Vahishta Ishti
GATHA
Song 17
Best Wish
(9+1 stanzas -- Days
233rd to 242nd)
233rd Day
Transliterated Text:
vahishtâ
îshtish srâvî zarathushtrahê
spitâmahyâ ýezî hôi dât âyaptâ
ashât hacâ ahurô mazdå
ýavôi vîspâi â hvanghevîm
ýaêcâ hôi daben sasheñcâ
daênayå vanghuyå uxdhâ shyaothanâcâ.
Translated Text:
The best
wish of mine, Zarathushtra Spitama,
has been fulfilled,
because the Wise God has, on account of my righteousness,
granted me blessings, both
mental and material, and a good life for ever.
Those who hurt me,
have also learned the words and deeds of the Good Conscience.
(Gatha:
Song 17.1)
Summary
Substance: Concluding
his 16th Song with his loving veneration of all his companions,
Zarathushtra expresses his joy at the success of his mission.
It is on account of his earnest and righteous way of promoting
his Divine Mission that he finds his best wish, the success of well
establishing the Good Religion, come true.
He earnestly ascribes his success to divine guidance.
He feels happy and content in mind and body.
He enjoys a good life for ever.
He is alive. His
very words are heard. He
sees that those who rose against him, hurt him, made him leave his
relatives and home town, placed obstacles in his way to the Vishtaspa's
court, intrigued against him, have now learned the truth. They
too have converted to the Good Religion.
Pondering Points:
Once Truth is explicated from a firm position, opposition dies,
and success dawns.
234th Day
Transliterated Text:
atcâ
hôi scañtû mananghâ uxdhâish shyaothanâishcâ
xshnûm mazdå vahmâi â fraoret ýasnãscâ
kavacâ vîshtâspô zarathushtrish
spitâmô ferashaoshtrascâ
dånghô erezûsh pathô
ýãm daênãm ahurô saoshyañtô dadât.
Translated Text:
And now, let
Kavi Vishtaspa, the Zarathushtrian Spitama,
and Ferashaoshtra pursue,
with mind, words, and deeds, the knowledge for the praise
and for the choice of venerations of the Wise One,
in order to establish in straight paths
the religion which God has granted to the benefactor.
(Gatha:
Song 17.2)
Summary
Substance: Satisfied
with the progress made by the Good Religion, Zarathushtra now delegates
his work to his close companions - Vishtaspa, Ferashaustra and most
likely his cousin Maidhyoi-maha. He
advises them to continue to pursue, with thoughts, words and deeds, and
the religious knowledge and the proper ways of venerating Mazda, all
with the sole aim of paving real roads for promoting the Good Religion,
the religion God has guided Zarathushtra as a Benefactor.
Pondering Points:
Want the mission to continue, delegate it to worthy successors.
235th Day
Transliterated Text:
têmcâ
tû pourucistâ haêcat-aspânâ
spitâmî ýezivî dugedrãm zarathushtrahê
vanghêush paityâstêm mananghô
ashahyâ mazdåscâ taibyô dât sarem
athâ hêm ferashvâ thwâ xrathwâ
spênishtâ âramatôish hudânvareshvâ.
Translated Text:
Pouruchista
Haechataspa Spitama,
youngest daughter of Zarathushtra:
May He grant you him who is steadfast in good mind,
and united with righteousness and with the Wise One.
Therefore, consult him with your wisdom,
and work with the most progressive and munificent serenity.
(Gatha:
Song 17.3)
Summary Substance: A
happy occasion is approaching. Zarathushtra's
youngest daughter, Pouruchista, is getting married to a young man,
Jamaspa Hvogova. She is
blessed by her father. He
wishes her a spouse who is unerring in thoughts, is right and righteous,
and very godly. He advises
her to be very wise, serenely, generous, and progressive in talking to
him. To Zarathushtra,
marriage is a sublime act of loving wisdom, and not one entered into
through sheer emotions.
Pondering Points:
Seek a godly, wise and rightful spouse; be calm, mindful, open and
loving in discussing your partnership in life.
236th Day
Transliterated Text:
têm zî
vê speredânî varânî ýâ fedhrôi vîdât
paithyaêcâ vâstryaêibyô atcâ xvaêtaovê
ashâunî ashavabyô
mananghô vanghêush xvênvat hanghush mêm bêedush
mazdå dadât ahurô
daênayâi vanghuyâi ýavôi vîspâi â.
Translated Text:
(She
replies:) Him I shall emulate and choose,
an act which will be an honor
for the father, the husband, the settlers, and the family.
As a righteous woman among the righteous people,
mine be the glorious union of good mind.
May the Wise God grant it
for the Good Conscience for all the time.
(Gatha:
Song 17.4)
Summary Substance:
Pouruchista assures her father that she will choose and emulate
the right person with whom her marriage will prove to be an honor for
her father, her husband, other family members, and all the neighbors
around in the settlement. She
vows to serve as a righteous woman among a righteous people.
She will always be using her good mind, and for that, she prays
to adhere and enjoy the Good Religion for the all time she lives.
Pondering Points:
A good marriage serves the community, earns honor, and promotes
the Religion.
237th Day
Transliterated Text:
sâxvênî
vazyamnâbyô kainibyô mraomî
xshmaibyâcâ vademnô mêñcâ-î mãzdazdûm
vaêdôdûm daênâbîsh
abyascâ ahûm ýê vanghêush mananghô
ashâ vê anyô ainîm vîvêñghatû
tat zî hôi hushênem anghat.
Translated Text:
(Zarathushtra
says) These words I speak to the charming brides,
and to you, bridegrooms. Do bear them in mind.
Comprehend them with your consciences.
Master the life which belongs to good mind.
May you each win the other through righteousness.
It will, indeed, be a good acquisition for each of you.
(Gatha:
Song 17.5)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra now addresses all "charming" brides and
bridegrooms. He wants them
to fully understand what he advises them.
He wants to them to lead a life of wisdom.
And then, giving the best of equality, he prays that each of them
win the other through righteous and true love in life.
A happy life of love based on wisdom and truth is truly a rich
reward.
Pondering Points:
Want a real happy married life, be true to your partner.
238th Day
Transliterated Text:
ithâ î
haithyâ narô athâ jênayô
drûjô hacâ râthemô ýême spashuthâ frâidîm
drûjô âyesê hôish pithâ tanvô parâ
vayû-beredubyô dush-xvarethêm
nãsat xvâthrem dregvôdebyô dêjît-aretaêibyô
anâish â manahîm ahûm mereñgeduyê.
Translated Text:
men and
women, it is true that
wrong is
attractive and appears to have advantages.
But it alienates one away from one's self.
It ends in woefulness and bad reputation.
It destroys happiness for the wrongful. It defiles truths.
With these, you shall be destroying your mental life.
(Gatha:
Song 17.6)
Summary Substance:
Zarathushtra gives a timely advice to young men and women joined
in wedlock. It is true, he
says, that wrong things have their own attraction.
Some see quick profit in them.
But the person engaged in a wrong act, knows what he/she is
doing. His/her conscience
troubles him/her, and feels that he/she has betrayed him/herself.
Once a person is exposed of the wrong/s done, the consequences
are bad. Reputation is
lost. Happiness gone.
The wrongful mentally suffers hard.
It is no life.
Pondering Points:
Do not be fooled by wrong attraction.
It is only a mirage.
239th Day
Transliterated Text:
atcâ vê
mîzhdem anghat ahyâ magahyâ
ýavat âzhush zarazdishtô bûnôi haxtayå
paracâ mraocãs aorâcâ
ýathrâ mainyush dregvatô anãsat
parâ ivîzayathâ magêm têm
at vê vayôi anghaitî apêmem vacô.
Translated Text:
But the
reward of this Fellowship shall be yours
as long as you remain united in weal and woe
with all your heart in wedlock.
Thus the mentality of the wrongful disappears.
However, if you abandon the Fellowship,
then the last word you shall utter is "woe."
(Gatha:
Song 17.7)
Summary Substance:
If a couple emulate each other with good mind inrighteous acts,
their life is ideal. If
either one of them is attracted by wrong, the unity could fall apart.
Zarathushtra wants his companions to have all the units of
society -- from house to world fellowship -- well united.
A rapture in one, would have effect on others.
He, therefore, advises the couple to remain united in weal or woe
with all their heart. Unity dispels evil and strengthens Fellowship.
Disunity is harmful. Onewho
destroys unity, is no more a member.
And one who abandons the Fellowship, will never feel happy.
He/she would continue to feel the loss.
Pondering Points:
United we stand, disunited we fall.
240th Day
Transliterated Text:
anâish
â duzhvareshnanghô dafshnyâ hêñtû
zah'yâcâ vîspånghô xraoseñtãm upâ
huxshathrâish jênerãm xrûnerãmcâ
râmãmcâ âish dadâtû
shyeitibyô vîzhibyô îratû îsh dvafshô
hvô derezâ merethyâush mazishtô moshucâ astû.
Translated Text:
It is with
such actions that evil doers
become prone to deception and ridicule.
Let them all scream for themselves.
Let, by means of good rulers, killings and woundings be prevented
and peace be brought to homes and settlements. Let afflictions be gone.
He is the greatest who restrains violent death. And let this happen
soon!
(Gatha:
Song 17.8)
Summary Substance:
The evil doers, the wrongful indulge in deceiving and ridiculing
those they are against. They
create uproar. Zarathushtra
says that they should be let to shout and roar for themselves.
Just ignore them. But
the righteous should have such good rulers for themselves who would
prevent war and bring peace to the settled people.
The person who stops bloodshed, is the greatest hero.
Zarathushtra places "no-killing" on his priority
list.
Pondering Points:
Want to stop violence abroad and at home, choose good rulers.
Want to enjoy peace and prosperity, elect good government.
241st Day
Transliterated Text:
duzhvarenâish
vaêshô râstî tôi narepîsh rajîsh
aêshasâ dêjît-aretâ peshô-tanvô
kû ashavâ ahurô
ýê îsh jyâtêush hêmithyât vasê-itôishcâ
tat mazdâ tavâ xshathrem
ýâ erezhejyôi dâhî drigaovê vahyô.
Translated Text:
Activity
with evil doers yields to decrease in worth.
In their anger, they defile truth and are criminals.
Where is the righteous lord,
who would oppose them for life and liberty?
It is, Wise One, Your dominion
that provides an honest-living oppressed a better living.
(Gatha:
Song 17.9)
Summary Substance:
Evil doers do not add any value to life.
They are, driven by anger, the cause of all destructive actions.
They destroy truth and commit crime.
They bring death and destruction.
They must be opposed
to safeguard life and maintain freedom.
Such a state is only achieved by choosing a good dominion in
which every honest person is guaranteed a better living and no one is
deprived of his/her right. Zarathushtra advocates an ideal society based
on mental and material righteousness, freedom, happiness, and
progress.
Pondering Points: Creating
a free world in which all are honest, sincere, working and enjoying good
living and true life.
 Airyemâ Ishyâ
Closing stanza
THE WORLD
ZARATHUSHTRIAN FELLOWSHIP
242nd Day
Transliterated Text:
â
airyêmâ ishyô rafedhrâi jañtû
nerebyascâ nâiribyascâ zarathushtrahê
vanghêush rafedhrâi mananghô
ýâ daênâ vairîm hanât mîzhdem
ashahyâ ýâsâ ashîm
ýãm ishyãm ahurô masatâ mazdå.
Translated Text:
May the
desired Fellowship come
for the support of the men and women of Zarathushtra,
for the support of good mind,
so that the conscience of every person earns
the choice reward, the reward of righteousness,
a wish regarded by the Wise God.
Summary Substance: Zarathushtra
concludes his Sublime Songs with a solemn prayer.
He prays for the promotion of the Universal Fellowship that would
support Zarathushtrian men and women who live a life of good mind and
all they look for is the reward that is nothing but righteousness.
That is the reward God wishes to give every person.
Pondering Points:
Promote World Fellowship of the Good Religion and be rewarded
with righteousness.
Concluding Note:
Zarathushtra came with a dynamic divine thought-provoking message. He
persevered to spread it and finally succeeded in his mission. His
mission: Forging a fresh Fellowship based on Good Thoughts, Good Words
and Good Deeds. A Fellowship based on serving the Wise God and the world
we live in. A Fellowship in which every Zarathushtrian man and woman
conscientiously works to earn the choice of reward: Righteousness.
Righteousness for the sake of the Best Righteousness alone.
The world fellowship of men and women to bring peace
and prosperity to every living being in the world is one of the main
goals of the religion of Good Conscience. It is the fulfillment of
Zarathushtra's mission, a mission aimed at perfecting the world in mind
and matter, spirit and body toward immortality and union with God. It is
the fellowship for which he rose, worked and succeeded. It is the
universal union which is desired. It is a unity which would bring true
happiness to every person in every family. It is the unity built by
loving families. It is the outcome of true spiritual and physical
democracy in which there would exist no oppressor and no oppressed. It
is to tread the path of righteousness with a good and sound mind. Its
reward: righteousness.
While Yatha Ahu is the beginning of the Gathas, A
Airyema Ishya is their end. One is the aim of creating a perfectly happy
world and the other is the culmination of the aim. A Airyema Ishya is a
prayer which wishes us a worthy world of unity, unity through the the
Religion Good Conscience, unity through the Fellowship it establishes.
It is a beautiful benediction with which Asho Zarathushtra concludes his
inspired and inspiring songs -- The Gathas -- of divine love and sublime
guidance.
May
we continue to follow the divine principles of wholeness and immortality
by studying and practicing the thought-provoking message of the Gathas.
And may we continue to be worthy members of the Zarathushtrian
Fellowship in The Zarathushtrian Assembly.
