MARTIN SCHWARTZ

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The Avestan term kauui- (strong stem kauui-/kauuai-) is one oI a number oI
problem-words in the vocabulary oI ancient Iranian institutions.
1
From a
diachronic perspective, reIerence to a primary priestly Iunction is shared by the
cognates Vedic kavi-, Lydian kaves, and Greek koip, kop (the latter 'priest oI
the Kabeiroi in Samothrace according to Hesychius). The etymological
connection with Vedic \k, Greek ko/c 'perceive, and the Iact that kvva-
'poetry is the adjectival derivative oI Vedic kavi- aIIirms the basic sense in
Indic as 'an inspired/sagacious poet-priest.
However, the tradition oI the Avestan Yasts is that there was a dynasty oI
kauuis who ruled over early (pre-Zarathushtrian) Iran; they are named, and the
Ieats oI some oI them are mentioned. Moreover, one person bearing the title
kauui-, Vstspa, the patron oI Zarathushtra (Zara0ustra), is treated in post-
Gathic texts as ruler (cI. Middle Persian Wistsp Sh). Consequently, the view
that kauui- reIerred to a ruler came to dominate Iranian studies, with such
prestigious advocates as Bartholomae and Christensen.
2

With a view to the meaning oI Vedic kavi- and its cognates, an Iranistic
movement against the earlier consensus began with Barr,
3
who saw in kauui- a
ruler combining priestly and worldly authority. Next Gershevitch,
4
arguing
against Christensen, took kauui- as basically meaning a kind oI priest. A similar
conclusion was reached by Kellens, who expanded Dumezil`s attack on the
historicity oI a dynasty oI kauuis.
5
For Kellens, the kauuis were never rulers,
and were only a category oI priests.
Priests, Prophets, & Poets

64
Contra Kellens, H. P. Schmidt has recently argued Ior the possibility that
the kauuis were priest-kings, as against the view that they were priests only, as
per Kellens
6
shows that xsa0ra-, associated with these early kauuis, must indeed
mean 'rule; that in the Rig Veda (RV.) Indra (among others), who has no
obvious priestly Iunction, is simultaneously rfan- 'king and kavi- 'poet
(7.18.12), an idea expressed by various diIIerent terms in other passages; and
that an abundance oI evidence attests that Persian kings oI the entire pre-Islamic
period had priestly Iunctions; thus 'a priestly title oI kings is nothing
extraordinary in Iran and that accordingly the Avestan Kauuis may well be
considered priest-kings.
7

The Iact is, however, that the Avesta does not provide evidence Ior the
priestly Iunction oI kauuis. It is conceivable that one or more kauuis had used
their priestly authority to gain a great measure oI secular power, thus Iounding a
dynasty. In addition, kauui- 'priest may have gone into disuse under the
pressure oI the abundance oI inherited terms Ior priests (including poet-priests):
Avestan (Av.) :aotar- (Vedic hotr-), 0rauuan- (Vedic atharvan-); orosi-
(Vedic r
.
si-); and m0rn- (Vedic mantrin-).
Possibly Gathic karapan- was an old term Ior priestly oral perIormers; note
that karapan- is grouped with usif- (Vedic usif-) at Y. 44.20c. Since the
collocation with kauui- will prove important, some remarks on karapan- are
relevant here. It is generally regarded as a neologism in view oI Henning`s
connection oI Khwarezmian (Khwar.) krb- 'to moan, to mumble.
8
However, a
Iurther connection with a Vedic series oI words indicates that at least the
etymon is traditional and not pejorative. For karapan- */karpan/, comparison
with Khwar. krb- (vocalized kirba-) allows the latter to be derived Irom an
Indo-Iranian stem krpa- 'make a plaintive sound, implore, attested (alongside
krpava-) in Vedic. It is Iound as an action oI poet-priests, RV. 10.114.16
krpamn
.
am kavim; 4.1.14 cakrpanta dhibhis. Furthermore, 8.39.4 krpan
.
vati
'implores is glossed by Naighan
.
t
.
uka 3.14 as arcati 'sings hymns; similarly
Br.haddevat 2.27, which also gives kr pan
.
vu- 'poet parallel to 2.37 r
.
si-. For the
Iormation cI. uks
.
an
.
va- 'raise the voice like a bull and uks
.
an
.
vu- 'bull-voiced
singer Irom uks
.
an- 'bull among other instances oI -va- verbs and -vu- nouns
Irom stems in -an- discussed in Renou.
9
Thus we may posit alongside the
'hysterodynamic stem *krpan- a 'proterodynamic stem */karpan-/, i.e.
karapan-.
In the two instances in which an individual kauui- is mentioned in the
Gathas, the contextual issue is patronage. The instances are phraseologically
similar but contrastive:
Y. 46.13 a vo spitmom :ara0us!trom rdah
b marotaes! xs!nus! huu n frasridiii oro0
Y. 46.14 a :ara0us!tr kaste a!auu uruua0
Schwart:Avestan Kauui- & the Jocabularv


65
b ma:i magi ko v frasridiii vasti
c at
.
huu kauu vistsp vhi
Y. 46.13 a-b Whoever among mortals satisIied Spitamid Zarathushtra
hospitably with solicitude, that man is Iit to become Iamed.
Y. 46.14 a-c Zarathushtra, who is thy righteous ally
Ior great largesse? Or who wants to become Iamed?
That`s Kauui Vstspa in the race!
Y. 51.11 a ko uruua0 spitami :ara0ustri n ma:d
b ko v as
.
afrast .
c ko v vahous manah acist magi orosw
Y. 51.12 a nit
.
t im xs!nus! vaeipii kouuin porot ...
b :ara0ustrom spitmom ...
c hiiat
.
hi im caratasc aodorosc :ison v:
Y. 51.11 a-c What man is the ally Ior Spitamid Zarathushtra, O Mazda?
Or who has consulted with Rightness? .
Or who oI Good Mind, loIty, has shown acknowledgement as to largesse?
Y. 51.12 a-c Not so did the kauuian pederast at the . bridge satisIy
Spitamid Zarathushtra with hospitality .
but he (gave) him his two horrid 'treats
10
oI wandering and cold.
In both passages, the status oI the patron or non-patron as a kauui- is
phonically emphasized (Y. 46.14 kas-te a!auu */artaw/, ko v */kah w/,
kaw; Y. 51.1112 ko uruua0 */kah wra0ah/, ko v [bis], kouuin). In both
passages, the key words are xsnus 'satisIied with hospitality, maga- 'the
patronly giIt oI largesse, and uruua0a- 'someone committed via alliance. In
the context oI patronage, kauui- is Iar more likely to reIer to a ruler than to a
(poet-)priest. II Vstspa was a ruler, as post-Avestan texts (including Pahlavi
texts based on lost Avestan biographies oI Zarathushtra) indicate, his patronage
would have been the decisive Iactor in Zarathushtra`s success. Usually poet-
priests would compete Ior the Iavor oI a powerIul patron, who alone could
provide wealth and prestige; the like would not ordinarily be sought Irom
another (poet-)priest, even one who did not Ieel threatened by the talents oI
another member oI his proIession.
In institutional terms, the early (Indo-)Iranian situation, like that oI archaic
Greece, was one oI reciprocity, i.e., giIt-exchange (Greek *ksenw-ia, cognate oI
Av. \xsn(a)u, see Appendix) between two peers. The relationship oI host to
guest is the model Ior that between the wealthy patron and the poet(-priest). The
poet`s reciprocation to the patron is abiding Iame (Greek kleos, cognate with
Vedic sravas, Avestan srauuah and Y. 46.1314 fra-sru-). In the instance oI the
(poet-)priest, his countergiIt to the patron includes recommendation to the
god(s). In the Gathas, the reciprocity Ior patronly hospitality or lack thereoI is
respectively guestship in heaven or in hell.
Priests, Prophets, & Poets

66
In the Gathas, the Iavorable reIerence to Kauui Vstspa, against a hostility
toward kauuis as a generic group, is understandable iI kauui- reIerred to one oI
chieItains exerting power over a small territory. Vstspa was the one such local
chieI to patronize Zarathushtra, aIter rejection by the kauuis oI other localities
(e.g., the aIorementioned vaepii kouuin, who held sway over a certain bridge).
Those other kauuis continued to patronize poet-priests (and their gods, whom
Zarathushtra calls daeuuas 'demons). These priests who are opposed to
Zarathushtra are variously called 'the wrongsome teachers oI the land (Y.
46.1d dax'iious vi sstr droguuan
.
t); 'having bad invocations (Y. 46.4c
dua:b); 'having bad proclamations (cI. Y. 32.9a dussastis), etc.
The Gathas depict an interaction oI corrupt sacral and secular authorities,
expressed through an alliterative pairing. The karapans, in league with the
power-wielding kauuis, exploit the rest oI society.
Y. 46.11 a xsa0ris vfon karapan kuuaiiasc
b akis siiao0anis ahm moron
.
goidiii ma!im
Y. 46.11 a-b By means oI their domination, the karapans and kauuis,
through evil deeds, yoke the mortal(s) Ior the destruction oI existence.
The stanza goes on to doom these evildoers to be 'guests in the House oI
Wrong (hell) Iorever. This stanza, in the phraseological reverse recycling oI Y.
46 (46.1946.6) as 32.716, yields 32.13. Here are the relevant verses, with the
related nearby material:
Y. 32.12 c vis grohm as
.
t
.
varat karap xsa0romc isanm drufim
Y. 32.13 a v xsa0r grohm hisasat
.
acistahii domne manah
b ahous maroxtr ahii .
Y. 32.14 a ahii grohm .hi0i ni kuuaiiascit
.
xrats ni dada"
Y. 32.15 a anis vi.nons v karap.tsc kouuitsc
b auuis aibi von
.
g dain
.
ti nit
.
fiitous xsaiiamnon
.
g vas
c ti bii bairiin
.
te vahous domne manah
Y. 32.12 c Through these things, with oppression,
11
the karapan choosesinstead oI
Rightnessthe domin(at)ion oI the mighty,
12
and Wrongness.
Y. 32.13 a-b Through which domin(at)ion, (their act oI) oppression ties
13
the
destroyers
oI this existence to the House oI Worst Mind .
Y. 32.14 a Through oppression (*grohm) oI this (existence),
the kauuis indeed have put their intelligence into ensnarement.
Y. 32.15 a-c Through these things karapandom and kauuidom are disappearing
together with those whom they have put into harness.
The latter, with the Iormer two (groups), shall not be brought
unto those Who rule at will, in the House oI Good Mind.
Schwart:Avestan Kauui- & the Jocabularv


67
In the backwards recycling oI lexico-phraseological elements oI Y. 32
(32.1612) in 48.712,
14
32.14 (with its elaboration in 32.15) is the basis oI 48.10
(note e.g. the correspondences 32.14 vison
.
t: 48.10 vison
.
te 'enter into, commit
themselves; 32.14 faidiii: 48.10 afon; \fan 'strike, smite; and 32.14 xrats:
48.10 xrat 'intellects). In the compositional sequence, 46.11a karapan
kuuaiiasc 'the karapans and kauuis ~ 32.15a v karap.tsca kouuitsc
'karapandom and kauuidom, whence 48.10cd v karapan ... vc ...
dusoxsa0r dax'iiunm 'the karapans and the misrulers oI the lands, with
parallelism oI 'misrulers oI the lands and kauuis.
15
The latter phrase, 'the
misrulers oI the lands, has its contrast in 48.12a, saosiian
.
t dax'iiunm 'the
beneIactors oI the lands who have been established as expellers oI Fury (48.12d
ti :i dt hamaestr aesom.mahii). In its contrast with 48.12, 48.10cd v .
karapan . vc dusoxsa0r dax'iiunm is paralleled by 44.20cd vis gm
karap ... aesomi dt vc kauu, 'by which the karapan . delivers the Cow
to Fury and the Kauui . in which the context matches the association oI
respectively the karapan and the kauuis with injury to the Cow at 32.12 and
32.14; cI. contrastively 48.11: the advent oI (good) rule/dominion (xsa0ra-), with
peaceIully pastured dwellings Iree Irom gory violence. From these parallels we
see that in 48.10 dusoxsa0r dax'iiunm 'the misrulers oI the lands is indeed a
substitutive designation Ior the evil kauuis, the Iinal evidence that the kauuis are
rulers oI localities.
The desire that good rulers, and not bad rulers hold sway (48.5 huxsa0r
xson
.
tm / m dusoxsa0r xson
.
t), juxtaposed with the theme oI peaceIul dwellings
(48.6) and the arrest oI Fury, i.e., violence (48.7), all again at 48.11 cd 12,
underscore that the kauuis oI the proximate passages are men oI Iorce (cI. 32.11a
b 'the wrongsome who show themselves oII with greatnesses,` the miladies and
milords, by robbing the property oI inheritance).
For the martial nature oI kauuis, Schmidt
16
brings a variety oI evidence Irom
the Yasts, in which both Kauui Haosrauuah and Kauui Vstspa are portrayed as
warriors powerIully armed and striking down Iierce and Iormidable enemies. In
addition, Avestan onomastics provides a precious and decisive piece oI evidence
Ior a martial denotation oI Av. kauui-: The Fravardn Yast names as a righteous
ancestor in an early generation (the listing shortly precedes that oI Zarathushtra`s
Iamily) one Kauurasman (Yt. 13.103 gen. kauurasm Ior *kauurasman
through haplological inIluence oI the immediately Iollowing as
.
aon) orig.
'Having a phalanx oI kauuis (Bartholomae 'der eine Phalanx von Frsten hat).
Poet-priests do not expectably Iorm battle Iormations (rasman-), but warriors do.
The name conIirms that kauui- amounts to a martial local ruler, a warlord, or, with
a positive semantic 'spin, a champion or hero.
The Avestan personal name in kauu- shows that the MIr. meaning 'martial,
hero, etc. is not based on a remote legendary history, but is a linear semantic
Priests, Prophets, & Poets

68
development oI the OIr. word. Pahlavi shows two developments Ior the reIlex,
kav: (1) The dynastic title, attested kd on coinage as part oI a late Sasanian
'Kayanid revivalism, cI. the royal names Xusraw and Kawd; (2) The meaning
'hero, attested Ior /kay/ with synonym /yal/ 'hero, champion in Greater
Bundahisn 75.15 and 177.10 kdn W vln.
17

In Manichean West Iranian, kw (kw) is a calque oI Syriac ganbr
(/gabbr/) 'giant, via the basic meaning oI the word, 'hero. MPer. kw 'hero
is the source oI NPer. kv 'brave, martial (attestations in Borhan-e Qat.e, ed.
Mohammad Mo`n, vol. 3 (Tehran: Editions Ebn-e Sina, 1979), vol 3, p, 1581), cI.
also NPer. dirafs-e kwivn 'the dynastic Ilag oI Iran, the banner oI the kavs.
MPer. kw may have been borrowed Irom the Parthian heroic literature. Perhaps
kw *kwiva-; cI. Vedic kvva- kavi- as epithet oI Usan, and note OAv.
kuuaiiascit
.
, kuuaiiasc. Manichean Sogdian kw-, qw- 'giant is again a calque
oI the Syriac. In Christian Sogdian the word is Iound in a Iragment oI Psalm 24,
where kwv (in Sogdian script) corresponds to Syr. ganbr 'hero. Christian
Sogdian also has (in Estrangela script) qwvq 'heroism.
18

An onomastic trace oI the Khwarezmian cognate is Iound in the name oI the
general oI the Khwarezmian troops oI the Khazar garrison, Mahmd ibn Ky,
whence Khwar. *kvw 'oI the Khwarezmian people ~ Kufawa /kuyava/ ~ Kiev
(an etymology I owe to Omeljan Pritsak). Khwar. *Kv *'hero, champion is
obviously the name oI a member oI a military Iamily.
In conclusion, Avestan kauui- reIers not to a priest, but to a local ruler or
warlord, whence its Middle Iranian cognates meaning 'champion or 'hero.
19

Appendix: On Two Terms of Hospitality
I
Avestan \xsn(a)u 'to satisIy expectations, give in reciprocity and Archaic Greek
/vFo 'host, guest, guestIriend (later 'guest, then 'stranger) taken together
suggest an etymology, which had been lacking Ior each. The Iorms are
semantically complementary: The Iranian base is also the word Ior 'give
hospitality, as is inescapably clear Irom Pursisnh 39, Vidvdd 9.39, and Y.
60.2, while the Archaic Greek word occurs alongside words Ior 'exchange, be
mutual; both reIlect the Indo-European institution oI giIt-exchange as token oI
hospitality (and cultic oIIerings).
An original meaning 'reciprocity, exchange, mutuality was also
demonstrated by Benveniste,
20
in his discussion oI the giIt-exchange aspect oI
Indo-European hospitality, inter alia Ior Per. mehmn and Lat. hostis 'guest. The
latter word cannot be related to Av. \xsn(a)u, which has stems kuxsnu- and
Schwart:Avestan Kauui- & the Jocabularv


69
cixsnu-, irreconcilable with PIE *g
h
osti- (*g
h
s- ~ Ir. *y-). Rather, I take \xsn(a)u,
/vF- Irom a PIE root ksen 'to exchange, attested in Y. 29.9a xsnmone 'instead
(which cannot be related to Ved. ks
.
am-, Pashto :ym- PIIr. \gam 'to endure,
put up with), Ossetic ()xsn 'common, mutual, OIrish ar son 'in exchange
Ior. *ksen-u- (whence Gr. *ksenw-) ~ *ksneu-, as root *d
h
eb
h
- (OAv. dbaiia- 'to
deceive, etc.) ~ *d
h
eb
h
-u- (Hitt. tepu- *'diminished, small |cI. OInd. dabhra-,
Av. dara- 'small, daii- 'midget|) ~ *d
h
b
h
eu-, cI. Hitt. tepau- 'to diminish,
IIr. *db
h
au- 'deceive ( *'harm), in OAv. verb stem dbuuaiia-, noun
dbaoman-, and nasal-inIixed verb stem dobanao-.
From phrases like Y. 68.9 and Yt. 10.32 surunuii ... xsnuii 'mayst thou hear
and comply, OPer. *un(a)u- .*xsn(a)u- resulted in the OPer. present stem
xsn(a)u- (athematic aIter *au- Av. srao-) 'to hearken, hear ~ MPer. snaw-,
asnaw- 'hear.
In Indo-Iranian, there was homophony oI Iorms Irom roots *ksnu 'to satisIy
in reciprocity and 'to sharpen (both meanings are represented in Av. xsnta-
'satisIied and 'sharpened). In Vedic, where the continued by \s 'to sharpen,
whence 'to satisIy in reciprocity, to treat hospitably. Thus in Iirst meaning had
become obsolete Ior \ks
.
n
.
u, a play on the homophony was Vedic \s is used in
requests to the gods to requite worship; note especially RV. 2.39.7, 'sharpen
(sisitam) our praises as with a whetstone (ks
.
n
.
otren
.
eva), in which ks
.
n
.
otra- is
Iormally comparable with Av. xsnao0ra-, Arm. snorh 'gratiIication. In Vedic
\s thus Irequently has object rvas 'riches. With reIerence to hospitality/cultic
oIIerings, note \s with object atithim 'guest RV. 6.16.42 and 5.2.5. With regard
to propitiation oI the gods, Agni, 'the dear/intimate (priva-) guest was the ideal
object oI cultic 'sharpening, in view oI his blade-like Ilames (tefas-, etc.) and his
being stoked (ni \s); alongside the cult oI Agni the 'sharpening was applied to
other gods, e.g., Indra (cI. RV. 8.40.1011).
In the Gathas hospitality to Zarathushtra is constantly indicated to be
reciprocated in the aIterliIe, in the House oI Song (paradise), and inhospitality to
Zarathushtra requited by guestship in the House oI Wrong or House oI Worst
Mind (hell). These reciprocities are Mazd`s eschatological xsnut- 'hospitality-
giIt.
21

II
For v:a- 'giIt oI hospitable nurture, cI. most recently Humbach
22
where Vedic
vfa- 'strengthening, nourishment and v:ista- adj. oI 'guest (asti-) are
compared. Further cognates, discussed by Schwartz are Sogd. ewp:e and
Khwarezmian bow:ok (*api-w:a-ka-), Ossetic i:g (*wi-w:a-ka-), and
Vedic vfava- and vfava-.
23
The latter verbs, 'to nourish, Ieed, invigorate is a
Priests, Prophets, & Poets

70
denominative Irom vfa- (but RV. 8.74.1 atithim
.
vfavantah
.
puruprivam
'nourishing the very dear guest); RV. 6.5.7 asvma vfam abhi vfavanto 'may
we obtain nourishment as we nourish |Agni|; similarly RV. 6.22.2
abhi vfavantah
.
(obj. Indra); and 1.4.9 vfes
.
u vfinam vfavmah
.
(figura
etvmologica with vfa- and vfava-). The tight contextual relationship between
these words oI the hospitality sphere shows that the root Ior all has PIIr. *-:'-,
not *-:'
h
-. The PIE root is obviously weg (# eg-, under which Lat. vege, OPer.
va:rka-, and Germ. wacker are noted inter alia
24
).
Apart Irom the Sogdian, most oI these Iorms were united by Schwartz
25
in
which I proposed *wa:'na- 'vigor as source oI OPer. vasna-, expanding
Szemerenyi`s view oI the latter by adding OAv. vasn instrum., cI. OPer. vasn,
as perhaps combining will (\vas) and power (\va: 'to invigorate);
phonologically OAv. vasna-: vasna- as OPer. vasna-: *vasna- (Per. fasn,
\va:).
26
To these I now add Vd. 9.37 seq. Av. va:i 'suckling (oI a cow).
Perhaps ust 'Heil, Wohl (abstract ustatt-) is Irom ust (instrum. oI usta-
?) '(with) vigor, health, whereby ustna- (ustana-) 'vitality becomes
explainable as *ust-na- (or *usta-na-) 'breath(ing) with vigor. Thus in Y.
33, which I analyze as built up Irom a concentrically concatenating proto-poem
33.210, the obligatory parallelism oI the last stanzas oI the Iinal poem and the
proto-poem (precedented by the other Gathic poems which I have identiIied as
having similar structural histories
27
), 33.16a tanuuascit
.
... ustanom 'the vitality
oI (his, Zarathushtra`s) body parallels 33.10c usttanm 'vigor as to (Thy)
body. Here we have a probable pun on ust (loc. oI usti-, \vas) 'in (Thy)
wish, 33.10b :aose 'in |Thy| Iavor. CI., in rich concatenation, 43.1 (with
Ioregrounded ust) vis-a-vis the Iinal stanza 43.16 (with ustna-); as at 33.10,
the ambiguity oI ust is brought out in 43.1 by vas- 'to wish (~ ust usti-,
\vas) and utaiiiti touuisim 'potency with perpetuity (~ ust 'with vigor):
Y. 43.1 a ust ahmi vahmi ust kahmicit.
b vaso.xsaiis ma:d daiit
.
ahur
c utaiiiti touuisim gat.ti vasomi
d as
.
om doroidiii tat
.
mi d rmaite
e rii as
.
is vahous gaem manah
Y. 43.16 a at. ahur huu mainiim :ara0ustr
b voron
.
te ma:d vaste cisc sponist
c astuuat
.
as
.
om hiit
.
ustn aofhuuat
.

d xvon
.
g darosi xsa0ri hiiat
.
rmaitis
e as
.
im siiao0anis voh daidit
.
manah
Y. 43.1 May there be vigor Ior him, whosoever Mazd Ahura,
who rules at His wish, would grant (it) in (accord with His) wish.
I wish that there come potency with perpetuity.
May Thou, O rmaiti, grant me this: Rightness, that it be upheld,
and may Reward (grant) riches, a liIe oI Good Mind.
Schwart:Avestan Kauui- & the Jocabularv


71
Y. 43.16 Mazd Ahura, this Zarathushtra here
chooses that very Spirit which is Thy Holiest.
28

May material Rightness be powerIul with vitality,
may rmaiti be in the Dominion in sight oI the Sun,
and may She grant reward through deeds with Good Mind.
Notes

1. It is a pleasure to dedicate this article to Dasturji Kotwal. In recognition oI his important
publications and clariIications oI texts dealing with Zoroastrian ritual matters, and also in
pleasant recollection oI hospitable reception at his Bombay home in 1989, I oIIer this article
touching on both priesthood and hospitality in ancient Iran.
2. Christian Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wrterbuch (Strassburg: Trbner, 1904), pp. 147
147; Arthur Christensen, Les Kavanides (Copenhagen: Andr. Fred. Host & Son, 1932), p. 9
seq.
3. Kaj Barr, Avesta (Copenhagen: n.p., 1954), pp. 2427 seq. and 206 seq.
4. Ilya Gershevitch, The Avestan Hvmn to Mithra (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1967), pp. 186187.
5. Jean Kellens, 'L`Avesta comme Source Historique, Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum
Hungaricae 24 (1976), pp. 3749; Georges Dumezil, Mvthe et Epopee II (Paris: Gallimard,
1971), p. 213 seq.
6. Kellens, op. cit. Schmidt, 'Zara0ustra and his Patrons, pp. 358359.
7. Hanns-Peter Schmidt, 'Zara0ustra and his Patrons in tas-e Dorun, The Fire Within.
Jamshid Soroush Soroushian Memorial Jolume, ed. Carlo Cereti and Farrokh VajiIdar
(Bloomington, Indiana: 1
st
Books, 2003), pp. 357358.
8. Walter Bruno Henning, Zoroaster. Politician or Witch-Doctor? (OxIord: OxIord University
Press, 1951), p. 45.
9. Louis Renou, 'DenominatiIs du R
.
gveda en -arvati, -anvati, Bulletin de la Societe
Linguistique de Paris 37 (1936), p. 17 and esp. pp. 3139.
10. For v:a- 'nourishment oI guest, see Appendix.
11. For grohma- (var. gorohma-), the context points to the meaning 'oppression,
oppressiveness, with closest cognate Lith. gresme 'threat, compulsion, prohibition, with
Baltic verbs in gras- and other derivatives oI PIE *g
h
res 'to vex, to cause disgust (Toch. B.
krs-, Arm. garsem). I now question my earlier comparison with Vedic grasate 'devours, is
voracious (gluttony being at best tangentially relevant to the context) and reject comparison
with MPer. and Parth. grmag, Sogd. yrme 'wealth, which I adopted Irom Henning (OIr.
*-ahm- ~ MPer. -ahm-, not *-m-, e.g., sahm, dahmag).
12. isanm gen. pl. oI *isan- 'endowed with might, is- -an- adj. suII. (PIE *-He/on-), nom.
is in 29.9b is.xsa0rim. With contraction oI vowels, /xsa0rom-ca isanm/ gives the
expected nine-syllable second hemistich; thus also Ior 32.9c ma:d as
.
ic and 30.7c
va0 aiiah dnais. Vocalic elision does not seem metrically operative in other poems oI
the Ahunauuait G0 or elsewhere in the Gathas, but (as I discuss in Iootnote 18 below)
had this role in the pre-Zarathushtrian octosyllabic prototype oI Yasnas 910, elision oI
vowels may have been adopted in Zarathushtra`s send-up oI the latter text in Y. 32, oI which
poem 32.18 is compositionally reIlected in 30.18; cI. see Martin Schwartz, 'How
Priests, Prophets, & Poets

72

Zarathushtra Generated the Gathic Corpus, Intertextual and Inner-textual Composition,
Bulletin of the Asia Institute 16 (2002 |appeared 2006|), p. 52.
13. The spelling hisasat
.
(disyll.) represents */hisat/ ( Vedic sis
.
at); see Iurther Martin Schwartz,
'The Ties that Bind: On the Form and Content oI Zarathushtra`s Mysticism, Proceedings of
the First Gth Colloquium, ed. Farrokh VajiIdar (London: World Zoroastrian Organization,
1998), pp. 135, 144147, 175178; Schwartz, 'How Zarathushtra Generated the Gathic
Corpus, p. 58; Martin Schwartz, 'Lexical Cruces oI Yasna 29 and the Serial Crocc-textual
Composition oI the Gathas, in Ancient and Middle Iranian Studies, ed. Maria Macuch, et
al. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2010), p. 221, chart 10. The model is 31.4b isas 'I seek
(stem isasa- aor. isa- inchoative isa-) which similarly is in the environment oI xsa0rom
... drufom and ista- ... manah-. */hisa-/ is an aor. them. stem (alongside athem. hisa- in
45.4e visp.hisas 'all-binding, cI. Varun a as an indeceivable 'binding or 'snaring god) oI
\hv 'to tie up, whence hae0a- 'snare (in the parallel to 32.13a, again with grohma-)
32.14a hi0i 'in the snare, textually 46.6b dmm hae0ahii 'the cords oI the snare,
cI. OInd. dman- 'tether, rope, Per. dm, Sogd. om, Khot. dma-, Pashto lma 'snare,
trapline, etc.
14. Schwartz, 'The Ties that Bind, pp. 138144, 146, 184189.
15. CI. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wrterbuch, p. 147.
16. Schmidt, 'Zara0ustra and his Patrons, p. 369.
17. CI. Gershevitch, The Avestan Hvmn to Mithra, p. 186.
18. For the trisyllabic scansion */kwiya-/ see now Martin Schwartz, 'The Gathas and Other
Old Avestan Poetry, in La Langue Poetique Indo-Europeenne, Actes du Colloque de
Travail de la Societe des tudes Indo-Europeennes, eds. G.-J. Pinault and D. Petit (Leuven
Paris: Peeters, 2006), pp. 495496.
19. For the close connection between priesthood and rulership, cI. the survey oI E. O. James,
'The Sacral Kingship and the Priesthood in The Sacral Kingship, Studies in the Historv of
Religions IJ, Supplement to Numen IJ (Leiden: Brill, 1959), pp. 6370.
Av. Kauui- 'perceptive (sagacious) ruler could have been an Iranian semantic
development oI an equivalent oI Vedic kavi- adj. 'perceptive. For OIr. \k 'to perceive,
note e.g., Sogd. wicu 'witness.
AIter the present article was submitted, the author received a publication with similar
conclusions Irom complementary data: Iris Colditz, 'Altorientalische und Avesta-
Traditionen in der Herrschertitulatur des Vorislamischen Iran, in Religious Themes and
Texts of Pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia. Studies in Honour of Professor Gherardo Gnoli,
eds. Carlo Cereti, Mauro Maggi and Elio Provasi (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag,
2002), pp. 6177. Note especially p. 73 mentioning Persian kou (kau) 'intelligent, wise,
talented.
20. Emile Benveniste, Les Mages dans lAncien Iran (Paris: G.P. Maisonneuve, 1938), pp. 76
82.
21. The etymology oI Av. \xsn(a)u, Greek /vo, etc. was discussed in detail in Martin
Schwartz, 'Scatology and Eschatology in Zoroaster in Papers in Honour of Professor Marv
Bovce (Leiden: Brill, 1985), pp. 487488, 495. I now reconstruct the initial consonant oI the
ultimate root as PIE *k and not *k
w
. With regard to maga- (pp. 476478, 481483, 496) Ior
48.10, I now read mada- not maga-, and I no longer hold that the maga- 'giIt, largesse
involves reciprocity. I aIIirm the etymological connections given on p. 496, but Iind
problematic the connection with Av. moyu 'tribe, Median magu- '(*member oI the
priestly) Tribe; see Benveniste, Les Mages dans lAncien Iran, p. 20. Finally, I also
Schwart:Avestan Kauui- & the Jocabularv


73

abandon an Iranian root *ag 'to make taboo (4926), taking 48.10 afon Irom \fan. In the
same article I discuss kauui- and karapan- with some oI the same arguments presented here.
22. Helmut Humbach, The Gths of Zarathushtra and Other Old Avestan Texts (Heidelberg:
Carl Winter, 1991), part II, p. 229
23. Martin Schwartz, 'Hospitalities and Formalities (\wa:, \bra:), in Papers in Honor of
Professor Ehsan Yarshater (Leiden: Brill, 1990), pp. 200202.
24. Julius Pokorny Indogermanisches Etvmologisches Wrterbuch (Bern: Francke, 1959) vol. 1,
pp. 11171118.
25. Schwartz, 'Scatology and Eschatology in Zoroaster, p. 486 seq. and Martin Schwartz,
'Coded Sound-patterns, Acrostics, and Anagrams in Zoroaster`s Oral Poetry in Studia
Grammatica Iranica. Festschrift fr Helmut Humbach, ed. Rdiger Schmitt and Prods Oktor
Skjrvo (Kitzinger: Mnchen, 1986), pp. 327392, esp. 387 with n. 15.
26. In his 'Truth and Deception in Ancient Iran in tas-e Dorun, The Fire Within. Jamshid
Soroush Soroushian Memorial Jolume, ed. C. Cereti and F. VajiIdar (Bloomington, Indiana:
1
st
Books, 2003), pp. 383434, Prods Oktor Skjrvo states that he is unconvinced by Insler`s
(1996) arguments that Av. v:ista- Vedic vhis.tha- 'most respecting ~ 'most respectIul,
and notes that 'a close reading oI his |Insler`s| article shows that the meaning 'invigorating
or similar Iits all the occurrences equally well, iI not better. Skjrvo does not mention my
articles related to this subject at all although he agrees with my translation oI v:ista- as
'most invigorated and the like, against Insler`s article. The latter in Iact is speciIically and
overtly throughout directed against my articles on this matter, which Iollow Humbach`s
views on v:ista-, v:a-, and Vedic vfa-.
27. See Martin Schwartz, 'Gathic Compositional History, Y. 29, and Bovine Symbolism in
Paitimna, Essavs in Iranian, Indo-European, and Indian Studies in Honor of Hanns-Peter
Schmidt, ed. Siamak Adhami, (Costa Mesa, CaliIornia: Mazda Publishers, 2003), pp. 196
197, 222, 238240.
28. Since this article was completed, there appeared Stephanie Jameson`s monograph, The Rig
Jeda between Two Worlds/Le R
.
gveda entre Deux Mondes. Quatre Conferences au College
de France en Mai 2004 (Paris: de Boccard, 2007). Chapter/Lecture 4, 'Poetry: kauui kavi
kvya, contains much which is relevant, but undiscussable here.