Wordmarks for UT and College of Liberal Arts
Winfred P. Lehmann, Director :: PCL 5.112, 1 University Station S5490 :: Austin, TX 78712 :: 512-471-4566
LRC Links: Home | About | Books Online | EIEOL | IE Lexicon | IE Maps | IE Texts | Pub. Indices | SiteMap



Old Iranian Online

Lesson 3: Old Avestan

Scott L. Harvey, Winfred P. Lehmann, and Jonathan Slocum

A stark contrast between good and evil forms the backbone of Zarathustra's teaching, permeating every aspect of existence, both human and divine. The continuous war between Ahuras and Daevas parallels the continuous war between the old religion and the new, the struggle between the followers of the Truth and the followers of the Lie, and every individual's personal dilemma in choosing 'good thoughts, words, and deeds' over bad. Victory turns most poignantly on the last: every right choice on the part of a single individual increases the quantity, strength, and power of good in the entire world; every wrong choice, the magnitude of bad.

Reading and Textual Analysis

Yasna 53, the 'Wedding Hymn', is relatively short but densely packed. It continues the thematic link already seen in Yasna 29 between fertility and prosperity on the one hand, and morality and faith on the other, by likening both the social and physical union of the earthly bride and groom to the 'mythic' union of Wisdom and Truth, an event that lays 'the firm foundation of Good Mind'.

Zarathustra opens the hymn by announcing the conditions that would prove it is his sacrificial practice -- and by extension his doctrine -- that should be taken as the model for all others. Perhaps, too, he is even subtly invoking Ahura Mazda to create these very conditions in exchange for the people's support: "If you make a good existence for me, your sacrificer and voice among men," Zarathustra seems to say, "and for those who follow me as well, many more will adopt the practice you have laid out for humankind." In verse two, the audience is formally introduced to the fathers of the bride and groom, Kavi Vishtaspa and Frahaostra, respectively. In verses three and four, Zarathustra then turns to the matter at hand -- the marriage of Vishtaspa's daughter to Frahaostra's son -- and enunciates the merits thus brought to the community.

Verse five seems to be more generally directed, addressing everyone who is married or soon to be married, or perhaps others who are getting married alongside Spitami and Frahaostra's son. In verse six, Zarathustra waxes didactic, explaining how marriage remains 'the firm foundation of Good Mind' only insomuch as the spousal pair remain faithful to each other and not give in to the superficial pleasures that immoral actions may bring. Prosperity that comes by means of Deceit, by means of the Lie, will ultimately, Zarathustra insists, bring only weakness and death, while in verse seven he promises that fidelity, moral purity, and quite persistent 'exertion' will bear fruit. He clearly puts the brunt of the ethical burden, however, on the wife, for it is only she, he says, whose sexual purity will keep 'the spirit of the Possessor of the Lie' at bay. If all these conditions are maintained, Zarathustra promises in verse eight, the wealth and vitality of the unfaithful will be redirected to Ahura Mazda's flock. The poet closes the hymn with further encouragement to choose right over deceit and a last invocation to Ahura Mazda.

1 - vahishtâ îshtish srâvî       Zarathushtrahê

Spitâmahyâ yezî hôi       dât âyaptâ

ashât hacâ ahurô       mazdå yavôi vîspâi-â       hvanghevîm

yaê-câ hôi daben sashken-câ       daênayå vanghuyå       uxdhâ shyaothanâ-câ

2 - at-câ hôi scantû mananghâ       uxdhâish shyaothanâish-câ

xshnêm mazdå vahmâi-â       fraoret yasnãs-câ

kava-câ Vîshtâspô       zarathushtrish Spitâmô       Ferashaoshtras-câ

dånghô erezûsh pathô       yãm daênãm ahurô       saoshyantô dadât

3 - têm-câ tû Pourucistâ       Haêcat-aspânâ

Spitâmî yezivî dugedrãm       Zarathushtrahê

vanghêush paityâstîm mananghô       ashahyâ mazdås-câ       taibyô dât sarem

athâ hêm ferashvâ thwâ xrathwâ       spênishtâ Ârmatôish       hudânvareshvâ

4 - têm zî vê speredâ nivarânî       yâ fedhrôi vîdât

paithyaê-câ vâstryaêibyô       at-câ xvaêtaovê

ashâunî ashavabyô       mananghô vanghêush xvênvat hanghush       mêm-bêedush

mazdå dadât ahurô       daênayâi vanghuyâi       yavôi vîspâi-â

5 - sâxvênî vazyamnâbyô       kainibyô mraomî

xshmaibyâ-câ vademnô       mên-câ î mãz dazdûm

vaêdôdûm daênâbîsh       abyas-câ ahûm       yê vanghêush mananghô

ashâ vê anyô ainîm       vîvênghatû tat zî hôi       hushênem anghat

6 - ithâ î haithyâ narô       athâ jênayô

drûjô hacâ râthemô yême       spashuthâ frâidîm

drûjô âyesê hôish pithâ tanvô parâ       vayû-beredubyô dush-xvarethêm       nãsat xvâthrem

dregvôdebyô dêjît-aretaêibyô       anâish â manahîm       ahûm merengeduyê

7 - at-câ vê mîzhdem anghat       ahyâ magahyâ

yavat âzhush zrazdishtô      bûnôi haxtayå

para-câ mraocãs aorâ-câ       yathrâ mainyush dregvatô       anãsat parâ

ivîzayathâ magêm têm       at vê vayôi anghaitî       apêmem vacô

8 - anâish â duzhvareshnanghô       dafshnyâ hêntû

zahyâ-câ vîspånghô       xraosentãm upâ

huxshathrâish jênerãm xrûnerãm-câ       râmãm-câ âish dadâtû       shyeitibyô vîzhibyô

îratû îsh dvafshô hvô       derezâ mereithyaosh mazishtô       moshu-câ astû

9 - duzhvarenâish vaêshô râstî       tôi narepîsh rajîsh

aêshasâ dêjît-aretâ       peshô-tanvô

kû ashavâ ahurô       yê îsh jyâtêush hêmithyât       vasê-itôish-câ

tat mazdâ tavâ xshathrem       yâ erezhejyôi dâhî       dregaovê vahyô

Lesson Text

1 vahishtâ îshtish srâvî       Zarathushtrahê
Spitâmahyâ yezî hôi       dât âyaptâ
ashât hacâ ahurô       mazdå yavôi vîspâi-â       hvanghevîm
yaê-câ hôi daben sashken-câ       daênayå vanghuyå       uxdhâ shyaothanâ-câ
2 at-câ hôi scantû mananghâ       uxdhâish shyaothanâish-câ
xshnêm mazdå vahmâi-â       fraoret yasnãs-câ
kava-câ Vîshtâspô       zarathushtrish Spitâmô       Ferashaoshtras-câ
dånghô erezûsh pathô       yãm daênãm ahurô       saoshyantô dadât

3 têm-câ tû Pourucistâ       Haêcat-aspânâ
Spitâmî yezivî dugedrãm       Zarathushtrahê
vanghêush paityâstîm mananghô       ashahyâ mazdås-câ       taibyô dât sarem
athâ hêm ferashvâ thwâ xrathwâ       spênishtâ Ârmatôish       hudânvareshvâ

4 têm zî vê speredâ nivarânî       yâ fedhrôi vîdât
paithyaê-câ vâstryaêibyô       at-câ xvaêtaovê
ashâunî ashavabyô       mananghô vanghêush xvênvat hanghush       mêm-bêedush
mazdå dadât ahurô       daênayâi vanghuyâi       yavôi vîspâi-â

5 sâxvênî vazyamnâbyô       kainibyô mraomî
xshmaibyâ-câ vademnô       mên-câ î mãz dazdûm
vaêdôdûm daênâbîsh       abyas-câ ahûm       yê vanghêush mananghô
ashâ vê anyô ainîm       vîvênghatû tat zî hôi       hushênem anghat

6 ithâ î haithyâ narô       athâ jênayô
drûjô hacâ râthemô yême       spashuthâ frâidîm
drûjô âyesê hôish pithâ tanvô parâ       vayû-beredubyô dush-xvarethêm       nãsat xvâthrem
dregvôdebyô dêjît-aretaêibyô       anâish â manahîm       ahûm merengeduyê

7 at-câ vê mîzhdem anghat       ahyâ magahyâ
yavat âzhush zrazdishtô      bûnôi haxtayå
para-câ mraocãs aorâ-câ       yathrâ mainyush dregvatô       anãsat parâ
ivîzayathâ magêm têm       at vê vayôi anghaitî       apêmem vacô

8 anâish â duzhvareshnanghô       dafshnyâ hêntû
zahyâ-câ vîspånghô       xraosentãm upâ
huxshathrâish jênerãm xrûnerãm-câ       râmãm-câ âish dadâtû       shyeitibyô vîzhibyô
îratû îsh dvafshô hvô       derezâ mereithyaosh mazishtô       moshu-câ astû

9 duzhvarenâish vaêshô râstî       tôi narepîsh rajîsh
aêshasâ dêjît-aretâ       peshô-tanvô
kû ashavâ ahurô       yê îsh jyâtêush hêmithyât       vasê-itôish-câ
tat mazdâ tavâ xshathrem       yâ erezhejyôi dâhî       dregaovê vahyô

Translation

1   The sacrifice of Zarathustra Spitama is feted as the best
    If the Wise Lord would, in accordance with Truth,
          give [these] rewards to him throughout all [his] life:
    A good existence for him and for those who determine and understand
    The words and deeds of [his] good vision.
     
2   And so let Kavi Vishtaspa -- a Spitama, a son of Zarathustra
          -- and Frahaostra readily pursue,
    With good thought, with words and deeds,
    The succor of the Wise One, and paeans for His adulation,
    And [also] the straight path of the gift whose inspiration
          the Lord gives out of [his] power to give.
     
3   And now, Pouruchista Spitami, descendent of Haecataspa,
    Youngest of the daughters of Zarathustra,
    Gives to all of you the alliance of Truth and Wisdom,
          the firm foundation of Good Mind.
    Therefore, consult your inner strength and blessedly engage yourself
          with the most sacred [deeds] of Armaiti.
     
4   For on behalf of all of you, I shall eagerly wed to him [the woman]
          who tends to [her] father
    [Her] husband, the herdsman [of his clan], and [his] family possessions.
    Truthful to the truthful ones, Ahura Mazda gives [to her] the sun-like
          fruition of Good Mind, illuminating [her] thought
    For the sake of good vision, throughout [her] entire life.
     
5   I pronounce to [you] young women being married,
          and [likewise] to you [men],
    The commandments of one possessed of [good?] speech:
          Bear them in mind.
    Through good vision, find for yourselves -- and for them, [your wives] --
          a life which [is] of Good Mind.
    [And] through Truth, let each of you desire to win the other over.
    For that would be fruitful for each one.
     
6   In this way these [things are] true, O men; in that way [they are true], O wives.
    [There is an] adherent of deceit whom all of you see
         [clinging] to the prosperity [arising] out of deceit:
    [But] I take away these defenses of [his] person. For Advocates of the Lie,
          sighing, poor nourishment results,
          [and a life of] 'easy breathing' is lost1
    For Violators of Truth. [Allied] with them, you will destroy for yourselves
          the spiritual life.
     
7   And so, for all of you, [good] fruit will come from this ritual exchange
    As long as the 'impeller,' full of zeal, [keeps] driving, down and deep,
    At the base of [her] two thighs, from whence the spirit
          of the Possessor of the Lie has already disappeared.
    Abandon this ritual exchange and your last word is 'woe'!
     
8   Let the wrong-doers be [made] impotent by these [things],
    And, weakened, let them all cry out.
    And by means of good rule among man-killing and
          man-defiling [Possessors of the Lie?]
    Let one grant peace with them to the settled clans.
    Let that greatest pain arise upon them, [that which comes]
          through the shackle of death. And let it be soon!
     
9   On account of those who choose badly,
          poison adheres to him, [the righteous man],
    [As do] darkness and lack, those violators of Truth
          whose bodies are to be brought to an end.
    Where is the truthful Lord who would rob them of life and liberty?
    The power is yours, O Wise One, by which you would grant a better (life)
          to the poor man living rightly.

Grammar

11. ant-, mant-, and vant-stem Nouns

Nominal stems in ant form a simple adjective and the present participle active; mant and vant mark the possessive adjective. The inflections for the simple and possessive masculine adjectives are nearly the same, taking the weakened stem at in the oblique cases. Participles built on thematic verbal stems maintain the full nominal stem in most instances. Those built on athematic stems decline like other adjectives. Masculine and neuter oblique cases are identical. The feminine shows the same ablaut pattern, but adds î to complete the stem and thus declines like long î-stem nouns (cf. Section 6.2).

11.1. nt-Stem Nouns, Masculine
Singular:   Participle fshuyant- 'raising cattle'   Adjective berezant- 'great'
Nom.   fshuyãs   berezô
Acc.   *fshuyantem   berezantem
Instr.   *fshuyatâ   berezatâ
Dat.   fshuyante   berezaite
Abl.   fshuyantat   berezatat
Gen.   fshuyantô   berezatô
Loc.   *fshuyainti, fshuyaiti   *berezaiti
Voc.   *fshuyâ   berezâ
Dual:        
Nom/Acc/Voc.   fshuyantâ   bereantâ
Instr/Dat/Abl.   fshuyanbya   berezanbya
Plural:        
Nom/Voc.   *fshuyantô   berezantô
Acc.   fshuyantô   berezatô
Instr.   *fshuyadbîsh   bererzadbîsh
Dat/Abl.   fshuyanbyô   berezadbyô
Gen.   *fshuyantãm   berezatãm
Loc.   fshuyashu   *berezashu
11.2. nt-Stem Nouns, Neuter
    Participle fshuyant- 'raising cattle'   Adjective berezant- 'great'
Nom/Acc/Voc. sg.   *fshuyat   *berezat
         
Nom/Acc/Voc. sg.   *fshuyãn   *berezãn
12. Demonstrative Pronouns

In Section 7, the demonstrative pronoun ha- 'this', suppletive ta-, was given. Two other demonstrative pronouns, hvo- 'this' and a- 'that', appear frequently in masculine, feminine, and neuter declensions.

hvô-declension   Masculine   Neuter   Feminine
Nom. sg.   hvô   unattested   unattested
Acc. sg.   unattested   avat   avâm
Instr. sg.   avâ   unattested   unattested
             
Acc. pl   unattested   unattested   avâh
Instr. pl.   avâish   unattested   unattested
Gen. pl.   avaisâm   unattested   unattested
             
             
a-declension            
Nom. sg.   ayam   unattested   unattested
Acc. sg.   im, îm   it   imâm1
Instr. sg.   anâ   unattested   ayâ (?)
Dat. sg.   ahmâi   unattested   ahyâi
Abl. sg.   ahmât   unattested   unattested
Gen. sg.   ahya   unattested   unattested
Loc. sg.   ahmi   unattested   unattested
             
Dat. du   unattested   unattested   âbyâ (?)
Gen. du.   ayâh, âs   unattested   unattested
             
Acc. pl.   îsh   î, imâ1   unattested
Instr. pl.   âish, anâish   unattested   abish1
Dat. pl.   aibya   unattested   âbyas
Gen. pl.   aishâm   unattested   unattested
Loc. pl.   unattested   unattested   âhu
13. The Aorist Tense

As already noted in Section 4, a verb's tense is indicated by the formation of its stem. In addition to the present stems encountered there, Avestan also includes a category of aorist stems that, like those of the present system, are constructed in various ways. Seven forms of the aorist stem occur: root, reduplicated, thematic, and four forms of sigmatic. The root aorist adds its termination directly to the root. The reduplicated aorist adds the first vowel of its root, and any consonant immediately preceding that vowel, in front of the zero-grade of that root. E.g., vaoc- < vac, showing the reduplicated syllable va before the zero-grade uc-. Thematic aorists, like thematic presents, add the theme-vowel -a- to the root, which is usually in middle grade. Sigmatic aorists add -h/sh-, -ha/sa-, -ih/ish-, or -hih/shish-, with aspirate and sibilant variation according to environment.

The basic structure of an aorist verb is: augment + stem + termination, with the short vowel a- filling the space of the augment. In practice, however, the augment is rare, and is seen only in the indicative mood. This has led to a further distinction between the aorist 'injunctive', which exhibits no augment, and the aorist 'indicative', which has the full formation. Both have indicative sense, but there is a distinction between them. The aorist indicative denotes a definitely past sense, as in the form anãsat in verse 7 of the passage above:

    ... yathrâ mainyush dregvatô anãsat parâ
    ... [the place] where the spirit of the Deceitful One disappeared.

Here, the Deceitful One's disappearing has transpired: the action is fully past. The injunctive, by contrast, more often denotes a more general sense with respect to time -- i.e., something that is just always generally so, as in verse 6:

    ... nãsat xvathrêm / dregvôdebyô
    ... [a life of] 'easy breathing' is lost / For Violators of Truth.

Here, given the previously established conditions, the loss of 'easy breathing' necessarily results and therefore the injunctive form is used. It is important to note, however, that though this distinction always holds for the aorist indicative, which only gives a fully past sense, Zarathustra used the injunctive in both ways. For this reason, the distinction has been analyzed in these lessons as one between the 'aorist indicative' and the 'augmented aorist indicative'. Accordingly, the 'aorist indicative' has been translated to convey either a general or a past tense, according to context, while the 'augmented aorist indicative' always indicates only past tense.

Root Aorist Paradigm: dâ 'give'

Since all aorist forms are similar, only the root aorist paradigm will be presented here.

Injunctive-Indicative   Active   Middle
2 sg.   dâh   dâha
3 sg.   dât   dâta
         
1 du.   unattested   dvadi
         
1 pl.   dâmâ   *dâi
2 pl.   dâtâ   *dâsha
3 pl.   dân   data
         
Imperative        
2 sg.   dâdi, dâidi   dâhva
3 sg.   dâtu   dâtãm
         
2 pl.   dâta   *dadûm
         
Subjunctive        
1 sg.   *dâ, *dâni   *danâi
2 sg.   dâhi   dâhai
3 sg.   dât, dâti   *dâtai
         
1 pl.   dâma   unattested
2 pl.   unattested   dâdvai
3 pl.   dân   dântai
         
Optative        
1 sg.   dyâm   dya
2 sg.   unattested   dîsha
3 sg.   dyât, dayât   *dâta
         
1 pl.   zâima (YA)   *dâmaide
3 pl.   unattested   *dâyur
14. The Present Participle

A participle is a verbal noun, a verb stem that takes a nominal ending. It functions syntactically as either an adjective to modify a noun, or as a substantive to replace it. Like verbs, participles display an active, middle, or passive voice and a past, present, or future tense.

An example of the present participle in English can be illustrated by the word 'running'. In each of the sentences, "The water is running" and "The running water is cold," the verb 'run' is an adjective describing 'water'. In Avestan, the word may also be used as the subject of the sentence to describe someone or something that is running, as in "The running (one) is passing by," but this is unusual in English. Keeping in mind that a participle is adjectival, however, the common slang "The big, the bad, and the ugly..." may illustrate the same principle. Though 'big', 'bad', and 'ugly' are not participles, they are adjectives standing in for the nouns they modify (e.g., 'The big men', 'the bad men', etc.), a usage that participles commonly have in Avestan.

The present active participle is formed by adding the ending -ant to a present verbal stem; the paradigm is given above in Section 12. As noted there, those constructed on thematic verbal stems have less ablaut in declension. The middle participle adds the ending -amna to the thematic stem, or -âna to the athematic. Both decline as short-a nouns in the masculine or neuter, and long-â nouns in the feminine.

15. Conjunctions, Clitics, and a Note on Puns
15.1. Conjunctions, Particles, Interjections, and Clitics

Avestan uses many conjunctions and particles, and occassionally employs interjections. The most common conjunctions are ca 'and', uta 'and', ca ca 'both ... and', vâ 'or', and tu 'but' (sometimes with emphatic sense). Like their Sanskrit conterparts, they are enclitic. Of the three, ca is the most variable in meaning: it can sometimes be translated as 'or', as 'but', or even as an emphatic particle.

Three types of particles -- negative, emphatic, and indefinite -- predominate. The negative particles are three: nôit 'no, not', naêdâ 'and not', and mâ, a prohibitive particle employed with a verb in the imperative mood. The emphatic particles include bâ, usually left untranslated, vai 'verily, indeed', and zi 'for, indeed'. The particles cit and cana added to an interrogative pronoun, and cithit added to a preposition, produce an indefinite sense; e.g., kah 'who, what' beside kas-cit 'someone, any one' or pairî 'around, toward, away from' next to pairî-cithit 'sometime/place before.'

Two interjections occur: avai and vayai. Their translations vary, depending on context.

15.2. Puns

The passage selected for this lesson includes an unusual syntactic construction. In verse 6, line 3, Zarathustra employs the verb nasat as two words conveyed by one. The third person singular reduplicated aorist of ans and the third person singular root aorist of nas, both active, are both intended. The objects of the respective verbs flank their 'collapsed' appearance, dushxvarethem 'spoiled food' to be taken with ans 'result', and xvathrem 'easy breathing' with nas 'be lost'.

    drûjô âyesê hôish pithâ tanvô parâ
    vayû-beredubyô dush-xvarethêm       nãsat xvathrêm
    For Advocates of the Lie, sighing, poor nourishment attains,
    [and an existence of] 'breathing easy' is lost.

With the further alliteration and phonetic play between xvarethem and xvathrem, the phrase is a prime illustration of Zarathustra's remarkable poetic skill and innovation.

Footnote

1   The play on the two verbs sharing one aoristic form nashat 'attain' and 'is lost' is unfortunately itself lost in its English rendition, but the reader should try to imagine the poetic elegance of the phrase.