f I
have offended thee, oh thou greatest one, Ahura-Mazda, or if I have
diminished ought of the sacrifices (Yasnas) due to thee, forgive me, O
forgive me, thou unerring one. I declare myself to be a Mazdaist, a
Zarathustrian, a sworn foe to the Daevas (2) and a worshipper of
Ahura-Mazda.

CHAPTER 4. We present as offerings, pure thoughts, kind words,
beneficent works, the Homa (Soma) flesh-offerings, zaothras (3), the
holy veresma (4), suitable prayers, Gatha hymns, and mathra (the Vedic
mantra) sacred songs--these all we present as sacrifices to Ahura-Mazda,
the holy Srosh (5), to the bountiful immortals, to the Fravashis, and
souls of the pure, and also to the sacred fire of Ahura-Mazda.

CHAPTER 8. I offer to thee, O Ahura-Mazda, sacrifices of all kinds.
Mayest thou, O all-powerful, all-wise one, rule over thy creatures, over
all waters and trees, all empires and dominions, causing fertility,
happiness, and universal justice to abound in the world. In all
conflicts between light and darkness, between the good and the bad, let
the right prevail, O thou king of righteousness. I, Zarathustra, urge
heads of families, chiefs of clans, and rulers of states, to follow the
true religion, that revealed by Ahura-Mazda and proclaimed by his
prophet Zarathustra.

CHAPTERS 9 AND 10. [In some manuscripts these chapters are designated
Homa-Yashts, because they celebrate the praises of Homa and have the
form of Yashts. In these chapters Homa is personified, as, also, in the
Vedas, is the Sanscrit Soma. In the period before the separation of the
Iranians and Indians the worship of the Homa plant (the god of
inspiration, etc.) bulked largely. It died out, however, among the
Iranians at an early period, perhaps owing to its prevalence among their
Indian rivals, who traced to it that very courage with which they
contended against the Iranians. The present chapters belong to the
period of the revival of the Homa cult among the Mazdaists or
Zarathustrians. This comparatively late date is confirmed by the
vocabulary and style of the chapters.]

When Zarathustra was engaged in singing the Dathas and attending the
sacred fire, Homa appeared before him in resplendently supernatural
guise and explained "I am Homa, whom thou shouldst worship as the sages
and prophets of old have done." "Tell me," replied Zarathustra, "who was
it that first worshipped thee by extracting thy juice from the plant?"
"The first," said Homa, "was Vivan-Ghvant wh