Hordad Yasht

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The Hordad Yasht, [1] also known as Khordad Yasht, [2] or Awerdad Yasht, [3] is the forth Yasht of the Yasht collection. It is named after and dedicated to Haurvatat, the Zoroastrian divinity representing wholeness and perfection. [4]

Contents

Name

Hordad (hwrdt) is a Middle Persian term with the meaning perfection. It is also the name of the 3rd month and the 6th day of each month in the Zoroastrian calendar. [5] It is derived from Avestan Haurvatat, one of the Amesha Spenta associated with water. [4] Hordad is also the origin of Modern Persian Khordad (Persian : خرداد ), which is the name of the third month and 6th day of each month in the modern Persian calendar.

Within the Yasht collection

Within the Yasht collection of 21 Yashts, the Hordad Yasht is the forth hymn. It is typically celebrated on the 6th day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar. [6] Jointly with Yasht 2, 3, 20 and 21, it is one of the few hymns which is not derived from the Bagan yasht. [7] However, unlike those Yashts but like most others, it does not have a translation into Middle Persian. [8] It is considered to be of inferior quality [9] and to be a late composition. [10] As a result, the Hordad Yasht is counted among the so called Minor Yashts. [11]

Structure and content

The Hordad Yasht consists of 11 stanzas, which makes it one of the shorter Yashts. It also lacks the division into Kardas and the Frashna formula, both of which are otherwise common for the Yasht genre. [12] According to Darmesteter, only the first two stanzas are dedicated to Haurvatat, to which it is nominally dedicated, [13] whereas the remaining part refers to the Barashnûm ceremony. [14] Pananio argued that the Hordad Yasht may originally belonged to an ancient ritual. [15] Hintze has observed a connection of the Hordad Yasht with the Vendidad. [16]

History

According to later references in the Zoroastrian literature, the Hordad Yasht was not part of Bagan yasht, where most of the extant Yashts had been collected by Zoroastrian priests. [17] The oldest extant manuscript which contains the Hordad 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. [18] It is unknown from which source the Hordad Yasht was drawn. Its corrupt Avestan text indicates that it was compiled from earlier Avestan texts after Avestan ceased to be a spoken language. [19] Swennen argued that this compilation must have been taken place during Sasanian times, [20] whereas Panaino argues that it could have happened later. [15]

Editions and translations

The text of the Hordad Yasht is extant through a number of different manuscripts, all of whichh trace back to the F1 and E1 manuscripts. [21] There is no edition dedicated to this hymn specifically, but its text has been made available through critical editions of the whole Avestan corpus. Examples are the editions by Westergaard, [22] Spiegel [23] and Geldner. [24] Translations into western languanges were made by Darmesteter in 1883 into English [25] and in 1892 into French, [26] while Lommel published a translation into German in 1927. [27]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Andrés-Toledo 2015, p. 521: "Yt 4: Hordad Yašt to Hauruuatat ('Wholeness' or Integrity of Body), the Ameša Spenta associated with water".
  2. ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 48.
  3. ↑ Lommel 1927, p. 24.
  4. 1 2 Panaino 2012.
  5. ↑ MacKenzie 1971, p. 44: "Ногdаd [hwrdt' M hrwd'd, N Xurdād] Perfection, the fifth Amahraspand, guardian of water; cal. 3rd month; 6th day".
  6. ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 48: "The Khordad Yast can be recited at any time. It is better to recite it during the Gah Usahin, on the day Khordad".
  7. ↑ Kotwal & Hintze 2008, p. 2: "The remaining five Yašts 2–4 and 20–21, which do not belong to the Bayān Yašt Nask, are culled from other Nasks".
  8. ↑ König 2015, p. 131.
  9. ↑ Swennen 2006, p. 225: "Le quatrième hymne de l’Avesta, ou Hordad Yašt, n'a jamais eu bonne réputation".
  10. ↑ Panaino 2012, "A later hymn (Yt. 4) is specifically dedicated to Hauruuatāt".
  11. ↑ Hintze 2014, "'Minor' or 'apotropaic' Yašts[:] 4 (Hordād, see Swennen, 2006)".
  12. ↑ Hintze 2014, "The Yašts of the third group are characterized by [...] a lack of the structuring device found in the Kardes".
  13. ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 48: "Only the first two sections of this Yast refer to its nominal object, Haurvatat".
  14. ↑ Darmesteter 1883, p. 48: "The rest of the Yast refers to the performance of the Bareshnum ceremony".
  15. 1 2 Panaino 2003, p. 336.
  16. ↑ Hintze 2014, "Yt. 4 comprises a magic spell that smites Deceit (Yt. 4.5) and describes a ritual which entails making in the ground furrows that recall the layout of the Barešnum Gāh described in Fargard 9 of the Vidēvdād".
  17. ↑ König 2017, p. 21.
  18. ↑ Porro 2024, p. 205: "The manuscript F1, ms. 6550 [...] was completed [...] by Āsdīn Kākā Dhanpāl Laxmīdar Homajiār Rāmyār in Navsari, [on] January 1591 AD".
  19. ↑ Swennen 2006, pp. 225-226: "Les Yašt 1 à 4 sont certes corrompus et leur forme définitive résulte sans doute du découpage d’un ensemble plus large et plus homogène".
  20. ↑ Swennen 2006, p. 226: "Ceci implique bien sûr que ces textes figuraient déjà dans l’archétype sassanide et que leur introduction ultérieure dans le corpus est impossible".
  21. ↑ Kotwal & Hintze 2008, p. 1.
  22. ↑ Westergaard 1852.
  23. ↑ von Spiegel 1863.
  24. ↑ Geldner 1889, pp. 78-81.
  25. ↑ Darmesteter 1883, pp. 48-52.
  26. ↑ Darmesteter 1892, pp. 358-362.
  27. ↑ Lommel 1927, pp. 24-26.

Bibliography

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