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

passages 115 - 145 From Mihr Yasht (Hymn to Mithra)

115. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake. 'O Mithra, lord of wide pastures! thou master of the house, of the borough, of the town, of the country, thou Zarathushtrotema!

116. 'Mithra is twentyfold between two friends or two relations; 'Mithra is thirtyfold between two men of the same group; 'Mithra is fortyfold between two partners; 'Mithra is fiftyfold between wife and husband; 'Mithra is sixtyfold between two pupils (of the same master); 'Mithra is seventyfold between the pupil and his master; 'Mithra is eightyfold between the son-in-law and his father-in-law; 'Mithra is ninetyfold between two brothers;

117. 'Mithra is a hundredfold between the father and the son; 'Mithra is a thousandfold between two nations; 'Mithra is ten thousandfold when connected with the Law of Mazda, and then he will be every day of victorious strength.

118. 'May I come unto thee with a prayer that goes lowly or goes highly! As this sun rises up above the Hara Berezaiti and then fulfils its career, so may I, O Spitama! with a prayer that goes lowly or goes highly, rise up above the will of the fiend Angra Mainyu! 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

119. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastwes, .... sleepless, and ever awake, 'Offer up a sacrifice unto Mithra, O Spitama! and order thy pupils to do the same. 'Let the worshipper of Mazda sacrifice unto thee with small cattle, with black cattle, with flying birds, gliding forward on wings.

120. 'To Mithra all the faithful worshiypers of Mazda must give strength and energy with offered and proffered Haomas, which the Zaotar proffers unto him and gives in sacrifice. Let the faithful man drink of the libations cleanly prepared, which if he does, if he offers them unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, Mithra will be pleased with him and without anger.'

121. Zarathushtra asked him: 'O Ahura Mazda! how shall the faithful man drink the libations cleanly prepared, which if he does and he offers them unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, Mithra will be pleased vvith him and without anger?'

122. Ahura Mazda answered: 'Let them wash their bodies three days and three nights; let them undergo thirty strokes for the sacrifice and prayer unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. Let them wash their bodies two days and two nights; let them undergo twenty strokes for the sacrifice and prayer unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. Let no man drink of these libations who does not know the staota yesnya: Vispe ratavo. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacriace worth being heard....

123. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'To whom Ahura Mazda offered up a sacrifice in the shining Garo-nmana.

124. 'With his arms lifted up towards Immortality, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, drives forward from the shining Garo-nmana, in a beautiful chariot that drives on, ever-swift, adorned with all sorts of ornaments, and made of gold.

125. 'Four stallions draw that chariot, all of the same white colour, living on heavenly food and undying. The hoofs of their fore-feet are shod with gold, the hoofs of their hind-feet are shod with silver; all are yoked to the same pole, and wear the yoke and the cross-beams of the yoke, fastened with hooks of Khshathra vairya to a beautiful....

126. 'At his right hand drives Rashnu-Razishta, the most beneficent and most well-shapen. 'At his left hand drives the most upright Chista, the holy one, bearing libations in her hands, clothed with white clothes, and white herself; and the cursing thought of the Law of Mazda.

127. 'Close by him drives the strong cursing thought of the wise man, opposing 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 and swift to run, and rushing all around. 'Behind him drives Atar, all in a blaze, and the awful kingly Glory.

128. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand bows well-made, with a string of cowgut; they go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas.

129. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand vulture-feathered arrows, with a golden mouth, with a horn shaft, with a brass tail, and well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas.

130. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand spears well-made and sharp-piercing. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand steel-hammers, two-edged, well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas.

131. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand swords, two-edged and well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stand a thousand maces of iron, well-made. They go through the heavenly space, they fall through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas.

132. 'On a side of the chariot of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, stands a beautiful well-falling club, with a hundred knots, a hundred edges, that rushes forward and fells men down; a club cast out of red brass, of strong, golden brass; the strongest of all weapons, the most victorious of all weapons. It goes through the heavenly space, it falls through the heavenly space upon the skulls of the Daevas.

133. After he has smitten the Daevas, after he has smitten down the men who lied unto Mithra, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, drives forward through Arezahe and Savahe, through Fradadhafshu and Vidadhafshu, through Vourubareshti and Vouru-jareshti, through this our Karshvare, the bright Hvaniratha.

134. 'Angra Mainyu, who is all death, flees away in fear; Aeshma, the evil-doing Peshotanu, flees away in fear; the long-handed Bushyasta flees away in fear; all the Daevas unseen and the Varenya fiends flee away in fear.

135. 'Oh! may we never fall across the rush of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, when in anger! May Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, never smite us in his anger; he who stands up upon this earth as the strongest of all gods, the most valiant of all gods, the most energetic of all gods, the swiftest of all gods, the most fiend-smiting of all gods, he, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures.

'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

136. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'For whom white stallions, yoked to his chariot, draw it, on one golden wheel, with a full shining axle.

137. 'If Mithra takes his libations to his own dwelling, "Happy that man, I think," - said Ahura Mazda,- "O holy Zarathra! for whom a holy priest, as pious as any in the world, who is the Word incarnate, offers up a sacrifice unto Mithra with bundles of baresma and with the [proper] words. '"Straight to that man, I think, will Mithra come, to visit his dwelling,

138. '"When Mithra's boons will come to him, as he follows God's teaching, and thinks according to God's teaching. '"Woe to that man, I think," - said Ahura Mazda, - "O holy Zarathushtra! for whom an unholy priest, not pious, who is not the Word incarnate, stands behind the baresma, however full may be the bundles of baresma he ties, however long may be the sacrifice he performs."

139. 'He does not delight Ahura Mazda, nor the other Amesha-Spentas, nor Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, he who thus scorns Mazda, and the other Amesha-Spentas, and Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, and the Law, and Rashnu, and Arstat, who makes the world grow, who makes the world increase. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

140. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake. 'I will offer up a sacrifice unto the good Mithra, O Spitama! unto the strong, heavenly god, who is foremost, highly merciful, and peerless; whose house is above, a stout and strong warrior;

141. 'Victorious and armed with a well-fashioned weapon, watchful in darkness and undeceivable. He is the stoutest of the stoutest, he is the strongest of the strongest, he is the most intelligent of the gods, he is victorious and endowed with Glory: he, of the ten thousand eyes, 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....

142. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, .... sleepless, and ever awake; 'Who, with his manifold knowledge, powerfully increases the creation of Spenta Mainyu, and is a well-created and most great Yazata, self-shining like the moon, when he makes his own body shine;

143. 'Whose face is flashing with light like the face of the star Tistrya; whose chariot is embraced by that goddess who is foremost amongst those who have no deceit in them, O Spitama! who is fairer than any creature in the world, and full of light to shine. I will worship that chariot, wrought by the Maker, Ahura Mazda, inlaid with stars and made of a heavenly substance; (the chariot) of Mithra, who has ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer him a sacrifice worth being heard....

144. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with a thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake. 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra around countries; 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra within countries; 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra in this country; 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra above countries; 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra under countries; 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra before countries; 'We sacrifice unto the Mithra behind countries.

145. 'We sacrifice unto Mithra and Ahura, the two great, imperishable, holy gods; and unto the stars, and the moon, and the sun, with the trees that yield up baresma. We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of all countries. 'For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures.

'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness....

'I bless the sacrifice and p yer, and the strength and vigour of Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name; and that of Rama Hvastra. 'Ashem Vohu: Holiness is the best of all good.... '[Give] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones!'