On the Interpretation of Yašt 5, 11:13

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  • 『アヴェスター』ヤシュト書5, 11:13の解釈をめぐって
  • アヴェスター ヤシュトショ 5 11 13 ノ カイシャク オ メグッテ

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Abstract

The Avesta Yašts, which constitute the earlist part of the Younger Avesta, comprises numerous uninteligible passages. Yašt 5, 11:13 are typical hymns having such passages.<br>Parallel passages are observed between Yt. 5, 11:13 and Yt. 10, 125 (a hymn to Mithra), that is to say, ahmya vaše vaz_??_mna (Yt. 5, 11) with ahmya vaše vazante (Yt. 10, 125), and caθwaro vaštara spaeta vispa hama. gaona_??_ho (Yt. 5, 13) with caθwaro aurvanto spaeitita hama. gaona_??_ho (Yt. 10, 125), although they have been rejected or ignored by many Iranists. The dual form, hama. nafaeni berezanta taurvayanta, (Yt. 5, 13), which shows the very contradictory grammatical feature in context, seems to be a formula in the non-Zoroastrian original Yašts. Therefore, the agents of the verb, taurvayanta, are not caθwaro vaštara “four drawing-animals, ” but two gods suggested by the dual form. The above two evidences, I think, reveal the close relation between Anahita and Mithra. On the other hand, Anahita was also worshiped as the bestower and the guardian of kingship as well as Mithra in ancient Iran, and such function of Anahita is known by several passages in Yast 5, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and other evidences in West Iran. Moreover, considering the dual form of Yt. 5, 13 and Herodotus' famous misunderstanding about Iranian Aphrodite, Anahita (I, 131), we could not deny the possibility that both of them were united into a pair.<br>I suppose St. 11 sings a pair of gods, Mithra and Anahita, driving the chariot, and St. 13 comprises the fragments of two different hymns, one depicts Anahita's four drawing-animals, the other the combat against daevas by them. Yt. 5, 11: 13 would be the remnant of the lost hymns dedicated to Mithra-Anahita. If we accept Christensen's theory that, imitating the Avestan language, Median magi converted to Zoroastrianism composed Yašt 5, we may say that the original text of Yt. 5, 11:13 was the part of θεογουιη, so-called Median version of Yašts.<br>My translation of Yt. 5, 11:13 is as follows;<br>St. 11: Who (the male god, i. e., Mithra), the first, drives the chariot, gripes the bridles for (driving) the chariot; (Anahita) driving his chariot, …<br>St. 13: Whose four drawing-animals (are), white ones, all of one colour. (Two gods, Mithra and Anahita) of the same family, high ones, overwhlmed…

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