Ardwahisht Yasht

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The Ardwahisht Yasht, also known as the Ordibehesht Yasht, is the third Yasht of the Yasht collection. [1] It is named after Asha Vahishta, the Amesha Spenta representing Asha. [2]

Contents

Name

Ardwahisht (rtwhšt) is the Middle Persian name of Asha Vahishta (Avestan : 𐬬𐬀𐬵𐬌𐬱𐬙𐬀 𐬀𐬴𐬀, The Best Asha), the Amesha Spenta and Yazata representing Asha. [3] It is a compound term consisting of Ard, [4] the Middle Persian name of Asha, and wahist, the Middle Persian word meaning The Best. [5]

Within the Yasht collection

Within the Yasht collection of 21 Yashts, the Ardwahisht Yasht is the third hymn. A number of factors set it apart from most of the other Yashts. First, its Avestan text exhibits a number of errors [6] and it appears to be stitched together from earlier sources. [7] Next, it was not part of the Bagan yasht. [8] Finally, it is considered to be a relatively late composition. [9] As a result, it is counted among the so called Minor Yashts. [10] Despite this, the Ardwahisht Yasht is a relatively popular hymn. [11]

Structure and content

The Ardwahisht Yasht consists of 19 stanzas. According to Darmesteter, they can be divided into two main parts. The first part consists of stanzas 1-4. This is the only part dedicated to Asha, the Zoroastrian divinity after which it is actually named. [12] In addition, this part is dedicated to the Ashem Vohu manthra, the prayer in honor of Asha. [13] The second and larger part consists of stanzas 5-19. It is dedicated to Airyaman, [14] a Zoroastrian divinity with a strong connection to Asha, [15] as well as to the Airyaman ishya manthra, the prayer dedicated to Airyaman. [16]

Editions

During the Sasanian period, a comprehensive edition of the Avestan corpus existed. Within this edition, most extant Yashts were part of the Bagan yasht, one of the volumes of this edition. [8] However, according to later descriptions, the Ardwahisht Yasht was not included and its provenience is unknown. After the loss of the Sasanian Avesta, sometime between the 10th and 14th century, the surviving Avestan texts were transmitted through a number of individual manuscript traditions. The oldest manucript, which contains the Ardwahisht Yasht is the F1 manuscript (ms. 6550) written in 1591 by Asdin Kaka Dhanpal Laxmidar, a Zoroastrian priest from the Homajiar Ramyar family in Navsari. [17]

There is no modern edition dedicated to this hymn specifically, but its text has been made available through critical editions of either the whole Avestan corpus or the Yasht corpus specifically. One of the oldest editions was compiled by Westergaard [18] in 1852. In 1863, Spiegel produced another edition of the Avesta, in which the Ardwahisht Yasht was published in Volume III, dedicated to the Khordeh Avesta and the Yasht collection. [19] In 1889, Geldner produced his seminal edition of the Avesta, which contains a critical apparatus of the manuscripts he used for editing and the textual variants contained therein. [20]

Translations

The Ardwahisht Yasht is one of the few Yashts for which a translation into Middle Persian is available. This translation is, however, found in only 4 of the 22 Yasht manuscripts, namely the D 1810, MR 1844, U2 and U3 manuscripts. [21] The translation shows similarities to the classic Zend commentaries of the Sasanian period. [22] However, factors like the presences of an Arabic loan word as well as the influence of Modern Persian, demonstrate that it was produced some time after the Islamic conquest of Iran. [23]

Translations into western languanges are based on the edition of Geldner and consequently translate either the whole Avesta or the Yasht collection. The first translation into English was provided in 1883 by Darmesteter as part of the Sacred Books of the East series by Max Müller. [24] In 1892, Darmesteter also provided a translation into his native French. [25] An important translation into German was produced by Lommel in 1927 as part of his seminal translation of the Yasht collection. [26]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Boyce 1986b, "ARDWAHIŠT YAŠT (ORDĪBEHEŠT YAŠT), the third in the series of Avestan hymns addressed to individual divinities".
  2. ↑ Andrés-Toledo 2015, p. 521: "Yt 3: Ardwahišt Yašt to Aša Vahišta ('Best Order'), the Ameša Spenta associated with fire".
  3. ↑ Nyberg 1974, p. 30: "Art-vahišt ['rtwhšt'] 402; Urt-vahiSt Pwrtwhst'] 39%, Aša-vahist ['šwhšt'] [...] one of the Amahraspands".
  4. ↑ MacKenzie 1971, p. 20: "Ard ['lt, M 'yrd, N ~] a goddess; cal. 25th day.".
  5. ↑ Nyberg 1974, p. 201: "vahišt [whšt'] 1. the best".
  6. ↑ Boyce 1986b, "[T]he language in which it is composed is very degenerate Avestan".
  7. ↑ Boyce 1986b, "[T]he contents are trite and appear to have been patched together".
  8. 1 2 König 2017, p. 21.
  9. ↑ Boyce 1986b, "[I]t appears to be one of those yašts composed at a late date".
  10. ↑ Hintze 2014, "'Minor' or 'apotropaic' Yašts[:] 3 (see ARDWAHIŠT YAŠT)".
  11. ↑ Hintze 2014, "Other common hymns are Yašts 2 (Haft Ameshaspend), 3 (Ardibehešt), 11 (Srōš), and 14 (Bahirām)".
  12. ↑ Darmesteter 1892, p. 351: "Ce Yasht est consacré dans la première partie (§§ 1-4) à la glorification d'Asha Vahishta".
  13. ↑ Boyce 1986b, "Only the first four verses are devoted to Aša and to a glorification of the prayer in his honor, the Ašəm vohū (q.v.)".
  14. ↑ Darmesteter 1892, p. 351: "[L]e reste (§§ 5-19) est consacré à l'auxiliaire d'Aslia Vahishta, Airyaman".
  15. ↑ Boyce 1986b, "The rest of the hymn consists of repetitive phrases, incantational in effect, in praise of another great prayer, the Airyə̄mā īšyō".
  16. ↑ Porro 2024, p. 205: "The manuscript F1, ms. 6550 [...] was completed [...] by Āsdīn Kākā Dhanpāl Laxmīdar Homajiār Rāmyār in Navsari, [on] January 1591 AD".
  17. ↑ Westergaard 1852.
  18. ↑ von Spiegel 1863.
  19. ↑ Geldner 1889, pp. 73-77.
  20. ↑ König 2015, p. 132.
  21. ↑ König 2015, p. 133: "An den PÜs Yt 3+14 läßt sich generell beobachten: a) wie die alten PÜs wird die avestische Wortfolge gewahrt; b) die meisten der von den alten PÜs gewählten Wiedergaben avestischer Worte/Wortverbindungen begegnen auch hier (bes. Yt 3)".
  22. ↑ König 2015, p. 133: "Die PÜ Yt 3 ist zwar keineswegs so schlecht wie ihr Ruf. Ein arabisches Wort läßt aber ein hohes Alter fraglich erscheinen".
  23. ↑ Darmesteter 1883, pp. 41-48.
  24. ↑ Darmesteter 1892, pp. 351-357.
  25. ↑ Lommel 1927, pp. 21-24.

Bibliography

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