The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the

Younger Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

divinity or concept. ''Yasht'' chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as ''Yt.''

Overview

The word ''yasht'' derives from Middle Persian 𐭩𐭱𐭲 yašt (“prayer, worship”) probably from

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

''𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎'' (yašta, “honored”), from ''𐬫𐬀𐬰‎'' (yaz, “to worship, honor”), from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...

''*yeh₂ǵ-'' or ''*Hyaǵ-'', and several hymns of the ''

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
'' Barsom A barsom is a ritual implement used by Zoroastrian priests to solemnize certain sacred ceremonies. The word ''barsom'' derives from the Avestan language ''baresman'' (trisyllabic, '), which is in turn a substantive of ''barez'' "to grow high. ...

Yasht'' (''Yasna'' 2), another '' Hom Yasht'' in ''Yasna'' 9–11, the ''Bhagan Yasht'' of ''Yasna'' 19–21, a hymn to

Ashi Ashi (Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬌 ''aṣ̌i/arti'') is the Avestan language word for the Zoroastrian concept of "that which is attained." As the hypostasis of "reward," "recompense," or "capricious luck," ''Ashi'' is also a divinity in the Zoroastria ...

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 liturgy, 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 ''

yazata Yazata ( ae, 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀) is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and i ...

''s that the individual ''Yasht''s praise also have a dedication in the

Zoroastrian calendar Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for liturgical purposes, all derived from medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately based on the Babylonian calendar as used in the Achaemenid empire. ''Qadim ...

. The exceptions are

Drvaspa Drvaspa (''druuāspā'', ''drvāspā'', ''drwāspā'') is the Avestan language name of an "enigmatic" and "strangely discreet". Zoroastrian divinity, whose name literally means "with solid horses" and which she is then nominally the hypostasis o ...

and Vanant. The twenty-one ''yasht''s of the collection (notes follow):

Notes

References

Bibliography

* : 35–44.

External links

English language translations of the ''Yasht''s
from {{Zoroastrianism Avesta Zoroastrian texts