Srosh Yasht Hadoxt

Srosh Yasht Hadoxt
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First page of the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt in Darmesteter's French translation [1]
Information
Religion	Zoroastrianism
Language	Avestan
Period	Avestan period
Chapters	5 Kardes
Verses	22

The Srosh Yasht Hadoxt, also known as Srosh Yasht, is the 11th Yasht in the Yasht collection. It is named after and dedicated to Sraosha, the Zoroastrian hypostasis of Obedience and Observance. It must not be confused with the Srosh Yasht se shabag, which is also called Srosh Yasht and also dedicated to the same divinity. ^[2]

Name

See also: Sraosha

The Srosh Yasht Hadoxt is named after Sraosha, the Avestan name of the Zoroastrian divinity representing Obedience, whose name in Middle Persian became Srosh. ^[3] It is also the name of the 17th day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar. ^[4] In the sources, this hymn is sometimes called Srosh Yasht or Srosh Yasht Hadoxt. ^[5]

The origin of this hymn is unclear. According to the information provided in one of the oldest manuscripts, it is derived from the Hadoxt nask, one of the volumes of the now lost Sasanian Avesta. ^[6] According to other sources, however, either the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt, or the Srosh Yasht se shabag, was part of Bagan yasht nask, where it may have formed its eighth chapter. ^[7] Its name may also be derived from the Hadoxt ceremony, where it may once have been recited. ^[8]

Within the Yasht collection

See also: Yasht

Within the collection of 21 Yasht, the Srosh Yasht is the 11th hymn and with 22 verses, it is of aveerage length. Next to Yasht 1, the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt is the only Yasht with an old translation in Middle Persian. ^[9] It shares a number of similarities with Yasht 8, Yasht 10, Yasht 12, Yasht 13 and Yasht 14, a group which is known as the hymnic Yashts. ^[10]

Structure and content

Like many other Yashts, the text of the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt is divided into chapters, kalled Kardas. ^[11] It does, however, not feature the frashna, i.e., the text is not framed as a consultation of Ahura Mazda by Zarathustra. Its content is dedicated to the praise of Sraosha. Most of the material is derived from the Srosh Yasht se shabag ^[12] and it is generally regarded as derivative and comparatively inferior. ^[13] Regardless, it is one of the most popular hymns. ^[14]

Ritual use

If the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt was indeed derived from the Bagan yasht nask, it may have been once part of the Bagan Yasn. This liturgy is no longer performed, but according to the information in the Nerangestan , this was a so called intercalation ceremony . This means that its chapters would have been inserted into the Yasht i Visperad during the Staota Yasnya . ^[15] In today's Zoroastrian practice, the hymn is celebrated on the 17th day of the month dedicated to Sraosha. The Yasht can be performed at any time of the day except during Rapithwin. ^[16]

Editions and translations

There is no edition which is specifically dedicated to the Srosh Yasht. Instead, the hymn has been edited and translated as part of the wider Avesta or Yasht collection. It was included in both Westergaard's ^[17] and Geldner's ^[18] edition of the Avesta. Darmester provided a translation both into English ^[19] and French, ^[20] whereas Lommel provided a translation into German. ^[21]

References

Citations

1. Darmesteter 1892.
2. Malandra 2014, "Hymns to Sraoša. Although there are references throughout the Avesta to Sraoša, most information is contained in two related texts, namely Yasna 57 and Yašt 11".
3. MacKenzie 1971, p. 179: "Sroš [slwš M sros, N surūš] the god Obedience".
4. Nyberg 1974, p. 77: "Sroš [slwš] [...] the name of the 17th day of the month".
5. Lommel 1927, p. 88: "Es sind zwei an Srauša gerichtete Yäšt vorhanden, die auch beide in der ihnen von der Überlieferung gegebenen Überschrift als Sroš Yäšt bezeichnet werden".
6. Kellens 2002, "According to James Darmesteter (III, p. XII), six extracts of this nask have been preserved: the Fšūšō mąθra (Y. 58), the Srōšyašt hādōxt (Yt. 11) [...]".
7. König 2017, p. 21.
8. Darmesteter 1892b, p. 481: "Mais le nom de Hâdhôkht désigne aussi un service religieux, peutêtre identique au Evak-hômâst (voir plus bas la note 40); de sorte que notre Yasht peut être, soit le Srôsh Yasht tel qu’on le trouve dans le Nask Hâdhôkht, soit le Srôsh Yasht tel qu’on le récite dans le service Hâdhôkht". sfn error: no target: CITEREFDarmesteter1892b (help)
9. König 2015, p. 131: "Wie die Übersicht zeigt [siehe nächste Seite], begegnen in den Mss. Pahlavi-Übersetzungen (= PÜ) jenseits von Yt 1+11 kaum vor dem 19. Jh.".
10. Hintze 2014, "The second, ‛hymnic’ group comprises the six hymns Yt. 8 (Tištar; see TIŠTRYA), 10 (see MIHR YAŠT), 11 (Srōš), 12 (see RAŠN YAŠT), 13 (see FRAWARDĪN YAŠT) and 14 (Bahrām)".
11. Malandra 2014, "It too is characterized by a kardag division (into 5 chapters) of its 22 stanzas".
12. Malandra 2014, "it contains little information about Sraoša that is not already in Y. 57".
13. Malandra 2014, "By contrast, Yt. 11 shows only sporadically any metrical pattern and seems to be generally a loose compilation of diverse materials".
14. Hintze 2014, "Other common hymns are Yašts 2 (Haft Ameshaspend), 3 (Ardibehešt), 11 (Srōš), and 14 (Bahirām)".
15. König 2017, pp. 20-22.
16. Darmesteter 1892b, p. 481: "Voici un autre Yasht de Srôsh, qui peut se réciter tous les jours, à tout Gâh, saufle Rapitvîn". sfn error: no target: CITEREFDarmesteter1892b (help)
17. Westergaard 1852, pp. 213-216.
18. Geldner 1889, pp. 157-162.
19. Darmesteter 1883, pp. 159-167.
20. Darmesteter 1892, pp. 481-489.
21. Lommel 1927, pp. 89-92.

Bibliography

• Darmesteter, James (1883). Müller, Max (ed.). Zend-Avesta II: The Sirozahs, Yasts and Nyayis. Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 23. Dehli: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
• Darmesteter, James (1892). Le Zend-Avesta, Vol. 2: Traduction Nouvelle Avec Commentaire Historique Et Philologique; La Loi (Vendidad); L'Épopée (Yashts); Le Livre de Prière (Khorda Avesta). Paris: E. Leroux.
• Geldner, Karl F. (1889). Avesta. The Sacred Books of the Parsis II: Vispered and Khorda Avesta. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
• Hintze, Almut (2014). "YAŠTS". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• Kellens, Jean (2002). "HĀDŌXT NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XI. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 457–458.
• König, Götz (2017). "Bayān Yasn: State of the Art". Iran and the Caucasus 2. 21: 13–38. doi:10.1163/1573384x-90000003.
• König, Götz (2015). "Zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der Yašts: Reste der exegetischen Tradition. Die Pahlavi-Übersetzungen von Yt 13 in Dk 7.". In Cantera, Alberto (ed.). Festschrift Pirart. Estudios de Iran y Turan.
• Lommel, Herman (1927). Die Yäšt's des Awesta. Quellen der Religionsgeschichte: Iran. Vol. 15. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• MacKenzie, David N. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
• Malandra, William W. (2014). "SRAOŠA". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• Nyberg, Henrik S. (1974). A Manual of Pahlavi II - Ideograms, Glossary, Abbreviations, Index, Grammatical Survey, Corrigenda to Part I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN   3447-01580-2.
• Westergaard, Niels L. (1852). Zendavesta: or The religious books of the Zoroastrians. Copenhagen: Berling brothers.

External links

• Avestan text of the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt at Avesta.org based on the edition by Geldner
• English translation of the Srosh Yasht Hadoxt at Avesta.org based on the translation by Darmesteter