Yashts — Yasht 8
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-06-21 - 1 clipping

Source: Avesta.org. The Yashts, Yasht 8, translation: L.H. Mills / J. Darmesteter (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887), Avesta.org. License: Public domain (translation predates 1928).
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

AVESTA: KHORDA AVESTA (English): Yasht 8 - Hymn to Sirius.

Home

Contents

Prev

yt8sbe

Next

Avestan

Glossary

Avesta -- Zoroastrian Archives

Contents

Prev

Yt8

Next

Avestan

Avesta: Khorda Avesta

8. TISHTAR YASHT (Hymn to Tishtrya)

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.

Tishtrya is the angel (Yazad) of the star Sirius. Tishtrya also presides over the
fourth month and the thirteenth day of each month, and also directs the rain.

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....

Unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, and unto the powerful
Satavaesa, made by Mazda, who pushes waters forward,

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: 'We worship
the lordship and mastership [of Tishtrya], whereby he protects
the Moon, the dwelling, the food, when my glorious stars come
along and impart their gifts to men. I will sacrifice unto the
star Tishtrya, that gives the fields their share [of waters].

2.
'We offer up libations unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious
star, that gives happy dwelling and good dwelling; the white,
shining, seen afar, and piercing; the health-bringing, loud-snorting,
and high, piercing from afar with its shining, undefiled rays;
and unto the waters of the wide sea, the Vanguhi of wide renown,
and the species of the Bull, made by Mazda, the awful kingly Glory,
and the Fravashi of the holy Spitama Zarathushtra.

3. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice
worth being heard, namely, unto the star Tishtrya.

'Unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, we offer up the
libations, the Haoma and meat, the baresma, the wisdom of the
tongue, the holy spells, the speech, the deeds, the libations,
and the rightly-spoken words.

'Yenhe hatam: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda....

II.

4. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
who is the seed of the waters, powerful, tall, and strong, whose
light goes afar; powerful and highly working, through whom the
brightness and the seed of the waters come from the high Apam
Napat.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

III.

5.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star;
for whom long flocks and herds and men, looking forward for him
and deceived in their hope: "When shall we see him rise up,
the bright and glorious star Tishtrya? When will the springs run
with waves as thick as a horse's size and still thicker? Or will
they never come?"

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

IV.

6. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious
star; who flies, towards the sea Vouru-Kasha,
as swiftly as the arrow darted through the

heavenly space1, which Erekhsha, the swift archer,
the Arya amongst the Aryas whose arrow was the swiftest, shot
from Mount Khshaotha to Mount Hvanvant.

1. Mainivasau = mainyu-asau (meaning pun m&icirc;n&ocirc;&icirc;
j&icirc;v&acirc;k&icirc;h, svargasth&acirc;nam, Yasna 57.27.

7.
'For Ahura Mazda gave him assistance; so did the waters and
the plants; and Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, opened a wide
way unto him.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

V.

8.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
that afflicts the Pairikas, that vexes the Pairikas, who, in the
shape of worm-stars, fly between the earth and the heavens, in
the sea Vouru-Kasha, the powerful sea, the large-sized, deep sea
of salt waters. He goes to its lake in the shape of a horse, in
a holy shape; and down there he makes the waters boil over, and
the winds flow above powerfully all around.

9.
'Then Satavaesa makes those waters flow down to the seven
Karshvares of the earth, and when he has arrived down there, he
stands, beautiful, spreading ease and joy on the fertile countries
(thinking in himself): "How shall the countries of the Aryas
grow fertile?"

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

VI.

10.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
who spoke unto Ahura Mazda, saying: "Ahura Mazda, most beneficent
Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

11.
'"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 should have come to the faithful at the appointed time;
I should have come in the appointed time of my beautiful, immortal
life, should it be one night, or two nights, or fifty, or a hundred
nights."

12.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya;

'We sacrifice unto the rains of Tishtrya.

'We sacrifice unto the first star; we sacrifice unto the rains
of the first star.

'I will sacrifice unto the stars Haptoiringa, to oppose the Yatus
and Pairikas.

'We sacrifice unto Vanant, the star made by Mazda; for the well-shapen
strength, for the Victory, made by Ahura, for the crushing Ascendant,
for the destruction of what distresses us, for the destruction
of what persecutes us.

'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, whose eye-sight is sound.

13.
'For ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! Tishtrya, the bright
and glorious star, mingles his shape with light, moving in the
shape of a man of fifteen years of age, bright, with clear eyes,
tall, full of strength, strong, and clever.

14.
'He is active as the first man was; he goes on with the strength
of the first man; he has the virility of the first man.

15.
'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying:
"Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the
holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of male children, a troop
of male children, and the purification of his own soul? Now I
ought to receive sacrifice and prayer in the material world, by
the law of excellent holiness."

16.
'The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and
glorious Tishtrya mingles his shape with light, moving in the
shape of a golden-horned bull.

17.
'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying:
"Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the
holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of oxen, a herd of oxen,
and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice
and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness."

18.
'The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and
glorious Tishtrya mingles his shape with light, moving in the
shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden
caparison.

19.
'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying:
"Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the
holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of horses, a troop of horses,
and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice
and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness."

20.
'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya
goes down to the sea Vouru-Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful
horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison.

21.
'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha, in the
shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black
back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror.

22.
'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathushtra!
the bright and glorious Tishtrya and the Daeva Apaosha. They fight
together, O Spitama Zarathushtra! for three days and three nights.
And then the Daeva Apaosha proves stronger than the bright and
glorious Tishtrya, he overcomes him.

23.
'And Tishtrya flees from the sea Vouru-Kasha, as far as a
Hathra's length. He cries out in woe and distress, the bright
and glorious Tishtrya: "Woe is me, O Ahura Mazda! I am in
distress, O Waters and Plants! O Fate and thou, Law of the worshippers
of Mazda! Men do not worship me with a sacrifice in which I am
invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with
sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names.

24.
'"If men had worshipped me with a sacrifice in which
I had been invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas
with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names,
I should have taken to me the strength of ten horses, the strength
of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten
mountains, the strength of ten rivers."

25.
'Then I, Ahura Mazda, offer up to the bright and glorious
Tishtrya a sacrifice in which he is invoked by his own name, and
I bring him the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels,
the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the
strength of ten rivers.

26.
'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya
goes down to the sea Vouru-Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful
horse, with golden ears and golden caparison.

27.
'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha in the
shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black
back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror.

28.
'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathushtra!
the bright and glorious Tishtrya, and the Daeva Apaosha; they
fight together, O Zarathushtra! till the time of noon. Then the
bright and glorious Tishtrya proves stronger than the Daeva Apaosha,
he overcomes him.

29.
'Then he goes from the sea Vouru-Kasha as far as a Hathra's
length: "Hail!" cries the bright and glorious Tishtrya.
"Hail unto me, O Ahura Mazda! Hail unto you, O waters and
plants! Hail, O Law of the worshippers of Mazda! Hail will it
be unto you, O lands! The life of the waters will flow down unrestrained
to the big-seeded corn fields, to the small-seeded pasture-fields,
and to the whole of the material world!"

30.
Then the bright and glorious Tishtrya goes back down to the
sea Vouru-Kasha, in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with
golden ears and a golden caparison.

31.
'He makes the sea boil up and down; he makes the sea stream
this and that way; he makes the sea flow this and that way: all
the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over, all the middle
of it is boiling over.

32.
'And the bright and glorious Tishtrya rises up from the sea
Vouru-Kasha, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Satavaesa
rises up from the sea Vouru-Kasha; and vapours rise up above Mount
Us-hindu, that stands in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha.

33.
'Then the vapours push forward, in the regular shape of clouds;
they go following the wind, along the ways which Haoma traverses,
the increaser of the world. Behind him travels the mighty wind,
made by Mazda, and the rain, and the cloud, and the sleet, down
to the several places, down to the fields, down to the seven Karshvares
of the earth.

34.
'Apam Napat, O Spitama Zarathushtra! divides the waters amongst
the countries in the material world, in company with the mighty
wind, the Glory, made by the waters, and the Fravashis of the
faithful.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

VII.

35.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
who from the shining east, moves along his long winding course,
along the path made by the gods, along the way appointed for him
the watery way, at the will of Ahura Mazda, at the will of the
Amesha-Spentas.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

VIII.

36.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
whose rising is watched by men who live on the fruits of the year,
by the chiefs of deep understanding; by the wild beasts in the
mountains, by the tame beasts that run in the plains; they watch
him, as he comes up to the country for a bad year, or for a good
year, (thinking in themselves): "How shall the Aryan countries
be fertile?"

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

IX.

37.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
swift-flying and swift-moving, who flies towards the sea Vouru-Kasha,
as swiftly as the arrow darted through the heavenly space, which
Erekhsha, the swift archer, the Arya amongst the Aryas whose arrow
was the swiftest, shot from Mount Khshaotha to Mount Hvanvant.

38.
'Ahura Mazda gave him assistance, and the Amesha-Spentas and
Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, pointed him the way: behind
him went the tall Ashish Vanguhi and Parendi on her light chariot:
always till, in his course, he reached Mount Hvanvant on the shining
waters.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

X.

39.
'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
who afflicts the Pairikas, who destroys the Pairikas, that Angra
Mainyus flung to stop all the stars that have in them the seed
of the waters.

40.
'Tishtrya afflicts them, he blows them away from the sea Vouru-Kasha;
then the wind blows the clouds forward, bearing the waters of
fertility, so that the friendly showers spread wide over, they
spread helpingly and friendly over the seven Karshvares.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

XI.

41. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
for whom long the standing waters, and the running spring-waters,
the stream-waters, and the rain-waters:

42.
'"When will the bright and glorious Tishtrya rise up
for us? When will the springs with a flow and overflow of waters,
thick as a horse's shoulder, run to the beautiful places and fields,
and to the pastures, even to the roots of the plants, that they
may grow with a powerful growth?"

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

XII.

43. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
who washes away all things of fear, who stunts the growth of all
...., and brings health to all these creations, being most beneficent,
when he has been worshipped with a sacrifice and propitiated,
rejoiced, and satisfied.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

XIII.

44. 'I will sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
whom Ahura Mazda has established as a lord and overseer above
all stars, in the same way as he has established Zarathushtra
above men; whom neither Angra Mainyu, nor the Yatus and the Pairikas,
nor the men Yatus can deliver unto death, nor can all the Daevas
together prevail for his death.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

XIV.

45. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
to whom Ahura Mazda has given a thousand senses, and who is the
most beneficent amongst the stars that have in them the seed of
the waters:

46. 'Who moves in light with the stars that have in them the seed
of the waters: he, from the sea Vouru-Kasha, the powerful sea,
the large-sized, deep, and salt of waters, goes to all the lakes,
and to all the beautiful caves, and to all the beautiful channels,
in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and
a golden caparison.

47.
'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the waters flow down from the
sea Vouru-Kasha, mother-like, friendly, and healing: he divides
them amongst these countries, being most beneficent, when he has
been worshipped with a sacrifice and propitiated rejoiced, and
satisfied. 'For his brigbtness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice
worth being heard....

XV.

48. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
for whom long all the creatures of Spenta-Mainyu, those that live
under the ground, and those that live above the ground; those
that live in the waters, and those that live on dry land; those
that fly, and those that run in the plains; and all those that
live within this boundless and endless world of the holy Spirit.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth
being heard....

XVI.

49. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star,
the healthful, wise, happy, and powerful, who is the lord of a
thousand boons, and grants many boons to that man who has pleased
him, whether begging or not begging for them.

50. 'I, O Spitama Zarathushtra! have created that star Tishtrya
as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer, as worthy of propitiation,
as worthy of glorification as myself, Ahura Mazda;

51.
'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to afflict, to drive
back the malice of that Pairika Duzyairya, whom evil-speaking
people call Huyairya.

52.
'Had I not created that star Tishtrya as worthy of sacrifice,
as worthy of prayer, as worthy of propitiation, as worthy of glorification
as myself, Ahura Mazda;

53.
'In order to withstand, to break asunder, to afflict, to drive
back the malice of that Pairika Duzyairya, whom evil-speaking
people call Huyairya;

54.
'Then all day long, all night long, that Pairika Duzyairya
would wage war against this material world of mine, wanting to
extinguish its life, and she goes on, rushing upon and around
it.

55.
'But the bright and glorious Tishtrya keeps that Pairika in
bonds, with twofold bonds, with threefold bonds, that cannot be
overcome, with bonds all over the body: it is as if there were
a thousand men keeping one man in bonds, a thousand men of those
who are the strongest in strength.

56.
'If the Aryan countries, O Spitama Zarathushtra! would perform
in honour of the bright and glorious Tishtrya the due sacrifice
and invocation, just as that sacrifice and invocation ought to
be performed in the perfection of holiness; never should a hostile
horde enter these Aryan countries, nor any plague, nor leprosy,
nor venomous plants, nor the chariot of a foe, nor the uplifted
spear of a foe.'

57.
Zarathushtra asked: 'What is then, O Ahura Mazda! the sacrifice
and invocation in honour of the bright and glorious Tishtrya,
as it ought to be performed in the perfection of holiness?'

58.
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Let the Aryan nations bring libations
unto him; let the Aryan nations tie bundles of baresma for him;
let the Aryan nations cook for him a head of cattle, either white,
or black, or of any other colour, but all of one and the same
colour.

59.
'Let not a murderer take of these offerings, nor a whore,
nor a .... who does not sing the Gathas, who spreads death in
the world and withstands the law of Mazda, the law of Zarathushtra.

60.
'If a murderer take of these offerings, or a whore, or a ....
who does not sing the Gathas, who spreads death in the world and
withstands the law of Mazda, the law of Zarathushtra, then the
bright and glorious Tishtrya takes back his healing virtues.

61.
'Plagues will ever pour upon the Aryan nations; hostile hordes
will ever fall upon the Aryan nations; the Aryans will be smitten,
by their fifties and their hundreds, by their hundreds and their
thousands, by thetr thousands and their tens of thousands, by
their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads.

62. 'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....

'I bless the sacrifice and prayer, and the strength and vigour
of Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, and of the powerful
Satavaesa, made by Mazda, who pushes waters forward.

'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.'

Home

Contents

Prev

yt8sbe

Next

Avestan

Glossary
-- Yashts — Yasht 8 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))