Waters and Light

1 We give thanks to God for the holy bull, the beneficent bull, who makes increase, who makes growth, who bestows his gifts upon the excellent faithful, and who will bestow them on the faithful yet unborn, whom the Gahi kills, and the ungodly Ashemaogha, and the wicked tyrant.

2 "O God, send the clouds along the sky, through the air, down on the earth, by thousands of drops, by myriads of drops:" thus say, O holy Zarathustra, "to destroy sickness altogether, to destroy death altogether, to destroy altogether the sickness brought by the Gahi, to destroy altogether the death brought by the Gahi, to destroy altogether Gadha and Apagadha.

3 "If death come at eve, may healing come at daybreak!

"If death come at daybreak, may healing come at night!

"If death come at night, may healing come at dawn!

"May the showers shower down new waters, new earth, new trees, new health, and new healing powers.

4 "As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, let the waters, by Thy command, rise up, go up the aerial way and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Let them rise up and roll along, they in whose rising and growing Thou, O God, madest the aerial way.

5 "By Thy command let the swift-horsed sun, Thy sign, rise up and roll along above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and mayst thou, O man, rise up there, if thou art to abide in the House of Songs), along the path made by God, along the way made by His angels, the watery way they opened.

6 "And thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy prayer: 'Of thee, O child, may God cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O woman, may He make the body and the strength pure; may He make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk;

7 "'A woman rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. May He make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.'

8 "As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, let the waters, by Thy command, rise up, go up the aerial way, and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Let them rise up and roll along, they in whose rising and growing Thou, O God, madest the earth.

9 "By Thy command let the moon, Thy sign, rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and mayst thou, O man, rise up there, if thou art to abide in the House of Songs), along the path made by God, along the way made by His angels, the watery way they opened.

10 "And thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy prayer: 'Of thee, O child, may God cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O woman, may He make the body and the strength pure; may He make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk;

11 "'A woman rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. May He make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.'

12 "As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, let the waters, by Thy command, rise up, go up the aerial way, and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Let them rise up and roll along, they in whose rising and growing Thou, O God, madest everything grow.

13 "By Thy command let the stars, which bear the seed of waters, rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world (and mayst thou, O man, rise up there, if thou art to abide in the House of Songs), along the path made by God, along the way made by His angels, the watery way they opened.

14 "And thou shalt keep away the evil by this holy prayer: 'Of thee, O child, may God cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O woman, may He make the body and the strength pure; may He make thee a woman rich in children and rich in milk;

15 "'A woman rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. May He make for thee a thousand springs flow and run towards the pastures that will give food to the child.'

16 "As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of waters, let the waters rise up and gather together, go up the aerial way and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Let them rise up and roll along!

17 "Up! rise up! away will the Kaini fly and cry, away will Aidhi fly and cry, away will the Gahi, who is addicted to sorcery, fly and cry."

18 "In God's name I drive away Ishire, I drive away Aghuire, 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 Sarana, I drive away Sarasti, I drive away Azana, I drive away Asahva, I drive away Kurugha, I drive away Asivaka, I drive away Duruka, I drive away Astairya; I drive away the disease, rottenness, and infection which Satan has brought upon the bodies of mortals by his witchcraft.

19 "In God's name I drive away all manner of diseases and deaths, all sorcerers and female fiends, and all the wicked Gahis.

20 "May the much-desired helper come here, by God's leave, 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 the Lord!

21 "May the much-desired helper, by God's leave, smite all manner of diseases and deaths, all sorcerers and female fiends, and all the wicked Gahis.

22 "The will of the Lord is the law of holiness . . .

"Whom hast thou placed to protect me . . . ?

"Who is he who will smite the fiend . . . ?

23 "Keep us from our hater, O Lord, and keep us in holy devotion! Perish, O fiendish one! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, O fiend! Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of the holy spirit!"