A Yasht (, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian Yazata. The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts, although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta collection.
Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀 is also the origin of two other terms. First, Avestan (, act of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for an act of worship or specifically the Yasna, and, second, Avestan (, (being) worthy of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for Yazata.
Overview of the 21 Yashts |
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 temple as well as in private or public spaces. They are always addressed to one specific Yazata. 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.
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.
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c. | Yashts 1–4 are "mediocre, meaningless texts, composed in incoherent language; they probably result from a very late expansion of the Yašt collection." |
d. | Yasht 9 to Drvaspa has a number of verses that are originally from Yasht 5, the hymn to the waters. |
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 Aban 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. | Vata-Vayu, divinity of wind and atmosphere, is a dual divinity: part benevolent and part malign. |
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