Ard Yasht


The Ard Yasht or Arshishvang Yasht is the seventeenth Yasht of the 21 Yasht collection. It is named after and dedicated to the praise of Ashi, the Zoroastrian divinity representing recompense and capricious luck.

Overview

The Ard Yasht consists of 62 stanzas, which are further grouped into 10 sections called Kardas. This makes it relatively short among the so-called Great Yashts. Regardless, it is considered to be of high literary quality and covers a wide range of topics. The Yasht does not have a commentary in Middle Persian. In the Zoroastrian calendar, it is celebrated on the 25th day of the month dedicated to Ashi.

Name

In his edition of the Avesta, Geldner notes that the Yasht is called both Ard and Arishvang in the different manuscript traditions. Here, Ard is the Middle Persian name for
Avestan Ashi, whereas Arishvang is the name of Ashi is some Middle Persian sources, and is ultimately derived from Avestan Ashish vaŋuhi. Ashi in turn is a personified abstraction of Avestan aṣ̌i/arti with the meaning of the thing attained or reward.

Structure and content

Following Darmesteter, the Ard Yasht can be divided thematically into several parts. The first part is dedicated to a description of Ashi's characteristics as a goddess of luck, and her connection with Zarathustra. The next part follows the general outline of many of the so-called Legendary Yasht, by describing how legendary heroes of old offer sacrifice to her:
The rest of this part, i.e. Kardas IV-IX, follows the same structure. Each Karda starts with an introductory verse, followed by a few verses which describe the worshipper and the boon they requested from Ashi, and finally a verse how the request was granted by her. Next to Haosyangha, this list contains Yima Khshaéta, Thraêtaona, Haoma, Husravah, Zarathustra and Vishtaspa. The same list is also found in Yasht 9, where the worship is, however, addressed to Drvaspa instead of Ashi. The last part describes how Ashi will not accept worship from people, who cannot engage in reproductive sexual activity, or who do so outside a marital relationship.