AhyYsNemangh To Him I Pray in Humble Adoration (Ha 28.1) A Study of the Gathas of Prophet Zarathushtra containing the Text with Literal Translation into English and Commentary Sraotgui vahi.tavanatcmanah n vciahym1 xvaxy (Ha 30.2) Listen with (your) ears to the best, reflect with a clear mind To the two choices of decision, man by man, for his own self Shirin Dara Contractor PARSIKHABAR.NET PARSIKHABAR.NET CONTENTS Foreword 1 Introduction to the Gathas 3 Transcription of certain Avesta letters 11 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha 29 12 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha 28 25 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha 30 38 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha 31 57 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha 32 82 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha 33 105 Gatha Ahunavaiti Ha34 122 Gatha Ushtavaiti Ha 43 138 Gatha Ushtavaiti Ha 44 155 Gatha Ushtavaiti Ha 45 181 Gatha Ushtavaiti Ha 46 195 Gatha Spentamainyu Introduction 218 Gatha Spentamainyu Ha 47 219 Gatha Spentamainyu Ha 48 225 Gatha Spentamainyu Ha 49 237 Gatha Spentamainyu Ha 50 250 Gatha Vohu-Xshathra Introduction 261 Gatha Vohu-Xshathra Ha 51 262 Gatha Vahishtoishti Introduction 290 Gatha Vahishtoishti Ha 53 291 Airym Iy Introduction 307 Airym Iy Ha 54.1 309 PARSIKHABAR.NET PARSIKHABAR.NET Foreword I am a Parsee Zoroastrian by birth and have been brought up in a traditional Parsee family. I was conversant with the general customs of the religion, but all my life I wanted to know in detail about our religion, its tenets and teachings. As I spent most of my life working as a banker I was unable to pursue the same. Then a relative informed me about the existence of classes for learning the language of our prayers, Avesta. Therefore, upon my retirement, I decided to study this language and joined the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Zarthoshti and Mulla Feroze Madrassas, where such classes were conducted. In the course of the study of this language and the translation of the prayers, I came to know a lot about our religion. It was then that I realized that our Prophet Zarathushtra’s songs, which are known as the Gathas, chanted by him nearly 3500 years ago, had been handed down to us, primarily, through our oral tradition. Our religion is unique, thanks to the priests having passed down Zarathushtra’s words. We can go right back to the original source of our religion and understand the teachings of Zarathushtra himself. In the course of my studies, I studied the translation of about 5 chapters of the Gathas of Zarathushtra. It seemed to me miraculous that I could understand the language in which our very own Prophet spoke about 3500 years ago. After completing my studies, I decided to study the complete Gathas, (total 17 chapters) since I consider the essence of our religion is in the Gathas. Since the Gathas are in poetic form and very terse, it is very difficult, to comprehend their meaning and spirit. Over a period of time, several scholars, Indian, Western and Iranian have attempted to translate and interpret the Gathas, in their own way, and therefore, one may find several different versions of the Gathas. I, first, collected the translation of each verse given by the following scholars S. Insler; H. Humbach; I.J.S.Taraporewala; J.M.Chatterji; P. Ichaporia; B.T. Anklesaria; K.E. Kanga; A.F. Khabardar (only Ahunavaiti Gatha); Mobed F. Azargoshasb; Hormazdiar Mirza. As I studied each verse, I would arrive at the translation which I felt gave the closest interpretation. I soon realized that the translation which appealed to me the most was that of I.J. S.Taraporewala (IJST), as he had taken into consideration the grammar and the metre of the verse. Moreover, he had done a comparative study, at every step, with Vedic words, idioms and ideas. Finally, though this is my personal 1 PARSIKHABAR.NET opinion, he being a Zoroastrian, could understand the spiritual depth of the poems, which Western scholars were not able to comprehend. I found that choosing only the translation did not make it easy to understand the inner depth of the verse. So I tried to comprehend the translation and made a sort of commentary in simple English, trying to understand what Zarathushtra must have desired to convey to his followers. I feel that there must be several persons (like me) who do not know much about our religion, as was the case with me initially, especially about Zarathushtra’s message . With this in view I decided to publish this book, so that Zoroastrians can read about Zarathushtra’s message, which is the very foundation of our religion. I have tried to understand the thought behind each verse, usually referring to the comments of the above scholars, as also of D.J. Irani, Sorabji Naoroji Kanga, K.N.Wadia. In my explanation I have often quoted from their writings in order to comprehend the meaning better. The more I read and re-read what I have written, the more I find that I have not yet fully grasped the Spirit of the Gathas. However, I hope this book may be useful to others as an introduction to our religion and this may urge others to study further the Gathas of Zarathushtra. I cannot end without offering my deepest gratitude to my teachers, all of whom, Ervad Dr. Rohinton Peer, Ervad Dr. Ramiyar Karanjia and Ervad Dr. Pervez Bajan, have given their valuable time and insight whilst teaching me Avesta and helping me with this book. I also thank my friends and colleagues who have helped me in getting this book published, by typing out the manuscrcipt and giving valuable inputs. Mumbai Shirin D. Contractor 2 PARSIKHABAR.NET An Introduction to the Gathas Zarathushtra Spitama, the Prophet of Ancient Iran, propounded a monotheistic religion dating as far back as around 3500 years, nearly 1500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ and 2000 years before Prophet Mohammed. Zarathushtra’s religion is recognized as the oldest monotheistic Aryan religion in the world. His teachings were propagated in the language of that time, which is known as the Avesta. They have been brought down to us by our oral tradition up to the time they were committed to writing. In the course of time, a large part of the Scriptures in Avesta were destroyed and only a part of them have survived, at present. Among the extant scriptures are the actual utterances attributed to Prophet Zarathushtra, which He chanted to his followers by way of songs, and which are known as the Gathas. It is to be appreciated that Zarathushtra’s message is meant for all of mankind and for all ages. Zarathushtra was not only the Prophet of Iran but He is considered as the Universal Prophet because of His Eternal Message of Truth, cultivating a Spiritual Mind, Faith and Service to mankind. The Gathas form a section of the Yasna text consisting of 17 chapters out of the 72 chapters of the Yasna. They are five in number. They are :- Ahunavaiti Gatha Yasna H 28 to 34 - 7 Hs (Chapters) Ushtavaiti Gatha Yasna H 43 to 46 - 4 Hs (Chapters) Spenta Mainyu Gatha Yasna H 47 to 50 - 4 Hs (Chapters) Vohu Xshathra Gatha Yasna H 51 - 1 H (Chapter) Vahishta Ishti Gatha Yasna H 53 - 1 H (Chapter) Total 17 Hs (Chapters) The Gathas form the very basis and foundation of the religion of the Mazdayasnis, the foundation on which the ethics and principles of the Zoroastrian religion are broadly based. They are the Spiritual Heritage of the Zarathushtrians. The Athravans (Priests) of the Zoroastrian Religion have kept them alive for timeless ages by means of their recitations from memory and from writings, despite being subjected to repeated cycles of destruction. The Gathas and other scriptures were first destroyed by Alexander the Accursed around 330 BC, then again by the Arabs after the downfall of the Sassanian Empire in the 7th Century AC and once 3 PARSIKHABAR.NET again suffered further destruction during the dark ages of the 11th to 13th Century AC in Iran. The Gathas (the sacred hymns) of the Prophet Zarthushtra are an important document from the spiritual, social and historical point of view. In Yasna 55.2 it is stated – ‘Gathas are the source of spiritual nourishment and protection; they are spiritual food and raiment for the soul.’ It is known that each of the five Gathas must have been composed at different times in the life of Zarathushtra and a range of highly philosophical thought arises from them and these thoughts are so practical that not only have they stood the test of time, they will serve as a beacon for mankind in the years to come. I J S Taraporewala writes – The Gathas are spiritual in the fullest sense of the term.Therefore, it is essential to lift up their message to Spiritual Heights and never to understand them at the ordinary earthly level. This was the main reason why no previous rendering of the Gathas brought solace and inspiration to my soul. All of them have spoken of ‘cattle’ and ‘fodder’ and ‘pasture’ as constituting the main theme of the Gathas. ----------In the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as the ‘Good Shepherd’ and his message speaks of ‘sheep’ and ‘folds’. Still none would venture to assert that the New Testament is a text book on the care of sheep. Similarly the Lord Shri Krishna has been depicted as the ‘Divine Cowherd (Gopala)’, dwelling amongst pastures and surrounded by cows. The Lord Shiva bears the name of Pashupati (Lord Of Cattle). Still no one has ever ventured to suggest that the worship of Krishna and Shiva is based upon cattle tending.