer up a sacrifice, with a hundred horses,
> a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, when he saw the army of the
> wicked, of the worshippers of the Daevas, coming from afar in
> battle array.
> 
> 69.
> 'He asked of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may be as constantly
> victorious as any one of all the Aryans."
> 
> 70.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XVIII.
> 
> 71.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 72.
> 'To her did Ashavazdah, the son of Pouru-dhakhshti, and Ashavazdah
> and Thrita, the sons of Sayuzhdri, offer up a sacrifice, with
> a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, by Apam
> Napat, the tall lord, the lord of the females, the bright and
> swift-horsed.
> 
> 73.
> 'They begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant us this, O
> good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that we may overcome
> the assemblers of the Turanian Danus, Kara Asabana, and Vara Asabana,
> and the most mighty Duraekaeta, in the battles of this world.
> 
> 74.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted them that boon, as they were offering
> up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant them that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, l will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XIX.
> 
> 75.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 76.
> 'Vistauru, the son of Naotara, worshipped her by the brink
> of the river Vitanghuhaiti, with well-spoken words, speaking thus:
> 
> 77.
> '"This is true, this is truly spoken, that I have smitten
> as many of the worshippers of the Daevas as the hairs I bear on
> my head. Do thou then, O Ardvi Sura Anahita! leave me a dry passage,
> to pass over the good Vitanghuhaiti."
> 
> 78.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened unto him in the shape of a maid,
> fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girded, pure, nobly
> born of a glorious race, wearing shoes up to the ankle, with all
> sorts of ornaments and radiant. A part of the waters she made
> stand still, a part of the waters she made flow forward, and she
> left him a dry passage to pass over the good Vitanghuhaiti.
> 
> [79.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.]
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XX.
> 
> 80.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 81.
> 'To her did Yoishta, one of the Fryanas, offer up a sacrifice
> with a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs on
> the Pedvaepa of the Rangha.
> 
> 82.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome the evil-doing
> Akhtya, the offspring of darkness, and that I may answer the ninety-nine
> hard riddles that he asks me maliciously, the evil-doing Akhtya,
> the offspring of darkness."
> 
> 83.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXI.
> 
> 84.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 85.
> 'Whom Ahura Mazda the merciful ordered thus, saying: "Come,
> O Ardvi Sura Anahita, come from those stars down to the earth
> made by Ahura, that the great lords may worship thee, the masters
> of the countries, and their sons.
> 
> 86.
> '"The men of strength will beg of thee swift horses and
> supremacy of Glory.
> 
> '"The Athravans who read and the pupils of the Athravans
> will beg of thee knowledge and prosperity, the Victory made by
> Ahura, and the crushing Ascendant.
> 
> 87.
> '"The maids of barren womb, longing for a lord, will
> beg of thee a strong husband;
> 
> '"Women, on the point of bringing forth, will beg of thee
> a good delivery.
> 
> '"All this wilt thou grant unto them, as it lies in thy power,
> O Ardvi Sura Anahita!"
> 
> 88.
> 'Then Ardvi Sura Anahita came forth, O Zarathushtra! down
> from those stars to the earth made by Mazda; and Ardvi Sura Anahita
> spake thus:
> 
> 89.
> '"O pure, holy Zarathushtra! Ahura Mazda has established
> thee as the master of the material world: Ahura Mazda has established
> me to keep the whole of the holy creation.
> 
> '"Through my brightness and glory flocks and herds and two-legged
> men go on, upon the earth: I, forsooth, keep all good things,
> made by Mazda, the offspring of the holy principle, just as a
> shepherd keeps his flock."
> 
> 90.
> 'Zarathushtra asked Ardvi Sura Anahita: "O Ardvi Sura
> Anahita! With what manner of sacrifice shall I worship thee? With
> what manner of sacrifice shall I worship and forward thee? So
> that Mazda may make thee run down (to the earth), that he may
> not make thee run up into the heavens, above the sun; and that
> the Serpent may not injure thee with...., with...., with....,
> and.... poisons."
> 
> 91.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita answered: "O pure, holy Spitama!
> this is the sacrifice wherewith thou shalt worship me, this is
> the sacrifice wherewith thou shalt worship and forward me, from
> the time when the sun is rising to the time when the sun is setting.
> 
> '"Of this libation of mine thou shalt drink, thou who art
> an Athravan, who hast asked and learnt the revealed law, who art
> wise, clever, and the Word incarnate.
> 
> 92.
> '"Of this libation of mine let no foe drink, no man fever-sick,
> no liar, no coward, no jealous one, no woman, no faithful one
> who does not sing the Gathas, no leper to be confined.
> 
> 93.
> '"I do not accept those libations that are drunk in my
> honor by the blind, by the deaf, by the wicked, by the destroyers,
> by the niggards, by the...., nor any of those stamped with those
> characters which have no strength for the holy Word.
> 
> '"Let no one drink of these my libations who is hump-backed
> or bulged forward; no fiend with decayed teeth."
> 
> 94.
> 'Then Zarathushtra asked Ardvi Sura Anahita: "O Ardvi
> Sura Anahita! What becomes of those libations which the wicked
> worshippers of the Daevas bring unto thee after the sun has set?"
> 
> 95.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita answered: "O pure, holy Spitama Zarathushtra!
> howling, clapping, hopping, and shouting, six hundred and a thousand
> Daevas, who ought not to receive that sacrifice, receive those
> libations that men bring unto me after [the sun has set]."
> 
> 96.
> 'I will worship the height Hukairya, of the deep precipices,
> made of gold, wherefrom this mine Ardvi Sura Anahita leaps, from
> a hundred times the height of a man, while she is possessed of
> as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth,
> and she runs powerfully.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXII.
> 
> 97.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 98.
> 'Before whom the worshippers of Mazda stand with baresma in
> their hands: the Hvovas did worship her, the Naotaras did worship
> her; the Hvovas asked for riches, the Naotaras asked for swift
> horses. Quickly was Hvova blessed with riches an full prosperity;
> quickly became Vishtaspa, the Naotaride, the lord of the swiftest
> horses in these countries.
> 
> 99.
> ['Ardvi Sura Anahita granted them that boon, as they were
> offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating
> that she would grant them that boon.]
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXIII.
> 
> 100.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 101.
> 'Who has a thousand cells and a thousand channels: the extent
> of each of those cells, of each of those channels, is as much
> as a man can ride in forty days, riding on a good horse. In each
> channel there stands a palace, well-founded, shining with a hundred
> windows, with a thousand columns, well-built, with ten thousand
> balconies, and mighty.
> 
> 102.
> 'In each of those palaces there lies a well-laid, well-scented
> bed, covered with pillows, and Ardvi Sura Anahita, O Zarathushtra!
> runs down there from a thousand times the height of a man, and
> she is possessed of as much Glory as the whole of the waters that
> run along the earth, and she runs powerfully.
> 
> XXIV.
> 
> 103.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 104.
> 'Unto her did the holy Zarathushtra offer up a sacrifice in
> the Airyana Vaejah, by the good river Daitya; with the Haoma and
> meat, with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the
> holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations,
> and with the rightly-spoken words.
> 
> 105.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may bring the son of
> Aurvat-aspa, the valiant Kavi Vistaspa, to think according to
> the law, to speak according to the law, to do according to the
> law."
> 
> 106.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was
> offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating
> that she would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXV.
> 
> 107.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 108.
> 'Unto her did the tall Kavi Vishtaspa offer up a sacrifice
> behind Lake Frazdanava, with a hundred male horses, a thousand
> oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 109.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome Tathravant,
> of the bad law, and Peshana, the worshipper of the Daevas and
> the wicked Arejat-aspa, in the battles of this world!"
> 
> 110.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was offering
> up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she
> would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXVI.
> 
> 111.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 112.
> 'Unto her did Zairi-vairi, who fought on horseback, offer
> up a sacrifice behind the river Daitya, with a hundred male horses,
> a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 113.
> 'He begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant me this, O good,
> most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that I may overcome Pesho-Changha
> the corpse-burier, Humayaka the worshipper of the Daevas, and
> the wicked Arejat-aspa, in the battles of this world.
> 
> 114.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita granted him that boon, as he was
> offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating
> that she would grant him that boon.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXVII.
> 
> 115.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 116.
> 'Unto her did Arejat-aspa and Vandaremaini offer up a sacrifice
> by the sea Vouru-Kasha, with a hundred male horses, a thousand
> oxen, ten thousand lambs.
> 
> 117.
> 'They begged of her a boon, saying: "Grant us this, O
> good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! that we may conquer
> the valiant Kavi Vishtaspa and Zairivairi who fights on horseback,
> and that we may smite of the Aryan people 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."
> 
> 118.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita did not grant them that favor, though
> they were offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and
> entreating that she should grant them that favor.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXVIII.
> 
> 119.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 120.
> 'For whom Ahura Mazda has made four horses -- the wind,
> the rain, the cloud, and the sleet -- and thus ever a upon the
> earth it is raining, snowing, hailing, and sleeting; and whose
> armies are so many and numbered by nine-hundreds and thousands.
> 
> 121.
> 'I will worship the height Hukairya, of the deep precipices,
> made of gold, wherefrom this mine Ardvi Sura Anahita leaps, from
> a hundred times the height of a man, while she is possessed of
> as much Glory as the whole of the waters that run along the earth,
> and she runs powerfully.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXIX.
> 
> 122.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 123.
> 'She stands, the good Ardvi Sura Anahita, wearing a golden
> mantle, waiting for a man who shall offer her libations and prayers,
> and thinking thus in her heart:
> 
> 124.
> "'Who will praise me? Who will offer me a sacrifice,
> with libations cleanly prepared and well-strained, together with
> the Haoma and meat? To whom shall I cleave, who cleaves unto me,
> and thinks with me, and bestows gifts upon, me, and is of good
> will unto me?"
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> XXX.
> 
> 125.
> 'Offer up a sacrifice, O Spitama Zarathushtra! unto this spring
> of mine, Ardvi Sura Anahita....
> 
> 126.
> 'Ardvi Sura Anahita, who stands carried forth in the shape
> of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girded,
> pure, nobly born of a glorious race, wearing along her.... a mantle
> fully embroidered with gold;
> 
> 127.
> 'Ever holding the baresma in her hand, according to the rules,
> she wears square golden earrings on her ears bored, and a golden
> necklace around her beautiful neck, she, the nobly born Ardvi
> Sura Anahita; and she girded her waist tightly, so that her breasts
> may be well-shaped, that they may be tightly pressed.
> 
> 128.
> 'Upon her head Ardvi Sura Anahita bound a golden crown, with
> a hundred stars, with eight rays, a fine ...., a well-made crown,
> in the shape of a ...., with fillets streaming down.
> 
> 129.
> 'She is clothed with garments of beaver, Ardvi Sura Anahita;
> with the skin of thirty beavers of those that bear four young
> ones, that are the finest kind of beavers; for the skin of the
> beaver that lives in water is the finest-colored of all skins,
> and when worked at the right time it shines to the eye with full
> sheen of silver and gold.
> 
> 130. 'Here, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! I beg of
> thee this favor: that I, fully blessed, may conquer large kingdoms,
> rich in horses, with high tributes, with snorting horses, sounding
> chariots, flashing swords, rich in aliments, with stores of food,
> with well-scented beds; that I may have at my wish the fullness
> of the good things of life and whatever makes a kingdom thrive.
> 
> 131.
> 'Here, O good, most beneficent Ardvi Sura Anahita! I beg of
> thee two gallant companions, one two-legged and one four-legged:
> one two-legged, who is swift, quickly rushing, and clever in turning
> a chariot round in battle; and one four-legged, who can quickly
> turn towards either wing of the host with a wide front, towards
> the right wing or the left, towards the left wing or the right.
> 
> 132.
> 'Through the strength of this sacrifice, of this invocation,
> O Ardvi Sura Anahita! come down from those stars, towards the
> earth made by Ahura, towards the sacrificing priest, towards the
> full boiling [milk]; come to help him who is offering up libations
> giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that thou wouldst grant
> him thy favors; that all those gallant warriors may be strong,
> like king Vishtaspa.
> 
> 'For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice....
> 
> 133.
> 'Yatha ahu vairya: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....
> 
> 'I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigor
> of the holy water-spring Anahita.
> 
> '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 5 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))*