TheYasna i Rapithwin is the name of an Avestan text and of a ceremony in which this text is used. Both the text and the ceremony are a simplified version of the standardYasna.[2]
TheYasna i Rapithwin belongs to the so calledLong Liturgies, like theYasna orVisperad. These liturgies are characterized by a core of Old Avestan material, called theStaota Yesnya around which the other material, composed in Young Avestan, is organized.[3] The liturgy itself can be seen as a simpler variant of the regularYasna.[2]
Like the other litugies, it is avispe yazata ceremony, meaning it is dedicated to allYazatas. However, unlike the others, it is only dedicated to theratuRapithwin, i.e., theGāh ofnoontime.[4] As a result, it is not avispe ratu ceremony, i.e., it is not dedicated to allratus.[5]
Although, theYasna i Rapithwin is overall a simplified version of the regularYasna, it has 12Ahuna Vairyamanthras performed in dedication toRapithwin, more than dedicated toAhura Mazda or any otherYazata in theYasna. This large number of dedications is seen as an expression of the importance ofRapithwin in the Zoroastrian liturgical system.[6] The historical performance of theYasna i Rapithwin is explained in theNerangestan and described in detail by Porro,[7] whereas the current liturgical practice has been described byBoyce.[8]
The text of theYasna i Rapithwin is largely identical to the standardYasna, except that all verses that celebrate theGāhs and ratus are truncated to only celebrateRapithwin.[9] Given the relatively minor status of the liturgy, theYasna i Rapithwin is also only attested in a limited number of manuscripts.[10] A comprehensive list of all manuscripts, both from the Iranian and Indian tradition are provided byHintze.[11]Since the text is a simplified variant of theYasna, it has rarely been edited by modern scholars. One dedicated edition of the manuscripts was produced by Anklesaria in 1888, with the ritual instructions inGujarati.[12]
^Porro 2020, p. 47: "it is not a vispa ratu ceremony". sfn error: no target: CITEREFPorro2020 (help)
^Kotwal & Boyd 1991, p. 86: "The current practice is to say y.a.v. 10 for the Yasna of Ahura Mazda, twelve for the Yasna of Rapithwin (it was noon [Rapithwin] when Ahura Mazda celebrated the Yasna and made the creation, and for seven months of the year Rapithwin is in its ascendancy, hence the importance of the occasion has determined the high number)".
^Hintze 2012, p. 245: "The Yasna ī Rapithwin is a ceremony in which chapters 1 to 4, 6, 7, 17, 22, 24, 59 and 66 of the Yasna only celebrate the Rapithwin Gāh and its co-workers instead of all five Gāhs. Furthermore, there is no mention of the ratus of the months, the year and of the texts".
^Porro 2020, p. 47: "The number of manuscripts of the Yasna i Rapithwin is very limited in comparison to other ceremonies of the LLs". sfn error: no target: CITEREFPorro2020 (help)
Andrés-Toledo, Miguel Ángel (2015)."Primary Sources: Avestan and Pahlavi". In Stausberg, Michael; Vevaina, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw (eds.).The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 519–528.
Boyce, Mary (1968). "Rapithwin, Nō Rūz, and the Feast of Sade". In Heesterman, J. C. (ed.).Pratidānam: Indian, Iranian and Indo-European studies presented to Francisicus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper. The Hague and Paris: Guilders. pp. 201–215.
