Gatha (Zoroaster)
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The Gathas (
The Avestan term gāθā (𐬔𐬁𐬚𐬁 "hymn", but also "mode, metre") is
Structure and organization
The Gathas are in verse, metrical in the nature of ancient
The 17 hymns of the Gathas consist of 238
28–34 | Ahunavaiti Gatha | (cf. Ahuna Vairya), 100 stanzas, (3 verses, 7+9 syllable meter) | ||
43–46 | Ushtavaiti Gatha | 'Having Happiness', 66 stanzas (5 verses, 4+7 syllable meter) | ||
47–50 | Spenta Mainyu Gatha | 'Bounteous Spirit', 41 stanzas (4 verses, 4+7 syllable meter) | ||
51 | Vohu Khshathra Gatha | 'Good Dominion', 22 stanzas (3 verses, 7+7 syllable meter) | ||
53 | Vahishto Ishti Gatha | 'Best Beloved', 9 stanzas (4 verses, two of 7+5 and two of 7+7+5 syllables) |
With the exception of Ahunavaiti Gatha, that is named after the Ahuna Vairya prayer (Yasna 27, not in the Gathas), the names of the Gathas reflect the first word(s) of the first hymn within them. The meter of the hymns is historically related to the Vedic tristubh-jagati family of meters.[2] Hymns of these meters are recited, not sung.
The sequential order of the Gathas is structurally interrupted by the Yasna Haptanghaiti ("seven-chapter Yasna", chapters 35–41, linguistically as old as the Gathas but in prose) and by two other minor hymns at Yasna 42 and 52.
Language
The language of the Gathas, Gathic or Old
"The
The problems that face a translator of the Avestan Gathas are significant: "No one who has ever read a stanza of [the Gathas] in the original will be under any illusions as to the labour that underlies the effort [of translating the hymns]. The most abstract and perplexing thought, veiled further by archaic language, only half understood by later students of the seer's own race and tongue, tends to make the Gathas the hardest problem to be attempted by those who would investigate the literary monuments."[4]
Content
Some of the verses of the Gathas are directly addressed to the Omniscient Creator Ahura Mazda. These verses, devotional in character, expound on the divine essences of truth (Asha), the good-mind (Vohu Manah), and the spirit of righteousness. Some other verses are addressed to the public that may have come to hear the prophet, and in these verses, he exhorts his audience to live a life as Ahura Mazda has directed, and pleads to Ahura Mazda to intervene on their behalf.
Other verses, from which some aspects of Zoroaster's life have been inferred, are semi-(auto)biographical, but all revolve around Zarathustra's mission to promote his view of the Truth (again Asha). For instance, some of the passages describe Zarathustra's first attempts to promote the teachings of Ahura Mazda, and the subsequent rejection by his kinsmen. This and other rejection led him to have doubts about his message, and in the Gathas he asked for assurance from Ahura Mazda, and requests repudiation of his opponents.
Notes
- ^ "Gatha". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- ^ Schlerath, Bernfried (1969), "Der Terminus aw. Gāθā", Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft, 25: 99–103
- ^ Humbach, Helmut (2001), "Gathas: The texts", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 10, Costa Mesa: Mazda.
Further reading
- Malandra, William (2001), "Gathas: Translations", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 10, Costa Mesa: Mazda.
Selected translations available online:
- Bartholomae, Christian (1951), Taraporewala, Irach Jehangir Sorabji (trans.) (ed.), Divine Songs of Zarathushtra: A Philological Study of the Gathas of Zarathushtra, Containing the Text With Literal Translation into English, Bombay: K. R. Cama Oriental Institute
Bartholomae's translations ("Die Gatha's des Awesta", 1905) were re-translated into English by Taraporewala. The raw texts, sans commentary or introduction, are available online - The PDF version of The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra by Irach J. S. Taraporewala is published by FEZANA online
- Irani, Dinshaw Jamshedji; Tagore, Rabindranath (1924), The Divine Songs Of Zarathushtra, London: Macmillan
Complete text of the book including introduction and a plain English synopsis of each verse is available online - Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (1999), "Avestan Quotations in Old Persian? Literary sources of the Old Persian Inscriptions", in Shaked, Saul; Netzer, Amnon (eds.), Irano-Judaica IV, Jerusalem: Makhon Ben-Zvi (Ben-Zvi Institute), pp. 1–64