Vanand Yasht
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The Vanand Yasht[1] also known as Wanand Yasht[2] is the 21st Yasht of the Yasht collection and dedicated to the praise of Vanant. It is the last and overall shortest hymn in the collection.
Name
[edit]Vanand[3] or Wanand[4] is the Middle Persian name of Avestan Vanant, a minor Zoroastrian divinity representing the star of the West. It appears in later Zoroastrian literature like the Bundahishn together with Tishtar (East), Sataves (South) and Haptoring (North) as the four Royal stars of Persia.[5] Its identity is unclear although it is often thought to represent Vega.[6]
Overview
[edit]The Wanand Yasht has a strong connection to the Tishtar Yasht in which Vanant is invoked alongside Tishtrya and Haptoring .[7] According to Darmesteter, it is a mere supplement to that Yasht and should be placed right after it.[8] Exluding the introdutory and closing formula, the Vanand Yasht has only one verse. This verse shows strong similarities to Sih-rozag 13 and may be derived from it.[9]
Within the Yasht collection
[edit]Within the Yasht collection of 21 Yashts, the Wanand Yasht is the last hymn. With only one stanza, it is overall the shortest hymn in the collection.[10] Consequently, it is grouped among the so called Minor Yashts.[11] Most editions of the Yasht collection rank it as the 21st Yasht,[12] but Darmesteter, for example, leaves out the Hom Yasht and places it instead as the 20th Yasht.[13][14] Similar to the Hom Yasht, it does not originate from the Bagan yasht, like most other Yashts, but must have been drawn from another source.[15]
Ritual use
[edit]Like the Hom Yasht, the Vanand Yasht does not have a name day in the Sih-rozag.[16] It is instead associated with the 30th day in the Zoroastrian calendar, which is dedicated to Anagran, the endless light.[17] In Zoroastrian practice, the Yasht is used as a protective spell against noxious creatures and other forces of evil.[18] For example, Darmesteter relates a story how during the reign of Akbar, a Zoroastrian priest allegedly used the Yasht to dispell an evil charm obscuring the sun.[19]
Translations
[edit]The Vanant Yasht does have a short translation into Middle Persian.[20] The first translation into English was published in 1883 by Darmesteter.[13] In 1892, he also publisehd a translation into French.[21] In 1927, Lommel published a translation into German.[1] A dedicated edition and translation of the Yasht into Italian was produced in 1989 by Panaino.[22]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b Lommel 1927, p. 186.
- ^ Andrés-Toledo 2015, p. 522: "Yt 21: Wanand Yašt to the star Vanant (Vega)".
- ^ Nyberg 1974, p. 202.
- ^ MacKenzie 1971, p. 86.
- ^ Davis 1945, p. 152.
- ^ Panaino 1990, pp. 106-107.
- ^ Hintze 2014, "The hymn to the star Vanant, Yt. 21, [...] is connected with the Tištar Yašt".
- ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 310: "It is a mere supplement to that Yast".
- ^ Darmesteter 1883, p. 310: "This Yast ought to follow immediately after the Tir Yast, as it is derived from the same Sirézah formula; the one in which Tistrya is invoked along with Vanam/ and Haptdiringa".
- ^ Hintze 2009, p. 54: "[T]he shortest Yast, the hymn to the star Vanant (Yt 21) is made up of only one stanza".
- ^ Hintze 2014, "Minor or apotropaic Yašts [...] 21 (Wanand)".
- ^ Geldner 1889, p. 259.
- ^ a b Darmesteter 1883, p. 310.
- ^ Darmesteter 1892, p. 614.
- ^ König 2017, p. 21.
- ^ Malandra 2004, "[N]either Yašts 20 (Hōm) nor 21 (Vanant) have a name day".
- ^ Hintze 2014, "Some of the days may have been associated with a Yašt for deliberate, theological reasons, such as the association of [...] Anaγra Raocah (day 30) with the star Vanant (Yt. 21)".
- ^ Panaino 1993, p. 120.
- ^ Darmesteter 1892, p. 614: "C'était sous le règne d'Akbar : un magicien de Delhi, instrument de certaines menées politiques, avait amené un nuage qui obscurcit le soleil : Mihirji Rana le dissipa en récitant le Vanant Yasht".
- ^ König 2015, p. 133.
- ^ Darmesteter 1892, pp. 644-645.
- ^ Panaino 1989.
Bibliography
[edit]- Andrés-Toledo, Miguel Á. (2015). "Primary Sources: Avestan and Pahlavi". The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4443-3135-6.
- Davis, George A. Jr. (1945). "The so-called royal stars of Persia". Popular Astronomy. 53 (4).
- Darmesteter, James (1883). Müller, Max (ed.). Zend-Avesta II: The Sirozahs, Yasts and Nyayis. Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 23. Dehli: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
- Darmesteter, James (1892). Le Zend-Avesta, Vol. 2: Traduction Nouvelle Avec Commentaire Historique Et Philologique; La Loi (Vendidad); L'Épopée (Yashts); Le Livre de Prière (Khorda Avesta). Paris: E. Leroux.
- Geldner, Karl F. (1889). Avesta. The Sacred Books of the Parsis II: Vispered and Khorda Avesta. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
- Hintze, Almut (2009). "Avestan Literature". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran. A History of Persian Literature. I.B.TAURIS.
- Hintze, Almut (2014). "YAŠTS". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
- König, Götz (2017). "Bayān Yasn: State of the Art". Iran and the Caucasus 2. 21: 13–38. doi:10.1163/1573384x-90000003.
- König, Götz (2015). "Zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der Yašts: Reste der exegetischen Tradition. Die Pahlavi-Übersetzungen von Yt 13 in Dk 7.". In Cantera, Alberto (ed.). Festschrift Pirart. Estudios de Iran y Turan.
- Lommel, Herman (1927). Die Yäšt's des Awesta. Quellen der Religionsgeschichte: Iran. Vol. 15. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- MacKenzie, David N. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
- Malandra, William W. (2004). "HŌM YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 431–434.
- Nyberg, Henrik S. (1974). A Manual of Pahlavi II - Ideograms, Glossary, Abbreviations, Index, Grammatical Survey, Corrigenda to Part I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 3447-01580-2.
- Panaino, Antonio (1990). Tištrya. Part I: The Avestan hymn to Sirius. Serie orientale Roma. Vol. LXVIII-1. Roma: Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente.
- Panaino, Antonio (1993). "L'innologia avestica". In Cassio, Albio Cesare (ed.). L'inno tra rituale e letterature nel mondon antico. Atti di un colloquio Napoli 21-24 ottobre 1991. Vol. XIII. Roma: A.I.O.N. sezione filologico-letteraria. pp. 107–123.
- Panaino, Antonio (1989). "L'inno avestico a Vanant". Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese. 28. A.I.O.N. sezione filologico-letteraria: 21–30.
External links
[edit]- Avestan text of the Vanand Yasht at Avesta.org based on the edition by Geldner
- English translation of the Vanand Yasht at Avesta.org based on the translation by Darmesteter
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