0 May the Wise Lord be rejoiced! ....

Holiness is the best of all good ....

I confess myself a worshipper of the Wise Lord, a follower of Zarathustra, one who renounces the false gods and obeys the laws of God;

For devotion, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto God, the Holy and Master of holiness ....

Unto God, who made the angel of victory Verethraghna, and the crushing ascendancy;

Be propitiation, with devotion, prayer, propitiation, and glorification.

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

I

1 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

2 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him first, running in the likeness of a strong, beautiful wind, made by the Wise Lord; he bore the good Glory, made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord, that is both health and strength.

3 Then he, who is the strongest, said unto him: "By God's leave I am the strongest in strength; I am the most victorious in victory; I am the most glorious in Glory; I am the most favouring in favour; I am the best giver of welfare; I am the best healing in health-giving.

4 "And I shall destroy the malice of all the malicious, the malice of demons and men, of the wicked sorcerers and sorceresses, of the oppressors, the blind, and the deaf."

5 For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard; namely, in remembrance of Verethraghna, made by God. We offer devotion to God, in remembrance of Verethraghna, made by God, with an offering of gifts, according to the primitive ordinances of God; with the healing plant and meat, the twigs, the wisdom of the tongue, the holy prayers, the speech, the deeds, the offerings, and the rightly-spoken words.

All those beings of whom the Wise Lord ....

II

6 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

7 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the second time, running in the likeness of a beautiful bull, with yellow ears and golden horns; upon whose horns floated the well-shapen Strength, and Victory, beautiful of form, made by God: thus did he come, bearing the good Glory, made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord, that is both health and strength.

Then he, who is the strongest, said unto him: "By God's leave I am the strongest in strength ....

"And I shall destroy the malice of all the malicious ...."

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

III

8 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

9 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the third time, running in the likeness of a white, beautiful horse, with yellow ears and a golden caparison; upon whose forehead floated the well-shapen Strength, and Victory, beautiful of form, made by God: thus did he come, bearing the good Glory, made by the Wise Lord, that is both health and strength.

Then he, who is the strongest, said unto him: "By God's leave I am the strongest in strength ....

"And I shall destroy the malice of all the malicious ...."

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

IV

10 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

11 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the fourth time, running in the likeness of a burden-bearing camel, sharp-toothed, swift ...., stamping forwards, long-haired, and living in the abodes of men;

12 Who of all males in rut shows greatest strength and greatest fire, when he goes to his females. Of all females those are best kept whom a burden-bearing camel keeps, who has thick forelegs and large humps, ...., quick-eyed, long-headed, bright, tall, and strong;

13 Whose piercing look goes afar even in the dark of the night; who throws white foam along his mouth; well-kneed, well-footed, standing with the countenance of an all-powerful master:

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

V

14 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

15 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the fifth time, running in the likeness of a boar, opposing the foes, a sharp-toothed he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing, wrathful, with a dripping face, strong, and swift to run, and rushing all around.

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

VI

16 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

17 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the sixth time, running in the likeness of a beautiful youth of fifteen, shining, clear-eyed, thin-heeled.

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

VII

18 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

19 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the seventh time, running in the likeness of a raven that .... below and .... above, and that is the swiftest of all birds, the lightest of the flying creatures.

20 He alone of living things, he or none, overtakes the flight of an arrow, however well it has been shot. He flies up joyfully at the first break of dawn, wishing the night to be no more, wishing the dawn, that has not yet come, to come.

21 He grazes the hidden ways of the mountains, he grazes the tops of the mountains, he grazes the depths of the vales, he grazes the summits of the trees, listening to the voices of the birds.

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

VIII

22 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

23 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the eighth time, running in the likeness of a wild, beautiful ram, with horns bent round.

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

IX

24 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

25 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the ninth time, running in the likeness of a beautiful, fighting buck, with sharp horns.

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

X

26 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Zarathustra asked the Wise Lord: "O Wise Lord, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One!

"Who is the best-armed of the heavenly angels?"

The Wise Lord answered: "It is Verethraghna, made by God, O Spitama Zarathustra!"

27 Verethraghna, made by God, came to him the tenth time, running in the likeness of a man, bright and beautiful, made by the Wise Lord: he held a sword with a golden blade, inlaid with all sorts of ornaments.

Thus did Verethraghna come, bearing the good Glory made by the Wise Lord, the Glory made by the Wise Lord ....

XI

28 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God, who serves God in bestowing virility, in taking life, and in raising up; who possesses peace, who has a free way.

Unto God did the holy Zarathustra offer up devotion, asking for victorious thinking, victorious speaking, victorious doing, victorious addressing, and victorious answering.

29 By God's leave, Verethraghna gave him the fountains of manliness, the strength of the arms, the health of the whole body, the sturdiness of the whole body, and the eyesight of the Kara fish, that lives beneath the waters and can measure a rippling of the water, not thicker than a hair, in the Rangha whose ends lie afar, whose depth is a thousand times the height of a man.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XII

30 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God, who serves God in bestowing virility, in taking life, and in raising up; who possesses peace, who has a free way.

Unto God did the holy Zarathustra offer up devotion, asking for victorious thinking, victorious speaking, victorious doing, victorious addressing, and victorious answering.

31 By God's leave, Verethraghna gave him the fountains of manliness, the strength of the arms, the health of the whole body, the sturdiness of the whole body, and the eyesight of the male horse, that, in the dark of the night, in its first half and through the rain, can perceive a horse's hair lying on the ground and knows whether it is from the head or from the tail.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XIII

32 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God, who serves God in bestowing virility, in taking life, and in raising up; who possesses peace, who has a free way.

Unto God did the holy Zarathustra offer devotion, asking for victorious thinking, victorious speaking, victorious doing, victorious addressing, and victorious answering.

33 By God's leave, Verethraghna gave him the fountains of virility, the strength of the arms, the health of the whole body, the sturdiness of the whole body, and the eyesight of the vulture with a golden collar, that, from as far as nine districts, can perceive a piece of flesh not thicker than the fist, giving just as much light as a needle gives, as the point of a needle gives.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XV

41 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

Verethraghna confounds the glory of this house with its wealth in cattle. He is like that great bird, the Saena; he is like the big clouds, full of water, that beat the mountains.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XVII

47 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God; who goes along the armies arrayed, and goes here and there asking, in the service of God the Friend and God the Just Judge: "Who is it who lies unto the covenant? Who is it who thrusts his oath against the truth? To whom shall I, in my might, impart illness and death, by God's leave?"

48 The Wise Lord said: "If men offer devotion to God in remembrance of Verethraghna, made by God, if the due devotion and prayer is offered just as it ought to be performed in the perfection of holiness, never will a hostile horde enter the Aryan countries, nor any plague, nor leprosy, nor venomous plants, nor the chariot of a foe, nor the uplifted spear of a foe."

49 Zarathustra asked: "What is then, O Wise Lord! the devotion and invocation in honour of Verethraghna, made by God, as it ought to be performed in the perfection of holiness?"

50 The Wise Lord answered: "Let the Aryan nations bring offerings for God's sake; let the Aryan nations tie bundles of twigs; let the Aryan nations cook for God's sake a head of cattle, either white, or black, or of any other colour, but all of one and the same colour.

51 "Let not a murderer take of those offerings, nor a whore, nor a ...., who does not sing the Gathas, who spreads death in the world and withstands the law of the Wise Lord, the law of Zarathustra.

52 "If a murderer take of those offerings, or a whore, or a ...., who does not sing the Gathas, then God takes back His healing blessings.

53 "Plagues will ever pour upon the Aryan nations; hostile hordes will ever fall upon the Aryan nations; the Aryans will be smitten by their fifties and their hundreds, by their hundreds and their thousands, by their thousands and their tens of thousands, by their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads."

54 There the angel Verethraghna, made by God, proclaimed thus: "The Soul of the Bull, the wise creature, does not receive from man due care and prayer; for now the demons and the worshippers of the demons make blood flow and spill it like water;

55 "For now the demons and the worshippers of the demons bring to the fire the plant that is called Haperesi, the wood that is called Nemetka;

56 "Therefore when the demons and the worshippers of the demons bow their backs, bend their waists, and arrange all their limbs, they think they will smite and smite not, they think they will kill and kill not; and then the demons and the worshippers of the demons have their minds confounded and their eyes made giddy."

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XVIII

57 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

I give thanks to God for the healing plant, which saves one's head; I give thanks for the victorious healing plant, the good protector; I give thanks for the healing plant, which is a protector to my body, that a man who shall drink of it shall win and prevail over his enemies in battle;

58 That I may smite this army, that I may smite down this army, that I may cut in pieces this army that is coming behind me.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XIX

59 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God. The prince and his son and his sons who are chiefs of myriads offer to God a bright offering, saying: "He is Strong, and Victorious is His name; He is Victorious, and Strong is His name!

60 "That I may be as constantly victorious as any one of all the Aryans; that I may smite this army, that I may smite down this army, that I may cut in pieces this army that is coming behind me."

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XX

61 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God.

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

In the ox is our strength, in the ox is our need; in the ox is our speech, in the ox is our victory; in the ox is our food, in the ox is our clothing; in the ox is tillage, that makes food grow for us.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XXI

62 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God;

Who breaks the columns asunder, who cuts the columns to pieces, who wounds the columns, who makes the columns shake; who comes and breaks the columns asunder, who comes and cuts the columns to pieces, who comes and wounds the columns, who comes and makes the columns shake, both of demons and men, of the wicked sorcerers and sorceresses, of the oppressors, the blind, and the deaf.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

XXII

63 In the name of God we remember Verethraghna, the angel of victory made by God. When Verethraghna binds the hands, confounds the eyesight, takes the hearing from the ears of the covenant-breakers marching in columns, allied by cities, they can no longer move their feet, they can no longer withstand.

For his brightness and glory, I will offer devotion to God worth being heard ....

64 The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....

I bless the devotion and prayer, and the strength and vigour of Verethraghna, made by the Wise Lord; and of the crushing ascendancy.

Holiness is the best of all good ....

Give unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy ones.