From Yashts (Hymns to Ahura Mazda, the Archangels, and the Angels)

passages 61 - 82 From Mihr Yasht (Hymn to Mithra)

61. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Firm-legged, a watcher fully awake; valiant, a chief in assemblies; making the waters flow forward; listening to appeals; making the waters run and the plants grow up; ruling over the Karshvares; delivering; happy; undeceivable; endowed with many senses; a creature of wisdom;

62. 'Who gives neither strength nor vigour to him who has lied unto Mithra; who gives neither glory nor any boon to him who has lied unto Mithra.

63. 'Thou takest away the strength from their arms, being angry and all-powerful; thou takest the swiftness from their feet, the eye-sight from their eyes, the hearing from their ears. 'Not the wound of the well-sharpened spear or of the flying arrow reaches that man to whom Mithra comes for help with all the strength of his soul he of the ten-thousand spies, the powerful all-knowing undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

64. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who takes possession of the beautiful, wide-expanding law, greatly and powerfully and whose face looks over all the seven Karshvares of the earth;

65. 'Who is swift amongst the swift, liberal amongst the liberal, strong amongst the strong, a chief of assembly amongst the chiefs of assemblies; increase-giving, fatness-giving, cattle-giving, sovereignty-giving, son-giving, cheerfulness-giving, and bliss-giving.

66. 'With whom proceed Ashi Vanguhi, and Parendi on her light chariot, the awful Manly Courage, the awful kingly Glory, the awful sovereign Sky, the awful cursing thought of the wise, the awful Fravashis of the faithful, and he who keeps united together the many faithful worshippers of Mazda. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

67. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastares, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who drives along on his high-wheeled chariot, made of a heavenly substance, from the Karshvare of Arezahi to the Karshvare of Hvaniratha, the bright one; accompanied by the wheel of sovereignty, the Glory made by Mazda, and the Victory made by Ahura;

68. 'Whose chariot is embraced by the great Ashi Vanguhi; to whom the Law of Mazda opens a way, that he may go easily; whom four heavenly steeds, white, shining, seen afar, beneficent, endowed with knowledge, swiftly carry along the heavenly space, while the cursing thought of the wise pushes it forward;

69. 'From whom all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends flee away in fear. Oh! may we never fall across the rush of the angry lord, who goes and rushes from a thousand sides against his foe, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

70. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Before whom Verethraghna, made by Ahura, runs opposing the foes in the shape of a boar, a sharp-toothed he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing, wrathful, with a dripping face; strong, with iron feet, iron fore-paws, iron weapons, an iron tail, and iron jaws;

71. 'Who, eagerly clinging to the fleeing foe, along with Manly Courage, smites the foe in battle, and does not think he has smitten him, nor does he consider it a blow till he has smitten away the marrow and the column of life, the marrow and the spring of existence.

72. 'He cuts all the limbs to pieces, and mingles, together with the earth, the bones, hair, brains, and blood of the men who have lied unto Mithra. 'For his brightness and glory, we offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

73. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who, with hands lifted up, rejoicing, cries out, speaking thus:

74. '"O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent spirit! Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! '"If men would worship me with a sacrifice in which I were invoked by my own name, as they worship the other gods with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, then I should come to the faithful at the appointed time; I should come in the appointed time of my beautiful, immortal life."

75. 'May we keep our field; may we never be exiles from our field, exiles from our house, exiles from our borough, exiles from our town, exiles from our country.

76. 'Thou dashest in pieces the malice of the malicious, the malice of the men of malice: dash thou in pieces the killers of faithful men! 'Thou hast good horses, thou hast a good chariot: thou art bringing help at every appeal, and art powerful.

77. 'I will pray unto thee for help, with many consecrations, with good consecrations of libations; with many offerings, with good offerings of libations, that we, abiding in thee, may long inhabit a good abode, full of all the riches that can be wished for.

78. 'Thou keepest those nations that tender a good worship to Mithra, the lord of wide pastures; thou dashest in pieces those that delight in havoc. Unto thee will I pray for help: may he come to us for help, the awful, most powerful Mithra, the worshipful and praiseworthy, the glorious lord of nations. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

79. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who made a dwelling for Rashnu, and to whom Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship;

80. 'Thou art a keeper and protector of the dwelling of those who lie not: thou art the maintainer of those who lie not. With thee hath Verethraghna, made by Ahura, contracted the best of all friendships, and thus it is how so many men who have lied unto Mithra, even privily, lie smitten down on the ground. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

81. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who made a dwelling for Rashnu, and to whom Rashnu gave all his soul for long friendship;

82. 'To whom Ahura Mazda gave a thousand senses and ten thousand eyes to see. With those eyes and those senses, he watches the man who injures Mithra, the man who lies unto Mithra. Through those eyes and those senses, he is, undeceivable, he, of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....