Yasht

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A Yasht (Middle Persian : 𐭩𐭱𐭲, yšt') is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language, specifically used for the collection of 21 Yashts dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. [1] More generally, the term may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta collection. [2]

Contents

Name

The English word yasht is derived from Middle Persian 𐭩𐭱𐭲 (yšt', "prayer, worship"). In the Pahlavi literature, the word is used interchangeably with yasn. Yasht probably originated from Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎ (yašta, "honored") from 𐬫𐬀𐬰‎ (yaz, "to worship, honor"). It may ultimately go back to Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂ǵ- [3] or *Hyaǵ-. [4]

Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎ is also the origin of two other terms. First, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬯𐬥𐬀 (yasna, act of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for an act of worship or specifically the Yasna ritual, and, second, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀 (yazata, (being) worthy of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for divinity. [5]

The 21 hymns of the Yasht collection

All the hymns of the Yasht collection "are written in what appears to be prose, but which, for a large part, may originally have been a (basically) eight-syllable verse, oscillating between four and thirteen syllables, and most often between seven and nine." [6] Most of the yazata s that the individual Yashts praise also have a dedication in the Zoroastrian calendar. The exceptions are Drvaspa and Vanant.

Overview of the 21 Yashts [7]
NoName [a] Yazata [b] VersesTypeSiroza
1 Ohrmazd Yasht [c] Ahura Mazda 33minor1,8,15,23
2Hapt Amahraspand Yasht [c] Amesha Spentas 15minor2,4,5,7
3 Ardawahisht Yasht [c] Asha Vahishta 19minor3
4 Hordad Yasht [c] Haurvatat 11minor6
5 Aban Yasht [b] [8] Anahita [f] [g] 132legendary10
6 Hwarshed Yasht Hvare-khshaeta 7minor11
7 Mah Yasht Maonghah 7minor12
8 Tishtar Yasht Tishtrya 62hymnic13
9Gosh Yasht [9] Drvaspa [d] 33legendary14
10 Mihr Yasht [10] Mithra 145hymnic16
11 Srosh Yasht Sraosha [e] 23hymnic17
12 Rashn Yasht Rashnu [e] 47hymnic18
13 Fravardin Yasht [11] Fravashis 158hymnic19
14 Warharan Yasht Verethragna 64hymnic20
15Ram Yasht [b] Vayu [i] 58legendary21, 22
16 Den Yasht [b] [12] Chista 20legendary24
17 Ard Yasht Ashi [g] 62legendary25
18 Ashtad Yasht [b] Khvarenah 9minor26
19 Zam Yashtsee note [b] below97legendary28
20 Hom Yasht Haoma [h] 3minor29
21 Vanant Yasht Vanant 2minor30

The 21 yashts are used today in a wide range of liturgical practices. The can be recited by priests as well as lay people and in a diverse range of settings, like fire temples as well as in private or public spaces. [13] They are always addressed to one specific divinity. Their liturgical use is, therefore, different from the high liturgies, like the Yasna, Vendidad or Visperad, which are always performed by several priests in a fire temple and are addressed to all Zoroastrian divinities. [14]

Yashts in the wider Avesta

Several hymns of the Yasna liturgy that "venerate by praise" are—in tradition—also nominally called yashts. These "hidden" Yashts are: the Barsom Yasht (Yasna 2), another Hom Yasht in Yasna 9–11, the Bhagan Yasht of Yasna 19–21, a hymn to Ashi in Yasna 52, another Sarosh Yasht in Yasna 57, the praise of the (hypostasis of) "prayer" in Yasna 58, and a hymn to the Ahurani in Yasna 68. Since these are a part of the primary liturgy, they do not count among the twenty-one hymns of the Yasht collection.

References

Notes

a.  ^ The Yashts did not originally have titles. These were assigned at some time during the Common Era, and hence reflect the Middle Persian forms of the divinities' names.
b.  ^ Several Yashts are—despite their names—hymns to other divinities or concepts.
  • Yasht 5 is nominally to the waters but primarily addresses Aredvi Sura Anahita, who is (also) a divinity of the waters.
  • Yasht 15 is nominally to Raman (Rama Kshathra) but praises the "good" Vayu [i]
  • Yasht 16 is nominally to Daena "insight, revelation" but actually invokes Chista "Wisdom". Chista and Daena are very closely associated with one another.
  • Yasht 18, nominally to Arshtat, is actually an ode to khvarenah , the "(divine) glory".
  • Yasht 19, nominally to Zam, the "Earth", has very little to do with the earth. See Zam for details.
c.  ^ Yashts 1–4 are "mediocre, meaningless texts, composed in incoherent language; they probably result from a very late expansion of the Yašt collection." [15]
d.  ^ Yasht 9 to Drvaspa has a number of verses that are originally from Yasht 5, the hymn to the waters. [15]
e.  ^ Yashts 11 and 12 are respectively hymns to Sraosha and Rashnu, but are to some extent also an extension of Yasht 10, the hymn to Mithra. Sraosha and Rashnu are both attendants of Mithra.
f.  ^ There is also a "hidden" Yasht to the waters at Yasna 38.
g.  ^ Yasht 5 (in praise of Aredvi Sura Anahita) and Yasht 17 (to Ashi) share a number of verses. It is not possible to determine which of the two is the original.
h.  ^ The Avesta has two hymns that were later titled Hom Yasht. The original is part of the Yasna liturgy and hence not counted as a Yasht. The other, Yasht 20, is a duplicate of the three verses of Yasna 9–11.
i.  ^ Vayu, divinity of wind and atmosphere, is a dual divinity: part benevolent and part malign.

Citations

  1. ↑ Hintze 2014a, "YAŠTS, the group of 21 Avestan hymns in praise of various deities of the Zoroastrian pantheon. ".
  2. ↑ Malandra 2004, "HŌM YAŠT, name given to a section of the Avestan Yasna, namely, Y. 9-11.11, which thus, technically, is not one of the Yašts".
  3. ↑ Degener 2007.
  4. ↑ Ringe 2001.
  5. ↑ Hintze 2014a.
  6. ↑ Kellens 1987, p. 38.
  7. ↑ Hintze 2014a, Table 1a-d.
  8. ↑ Boyce 1982.
  9. ↑ Malandra 2002.
  10. ↑ Hintze 2014b.
  11. ↑ Boyce 2000.
  12. ↑ Kellens 1994.
  13. ↑ Choksy & Kotwal 2005, "So niyaryišns and yašts were, and still are, recited in a variety of settings".
  14. ↑ Hintze 2014a, "In the contemporary understanding, the Yašts thus differ from the Yasna (abbreviated Y.), which is celebrated to worship the entire Zoroastrian pantheon but only by priests within the fire temple".
  15. 1 2 Kellens 1987, p. 39.

Bibliography

  • Boyce, Mary (1982). "ĀBĀN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. X. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 199–201.
  • Boyce, Mary (2000). "FRAWARDĪN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. I. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 60–61.
  • Choksy, Jamsheed K.; Kotwal, Firoze M. (June 2005). "Praise and piety: Niyaryišns and yašts in the history of Zoroastrian praxis". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 68: 215–252. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0500011X.
  • Degener, Almuth (June 2007). "Cheung, Johnny: Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb". Indo-Iranian Journal. 50 (2): 199–201. doi:10.1007/s10783-008-9057-2. ISSN   0019-7246.
  • Hintze, Almut (2014a). "YAŠTS". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  • Hintze, Almut (2014b). "MIHR YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  • Kellens, Jean (1994). "DĒN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 281–282.
  • Kellens, Jean (1987). "AVESTA i. Survey of the history and contents of the book". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 35–44.
  • Malandra, William W. (2004). "HŌM YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 431–434.
  • Malandra, William W. (2002). "GŌŠ YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XI. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 167.
  • Ringe, Don (2001). "Review of "Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben" by Helmut Rix, et al". Diachronica. 18 (1): 184–187. doi:10.1075/dia.18.1.15rin. ISSN   0176-4225.
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