Ard Yasht
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| Ard Yasht | |
|---|---|
 First page of the Ard Yasht in Darmesteter's French translation[1] | |
| Information | |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
| Language | Avestan |
| Period | Avestan period |
| Chapters | 10 kardes |
| Verses | 62 |
The Ard Yasht or Arshishvang Yasht is the seventeenth hymn of the 21 Yashts.[2] It is named after and dedicated to the praise of Ashi, the Zoroastrian divinity representing recompense and capricious luck.[3]
The Ard Yasht consists of 62 stanzas, which are further grouped into 10 sections called kardas. This makes it relatively short among the so-called Great Yashts.[4] Regardless, it is considered to be of high literary quality and covers a wide range of topics.[5] The yasht does not have a commentary in Middle Persian.[6] In the Zoroastrian calendar, it is celebrated on the 25th day of the month dedicated to Ashi.[7]
Name
In his edition of the Avesta, Geldner notes that the yasht is called both Ard and Arishvang in the different manuscript traditions.[8] Here, Ard is the Middle Persian name for Avestan Ashi, whereas Arishvang is the name of Ashi is some Middle Persian sources,[9] and is ultimately derived from Avestan Ashish vaŋuhi (the good Ashi).[10] Ashi in turn is a personified abstraction of Avestan aṣ̌i/arti[note 1] with the meaning of the thing attained or reward.[11]
Structure and content
Following Darmesteter, the Ard Yasht can be divided thematically into several parts. The first part (kardas I-II) is dedicated to a description of Ashi's characteristics as a goddess of luck,[12] and her connection with Zarathustra.[13] The next part (kardas III-IX) follows the general outline of many of the so-called Legendary Yasht, by describing how legendary heroes of old offer sacrifice to her:[14]
We sacrifice to Ashi Vanguhi, who is shining, high, tallformed, well worthy of sacrifice, with a loud-sounding chariot, strong, welfare-giving, healing, with fulness of intellect and powerful.
To her did Haoshyangha, the Paradhata, offer up a sacrifice, upon the enclosure of the Hara, the beautiful height, made by Mazda.
He begged of her a boon, saying: 'Grant me this, O great Ashi Vanguhi! that I may overcome all the daevas of Mazana; that I may never fear and bow through terror before the daevas, but that all the daevas may fear and bow in spite of themselves before me, that they may fear and flee down to darkness.'
The great Ashi Vanguhi ran and came to his side: Haoshyangha, the Paradhata, obtained that boon.
For her brightness and glory, I will offer her a sacrifice [...]
— Ard Yasht karda III: verses 17.23 - 17.26 (translated by James Darmesteter).[15]
The rest of this part, i.e. kardas IV-IX, follows the same structure. Each karda starts with an introductory verse, followed by a few verses which describe the worshipper and the boon they requested from Ashi, and finally a verse how the request was granted by her.[16] Next to Haosyangha, this list contains Yima Khshaéta (karda IV), Thraêtaona (karda V), Haoma (karda VI), Husravah (karda VII), Zarathustra (karda VIII) and Vishtaspa (karda IX).[17] The same list is also found in Yasht 9, where the worship is, however, addressed to Drvaspa instead of Ashi.[18] The last part (karda X) describes how Ashi will not accept worship from people, who cannot engage in reproductive sexual activity, or who do so outside a marital relationship.[19][note 2]
References
Notes
- ↑ For the Avestan variation between ṣ̌ and rt see here.
- ↑ The latter refers to consensual relationships but may also include sexual assault depending on the translation.[20]
Citations
- ↑ Darmesteter 1892.
- ↑ Skjærvø 1986, "ARD YAŠT, Middle Persian name of the Avestan hymn (Yašt 17) dedicated to Aši".
- ↑ Skjærvø 1986, "Aši is the goddess of recompense, and in her hymn she appears as the personification of "fortune" or "capricious luck"".
- ↑ Skjærvø 1986, "With its sixty-two verses, Ard Yašt belongs to the shorter of the “great, old” yašts".
- ↑ Skjærvø 1986, "Ard Yašt is quite outstanding [...] for its literary qualities [and] contains a broad range of subject matter".
- ↑ Skjærvø 1986, "Yašt 17 [...] has no Pahlavi version".
- ↑ MacKenzie 1971, p. 11: "Ard [...] a goddess; cal. 25th day".
- ↑ Geldner 1889, p. 231.
- ↑ Schlerath 1984.
- ↑ Nyberg 1974, p. 11: "Ahrišvang ['hlyšwng] a female deity - Phl. transliteration of Av. Ašiš vanuhi".
- ↑ Skjærvø & Schlerath 1987, "The word is an abstract noun from a root ar– ("to grant," AirWb. col. 184) with suffix –ti, belonging to the group of Younger Avestan personified abstracts".
- ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 270: "She appears in the latter character in the first part of the Yast (§§ 1-14)".
- ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 270: "she praises and loves Zarathustra (§§ 15-21)".
- ↑ Hintze 2014, "The classification of these hymns as 'legendary' is based on the distinctive feature that they predominantly, though not exclusively, relate the names and stories of previous worshippers of the deity".
- ↑ Darmesteter 1883, pp. 275-276.
- ↑ Hintze 2014, "The story of each worshipper typically constitutes one Karde".
- ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 270: "She is worshipped by Haosyangha (§ 26), Yima (§ 28), Thraétaona (§ 33), Haoma (§ 37), Husravah (§ 41), Zarathustra (§ 45), and Vistaspa (§ 49)*".
- ↑ Skjærvø 1986, "[It is] identical with the corresponding list in Yašt 9. 3-31 to Druuāspā, originally perhaps an epithet of Aši".
- ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 270: "She rejects the offerings of all sterile people (old men, courtezans, and children, §§ 53-61)".
- ↑ Lommel 1927, p. 166: "Näher liegt die Anknüpfung an ai ni-gam "inire feminam", die Bartholomae aus Bedeutungsgründen ablehnt, die aber als Caus. vom mediopassiven Grundverb als Bedeutung ergeben kann "veranlassen beschlafen zu werden"; die damit verurteilte Untat wäre jedenfalls schwerer, als eine Ledige schwanger zu machen".
Bibliography
- Darmesteter, James (1883). Müller, Max (ed.). Zend-Avesta II: The Sirozahs, Yasts and Nyayis. Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 23. Dehli: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
- Darmesteter, James (1892). Le Zend-Avesta, Vol. 2: Traduction Nouvelle Avec Commentaire Historique Et Philologique; La Loi (Vendidad); L'Épopée (Yashts); Le Livre de Prière (Khorda Avesta). Paris: E. Leroux.
- Geldner, Karl F. (1889). Avesta. The Sacred Books of the Parsis II: Vispered and Khorda Avesta. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
- Hintze, Almut (2014). "YAŠTS". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
- Lommel, Herman (1927). Die Yäšt's des Awesta. Quellen der Religionsgeschichte: Iran. Vol. 15. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- MacKenzie, David N. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
- Nyberg, Henrik S. (1974). A Manual of Pahlavi II - Ideograms, Glossary, Abbreviations, Index, Grammatical Survey, Corrigenda to Part I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 3447-01580-2.
- Schlerath, Bernfried (1984). "AHRIŠWANG". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. I. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 673–674.
- Skjærvø, Prods O.; Schlerath, Bernfried (1987). "AŠI". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. II. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 750–751.
- Skjærvø, Prods O. (1986). "ARD YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. II. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 355–356.
- Westergaard, Niels L. (1852). Zendavesta: or The religious books of the Zoroastrians. Berling brothers.
External links
- Avestan text of the Ard Yasht at Avesta.org based on the edition by Geldner
- English translation of the Ard Yasht at Avesta.org based on the translation by Darmesteter
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