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The Yasna Haptanghaiti (), Avestan
Avestan language

Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrianism Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the hypothetical Indo-Iranian languages Language group....
 for "Worship in Seven Chapters," is a set of 7 hymns within the greater Yasna
Yasna

Yasna is the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta as well as the name of the principal Zoroastrianism act of worship at which those verses are recited....
 collection, that is, within the primary liturgical texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta
Avesta

The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
.

Yasna Haptanghaiti is in Gathic Avestan
Avestan language

Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrianism Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the hypothetical Indo-Iranian languages Language group....
, and is as old as the Gathas
Gathas

The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrianism faith....
, the most sacred hymns of Zoroastrianism and considered to have been composed by Zoroaster
Zoroaster

Zoroaster or Zarathushtra , also referred to as Zartosht , was an ancient Iranian peoples prophet and religious poet. The hymns attributed to him, the Gathas, are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism....
 himself.






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The Yasna Haptanghaiti (), Avestan
Avestan language

Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrianism Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the hypothetical Indo-Iranian languages Language group....
 for "Worship in Seven Chapters," is a set of 7 hymns within the greater Yasna
Yasna

Yasna is the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta as well as the name of the principal Zoroastrianism act of worship at which those verses are recited....
 collection, that is, within the primary liturgical texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta
Avesta

The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
.

Age and importance

The Yasna Haptanghaiti is in Gathic Avestan
Avestan language

Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrianism Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the hypothetical Indo-Iranian languages Language group....
, and is as old as the Gathas
Gathas

The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrianism faith....
, the most sacred hymns of Zoroastrianism and considered to have been composed by Zoroaster
Zoroaster

Zoroaster or Zarathushtra , also referred to as Zartosht , was an ancient Iranian peoples prophet and religious poet. The hymns attributed to him, the Gathas, are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism....
 himself. The seven hymns of the Yasna Haptanghaiti are generally considered to have been composed by the immediate disciples of Zoroaster, either during the prophet's lifetime or shortly after his death.

In substance, the seven chapters are of great antiquity and contain allusions to the general (not necessarily Zoroaster-reformed) religious beliefs of the late second millennium BCE. The texts are thus also of significance to scholars of religious history, and has a formative influence on the reconstruction of pre-Zoroastrian (Indo-)Iranian religion and in distinguishing Zoroaster's contributions from those of pre-existing ones.

Structure and content

As represented within the greater Yasna liturgy, the Yasna Haptanghaiti are placed (and recited) between the first and second Gathas. Unlike the Gathas however, which are in verse, the Yasna Haptanghaiti is in prose. Analysis of the texts suggests that the hymns of the Yasna Haptanghaiti were composed as a discrete unit. The last verse of the last chapter suggests that the seven chapters represent the historical Yasna liturgy, around which the other chapters of the present-day Yasna were later organized. In that verse (41.6), the Yasna Haptanghaiti is personified as the "the brave Yasna" and "the holy, the ritual chief."

The seven chapters have been summarized by Lawrence Heyworth Mills
Lawrence Heyworth Mills

The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Heyworth Mills , who generally published as L. H. Mills, was Professor of the Persian language at Oxford University....
 as follows:
1. (Yasna 35), 10 verses, "Praise to Ahura and the Immortals (Amesha Spentas
Amesha Spenta

is an Avestan language term for a class of divinity/divine concepts in Zoroastrianism, and literally means "Bounteous Immortal."The noun is amesha "immortal", and spenta "furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy" is an adjective of it. Later middle Persian variations of the term include A...
); Prayer for the practice and diffusion of the faith"
2. (Yasna 36),  6 verses, "To Ahura and the Fire (Atar
Atar

Atar is the Zoroastrianism concept for "burning and unburning fire" and "visible and invisible fire" .In an unrestricted sense, atar is heat - that is, thermal energy, manifest as fire or other luminous source when visible....
)"
3. (Yasna 37),  5 verses, "To Ahura, the holy Creation, the Fravashi
Fravashi

In Zoroastrianism doctrine a fravashi is the guardian spirit of an individual, who sends out the urvan into the material world to fight the battle of good versus evil....
s of the Just (ashavan
Ashavan

Avestan ashavan is a Zoroastrianism theological term. It literally means "possessing asha", hence "possessing truth" or "possessing righteousness", but has further implications:...
), and the Bountiful Immortals (Amesha Spentas)
4. (Yasna 38),  4 verses, "To the earth and the sacred waters (Apo
Aban

Apas is the Avestan language term for "the waters", which—in its innumerable aggregate states—is represented by the Apas, the hypostases of the waters....
)"
5. (Yasna 39),  5 verses, "To the soul of the Kine
Aurochs

The aurochs or urus was a very large type of cattle that was prevalent in Europe until its extinction in 1627. The animal's original scientific name, Bos primigenius, was meant as a Latin translation of the German language term Auerochse or Urochs, which was interpreted as literally meaning "primeval ox" or "proto-ox"....
, &c"
6. (Yasna 40),  4 verses, "Prayers for Helpers"
7. (Yasna 41),  6 verses, "Prayer to Ahura as the King, the Life, and the Rewarder"


In the 19th century, Yasna 42 was considered to be a supplement to the Yasna Haptanghaiti, but later discussions of the liturgy do not include it as such. Yasna 42 is younger than the Yasna Haptanghaiti.

Bibliography


Further reading

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