Haft Amahraspand Yasht

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The Haft Amahraspand Yasht or Haf-tan Yasht is the second Yasht of the Yasht collection. It is named after and dedicated to the Amesha Spentas.[1]

Name

See also: Amesha Spenta

Haft Amahraspand is a compound term of Middle Persian haft, with the meaning seven,[2] and amahraspand, the Middle Persian term for the Amesha Spenta.[3] It therefore means the seven Amesha Spentas. The hymn is also known as Haf-tan Yasht or Haptan Yasht meaning Yasht of the Seven.[4]

Within the Yasht collection

See also: Yasht

Within the Yasht collection of 21 Yashts, the Haft Amahraspand Yasht is the second hymn. Overall, the literary quality of the Yasht is considered inferior.[5] It is performed on the first seven days of the month, which are dedicated to the Amesha Spenta.[6]

There are a number of features which set it apart from the other Yashts. First, while most Yashts are dedicated to a single divinity, the Haft Amahraspand Yasht, as well as the Frawardin Yasht, is dedicated to several divinities.[7] Furthermore, unlike most other Yashts, it is not derived from the Bagan yasht, but must have been drawn from another source.[8] Finally, the text does not follow the metrical pattern and the division into Kardas as most other Yashts.[9]

Structure and content

According to Darmesteter, the Haft Amahraspand Yasht can be divided into three main parts. The first part consits of stanzas 1-5,[10] whereas the seond part consists of stanzas 6-10.[11] Both parts praise the Amesha Spantas using somewhat different formulas. According to Darmesteter, these two parts are drawn from the Sih-rozag,[12] whereas Lommel considers them to be mere adaptation of the typical opening formulas of the Yashts.[13] The last part, comprising stanzas 11-15, is considered to contain the only verses original to the Yasht.[14] They are, however, written in a particularly defective Avestan, indicating them to be a late composition.[15]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Panaino 2002, "HAFT AMAHRASPAND YAŠT or simply Haf-tān yašt, the second hymn of the Avestan corpus. It is dedicated to the seven Zoroastrian entities and recited on the first seven days of the month".
  2. ^ MacKenzie 1971, p. 39: "haft [...] seven".
  3. ^ Nyberg 1974, p. 14: "amahraspand [mhrspnd] the circle of the six divinities Vahuman, Art-/Urt-/vahišt, Sahrévar, Harvadat, Amurdat and Spandarmat surrounding Ohurmazd, himself reckoned as the seventh".
  4. ^ Darmesteter 1892, p. 346: "Ce Yasht, dit « Yasht des sept Amshaspands » ou « Yasht des Sept » (Haftân Yasht)".
  5. ^ Lommel 1927, p. 19: "Dies ist wohl unter allen Yäshts das erbärmlichste Machwerk".
  6. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 35: "The Yast of the seven Amshaspands is recited on the first seven days of the week, that is to say, on the days consecrated to the Amesha-Speztas".
  7. ^ Hintze 2009, p. 47: "With the exception of Yasts 2 and 13, which praise the Amesha Spentas viz. the 'guardian angels', or Fravasis, as a group, each of the Yasts is dedicated to one particular divinity".
  8. ^ König 2017, p. 21.
  9. ^ Panaino 2002, "The text [...] numbers fourteen unmetrical paragraphs (not divided in kardas)".
  10. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 35: "§§ 1-5=Sirézah I".
  11. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 35: "§§ 6-10=Sirézah II".
  12. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 35: " In fact it is nothing more than an extract from the Sirézahs, being composed of the first seven formulas in their two forms".
  13. ^ Lommel 1927, p. 19.
  14. ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 35: "Then come four sections which are the original part of the Yast (§§ 11-15)".
  15. ^ Panaino 2002, "The text, partly written in a degenerate and unclear Avestan (in particular par. 12-14)".

Bibliography

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