Yatu Zi Zarathushtra
(From the Haptan Yasht)

[otw_shortcode_info_box border_style=”bordered” background_color=”#c2b3c2″ css_class=”boxed”]Daisy P. Navdar is a teacher by profession and a firm believer in the efficacy of our Manthravani. She is focused on ensuring that the deep significance of our prayers is realized by our youth. She credits her learnings and insights, shared in her articles, to all Zoroastrian priests and scholars whose efforts have contributed towards providing light and wisdom for all Zarthostis.[/otw_shortcode_info_box]

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Our challenges come in all categories. Some have health concerns, some have educational challenges, some face difficulties with children or parents, some face workplace pressure and so on… the list is endless. However, we have all, at some point in our lives, faced situations that defy logic, problems that seemingly have no solution. We even begin to question ourselves about our own reality – are we actually experiencing something this peculiar or if we are simply imagining it!

For the purpose of illustration, I must share here, the experience of a child I knew. Her mother passed away at a very early age, post which the child started seeing things around the house which would frighten her. It became very difficult to handle the girl because she spoke about things that no one else could see! A Jashan was done in the house to get rid of any bad energy and subsequent to that, the dasturji who conducted the Jashan, spoke to the child. He then recommended some prayers and Nirangs to be done on a ‘Nirangdin no doro’ (sacred thread used in the Nirangdin ni Kriya). Without a doubt, the prayers worked and the girl soon became her usual self and stopped seeing those strange visions.

There is no end to the power and effectiveness of our manthras. The Haptan Yasht is an extremely powerful manthra against the ill-effects of the negative energies or evil around us. The passage given below is derived from the Haptan Yasht and is particularly effective in overcoming those seemingly impossible situations or experiences that cannot be explained with logic. It has been my experience that ‘where there is manthra vaani, there is no logic, only magic’!

“Yatu zi Zarathushtra vanat daevo mashyo Ko namanahe badha Spitama Zarathushtra Vispa druksh janaiti, vispa druksh nashaiti, yatha haonaoiti ashem vacham Aoi te aoi tanvo dadhaiti, aoi te athaurunem janaiti athaurunem yatha rathaeshtarem vispano asrushtee nashatanam aojangha. Yo him daste daranem yoi hapta Amesha Spenta hukhshathra hudhaongo hamerethanamchit. Daenam Mazda yasnim aspo kehrpem apem Mazdadhatam ashaonim yazamaide. Atere vitare maibya vitare maibya vimraot Zarathushtra atare vitare maibyaschit vitare maibyaschit vimraot Zarathushtra yat vangheush manangho yat aithyejanghem vacham fraspavaresh fracha framerethwacha frazathwacha. Satavata satevata utavata utevata uta apabarentu yatha bastem fravashanam daenam Mazdayasnim nashatanam aojangha – Ashem Vohu.”

The following is the literal translation of this kardah:

“O Zarathushtra! I call upon Thee to smite the evil wizard like man who resembles a daeva (evil person). O Spitama Zarathushtra! Just as one would succeed with the power of these sacred verses, in the same way let them conquer and destroy all the drujas (evil spirits) of this house. This druja takes control of the body and smites both, the Athravan (priests) and the Rathestaran (warrior). We appeal to Thee to be our shield and our protector, like the seven Ameshaspands who are both wise and true rulers and who protect us against evil. We are in tune with the Mazda worshipping religion and with the holy waters created by Mazda in the shape of a horse.”

Zarathushtra condemns sins of commission and sins of omission as they pertain to Vohu Manangh (probably a reference to Bahman Ameshaspand and therefore Bahman Yasht), which is the most indestructible among the sacred verses. Through the power of these verses, the evil ones are carried far away from us, bound by the sacred verses of the Mazda worshippers. May the Mazda worshippers increase hundredfold!