Spenta Mainyu GATHA
Song 14
Removing Obstructions
(12 stanzas -- Days
188th to 199th)
188th Day
Transliterated Text:
at mâ
ýavâ bêñdvô pafrê mazishtô
ýê
dusherethrîsh cixshnushâ ashâ mazdâ
vanguhî
âdâ gaidî môi â-môi arapâ
ahyâ vohû
aoshô vîdâ mananghâ.
Translated Text:
Now, Wise One,
Bendva always obstructs me the most,
I, who wish to satisfy the badly protected through righteousness.
Come to me with good reward and support.
I am seeking illumination for him through good mind.
(Gathas:
Song 14.1)
Summary Substance:
After declaring his plan, Zarathushtra turns to an arch enemy,
Bendva (Vedic Bandhu, a composer of the Rig Veda).
He is the main obstruction in Zarathushtra's way.
Zarathushtra wants to attend, in a rightful way, to the people who
face the dangers of opposition. They
have to be saved. He is
praying for divine guidance and seeking solution through good mind.
Pondering Points:
Want to defeat opposition, pray to Mazda, and see light through
good mind.
189th Day
Transliterated Text:
at ahyâ
mâ bêñdvahyâ mânayeitî
tkaêshô dregvå daibitâ ashât râreshô
nôit speñtãm dôresht ahmâi stôi âramaitîm
naêdâ vohû mazdâ frashtâ mananghâ.
Translated Text:
Indeed this
action of Bendva has made me anxious
because the wrongful doctrine certainly prevents one from righteousness.
Neither has he ever held the progressive serenity to be his,
nor has he ever consulted good mind, Wise One.
(Gathas:
Song 14.2)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra wants to lead Bendva to illumination, but that man
does not want it. He
continues with his wrongful teachings.
He continues with his opposition of Zarathushtra.
The agitated agitator is never stable and peaceful.
He never thinks good. Out
of mind! What should one do with an obstinate opposition?
The thought makes Zarathushtra thinking.
Pondering Points:
Wrong does not think good, does not enjoy peace in mind.
190th Day
Transliterated Text:
atcâ
ahmâi varenâi mazdâ nidâtem
ashem sûidyâi tkaêshâi râshayenghê druxsh
tâ vanghêush sarê izyâi mananghô
añtarê vîspêñg dregvatô haxmêñg añtarê mruyê.
Translated Text:
However, Wise
One, this has been put as a choice
that righteousness is for the promotion of the doctrine, and wrong is for
harming it.
Therefore, I long for union with good mind,
and disavow all associations with the wrongful.
(Gathas:
Song 14.3)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra's meditation gives him the answer.
Righteousness, the Law of precision, promotes the Divine Doctrine,
and wrong actions harms it. He,
therefore, decides to continue with good mind and leave those alone who
persist in their wrong beliefs and refuse to change.
Instead of wasting his precious time with willfully deaf,
Zarathushtra turns to those who have open ears to listen and free will to
choose.
Pondering Points: Do
not waste time talking to intentionally closed ears. Turn to those who
listen.
191st Day
Transliterated Text:
ýôi
dush-xrathwâ aêshemem vareden râmemcâ
hvâish hizubîsh fshuyasû afshuyañtô
ýaêshãm nôit hvarshtâish vãs duzhvarshtâ
tôi daêvêñg dãn ýâ dregvatô daênâ.
Translated Text:
Those who,
through their evil intellect,
promote anger and cruelty with their tongues
are but drones among productive people.
Their evil deeds have not been defeated by good deeds.
It is they who created false gods,
which forms the religion of the wrongful.
(Gathas:
Song 14.4)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra is describing the persons he disavows.
They are those who use their intellect for evil ends.
Their teaching promotes violence and war.
These false teachers, the priests, are the creators of false
deities. They have been
successful in promoting their cult and duping and exploiting the laity.
They are not productive themselves.
They feed on what productive people produce.
Pondering Points:
Intentionally wrongful persons produce nothing but violence.
192nd Day
Transliterated Text:
at hvô
mazdâ îzhâcâ âzûitishcâ
ýê daênãm vohû sârshtâ mananghâ
âramatôish kascît ashâ huzêñtush
tâishcâ vîspâish thwahmî xshathrôi ahurâ.
Translated Text:
Now, Wise One,
every person, who has linked his religion
with good mind through devotion and invocation,
is a noble person of serenity through righteousness.
He lives, with them all, in Your dominion, Lord.
(Gathas:
Song 14.5)
Summary Substance:
A person who meditates and contemplates through his good mind and
firmly believes in what he thinks, is a noble person.
He enjoys peace and stability because of his righteous acts.
In fact, such a person lives a divine life in the divine dominion
with all others who share the same belief.
They all are co-religionists.
Pondering Points:
When nobility enjoys serenity, one dwells in the divine domain.
193rd Day
Transliterated Text:
frô vå
fraêshyâ mazdâ ashemcâ mrûitê
ýâ vê xratêush xshmâkahyâ â-mananghâ
eresh vîcidyâi ýathâ-î srâvayaêmâ
tãm daênãm ýâ xshmâvatô ahurâ.
Translated Text:
I urge You,
Wise One, and Righteousness to tell us
what You have
in Your wisdom of mind,
so that we
rightly choose how to proclaim, Lord,
the religion
which belongs to a Godlike person.
(Gathas:
Song 14.6)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra is again seeking guidance from Mazda and the Law of
Precision. He wants to use
his divine good mind to precisely plan how proclaim his Divine Message,
the Good Religion, which transforms one into godlike.
Pondering Points:
The Good Religion guides one to be godlike - creator, sustainer, and
promoter of the living world.
194th Day
Transliterated Text:
tatcâ
vohû mazdâ sraotû mananghâ
sraotû ashâ gûshahvâ tû ahurâ
kê airyamâ kê xvaêtush dâtâish anghat
ýê verezênâi vanguhîm dât frasastîm.
Translated Text:
And Wise One,
let one listen to it through good mind.
Let one listen to it through righteousness. You too hear it, Lord.
Which friend, which relative abides by laws,
and provides a good guidance to the community?
(Gathas:
Song 14.7)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra wants every one to know the guides he has trained to practice
the Primal Principles of Life and to lead members of family and friends,
the entire community. He
wants to introduce them. He
wants all to listen to the Divine Message through good mind and
righteousness. And he wants
Ahura to be a witness to this.
Pondering Points: Listening
to one who practices what he teaches is the right way to learn.
195th Day
Transliterated Text:
ferashaoshtrâi
urvâzishtãm ashahyâ då
sarêm tat thwâ mazdâ ýâsâ ahurâ
maibyâcâ ýãm vanghâu thwahmî â-xshathrôi
ýavôi vîspâi fraêshtånghô ånghâmâ.
Translated Text:
This I beg
You, Wise Lord, to grant Ferashaushtra
the best happy union with righteousness.
And give it to my people in Your good dominion.
We shall be Your messengers forever.
(Gathas:
Song 14.8)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra is prays divine blessings for his trainee
Ferashaoshtra and others. He
prays for their union with righteousness and in the good divine dominion.
And he declares that he and his companions will continue to be the
messengers of the Divine Message forever.
Pondering Points:
Want the Good Religion to progress, devote your life in spreading the
Message.
196th Day
Transliterated Text:
sraotû
sâsnå fshêñghyô suyê tashtô
nôit eresh-vacå sarêm didãs dregvâtâ
hyat daênå vahishtê ýûjên mîzhdê
ashâ ýuxtâ ýâhî dêjâmâspâ.
Translated Text:
Sage Jamaspa,
let the promoter, tailored for promotion, listen to these teachings.
The truth-speaking person shall not consider any association with the
wrongful,
because those who have united their consciences in the reward,
are united in righteousness on this Great Event of Choice.
(Gathas:
Song 14.9)
Summary Substance: Zarathushtra
now addresses another trainee, Jamaspa, known for his knowledge.
He is Ferashaothra's younger brother.
The occasion is the "Great Event of Choice," the Gathic
term for "Initiation," the day one chooses the Good Religion.
He wants Jamaspa, who has been trained to teach, to listen to the
teachings with greater attention. Once
the choice is made, then one should not associate with the wrongful.
The choice makes one a member of "Maz Maga," "the
Great Magnanimity," the Universal Fellowship founded by Zarathushtra.
Pondering Points: Decision
to choose the Good Religion joins one to the Universal Fellowship.
197th Day
Transliterated Text:
tatcâ
mazdâ thwahmî âdãm nipånghê
manô vohû urunascâ ashâunãm
nemascâ ýâ âramaitish îzhâcâ
mãzâ xshathrâ vazdanghâ avêmîrâ.
Translated Text:
And Wise One,
You guard in Your abode
this good mind, the souls of the righteous,
and the reverence that comes with serenity and invocation,
a fact that makes the great sovereignty everlasting.
(Gathas:
Song 14.10)
Summary Substance: Righteous
souls with good mind, tranquility, and invocation last for ever in the
Divine Domain.
Pondering Points:
Eternity needs good thinking, righteousness, peace, and prayer.
198th Day
Transliterated Text:
at
dushexshathrêñg dush-shyaothanêñg duzhvacanghô
duzhdaênêñg dush-mananghô dregvatô
akâish hvarethâish paitî urvãnô paityeiñtî
drûjô demânê haithyâ anghen astayô.
Translated Text:
Now, the souls
of the evil-ruling, evil-doing, evil speaking,
evil-conceiving, and evil-thinking return back
because of their evil luster
because they really dwell in the house of wrong.
(Gathas:
Song 14.11)
Summary Substance:
The souls of those who think, speak, conceive, act and rule by evil
means, have evil luster and fame. They
do not progress to perfection, but return to their abode of wrong where
they truly belong.
Pondering Points:
Evil in mind and body prevents progress.
199th Day
Transliterated Text:
kat
tôi ashâ zbayeñtê avanghô
zarathushtrâi kat tôi vohû mananghâ
ýê vê staotâish mazdâ frînâi ahurâ
avat ýâsãs hyat vê îshtâ vahishtem.
Translated Text:
What help do
You have through righteousness,
Wise Lord, what help through good mind for me, Zarathushtra,
the invoker, who loves You with praises,
and asks for what is best in Your power?
(Gathas:
Song 14.12)
Summary Substance: Questions
that tell us that Zarathushtra, who invokes Mazda Ahura with love and
praises, knows that God will help him through his righteous actions
planned with his good mind, and that he will be granted him the best of
the divine power. He will
succeed in removing all the obstacles in his way and in completing his
mission.
Pondering
Points: Get the best by loving the Wise Being in the right way
and with good mind.
