Yasht

The Yashts (Yašts) are a collection of twenty-one hymns in Younger Avestan. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. Yasht chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as Yt.

The word yasht derives from Avestan yešti, "for venerate" (see Christian Bartholomae`s Altiranisches wörterbuch, section 1298), and 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 litury, they do not count among the twenty-one 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."

Most of the yazatas that the individual Yashts are in praise of also have a dedication in the Zoroastrian calendar. The exceptions are Drvaspa and Vanant.

The twenty-one yashts of the collection (notes follow):

Yasht # title / nominally invokes in praise of extent
1. Ohrmazd Yasht Ahura Mazda 33 verses
2. Hapt Amahraspand Yasht the seven Amesha Spentas 15 verses
3. Ardawahisht Yasht Asha Vahishta of "Best Truth" 19 verses
4. Hordad Yasht Haurvatat of "Wholeness" and "Perfection" 11 verses
5. Apan (Yasht) Yasht Aredvi Sura Anahita of the waters 132 verses
6. Hwarshed Yasht Hvare-khshaeta of the "Radiant Sun" 7 verses
7. Mah Yasht Maonghah of the "Moon" 7 verses
8. Tishtar Yasht Tishtrya, the star Sirius 62 verses
9. Drvasp Yasht Drvaspa, guardian of horses 33 verses
10. Mihr Yasht Mithra of "Covenant" 145 verses
11. Srosh Yasht Sraosha of "Obedience" 23 verses
12. Rashn Yasht Rashnu of "Justice" 47 verses
13. Fravardin Yasht the Fravashis 158 verses
14. Warharan Yasht Verethragna, "Smiter of resistance" 64 verses
15. Ram Yasht the "good" Vayu 58 verses
16. Den Yasht Chista, "Wisdom" 20 verses
17. Ard Yasht Ashi of "Recompense" 62 verses
18. Ashtad Yasht khvarenah, the "(divine) glory" 9 verses
19. Zam Yasht see note below 97 verses
20. Hom Yasht Haoma 3 verses
21. Vanant Yasht Vanant, the star Vega 2 verses

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
  • 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."
d. ^ Yasht 9 to Drvaspa has a number of verses that are originally from Yasht 5, the hymn to the waters.
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.
h. ^ Vayu, divinity of wind and atmosphere, is a dual divinity: part benevolent and part malign.