Structure and organization Content summaries • '''
Yasna 1'
opens with the praise of Ahura Mazda, enumerating his divine titles as the Creator, "radiant, glorious, the greatest, the best, the most beautiful, the most firm, the most wise, of the most perfect form, the highest in righteousness, possessed of great joy, creator, fashioner, nourisher, and the Most Holy Spirit." (Dhalla, 1936:155). Yasna'' 1 then enumerates the divinities, inviting them to the service. • '''
Yasna 2'
, the Barsom
Yasht, presents libation and the barsom
(a bundle of 23 twigs bound together, symbolizing sanctity) to the invited divinities. Yasna
2–4 complement Yasna
1. Most verses in Yasna
2–3 begin with the formula ayese yeshti ...'', "by means of this sacrifice, I call …", followed by the name of the divinity being invoked. • '''
Yasna 3–8'
known collectively as the Sarosh dron
, presents other offerings (zaothra
). Yasna
3 draws the attention of the divinities invoked in Yasna
1, and in Yasna
4, the offerings are consecrated to the divinities. Yasna
5 is repeated in Yasna
37. Yasna
6 is almost identical to the first 10 verses of Yasna'' 17. • '''
Yasna 9–11'
is the Hom Stom'', a collection of praises to the
Haoma plant and its divinity. • '''
Yasna 12'
constitutes the Fravarane
, the Zoroastrian creed and declaration of faith. It is in "Artificial" Gathic Avestan, that is, it is stylistically and linguistically aligned with the language of the Gathas, but imperfectly. The last strophe of verse 7 as well as all of verses 8 and 9 are incorporated into the Kusti'' ritual. • '''
Yasna 13–18'
are comparable to Yasna
1–8 in that they too are a collection of invocations to the divinities. Chapters 14–18 serve as an introduction to the Staota Yesniia
of Yasna
19–59. The first 10 verses of Yasna
17, "to the fires, waters, plants", is almost identical to Yasna'' 6. • '''
Yasna 19–21'
, the Bhagan Yasht'', are commentaries on the three 'high prayers' of
Yasna 28–53. • '''
Yasna 22–26''' is another set of invocations to the divinities. • '''
Yasna 27'
has the prayers referred to by Yasna'' 19–21. These are: • The
Ahuna Vairya invocation (also known as the
Yatha Ahu Vairyo), the most sacred of all
Zoroastrian prayers. • The
Ashem Vohu • The
Yenghe hatam • (Bodleian MS J2)'''
Yasna 28–53'
include the (linguistically) oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon. 17 of the 26 chapters make up the Gathas, the most sacred hymns of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. The Gathas are in verse. These are structurally interrupted by a) the Yasna Haptanghaiti
("seven-chapter Yasna
", #35–41), which is as old as the Gathas but in prose, b) two short chapters (#42 and #52) that are not as old as the Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti''. • '''
Yasna 28–34'
: Ahunavaiti'' Gatha • '''
Yasna 35–41'
: Yasna Haptanghaiti, the "seven-chapter Yasna''", also in Gathic Avestan but in prose. • '''
Yasna 42''': a 4 verse chapter invoking the elements. • '''
Yasna 43–46'
: Ushtavait'' Gatha • '''
Yasna 47–50'
: Spenta Mainyu'' Gatha • '''
Yasna 51'
: Vohu Khshathra'' Gatha • '''
Yasna 52'
: an 8 verse hymn to Ashi. Verses 52.5 – 52.8, in Younger Avestan, are a duplicate of Yasna'' 8.5 – 8.8. • '''
Yasna 53'
: Vahishto Ishti'' Gatha • '''
Yasna 54'
has the text of the a airiiema ishiio, a prayer referred to in Yasna'' 27. • '''
Yasna 55'
is a praise to the Gathas
and the Staota Yesniia''. • '''
Yasna 56''' is again an invocation to the divinities, appealing for their attention. • '''
Yasna 57'
is the Sarosh Yasht
, the hymn to the divinity of religious discipline. It is closely related to, and appears to have sections borrowed from Yasht'' 10, the hymn to
Mithra. • '''
Yasna 58'
is again a "hidden" Yasht
, here to the genius of prayer (cf.''
Dahman). • '''
Yasna 59'
is a repetition of the sections from Yasna'' 17 and 26. • '''
Yasna 60'
is blessing upon the house of the ashavan'' ('just' or 'true' man).
Yasna 60.2–7 constitute the
Dahma Afriti invocation, also known as the
Afrinagan Dahman. • '''
Yasna 61'
praises the anti-demonic powers imbued in the Afrinagan Dahman
, Yenghe hatam
and the three principal prayers of Yasna'' 27. • '''
Yasna 62'
constitutes the Ataksh Nyashes'', prayers to fire and its divinity. • '''
Yasna 63–69'
constitute the prayers that accompany the Ab-Zohr'', "offering to water". • '''
Yasna 70–72''' are again a set of invocations to the divinities. ==Editions==