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Author: Zoroaster  | Date: About 1200 B.C.

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Gatha Ahunavaiti

THE CALL FOR ZARATHUSTRA

(Homage to you, O Sacred Gathas!)

1. Unto you (O Ahura and Asha!) the Soul of the Kine (our sacred herds and folk) cried aloud: For whom did ye create me, and by whom did ye fashion me? On me comes the assault of wrath, and of violent power, the blow of desolation, audacious insolence, and (thievish) might. None other pasture-giver have I than you, therefore do ye teach me good (tillage) for the fields (my only hope of welfare)!

TOMB OF NAKSHI-RUSTAM


Persia

Ahura speaks.

2. Upon this the Creator of the Kine (the holy herds) asked of Righteousness: How (was) thy guardian for the Kine (appointed)by thee when, as having power (over all her fate), ye made her? (In what manner did ye secure) for her, together with pasture, a cattle-chief who was both skilled and likewise energetic? Whom did ye select as her (life’s) master who might hurl back the fury of the wicked?

Asha answers.

3. To Him the (Divine Righteousness) answered with his sanctity. (Great was our perplexity); a chieftain who was capable of smiting back (their fury), and who was himself without hate (was not to be obtained by us); among such things as these, those things are not to be known (by beings such as we) which are the influences which approach (and move) the lofty fires (revealing the favour and the will of God).

Of beings He is the mightiest to whom those who have performed their actions approach with invocations. (He has no need to ask!)

Zarathustra intervenes.

4. The Great Creator (is himself) most mindful of the uttered indications which have been fulfilled beforehand hitherto in the deeds of demon-gods and (good or evil) men, and of those which shall be fulfilled by them hereafter. He Ahura is the discerning arbiter; so shall it be to us as He shall will!

5. Therefore it is that we both, my soul and (the soul) of the mother Kine, (are) making our supplications for the two worlds to Ahura, and with hands stretched out in entreaty, when (we pray to the Great Creator with questions in our doubt; (and He will answer).

Not for the righteous liver, not for the thrifty (tiller of the earth), shall there be destruction together with the wicked!

Ahura.

6. Upon this the Lord, the Great Creator, He who understands the mysterious grace by His insight, spake thus: Not in this manner is a spiritual master found for us, nor a chieftain moved by Righteousness and appointed (in its spirit); therefore Thee have I named (as such a head) to the diligent tiller of the ground!

The Ameshospends.

7. Mazda has created the inspired Word-of-reason which is a Mathra of fatness (for the offering), the (Divine) Righteousness consenting with Him in his deed. Food he has prepared for the Kine and for the eaters, He the one bountiful with his (saving) doctrine; but whom hast Thou, endowed with the Good Mind, who may give forth those (doctrines) by word of mouth to mortals?

Ahura.

8. This man is found for me here who alone has hearkened to our enunciations, Zarathustra Spitama! Our mighty and completed acts of grace he desires to enounce for us, for (Me), the Great Creator and for Righteousness; wherefore I will give him the good abode (and authoritative place) of such an one as speaks!

The Geus Urvan.

9. Upon this the Soul of the Kine lamented: (Woe is unto me) since (I have obtained for myself) in my wounding a lord who is powerless to affect (his) wish, the (mere) voice of a feeble and pusillanimous man, whereas I desire one who is lord over his will (and able as one of royal state to bring what he desires to effect).

The Ameshospends.

((Aye,) when shall he ever appear who may bring to her help strong-handed?)

Zarathustra.

10. Do ye, O Ahura and thou, O Righteousness! grant gladness unto these (our disciples), and the sovereign Kingdom (of the Deity) such as (is established) in (His). Good Mind by which one bestows upon them the peaceful amenities of home and quiet happiness (as against the fearful ravages which they suffer), for of these, O Great Creator! I ever thought Thee first possessor!

11. And when shall the (Divine) Righteousness, the Good Mind (of the Lord, and His) Sovereign Power (come) hastening to me (to give me strength for my task and mission), O Great Creator, the Living Lord! (For without his I cannot advance or, undertake my toil.) Do ye now therefore assign unto us your aid and in abundance for our great cause. May we be (partakers) of the bountiful grace of these your equals (your counsellors and servants)!

PRAYERS CHIEFLY FOR GRACE AND FOR THE WORDS
OF REVELATION


1. (A strengthening blessing is the thought, a blessing is the word, a blessing is the deed of the righteous Zarathustra. May the Bountiful Immortals accept and help on the chants. Homage to you, O sacred Gathas!)

2. With venerating (desire) for this (gift) of gracious help, O Mazda, and stretching forth my hands (to Thee) I pray for the first(blessing) of (Thy) bountiful Spirit; (that is, I beseech of Thee that my) actions (toward) all (may be performed) in (the Divine) Righteousness; and with this I implore from Thee the understanding of Thy Benevolent Mind, in order that I may propitiate the Soul of the Kine (our herds and folk, which cries so bitterly to Thee).

3. And therefore, O Great Creator, the Living Lord! (inspired) by Thy Benevolent Mind, I approach You, (and beseech of Thee) to grant me (as a bountiful gift) for both the worlds, the corporeal and (for that) of mind, those attainments which are to be derived from the (Divine) Righteousness, and by means of which (that personified Righteousness within us) may introduce those who are its recipients into beatitude and glory!

4. O (thou Divine) Righteousness, and thou Benevolent Mind (of Deity)! I will worship you, and Ahura Mazda the first, for all of whom the Pious ready mind (within us) is causing the imperishable Kingdom to advance. (And while I thus utter my supplications to You), come Ye to my calls to help!

5. (Yea, I will approach You with my supplications, I) who am delivering up (my) mind and soul to that (heavenly) Mount (whither all the redeemed at last must pass), knowing (full well) the holy characteristics and rewards of the (ceremonial and moral) actions (prescribed) by Ahura Mazda. (And) so long as I am able and may have the power, so long will I teach (Your people concerning these holy deeds to be done by them with faith toward God, and) in the desire (for the coming) of the (Divine) Righteousness (within their souls).

6. And, thou Righteousness! when shall I see thee, knowing the Good Mind (of God), and (above all the personified) Obedience (of our lives which constitutes) the way to the most beneficent Ahura Mazda. (Asking this, I thus beseech thee, for) with this holy word of supplication we must off with tongue the flesh-devouring fiends, (the very sign and power of all spiritual foulness)!

7. And do Thou, O Lord, the Great Creator! come to me with Thy Good Mind; and do Thou, who bestowest gifts through Thy Righteousness, bestow alike long-lasting life on us. And (that this life may be spent aright, do) Thou by means of Thy lofty words (bestow) the (needed) powerful spiritual help upon Zarathustra and upon us, whereby we may overcome the torments of the tormentor.

8. (And) do thou, O (Divine) Righteousness, bestow (upon me) that sacred blessing which is constituted by the attainments of theGood Mind (within my soul); and do thou also, O Piety! grant unto Vistaspa and to me our wish; (yea) may’st Thou grant (us), O Mazda, ruler (as Thou art! that grace) whereby we may hear (with understanding) Thy benignant words.

9. That best (of gifts therefore) do I beseech (of Thee), O Thou best (of beings) Ahura! who art one in will with (Thy Divine) Righteousness (within us, likewise), the best (of spirits), desiring it (as I now do) for the (heroic) man Frashaostra, and for me, upon whom also may’st Thou bestow it (not for time alone), but for all the ages of Thy Good Mind (that reign of Thy Benevolence which shall be to us as Heaven)!

10. And (impressed and moved) by these gifts of strengthening grace (which Thou may’st give in answer to these prayers) may we never anger You, O Ahura Mazda! (nor Thy) Righteousness (within us), nor yet Thy Kindly Mind (toward us), since we have most earnestly made effort (helping to advance Your cause) in the (chanted) offering of Your praisers, for most easy to be invoked (are Ye). (Yours are verily both) the desire for (spiritual) blessings (for us), and the (Divine) Possession (of their power).

11. And therefore do Thou, O Lord, the Great Creator! fill up and satisfy (my) desire with these attainments (of the grace) of Thy Good Mind, which Thou dost know to be derived from Righteousness, (and) which (are verily) sublime, for I have known Thine instructions to be never void of their effect (in the struggles) for our (daily) food, and therefore worthy objects of desire.

12. (Yea, I approach Thee with my prayers, I) who by these (great gifts of grace) will protect (Thy) Divine Righteousness, and (Thy) Good Mind (within us) for ever. And do Thou therefore, O Ahura Mazda! teach me from Thyself, yea, from Thine own mouth of spirit, that I may declare it forth to (these Thy waiting people) by what (powers and according to what laws) the primeval world arose!

THE DOCTRINE OF DUALISM

1. And now I will proclaim, O ye who are drawing near and seeking to be taught! those animadversions which appertain to Him who knows (all things) whatsoever; the praises which are for Ahura, and the sacrifices (which spring) from the Good Mind, and likewise the benignant meditations inspired by Righteousness. And I praythat propitious results may be seen in the lights.

2. Hear ye then with your ears; see ye the bright times with the (eyes of the) Better Mind. It is for a decision as to religions, man and man, each individually for himself. Before the great effort of the cause, awake ye (all) to our teaching!

3. Thus are the primeval spirits who as a pair (combining their opposite strivings), and (yet each) independent in his actions, have been famed (of old.) (They are) a better thing, they two, and a worse, as to thought, as to word, and as to deed. And between these two let the wisely acting choose aright. (Choose ye) not (as) the evildoers!

4. (Yea) when the two spirits came together at the first to make life, and life’s absence, and to determine how the world at the last shall be (ordered), for the wicked (Hell) the worst life, for the holy (Heaven) the Best Mental State.

5. (Then when they had finished each his part in the deeds of creation, they choose distinctly each his separate realm.) He who was the evil of them both (chose the evil), thereby working the worst of possible results, but the more bounteous spirit chose the (Divine) Righteousness; (yea, He so chose) who clothes upon Himself the firm stones of heaven (as His robe). And He chose likewise them who content Ahura with actions, which (are performed) really in accordance with the faith.

6. And between these two spirits the Demon-gods (and they who give them worship) can make no righteous choice, since we have beguiled them. As they were questioning and debating in their council the (personified) Worst Mind approached them that he might be chosen. (They made their fatal decision.) And thereupon they rushed together unto the Demon of Fury, that they might pollute the lives of mortals.

7. Upon this Aramaiti (the personified Piety of the saints) approached, and with her came the Sovereign Power, the Good Mind, and the Righteous Order. And (to the spiritual creations of good and of evil) Aramaiti gave a body, she the abiding and ever strenuous. And for these (Thy people) so let (that body) be (at the last), O Mazda! as it was when Thou camest first with creations!

8. And (when the great struggle shall have been fought out which began when the Daevas first seized the Demon of Wrath as their ally), and when the (just) vengeance shall have come upon these wretches, then, O Mazda! the Kingdom Shall have been gained forThee by (Thy) Good Mind (within Thy folk). For to those, O living Lord! does (that Good Mind) utter his command, who will deliver the Demon of the Lie into the two hands of the Righteous Order (as a capture to a destroyer).

9. And may we be such as those who bring on this great renovation, and make this world progressive, (till its perfection shall have been reached). (As) the Ahuras of Mazda (even) may we be; (yea, like Thyself), in helpful readiness to meet (Thy people), presenting (benefits) in union with the Righteous Order. For there will our thoughts be (tending) where true wisdom shall abide in her home.

10. (And when perfection shall have been attained) then shall the blow of destruction fall upon the Demon of Falsehood, (and her adherents shall perish with her), but swiftest in the happy abode of the Good Mind and of Ahura the righteous saints shall gather, they who proceed in their walk (on earth) in good repute (and honour).

11. Wherefore, O ye men! ye are learning (thus) these religious incitations which Ahura gave in (our) happiness and (our) sorrow. (And ye are also learning) what is the long wounding for the wicked, and the blessings which are in store for the righteous. And when these (shall have begun their course), salvation shall be (your portion)!

THE PROGRESS AND STRUGGLES OF THE CAUSE

1. These doctrines (therefore) we are earnestly declaring to You as we recite them forth from memory, words (till now) unheard (with faith) by those who by means of the doctrinal vows of the harmful Lie are delivering the settlements of Righteousness to death, but words which are of the best unto those who are heartily devoted to Ahura.

2. And if by this means the indubitable truths are not seen in the soul, then as better (than these words) I will come to you all (in my person) with that power, and in that way according to which Ahura Mazda knows and appoints His ruler, that ruler over both the two (struggling) bands, in order that we (in obedience to him), may live according to Righteousness.

3. And that keenness, that deciding satisfaction, which Thou hast given by (Thy) Spirit, and (Thy) Fire, and by Thy Righteousness (itself) to the two battling (sides), do Thou declare unto us, O Ahura!that vow which is for the seeing (as those endowed with mental light). Yea, do Thou declare this that we may know it, O Mazda! With the tongue of Thy mouth do Thou speak it (that as I preach its mighty truths) I may make all the living believers!

4. And when the Divine Righteousness shall be inclined to my appeal, and with him all those (remaining ones who are as) Mazda’s (own) Ahuras then with the blessedness (of the reward), with (my) Piety and with Thy Best Mind (active within me), I will pray for that mighty Kingdom by whose force we may smite the Lie-demon.

5. Aye, do Thou tell me that I may discern it, since through (Thy) Righteous Order the better (lot) is given; tell me this that I may know it with (Thy) Good Mind (as it speaks within me), and that I may ponder that to which these my truths belong (and of which my prophet Speaks; yea), tell me those things, O Mazda Ahura! which may not be, and which may be.

6. And that verily shall be the best of all words to Him which the All-(wise one) will declare to me in very deed, that word which is the Mathra of Welfare and of Immortality (for it proclaims His beneficent power). And to the Great Creator (shall there be) a Realm such as that (whose strength I asked for victory), and which (at the last) shall flourish in its holiness to His (glory)!

7. (For He has sovereign control.) He who conceived of these (truths of the Mathra) as their first (inspirer), (and as He thought their existence they (all) as (His) glorious (conceptions first) clothed themselves in the stars), He is through His understanding the Creator of the Righteous Order. And thus likewise He supports His Beneficent Mind (in His saints). And these (holy creatures) may’st Thou cause to prosper by Thy Spirit (since they are Thine own), O Ahura Mazda! Thou who art for every hour the same!

8. Therefore, as the first did I conceive of Thee, O Ahura Mazda! as the one to be adored with the mind in the creation, as the Father of the Good Mind within us, when I behold Thee with my (enlightened) eyes as the veritable maker of our Righteousness, as the Lord of the actions of life!

9. Thine, O Ahura! was Piety; yea, Thine, O Creator of the Kine! was understanding and the Spirit, when Thou didst order a path for her (guiding). From the earth’s tiller (aided) she goeth (in that allotted way), or from him who was never tiller. (Thy path hath given her choice.)

10. (But she did not pause in temptation.) Of the two shechose the husbandman, the thrifty toiler in the fields, as a holy master endowed with the Good Mind’s wealth. Never, Mazda! shall the thieving nomad share the good creed. (For the Kine’s choice would bestow it!)

11. (And this doctrine was the first of rules to regulate our actions. Yet the opposer speaks beside Thee.) For when first, O Ahura Mazda! Thou didst create the (holy) settlements, and didst reveal the religious laws; and when Thou gavest (us) understanding from Thine own mind, and madest our (full) bodily life, and (didst thus determine) actions (by Thy power), and didst moreover deliver to us (nearer) injunctions whereby (as by a rule) the wisher may place his choices.

12. (There strife at once arose, and still is raging.) There (beside Thy prophet) the truthful or liar, the enlightened or unenlightened, lifts his voice (to utter his faith), and with devoted mind and heart. (But without hindrance from this striving, or pausing with feeble search, our) Piety steadily questions the two spirits (not here on earth) but (there in the spirit-world) where (they dwell as) in their home.

13. (Yea, my Piety questions searchingly, for Thou, O Maker! hast Thy view on all; we cannot question lightly.) What questions are asked which are open (permitted to our thoughts), or what questions (are asked) which are furtive (hiding themselves from the light), or (what decision soever we may make, and the man) who for the smallest sin binds on the heaviest penance, on all with Thy glittering eye(s) as a righteous guard Thou art gazing!

14. This then I will ask Thee, O Ahura Mazda! (as I seek Thy counsel once again). What events are coming now, and what events shall come in the future; and what prayers with debt-confessions are offered with the offerings of the holy? And what (are the awards) for the wicked? And how shall they be in the (final) state of completion?

15. And I would ask Thee this, O Mazda! (concerning the coadjutor of the wicked): What is the ,award for him who prepares the throne for the evil, for the evil-doer, O Ahura! for him who cannot else reclaim his life, not else save with lawless harm to the tiller’s herd, to the pious husbandman’s flock, who speaks no word with lying, (who abjures the Lie-demon’s faith)?

16. Yea, I would ask Thee such a thing as this: How such an one as he who, with wise action, has striven to promote (Thy holy)Rule over house, and region, and province, in the Righteous Order and in truth, how he may become like Thee, O Great Creator, Living Lord? And when he may so become, (this also I would ask), and in what actions living he may so be?

17. And which of the (religions) is the greater (and the more prevailing as to these questions which thus concern the soul?) Is it that which the righteous believes, or the wicked? (Let then our questionings cease.) Let the enlightened (alone) speak to the enlightened. Let not the ignorant (further) deceive us, (high though he may lift his voice). Do Thou thyself, O Ahura Mazda! declare to us (the truth) as Thy Good Mind’s full revealer.

18. (And you, ye assembled throngs!) let not a man of you lend a hearing to Mathra, or to command of that sinner (ignorant as he is), for home, village, region, and province he would deliver to ruin and death. But (fly ye to arms without hearing), and hew ye them all with the halberd!

19. Let them hear Him who conceived of the Righteous Order for the worlds, the (all)-wise One, O Ahura! For truthful speech He rules with absolute sway over words, and ever free of tongue (to guide us in our way). By Thy shining flame (He doth guide us, Thine altar’s flame with its signs of decision and of grace) sent forth for the good of the strivers.

20. (But, O ye listening men!) he who renders the saint deceived, for him shall be later destruction. Long life shall be his lot in the darkness; foul shall be his food; his speech shall be of the lowest. And this, which is such a life as your own, O ye vile! your (perverted) conscience through your own deeds will bring you!

21. But Ahura Mazda will give both Universal Weal and Immortality in the fulness of His Righteous Order, and from himself as the head of Dominion (within His saints). And He will likewise give the Good Mind’s vigorous might to him who in spirit and deeds in His friend, (and with faith fulfils his vows).

22. And to the wise are these things clear as to the one discerning with his mind (not blinded by the perverter). With Thy Good Mind and Thy (holy) Kingdom he follows the Righteous Order both in his words and his actions. And to Thee, O Ahura Mazda! such a man shall be the most helpful and vigorous being (for he serves with every power)!

THE STRUGGLE IS CONTINUED

(That rival-monarch (thus we may supply the sense of lost verses) for whom some are plotting to secure the sovereignty, and who, once in power, would deliver over home, village, town, and province to ruin and to death, is active in his efforts, and offering the devotions of his false religion to accomplish his ends.) 1. His lord-kinsman will pray (as I Zarathustra prayed), and his labouring villagers, with his (trusted) peers, and his (fellow) Daeva-worshippers. But in my mind is the friendship of Ahura Mazda, the Great Creator, the living Lord; and Thine heralds, O Ahura! may we be; may we hold back those who hate and who offend You!

2. To these (for whom the prophet spake) Ahura Mazda answered, ruling as He does through His Good Mind (within their souls), He replied from His Sovereign Power, our good friend (as he is) through His surpassing Righteousness: We have accepted your good and bountiful Piety, and we have chosen her; ours shall she be!

3. But you, O ye Daevas! are all a seed from the Evil Mind. He who offers sacrifice to You the most is of the Lie-demon, and (he is a child) of perversion. In advance (are your) deceits whereby ye are famed in the sevenfold earth!

4. For ye (are) confusing our thoughts, whereby men, giving forth the Worst deeds, will speak, as of the Demon-gods beloved, forsaken by the Good Mind, (far) astray from the understanding of the Great Creator, the Living Lord, and (far astray) from His Righteousness!

5. Therefore ye would beguile mankind of happy life (upon earth) and of Immortality (beyond it), since the Evil Spirit (has ruled) you with his evil mind. Yea, he has ruled you, (ye) who are of the Demon-gods, and with an evil word unto action, as his ruler (governs) the wicked!

6. Full of crime (your leader) has desired to destroy us, wherefore he is famed, (and his doctrine is declared); but if this be so of these, then in the same manner, O Ahura! Thou possessest (because Thou knowest) the true (teachings) in Thy memory. And in Thy kingdom and Thy Righteous Order I will establish Thy precepts (in Thy name).

7. Among these wretched beings (this their leader) knows not that those things, which are declared as victorious (by his allies) are bound together for the smiting; yea, those things by which he was famed (as victorious) by his (blade of) glittering iron. But the utter destruction of those things Thou, O Ahura Mazda! knowest, most surely!

8. Of these wretched beings Yima Vivanghusha was famed to be; he who, desiring to content our men, was eating kine’s flesh in its pieces. But from (such as) these, O Ahura Mazda! in Thy discerning discrimination, am I (to be seen as distinct).

9. An evil teacher (as that leader is), he will destroy (our) doctrines, and by his teachings he will pervert the (true) understanding of life, seizing away (from me) my riches, the choice and real wealth of (Thy) Good Mind. To You and to Asha, O Ahura Mazda! am I therefore crying with the voice of my spirit’s (need)!

10. Aye, this man will destroy my doctrines (indeed, for he blasphemes the highest of creatures that live or are made). He declares that the (sacred) Kine and the Sun are the worst of things which eye can see; and he will offer the gifts of the wicked (as priest to their Demon-gods). And at the last he will parch our meadows with drought, and will hurl his mace at Thy saint (who may fall before his arms).

11. Yea, these will destroy my life, for they consult with the great of the wicked (enlightening themselves by their words). And they are seizing away the gifts of inherited treasures from both household-lord and from house-wife; (wretched men that they are), and those who will fiercely wound (my folk, repelled and in no way kindly moved) by the better mind of the holy.

12. (But Ahura will speak His rebuke, for) as to those doctrines which (such) men may be (basely) delivering (repelled) by the holiest action, (and galled by its sacred truth) God hath said: Evil (are they! Yea, unto these He hath said it) who have slain the Kine’s life by a blessing (and have cursed her while they offered to help her), men by whom Grehmas are loved above Righteousness, and the Karpans, and the Throne of those who have wished for the Demon of lies (as their deity and friend).

13. And the Grehma will seek for these things by means of his (evil) kingdom in the abode of (Hell which is) the Worst Mind (who both are together) the destroyers of life, and who, O Mazda! will bewail with glad but (envious) wish the message of Thy prophet.(But he will not abate with his vengeance), he will hold them afar from the sight of the truth!

14. His is Grehma; aye, his! And to (oppose) Thee he will establish the Kavis and (their) scheming plans. Their deeds of power are but deceits since they have come as an aid to the wicked, and since he has been (falsely) said (to be set) to conquer the Kine, he who shall kindle that (very) help of grace which removes our death afar, (and lightens Thy saving flame).

15. And therefore will I drive from hence the Karpans’ and Kavis’ disciples. And after these (have thus been driven hence and away) then these (my princely aiding saints) whom they (now) render no longer rulers at will over life, (and deprive of their absolute power), these shall be borne (at last) by the (immortal) two to the home of (Thy) Good Mind (in Heaven)!

16. (And) this entire (reward of the righteous) is from that Best One who teaches in the wide (mental) light of the pious, ruling (as supreme), O Mazda Ahura! whose are my woes and my doubtings (yea, they lie in His power to heal), when I shall make (my prophets) men to be sought for the harm of the wicked. And this I shall do by the word of my mouth (to defend and avenge my saints)!

PRAYERS, HOPES, AND SELF-CONSECRATION.

1. As by the laws of the primeval world, so will our spiritual chieftain act (that chief besought-for by the Kine, and named as Zarathustra by the Lord). Deeds most just he will do toward the wicked, as toward the righteous, and toward him whose deeds of fraud and righteous deeds combine (in equal measure).

2. Yea, (he will act with justice but with vengeance, for) he who does evil to the wicked by word, or with thought (and plan), and (who therein does not dally, but toils labouring as) with both the hands, or he (again) who admonishes one for his good, such as these are offering (a gift) to their religious faith in the love (and with the approving view) of Ahura Mazda; (they are offering to conscience.)

3. (And so may it be), O Ahura! Let the man who is the best toward the righteous saint, whether lord’s kinsman, or as village labourer, with the allied peer (of the master), having light, and endowed with energy for the cattle (a Ratu such as Ahura sought to satisfy their wail), let such an one be (for us) in the work-field ofthe Righteous Order, in the pastures of Thy Good Mind.

4. (And I beseech for Thine instruction), I who will abjure all disobedience (toward Thee, praying that others likewise may withhold it) from Thee; I who abjure the Evil Mind as well, the lordly kinsman’s arrogance, and that lying sin which is (alas! the next thing to the people (their most familiar fault), and the blaming ally’s falsehood, and from the Kine the worst care of her meadows (the crime of stint in labour),

5. I, who (abjuring these sins), call earnestly on Thine Obedience of all (assisting guardians) the greatest one for our help, gaining (thereby) long life in the Realm of (Thy) Good Mind (incarnate in our tribes), and paths that are straight from their Righteous Order, wherein Ahura Mazda dwells,

6. (Yea), I who, as this Thy faithful priest, invoke Thee through (my) Righteousness, (now) seek with longing from (Thy) Best Spirit, and with that (best) intention of mind, (to know) what he himself thought of the working of (our) fields. Therefore (because I abjure the Evil Mind, and all disobedience, arrogance, falsehood), O Mazda! would I beseech of Thee for a sight of Thee, and for consultation with thee! (What is Thy will and mind?)

7. Come Ye, then, to my best (regulations. Come to my men, and my laws), my very own, O Mazda! and let them see through the Righteous Order and (Thy) Good Mind (which Thou wilt bestow in Thy drawing near) how I am heard before the rich giver (in the assembly of Thy worshippers). Yea, (come Ye); and let the manifold offerings of worship be manifest among us. (Arouse Ye, and help our zeal!)

8. (Come Ye) and show me the worthy aims of our faith, so that I may approach and fulfil them with (Thy) Good Mind, the offering, O Mazda! of the One like You, or the words of praises offered with Righteousness. And give Ye Your offering (of grace to me) the abiding gifts of Your Immortality and Welfare!

9. And let (one like those), O Mazda! bear on to Thee the spirit of the two leaders who cause the holy Truth to flourish; let him bear them to (Thy) brilliant home with preternatural insight, and with the Better Mind. Yea, let him bear that spirit on as a fellow-help in (furthering) the readiness of those (in their holy work) whose souls go hand in hand.

10. (And not for these alone do I pray, but for us as well.) All prosperous states in being which have been enjoyed in the past, whichmen are now enjoying, and which shall be known in the future, do Thou grant (me) these in Thy love. (Yea), cause (our) bodily and personal life to be blest with salvation through (Thy) Good Mind, (Thy) Sovereign Power, and (Thy) Sanctity.

11. And, O Thou who art the most beneficent Ahura Mazda! and thou who art Aramaiti (our piety), and also the Righteous Order who dost further on the settlements; and Thou, the Good Mind, and the Sovereign Power! hear ye me all, and have mercy for every deed which I do whatsoever!

12. And Thou, O Ahura! do Thou (Thyself) arise to me! Through Aramaiti give me power, O most bountiful Spirit Mazda! through (my) faithful appeals and offerings; and for (my) Righteousness grant me mighty strength, and (Thy) thrift-law through (Thy) Good Mind.

13. (Arise to give me power), and then for grace in a wide perception (that I may view its depth and extent), do Thou reveal to me Thy nature (?), O Ahura! (the power of Thine attributes), and those of Thy (holy) kingdom, and by these, the blessed gifts of (Thy) Good Mind! And do Thou, O bountiful Piety show forth the religious truths through (Thy) Righteous Order.

14. Thus, as an offering, Zarathustra gives the life of his very body. And he offers, likewise, O Mazda! the priority of the Good Mind, (his eminence gained) by his holiness (with Thy folk); and he offers (above all this) Obedience (to Thee) in deed and in speech, and with these (Thine established) Sovereign Power!

THANKS TO AHURA

1. As to those (three gifts of blessings), Immortality, the Righteous Order, and the (established) Kingdom of Welfare, which Thou, O Mazda! hast given through (holy) deeds, words, and the sacrifice unto these (Thy servants here in my sight), gifts (shall) be offered by us in return to Thee, O Ahura! and with the foremost of them all.

2. Yea, and all those gifts of the Good Spirit have been given (back in gratitude) to Thee by the mind and the deed of the bountiful man, whose soul goes hand in hand with the Righteous Order in the settlement, in homage toward the One like You, O Mazda! and with the chants of the (thankful) praisers.

CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS


3. And unto Thee, O Ahura! will we offer the (thankful) meat-offering with self-humbling praise, and to Thy Righteousness (like Thee a person), and for all the settlements in Thy kingdom which are guarded by Thy Good Mind. For in the perfect preparation of the justly acting (has that offering its power), O Mazda! together with all (others of its kind). Among those like You and worthy of Yourselves, it is a blessing.

4. And we pray likewise for Thy Fire, O Ahura! strong through Righteousness (as it is), most swift, (most) powerful, to the house with joy receiving it, in many wonderful ways our help, but to the hater, O Mazda! it is a steadfast harm as if with weapons hurled from the hands.

5. What is then Your Kingdom, O Mazda? What are Your riches? that I may become Your own in my actions, with the Righteous Order, and (Thy) Good Mind, to care for Your poor (in their suffering). Apart from all would we declare You, yea, apart from Daevas, and Khrafstra-polluted mortals!

6. If thus Ye are in verity, O Mazda! with the Righteous Order and Thy Good Mind, then grant Ye me a sign of this in this world’s entire abiding (while I live amid its scenes), how offering Sacrifice and praising You the more devoutly, I may approach You (in my worship)!

7. Where are Thine offerers, O Mazda! Thy helpers, who as the enlightened of the Good Mind are producing the doctrines with wide mental light as inherited treasures, (delivering them as Thy word) in misfortune and in woe? I know none other than You; then do Ye save us through Your righteousness!

8. Through these our deeds (of sacrifice and zeal), they are terrified among whom there was (once) destruction, and for man); (at the time) when the oppressor of Thy holy vows was as the stronger oppressing the weaker. They who have not thought (in consonance) with Thy Righteous Order, from these Thy Good Mind abideth afar.

9. Aye, they who desert Thy bountiful Piety, O Mazda! that one desired of Thee, O Thou Omniscient! and who thus abandon her by reason of the evil-doer, and in their ignorance of (Thy) Good Mind, from such as these (Aramaiti) with her holiness utterly departs as the red Khrafstras (who destroy and pollute all life, flee) from us (Thy faithful servants).

10. Through the action of this (His) Good Mind (as he works his grace within us) the benevolently wise One declared a result as itsfruit, He knowing the bountiful Piety, the creatrix of righteous beings. These all, O Mazda Ahura! in Thy Kingdom (are ’helps to our progress’) for they smite (our tyrants) with fear.

11. And for Thee hath Aramaiti (who is Our Piety) increased both the Universal Weal and (its continuance in) Immortality, and (with them as ever united) the Righteous (ritual and moral) Order (established and made firm) in the Kingdom of (Thy Good Mind). Those powerful lasting two (hath she increased) to (give us the needful) food. And through these, O Mazda! art Thou with Thy perfect expellers of hate. (Thou removest Thy foes afar!)

12. What then are Thy regulations? And what wilt Thou? What of praise, or of (fuller) offering? Speak forth that we hear it, O Mazda! what will establish the blessed rewards of Thine ordinance! Teach Thou us the paths through Righteousness, those verily trod by (Thy) Good Mind as he lives within Thy saints.

13. (Do I ask what is that path?) That way which Thou declarest to me as the path of the Good Mind, O Ahura! (is made in its parts by) the religious precepts and laws of the Saviours, wherein the well-doer thrives from (his) Righteousness. And it marks for the good a reward of which Thou art Thyself the bestower.

14. For that (reward), O Mazda! ye have given as the one to be chosen for (our) bodily life through the deeds of Thy Good Mind (in us). They who work in the toil of the mother Kine, these further Your merciful care through the understanding’s action, and (taught) by Thine Order’s (word).

15. Yea, (show me, O Mazda! that path and its reward); tell me the best (of truths); reveal the best words and best actions, and the confessing prayer of the praiser through Thy Good Mind (living within us); and through the Righteous Order, O Ahura! And by Your Sovereign Power and grace may’st Thou make life really progressive (till perfection shall have been reached)!

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Chicago: Zoroaster, "The Gatha Ahunavaiti," The Library of Original Sources in The Library of Original Sources, ed. Oliver J. Thatcher (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: University Research Extension Co., 1907), 355–371. Original Sources, accessed March 29, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DXND1VER9YTFP6I.

MLA: Zoroaster. "The Gatha Ahunavaiti." The Library of Original Sources, in The Library of Original Sources, edited by Oliver J. Thatcher, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, University Research Extension Co., 1907, pp. 355–371. Original Sources. 29 Mar. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DXND1VER9YTFP6I.

Harvard: Zoroaster, 'The Gatha Ahunavaiti' in The Library of Original Sources. cited in 1907, The Library of Original Sources, ed. , University Research Extension Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pp.355–371. Original Sources, retrieved 29 March 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DXND1VER9YTFP6I.