Selections from Zoroastrianism’s Vendidad: Fargard 20 - 21, Part 2 of 2

Vendidad Fargard 21 Waters and Light.

Section 3A

“As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, rise up, go up the aerial way, and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Rise up and roll along! Thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the aerial way. Up! Rise up and roll along! Thou swift-horsed Sun, above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and may thou O man! rise up there, if thou are to abide in Garô-nmânem), along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened. And thou shall keep away the evil by this holy spell: Of thee, O child! I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O woman! I will make the body and the strength pure; I make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk; A woman rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.”

Section 4

“[I drive away Ishirê, I drive away Aghûirê, I drive away Aghra, I drive away Ughra; I drive away sickness, I drive away death, I drive away pain and fever; I drive away Sârana, I drive away Sârasti, I drive away Azana, I drive away Azahva, I drive away Kurugha, I drive away Azivâka, I drive away Duruka, I drive away Astairya; I drive away the disease, rottenness, and infection which Angra Mainyu has created by his witchcraft against the bodies of mortals. I drive away all manner of diseases and deaths, all the Yâtus and Pairikas, and all the wicked Gainis. May the much-desired Airyaman [the bestower of good] come here, for the men and women of Zarathustra to rejoice, for the faithful to rejoice; with the desirable reward that is won by means of the law, and with that boon for holiness that is vouchsafed by Ahura! May the much-desired Airyaman smite all manner of diseases and deaths, all the Yâtus and Pairikas, and all the wicked Gainis. Yathâ ahû vairyô: the will of the Lord . . . . Kem nâ mazdâ: whom have Thou placed to protect me . . .? Ke verethrem gâ: who is He who will smite the fiend . . . ? Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Ârmaiti Spenta! Perish, O fiendish Drug! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, O Drug! Perish, away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of the Holy Spirit!']”