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The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31), L.H. Mills, tr. [1886], at sacred-texts.com


YASNA XL.

PRAYERS FOR HELPERS.

1. And now in these Thy dispensations, O Ahura Mazda! do Thou wisely 4 act for us, and with abundance

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with Thy bounty and Thy tenderness 1 as touching us; and grant that reward which Thou hast appointed to our souls, O Ahura Mazda! 2. Of this do Thou Thyself bestow upon us for this world and the spiritual; and now as part thereof (do Thou grant) that we may attain to fellowship with Thee, and Thy Righteousness for all duration.

3. And do Thou grant us, O Ahura! men who are righteous, and both lovers and producers of the Right as well. And give us trained beasts for the pastures, broken in for riding 2, and for bearing, (that they may be) in helpful 3 companionship with us, and as a source of long enduring vigour, and a means of rejoicing grace to us for this 4.

4. So let there be a kinsman lord for us, with the labourers of the village, and so likewise let there be the clients (or the peers 5). And by the help of those may we arise.

So may we be to You, O Mazda Ahura! holy and true 6, and with free giving of our gifts.


Footnotes

288:4 A fem. noun mazdâ = medhâ.

289:1 Otherwise, 'understanding which protects' (?).

289:2 So the Pahlavi and Ner.

289:3 Bezvaitê.

289:4 May we be rejoicing(?).

289:5 Hakhemã (= -a) replacing the airyaman of the Gâthas, and throwing light upon its meaning. The form is irregular.

289:6 Or, 'holy rishis' (ereshayô?).


Next: Yasna XLI. A Prayer to Ahura as the King, the Life, and the Rewarder