Staota Yesnya
zoroastrian religious text
The Staota Yesnya (Avestan: 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬊𐬙𐬀 𐬫𐬈𐬯𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀, romanized: staōta ẏesńiia, Sacrificial Eulogy), also known as Stod Yasn, refers to the editorial arrangement of the central liturgical texts of Zoroastrianism. It contains all Old Avestan texts like the Gathas and the Yasna Haptanghaiti and may have been the original liturgy of the early Zoroastrian community.
In the Sasanian Avesta, which is now lost, the Staota Yesnya formed the Stod Yasn nask. In the extant Avesta, it is preserved in the Yasna and Visperad manuscripts and forms the central part of the respective liturgies.
Name
The Staota Yesnya is called in Middle Persian sources Stod Yasn (in the Denkard) and Stod Yasht (in the Rivayats). The first part of the term is derived from Avestan 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬋𐬙𐬀𐬭 (staōtar, praiser, laudator), whereas the second term is connected to Avestan 𐬪𐬈𐬯𐬦𐬌𐬌𐬀 (ẏesńiia, worthy of sacrifice). The name can therefore be translated as Sacrificial Eulogy or Praise Ritual.
In the Sasanian Avesta
The Sasanian Avesta was the collection of Avestan literature produced during the Sasanian Empire. It consisted of 21 nasks (volumes), which were grouped into three divisions, namely the Gathic, manthric and legalistic nasks. Within this scheme, the Stod Yasn belonged to the Gathic group.
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