Praises to Mithra: Selections from Zoroastrianism’s Mihir Yast, Part 1 of 2

Today we are pleased to present selections from the “Mihir Yast,” a hymn that praises Mithra, the God of Heavenly Light.

MIHIR YAST. Yast to Mithra

“May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! . . . . Ashem Vohû: Holiness is the best of all good . . . . I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a follower of Zarathustra, one who hates the Daêvas, and obeys the laws of Ahura; For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Hâvani], the holy and master of holiness . . . . Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes, a Yazata invoked by his own name, and unto Rama Hvâstra , Be propitiation, with sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification. Yathâ ahû vairyô: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness . . . .”

SECTION 1

“Ahura Mazda spoke unto Spitama Zarathustra, saying: ‘Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, O Spitama! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda. […]’

For his brightness and glory, I will offer unto him a sacrifice worth being heard, namely, unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. We offer up libations unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who gives a happy dwelling and a good dwelling to the Aryan nations. May he come to us for help! May he come to us for ease! May he come to us for joy! May he come to us for mercy! May he come to us for health! May he come to us for victory! May he come to us for good conscience! May he come to us for bliss! He, […] worthy of sacrifice and prayer, not to be deceived anywhere in the whole of the material world, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures. I will offer up libations unto him,

the strong Yazata, the powerful Mithra, most beneficent to the creatures: I will apply unto him with charity and prayers: I will offer up a sacrifice worth being heard unto him, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, with the Haoma and […] with the baresma, with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words. Yênhê hâtãm: All those beings of whom Ahura Mazda . . . .” […]