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Visperad

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The Visperad is one of the texts of the Avesta collection.[1] It is used within the Yasht i Visperad liturgy, where its sections are inserted into the Yasna liturgy.[2]

Overview

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The Visperad ceremony "consists of the rituals of the Yasna, virtually unchanged, but with a liturgy extended by twenty-four[a] supplementary sections."[3] These supplementary sections (kardag) are then – from a philological perspective – the passages that make up the Visperad collection. The standard abbreviation for Visperad chapter-verse pointers is Vr., though Vsp. may also appear in older sources.

Name

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The name of the text is based on Middle Persian wsp lt', itself dereived from Avestan vispe ratavo[b]. It has been variously transliterated by scholars as Visperad,[4] Vispered,[5] Vispéred[6] or Wisperad.[7] The term has an ambiguous meaning. Subject to how ratu is translated,[c] vispe ratavo may be translated as "(prayer to) all patrons",[8] "all masters",[9] or, the older and today less common, "all chiefs."[10] or "all lords."

Text

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The Visperad collection has no unity of its own, and is never recited separately from the Yasna. During a recital of the Visperad ceremony, the Visperad sections are not recited en bloc but are instead interleaved into the Yasna recital.[11] The Visperad itself exalts several texts of the Yasna collection, including the Ahuna Vairya and the Airyaman ishya, the Gathas, and the Yasna Haptanghaiti (Visperad 13–16, 18–21, 23-24[12]) Unlike in a regular Yasna recital, the Yasna Haptanghaiti is recited a second time between the 4th and 5th Gatha (the first time between the 1st and 2nd as in a standard Yasna).

Visperad Liturgy

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Main article: Yasht i Visperad

The text of the Visperad is used during the Visperad liturgy, also known in Middle Persian as Yasht i Visperad or Jesht-i Visperad.[13] This means it is a Yasna, known in Middle Persian as Yasht, which includes a worship of all the ratus. The Visperad liturgy has a strong connection to yearly Zoroastrian festivals known as Gahambars, and it may have been created as an "extended service" for that occastion.[13]

As seasonal festivals, the gahambars are dedicated to the Amesha Spentas, the divinites that are in tradition identified with specific aspects of creation, and through whom Ahura Mazda realized ("with his thought") creation. These "bounteous immortals" (amesha spentas) are the "all patrons" – the vispe ratavo – who apportion the bounty of creation. However, the Visperad liturgy itself is dedicated to Ahura Mazda, the ratūm berezem "high Master."[13]

Manuscripts

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The manuscripts of the Visperad have come to us in two different traditions.[14] The first group is the liturgical manuscripts of the Vendidad, called Venidad Sadeh. Since the Vendidad liturgy is an extension of the Yasht i Visperad, these manuscripts contain the text of the Yasna, Visperad and Vendidad as they are performed in the Vendidad liturgy.[15] The second group comprises the exegetical manuscripts. They only contain the text unique to the Visperad plus a translation and commentary into Middle Persian. Since the written form of Middle Persian is called Pahlavi, this manuscript type is called Visperad Pahlavi.[14] They all descend from the K7 manuscript, held in the Copenhagen collection, written in 1287 by Rustam Mihirban Marzban.[16] A lengthy treatment of the different manuscripts is provided by Geldner[17] and Dhabhar.[18]

Editions

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The Visperad has been edited as part of the wider Avesta collection. The most important critical editions were provided by Westergaard,[19] and Geldner.[20] In 1949, Herbed Dhabhar published an edition dedicated to the Pahlavi manuscripts of the Yasna and Visperad.[21] Despite its age, Geldner has remained the reference edition to this day.[22] One of the drawbacks of these old editions is that they do not present the text within its liturgical context. This has been addressed more recently by Kellens who published a multi-volume edition and translation of the Yasna and Visperad with a focus on their liturgical use.[23][24][25][26]

Translations

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Translations of the Visperad are likewise being typically published as part of translations of the whole Avesta. A first translation into English was published in 1887 within the Sacred Books of the East series, edited by Max Müller. Volume 31 of the series was dedicated to the Visperad with a translation done by Mills.[27] In 1892 Darmesteter provided a translation of the Visperad into French, as part of his translation of the whole Avesta.[28] In 1910, Fritz Wolff produced a translation into German.[29]

References

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Notes

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a)^ The number of sections differs in the editions. Geldner divides it into 24,[20] whereas Mills for instance has 23.[30]
b)^ vīspe ratavō[31] in the Geldner/Bartholomae transliteration scheme, vīspe ratauuō[8] in the Hoffmann scheme.
c)^ the stem rat- is literally "to (ap)portion," (from base ar- "to get" and "to cause to get, give") with the matter being portioned ranging from time (ratav, a segment of time) to material goods (cf. Kellens'[8] ratu "patron") and justice (ratu then being a "judge," and ratav then being a judicial ruling). For the various meanings of ratav, see Bartholomae 1904, cols. 1498-1504.

Citations

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  1. ^ Malandra 2000, "VISPERAD: name of a lengthy Avestan text divided into 24 chapters".
  2. ^ Andrés-Toledo 2015, p. 520.
  3. ^ Boyce 2001, p. 125.
  4. ^ Malandra 2000.
  5. ^ Geldner 1889.
  6. ^ Darmesteter 1892.
  7. ^ Cantera 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Kellens 1989, p. 38.
  9. ^ Boyce 2001, p. 125.
  10. ^ Mills 1887, p. 335,n.1.
  11. ^ Stausberg 2004, p. 336.
  12. ^ Stausberg 2002, p. 86.
  13. ^ a b c Boyce 1993, p. 795.
  14. ^ a b Malandra 2000, "There are two general manuscript traditions of the Visperad".
  15. ^ Geldner 1886, p. xix: "The second class is composed of the Mss. of the so-called Vendidad sada in which the Yasna, Vispered and Vendidad are all combined, without the Pahlavi translation, into a single book for liturgical use".
  16. ^ Dhabhar 1949, p. 8: "All Pahlavi MSS. of the Visperad descend from the Copenhagen MS. K7. It contains " the oldest and best Vispered Sade with a superscription of the copyist Rustam Mihirban Marzban [great grand uncle of Mihiravan Kaikhusru] and as date A.D. 1287".
  17. ^ Geldner 1886, Prologomena.
  18. ^ Dhabhar 1949, pp. 8-11.
  19. ^ Westergaard 1852.
  20. ^ a b Geldner 1889, pp. 1-31.
  21. ^ Dhabhar 1949.
  22. ^ Redard 2021, p. 1: "Geldner’s edition, became the reference edition".
  23. ^ Kellens 2006.
  24. ^ Kellens 2007.
  25. ^ Kellens 2010.
  26. ^ Kellens 2011.
  27. ^ Mills 1887, pp. 333-364.
  28. ^ Darmesteter 1892, pp. 443-492.
  29. ^ Wolff 1910.
  30. ^ Mills 1887.
  31. ^ Bartholomae 1904, col. 1467, 1501.

Bibliography

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  • Andrés-Toledo, Miguel Á. (2015). "Primary Sources: Avestan and Pahlavi". The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4443-3135-6.
  • Bartholomae, Christian (1904), Altiranisches Wörterbuch, Strassburg: Trübner (fasc., 1979, Berlin: de Gruyter)
  • Boyce, Mary (1993), "Iranian Festivals", in Fischer, W. B.; Gershevitch, Ilya; Yarshster, Ehsan (eds.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, Cambridge: UP, pp. 792–817
  • Boyce, Mary (2001), Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London: Routledge
  • Cantera, Alberto (2013). "Talking with god: The Zoroastrian ham.parshti or intercalation ceremonies". Journal Asiatique. 301 (1): 85–138. doi:10.2143/JA.301.1.2994461.
  • Darmesteter, James (1892). Le Zend-Avesta: Traduction nouvelle avec commentaire historique et philologique; Vol I: La liturgie (Yasna et Vispéred). Paris: E. Leroux.
  • Dhabhar, E. B. N. (1949). Pahlavi Yasna and Visperad. Bombay: Trustees of the Parsi Punchayet Funds and Properties.
  • Geldner, Karl F. (1886). Avesta. The Sacred Books of the Parsis I: Yasna. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
  • Geldner, Karl F. (1889). Avesta. The Sacred Books of the Parsis II: Vispered and Khorda Avesta. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
  • Kellens, Jean (1987), "Avesta", Encyclopædia Iranica, vol. 3, New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 35–44
  • Kellens, Jean (2006). Etudes avestiques et mazdéennes: Volume 1, Le Ratauuo vispe mazista (Yasna 1.1 à 7.23, avec Visprad 1 et 2). Vol. 1. Editions De Boccard. ISBN 2-7018-0191-5.
  • Kellens, Jean (2007). Etudes avestiques et mazdéennes: Volume 2, Le Hom Stom et la zone des déclarations (Y7.24 – Y15.4, avec les intercalations de Vr3 à 6). Vol. 2. Editions De Boccard. ISBN 978-2-7018-0224-4.
  • Kellens, Jean (2010). Etudes avestiques et mazdéennes: Volume 3, Le long préambule du sacrifice (Yasna 16 à 27.12, avec les intercalations de Visprad 7 à 12). Vol. 3. Editions De Boccard. ISBN 978-2701802725.
  • Kellens, Jean (2011). Etudes avestiques et mazdéennes.: Volume 4, L'acmé du sacrifice : les parties récentes des Staota Yesniia (Y 27.13-Y 59) avec les intercalations de Visprad 13 à 24 et la Dahma Afriti (Y 60-61). Vol. 4. Editions De Boccard. ISBN 978-2701803074.
  • Malandra, William W. (2000). "VISPERAD". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  • Mills, Lawrence H. (1887). Müller, Max (ed.). The Zend-Avesta Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Afrinagan, Gahs, and Miscellaneous Fragments. Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 31. Oxford: Claredon Press.
  • Redard, Céline (2021). The Srōš Drōn - Yasna 3 to 8. A Critical Edition with Ritual Commentaries and Glossary. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia. Vol. 32. ISBN 978-90-04-50047-1.
  • Stausberg, Michael (2002), Die Religion Zarathushtras, vol. 1, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag
  • Stausberg, Michael (2004), Die Religion Zarathushtras, vol. 3, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag
  • Westergaard, Niels L. (1852). Zendavesta: or The religious books of the Zoroastrians. Copenhagen: Berling brothers.
  • Wolff, Fritz (1910). Avesta. Die heiligen Bücher der Parsen. Übersetzt auf der Grundlage von Christian Bartholomaes Altiranischem Wörterbuch. Straßburg: K. J. Trübner.
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