From the Vahishtoishti Gatha of the Avesta
The Vahishtoishti Gatha (Yasna 53) is the fifth and shortest of the Gāthā collections — a single chapter of nine verses, and the last of Zarathustra's seventeen hymns in Old Avestan. Its occasion is intensely personal: the marriage of Pouruchista, Zarathustra's youngest daughter, to Jamaspa. Yet the prophet transforms a family celebration into a universal teaching. The wedding sermon moves from cosmic gratitude (verse 1) through exhortation of the faithful (verse 2), direct address to the bride (verses 3–4), counsel to all newly married couples (verses 5–7), and a warning against the wicked (verses 8–9).
Yasna 53 stands as a bridge between the intimate and the theological. Marriage in the Gāthās is not merely social union — it is a moral act, an alignment of two wills with Asha (Truth) against Druj (Falsehood). The bride speaks in verse 4, the only female voice in the Gāthās, declaring her choice with the same vocabulary of will and righteousness that Zarathustra uses to address Ahura Mazdā. In the Zoroastrian tradition, Pouruchista's declaration is a founding act of spiritual equality.
This translation is by Mobed Firouz Azargoshasb, published by the Council of Iranian Mobeds of North America (1988). The Avestan source text in scholarly romanised transliteration follows the English for reference and study.
Verse 1
Every wish of the prophet Zarathushtra Spitama have been fulfilled in the best possible manner and Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Life and Wisdom, has granted him the best blessings, i.e. a happy, prosperous and holy life through all Eternity.
Verse 2
So, let all strive with thought, word and deed to satisfy Mazda. Let each one choose to perform good deeds as his worship. Kavi Vishtaspa, the faithful devotee of Zoroaster together with Maidyo-Mah and Frashaoshtra are treading the path of Truth.
Verse 3
O, Pouro-Chista of Spitama's House and of Haichatspa's Family; O, the youngest offspring of Zoroaster; Mazda Ahura has bestowed upon you as husband and Lord, the person who has deep attachment to Vohuman and Truth.
Verse 4
I shall love the person who has been appointed as the Father and Master of Relatives and Tokhshagaran, and shall accept him as my husband. May I be a righteous, noble and deserving wife, and may I enjoy a life enriched by Vohuman.
Verse 5
These words I speak to you, maidens, and newly wed husbands, and hope you will bear them in your minds carefully. Understand them deep within your souls and live always full of love with pure mind.
Verse 6
Hear and give heed to these truths, O, men and women. Strive to avoid the lures of this material life and stop the progress of untruth and deceit. Tear away your attachment with untruth and know that the happiness achieved by untruth and woeful end of others shall bring forth nothing else, but pain and woe.
Verse 7
When you come within our Brotherhood, and as long as love and faithfulness exists in the hearts of you two young pairs, whether you strive for this live or the next, you shall reap the best rewards.
Verse 8
The evil doers and wicked ones, indeed, shall finally be deceived and stung by men's ridicule, chiding themselves. May men and women helped by good leaders and just kings enjoy peace and rest in their own clans and villages.
Verse 9
The evil believers and evil-minded persons hate the good and pure people. They look down upon respectable persons. They are slaves of desire and despisers of righteous ones, despite their struggle with their inner-selves.
Colophon
Yasna 53, the Vahishtoishti Gatha, is the last hymn of the Gāthās — the most sacred stratum of Zoroastrian scripture. It is a wedding hymn: Zarathustra's sermon on the occasion of his youngest daughter Pouruchista's marriage. In nine verses, the prophet weaves personal joy with universal teaching — marriage as moral alignment, the bride's voice declaring her own choice, and the eternal warning against falsehood. Pouruchista's declaration in verse 4 is the only female voice in the Gāthās, speaking with the same vocabulary of truth and good thought that Zarathustra uses to address the divine.
The Vahishtoishti Gatha is the shortest of the five Gāthā collections: one chapter, nine verses. It closes the cycle that began with Yasna 28's prayer to Ahura Mazdā — from cosmic supplication to human celebration, from the prophet alone before the divine to the prophet surrounded by family, from the beginning of the spiritual life to its most intimate expression.
Translation by Mobed Firouz Azargoshasb, published by the Council of Iranian Mobeds of North America (March 1988). Electronic version authorised by Mobed Mehraban Zarthoshty of Vancouver, Canada (August 1997). Reproduced for scholarly and archival purposes with attribution, per the translator's stated permissions.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Avestan Source Text (Scholarly Romanised Transliteration)
Old Avestan source text from the Early Indo-European Online series (University of Texas at Austin Linguistics Research Center), based on the standard scholarly transliteration of the Geldner edition (1886–1896). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
Verse 1
vahištā īštiš srāvī Zaraθuštrahē Spitāmahyā yezī hōi dāṯ āyaptā ašāṯ hacā ahurō mazdå yavōi vīspāi-ā hvaŋhəvīm yaē-cā hōi dabən saškən-cā daēnayå vaŋhuyå uxδā šyaoθanā-cā
Verse 2
aṯ-cā hōi scantū manaŋhā uxδāiš šyaoθanāiš-cā xšnə̄m mazdå vahmāi-ā fraorəṯ yasnąs-cā kava-cā Vīštāspō zaraθuštriš Spitāmō Fərašaoštras-cā dåŋhō ərəzūš paθō yąm daēnąm ahurō saošyantō dadāṯ
Verse 3
tə̄m-cā tū Pourucistā Haēcaṯ-aspānā Spitāmī yezivī dugədrąm Zaraθuštrahē vaŋhə̄uš paityāstīm manaŋhō ašahyā mazdås-cā taibyō dāṯ sarəm aθā hə̄m ferašvā θwā xraθwā spə̄ništā Ārmatōiš hudānvarəšvā
Verse 4
tə̄m zī və̄ spərədā nivarānī yā feδrōi vīdāṯ paiθyaē-cā vāstryaēibyō aṯ-cā xvaētaovē ašāunī ašavabyō manaŋhō vaŋhə̄uš xvə̄nvaṯ haŋhuš mə̄m-bə̄əduš mazdå dadāṯ ahurō daēnayāi vaŋhuyāi yavōi vīspāi-ā
Verse 5
sāxvə̄nī vazyamnābyō kainibyō mraomī xšmaibyā-cā vadəmnō mə̄n-cā ī mąz dazdūm vaēdōdūm daēnābīš abyas-cā ahūm yə̄ vaŋhə̄uš manaŋhō ašā və̄ anyō ainīm vīvə̄nghatū taṯ zī hōi hušə̄nem aŋhaṯ
Verse 6
iθā ī haiθyā narō aθā jə̄nayō drūjō hacā rāθəmō yə̄mə spašuθā frāidīm drūjō āyesē hōiš piθā tanvō parā vayū-bərədubyō duš-xvarəθə̄m nąsaṯ xvāθrəm drəgvōdəbyō də̄jīṯ-arətaēibyō anāiš ā manahīm ahūm mərəngəduyē
Verse 7
aṯ-cā və̄ mīždəm aŋhaṯ ahyā magahyā yavaṯ āžuš zrazdištō būnōi haxtayå para-cā mraocąs aorā-cā yaθrā mainyuš drəgvatō anąsaṯ parā ivīzayathā magə̄m tə̄m aṯ və̄ vayōi aŋhaitī apə̄mem vacō
Verse 8
anāiš ā dužvarəšnaŋhō dafšnyā hə̄ntū zah́yā-cā vīspåŋhō xraosəntąm upā huxšaθrāiš jə̄nerąm xrūnerąm-cā rāmąm-cā āiš dadātū šyeitibyō vīžibyō īratū īš dvafšō hvō dərəzā mərəiθyaoš mazištō mošu-cā astū
Verse 9
dužvarənāiš vaēšō rāstī tōi narəpīš rajīš aēšasā də̄jīṯ-arətā pəšō-tanvō kū ašavā ahurō yə̄ īš jyātə̄uš hə̄miθyāṯ vasə̄-itōiš-cā taṯ mazdā tavā xšaθrəm yā ərəžəjyōi dāhī drəgaovē vahyō
Source Colophon
Avestan text in scholarly romanised transliteration from the Early Indo-European Online series, Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, based on the critical edition by Karl Friedrich Geldner (Avesta: The Sacred Books of the Parsis, 3 vols., Stuttgart, 1886–1896). The Gāthās survive in manuscripts no older than the fourteenth century CE, but linguistic analysis places their composition in the second millennium BCE, contemporary with the Rigvedic hymns.
Note on transliteration: This text uses the standard scholarly (ISO 11940-based) romanisation of Old Avestan with macrons, theta (θ), delta (δ), and schwa (ə), which differs from the avesta.org convention used in the Yasna 28 source text in this archive. Both represent the same Avestan phonemes; the difference is typographic, not linguistic.
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