# Yasht

A Yasht (Middle Persian: 𐭩𐭱𐭲, yšt') is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language, specifically used for the collection of 21 Yashts dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. More generally, the term may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta collection.

## Name

The English word yasht is derived from Middle Persian 𐭩𐭱𐭲 (yšt', "prayer, worship"). In the Pahlavi literature, the word is used interchangeably with yasn. Yasht probably originated from Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎ (yašta, "honored") from 𐬫𐬀𐬰‎ (yaz, "to worship, honor"). It may ultimately go back to Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂ǵ- or *Hyaǵ-.
Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀‎ is also the origin of two other terms. First, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬯𐬥𐬀 (yasna, act of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for an act of worship or specifically the Yasna ritual, and, second, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀 (yazata, (being) worthy of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for divinity.

## The 21 hymns of the Yasht collection

All the hymns of the Yasht collection "are written in what appears to be prose, but which, for a large part, may originally have been a (basically) eight-syllable verse, oscillating between four and thirteen syllables, and most often between seven and nine." Most of the yazatas that the individual Yashts praise also have a dedication in the Zoroastrian calendar. The exceptions are Drvaspa and Vanant.
Overview of the 21 Yashts :
| No | Name | Yazata | Verses | Type | Siroza |
| 1 | Ohrmazd Yasht | Ahura Mazda | 33 | minor | 1,8,15,23 |
| 2 | Hapt Amahraspand Yasht | Amesha Spentas | 15 | minor | 2,4,5,7 |
| 3 | Ardawahisht Yasht | Asha Vahishta | 19 | minor | 3 |
| 4 | Hordad Yasht | Haurvatat | 11 | minor | 6 |
| 5 | Aban Yasht | Anahita | 132 | legendary | 10 |
| 6 | Hwarshed Yasht | Hvare-khshaeta | 7 | minor | 11 |
| 7 | Mah Yasht | Maonghah | 7 | minor | 12 |
| 8 | Tishtar Yasht | Tishtrya | 62 | hymnic | 13 |
| 9 | Gosh Yasht | Drvaspa | 33 | legendary | 14 |
| 10 | Mihr Yasht | Mithra | 145 | hymnic | 16 |
| 11 | Srosh Yasht | Sraosha | 23 | hymnic | 17 |
| 12 | Rashn Yasht | Rashnu | 47 | hymnic | 18 |
| 13 | Frawardin Yasht | Fravashis | 158 | hymnic | 19 |
| 14 | Warharan Yasht | Verethragna | 64 | hymnic | 20 |
| 15 | Ram Yasht | Vayu | 58 | legendary | 21, 22 |
| 16 | Den Yasht | Chista | 20 | legendary | 24 |
| 17 | Ard Yasht | Ashi | 62 | legendary | 25 |
| 18 | Ashtad Yasht | Khvarenah | 9 | minor | 26 |
| 19 | Zamyad Yasht | see note below | 97 | legendary | 28 |
| 20 | Hom Yasht | Haoma | 3 | minor | 29 |
| 21 | Vanant Yasht | Vanant | 2 | minor | 30 |
The 21 yashts are used today in a wide range of liturgical practices. The can be recited by priests as well as lay people and in a diverse range of settings, like fire temples as well as in private or public spaces. They are always addressed to one specific divinity. Their liturgical use is, therefore, different from the high liturgies, like the Yasna, Vendidad or Visperad, which are always performed by several priests in a fire temple and are addressed to all Zoroastrian divinities.

## Yashts in the wider Avesta

Several hymns of the Yasna liturgy that "venerate by praise" are—in tradition—also nominally called yashts. These "hidden" Yashts are: the Barsom Yasht (Yasna 2), another Hom Yasht in Yasna 9–11, the Bhagan Yasht of Yasna 19–21, a hymn to Ashi in Yasna 52, another Sarosh Yasht in Yasna 57, the praise of the (hypostasis of) "prayer" in Yasna 58, and a hymn to the Ahurani in Yasna 68. Since these are a part of the primary liturgy, they do not count among the twenty-one hymns of the Yasht collection.