102 righteous may I be a mighty help and joy 1 , since to preparations 2 for Thy Kingdom, and in desire (for its approach), I would devote myself so long as to Thee, O Mazda!
I may praise, and weave my song.
9.
Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda!
when (Thine herald) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and asked me thus: For what dost thou desire that thou may’st gain, and that thou may’st know it?
Then for Thy Fire an offering of praise and holiness (I desired.
And on that offering for myself) 3 as long as I have the power, will I meditate 4 , (and for its holy power among Thy people will I plan 5 ).
10.
And may’st Thou likewise grant 6 me (Thy) Righteousness (within me), since I earnestly invoke that perfect readiness (of mind), joining in my prayer with Âramaiti (our Piety toward Thee.
Yea, pray Thou Thyself within me through these holy powers).
Ask Thou (Thyself) our questions, those which shall be asked by us 7 of Thee; for a question asked by p.
103 [paragraph continues] Thee (as its inspirer), is as the question of the mighty, whene’er Thy (?) ruler speaks his potent wish.
II.
Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda!
when (Thy messenger) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and with your words I 1 first impressed (my soul).
Woes then 'midst men Thy heart-devoted one 2 declared 3 (to be) my (portion); but that will I do 4 which Thou did’st 5 say was best.
12.
And since Thou, coming thus, Thy legal Righteousness in fulness 6 spakest, then declare not to me words as yet unheard (with faith or knowledge; command me not) to go forth (with these upon my task) before Thy Sraosha 7 (Obedience) comes to me, to go on hand in hand with me with holy recompense and mighty splendour 8 , whereby to p.
104 give the contending 1 throngs(?), as a blessing 2 , (Your) spiritual gifts (of certainty and peace).
13.
Thus I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O Ahura Mazda!
when with Thy Good Mind (Sraosha, Obedience) approached me.
(And I would therefore pray thus of Thee, that bounteous one.) In order that I may make known to men the true and sacred aims of their desires (in the rite or daily toil), grant Ye me long life 3 for this, (that blessing 4 ) which none with daring may extort 5 from You, even this (gift) of that desired 6 place which has been declared to be within Thy Realm.
14.
Yea, as the man enlightened 7 (in Thy law), and who has possessions, gives to his friend, (so give Ye) me, O Great Creator 8 !
Thy rejoicing and p.
105 abounding grace, when through Thy sovereign Power, and from (the motives of Thy cause of) Righteous Order, I stand forth 1 to go out to 2 , or to arouse, the chiefs 3 of Thy (pure) proclamation, with all those (others) who recite Thy well-remembered 4 Mãthra word.
15.
Yea, I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O Ahura Mazda!
Themes
◆Ahura Mazda Principlecosmology
The divine ordering principle of truth and light.
The passage is a direct address to Ahura Mazda as the Great Creator and source of bountifulness and righteousness.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The divine actively orders affairs by sending heralds, granting long life for a purpose, and guiding the prophet's mission.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The recitation of the well-remembered Mãthra word is described as a means to arouse chiefs and proclaim truth.