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Ohrmazd Yasht

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The Ohrmazd Yasht is the first Yasht of the Yasht collection. It is named after and dedicated to Ahura Mazda the central divinity of Zoroastrianism.[1]

Overview

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Ohrmazd is the Middle Persian name of Ahura Mazda as well as of the first day of the month on which the Yasht is celebrated.[2] It consists of 33 stanzas. Within the Yasht collection of 21 Yashts, the Ohrmazd Yasht is the first hymn. Compard to the so called Great Yashts, it is assumed to be a later text.[3] Regardless, it is by far the most popular of the hymns.[4] The Ormazd Yasht does not contain any of the elements typical of the legendary or hymnic Yashts and is therefore categorized as a minor Yasht. It does, however, use the so called Frasna-formula, where the texts is presented as a conversation between Zarathustra and Ahura Mazda.[5]

Structure and content

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The content of the Ohrmazd Yasht primarily covers the many names of Ahura Mazda.[6] After the introductory stanzas 1-6, stanzas 7-11 contain a list of the 20 names of Ahura Mazda and a description of their efficacy.[7] Stanzas 12-15 contain a second list of names, which is independent from the first list and seems to be a later insertion.[8] Stanzas 16-19 continue the description from earlier part, i.e., they refer again to the first list. Stanzas 20-23 seeem to close off the Yasht thematically with stanza 23 in particuar containing the typical closing formula of the Yashts. This part is, therefore, considered to have been its original ending.[9] It is unclear when and why the remaining stanzas 24-33 were added to the text. Darmesteter for example has opined that they are a fragment from the lost Bahman Yasht to Vohu Manah.[10]

Translations

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Next to Yasht 11, the Ohrmazd Yasht is the only Yasht with an old translation in Middle Persian.[11] In addition, the Yasht has tranlastions into modern Persian as well as Sanskrit.[12] The first translation of the Ohrmazd Yasht into English was published in 1883 by Darmesteter.[13] In 1892, he also publisehd a translation into French.[14] In 1927, Lommel published a translation into German.[15] More recently, Panaino published an translation into English dedicated to the Ohrmazd Yasht as well as the Ram Yasht.[16]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Andrés-Toledo 2015, p. 521: "Yt 1: Ohrmazd Yašt to Ahura Mazda".
  2. ^ MacKenzie 1971, p. 61: "Ohrmazd [...] Ahura Mazda; astr. Jupiter; cal. 1st day of the month".
  3. ^ Panaino 2002, p. 15: "The Ohrmazd Yasht [...] is a later text with respect to the so called "Great Yashts"".
  4. ^ Hintze 2009, p. 59: "Yasts which cannot be categorized as either "legendary" or "hymnic", namely Yt 1, 3, and 4, exhibit the "Frasna"-formula as well".
  5. ^ Darmesteter 1892, p. 331: "Le Yasht d'Ormazd est avant tout un Yasht sur les noms d'Ormazd et leur vertu".
  6. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 21.
  7. ^ Lommel 1927, p. 13: "Zunächst geht aus § 19 (s. die Anm. dazu) deutlich hervor, daß die zweite Namenreihe in § 12-15 später hinzugefügt ist".
  8. ^ Lommel 1927, p. 13: "Ferner ist § 23 die typische Schlußformel".
  9. ^ Darmesteter 1883, pp. 31-34.
  10. ^ König 2015, p. 131: "Wie die Übersicht zeigt [siehe nächste Seite], begegnen in den Mss. Pahlavi-Übersetzungen (= PÜ) jenseits von Yt 1+11 kaum vor dem 19. Jh.".
  11. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 21: "We have three native translations of this Yast; one in Pahlavi [...], one in Persian (East India Office, XXII, 43), and one in Sanskrit".
  12. ^ Darmesteter 1883, pp. 21-34.
  13. ^ Darmesteter 1892, pp. 331-345.
  14. ^ Lommel 1927, pp. 13-18.
  15. ^ Panaino 2002.

Bibliography

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  • Andrés-Toledo, Miguel Á. (2015). "Primary Sources: Avestan and Pahlavi". The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4443-3135-6.
  • Darmesteter, James (1883). Müller, Max (ed.). Zend-Avesta II: The Sirozahs, Yasts and Nyayis. Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 23. Dehli: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
  • Darmesteter, James (1892). Le Zend-Avesta, Vol. 2: Traduction Nouvelle Avec Commentaire Historique Et Philologique; La Loi (Vendidad); L'Épopée (Yashts); Le Livre de Prière (Khorda Avesta). Paris: E. Leroux.
  • Geldner, Karl F. (1889). Avesta. The Sacred Books of the Parsis II: Vispered and Khorda Avesta. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
  • Hintze, Almut (2009). "Avestan Literature". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran. A History of Persian Literature. I.B.TAURIS.
  • Hintze, Almut (2014). "YAŠTS". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  • König, Götz (2017). "Bayān Yasn: State of the Art". Iran and the Caucasus 2. 21: 13–38. doi:10.1163/1573384x-90000003.
  • König, Götz (2015). "Zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der Yašts: Reste der exegetischen Tradition. Die Pahlavi-Übersetzungen von Yt 13 in Dk 7.". In Cantera, Alberto (ed.). Festschrift Pirart. Estudios de Iran y Turan.
  • Lommel, Herman (1927). Die Yäšt's des Awesta. Quellen der Religionsgeschichte: Iran. Vol. 15. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
  • MacKenzie, David N. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  • Panaino, Antonio (2002). The Lists of Names of Ahura Mazdā (Yašt I) and Vayu (Yašt XV). Serie orientale Roma. Vol. XCIV. Roma: Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente.
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