Yasht

Template:Short description Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists A Yasht (Template:Langx, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities.Template:Sfn The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts,Template:Sfn although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta collection.Template:Sfn

Name

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

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

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."Template:Sfn 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 YashtsTemplate:Sfn

No	Name[a]	Yazata[b]	Verses	Type	Siroza
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	Ardawahisht Yasht[c]	Asha Vahishta	19	minor	3
4	Hordad Yasht[c]	Haurvatat	11	minor	6
5	Aban Yasht[b]Template:Sfn	Anahita[f][g]	132	legendary	10
6	Hwarshed Yasht	Hvare-khshaeta	7	minor	11
7	Mah Yasht	Maonghah	7	minor	12
8	Tishtar Yasht	Tishtrya	62	hymnic	13
9	Gosh YashtTemplate:Sfn	Drvaspa[d]	33	legendary	14
10	Mihr YashtTemplate:Sfn	Mithra	145	hymnic	16
11	Srosh Yasht	Sraosha[e]	23	hymnic	17
12	Rashn Yasht	Rashnu[e]	47	hymnic	18
13	Frawardin YashtTemplate:Sfn	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]Template:Sfn	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.Template:Sfn They are always 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 in a fire temple and are addressed to all Zoroastrian divinities.Template:Sfn

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."Template:Sfn
d. ^	Yasht 9 to Drvaspa has a number of verses that are originally from Yasht 5, the hymn to the waters.Template:Sfn
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.

External links

• English language translations of the Yashts from