The Staota Yesnya (, Sacrificial Eulogy), also known as Stod Yasn, refers to the anthology of the central Religious text of Zoroastrianism. It contains all Old Avestan texts like the Gathas and the Yasna Haptanghaiti and may have been the original liturgy of the early Zoroastrian community.
In the Sasanian Avesta, which is now lost, the Staota Yesnya formed the Stod Yasn nask. In the Avesta, it is preserved in the Yasna and Visperad manuscripts and forms the central part of the respective liturgies.
Name
The
Staota Yesnya is called in
Middle Persian sources
Stod Yasn (in the
Denkard) and
Stod Yasht (in the
Rivayats). The fist part of the term is derived from Avestan 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬋𐬙𐬀𐬭 (staōtar,
praiser,
laudator), whereas the second term is connected to Avestan 𐬪𐬈𐬯𐬦𐬌𐬌𐬀 (ẏesńiia,
worthy of sacrifice). The name can therefore be translated as
Sacrificial Eulogy or
Praise Ritual.
In the Sasanian Avesta
The
Sasanian Avesta was the collection of Avestan literature produced during the
Sasanian empire. It consisted of 21 nasks (volumes), which were grouped into three divisions, namely the Gathic, manthric and legalistic nasks. Within this scheme, the Stod Yasn belonged to the Gathic group. Edward William West estimates, that it consisted of ca. 12,500 words of
Avestan text accompanied by ca. 22,400 words of
Zend in
Pahlavi scripts.
In the extant Avesta
In the extant Avesta, the Staota Yesnya forms the central part of the
Yasna as well as the
Visperad. However, the parts which are included differ slightly between these two. In the Yasna, the Staota Yesnya is referred to as comprising Yasna 14-58. In the Visperad, however, the Young Avestan parts before the
Ahuna Vairya were not included.
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Almut Hintze has argued that the Staota Yesnya originally only consisted of the Old Avestan texts, i.e., the Gathas, the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Ahuna Vairya and Airyaman ishya manthras. According to this theory, this arrangement was the original liturgy of the early Zoroastrian community, possibly arranged by Zarathustra himself. Jean Kellens, however, has opined that the Staota Yesnya, while being indeed very old, was redacted some time later during the Avestan period.
Citations
Bibliography
