The Zarathushtra Gâthâs and the origins of Mazdaism (continued) (7)

Continuation of the process

The sacrificial fire has just been lit, and has probably been consecrated by asking the gods to come down to it. We are in the second half of the night and this fire is not yet easy to distinguish from the darkness. In Y 30.4, the two mainiius meet:

Y 30.4 "Now, the fundamental fact that these two mainiius meet subjects life and lifelessness to the final fact that the worst state of existence will be that of the deceivers, while for theaṣ̌auuan will be the best thought."

Here we have a contact antagonism between the faint glimmer of something and darkness. This situation must be discriminated against, and therefore a choice must be made. The latter must give rise to a shift in space, already announced in Y 30.1: išǝṇtō, then Y 30.6 hǝ̄ṇduuārǝṇtā "(the demons) run" and in Y 30.7 jasat̰ "he comes". This movement finds its fulfillment in the metaphor at Y 30.10:

Y 30.10 "Let the putting down of the [1 word] of Deceit occur, but let very swift (steeds), which will win good renown, be harnessed to go to the good dwelling of good Thought, Mazdā and Arrangement!".

This is a harness race with the prize of srauuah, ved. śrávas from a root sru- "to hear", which can mean "the hymn" or "fame". We find a parallel metaphor at the end of the sacrifice, but with mīžda "the prize of victory", i.e. immortality. Here, srauuah appears as the object of a statement, perhaps designating the ritual noise (crackling of fire, sound of mortars) that must be heard by the gods.

The following stanza emphasizes the notion ofuruuātā, véd. vratá-. The aim is toestablish a vrata with the deities:

Y 30.11 "May the rules of Mazdā founded by accessibility and inaccessibility, even if you seek to master them, O (evil) men, participate in the will (of Mazdā) by the long withering which is for the partisans of Deceit and by the opulences which are for the partisans of Harmony!".

The usual translation of this term is "order, command", but we should perhaps be a little sceptical about this meaning. Indeed, the term is inseparable from uruuaθa. uruuātā "covenant" is to uruuaθa "he who respects the covenant" what v.av. dāta "provisions, rules, sacrificial obligations" is to dāθa- (< *dāt-h2a-) "he who respects ritual obligations". This invites us to see in vrata a form of covenant, here the establishment around the ritual fire of a covenant with the deities. To do this, you need to clear the air around the fire:

- whispering so as not to be heard by opponents:

Y 31.1 "Your treaties which we murmur, we define as words which cannot be heard by those who, in accordance with the treaties of Deceit, destroy the living beings of the Arrangement, but as (words) very good for those who trust in Mazdā".

- dismiss all living beings:

Y 31.3 "The treatise which (you offer by fire, mainiiu and Arrangement) to those who desire it, tell it to us, O Mazdā, with the tongue of your mouth, that we may take cognizance of it (and) that by it I may ward off all the living".

- invite deities exclusively:

Y 31.4 "When the Ahuras are there, the Agency that must be invited and Mazdā, with the Mise-en-mouvement and the Just-thought, I will require of them with the very good Thought to possess authoritative power, the growth of which will enable us to overcome Deceit".

Here we see the gathering of the pantheon: Ahura Mazdā, Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Ārmaiti, and Aṣ̌i. We witness a gathering at two other times in GA: during the libation of Haoma and during the offering of fat in the fire. What happens here is accompanied by operations that involve making the flame of the fire grow, cf. Y 31.4: vǝrǝdā "by increase", Y 31.6: vaxšat̰ "he increases", Y 31.7 uxšiiō "you grow".

The flames of fire are certainly hands, but they are also tongues, in this case that of Ahura Mazdā. He will be asked to speak, cf. Y 31.3, 5 vaocā or again Y 31.6 vaocāt̰. So there will be oral contact with the deities in order to establish an alliance. Then there will be cosmogonic awareness and interrogation.

Y 31.8 carries a double meaning in the identification of Ahura Mazdā with the light of fire. Fire has always existed, but sacrificial fire is today's fire:

Y 31.8 "I think by thought, O Mazdā, that you are the elder/ancient, though you are the younger/today and the father of good Thought when I grasp by sight that you are the founder (and the) consolidator of the Arrangement, the Ahura among the acts of the state-of-existence".

The invitation to speak turns into an interrogation(frāsa). And in Y 31.16, something new happens:

Y 31.16 "I (ask you) also in what way the hudānu who aspires to power over the house, the territory and the country, so that they may prosper, is the same as you, O Ahura Mazdā, when he will be there and by virtue of what act".

One asks when someone(huuō) will be present, referring to him as hudānuš, cf. ved. sudā́nu-, which is a frequent qualification of fire on the Indian side. Now, dānu denotes spray, i.e. a liquid that is not compact, a kind of moist vapor. Here, we're asking when the fire will be dripping, i.e. dripping from the fat offering. This term introduces the prospect of the offerings at the end. The rest of the stanza testifies to the gathering together of the circles of social belonging (house, territory, country), which creates a parallel with Y 36.1 "we form the clan of this fire" and extinguishes the penultimate irreducible difference with YH.

From Y 31.8 onwards, the climate changes, with the setting up of a situation of antagonism, and it is to this point that the next lesson will be devoted.