Gathas (Avesta)

1 So I render from the context. Otherwise see ta toi izya in the previous verse. 2 I was formerly inclined to understand Ahura here, Indian usage permitting. (Indra and other Gods are maghavan.) But modern authority, aided by the ancient Pahlavi translator, brings me to a better mind. The Pahlavi has pavan fravon magih. It is better to refer the word to the disciple. The more prominent members of the congregation are meant. 3 Ner. renders the last line thus : And may these offerings be manifest in the midst of us, and accompanied with (sincerest) worship. 4 There are certain cases where allowance for an ancient scholar working under great disadvantages becomes a critical necessity. Here the Pahlavi translator was clearly the victim of a manuscript. The word ' aidum' (sic) stood, as similar words so often stand, in his MS. as 'ai. dum.' Deeply imbued with a superstitious regard for every letter, and with a public equally scrupulous, he saw no course before him but to translate each as best he could. He chose to render ' ai ' by an infinitive, preserving the root, and could only think of a form of ' da ' for dum (so also moderns in another case). Many writers, seeing such a step, cast away his paper, regarding themselves as absolved by such a ' blunder ' from mastering his translations. But a little honest labour will always bring one back to sounder exegesis. In the next following verse we have identically the same form in another word, which he renders awkwardly but correctly, using da again, but as a proper auxiliary.

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 as Your offering- (of grace to me) the abiding gifts of Your Immortality and Welfare ! 9. And let (one like those3), O Mazda! bear on to Thee the spirit of the two leaders who cause the holy ritual Truth to flourish ; let him 4 bear them to (Thy) brilliant home5 with6 preternatural insight, and with the Better Mind. Yea, let him bear that spirit on as a fellow-help 7 in (furthering) the readi- 1 To approach the offering of a praiser seems certainly an unnatural expression. I - think that we are obliged to regard khshmavato as another way of saying Yourself rather than ' of Yours ' ; and if it equals 'Yourself here, it may elsewhere; see XXXIV, 2, khshmavato vahme, also XLIV, 1, nemf khshmavato. All acknowledge mavaite to mean ' to me.' Htibschmann, Casuslehre, s. 200: ' dass ich mit frommem sinne an eure Verehrung, Mazda, gehen kann.' 2 It is curious that draono seems to be in apposition here. The word is used merely in the sense of offering in the later Avesta. It might possibly mean 'possessions' here.

3 See XXXII, 15. There helping princes are spoken of 'as borne by the two (Haurvata/ and Ameretata/).' Here in immediate connection with the same two it is said : Let one bear the spirit of the two united chiefs. By the term ' spirit,' which sounds so suspiciously modern, we must nevertheless understand very nearly what the word would mean in a modern phrase. By these two leaders we may understand either Gamaspa and Vutaspa (XLIX, 9) or Gamaspa and Frashaortra. (Compare yavarena Frashaortia Gamaspa.) 4 ' Let one bear them.' 0 Khvarih maninLmo. The Pahlavi gives its evidence for an instrumental and for a less pronounced meaning than the one above. 7 Hamkan/arih. If the second kar is the root, the sense is figurative. ness : of those (in their holy work) whose souls go hand in hand2. 10. (And not for these alone do I pray, but for us 3 as well.) All prosperous states 4 in being which have been enjoyed in the past, which men are now enjoying, and which shall be known in the future, do Thou grant (me) these in Thy love5. (Yea), cause (our) bodily and personal life to be blest with salvation 6 through (Thy) Good Mind, (Thy) Sovereign Power, and (Thy) Sanctity7.

ii. 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 8 for every deed which I do what- 1 Bundako. 2 Pavan akvino rubano. 3 So more probably. See the first person inverses 8 and n. 4 So the Pahlavi also, hu-zivimih. 5 So the Pahlavi also : Pavan hana i lak doshi^no. ' In Thy will ' is here very weak. 6 Nadukihi£ i avo tanu [am yehabun] ; Ner. subham tanau. 7 Neryosangh : Let them continue to live well, and be prosperous in all things [ ] those females (ya/$ most curiously) who are born thus [that is, come from elsewhere (and not from us)], and who are [gained over by myself]. Those, O Great Wise One! who shall exist [(or) come in the future], let them render these persons thine own through friendship to thee. Cause thou the Best Mind to increase within me, O Lord ! [that is, make my mind ever the more piously zealous]. And in view of my righteousness grant me a benefit in my body, or person [ ].

8 So the Pahlavi also : Am bara amurzeW. 9 Observe that all the Ameshospends, except the two mentioned in verse 8, are here bidden as persons to listen and be merciful. These recurring instances (recall the two hands of Asha &c.) necessitate the view that the idea of personality is never lost in that 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 2 ; and for (my) Righteousness grant me mighty strength, and (Thy) thrift-law 3 through (Thy) Good Mind 4. 13. (Arise to give me power), and then for grace in a wide perception5 (that I may view its depth and extent), do Thou reveal to me Thy6 nature (?), O Ahura ! (the power of Thine attributes), and those of Thy (holy) kingdom, and by these, the blessed gifts 7 of (Thy) Good Mind ! And do Thou, O bountiful Piety 8 show forth the religious truths through (Thy) Righteous Order. of the abstract quality ; and vice versa ; (the latter especially in the Gathas where the names always retain much, if not all of their original force). As to adai ; see vanghuya (sic) zavo-ada in the next verse.

1 We seem obliged to suppose that Ahura was poetically conceived of as sitting (likeVohuman in Vendidad XIX, 31 (Wg.)) upon an ornamented throne, or we may take the expression as pure metaphor equalling ' exert Thy power.' Aramaiti may be a voc. 2 See adai in verse 11. 3 Pavan zak 1 Vohuman sardarih. The ' thrift-law ' is the regulation established by the Ratu demanded in Y. XXIX for the redemption of the Kine. It expresses the entire polity and theology of the Zarathujtrian people as summed up in the original Avesta. 4 Neryosangh : Up ! O Lord ! purify me [that is, make me pure, or free, from the influence of that tormentor, the Evil Mind] ; and grant me perfect spirituality and zeal. For we are recipients of Gvahmana, O more mighty spirit [that is, let him be as a guest, arrived within my body] ! And let sanctity have power over the murderer (?) [ ], and through the lordship of the Best Mind. The Pahlavi has here pavan kamak /£ashi.m6, on which see Darmesteter, Etudes Iraniennes, vol. ii, as per index. 6 Literally, ' Your.' 7 Ashi has this meaning in the later Avesta. It also means 'sacred regularity,' 'exactness' in religious duties.

3 So the Pahlavi also : As pavan Aharayih dino fraz dakh- 14. Thus, as an offering, Zarathostra gives the life l 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 his) Obedience (to Thee) in deed and in speech, and with these (Thine established) Sovereign Power 2 ! shakino ; Ner. : Puwyena dinim pra^ihnaya. Possibly, ' give light to our consciences through Asha' would be better. 1 The tissues;* the word seems contrasted with bones elsewhere. The Pahlavi has khaya, and Ner. givam (sic). 2 The Pahlavi translation may be rendered as follows : Thus, as a gift of generosity, I who am Zartiut (so freely, and with no error from ignorance (!)) give the life of my own body, as the advance [as the chieftainship] to Vohuman and to Auharmazd, and to Ashavahut, in actions [that is, I would do the deeds which Aharayih desires], and would give obedient attention to the word (literally the hearing of the word) to (i. e. of) Khshatraver.

i. A tone of thankfulness continues. As if in gratitude for better fortunes, the prophet declares that he will bestow upon Ahura with the foremost, according to the measure of the gifts which he has received. Those gifts were the secured Immortality (not mere temporal ' deathlessness '), the Righteous Order, and the Sovereign Power established in holiness and bestowing the Universal Weal. 2. The kind of gifts which are proposed for offerings are not sacrificial beasts or fruits, but the actions of the truly pious citizen whose soul is intimately united with Righteousness, the homage of prayer, and the songs of praise. As no piety could exist without strict ecclesiastical regularity, so no ceremonial punctuality was conceived of apart from honour and charity (see verse 5 and Ya^t XXII). 3. Accordingly the meat-offering, the mention of which immediately follows, is spoken of as offered with homage to the Righteous Order and to the Divine Sovereignty for the benefit of all the sacred settlements, in order to equip the wise man fully, and as a helpful blessing among the Immortals themselves and their adherents. 4. And the Fire is likewise mentioned, which was worshipped not so much like Agni as the friendly god of the hearth and the altar, but more and chiefly like Agni as the priest of the church.

Not unlike Agni, it is called upon both for inward spiritual strength and for temporal blessings in various forms, together with vengeance hurled very much as if in the form of a thunderbolt (zasta-utaij dercrta-aenanghem). 5. To explain what he means by his supplications for the coming of the Kingdom, and for holy actions (that is, to make it certain that he does not mean punctilious ritualism apart from the noblest charity), he rhetorically asks : 'And what is Your Kingdom, that which Zarathiutra establishes and offers to You? (XXXIII, 14). What is the kind of prayer (comp. XLVIII, 8, and LI II, 1) which I must use, so that I may become Yours (Your property) in my actions, not to load Your priesthood with sacrifices, nor to fatten Your princes with booty (as too often in the JZiks), nor yet to secure a heavy gift to the poet, but to 'nourish Your poor?' This was the essence of the desired Sanctity and the Sovereign Authority. The Kingdom of God, exalted and personified as a separate intelligence, is positively said to be something more than a gaudy pageant of material display, even Tava Khshathrem ya erezi^yoi dahi drigave vahyo (LIII, 9). (See also even Vendidad II [part i], where moral duties are lauded.)

And the composer himself seems to be so conscious of the sharply defined difference between such a kingdom and that of the rival religion, that he immediately adds an interdict : ' Such is Your Kingdom, caring for the righteous poor, and therefore we declare You irreconcilably distinct from the Daevas and their polluted followers. Ye are beyond them and before in the spirit of Your Reign ! ' 6. He then utters an impressive doubt, which only deepens our admiration at his expressions of faith: ' If it be really true,' he continues (see XLIV, 6), ' that Ye are thus with the Righteous Order and the Good Mind, the God who looks upon the goodness of the heart and the activity of the hands, then give me a sign of it, that I may persevere and increase in the depth of my homage while life shall last.' 7. For the struggle, though not without signs of a favourable issue, was far from over yet. (Hence his misgivings.) He then asks with some wistfulness after the ' ar(e)dra,' the men that could help, who from the experience of the grace of God, could turn sorrow into blessing by establishing the holy religious system firmly, but with enlarged and not narrowed understanding. And, still a little dispirited, he declares, as so often : ' None have I other than You ; therefore I can wait for the ar(e)dra. Do ye save us alone by Your already offered means of grace.'

8. ' For Ye have given me already, as it were, a sign. The enemy are checked, and for the moment cowed, if they are not repelled. They among whom there was death for so many when they had the upper hand, and when their ruler persecuted the holy vows, are not only struck with terror by the action which we take, but their chief retribution is, as we hold it, spiritual, and therefore, in the eye of truth the more severe. They will not encourage righteous Order and righteous intentions, and accordingly, the personified Good Intention, grieved, will depart from them.' 9. ' Yea,' he reiterates, amplifying, ' the unfortunate sinners who depart from Thy kindly and sacred Piety in this ignorance of all experience of Thy Good Mind, will suffer an equal desertion. The characteristics of righteousness will, in their turn, avoid them as the unclean creatures flee from us.' 10. 'And this is,' thus he continues, ' a sign or result which the All- wise declares to me to steady my soul as I waver.' ' And these are indeed the cheering proofs of Thy favour,' he adds, addressing Ahura, ' which terrify our enemies and advance us, giving us a righteous eminence (XXXIII, 14) in Thy Kingdom.'

11. 'Therefore that kindly Piety whom these desert in their judicial ignorance, will increase for us both the all-comprehensive blessings; spiritual Deathlessness begun in anticipation here, and its necessary condition, Welfare. And they shall be increased as food (sic) for Mazda's straitened people, or better, to His glory as their monarch. And by their means Ahura may defend Himself efficiently from the persecuting and idolatrous foe.' 12. Taking into consideration all that depends on a correct understanding as to religious and political duties, he fervently prays to be guided aright in the establishment of a ceremonial and of praises, beseeching Mazda to speak, declaring the kind of worship which may secure the ashis (which are the blessed rewards). And he asks to be taught those religious paths about which no error was possible, the paths which are the Good Mind's own. 13. After a fashion already known to us (as in XXIX), he answers his question himself. That way which Ahura had already revealed as the Good Mind's own, was made up of the revealed precepts of the Saoshyawts. There, as in the paths where Ahura dwells (XXXIII, 5 ; XLVI, 16), the well-doer may prosper from his devotion to the religious truths, and gain a reward immediately from the hand of God. 14. As if never forgetting the original calamity, the woes of the Kine, he further declares that way to be the one of all to be chosen for this earthly life, as the vestibule to the heavenly one. And he asserts that they who toil for the Kine (who represents here, as generally, the holy settlements as well as their chief source of riches and support) are striving to further and demonstrate the wisdom of that way by every righteous contrivance.

Nay, he declares that the deeds of Piety are themselves the highest wisdom, just as the words and righteous actions of the Saoshyawts not only declare and make, but constitute, ' the way.' 15. Again, concluding with a climacteric and synoptical prayer, he beseeches Ahura to speak and reveal to him all the most available statements, ceremonies, and praises. And never forgetting that all ceremonies, hymns, and sacrifices, sacred as they are, are only means to a greater end ; he prays the Deity that He may exert that Sovereign Power which is alone supremely efficient in relieving actual distress (LIII, 9), for by its holy laws and spiritual arms it can alone bring on the Frashakanf, and produce that condition in society in which all human progress shall have become complete. i. 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 sight1), gifts (shall) be offered2 by us in return to Thee, O Ahura ! and with the foremost of them all. 2. Yea, and all those gifts of the Good Spirit3 have been given (back in gratitude) to Thee by the mind and the deed of the bountiful man, whose soul goes hand in hand 4 with the Righteous Order in the settlement, in homage toward the One like You5,

1 The hymns seem to be all composed for public declamation, as is evident from various passages. Similar indications often occur in the Veda. I formerly connected aesham with Ameretata/, &c, ' a thank-offering for these (gifts).' 2 I am very sorry to oppose progress on such a subject as daste, but I do not think that it is an infinitive, nor that aite or mruite are such. -Te, or what it represents, I regard as seldom or never a Gathic suffix, and especially not, as here, where daste falls to the end of the sentence. Too little attention has been paid to the Gathic sentence. The infinitive seldom falls to the end of it ; vidvanoi vao/£a; ta/ moi vi&dyai vao/fca; viduye (vidve) vohu manangha ; menka. daidyai yehya ma rishis ; asha. fradathai asperezata; agoi (?) hadroya; ye aklstem vaenanghe aogeda ; but zbaya avanghane (?) ya verezyeidyai ma;/ta vastrya ; sruidyai Mazda fravaoH ; kahmai vividuye (-ve) vashi; ta/ verezyeidyai hya/ moi mraota vahutem ; aretha voizhdyai kamahya t^m moi data ; dazdyai hakerena ; but vasmi anyaia viduye (-ve) ; mendaidyai ya Toi Mazda adi^tij, &c. The Pahlavi renders here with admirable freedom as a first person, yehabunem.

3 Observe this expression. It is the spewta mainyu which, like the ' Holy Spirit of God,' is sometimes identical with Him. 4 Souls are elsewhere said to go hand in hand ; see Y. XXXIII, 9. 5 I suppose that it is possible that khshmavato, here and elsewhere, may refer to the human subject, ' to the praise of your wor- O Mazda ! and with the chants of the (thankful) praisers1. 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 2 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 blessing3. 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 4 harm as if with weapons hurled from the hands5.

shipper,' but it does not sound at all natural. I think that khshmavato is merely another way of saying 'of you,' as mava«t=me. So the Pahlavi also seems to render here : Av6 zak 1 lekiim va niyayuno. Ner. also : Samaga&fcMmi yushmakam namaskr/taye, Maha^wanin. 1 This recalls the dasemS-stutam of Y. XXVIII, 10. The Pahlavi renders freely and not uncritically, regarding the spe«ta nar as Zarathurtra himself: Aftano den Garo^mano stayem. Ner. : Garothmane staumi te. 2 So also the translations : Afghan parvamn va min frarunih. Ner.: Uttamena pratipalya manasa. Compare Y. XXXII, 2 : saremano khshathra/. The singular verb is difficult. 3 Or, ' for as those justly acting, and in preparation will we offer it as a blessing together with all who are among " Your own." Here khshmavawt equals 'Your own'; rather than 'Yourselves.' 4 Or 'visible' as fire, but this seems too feeble a conception for the place. The Pahlavi translator read derejta as a participle from dar(e)z, which is quite as possible as that it should be from dar(e)s. He renders yakhsenuneW kino ; Ner., vidadhati nigraham. That he so translated because he was not aware that dercrta could be also a participle from dar(e)s, is no longer tenable.

5 As by no means a partially selected specimen, let the reader 5. What is1 then Your Kingdom, O Mazda? What are Your riches ? that I may become 2 Your own in my actions, with the Righteous Order, and (Thy) Good Mind, to care for Your poor (in their suffering 3). Apart from all would we declare You, yea, apart from Daevas4, and Khrafstra-polluted mortals ! consider the following from the Pahlavi : Thus, O Auharmazd ! this which is Thy Fire, which is so powerful, is a satisfaction to him whose is Aharayih [-when my chieftain (the glossist seeming to have a text with a first pronoun : otherwise the first translator who never saw ? us(e)mahi) becomes one by whom duty and charity are fulfilled], for it is quick and powerful [the Fire], and remains continually in friendship with him, and makes joy manifest to him. And therefore, O Auharmazd ! on him who is the tormentor it takes revenge as if with a mighty wish. 1 Ka/ is often a mere interrogative particle, so modern interrogatives are also often merely formal. 2 Bartholomae admirably follows K4 here with its hakhmi; it gives a more common explanation of vao, which I am obliged to take in a possessive sense beside n^. The manuscript used by the Pahlavi writer had, however, ahmi, as many others now extant.

3 Note the recurrence of this care for the poor, showing what the frequent mention of righteousness, the good mind, &c. meant. 4 Observe that daevaLr must mean the Demon-gods and not their worshippers here; paivvao indicates this, and also mashyaij= men, who are separately mentioned. The Pahlavi translator is finely critical here, giving us our first hint as to the meaning : Pesh Lekum min harvisp-guno levino guft homanei [aigh tubankan/ar homane^, &c.]. So with antare-mruye (-ve), he was the pioneer also. I render with impartiality : Which (of what kind) is your sovereignty? [that is, what thing can I do, whereby your sovereignty may be increased through my instrumentality ?] And which is your wealth? [that is, what thing shall I do whereby riches may be kept in your possession by my means ?] How thus in the actions of Auharmazd shall I become yours ? [That is, I (?) shall do that thing through which, by my means, your sovereignty is extended ; and also wealth is kept in your possession by me.] For whenever I (?) shall do righteous deeds, [that is, when I (?) shall do duty and good works], Vohuman gives nourishment to our poor. Before all of every kind, even before them ye are

6. If thus Ye are in verity, O Mazda ! with the Righteous Order and Thy Good Mind, then grant Ye me a sign1 of this in this world's entire abiding2 (while I live amid its scenes), how offering sacrifice and praising3 You the more devoutly4, I may approach You (in my worship) ! 7. Where5 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 G ? I know none other than You ; then do Ye save us through Your righteousness ! 8. Through these our deeds (of sacrifice and zeal7), they are terrified 8 among whom there was (once) destruction, and for many (at the time) when the declared; [that is, ye are more capable] than the demons, for their (?) intellect is perverted, (and ye are also before) men. 1 So also the Pahlavi dakhjak. 2 So indicated by ketrunani. I have no doubt whatever that maetha should have this sense. See also Y. XXX, 9. 1 So also the Pahlavi : Pavan afrinagano dahuno va stayi^no satfinam madam.

4 Urvaidyao, if in its original form, looks like a comparative. One naturally thinks of a * vrad (?) equivalent to ' vn'dh.' 5 Rhetorically interrogative as often in English, or indeed a mere particle. (Compare XLVI, 9.) 6 So also the Pahlavi indicates with its amukhtijno (sic) 1 huvarij-no [1 avo kar va kirfak], miini/£ pavan asanih va muni-6 pavan tangih vadunyen frakh-hushih. Ner. : -Siksham satyaya yak samadhanatve, sawka/atve * 'pi kurute vipula^aitanya// [kila, yah karyaw pu?zyaffz yat samr/ddhataya kurute] ta/C'/£a yat sawka/ataya 'pi kurute, tasya vi^jlana^aitanyaw tasmad bhavati. 7 Nao being taken in a possessive sense. 8 But the Pahlavi has : ' Min zak i valman^an maman kununo lanman bim ' ; possibly 'by these actions they terrify us'; the middle in the sense of the active. oppressor of Thy holy vows was as the stronger oppressing the weaker1. They who have not thought (in consonance) with Thy Righteous Order, from these Thy Good Mind 2 abideth afar. 9. Aye, they who desert Thy bountiful Piety, O Mazda! that one desired of Thee3, 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 4 as the red Khrafstras (who destroy and pollute all life, flee) from us5 (Thy faithful servants).

10. Through the action of this (His) Good Mind (as he works his grace within us) the benevolently wise6 One declared a result as its fruit, He knowing the bountiful Piety, the creatrix of righteous beings7. These all, O Mazda Ahura ! in Thy Kingdom (are 1 It is a mistake to suppose that the Pahlavi translator and his followers, Ner. and the Persian MS. (of Haug's Collection), refer naidyflunghem and nadewto to the same Sanskrit word. They translate them as if referring the first to nadh, and the last to nid. 2 Min valmaman bara rakhik aito Vohuman. Asmano seems an impossible reading, and cannot be reconciled with Vohu. 3 The hint of the Pahlavi points, as usual, to the general sense, leaving us the task of discovering the grammatical structure. Here I do not follow the indication of sedkunyen ; Ner. parikshipyanti. The voc. ' O Thou ' is free. 4 So also in general the Pahlavi : Min valman^an kabed Aharayih se^dak ; Ner. tebhya/^* prabhuto dharmaA* prabhrajyati. 5 So if ahma/ is read, but the MS. before the Pahlavi translator read ahmat ; Ner. etebhya^ (freely). A simpler rendering results ; ' as from him flee away.'

6 Observe the evidence of the Zend to the prevalent meaning of « khratu.' 7 Or reading hitham, and in the sense of ' bond,' we coincide with Ner. sukhanivasam. HaithSm=the true ; hatam ? = of beings. Lit. ' the true creatrix of Asha (the holy).' 'helps to our progress') for they smite (our tyrants) with fear 1. ii. 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) food2. And through these, O Mazda ! art Thou with Thy perfect expellers of hate 3. (Thou removest Thy foes afar 4 !) 12. What then are Thy regulations5 ? 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 ordinance6! 1 The word voyathra is difficult to place ; the Pahlavi translator divided, reading avo-yathra (possibly avoi athra), and rendered fro^kushi-ait=is smitten down; the Persian better: Frod zadar, is smiting down. We may well hesitate before rejecting this indication, which may point to a better text. Like vafur, it may indicate the severity of the influences of the righteous system, in the midst of genial allusion. The ta vispa might refer quite naturally to diu-j-kayasthana in the previous verse. The form voyathra (corrected) may represent some derivative from the root bi = to fear. Compare byawte in verse 8.

- So likewise the Pahlavi with its khuiirno ; otherwise ' for glory;' /r,-ar = svar. Lit. ' To Thee (are) both Weal and Immortality.' 3 Gavid besh min lak homanih ; Ner. vitakash/as tvam asi. 4 Ner. : Thus both are (to be derived) from thee, Avirdada's food, and that of Amirdada also, [the (food) of the Lord-of- water, and of the Lord-of-wood * (so the later Avesta and Parsism)], and in the kingdom of the best mind, righteousness is making a revelation together with the perfect mind. Do thou also bestow zeal and power upon this one, O Great Wise One, the Lord! From torment art thou exempt. 5 So also virayuno. 6 Pahlavi arayuno. * Otherwise simply ' water and tree.' Teach Thou us the paths through Righteousness, those verily trod by (Thy) Good Mind x as he lives within Thy saints2. 1 3. (Do I ask what is that path ?) That way which Thou declarest to me as the path of the Good Mind, 0 Ahura! (is made3 in its parts by) the religious precepts and laws of the Saviours, wherein the welldoer thrives4 from (his) Righteousness5. And it marks for the o-ood 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) bodily6 life through 1 The Pahlavi has the gloss : Teach us the way of the original religion. 2 Neryosangh : Kim te sawmar^anam [kila, karya///, te kim mahanyayitaraw ?] Ka/i kama/z ? Ka&i yushmaka;;* stuti^ ? Ka£a yushmakawz ujisni// ? Srniomi, Maha^lanin! prakr/sh/a;« bruhi ! yat £etsi* dharmasya sa?;nnar^ana;«, [aho vijeshewa pa^-ya ! tasmat mahanyayitarat kuru !] -Sikshapaya* asmakaw dharmasya marga;;/ uttamena svadhinaw manasa. [Margaw yaw/ piirvanyayavantaz;/ asmabhyaw bruhi.] 3 Observe the certainty of a subtle meaning, ' the way ts the consciences or laws.' 4 Geldner has admirably suggested a comparison with vra^- on account of the connection ' way.' But as this necessitates two urvaz=vraz, and as Ahura is spoken of as 'dwelling' in 'paths,' 1 do not think that ' thriving in paths ' is very difficult. The prominent thought is not the going, but the ' right going.' That path indicates a reward (so also the Pahlavi MshWo, Ner. asvadaya//). But we must be thankful for the keen and vigorous discussion. Compare urvakhshanguha gaya g-ighae-ra. The Pahlavi has huravakh-manih and in Y. XLIV, 8. If vra,°- is compared, the idea must be happy progress ; but varh (Justi) seems the more obvious correspondent.

5 Asha, very often personified, is a stronger expression than ' correctly.' G Of course our life on earth, merely in the bodily state. Comp. Y. XXVIII, 3. There astavatas^a evidently means 'of earth,' manangho, ' of heaven ' ( — of corporeal — of mind, without body). the deeds of Thy Good Mind (in us). They who work in the toil of the mother * Kine, these further2 Your merciful care through the understanding's action3, and (taught) by Thine Order's (word)4. 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 confessing5 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 progressive6 (till perfection shall have been reached) ! 1 Or the ' mature,' ' drivable ' (?) cow. She ' goes on her path ' of toil. 2 So fraz yehabum/. 3 Observe that verez<?na cannot well mean ' stall ' in this line. The Pahlavi likewise sees varzi-ait in it ; Ner. vidhiyate, both free as to form.

4 Neryosangh : Sa yato, Maha^wanin ! kamo 'smakaw yat tanumate ^ivamate diyate [a^aryaya], uttamena karmawe manasa [khshatriyaya], yas&a. gava* a&irayitre* A^inamnya, [ku/umbine], yo yushmaka?/; sunirvawa^wanataya, Svamin ! buddhya/£a, pimyapradattaya vidhiyate [dini/?]. 5 I concede this shade of meaning to the constant and unvarying evidence of the Pahlavi translator. He translates uniformly by avam yehabiineW or its equivalents. 6 Bring on 'millennial' perfection when progress shall have been completed. The Pahlavi translation is as follows : Pavan zak i lekiim khiWayihAuharmazd ! frashakartfo pavan kamako ashkarako den ahvano yehabvini-ait. Ner. : Yushmakam ra^yena, Svamin ! akhshayatvam sve/fcMaya parisphu/aw dasyate bhuvane.

This Gatha, consisting of Yasna XLIII-XLVI, is named from the word which begins it, like the three last collections. The fact that the word iwta possesses special significance may have influenced the minds of the Parsis of a later age, inducing them to associate this first chapter with happy anticipations, but it was of course not owing to any such circumstance that the name was given to the Gatha. The Gatha, like its fellows, has its existence as a unit fromthe nature of its metre. It has lines generally of eleven syllables, arranged in stanzas of five. It seemed convenient to chant all the hymns of one particular metre together. This hymn, from some unknown reason, or from pure accident, having stood first in the collection in this metre, the Gatha was named from its first word. The question naturally arises at this place whether this Gatha, in its parts or as a whole, is older than the Ahunavaiti and the others. For supplementary statements on this subject, see the Introduction, page xxvii, also elsewhere. It is sufficient to recall here that the procedure of the Ahunavaiti, and the sequence of the other Gathas in the MSS. of the Yasna, have little importance in determining the question of relative age. If originally grouped in the order of their age, they might easily become transposed for the purpose of liturgical recitation. (See the inserted Haptanghaiti, and Y. LII.) As to the metres present, they afford no indications as to relative age. The metre of the Uitavaiti, approaching as it does the Trish/up, may be as old as, or older than, that of the Ahunavaiti. The oldest ^shis sang in Trish/up. The sole remaining test of the relative age of pieces, is their contents. Do those of the Ahunavaiti show a priority to those in the U.rtavaiti as regards the particular circumstances of which they treat ? So far as I am able to

judge, no part of the Ahunavaiti is older than Y. XLVI. There we have the man before us at a period in his life before he had attained to his supreme position. He not only laments the unfavourable prospects of his cause, but he is full of vehement animosity, urging on his adherents to the overthrow of some powerful opposing leader, and anticipating an armed struggle so formidable that its partisans are elsewhere alluded to (in Y. XLIV) as ' hosts.' We see him also exhorting the various chiefs of his party as they are evidently standing before him in some large assembly, possibly as the army on the eve of an important encounter. He refers intimately to the monarch, to his own family, the Spitamas, and to the Hvogvas, as represented by Frashaartra. He offers the rewards of Ahura, as he pronounces His threats and condemnations. Every feature bears the strongest evidence of originality. But have we not the same in the Gathas Ahunavaiti, Spe;*ta-mainyu, and the others? Beyond a question. Those passages which express grief, fear, and passionate resentment, we should naturally refer to Zarathiutra personally, and to the earlier portion of his career ; and we can make no distinction between such passages when they occur in the Ahunavaiti, ILstavaiti, or elsewhere. As to chapter XXIX with its logical commencement, as expressing the sufferings to be remedied in the entire effort, together with the call of Zarathujtra in immediate connection, and chapter XXX with its theosophical statements, we should say that they were composed later, during a period of success and reflection. But this would be a mere surmise. The time of the sage need not necessarily have been consumed in struggles even during the early years of his career.

Chapter LIII seems to belong to a period of mature age, but not necessarily to a period of advanced age. It celebrates the marriage of Zarathuj-tra's daughter, but maidens were married early. With the exception of Y. LIII, I would say that the occurrence of a piece in this or that Gatha has little, if anything, to do with determining the question of its relative age. Salvation is announced as universal for believers. Reflections of Zarathustra upon THE SUBLIMITY AND BOUNTIFULNESS OF AhURA. As, in every instance, it is probable that verses have fallen out here and there in this important piece, and some may have been inserted, not necessarily from another composer, but from other compositions. After certain limits, however, marked signs of at least external connection are present. After the first three verses, which are quite apart, then from the fourth and fifth on, every alternate verse has the formula Spewtem a/thwa Mazda m^Nhi Ahura. It would indeed present no difficulty for a successor to add these words to stanzas otherwise also imitated, but whether from the leading sage or not, whether from him in one strain, or from him as collected from different fragments, the course of thought does not so fail in logical sequence as that it is either impossible, or displeasing, as a whole in a poetical composition.

Verses 1-3 are admirable as preliminary. Verses 4-6, with their lofty descriptions of power and benevolence in the Deity, prepare the way well, with their allusions to the final judgment, for the closer reflections in verses 7-15 upon the prophet's call, uttered at the instigation of Sraosha (his obedient will). Verse 1 6 is a closing strophe looking much like an addition from another hand, not at all because Zarathmtra is mentioned in the third person, but from its general cast. It possesses, however, very great interest from these circumstances. If a later addition, it enables us to see how the principal features of the system were viewed at a period not identical with the earliest, but closely following it. 1. If we can accept the deeply interesting suggestion of the Pahlavi translator, which is, ' Salvation to him to whom there is salvation for every man,' we need then suppose no necessary loss of verses. Otherwise we are obliged to consider the loss of some laudatory verse, or verses, containing such matter as perhaps Y. XXXIV, 14, 'This princely priest has devoted all to Thee, therefore, salvation to him, whosoever he may be.' Whatever may be the actual truth, the main stress of the thoughts is clear and appropriate. Using the word vas^-khshayas in a good sense,

the composer beseeches Ahura to grant those two ' mighty and eternal ones,' which logically form the complement to each other, universal wholeness, welfare of soul and body, without which beatitude was inconceivable, and then the unlimited duration of that condition; for it is quite impossible that 'long life' alone was here meant by a term, the equivalent of which soon after designated the Bountiful Immortals. We have here again ample data for affirming the richness and depth of the religious conceptions. The 'powerful and continuous two' are sought together with splendour as rewards, not for the gratification of any selfish sentiment, but in order to maintain Asha, the religious Order, on which the sacred polity, and the tribal, as well as the national wealth depended, but more than any general blessings, the individual sanctity of life. 2. And this is signalised as the highest good ; and to this a prayer is added for the ' maya,' which recalls the supernatural wisdom of the Indian Hercules, about which much phantastic and highly coloured myth is grouped ; but here, with the everrecurring contrast, the maya is the mysterious wisdom of the Divine Benevolence, colourless and abstract indeed, but yet possessing how great religious depth !

3. The highest blessing, in another and more than once repeated phrase, is again besought, as ' the better than the good,' even the attainment of the one who guides to the ' straight paths,' which are the 'way, even the conceptions and revelations of the Saviours' (Y. XXXIV, 13 ; LIII, 2), in which the believer prospers, and Ahura dwells, as he dwells in his kingdom, and his 'chosen home' itself (Y. XL VI, 16). Whether 'this man who shows the paths' of 'the bodily and mental world ' is the same as he who prays for the ayapta ahv#u astvatas^a hya/H manangho (the boons of the two worlds) in Y. XXVIII, 3, here referred to in the third person, there speaking in the first, and whether he is Zarathmtra himself, are questions. It is only necessary to say that, if any relief is gained by the supposition, then beyond a doubt Zarathurtra may have been the composer of both pieces or fragments, here, as in Y. XXVIII, 7. referring to himself as in the third person, there, in Y. XXVIII, also further representing another who prays, referring by name to him as in the third. But was Zarathujtra the only sacred singer, or was he the centre of a group only, of which he was the life? (Compare Yathra ve afsmaini (?) s<?nghani — Gamaspa Hvogva ; Y. XL VI, 17; see also the Introduction.)

4. Proceeding as if the first three verses were absent from his mind (as indeed they may have been only later brought together with what now follows), the composer begins his ascriptions of praise. He will regard Ahura as all-bountiful and mighty, since He has carefully nurtured, as with His very hand, the aids of grace which He will bestow, as gifts of forbearance on those now wicked, in the hope of penitence, and in the merciful threat of punishment, and to the devout disciple, whose piety is never ceremonial only. And these means of grace, although abounding in the inculcation of moral sanctity in thought, and word, and deed (see Vendidad VIII, ioo (Sp. 283)1, where 'thought' clearly refers to intention in the strongest sense of the term), are yet profane, aside from the flame of that holy Fire which rallied the masses to a national worship, and which was strong for the holy order, as well as by means of it. For these reasons he adores their giver, but for still another. It was because the might of the Good Mind of Ahura approached him within them, and gave him strength for all that was before him. 5. Like the Semitic prophet, he poetically conceives himself as having beheld Ahura, as the chief of the two spirits, and as sovereign over all other powers when the world was born. And he regards Him as having also then established rewards and punishments by his holiness, so separate in its dualistic distinction from all complicity with evil either by infliction or permission. And these rewards and punishments were to have their issue not in time alone, but in ' the last turning of the creation ' in itscourse.

6. And for Ahura's coming in this last changing he fervently beseeches, as well as for the appearance of the Sacred Kingdom, established and guarded by the divine Benevolence. And this consummation, he implies, will take place when the settlements shall be furthered in the Righteous Order, and by means of it, the end of progress having been attained : for then the piety of men's souls will itself be their instructor, delivering the regulations which shall silence the controversy of the two sides (Y. XXXI, 3). And these regulations are as the wisdom of Ahura's understanding (Y. XXVIII, 2), so penetrating that all thoughts lie bare to it (Y. XXXI, 13). 7. He now declares the principles on which he accepted the divine call. Sraosha (verse 12), he says, drew near to question him. As he is called by Ahura, Obedience, the same who constitutes the way to Ahura (or finds His throne (Y. XXVIII, 6)), now draws near 1 Anaeshem mano, anaeshem va£6, anaeshem .rkyaothnem prove that the thought, word, and deed referred to were not limited to a ritual meaning. him, (I say Sraosha (i. e. Obedience), for if he is not so described as drawing near in this verse, he assuredly is so described in a verse nearly following (the twelfth)). Beyond a question, the fine subjectivity here expressed was intended. As the seer cried : O Righteousness! when shall I see thee (in myself and within my people), so now he means that his obedient spirit listens to the call of God. 8. And as his personified conscience questions him as to his origin, and the principles on which he would proceed, it represents the obedient people, as well as the obedient sage (for the sense of Sraosha, while originally applied to the personal will, is not restricted to it). ' Loyalty ' questions him, that ' loyalty ' may report his answers. He therefore responds, speaking in his name as Zarathmtra (or else one thoroughly in unison with him, here speaks in his name). And this is his statement as to the indications which shall determine his personality. His course will be without a compromise. The unbelieving opposers, as he declares, shall meet no favour at his hands, but detestation, while to the devout disciple he will be as powerful an aid. And this because his mind and thought are (as if blinded to the present) fixed upon the ideal Kingdom, while for the present he never ceases to toil on. making preparations for the Frashakar<f, and constructing hymn after hymn to set up the needed machinery of lore.

9. Again, his conscience and obedient will, as the angel of the Deity, questions him ; and this time offers him that chief of wished for objects to him, religious knowledge. He mentions the holy Fire, with its proper offering, as the theme of his first inquiry. 10. And he beseeches Ahura to answer and to favour him, since he invokes such a complete endowment, going hand in hand with true Piety, and with no selfish interest in his prayer. He then, with a depth which I confess seems suspicious, asks of Mazda to put his petitions for him, recalling Y. XXVIII, n, where he beseeches Ahura to fill up his desire with what not he, the speaker, but with what He, Ahura, knows to be the Good Mind's gifts. Or, with a conjectural improvement (?) of the text, he asks of Ahura to question him that he may be questioned indeed, saying as it were, ' search me, and know me.' But the other reading being retained as having superior point, and needing no conjectured text, we may see his further thought : 'Ask Thou our questions for us, and then we shall never fail; then we shall be no desireless (anaesha) men, spurned by the wailing kine as flinching champions (Y. XXIX, 9), but we shall be indeed Thy rulers, " speaking our mighty wish."

Like the isha-khshathra, whom she sought (Y. XXIX, 9), our wish shall work our will ; it will accord with the will of God.' 11. He is, however, not blind to all that lies before him in accepting this call. He worships the bounty and majesty of Ahura while he is impressing his soul with the import of this conference, and that notwithstanding, and none the less, because His will, when obeyed in actions, will bring on earthly sufferings. 12. But notwithstanding all that may be in store for him, he hopes to make those doctrines treasures (Y. XXXIV, 7), that is, a spiritual wealth (compare also Ahura's uti). One only qualification would he add : ' Wait only before Thou givest the word that I should go forth with Thy new truths (which bring such suffering to him who first pronounces them), wait till my obedient will, listening fully to all which Thou shalt say, shall come to me, and then shall that obedient reverence in me and my beloved, help on our effort, that we may spread abroad the tidings of Thy promised recompense to win the living to Thee (Y. XXXI, 3).' 13. 'And that I may know and make known (so he continues) the true aims and objects of desire to those to whom I am at Thy word to go, grant me for this long life within Thy Realm, although that life be full of bitterness (verse 11 ; and Y. XXXII, 10, 11 ; XLVI, 1), for those who propagate Thy cause.' 14. ' Yea, as a friend, both wise and powerful, gives to a friend, send to me not only Sraosha, an obedient listening will, but raf(e)no frakhshnenem, abundant grace. Then, and then only, shall I be flanked with a proper ally. Then with Thy Sovereign Power, like my Obedient will, as an angel sent forth from Thee, and inspired by Thy righteous Order in law and ritual, in thought, and word, and deed, then I will go out to arouse and head the chiefs, gathering into spiritual hosts the many believing priests who even now would bear in mind and celebrate Thy mysteries.'

15. And as he began with fearless severity, so he would end without a compromise. ' My patient suffering (so he implies as he proceeds (Y. XLVI, 1)) reveals its lesson to me. My mind is longenduring, but that patience, although it may seem to some the cowardice of a pusillanimous protector (Y. XXIX, 9), yet it is not such in truth, for it declares within me, and forces me to say: Let no man please the wicked ; this is our only prospect of success.' 16. And casting back his thoughts he (or another in his name) sums all up well : ' Thus doth Zarathu^tra choose the spirit, that spirit which animates the faithful in their chiefs (Y. XXXIII, 9), and by his side every true believer utters his sympathising prayer : Let the Order of life and of the ritual become incarnate in our tribes, and strong because it has the valiant power of faithful men to obey and to defend it. And let Piety prevail till it covers our land blest with the favours of the sacred sun, and as she lives in the lives of true adherents, may she in sympathy with the Good Mind, thus grant rewards for all our deeds ! '

1. Salvation to this man1, salvation to him whosoever (he may be 2) ! Let the absolutely ruling Great Creator grant (us, He) the living Lord, the two eternal powers. Yea, verily 3, I ask it of Thee (O Ahura) for the maintaining 4 Righteousness. And may'st Thou also give it to me, (O inspiring) Piety ! splendour 5 (as it is), holy blessings, the Good Mind's life 6. 2. Yea, to this one 7 may the man endowed with 1 Ahmai as=to us, does not seem to be good grammar here, as it necessitates a forced separation between it and yahmaikahmai/£i/. Cp. ahmai yahmai-kahmai^i/ in Y. XLIV, 16. 2 I turn from the fine rendering of the Pahlavi with the greatest reluctance : NadiU' valman mun zak 1 valman nadukih ka^/arzai [aigh ka</arzaf amuta min nadukih 1 valman nadukih], happy is he whose benefit is for every one ; [that is, for every man there is happiness from his benefit] ; Ner. follows. 3 There is a question whether the particle ga/(gha/?) may not have originated from ga/. Barth. here follows the Pahlavi, reading gatoi(?)=pavan yamtunimo. Lak may have been added, as often, to serve as an alternative rendering.

4 Or ' I will,' so Prof. Jolly (infinitive for imper.). 6 So also the Pahl. raye-homand, not as a rendering merely, but as a philological analagon. Otherwise ' riches.' 6 Gaem recalls srae\rta gaya £-(i)vai«ti. 7 As ahmai would more naturally mean ' to this one ' in the previous verse, it is desirable to render it in the same way here. glory1 give that best of all things, the (spiritual) glory. And do Thou likewise (Thyself) reveal2 Thine own3 (gifts) through Thy most bountiful spirit, O Mazda! (And do Thou teach us) Thy wonderful thoughts of wisdom 4, those of Thy Good Mind, which Thou hast revealed (to us) by Thy Righteousness (within us) with the happy increase of (our joy 5), and on a long life's every day 6. 3. And may that (holy man) approach toward that which is the better than the good7, he who will show to us the straight paths of (spiritual) profit, (the blessings) of this corporeal life, and of that the mental 8, in those veritably real (eternal 9) worlds, where dwells Ahura ; (that holy man) an offerer of Thine 10, O Mazda ! a faithful citizen11, and bountiful of (mind).

1 It is to the last degree improbable that fo>athroya (fo'athrava ; 'y' miswritten for 'v') indicates a condition of ease and comfort here. The ' easy man ' is the farthest possible from the thoughts of the composer. The ' best of all things ' makes a word kindred to hveng {hv^n) appropriate here. 2 K\ki (?), if an imperative (?), may mean guard over ; but the Pahlavi translator gives us the better view ; he has lak pSdakino ; Ner. tvam praka-yaya. Geldner's /ft^ithwa is important. 3 Thwa=thy properties. 4 The Pahl. has merely padmano. 5 This shade of meaning is expressed by the Pahlavi. 6 Ayan?, ace. pi. 7 This expression seems to equal the summum bonum; so also ' worse than the evil ' is the ultimate of woe. 8 Cp. Y. XXVIII, 3. 9 Does haithy^g mean ' eternal,' with every passage in which it occurs considered ? 10 Thwava»t may, however, like mava«t, simply express the personal pronoun here. The position of aredro, &c. is awkward if thwava«t=thy : 'Where dwells Ahura, Thyself, O Mazda! beneficent, wise, and bountiful.' But aredra is almost a special term for a zealous partisan. 11 The Pahl. has khup-danakih, indicating a meaning which would

4. Yea, I will * regard Thee as mighty and likewise bountiful, O Ahura Mazda ! when (I behold) those aids of grace (approach me), aids which Thou dost guard and nurture2 as (Thy) just awards to the wicked (to hold him far from us), as well as to the righteous (for our help), Thy Fire's flame therewith so strong through the Holy Order 3, and when to me the Good Mind's power comes 4+5. 5. (For) so I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great Giver, Mazda ! when I beheld Thee as supreme6 in the generation of life, when, as rewarding7 deeds and words, Thou didst establish evil for the evil, and happy blessings for the good, by Thy (great) virtue 8 (to be adjudged to each) in the creation's final change. 6. In which (last) changing Thou shalt come, and with Thy bounteous spirit, and Thy sovereign power, better apply to Ahura than the one given, which cannot be applied to Him. 1 Subjunctive (see Prof. Jolly, V. S. p. 28). 2 ' By Thy hand.' 3 The holy Fire of the altar. 4 Gima/ may be regarded as an improper subjunctive here. 5 The Pahlavi : ' and that too which renders justice to the wicked and also to the righteous. And this Thy Fire is burning, since by it the strength of him who lives in Righteousness is (maintained) when that violence which approaches with a good intention comes to me.'

6 See Y. XXXI, 8, where the word is also rendered as=vornehmster. 7 Literally, ' When Thou didst render deeds provided with rewards.' We are forced to put the action in the past on account of zath6i, but the influences originally set in motion were to have their issue in the end of the world. 8 I render hunara literally, and bring its Pahlavi translation to the same sense as necessarily. Otherwise hunar would generally mean ' skill.' Ner. has tava gu«eshu. The Pahlavi would here be recognised by all reasonable scholars as striking in its closeness. O Ahura Mazda ! by deeds of whom the settlements are furthered through the Righteous Order. And savine reflations l likewise unto these shall Aramaiti utter, (she, our Piety within us), yea, (laws) of Thine understanding which no man may deceive 2. 7. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great Giver Mazda ! when he (Thy messenger, Obedience) drew near me, and asked me thus : Who 3 art thou ? And whose is thine allegiance ? And how to-day shall I show the signs that give the light on this (our) question, (signs) as to the lands (from whence thou earnest) and in thyself ?

8. Then to him 1, Zarathu^tra, as my first answer, said : To the wicked (would that I could be) in very truth a strong 4 tormentor and avenger, but to the 1 The word ratus reminds one of the work of the Ratu for the afflicted kine. In the last changing, which shall complete the Frashakar</, he, or his representatives, will appear as the last Saoshya?zt, introducing ' millennial ' blessedness. 2 I render the Pahlavi here as in evidence: 'Through Thee, 0 (?) bountiful Spirit ! the changing comes [(later (?) gloss) from wickedness to goodness]. And it comes likewise through Auharmazd's supremacy within a good mind, through whose action the progress of Aharayih's settlements is furthered, those which the master is instructing with a perfect mind [ ], and in which this Thy wisdom shall in no wise be deceived thereby.' 3 As the kine thought little of her deliverer (see Y. XXIX, 9), so Sraosha, the obedient host, is here represented as inquiring as to the antecedents of the newly-appointed prophet. But he asks more properly concerning the settlements from which he comes than the lands. Gaetha is not da/2^(h)yu. An origin external to that of other chieftains is not at all necessarily indicated by the question.

4 The Pahlavi sees a denominative in isoya (isova ; y for v) ; it is denom. in the Altiranisches Verbum. It differs, however, as to root. I offer an alternative in its sense. An open tormentor; [that is, I openly torment the wicked] even as much as I desire, do 1 torment (them) [(later (?) gloss) Ganrak minavad]. righteous may I be a mighty help and joy1, since to preparations 2 for Thy Kingdom, and in desire (for its approach), I would devote myself so long as to Thee, O Mazda ! I may praise, and weave my song. 9. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda ! when (Thine herald) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and asked me thus : For what dost thou desire that thou may'st gain, and that thou may'st know it ? Then for Thy Fire an offering of praise and holiness (I desired. And on that offering for myself)3 as long as I have the power, will I meditate4, (and for its holy power among Thy people will I plan 5). 10. And may'st Thou likewise grant0 me (Thy) Righteousness (within me), since I earnestly invoke that perfect readiness (of mind), joining in my prayer with Aramaiti (our Piety toward Thee. Yea, pray Thou Thyself within me through these holy powers). Ask Thou (Thyself) our questions, those which shall be asked by us 7 of Thee ; for a question asked by

1 We must be cautious in accepting the statement that the Pahlavi translations attempt to be literal. Here is one which is free and far from erroneous : Aetuno avo aharubo min valman 1 ao^-homand aito ; [aighaj, raminam]. 2 The Pahlavi here shows only the correct root. 3 Ma=sma? 4 ' So long as I can, will I be of this mind/ seems hardly expressed here. Observe the nearly parallel construction in verse 8. 5 The Pahlavi, Sanskrit, and Persian translations would here be regarded once more as extremely close even by opponents, if reasonable in their estimates. Manayai seems to me hardly an infinitive, as it is comparatively seldom that an infinitive falls to the end of a sentence either in Gathic or Vedic. I prefer the indication of the Pahlavi with Justi and Bartholomae (in the Altiranisches Verbum). 6 Read perhaps daidhu (later shortened to suit the metre). 7 Or, ' ask us that we may be questioned by Thee.' Thee (as its inspirer), is as the question of the mighty, whene'er Thy (?) ruler speaks his potent wish. 11. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda! when (Thy messenger) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and with your words I * first impressed (my soul). Woes then 'midst men Thy heart-devoted one2 declared3 (to be) my (portion) ; but that will I do 4 which Thou did'st 5 say was best.

12. And since Thou, coming thus, Thy legal Righteousness in fulness ,; spakest, then declare not to me words as yet unheard (with faith or knowledge ; command me not) to go forth (with these upon my task) before Thy Sraosha 7 (Obedience) comes to me, to go on hand in hand with me with holy recompense and mighty splendour 8, whereby to 1 The Pahlavi translation bears evidence to a less subtle, and therefore more probable sense here, but at the same time to a rarer grammatical form. It renders didaiNhe as a third person, indicating an instance of a third person in e, and not in the perfect. It also recognises a reduplicated form by its pavan nikezuno nikezeVo. 2 The Pahlavi translator with a curious error, or still more curious freedom, has rubak-dahi^nih here and elsewhere. Possibly the Gathic text before the last compiler differed from ours. 3 I still prefer Professor Bartholomae's earlier rendering, after the Pahlavi, as more in harmony with mraota and mraoj. 4 Professor Jolly has the important rendering ' das will ich thun ; ' the infinitive in a future or imperative sense. 5 ' Ye said.' 6 The Pahlavi unvaryingly kabed.

7 Here we probably have the missing subject in the other verses. 8 Reading maza raya. (Raya cannot well mean ' riches ' here.) The Pahlavi also indicates the division by its free or erroneous mas ratu (jad). Sraosha, an obedient will personified, guides the soul as in the later Parsism. Cp. the An/a Viraf. give the contending1 throngs (?), as a blessing2, (Your) spiritual gifts (of certainty and peace). 13. Thus I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O Ahura Mazda ! when with Thy Good Mind (Sraosha, Obedience) approached me. (And I would therefore pray thus of Thee, that bounteous one.) In order that I may make known to men the true and sacred aims of their desires (in the rite or daily toil), grant Ye me long life 3 for this, (that blessing 4) which none with daring may extort5 from You, even this (gift) of that desired 6 place which has been declared to be within Thy Realm. 14. Yea, as the man enlightened7 (in Thy law), and who has possessions, gives to his friend, (so give Ye) me, O Great Creator 8 ! Thy rejoicing and 1 Here we have the important reading- ranoibyo as against the dual of K4, &c. (see Geldner). No mention of the fire occurs ; and as the form does not agree with ara;/i, we may well doubt that comparison in view of asay^u in Y. XXXI, 2, and the unvarying and uniform patkan/arano of the Pahlavi. The rendering 'with the sticks' is, however, admirably adapted, and must be considered as an emphatic alternative.

2 The Pahlavi supports the reading vi for ve; it has bara. Ashi might also mean merely 'holy,' as adjective. 3 In Y. XXVIII, 7, he asks for it that he may crush the malice of the fee. 4 Justi admirably suggested yanem understood. 5 The Pahlavi divides dantaite, and, as I hold, mistakes the root as was inevitable. The ancient scribe feared to restore the severed fragments, which appeared, as so often, in the MSS. before him. I would read dar.yait6 with Spiegel's c(?) (so Bartholomae, later, however, recurring to a division, with Geldner after the Pahlavi, for the sake of bringing out an infinitive). 6 Vairy<?u contracted from vairyay<?u by a corrupting improvement to regulate the metre. 7 So the Pahlavi indicates, Bartholomae following as against the rendering ' possessing.' 8 With regard to Mazd^u and medha, I should perhaps long abounding grace, when through Thy sovereign Power, and from (the motives of Thy cause of) Righteous Order, I stand forth l to go out to 2, or to arouse, the chiefs3 of Thy (pure) proclamation, with all those (others) who recite Thy well-remembered 4 Mathra word. 15. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O Ahura Mazda ! when with the Good Mind's grace Thy Sraosha (Obedience) approached me, (and said) : Let the quiet and long-enduring better mind with understanding teach (thee) ; let not a foremost 5 man

since have stated that I object to the comparison, not only because medha is a feminine, and, as Grassmann has supposed, possibly represented by the Zend madh, Greek math, but because 'wisdom' is an abstract (while su-medhas, as a compound, does not apply so directly). I hold, however, that mazda, the fern, noun in Y. XL, 1 = medha. It is also not impossible that this word may be represented (with differing shades of meaning) by both madh and mazdam (fern.) in Zend. 1 Read, perhaps, frakh^ta; or fnuta, 'with Thine advancing kingdom I (am) to go forth to'; (fra + as, participle.) 2 Prof. Jolly has the important rendering, ' Ich will mich erheben ; ' the infinitive in a future or imperative sense. 3 Chieftainships. Compare (not with exactness, however) sirdhawzsi. 4 The idea of reciting from memory seems to be included in maiwzte. 6 The rendering pouruy (?) as=pl. of puriis is attractive, but dregvato hardly needs, and seldom has, a substantive. The wicked = wicked men; and, on the other hand, na constantly claims an accompanying word ; (na ismano ; na vaedemno ; hvo na-erethwo ; na spe«to, y*-n&, ke va-na, &c.) Also it is improbable that the words na and pourur, as = puravas, should come together; ' let not a man men evil ingratiate (?).' Compare for sense here purvias in one or more of its applications. Possibly the meaning is, ' let not a man be foremost in conciliating the wicked.' The Pahlavi likewise has kabed (freely). Ner. has : Ma nara£* pra^ura^ durgatinam bhuyat* yatha kathaw&t satkarta. An important rendering is that of Professor

conciliate the wicked (as sycophant desiring aid), for with that (quiet mind of faith), Thy saints have brought full many a sinner unto Thee (as convert, and in penitence J). 1 6. Thus, O Ahura Mazda ! this Zarathuitra loves 2 the Spirit 3, and every man most bounteous prays 4 (beside him) : Be Righteousness life-strong, and clothed with body. In that (holy) Realm which shines (with splendour) as the sun, let Piety be present ; and may she through the indwelling of Thy Good Mind mve us blessings in reward for deeds 5 ! Jolly, V.S. s. 47, ' mochte es wenige Verehrer des Liigners geben.' Cp. Y. XLVI, i, where the composer speaks of the chiefs as on their side, 'not contenting' him. 1 Or, with the Pahl. : Mun aetuno lak harvisp-guno aharubano pavan anak yakhsenund, for they consider all Thy saints as wicked. The rendering above is less natural as conveying the idea of a conversion (comp., however, ya ^(i)va;zto vispeng vauraya), but it renders the grammatical forms more simply. It is bad policy to force a text to express what we happen to believe to be a more natural idea. Using the hint of the Pahlavi here in an understanding manner, we might then render ' for they hold all sinners as holy.'

2 I had long since compared vere«te with vrinite (-devanam avas) ; and am now sustained by Bartholomae's view. 3 Possibly the Spenirta mainyu of Ahura. (See also Y. XLIV, 2.) 4 The Pahlavi, on the contrary, bears evidence to the meaning ' comes,' which I cannot accept as ' tradition ' in view of the following precatives. 5 Ner. : ' The kingdom becomes established (in a manner completely manifest) in sun-publicity through mental perfection [ ]; and upon the workers of righteousness the Good Mind bestows it.'

Questions asked of Ahura with thankfulness Many verses may here have fallen out, or, on the other hand, the piece having been made up of homogeneous, but not originally connected fragments, has been left with some abrupt transitions. These, however, occasion very little difficulty in exegetical treatment, and are also not displeasing. The formula, 'This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright' seems to have been suggested by Y. XXXI, 14. We might therefore look upon this piece as composed later than Y. XXXI, but not necessarily in a later generation, or even from another hand. In fact the style is thoroughly homogeneous in certain places with that of pieces which we ascribe without a doubt to Zarathiutra, and the signs of struggle point to the earliest period. It is possible that the words in Y. XXXI, and the formula here were of common origin, neither having any extended priority to the other, or the words may be original here, and derived in Y. XXXI. Whether Zarathmtra, or another of the narrow circle of religious leaders, was the composer throughout depends upon the further questions already more than once broached, as to how far a corresponding intellectual cultivation was extended at the period in the community, and as to what is the probability of the existence of more than one man in the small group, endowed with the peculiar qualities everywhere manifested in these hymns (see remarks in the Introduction and elsewhere). It is safest to say that Zarathiwtra composed most of the matter here before us, and that the supplementary fragments were composed under his dominating, if not immediate, influence.

Verses 1 and 2 seem an introduction, but hardly give added emphasis to the fact that the following questions were expressions of devotion, and only in a few instances appeals for knowledge. Verses 3-5 are certainly questions intended to express veneration while naming particular objects of devout inquiry. Verse 6 stands somewhat apart. Verses 7-1 1 enter into details touching the moral and religious improvement of the people, 12-14 are polemical, 15 and 16 are prophetical, &c. i. More closely; the composer beseeches Ahura to speak to him, and in a manner characteristic of Himself as in distinction from the falsifying utterance of the opposing religion, which was so familiarly described as the religion of ' Falsehood.' He is entreated to reveal, as is His wont, ' the holy truth.' And the first question propounded to Him by the composer, as comprehensive of all others, is how he may offer homage, the homage of God Himself or of His bountiful spirit; (see mainyu in verse 2). And he further asks that Ahura may speak to him, showing him by what ceremonial he may conciliate him, and by what helps of grace that spirit, or Ahura Himself, may be inclined to draw near to him in accordance with his frequent prayer.

2. Once more he asks how he may serve that Spirit as the foremost one of Heaven (compare Y. XXXI, 8, and the Parsi vahut) who seeks for this addition of praise to praise, for as the supreme claim to our veneration, He had, as a guardian (Y. XXXI, 13) like Ahura in yet another place, held off destruction from all believing saints and from all repentant men (Y. XXXI, 3), and that although as ' the chief of Heaven,' yet also as a benignant friend. 3. From these introductory petitions, inserted perhaps before many lost verses, he proceeds in another tone, although he may still be said to say what is homogeneous to the foregoing : ' Yea, I ask how I may serve Him, O Mazda ! for He is indeed Thyself, and therefore, to show my fervent homage, I ask : Who was, not the first establisher alone, but the first father, of our holy Order as the personified Immortal, and that not by creation, but Degeneration, as the parent generates the child ? Who fixed for stars and sun that "way," the undeviating path through space, long noticed and studied by our fathers, as no random course, or unknown progress save Thee ? '

4. The laws of gravitation then become the theme of his praise still expressed in the form of questions, also the atmospheric phenomena, especially the clouds driven by winds, not like the Maruts beyond the mountains perhaps, but still terrible as winds can be. But he cannot leave even the sublime objects of nature without thinking once more of that spiritual power, the strength of righteous character, which was justly more impressive, although still more familiar, and which he designates, as ever, by the ' Good Mind.' Here this great Immortal is left an immortal thought, and is spoken of as 'created,' not 'born' like Asha (in verse third). 5. Beyond a doubt, recognising the satisfactions of energetic life as well as the solaces of slumber, and as forming by their contrast the necessary change which builds up happiness, he alludes to the supreme arranger as ' well-skilled,' and asks : Who so wisely relieved the day by night ? But, again, he cannot close without reverting to the course of moral duty. 6. Seized with a doubt which again only heightens the fervour of his assurance, he asks whether indeed the facts which he proclaims are really what they seem. Whether piety, although aided by the Good Mind, implanted through Ahura's grace within us, will indeed at last, or soon, assign the purified Realm to the servants of Ahura, who were there among the masses before his eyes (taeibyo), or to Ahura Himself as their sovereign controller (taibyo ?). And, as including all rural riches in herself, he asks for whom He had made the kine, not now wailing in her grief (Y. XXIX, 9), but 'delight-affording,' on account of the influence of Piety and Benevolence embodied in the Kingdom, inferring that God had made her for these same (the faithful masses). 7. And going yet further back ; he asks who made that paternal and filial Piety itself, together with the Realm which it should leaven ? Answering his own inquiries by an inference, he adds : I am pressing Thee with fulness in these questions, O Thou bountiful Spirit (compare mainyuj, or mainyu in verse 2), the maker of all (sun, stars, and holy qualities). 8. Turning now to verbal revelations, he asks by what means his soul may prosper in moral goodness, praying that it may indeed thus advance as the expected answer would declare. 9. He prays that he may know how he may still further sanctify that Religion which the King of the Holy Realm (compare anglmu vahi^tahya pourvim), the one like Ahura (see Khshmavato and thwavas, verse 1) would teach, dwelling in the same abode (in which Ahura is also elsewhere said to dwell) with the holy Order, and the Good Mind (see Y. XL VI, 16).

10. Expressing all in a single word, he asks Ahura to reveal to him the Daena, the Insight, the substance of that Religion which was ' of all things best,' and which alone could ' advance the settlements ' with the holy ritual and moral Order as its ally, which would also render all their moral and ceremonial actions, and moral principles just by means of the divine Piety, which was their realisation in practice ; and he closes with the exclamation that the wishes and desires of his soul, when most embued with wisdom, will seek for God. n. Following out the influence of Ararnaiti (that personified Piety), he asks to know by what practical means she may approach, and be realised as the characteristic of those to whom the holy Insight should be preached, avowing that God knows how prominent he is in his devotion to the matter, and with what hatred seated ' in his spirit,' he views the opposing Gods. 12. Then casting a searching glance over the masses, and perhaps eyeing their several groups, each headed by its ' chieftainship ' (sardenau smghahya), he cries, addressing Ahura formally, but the people really (so also elsewhere frequently), and says: 'Who is the righteous believer as regards these my questions asked of God to express my belief in Him, and who is the sceptic ? Which man does the Angra Mainyu govern ; or which is as evil as that chief himself?' And, recalling the galling fact that some are tolerated who not only do not assist but oppose his efforts, and perhaps having some half-convinced sections in full sight, he cries with bitterness : ' Why is this sinner, that chief who opposes me as Angra Mainyu opposed Ahura (compare paiti-eretS with aa/ moi paiti-eretS in Vendidad I), why is he not believed to be what in very truth he is? Why is he still countenanced?' 13. And then with a fierceness which reminds us of sazdum snaithisha (Y. XXXI, 18), but which is deeper because proposing a less material remedy, he asks : ' Why must we abide the sight of these opposers, representing their Lie-demon as their Goddess ? How can I drive her hence to Hell beneath, not to those who hesitate like these, pausing before they condemn the evil party, but to those who are already filled with their disobedience, and who, having no communion at all with us, receive no light, like these, from the reflected glory of the truth, and who have moreover neither sought nor shared like these, the counsels of Thy Good Mind. Yea, how/ he reiterates, ' can I deliver up that Lying Goddess, in the persons of her adherents, to the Holy Order, in the persons of the saints, into their hands, to slay her, not with the snaithu only, but to destroy her as a falsehood by the Mathras of Thy doctrine, not barely to withstand these wicked corrupters, as we now do, enduring the silence of these masses at their deeds (verse 12), their fear of them, or their connivance with their creeds, but to spread slaughter among them to their total overthrow ? '

15. He then presses on the coming collision, and prays to know to which of the hosts (compare asayau, Y. XXXI, 2) that claim the urvata, Ahura will give the prize. 16. And who, he further asks, shall be the champion who shall lead the victors, the verethrem-^-an (compare sar^a, Y. XXIX, 3) who will thus take up the snaitlm and the Mathra (verse 14), and so at once contend for ' both the worlds.' And he wishes him not alone pointed out, but approached, as Zarathmtra was approached (Y. XLIII), by an obedient will, and moved to his holy work by the inspiring Good Mind of Ahura, be that champion Ratu whosoever the Lord might wish. Salvation in the shape of success in his great attempt should be his portion (Y. XLIII, i ). 17. Half intimating that he himself may be the coming man, he begs to know when he can have that conference in which, as in the desired h^mpar^ti and dar^ti of Y. XXXIII, 6, he may communicate more closely with Ahura, and through the revelation which might be vouchsafed, may become a protecting leader to secure the ever-named ' abiding two,' ' Weal ' and 'Immortality,' which were the 'better than the good,' the ' vahi^ta ' of the saints.

18. A preliminary wish arising, he asks that he may receive the honorary gift of mated mares and a camel, as material for sacrifice before a battle (?), the highest interests of the people even, their lasting Welfare, demanding that he should receive this help. 19. For the monarch, or leading chief, who may withhold this justly deserved and needed help, or honour, he declares by the terms of his following question, that some instant judgment will be forthcoming, for the threats of the future condemnation seem for the moment only trite. 20. As a peroration, he appeals to the reason of the wavering groups, among the masses who still delay to call evil evil (verse 12), and he asks whether the Daevas, as represented by their adherents, had ever been good rulers, when they had the power. Were not robbery and violence then the law with them as now ? And did not the Kine, as representing the sacred herds and people, lift up her wailing voice ? (The piece from verse 12 seems to constitute a religious warsong. These verses seem not to have been originally connected with the calm and thankful contemplations in verses 1-10, but later united with them. Verses 12-20 stand in the closest connection with Y. XLVI, which has, however, preserved more of the elements of sorrow and discouragement which influenced the leader and his followers at times. See also XLIII, 11.)

I. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright; when praise is to be offered, how (shall I complete) the praise of the One like You 1, O Mazda ? Let 1 Some who seldom cite the Pahlavi follow it here ; nfyiyimo zak mun a6tuno niyayi^no i Lekum [dino]. Otherwise one might the One like Thee declare it earnestly to the friend who is such as I, thus through Thy Righteousness (within us) to offer friendly help 1 to us, so that the One like Thee2 may draw near3 us through Thy Good Mind (within the soul). 2. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright, how, in pleasing Him, may we serve the supreme one of (Heaven) the better world4; yea, how to serve that chief who may grant us those (blessings of His grace, and) who will seek for (grateful requitals at our hands) ; for He, bountiful (as He is) through the Righteous Order, (will hold off) ruin 5 from (us) all, guardian (as He is) for both the worlds, O Spirit0 Mazda ! and a friend. read neme with B.V. S. (variation) in Y. LVIII, 3, and render, ' how shall I bow myself in your worship ? '

1 The Pahl. hamkaiWar is likewise followed. The alteration to hakorena is very interesting, but, I think, hardly necessary. 2 Observe the great difficulty in referring Khshmavato to a human subject. Here we have ' the homage of the One like You (of Yours (?)' some would say) ; in Y. XXXIII, 8 we have Yasnem Mazda (Ahura) Khshmavato ; in Y. XXXIV, 2 Khshmavato vahme ; in Y. XLIX, 6 Tarn daenam ya Khshmavato Ahura. Khshmavato is sometimes merely a way of saying ' of Thyself,' as mavaite=to me. 3 Observe also the emphasis on his ' drawing near ' ; otherwise 1 let Your one declare it to my friend ' (?). 4 See Roth, Y. XXXI, 8. See, however, also de Harlez's suggestion, perhaps after the hint of the Pahlavi : ' qu'elle a £t6 l'origine ?' Here we have another instance where an entire verse seems to allude to Ahura in the third person with an address to Him thrown in, or at the close. In connection with angh^u^ vahwtahya Ahura must be the pourvya, as in Y. XXXI, 8, where Roth renders vornehmster. The guardian is also Ahura (see Y. XXXI, 13). B I cannot fully accept the hint of the Pahlavi here as others do who seldom heed it. I do not think that ' sin ' is so much indicated as 'destruction.'

c Mainyu is suspiciously expressive as a vocative ; perhaps ' by spiritual power ' would be safer. 3. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright : Who by generation1 was the first father of the Righteous Order (within the world) ? Who gave the (recurring) sun and stars 2 their (undeviating) way ? Who established that whereby the moon waxes, and whereby she wanes 3, save Thee 4 ? These things, O Great Creator! would I know5, and others likewise still. 4. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright, who from beneath hath sustained the earth and the clouds G above that they do not fall ? Who made the waters and the plants ? Who to the wind has yoked on the storm-clouds, the swift and fleetest two 7 ? Who, O Great Creator ! is the inspirer of the good thoughts (within our souls) ? 1 ' As a generator (?).' 2 Bartholomae follows the Pahlavi here as rendered by Ner. putting hveng and staran (-am) in the genitive, which is in itself far better than to regard da/ as governing two accusatives. One would, however, rather expect hveng staram adhvanem da/.

3 All follow the Pahlavi here, which renders with allowable freedom. Nerefsaiti (=Pahl. nerefseW; Ner. nimilati ; Persian kahad) might possibly be explained as a nasalised form of an Aryan correspondent to arbha, as naj=aj. 4 Possibly from thine influence (?). 5 The infinitive viduye (=vidve) lies here in an unusual place, at the end of the sentence. It is because the word has no stress upon it. The emphasis rests on the objects which he desires to know7 about ; the entire connection deals with ' knowing ' ; it has no prominence. 6 This rendering is not supported by the Pahlavi, which seems to report a rendering from some text with an a privative, and a form of dar. The ' unsupported ' object might mean the ' air-space.' See the suggestion of Bartholomae ' the earth and the air-space,' comparing the later Sanskrit. 7 Or ' for velocity,' adverbially. Velocity, however, in the abstract as the object yoked-on, is rather too finely drawn. I should prefer 5. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright; who, as a skilful artisan, hath made the lights and the darkness x ? Who, as thus skilful, hath made sleep and the zest (of waking hours) ? Who (spread) the Auroras, the noontides and midnight, monitors to discerning (man), duty's true (guides) 2 ?

6. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright these things which I shall speak forth, if they are truly thus. Doth the Piety (which we cherish) in reality increase3 the sacred orderliness within our actions ? To these Thy true saints hath she given the Realm through the Good Mind. For whom hast Thou made the Mother-kine, the producer of joy 4 ? 7. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright ; who fashioned Aramaiti (our piety) the beloved, together with Thy Sovereign Power ? Who, through his guiding wisdom 5, hath made the son revering the father ? (Who made him beloved G ?) With (ques- the fleet ones, the lightnings. My rendering follows the indication of another, as a dual, but not as to full exegesis. One naturally supposes the yoking together of the winds and dark clouds to be meant. 1 Recall svar yad a^mann adhipa u andho. — i?v. VII, 88, 2. 2 Ner. : ' Who gave us the lights with his keen discrimination ? And who the darkness ? Who, in his keen discrimination, gave (us our) sleep and waking ; [that is, our diligence and activity ?] Who is he who gave us the time of hu^aina, and the time of rapithvana

], and the method and calculation of him who discerns by means of the just rule [ ] ?' 3 So also the Pahlavi indicates by ' stavar.' 4 So I prefer; but the indication of the Pahlavi deserves an alternative 'giver of bounty' ; skar=kar. ' Geus azyau ' was later a common expression for a mature animal, but possibly vulgarised from its older special use here. 5 Root ni (?). c I thus add as the Pahlavi translator indicates such an element in uzemem. tions such as) these, so abundant \ O Mazda ! I press Thee, O bountiful Spirit, (Thou) maker of all ! 8. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright, that I may ponder 2 these which are Thy revelations, 0 Mazda ! and the words which were asked (of Thee) by Thy Good Mind (within us), and that whereby we may attain 3, through Thine Order, to this life's perfection. Yea, how may my soul with joyfulness 4 increase in goodness? Let it thus5 be6. 9. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright, how to myself shall I hallow7 the Faith of Thy people, 1 Frakhshni^in abundance (Pahl. kabed ; Ner. pra&iram ; Persian MS. bisyar). The thought refers back to anya£a viduye [-ve].

2 Haug sagaciously renders as if m^/zdaidyai were a miswriting for p^/zdaidyai, which is in itself very possible, as an ' m ' 6 looks much like an inverted (i in MSS. So the Pahlavi records the irregularity also, from which Haug derived his idea. But Haug explains the word as an allusion to the five prayer-hours of the day. 1 doubt very greatly whether the five prayer-hours existed at the date of the composition of this passage. Such regulations grew up much later. The Pahlavi translator indicates elsewhere an accusative (mOTg-mam) with an infinitive 'that I should give forth,' which is in itself far from impossible. He was aware (!) that meng could also equal man; see Y. LIII, 5. 3 Vaedyai is infinitively used for voizdyai. 4 I do think that it is necessary on the whole to postulate two similar words here (although Geldner's suggestion is most keen and interesting). Urvaklwanguha and urvakhjukhti do not favour a comparison with vrag- here. The Pahlavi is indifferent : .ffigun denman 1 li rubano zak 1 ^aptr hu-ravakh-manih ? So Ner. uttamananda^. Barth. begluckend. 5 Ka-ta = kena-te'na. 6 Or, 'let those things happen to me;' gam means 'come' more frequently than ' go,' here. Lit. ' let it thus advance.'

7 TTigun denman 1 li dino yoj-dasar 1 ave^ak yo^-dasaryom ? Ner.: Katham ida.m ahaw yat* diniw pavitrataram pavitrayami; [kila, dm\??i kathaw pravartamanaw karomi] ? As Zarathmtra is I i 6 THE GATHAS. which the beneficent kingdom's lord hath taught me, even the admonitions which He called Thine equal, hath taught me through His lofty (and most righteous Sovereignty and) Power, as He dwells in like abode1 with Thine Order and Thy Good Mind ? 10. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright that holy Faith which is of all things best, and which, going on hand in hand with Thy people, shall further my lands in Asha, Thine order, and, through the words of Aramaiti (our piety), shall render actions just. The prayers of mine understanding will seek 2 for Thee, O Ahura ! n. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright; how to these your (worshippers) may (that Piety once again and evermore) approach, to them to whom O Lord, Thy Faith is uttered ? Yea, I beseech of Thee to tell me this, I who am known to Thee as Thy foremost 3 of (servants) ; all other (Gods, with their represented as sanctifying the Fire (in Y. IX, i), so here he would doubly sanctify the Faith itself. He would ' hallow its name ' and meaning.

1 Pavanaj-hamdemunih-ketruneV [pavan hamkhadukih], 2 I cannot regard the caesura in this verse as possessing ordinary importance, the ma/ivyau (mahy^u) Xistoij is especially dependent on the following words. The Pahlavi translator hints at an important solution, which is, that a pause should be made before usm ; ' the wish of mine understanding wishes, and I wish (am wishing) ; Khursand homanam=I am content. If we can accept a break (a possibility far too little recognised), the mm as representing a nom. sing, would refer back to the meaning in ma^z>y<7u (mahyau). But reading istis (as irregular for Irtayo on account of the metre) we might regard ust-n as a third pi. Or shall we take it as a quasi-third singular, usm being usam (m=the nasal vowel; comp. u/C'am as a third sing, imper. after Barth.)? Let ' the wish (istis) of my enlightened understanding wish for Thee.' 3 Compare ' aesham toi, Ahura ! mma pourutemai\y daste.' polluted worshippers), I look upon with (my) spirit's 1 hate 2. 1 2. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me arieht ; who is the righteous one in that regard in which 3 I ask Thee my question ? And who is evil ? For which is the wicked ? Or which is himself the (foremost) wicked one ? And the vile man who stands against me (in this gain of) Thy blessing, wherefore4 is he not held and believed to be the sinner that he is ?

13. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, how shall I banish this Demon-of-the-Lie from us hence to those beneath who are filled5 with rebellion ? The friends of Righteousness (as it lives in Thy saints) gain no light (from their teachings), nor have they loved the questions which Thy Good Mind (asks in the soul e) i Auserkoren is a fine but a bold rendering. Election is, however, included in all divine prescience. 1 I have no doubt whatever, but that mainymr and dvaeshangha belong together. 2 The Pahlavi translation is as follows: 'That which I ask of Thee, tell me aright, O Auharmazd ! when shall the perfect mind come to those persons [that is, when does the mind of my disciples become perfect] ? When shall it come to those who declare this Thy Religion, O Auharmazd ? Grant to me before these the proclamation of the truth. Against every other spirit which is malevolent I keep my guard/ 3 Yak adverbially, or possibly, ' with whom I question.' 4 A^yawgha/ is, I think, simply the equivalent for ki (?) angha/ = qui fit, how does it happen that ? ' Stands ' free for ' comes.'

5 The Pahlavi on the contrary takes perenaungho in the sense of combating, pavan anyokhshie/arih patkarend = £ (who) are opposing you through disobedience.' It is far from certain that he does not indicate some improvement in text, or rendering. 6 Or, 'the counsels of holy men.' 14. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright; how shall I deliver that Demon-of-the-Lie into the two hands of Thine Order1 (as he lives in our hosts) to cast her down to death through Thy Mathras of doctrine, and to send mighty destruction 2 among her evil believers, to keep those deceitful and harsh oppressors from reaching their (fell) aims3 ? 15. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright. If through Thy Righteousness (within our souls) Thou hast the power over this for my 4 protection, when the two hosts shall meet in hate5 (as they strive) for those vows which Thou dost desire to maintain, how, O Mazda ! and to which of both wilt Thou save 5 the day6 ? 16. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, 1 Ashai with Geldner. 2 The Pahlavi anticipates us in the correct general sense here. It has nas,honi.ni6. The Persian MS. renders the Pahlavi, hamavandi nist dehand i danvand.

3 Anashe seems regarded as an infinitive by the Pahlavi translator, anayatuni^no. ' For the destruction of those deceivers ' is an obvious alternative to the rendering above (a nashe ?). 4 Geldner and Roth render ma/= Sanskrit mad ; otherwise ' with complete protection.' Or is ma/ ablative for genitive : If thou rulest over me to afford me protection ? The Pahlavi affords no indication. 5 The Pahlavi translator erred widely in his attempt to render the word anao&mgha. As it is certain that his MSS. differed from ours often, they probably did so here. The verse alludes beyond a question to some expected battle in a religious war, and perhaps in a religious civil war. It is the most positive allusion to the ' strife of the two parties ' (Y. XXXI, 2) which has come down to us. It was a struggle concerning the religious vows, or doctrines ; avair urvatai-r ya tu Mazda didereghgo. The Pahlavi renders vananam by ' good thing,' explaining ' the sovereign power.' who smites with victory x in the protection (of all) who exist, and for the sake of, and by means of Thy doctrine ? Yea, clearly reveal a lord having power 2 (to save us) for both lives. Then let (our) Obedience 3 with Thy Good Mind draw near to that (leader), O Mazda ! yea, to him to whomsoever 4 Thou (shalt) wish that he should come.

1 7. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright ; how, O Mazda ! shall I proceed to that (great) conference 5 with You, to that consummation of Your own, when my spoken wish0 shall be (effected) unto me, (the desire) to be in the chieftainship 7 (and supported) by (the hope of) Weal and Immortality (those saving powers of Thy grace), and by that (holy) Mathra (Thy word of thought) which fully guides our way through Righteousness (within). 1 Verethrem^a thwa, following the Pahlavi with Westergaard, Geldner, and Bartholomae. 2 Compare Y. XXIX, 2 and Y. XXVIII, 3 ; or it may mean < promise to establish ' (Barth.). Kiz6\, however, hardly seems to need an infinitive with it; it may mean 'appoint/ Compare da/;/su(patni) for a better sense than 'house-lord,' also for deng pat6ir. 3 This casts additional light on the ' one that should come ' in Y. XLIII, 7, 9, 11, 13, ig- 4 This recalls ahmai yahmai usik kahmai£i/. 5 The comparison with^ar has long circulated among Zendists. Many adopt it. It agrees admirably with the Pahlavi as to sense : Aimat, Auharmazd ! damano kan/arih 1 Lekum, when is Your appointment of the time ?

6 The Pahlavi va muni£ zak i li g&blmo homand khvastar. 7 Va sardar yehevununih madam Haurvada<£va Ameroda6?; Ner. Svamino bhavishyanti upari Avirdade Amirdade ; comp. also Y. XLIX, 8 fra6jtflungh6 aunghama. Professor Jolly compares buzdyai with 4>ieo6ai (Inf. s. 194)- The long since circulated comparison with bhu^ seems to me hardly so probable. It may, however, deserve an alternative ; ' to enjoy Weal and Immortality ' ; but accusatives 1 8. (And, having gained Thine audience and Thine Order's sacred chieftainship), then I ask of Thee, O Ahura ! and tell me aright, how shall I acquire that Thy Righteous Order's prize, ten (costly) mares male-mated, and with them the camel x (those signs of honour and blessing for Thy chief. I ask Thee for these gifts for sacrifice). For it was told me for the sake of our Welfare (in our salvation), and of our Immortality, in what manner Thou 2 shalt give3 to these (Thy conquering hosts) both of these Thy (gifts4 of grace). 19. This I ask Thee, O Ahura ! tell me aright ; (in the case of the recreant, of him) who does not give this (honoured) gift to him who hath earned it ; yea, who does not give it to this (veracious tiller of the earth, to him who in no respect shows favour to the Demon-of-the-Lie, even to the) correct speaker5 (of Thy sacrificial word), what shall be his sentence at

do not fall so naturally to the end of the sentence in Gathic or Vedic, without preceding related or qualifying words. 1 Those suspected of no partisanship for the Pahlavi translation follow it here as against Haug, who translated the words ujtremX-a by et amplius ! It means a camel ; so the Pahlavi translator rendered many centuries ago before Europeans even knew what the Indian ush/ra meant, which simple analogy Neryosangh first drew. Horses were material for sacrifice among the Persians according to Herodotus. The reasons for the prayer are not fully expressed. 2 So better than as a first person aorist subjunctive, if taeibyo is to be read. The Pahlavi, however, read taibyo, which is not lightly to be passed over. The rendering ' take' has long circulated. I do not, however, prefer it here. 4 Weal and Immortality, but hi might refer to the two objects, ' the mares ' and the ' camel.' 5 The ideal Zarathmtrian ; comp. Y. XXXI, 15; XLIX. 9. the first (now at this time, and because of this false dealing ? I ask it), knowing well his doom at last 1. 20. (And how as to our deluded foes ?) Have Daeva-(worshippers) e'er reigned as worthy kings ? (This verily I ask of Thee, the Daeva-worshippers) who fight 2 for these (who act amiss ? Have they well reigned) by whom the Karpan and the Usi^(k) gave the (sacred) Kine to Rapine 3, whence, too, the Kavian in persistent strength 4 has flourished ? (And these have also never given us tribal wealth nor blessings), nor for the Kine have they brought waters to the fields for the sake of the Righteous Order (in our hosts), to further on their growth (and welfare) !

1 So also the Pahlavi followed by all. Kadar valman pavan zak vinasuno aito fratum ; [aigaj pavan-vinaskarih pae/afras fratum maman] ? Akas homanam zak mun valman aito afdum [mamanas darvandih] ? Ner. (with regard to him) who does not give the reward which has come for the one fitted for, or deserving of, it [to Garathustra's equal], (the reward) which the truthful man ; [that is, the good man] is giving to him, what is the first thing which happens through this sin of his ? [that is, what is his first chastisement in consequence of this fault ?] (For) I am aware of what his punishment shall be in the end [ ]. 2 The Pahlavi translator either had a text with some form of pa, or was otherwise misled. He renders mun netrund, but gives the word the adverse sense of ' hindering ' in the gloss. Ner., however, has pratiskhalanti which points to peshySiwti, and also tends to show that other MSS. of the Pahlavi (and among them the one used by Ner.) read differently from our three, K5, D. J., and the Persian transliteration. Kam=Ved. kam with dat. 3 See Y. XXIX, 1. 4 Professor Wilhelm ' vigour' (De In fin. p. 14).

The Doctrine of Dualism. Homage to Ahura. This hymn bears fewer traces of a fragmentary condition than others. It recalls Y. XXX, and, like it, appears to belong to a period, or to an interval, of political repose and theological activity. It is smoother and more artificial than is usual, and it goes straight on its way from beginning to end. A powerful adversary had just been crushed. It was the dujsasti of Y. XXXII, 9. This may well have been the result of the conflict alluded to in Y. XLIV, 15, 16, and possibly in Y. LI, 9, 10, also urged on by the fierce Y. XXXI, 1 8 probably often repeated in lost hymns. An assembly is addressed as in Y. XXX, 1, but this time as coming ' from near and from far.' It may very possibly have been the winning side in a late struggle. The first verse sounds like a congratulation. It might be said to be intended to be sung, if not shouted, to a multitude whose outskirts were by no means within easy reach with the voice. At all events attention is summoned with three differing expressions. ' Awake your ears to the sound,' literally ' sound ye,' in a receptive sense; ('let the sound peal in your ears'), then ■ listen ' (sraota) ; and then ' ponder ' (mazdaunghodum). ' The Antizarathmtra, the evil teacher par eminence, has been defeated,' he declares, ' and he will never again destroy the peace of our lives (Y. XXXII, 9, n). His evil creed has been silenced, and his tongue can no longer shout out its periods of persuasion or invective (Y. XXXI, 12) beside our preachers.'

2. He then reiterates the chief doctrine for which the parties had been at war, and which they should now see clearly in the light of their victory. ' The foul evils of society do not lie within the control of the holy Ahura in such a manner as that he either originates, or tolerates them. They are, on the contrary, the product of the personified Anger of the Daevas, the Mainyu in its evil sense, the Angra (angry ?) Spirit. Between this being, or personified abstraction, and Ahura, there is a gulf fixed. (Never do we see any aspersions upon Ahura's name, or a suspicion of His purity as shown by complicity with cruelty, or the toleration of evil passions.) It is also to be noted that the defeated du^sasti may have possibly been a Daeva-worshipper chiefly as being a heretic from this Faith of Ahura, believing Him to be implicated in the creation, or permission of sin and suffering, or, if the burial or burning of the dead was forbidden at this time, then possibly a heretic on these questions also. But yet, as a recreant Mazda-worshipper he may have claimed a rightful allegiance to the urvata, and the future blessings, as well as temporal advantages, involved in a correct discipleship ; and so he may have used the name of the sacred tenets of the Religion itself to help on a nefarious warfare. In fact he may have been a self-styled Mazda-worshipper, but not of ' Zarathmtra's order,' not owned at all in any degree by the genuine adherents, and met as a real, if not an open, Daeva-worshipper.

The ardent prophet therefore declares the utter severance between the good and the evil, the God and the Demon. It is a popular corollary to Y. XXX, 3-6. The two spirits came together indeed at first to make life, and its negation, and they co-operate, if such a term can be applied to an irreconcilable antagonism out of whose antitheses and friction sentient existence alone becomes possible. Their union consists in opposition, for if they blend, they each cease to be what they are. They are, while upholders of existence, yet separate for ever, and that as to every attribute and interest. 3. And the sage goes on to assert that in this he is proclaiming the first Mathra of this life which the all-wise Mazda had revealed to him. And, whether sure of the victorious masses before him, or whether on the contrary perfectly aware that many a group among them had been more convinced by the snaithw than by reason, he presses at once upon them that one terrible doctrine which seems unfortunately too needful for all successful and sudden propagandism, and he declares that they who do not act in a manner accordant with what he speaks, and even thinks, (having formerly announced it), to such delinquents this life should end in woe.

4. Proceeding in a happier vein, he then dwells upon the fatherhood of God. He will declare this world's best being who is Mazda Himself. He is the father of the Good Mind within His people, when that Good Mind is active in good works. So our piety, when it is practical, is His daughter, for no pretended good intention can claim relationship with Him, nor can any idle sentiment. He needs the ' ready mind' within His servant, and He is not to be deceived (compare Y. XLIII, 6). 5. Returning once more to the Mathra. and this time to hold out rewards rather than to utter threats, he declares that Happiness and Immortality would be the portion of those who listened to, and pondered his revelation, and that Ahura Himself would likewise approach them with the rewarding actions of His Good Mind, for Ahura was also in all good actions on the one hand, just as His Immortal Archangels on the other had their objective existence likewise in the believer's soul. 6. Turning from admonition to worship, he announces, not what he terms the 'first' (verse 3), nor the 'best' (verses 4 and 5), but the ' greatest,' element of all, implying that praise, which he now expresses, includes both prayer and doctrinal confessions, and he calls on Ahura both to listen and to teach. 7. It is the 'greatest' element indeed, for it concerns those spiritual blessings which not only the offerers who are now living will seek after, but those also who shall live in future ; nay, even the spirits of the just desire them in the eternal Immortality. And these blessings are, according to a well-remembered law, woe to the wicked, and that, not only from outward discipline, but from inward grief. And Ahura had established, so he adds, the beneficent, but, as regards the wicked, still solemn regulations by the exercise of His Sovereign Power as the controller of all (Y. XXIX, 4). 8. Zarathmtra (or his substitute) then professes his eagerness to serve the Lord with these words which he had called the ' greatest,' and because he had seen Him with his very eyes, which he explains as meaning that he had known Him through the Righteous Order in his soul, and therefore he prays and hopes to pronounce these greatest praises, not in the assembly (Y. LI, 3) alone, but in the 'Home of sublimity or song' (Y. L, 4).

9. And he desires all the more fervently to do homage to Ahura, because He approaches him with the Power of His divine Authority in weal or woe, blessing both men and herds so long as they multiplied under the influences of Piety. 10. As the praises were the ' greatest,' so he seeks to ' magnify' the Lord in the Yasnas of Aramaiti, Ahura being renowned by His unchanging purpose, for He will bestow the ' eternal two ' in His holy Kingdom, when it shall have been made firm! 11. Yea, he would seek to magnify Him who contemns the Daevas and their party as much as they, in their turn, profess to make little of Him and His religious Kingdom, contrasted as they were with Ahura's prophet, who honoured Him in the holy Insight, the Daena of the Saoshyawt. And this Saoshya^t is declared to be the controlling master of every faithful worshipper, and he, or the faithful venerator of the reviled Ahura, is also as our friend, brother, nay, like Ahura Himself (verse 4), our very Father in the Faith. 1. Yea, I will speak forth; hear ye; now listen, ye who from near, and ye who from afar have come seeking J (the knowledge). Now ponder 2 ye clearly all3 (that concerns) him4. Not for a second time shall the false teacher slay our life (of the mind, or the body). The wicked is hemmed in with his faith and his tongue ! 5

2. Yea, I will declare the world's two first6 spirits, of whom the more bountiful thus spake to the harmful7: Neither our thoughts, nor commands, nor our 1 Ish means { to come seeking/ The bavihune</ of the Pahlavi, followed by many, is by no means incorrect. 2 The reading mazdtfunghodum was suggested to me by Dr. Aurel Stein previously (as I believe) to its announcement elsewhere. Before this the indication of the Pahlavi (which always hesitates to change a MS. regarded at the time as sacred) had been followed by all with its necessary error. 3 The V in Z-ithn? must represent a nasalised vowel, as in mtfhmaidi. 4 Im may be merely a particle. 5 I would here strongly insist upon an alternative rendering in the sense of the Pahlavi. The rendering above is given on principle. A text should never be changed, if it is possible to render it as it is. Read, 'the wicked confessing (vareto, active sense) evil beliefs with his tongue.' The Pahlavi has zaka^ saritar kamako va zakaj darvandih pavan huzvano hemnuneW. Many, with this view, would at once read vareta without MSS. 6 Observe the peculiar pouruye (pourviye, if not a locative), the two first things, principles, forces; so in Y. XXX, 3.

7 Notice that vahyo akem^a (in Y. XXX, 3) necessarily apply to the mainyu, and not only because, as nominatives, the words fall to the end of the sentence. Here we have analogous adjectives applied unmistakably to the two. The neuters correspond with valmtem mano and astern mano, and are of capital importance as understandings, nor our beliefs, nor our deeds, nor our consciences, nor our souls, are at one 1. 3. Thus I will declare this world's first2 -(teaching), that which the all-wise Mazda Ahura hath told me. And they among you who will not so fulfil and obey this Mathra, as I now shall conceive and declare it, to these shall the end of life (issue) in woe. 4. Thus I will declare forth this world's best (being). From (the insight of His) Righteousness Mazda, who hath appointed these (things)3, hath known (what He utters to be true ; yea, I will declare) Him the father of the toiling Good Mind (within us). So is His expressing that abstract conception which renders the Gathas so much more impressive as the earliest documents of their kind. 1 The Pahlavi thus glosses : I do not think what thou thinkest, [for I think what is pious, and thou thinkest what is impious] ; nor our teachings, [for I teach what is pious, and thou, what is impious] — nor our religions, for mine is the Gathic, and thine that of the sorcerer; nor our souls, [for he who takes his stand on my religion, and he who takes his stand on thy religion, are apart ; their souls do not occupy the same position]. Ner. : naka dini/2 [yato me dini^ gathabhava te£a rakshasi*].

2 The ' first teaching ' was a prominent idea with the Zarathujtrians. Z. is called in the later Avesta the paoiryo/kaesha (sic). He hardly plays the role of a reformer in the Avesta. He is mentioned after others chronologically, not as repudiating them. He might better be termed reviver. Yam is difficult; perhaps daenam is to be understood, or rem (mathrem) read ; see verse 4, anghaij ahya vahutem. Neither pourvim nor vahutem are adverbs. ! Some change the text here to another which corresponds to some of the terms better. It should, however, first be rendered as it stands; the obscurities may well be owing to idiosyncrasy in the composer ; possibly also to an affectation of obscurity (or ' dark speech'). How can Mazda be said to 'know Himself?' or how could ^any but Ahura be spoken of as ' the Father of Vohu Manah and Aramaiti ? ' He recognised Himself as having generated V. M. and A. He was conscious of the completed relation. daughter through good deeds (our) Piety. Not to be deceived is the all-viewing1 Lord. 5. Yea, thus I will declare that which the most bountiful One told me, that word which is the best to be heeded by mortals. They who therein grant me obedient 2 attention, upon them cometh Weal to bless, and the Immortal being, and in the deeds of His Good Mind cometh the Lord.

6. Aye, thus I will declare forth Him who is3 of all the greatest* praising through my Righteousness, I who do aright, those who (dispose of all as well aright). Let Ahura Mazda hear with His bounteous spirit, in whose homage (what I asked) was asked 4 with the Good Mind. Aye, let Him exhort me through His wisdom (which is ever) the best. 7. (Yea, I will declare Him) whose blessings the offerers will seek for, those who are living now, as well as those who have lived (aforetime), as will they 1 Hishas looks irresistibly like a nom. sing., but may it not be a nom. actoris from the redup. root ? Compare hishasa/ (although the Pahlavi renders with a different cast of meaning). What Indian word to compare here is hard to say. I prefer Bartholomae's earlier view (as to the meaning) with the Pahlavi harvispo nikiri^/ar. By dropping the later glosses, the sense of the Pahlavi comes out as usual, much closer to the Gatha. 2 Observe the vigour possessed by ' Sraosha.' It designates the angel of Obedience ; and at the same time it is the only word which can here bring out the sense when it is understood in its actual meaning ; so continually with the words Vohu Manah, Asha, &c.

3 Lit. 'Him who I, doing aright, (praising Him with His immortals) who (all likewise) are (beneficent).' Or it may be 'that which.' 4 So with many who hold the least to the hints of the Pahlavi. Otherwise I would render ' there is furtherance,' comparing afrashimawto. also who are coming1 (hereafter. Yea, even) the soul(s) of the righteous (will desire) them in the eternalImmortality. (Those things they will desire which are blessings to the righteous) but woes to the wicked. And these hath Ahura Mazda (established) through His kingdom, He, the creator (of all). 8. Him in our hymns of homage and of praise would I faithfully serve, for now with (mine) eye, I see Him clearly, Lord of the good spirit3, of word, and action, I knowing through my Righteousness Him who is Ahura Mazda. And to Him (not here alone, but) in His home of song4, His praise we 5 shall bear. 9. Yea, Him with our better Mind we seek to honour, who desiring (good), shall come to us (to bless) in weal and sorrow G. May He, Ahura Mazda, make us 7 vigorous through Khshathra's royal power, 1 Bvai/rti/'a (sic) seems, as elsewhere, to express ' those who are becoming.'

2 The Pahlavi uniformly errs, or is strangely free, with this word. The sense 'continuous' is here admirably adapted. 3 This word seems evidently used almost in a modern sense of ' character,' ' disposition.' Elsewhere we are in doubt whether to refer it to the Sp^nuta Mainyu of Ahura, or to Ahura Himself. 4 Paradise ; possibly ' home of sublimity.' 5 The change from singular to plural is frequent. Ner. varies from the Pahlavi in the last verse, improving upon it : Evam tasmai pra/zamam antar Garothmane nidadamahe. This was probably an intentional improvement, as the Persian MS. follows our Pahlavi text. His MS. of the Pahlavi probably read bara yehabund. ,; Or, ' who has created weal and sorrow for us with good intention, (and as our discipline);' but this is hardly probable. Ahura did not originate evil. Spenfczi, asp<?;zX-a are used adverbially (see Y. XXXIV, 7). 7 I hardly agree to reading verezmyau (sic) here in the sense of ' homes.' The meaning is ' endow us with efficiency' in the pursuit of the objects mentioned in the context. Or ' the propitiation and our flocks and men in thrift to further, from the good support and bearing1 of His Good Mind, (itself born in us) by His Righteousness.

10. Him in the Yasnas of our Piety we seek to praise with homage, who in His persistent energy2 was famed to be (in truth) the Lord Ahura Mazda, for He hath appointed in His kingdom, through His holy Order and His Good Mind, both Weal and Immortality, to grant 3 the eternal mighty pair to this our land (and the creation). 1 1. (Him would we magnify and praise) who hath despised the Daeva-gods and alien men, them who before held Him in their derision. Far different are (these) from him who gave Him honour. This latter one is through the Saoshya^t's bounteous Faith, who likewise is the Lord of saving power4, reverential honour ' may have been more directly in the composer's mind ; ' may He endow our (worship) with efficiency that it may accomplish its desired result.' See the positions of the words. The Pahlavi translation also bears witness to the rendering above, with its erroneous or free varziv/ar avo lanman. 1 As it is impossible for those who have studied the subject to believe that the Pahlavi translator did not know the meaning of amavandih in Zend, we must suppose him to have had some form like hazah before him instead of huza(thwaV).

2 The Pahlavi translator, rendering this word in the two other places by pavan astubih, had evidently some reason for seeing a form of naman here. The natural conclusion is that his MS. read differently in this place. Ner. renders him appropriately. 3 Dan looks like an accusative infinitive here (Bartholomae) ; otherwise the two verbs must be regarded as having indefinite pronouns understood, ' one assigns,' and ' they grant.' 4 I cannot see the applicability of Agni's title 'house-lord' here; compare dawsupatni as adj. referring to pati. a friend, brother, or a father to us, Mazda Lord l !

In treating this most valuable section, we can as usual presuppose that the several verses were not originally composed in the order in which they now appear. Verses 1-3 seem like a cry ' from the depths.' In verse 4 animosity appears ; and an appeal to the energy of some of his warlike adherents seems to prove that, with verses 5 and 6, the composer addressed it to an assembly; 7-10 are questions and appeals to Ahura, but, as a matter of course, they are none the less really intended to impress the hearers, as well as to animate the mind of the reciter. Verses 11 and 12 were again intended to be delivered to adherents. Verse 13 is addressed to them in terms. Verse 14 would be regarded by some as little suited to the connection, and the rest seem spoken to an assembly of chiefs. However different they may be as to the particular time or circumstances of their origin, they are in general so homogeneous even as to pitch of intensity, that, with a little exercise of the mind, we can as usual see the reasons why they were put together, or were consecutively composed ; and in poetic diction sudden changes neither displease nor surprise us. 1. Beyond a doubt the leading prophet is the figure in the first and second verses ; and those verses are so free from imagery that we hold them as describing beyond any reasonable

1 He who despised the Daevas, they returning the contempt is probably the same person expressed by the two hoi in the previous verse. It is therefore Ahura, but the words which mean friend, brother, father, are grammatically connected with ye — mainyata, the one who reverenced Ahura. The expression ' father ' gives a strong impression that Ahura is referred to, notwithstanding the vocative. Particularly as we have father in verse 4. The word ' brother,' however, inclines one to the more closely grammatical view. question, together with many other passages in the Gathas, the afflictions and discouragements of Zarathu^tra himself. He knows not whither to turn, although he speaks as a public person and in command of forces which are scanty indeed (verse 2), but yet still able to take the field (Y. XLIV, 15, 16); and his movements also concern large districts (' lands '). He is not driven from his house, but from his country. It is superfluous to say that religion, although blended with a natural ambition, is his leading motive. How he shall satisfy Ahura is the one problem which he aims to solve; but his case at this particular juncture shows every discouragement.

2. Not supposing that his ya=y^na is merely lost in the meaning ' that,' we see that in relieving his burdened mind he exclaims, not that he knows that he is poor in means and troops, but that he knows why it is thus. It is the dregvawt's work, whom we may also well understand as the drugvawt, the accursed enemy, who holds back (verse 4) the bearers of the Holy Order from all success in their efforts to gain a righteous livelihood from the favoured cattle culture (Y. XXIX, 2), and who, as he with grief long since foresaw, should he attain to power, would deliver up home, village, district, and province to ruin and death (Y. XXXI, 18). He therefore cries to Ahura in common with the Kine herself (Y. XXIX, 9), and his 'behold' is only a changed expression for her exclamations (Y. XXIX, 1). As a friend, he would have the good Mazda to regard him as seeking an especial form of grace ; and he would beseech Him to fill up his need (Y. XXVIII, 11) in his extremity, teaching him, not the value of flocks and followers alone, but of that fati which lay deeper than the material wealth which he yet lamented, even the blessings of the Holy Order in every home. 3. And therefore he continues : Teach me and tell me of those great thoughts, the khratavo, the salvation-schemes of the Saviours, elsewhere also spoken of as the khratu of life (Y. XXXII, 9) ; for these saving helpers would, through a severe conflict and after many a reverse, at last bring on { Completed Progress.'

4. But he must arouse himself from the relief and indulgence of his grief, he therefore springs to action, and with a cry which we hear elsewhere (Y. LIII, 9), and which was in all probability often uttered in hymns now lost to us, he urges the reward for the chief, who at the head of his retainers, shall expel the worlddestroyer, the dujsasti (Y. XLV, 1), from power and from life. And what is that reward? It seems to be merely the recognition and confirmation of merit among the faithful. The man who shall expel, or destroy, the heretical tyrant shall be eminent in the recognition of his services in the support of the people and their sacred agricultural civilisation. That was to be reward enough, and even that prestige (pourvatatem) was to be given back to God in offering for still further service (Y. XXXIII, 14). 5. And every righteous official is urged to repeat the proclamation as a warning to every polluted Daeva-worshipper whom he can discover, or to whom his voice can reach, as well as to those secret adherents who would seem to need encouragement. The charged official is to assail the destructive opponent (Y. XXXII, 6-8), only after careful discrimination. He is to approach the evil chief, the hostile /?z>aetu (of the blood), as distinct from the inferior noble, or the peasant clansman, and he is to tell him fully of the price set on his head. 6. 'And the superintendent who has the power, and does not thus carry out these instructions, shall himself be delivered over to the bonds of that Lie-demon whom the evil " kinsman " serves. For there is no compromise in the dualistic moral creed. The man who favours the evil is as the evil, and the friend of the good is as the good himself ; so had the Lord ordained.'

7. Then, as so often elsewhere, he turns his thoughts to the outward emblem as the sign of inward grace, the sacramental Fire without which the masses would have had no help to fix the eye, or draw prostrations, and he asks with the question of profound devotion : Whom have they (Thy Saoshya«ts, verse 3) set me, as strengthener in these storms, save Thee and Thy symbolic flames ? Yet even here he names the Good Mind with them, and the Order. 8. ' But,' he continues, ' may he who would destroy my settlement find every influence and power combined to form his ruin ; may all things keep him back from prosperity, and may nothing keep him back from harm.' 9. He calls, then, for a leading helper who may help him magnify Ahura, not merely in religious celebrations, but in that universal advance of the sacred ' cause,' which follows Ahura's ' conciliation ' 10. As if to hinder the discouragement of those who hear his own unburdenings of grief, he declares that he will never leave the faithful few who follow him ; he will go with them to the ' dread assize ' itself, as if to help them pass the last of tests.

11. But the ' wicked,' open or concealed, should not share these hopes; their conscience, ever the remorseless executioner, shall curse them, as they try to pass the Judgment Bridge ; and hurled from that narrow path (it becomes narrow to the faithless), they shall fall to 'eternal' Hell. 12. Their destruction is not, however, yet decided; there is noi only hope for the tribesmen of Ahura, but for the pagan, and not for the ' alien ' only, but for the Turanian enemy, whose very name had been a synonym for suffering. If these even shall repent, they may be blest; and some had already turned. The converted tribe Fryana offered many pious proselytes. These would help on the righteous order together with the holy people, and God would dwell with them as well. 13. Rhetorically referring to himself as in the third person, or else representing some second speaker who names his name, he can still offer his reward to any prince who will yet come up with his retainers to his cause, not kept back by the many refusals which he had met (verse 1), nor discouraged by the scant numbers of his bands ; and that reward is one which might yet be efficacious to induce self-sacrificing succour, for in addition to what had been said (see verse 4) he could declare spiritual life from Ahura to be the portion of every faithful follower, and with it future temporal wealth. And he should declare this true recruit the ' good mate ' in the service, the first helper (verse 9) of the tribes.

14. Here we have what seems a question conceived as uttered by some one in the throng, or else simply rhetorically thrown in : ' Who is that friend, that powerful coadjutor who is thus offered this reward, and for such a service?' Zaratluutra names the king. But he diverts the minds of hearers from a pernicious trust in individuals. He would appeal, so he implies, not to one man only, although that one be Vutaspa, the heroic, but to all whom Ahura would recognise in His assembly, through the inspired suffrage of the mass. 15. And first he addresses the group made up chiefly of his family, the Spitamas ; they were, as he implied, enlightened in the sacred lore, and among the foremost therefore of the Ar(e)dra. 16. He then calls on Frashao^tra, with the Hvogvas, exhorting all to continue in their righteous course, in harmony with those whom they wish for as Saviours for the land, assuring them that they will reach at last that sacred scene where the 'Immortals' dwrell with God. 17. 'That scene,' he further adds, 'where the faithful sing their praises in perfection, using the true metres ' (as sacred as the Vedic). And he declares that Ahura, who discerns the truth infallibly, will heed and answer ; for the praises sung there will be those of obedient men who offer to the cause. 18. He once

more holds out his spiritual rewards as the best gifts of the inspired revelation, threatening as usual commensurate visitation upon the oppressing clans, while both promises and threats are in harmony with Ahura's will, for that alone has been his guide in every statement. 19. After all complaints, and threats, and stern injunctions, he closes with the once more repeated word ' reward,' and that for every man who shall aid in 'his great affair' (Y. XXX, 2), and he appeals to God Himself, asserting His inspiration for all that he has said. 1. To what land to turn1; aye, whither turning shall I go ? On the part of2 a kinsman (prince), or allied peer, none, to conciliate, give 3 (offerings) to me (to help my cause), nor yet the throngs of labour, (not) even such as these 4, nor yet (still less) the evil 1 The Pahlavi translator sees the usual meaning in nemoi and nemo. He also accepts kam zam adverbially after the constant Greek usage. ' In what land shall I establish my religion (as it is here rejected) ; whither with my praises (of the true God) shall I go?' The rendering is so much richer that I turn from it with great reluctance.

2 It is to be regretted that able scholars should so hastily change the Gathic text here without first trying to render it as it is. This is all the more necessary, as each independent writer disputes emendations. Pain I think ought to stand. The /^aetu, airyaman, and verezmem are also elsewhere alluded to, as appertaining to the hostile party sometimes, and therefore not among those from among whom (para ?) the prophet would be expelled. 3 Dadaiti as a third plural has long been suggested with the eagerness of discovery. Its subjects would then be khshnaiu, and that implied in ya verezma. But the construction is difficult thus, and it may be greatly doubted whether we had not better alter our discovery back into the singular with the Pahlavi. I am greatly confirmed in my view of the grammatical form of khshnauj by Bartholomae's decision for a nominal form. Otherwise it would be a third singular, with loss of the final dental. 4 Hafca* seems to be an irregular form (see Y. LVIII, 4). I can tyrants of the province. How then shall I (establish well the Faith, and thus) conciliate Thy (grace), O Lord ? 2. This know I, Mazda ! wherefore I am thus unable to attain my wish1, and why my flocks are so reduced in number, and why my following is likewise scant. Therefore I cry to Thee ; behold it, Lord ! desiring helpful grace for me, as friend bestows on friend. (Therefore to meet my spirit's need, and this as well) declare and teach 2 to me the Good Mind's wealth.

3. When come, Great Giver ! they who are the day's enlighteners3, to hold the Righteous Order of the world upright, and forward pressing ? When are only make an exclamatory isque=talisque of it. The Pahlavi renders freely as if some form of hi=to bind were before him (recall holy?), or perhaps he read ha/C'a, rendering as=these all together, hamsayaki/fc ; Ner. ye svajre?^ayo. 1 So the Kine complained of him in Y. XXIX, 9 as anaesha ; so also the Pahlavi, explaining akhvastar [aigham denman atubanikih raaman rai khavitunam]. He proceeds li amat kam ramak va amatiZ' kam-gabra homanam, explaining anaesho as not being an isha-khshathra. Ma=sma notwithstanding position (?). 2 ' Nim wahr ' has long since circulated as a rendering for akhso ; and with fjtim in the sense of ' prayer,' it has afforded the admirable sense ' observe, take heed of the desire of the pious.' But we have a positive proof of the meaning ' teach,' ' declare ' for khsa; see Y. LXV, 9 (Wg.). So also in Y. XXVIII, 5. That Ahura possessed an \st\ is clear from Y. XXXIV, 5. And if the sage could ask, 'What is your uti (wealth)? what is your kingdom (power over possessions) ? ' it is certainly not strained to suppose that he could say here ; ' tell me concerning your wealth,' especially as he bewails his poverty. Lti is in antithesis to the idea expressed in kamnafshva and kamnana. So also the Pahlavi as translated by the Persian 'hezanah.

3 Ukshano would seem to be an ancient error for ushano, as the Pahlavi translator renders as if reading usha in Y. L, 10, and the schemes of the saviour Saoshyazzts with (their) lofty revelations (to appear) ? To whom for help does he (their chief) approach, who has Thy Good Mind (as his fellow-worker J) ? Thee, for mine exhorter and commander, Living Lord ! I choose. 4. (But e'er these helpers come to me, all rests as yet in gloom.) The evil man is holding back 2 those who are the bearers of the Righteous Order from progress 3 with the Kine, (from progress with the sacred cause) within the region, or the province4, he, the evil governor, endowed with evil might5, consuming0 life with evil deeds. Wherefore, whoever hurls him from his power, O Mazda ! or from life, stores for the Kine in sacred wisdom shall he make 7. not ukhsha. Otherwise ' increasers of the days ' is a fine expression, but suspicious in view of the Pahlavi rendering in Y. L, 10. Ner.'s *vika>fayitryo (sic) is striking, but I cannot claim for it all that it seems to offer, as Ner. elsewhere renders forms of vakhsh by those of kas. The Persian follows the Pahlavi.