Avesta (Gathas) · 1 of 3 · tr. L.H. Mills
Ushtavaiti Gatha, Yasna XLVI, Section 1a
1.
To what land to turn 1 ; aye, whither turning shall I go?
On the part of 2 a kinsman (prince), or allied peer, none, to conciliate, give 3 (offerings) to me (to help my cause), nor yet the throngs of labour, (not) even such as these 4 , nor yet (still less) the evil p.
135 tyrants of the province.
How then shall I (establish well the Faith, and thus) conciliate Thy (grace), O Lord?
2.
This know I, Mazda!
wherefore I am thus unable to attain my wish 1 , and why my flocks are so reduced in number, and why my following is likewise scant.
Therefore I cry to Thee; behold it, Lord!
desiring helpful grace for me, as friend bestows on friend.
(Therefore to meet my spirit's need, and this as well) declare and teach 2 to me the Good Mind's wealth.
3.
When come, Great Giver!
they who are the day's enlighteners 3 , to hold the Righteous Order of the world upright, and forward pressing?
When are p.
136 the schemes of the saviour Saoshya n ts with (their) lofty revelations (to appear)?
To whom for help does he (their chief) approach, who has Thy Good Mind (as his fellow-worker 1 )?
Thee, for mine exhorter and commander, Living Lord!
I choose.
4.
(But e’er these helpers come to me, all rests as yet in gloom.) The evil man is holding back 2 those who are the bearers of the Righteous Order from progress 3 with the Kine, (from progress with the sacred cause) within the region, or the province 4 , he, the evil governor, endowed with evil might 5 , consuming 6 life with evil deeds.
Wherefore, whoever hurls him from his power, O Mazda!
or from life, stores for the Kine in sacred wisdom shall he make 7 .
p.
137 5.
(Yea), he who, as ruler, treats no coming applicant with injury 1 , as a good citizen (or nobly wise) in sacred vow and duty, and living righteously in every covenant, who, as an uncorrupted judge, discerns the wicked (that leader who, rejecting me, would keep back those who propagate the Faith), let him, (this righteous judge,) declare (the vengeance) to that (hostile 2 ) lord, (my) kinsman.
Yea, let him crush him when he sallies forth 3 (to approach us for our harm)!
6.
(And he who leaves him in his guilty error has my curse.) Yea, he who has the power 4 , and will not thus (with stern reproof 5 ) approach him, shall go to p.
138 the abode of the Lie, (and) the enchainer 1 .
For he is evil who is the best one to the evil, and he is holy who is friendly to the righteous, as Thou didst fix the moral laws 2 , O Lord!
7.
Whom, then, as guard, O Mazda!
hast Thou 3 set me 4 then when that wicked one still held 5 me for his hate?
Whom (had I) then but Thee, Thy Fire and Mind, Ahura!
by deeds performed in which Thy Righteous rule is saved and nurtured?
Therefore that spiritual power 6 (vouchsafing me) for the (holy) Faith (its truths) declare.
8.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Ahura Mazda Principlecosmology
The divine ordering principle of truth and light.
The passage is a direct petition to Ahura Mazda as the Living Lord and source of grace.
All passages →Asha Cosmic Ordercosmology
Truth as the fundamental structure of reality.
The text repeatedly invokes the Righteous Order (Asha) as the goal to be established and upheld.
All passages →Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
The narrative centers on the conflict between the Good Mind/Truth and the evil governor/Lie.
All passages →Good Thought Word Deedethics
The Zoroastrian triad of right thought, right speech, and right action as the foundation of ethical life; truth-in-living.
Ethical conduct is framed through Good Mind, righteous deeds, and covenant duty.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
Mazda is addressed as a responsive, personal Living Lord who fixes moral laws.
All passages →Prayerpraxis
Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.
The entire passage functions as a lament and petitionary prayer to the divine.
All passages →Prophetic Rejectionethics
The phenomenon where spiritual messengers or healers are rejected by their own community due to familiarity or lack of awe.
The speaker laments rejection by kinsmen and hostility from the wicked governor.
All passages →Ritual Firepraxis
Fire as medium of divine presence.
Fire is explicitly invoked alongside Mind as a divine power vouchsafing the Faith.
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