Yasht

A Yasht (Middle Persian: 𐭩𐭱𐭲, yšt') is a hymn of worship composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities.[1] The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts,[2] although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta collection.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Name
* 2 The 21 hymns of the Yasht collection
* 3 Yashts in the wider Avesta
* 4 References
* 4.1 Notes
* 4.2 Citations
* 4.3 Bibliography
* 5 External links

## Name

The English word yasht is derived from Middle Persian 𐭩𐭱𐭲 (yšt', "prayer, worship"). In the Pahlavi literature, the word is used interchangeably with yasn. Yasht probably originated from Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎ (yašta, "honored") from 𐬫𐬀𐬰‎ (yaz, "to worship, honor"). It may ultimately go back to Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂ǵ-[4] or *Hyaǵ-.[5]

Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎ is also the origin of two other terms. First, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬯𐬥𐬀 (yasna, act of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for an act of worship or specifically the Yasna ritual, and, second, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀 (yazata, (being) worthy of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for divinity.[6]

## The 21 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."[7] Most of the yazatas that the individual Yashts praise also have a dedication in the Zoroastrian calendar. The exceptions are Drvaspa and Vanant.

Overview of the 21 Yashts[8] No | Name[a] | Yazata[b] | Verses | Type  | Siroza

|
|
|
|
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1  | Ohrmazd Yasht[c] | Ahura Mazda | 33 | minor  | 1,8,15,23
2  | Haft Amahraspand Yasht[c] | Amesha Spentas | 15 | minor  | 2,4,5,7
3  | Ardwahisht Yasht[c] | Asha Vahishta | 19 | minor  | 3
4  | Hordad Yasht[c] | Haurvatat | 11 | minor  | 6
5  | Aban Yasht[b][9] | Anahita[f][g] | 132 | legendary  | 10
6  | Xwarshed Yasht | Hvare-khshaeta | 7 | minor  | 11
7  | Mah Yasht | Maonghah | 7 | minor  | 12
8  | Tishtar Yasht | Tishtrya | 62 | hymnic  | 13
9  | Gosh Yasht[10] | Drvaspa[d] | 33 | legendary  | 14
10  | Mihr Yasht[11] | Mithra | 145 | hymnic  | 16
11  | Srosh Yasht Hadoxt | Sraosha[e] | 23 | hymnic  | 17
12  | Rashn Yasht | Rashnu[e] | 47 | hymnic  | 18
13  | Frawardin Yasht[12] | Fravashis | 158 | hymnic  | 19
14  | Bahram Yasht | Verethragna | 64 | hymnic  | 20
15  | Ram Yasht[b] | Vayu[i] | 58 | legendary  | 21, 22
16  | Den Yasht[b][13] | Chista | 20 | legendary  | 24
17  | Ard Yasht | Ashi[g] | 62 | legendary  | 25
18  | Ashtad Yasht[b] | Khvarenah | 9 | minor  | 26
19  | Zamyad Yasht | see note[b] below | 97 | legendary  | 28
20  | Hom Yasht | Haoma[h] | 3 | minor  | 29
21  | Vanand Yasht | Vanant | 2 | minor  | 30

The 21 yashts are used today in a wide range of liturgical practices. The can be recited by priests as well as lay people and in a diverse range of settings, like fire temples as well as in private or public spaces.[14] They are typically addressed to one specific divinity. Their liturgical use is, therefore, different from the high liturgies, like the Yasna, Vendidad or Visperad, which are always performed by several priests, typically in a fire temple, and are dedicated to all Zoroastrian divinities.[15]

## Yashts in the wider Avesta

In addition to the hymns in the Yasht collection, the term Yasht is also used in Zoroastrian tradition for other texts. This includes several hymns of the Yasna liturgy that "venerate by praise". These 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 Srosh Yasht in Yasna 57, the praise of the (hypostasis of) "prayer" in Yasna 58, and a hymn to the Ahurani in Yasna 68\.

## References

### 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[i]
* 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."[16]
d. ^ | Yasht 9 to Drvaspa has a number of verses that are originally from Yasht 5, the hymn to the waters.[16]
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.
i. ^ | Vayu, divinity of wind and atmosphere, is a dual divinity: part benevolent and part malign.

### Citations

1. ↑ Skjærvø 2021, "The Yashts (Yašts) are Young Avestan hymns to individual deities.".
2. ↑ Hintze 2014a, "YAŠTS, the group of 21 Avestan hymns in praise of various deities of the Zoroastrian pantheon".
3. ↑ Malandra 2004, "HŌM YAŠT, name given to a section of the Avestan Yasna, namely, Y. 9-11.11, which thus, technically, is not one of the Yašts".
4. ↑ Degener 2007.
5. ↑ Ringe 2001.
6. ↑ Hintze 2014a.
7. ↑ Kellens 1987, p. 38.
8. ↑ Hintze 2014a, Table 1a-d.
9. ↑ Boyce 1982.
10. ↑ Malandra 2002.
11. ↑ Hintze 2014b.
12. ↑ Boyce 2000.
13. ↑ Kellens 1994.
14. ↑ Choksy & Kotwal 2005, "So niyaryišns and yašts were, and still are, recited in a variety of settings".
15. ↑ Hintze 2014a, "In the contemporary understanding, the Yašts thus differ from the Yasna (abbreviated Y.), which is celebrated to worship the entire Zoroastrian pantheon but only by priests within the fire temple".
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Kellens 1987, p. 39.

### Bibliography

* Boyce, Mary (1982). "ĀBĀN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. X. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 199-201. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/frawardin-yast-.
* Boyce, Mary (2000). "FRAWARDĪN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. I. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 60-61. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/aban-yast.
* Choksy, Jamsheed K.; Kotwal, Firoze M. (June 2005). "Praise and piety: Niyaryišns and yašts in the history of Zoroastrian praxis". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 68: 215-252. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0500011X.
* Degener, Almuth (June 2007). "Cheung, Johnny: Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb". Indo-Iranian Journal 50 (2): 199–201. doi:10.1007/s10783-008-9057-2. ISSN 0019-7246.
* Geldner, Karl F. (1889). Avesta: die heiligen Bücher der Parsen II: Vispered und Khorde Avesta. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. doi:10.25673/100261. https://opendata.uni-halle.de//handle/1981185920/102217.
* Hintze, Almut (2014a). "YAŠTS". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/yashts.
* Hintze, Almut (2014b). "MIHR YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mihr-yasht.
* Kellens, Jean (1994). "DĒN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. VII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 281-282. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/den-yast.
* Kellens, Jean (1987). "AVESTA i. Survey of the history and contents of the book". Encyclopædia Iranica. III. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 35–44. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/avesta-holy-book.
* Malandra, William W. (2004). "HŌM YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. XII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 431-434. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/hom-yast.
* Malandra, William W. (2002). "GŌŠ YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. XI. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 167. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/gos-yast.
* Ringe, Don (2001). "Review of "Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben" by Helmut Rix, et al.". Diachronica 18 (1): 184–187. doi:10.1075/dia.18.1.15rin. ISSN 0176-4225.
* Skjærvø, Prods O. (2021). "Yashts". The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. doi:10.1002/9781119399919.eahaa00358.

## External links

* English language translations of the Yashts from Darmesteter, James (1898), Müller, Friedrich Max, ed., Sacred Books of the East, 23, New York: OUP

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Zoroastrianism

Date|

* Zoroaster
* Vishtaspa
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* Firooz Bahram High School

Concepts|

* Ahura Mazda
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Important people|

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Sacred mirrors and places|

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Religious writings|

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* Zend
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Avesta scholars|

* Ebrahim Pourdavoud
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Personalities|

* Kay Lohrasp
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Related animals|

* Simurgh
* Dragon
* Chamrosh

Also See: Category:Zoroastrianism

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