An anagram in the Gathas: Yasna 51.4-5.

• Author: Jamison, Stephanie W.
• Position: Zoroaster - Critical Essay

YASNA 51 IS A POEM ABOUT RULE, about dominion--about [LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], in short. In the twenty-two verses of this hymn (which is both haiti and gatha), this word is found in seven verses (1, 2, 4, 6, 16, 18, and 21), with a present participle belonging to the same root (xsaiias) in vss. 5 and 17. The hymn begins vohu [LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] vairim "That good rule must be chosen," in Insler's translation, and it is referred to therefore as the Vohu.[LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Gatha. It is also a poem in praise of Zarathustra's patron Kauui Vistaspa. (1) These twin strains have been clearly recognized and formulated in H. Humbach's recent English translation and commentary on the Gathas: "The main theme of Y 51 is [LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ([LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]-) 'power' .... Central to the hymn is the praise of [LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] patron Kavi Vistaspa..." (1991, Part II: 221; cf. also Humbach 1959: 86).

I will elsewhere treat the relationship between xsa[LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]ra and kavis, good and bad. What concerns me here is the rhetorical structure associated with Kauui Vistaspa and Zarathustra's triumphant announcement of his patronage in this poem (and elsewhere in the Gathas). Recognizing this rhetorical pattern will give us an unexpected interpretation of an apparently banal, if somewhat syntactically irregular passage in Y. 51.

On several occasions in the Gathas, the name Vistaspa serves as the answer to a rhetorical question. The simplest example of this phenomenon is found in Y 46.14. The first two lines of this verse ask

[LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Y. 46.14)

Zarathustra, who is your truthful ally

For the great benefit? Or, who wishes to be famed?

The answer is found in the immediately following line:

at huuo kauua vistaspo...

It is this Kauui Vistaspa.

Thus the unadorned pattern: a question seeking the identity of the pious supporter, followed by the simple announcement of the name.

Yasna 51 contains an almost identically phrased question, or elaborated series of questions, in vs. 11. Note the presence of the words uruua[theta]a- 'ally', asa(van)- 'truth(ful)', and maga- 'bounty' in Y. 46.14 and Y. 51.11--repeated elements that underline the parallelism of the questions.

[LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Y.51.11)

Which man is the ally to Spitama Zarathustra, o Mazda?

Who has taken counsel with truth? With whom has

Or, which (man) of high station has made himself

holy devotion (taken counsel)?

known for the bounty of good thinking? (2)

The answer to these questions--who is the ally? who consults with truth and devotion? who is for the maga?--does not come as quickly in Y. 51 as it did in Y. 46.14. There are four intervening verses, mostly telling us quite...