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Old Iranian Online

Lesson 6: Young Avestan

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

Reading and Textual Analysis

This hymn glorifies Haoma -- on the one hand a yellow, milky liquid, on the other a priest serving Mithra. Highly prominent in the Rigveda as Soma, he is described in stanzas 88 to 90 of the Hymn to Mithra as a "healer, beautiful, majestic and golden-eyed, worshipped on the highest peak of Hara the high, ...whom Ahura Mazda installed as promptly-sacrificing, loud-chanting priest. He was the first mortar-priest to elevate the star-decked, supernaturally fashioned Haoma-stalks on the high Hara" (Gershevich 1967: 115-117). This hymn praises the liquid, its source in the mountains, and its effects. The Rigvedic hymn to Soma, 8:48, is laudatory, as in the first stanza followed by fourteen more: "I have partaken wisely of the sweet food that stirs good thoughts, best banisher or care, to which all gods and mortals, calling it honey, come together" (Macdonell 1917:155). Presumably created as stated here by a god, it may have been a center of worship already in Indo-Iranian, possibly even in Indo-European, times. Many attempts have been made to identify its source. According to some it was the juice of the rhubarb whose leaves turn yellow; to others, it was some kind of honey mead. But neither identification seems to accord with the description in this hymn, where it is a liquid that is derived from a plant pressed between two stones, and neither suggestion is likely for an intoxicating liquid with healing properties. With no historical record of its role in either Indian or Iranian worship, we can do little but interpret the words of the hymns.

2 - fratarəmcit tē havanəm vaca upa-staomi huxratvō yō ąsuš han̨eurvayeiti uparəmcit tē havanəm vaca upa-staomi huxratvō yahmi niγne narš aojan̨ha

3 - staomi maēγəmca vārəmca yā-tē kəhrpəm vaxšayatō baršnuš paiti gairinąm staomi garayō bərəzantō yaθra haoma urūruδuša

4 - staomi ząm pərəθvīm paθanąm vərəzyan̨xvąm xvāparąm barəθrīm tē haoma ašāum staomi zemō yaθra raoδahe hubaoiδiš aurvō carānəm uta mazdå huruθma haoma raose gara paiti ...

5 - vareδayan̨uha mana vaca vīspēsca paiti varšajīš vīspēsca paiti frasparəγē vīspēsca paiti fravāxšē

6 - haomō uxšyeiti stavanō aθā nā yō dim staoiti vərəθrająstarō bavaiti nitəmacit haoma hūitiš nitəmacit haoma stūitiš nitəmacit haoma xvareitiš hazan̨raγnyāi asti daēvanąm

7 - nasyeiti haθra frākərəsta ahmaṯ hacā nmānāṯ āhitiš yaθra bāδa upāzaiti yaθra bāδa upāstaoiti haomahe baēšazyehe ciθrəm baēšazəm

8 - vīspe zī anyē maiδyån̨hō aēšma hacinte xrvīm-drvō āaṯ hō yō haomahe maδō aša hacaite ...

10 - aurvantəm θwā dāmiδātəm baγō tatašaṯ xvāpå aurvantəm θwā dāmiδātəm baγō nidaθaṯ xvāpå haraiθyō paiti barəzayå

11 - āaṯ θwā aθra spenta fradaxšta mərəγa vīzxvanca vībarən ...

12 - āaṯ āxva paurvatāxva pouru-sareδō vīraoδahe haomō gaoma zairi-gaonō ā-tē baēšaza irīraθarə vaŋhēuš manaŋhō ...

Lesson Text

2 fratarəmcit tē havanəm vaca upa-staomi huxratvō yō ąsuš han̨eurvayeiti uparəmcit tē havanəm vaca upa-staomi huxratvō yahmi niγne narš aojan̨ha 3 staomi maēγəmca vārəmca yā-tē kəhrpəm vaxšayatō baršnuš paiti gairinąm staomi garayō bərəzantō yaθra haoma urūruδuša 4 staomi ząm pərəθvīm paθanąm vərəzyan̨xvąm xvāparąm barəθrīm tē haoma ašāum staomi zemō yaθra raoδahe hubaoiδiš aurvō carānəm uta mazdå huruθma haoma raose gara paiti ... 5 vareδayan̨uha mana vaca vīspēsca paiti varšajīš vīspēsca paiti frasparəγē vīspēsca paiti fravāxšē 6 haomō uxšyeiti stavanō aθā nā yō dim staoiti vərəθrająstarō bavaiti nitəmacit haoma hūitiš nitəmacit haoma stūitiš nitəmacit haoma xvareitiš hazan̨raγnyāi asti daēvanąm 7 nasyeiti haθra frākərəsta ahmaṯ hacā nmānāṯ āhitiš yaθra bāδa upāzaiti yaθra bāδa upāstaoiti haomahe baēšazyehe ciθrəm baēšazəm 8 vīspe zī anyē maiδyån̨hō aēšma hacinte xrvīm-drvō āaṯ hō yō haomahe maδō aša hacaite ... 10 aurvantəm θwā dāmiδātəm baγō tatašaṯ xvāpå aurvantəm θwā dāmiδātəm baγō nidaθaṯ xvāpå haraiθyō paiti barəzayå 11 āaṯ θwā aθra spenta fradaxšta mərəγa vīzxvanca vībarən ... 12 āaṯ āxva paurvatāxva pouru-sareδō vīraoδahe haomō gaoma zairi-gaonō ā-tē baēšaza irīraθarə vaŋhēuš manaŋhō ...

Translation

2 I praise with speech, O you who are filled with inspiration, your lower pressing stone, which presses together the forces of life. I praise with speech, O you who are filled with inspiration, your upper pressing stone, with which I, a man, pound forcefully.
3 I praise both the cloud and the rain by which you acquire bodily form, causing [your] growth around the peaks of mountains. I praise the high mountains where, O Haoma, [you are infused] with growth.
4 Far and wide I praise the earth -- broad, vast, fertile -- [that is] your noble womb, O Haoma. I praise the earth's mountain where, O swift [intoxicant?], you grow fragrant. And [thus] may you grow upon that mountain, O Haoma, [bringing] the increase of wisdom...
5 Through my words may you grow in every root, every sprout, and every branch.
6 When praised, Haoma grows, so we who would praise Him become more victorious fighters. Even the lightest touch, O Haoma, even the faintest praise, O Haoma, even the smallest sip, O Haoma, is [carried out] for the sake of deaths by the thousands of daevas.
7 By means of the prepared [stalk], corruption disappears forever from the house wherein one would always bear up, wherein one would always extol, the manifest healing property of restorative Haoma.
8 For all other intoxicants bring on the madness of a bloody club, but that intoxication which belongs to Haoma brings about the Truth...
10 Inspired, the god created you, a swift steed given to creation. Inspired, the god set you down on high Haraiti, a swift steed given to creation.
11 Then the tutelary birds there carried you off in every direction...
12 And there on those mountains you, the milky, yellow-haired Haoma, are spread out. Your invigorating juices overflow for those of good mind.

Grammar

26. Root Nouns and Sibilant-Stems

Avestan exhibits a class of root nouns to whose endings an inflection is added directly. Root nouns appear in all three genders, with masculine and neuter declensions that vary only slightly. The feminine stem adds the final vowel ī and declines accordingly.

Neuter nouns in h are also found, deriving from Proto-Indo-Iranian s-stems, which some phonological contexts preserve (e.g., manah nominative singular 'mind', but manas ca 'and mind'). Such nouns are commonly, though not necessarily, root nouns, and thus decline similarly, but nasalizing the stem's final syllable in strong cases. Adjectival forms appear, as do perfect active participles in vah and comparatives in yah. These decline in all three genders according to the root noun paradigm, excepting the nominative singular which lengthens the vowel in the final syllable (e.g., sumanāh 'having a good mind').

26.1. Root Nouns, Masculine and Feminine
Singular:   druj- 'deceit'
Nom.   druxš
Acc.   drujəm
Instr.   *drujā
Dat.   *drujāi
Gen.   drujah, drujō
Loc.   *druji
Plural:    
Nom.   *drujah, *drujō
Acc.   *drujah, *drujō
Instr.   *drugbiš
Dat/Abl.   *drugbyah
Gen.   *drująm
Loc.   *druju
26.2. h-Stem Nouns, Neuter
Singular:   manah- 'mind'
Nom.   manah, manå
Acc.   manan̨həm
Instr.   manan̨hā
Dat.   manan̨hai
Abl.   manan̨haṯ
Gen.   manan̨hah, manan̨hō
Loc.   manahi
Dual:    
Nom/Acc/Voc.   manan̨ha, manan̨hā
Gen.   manan̨hå
Plural:    
Nom/Voc.   manan̨hah, manan̨hō
Acc.   manan̨hah, manan̨hō
Instr.   manahə̄biš
Dat/Abl.   manahə̄bbyah, manahə̄byō
Gen.   manahąm
Loc.   manahu, manahva
27. The Future Passive Particple and the Infinitive

27.1 Avestan builds a future passive participle, or gerundive, by adding the suffix -tva or -ya directly to the root and declining accordingly. The form may be translated as 'to be done' (e.g., varya- 'the thing to be chosen' or 'the right choice'), or more fluidly (e.g., aujya- 'praiseworthy').

27.2 An infinitive is a verbal noun expressing tenseless action as an abstract concept. For example, in the English sentence "I want to read Avestan texts," the infinitive 'to read' -- a generalized action that takes place at no particular time -- is the object of the verb. Avestan forms its infinitive by adding one of a number of consonantal or syllabic endings to a present or aorist stem, and occasionally to a desiderative (see Section 28); this new stem is then declined as a dative singular masculine. Since the dative form is consistent, it may be easier to think of infinitive endings as a set of suffixes added to a verbal stem: -dyai, -ai, -tai, -hai, -sai, manai, and vai.

Some examples:

dar   'hold, support'   drdyai   present stem
pā   'protect'   pai   present stem
gam   'go'   gatai   present stem
vac   'speak, say'   vaucahai   thematic aorist stem
dəbąz   'support'   dibzadyai   desiderative stem

A rare nominative singular infinitive form in -h is also found; e.g., ava 'help', avah 'to help'.

28. The Future Tense and Derivative Conjugations
28.1. Future Tense as Action

The future tense conveys action that will occur some time after the speaker verbalizes it. As with the present tense, it may be translated using either a general sense, as in "Very soon Zarathustra will sing," or with a continuous sense, "At noon, Zarathustra will be singing."

Though rare in Old Avestan, which typically uses a subjunctive form to express future time, the future tense becomes somewhat more frequent in the younger language. Stems of the future system are built very simply by adding either -hya- or -sya- to a verbal root, which is usually found in its middle grade. The stems take primary endings.

Future Paradigms: vac- 'speak, say'

    Active   Middle
1 sg.   vaxš̨āmi, vaxš̨ā (Gathic only)   unattested
3 sg.   unattested   vaxš̨ete
         
3 pl.   unattested   vaxš̨ən̨te
28.2. Future Active and Middle Participles

Future active and middle participles are formed by adding -ant- and -amna- or -ana-, respectively, to the future stem. The form is relatively rare, though found based on several roots. E.g., saušyant- '(the one who) will be saving', or 'savior', from sū 'save'.

28.3. Causatives, Desideratives, and Intensives

Several verbal forms that can appear in any tense are derived by augmenting a stem to form a distinctive base. Causatives, desideratives, and intensives are seen.

The causative is formed by adding the suffix -aya- to the stem in its strongest grade: tap 'be hot', present stem tāpaya- 'cause to be hot', 'heat'; var 'believe', aorist stem vauraya- 'cause to believe', 'convince'.

The desiderative is formed by reduplicating the root and adding the suffix -sa: ji 'conquer', jijiša- 'desires to conquer'. With a few exceptions, the form is confined to the present stem, appearing in various roots in the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods, as well as the participle.

The intensive is formed differently for thematic and athematic roots. Both are reduplicated. Thematic roots and their reduplication take their strongest grade; athematic roots appear in the weak grade, with the reduplicated syllable in the middle: thematic dis 'show', daidais- and athematic kar 'do, make', karkər. As the name suggests, the form is translated to convey an intensified or urgent sense.

29. Avestan Texts, Grammars, and Dictionaries

A compact survey of handbooks on the texts and other works on the Iranian languages is "The Iranian Languages," by Nicholas Sims-Williams, in The Indo-European Languages, ed. by Anna Giacalone Ramat and Paolo Ramat (London and New York: Routledge, 1998), pp. 125-153. It includes numerous references. Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, ed. by Rüdiger Schmitt (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1989) provides a fuller survey of the field, including essays by Manfred Mayrhofer on the pre-history of the Iranian languages (pp. 4-24, in German), by Jean Kellens on Avestan (pp. 32-55, in French), and by Schmitt on Old Persian (pp. 56-85, in German), among many others. And the Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, vols. I and II, ed. by Wilhelm Geiger and Ernst Kuhn (Strassburg: Trübner, 1895-1904) is still worth consulting.

Among works on the texts, The Gathas of Zarathustra by Stanley Insler (Leiden: Brill, 1975) provides translations as well as commentary. The Gathas of Zarathushtra and Other Old Avestan Texts, by Helmut Humbach (2 vols., Heidelberg: Winter), is more inclusive. See also The Avestan Hymn to Mithra, by Ilya Gershevitch (Cambridge University Press, 1967); and Avesta: The Sacred Books of the Parsis by Karl F. Geldner (3 vols., Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1886-1896), with the text in the original script, is still considered the standard edition. The standard grammar, if limited to phonology and morphology, is An Avestan grammar in comparison with Old Indian. Part I, Phonology, Inflection, Word-formation, with an introduction to the Avesta by A. V. Williams Jackson (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1892). Jackson also published A Short Grammar of Old Persian (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1936). More recent works are A Grammar of Gatha-Avestan, by Robert S. P. Beekes (Leiden: Brill, 1988) and Avestische Laut- und Flexionslehre, by Karl Hoffmann and Bernhard Forssman (Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, 1996).

The standard dictionary is Altiranisches Wörterbuch, by Christian Bartholomae (Strassburg: Trübner, 1904).

30. The Avestan Legacy

The Old Persian materials, which will be taken up in the next lesson, are of primary interest for their historical and linguistic information. By contrast, the Avestan texts, which provide the works of Zoroaster, have given rise to a massive set of publications; they are also the basis of the present-day Parsee religion. A work devoted to the figure himself is A. V. Williams Jackson's Zoroaster, the Prophet of Ancient Iran (New York, 1899). A broader work is The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism, by R. C. Zachner (1961).