SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive study of chapter 56 and 57 of the Yasna, a text known as Srōš Yašt, that is the Avestan hymn dedicated to the god Sraōša. The thesis includes a new critical edition of the text, based on 31 liturgical and exegetical manuscripts. The Avestan text is presented to reflect the octosyllabic metre, as far as possible. It is accompanied by an English translation and an Avestan-English glossary recording parsing, translation and context for each of the words found in the text. The work includes an introductory chapter providing a study of the figure of the divinity Sraōša and of the Srōš Yašt in the context of current and previous scholarship, and a section on the methodology used in this edition. The thesis also contains a commentary of the Avestan text, which discusses the various textual and linguistic problems encountered in this text. The commentary includes explanations of the editorial and translation choices and an analysis of elements which were found peculiar or problematic from a philological, historical or ritual perspective. Through the use not only of exegetical, but also of liturgical manuscript, and by reading the Srōš Yašt as nested in a ritual setting, the text is approached from a perspective of oral composition, performance and interconnection between text and ritual.