As the Lord is excellent, so is the leader who rules from the righteous Order, a creator of mental goodness and of life's actions done for the Wise Lord; and the Kingdom is for the Lord, which to the poor shall offer a nurturer.

1 Zarathushtra asked of God the Wise Lord: O Wise Lord, Thou most bounteous Spirit, Maker of the corporeal worlds, the holy One, which was that word which Thou didst declare to me, (2) which was before the sky, and before the water, before the earth, and before the cattle, before the plants, and before the fire, and before the holy man, and the evil powers, before the crawling pests, and before all the embodied world; even before all the good creatures made by the Wise Lord, and which contain and are the seed of righteousness?

3 Thereupon God the Wise Lord said: It was this piece, the Ahuna-vairya, O Spitama Zarathushtra, which I pronounced as thine (4) before the sky, and before the waters, before the land, and before the cattle and the plants, and before the fire, the sign of the Wise Lord, before the holy man, and before the evil powers and the crawling pests, and before the entire corporeal world, even before the good creatures made by the Wise Lord, which contain and are the seed of righteousness.

5 It was these parts of the Ahuna-vairya, O Spitama Zarathushtra, which especially belong to me, and when each is intoned aloud without the needless repetition of verses and of words, and without their omission, it is worth a hundred of their other stanzas, even although they are prominent in the ritual, and likewise equally as well recited without additions or omissions; nay, further, when it is intoned imperfectly but added to, and with omissions, it is even then in effect equivalent, not to a hundred indeed, but to ten other stanzas that are prominent.

6 And whoever in this world of mine which is corporeal shall mentally recall, O Spitama Zarathushtra, a portion of the Ahuna-vairya, and having thus recalled it, shall undertone it, or beginning to recite it with the undertone, shall then utter it aloud, or chanting it with intoning voice, shall pray thus, then with even threefold safety and with speed I will bring his soul over the Bridge of Judgement, I who am the Wise Lord, I will help him to pass over it to Heaven, the best life, and to Righteousness the Best, and to the lights of heaven.

7 And whoever, O Spitama Zarathushtra, while undertoning the parts of the Ahuna-vairya, takes aught therefrom, whether the half, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth, I who am the Wise Lord will draw his soul off from the better world; yea, so far off will I withdraw it as the earth is large and wide; and this earth is as long as it is broad.

8 And I pronounced this saying which contains its Lord and its leader before the creation of this heaven, before the making of the waters, and the plants, and the four-footed cattle, before the birth of the holy two-footed man, before this sun with its body made for the acquisition of the creation of the bountiful gifts of God.

9 And the more bountiful of the two spirits declared to me, Zarathushtra, the entire creation of the pure, that which exists at present, that which is in the course of emerging into existence, and that which shall be, with reference to the performance and realisation of the actions of a life devoted to the Wise Lord.

10 And this word is the most emphatic of the words which have ever been pronounced, or which are now spoken, or which shall be spoken in future; for the eminence of this utterance is a thing of such a nature that if all the corporeal and living world should learn it, and learning should hold fast by it, they would be saved from destruction!

11 And this our word I have proclaimed as a symbol to be learned, and to be recited, as it were, to every one of the beings under the influence of and for the sake of Righteousness the Best.

12 And as the worshipper has here spoken it forth, when he has thus appointed the Lord and regulator, so by thus reciting these authoritative words he acknowledges God the Wise Lord as prior to, and supreme over, those creatures who have the mind as their first. As he acknowledges Him as the greatest of them all, so he assigns the creatures to Him as to their originator.

13 As he undertones the third sentence, he thereby announces that all the amenities of life appertain to the good Wise Lord, and come from Him. As he recites "the creator of mind," he acknowledges Him as superior and prior to mind; and as he makes Him the one who indicates the truth to mind, saying "of mind," which means that by this much he makes Him its director, and then he makes Him the lord of actions.

14 And when he acknowledges Him for the creatures thus, "O Wise Lord," he acknowledges Him as their ruler when he assigns the creatures to Him thus. He then assigns the Kingdom to the Lord, saying: "Thine, O Wise Lord, is the Kingdom." And he assigns a nourisher and protector to the poor, saying: "who gave a nourisher to the poor"; that is, as a friend to Spitama. This is the fifth sentence, and it concludes the entire recital and word, even the whole of this word of God the Wise Lord.

15 He who is the best of all, the Wise Lord, pronounced the Ahuna-vairya, and as He pronounced it as the best, so He caused it to have its effect, He, ever the same as He is.

The evil one at once arose to oppose Him, but God repelled that wicked one with His interdict, and with this repelling renunciation: Neither our minds are in harmony, nor our precepts, nor our comprehensions, nor our beliefs, nor our words, nor our actions, nor our consciences, nor our souls!

Catechetical commentary

16 And this saying, uttered by the Wise Lord, has three stages or measures, and belongs to four classes of men as its supporters, and to five chiefs in the community, without whom its efficiency is marred, and it has a conclusion ending with a gift. Question: How are its measures constituted? Answer: The good thought, the good word, and the good deed.

17 Question: With what classes of men? Answer: The priest, the charioteer as the chief of warriors, the systematic tiller of the ground, and the artisan. These callings therefore accompany the religious man throughout his entire duty with the correct thought, the truthful word, and the righteous action. These are the callings and states in life which give attention to the rulers, and fulfil the laws of religion; yea, they are the guides and companions of that religious man through whose actions the settlements are furthered in righteousness.

18 Question: How are the chiefs constituted? Answer: They are the house-chief, the village-chief, and the tribe-chief, the chief of the province, and the Zarathushtra as the fifth. That is, so far as those provinces are concerned which are different from, and outside of, the Zarathushtrian regency, or domain. Ragha, which has four chiefs only, is the Zarathushtrian district. Question: How are the chiefs of this one constituted? Answer: They are the house-chief, the village-chief, the tribe-chief, and the Zarathushtra as the fourth.

19 Question: What is the thought well thought? Answer: It is that which the holy man thinks, the one who holds the holy thought to be before all other things. Question: What is the word well spoken? Answer: It is the bountiful sacred word, the bounteous word of reason. Question: What is the deed well done? Answer: It is that done with praises, and by the creatures who regard Righteousness as before all other things.

20 Question: The Wise Lord made a proclamation; whom did He announce? Answer: Some one who was holy, and yet both heavenly and mundane. Question: What was His character, He who made this sacred enunciation? Answer: He who is the best of all, the ruling One. Question: Of what character did He proclaim him the coming one? Answer: As holy and the best, a ruler who exercises no wanton or despotic power.

21 We give thanks to God for the several parts of the Ahuna-vairya. We give thanks for the memorised recital of the Ahuna-vairya, and its regular chanting and its use in the full worship.