Ahunavaiti Gāthā II — Yasna 31–34

N=1 fine-grained distillation. Source: Mills, Yasna, SBE 31 (1887), Internet Archive zendavesta03darm. Quote anchors pending Phase 7 verification. Methodology & tags: ../00-methodology.md. Mills' parentheses are interpretive glosses.

Chapter role

These four chapters develop the Ahunavaiti Gāthā's teaching. Yasna 31 grounds free moral choice in God's own creation ("whereby the wisher may place his choices") and stresses that Ahura, all-seeing, watches every deed for the coming requital. Yasna 32 is the polemic against the Daēva-worshippers (the followers of the Lie). Yasna 33 prays for the soul's reward and the company of the righteous. Yasna 34 offers devotion back to Ahura through holy deeds, words, and sacrifice.

Atomic statements

B2-C1: Ahura Mazda gave understanding from His own mind and so ordained that the wisher may place his own choices — free will is God-given. (FOUNDATIONAL / CHOICE+GOD)

Yasna 31:11: "…when Thou gavest (us) understanding from Thine own mind, and madest our (full) bodily life… and didst moreover deliver to us (nearer) injunctions whereby (as by a rule) the wisher may place his choices."
Stance: assert · Importance: core

B2-C2: Through Asha (the Righteous Order) the better lot is given; Asha is the way one must seek to know with the Good Mind. (FOUNDATIONAL / ASHA+MIND)

Yasna 31:5: "Aye, do Thou tell me that I may discern it, since through (Thy) Righteous Order the better (lot) is given; tell me this that I may know it with (Thy) Good Mind (as it speaks within me)…"
Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Asha, Vohu Manah

B2-C3: Ahura sees every deed — open or furtive — with His righteous, glittering eye; nothing escapes the divine guard. (FOUNDATIONAL / GOD+JUDGEMENT)

Yasna 31:13: "What questions are asked which are open… or what questions (are asked) which are furtive… on all with Thy glittering eye(s) as a righteous guard Thou art gazing!"
Stance: assert · Importance: core

B2-C4: A reckoning is coming — Zarathushtra asks what awards are for the holy and the wicked in the final state of completion. (FOUNDATIONAL / JUDGEMENT+RENOVATION)

Yasna 31:14: "…What events are coming now, and what events shall come in the future… And what (are the awards) for the wicked? And how shall they be in the (final) state of completion?"
Stance: question · Importance: core

B2-C5: The good creed belongs to the diligent husbandman, not to the thieving nomad — productive, settled work is holy; the predatory life is not. (OPERATIONAL / WORK+ETHICS)

Yasna 31:9–10: "…the husbandman, the thrifty toiler in the fields, as a holy master endowed with the Good Mind's wealth. Never, Mazda! shall the thieving nomad share the good creed."
Stance: assert · Importance: core

B2-C6: The Lie's followers slay the settlements of Righteousness; the words of Asha are best for those devoted to Ahura but unheard by the partisans of the Lie. (FOUNDATIONAL / DUALISM+ASHA)

Yasna 31:1: "…words… unheard (with faith) by those who by means of the doctrinal vows of the harmful Lie are delivering the settlements of Righteousness to death, but words which are of the best unto those who are heartily devoted to Ahura."
Stance: assert · Importance: supporting · Untranslatable: Druj (the Lie)

B2-C7: The reward to be prayed for is the mighty Kingdom by whose force the Lie-demon is smitten. (FOUNDATIONAL / RENOVATION+ASHA)

Yasna 31:4: "…I will pray for that mighty Kingdom by whose force we may smite the Lie-demon."
Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Khshathra

B2-C8: Immortality, Righteousness, and the Kingdom are given through holy deeds, words, and sacrifice; the bountiful man returns them to Ahura by mind and deed. (FOUNDATIONAL / WORSHIP+ETHICS)

Yasna 34:1–2: "…Immortality, the Righteous Order, and the (established) Kingdom of Welfare, which Thou, O Mazda! hast given through (holy) deeds, words, and the sacrifice… all those gifts of the Good Spirit have been given (back in gratitude) to Thee by the mind and the deed of the bountiful man, whose soul goes hand in hand with the Righteous Order…"
Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Haurvatat (Welfare/Wholeness), Ameretat (Immortality)

Step 4 — Clusters

Cluster	Atomic statements	Intent
God-given free choice	C1	Choice is built into creation by Ahura's own mind
Asha as the known way	C2, C6, C7	Righteousness, grasped by the Good Mind, is the better lot; the Lie opposes it
The watching God & judgement	C3, C4	Ahura sees all deeds; a final requital is coming
Holy work	C5	The settled, productive life is righteous; the predatory life is of the Lie
Devotion returned	C8	God's gifts are returned through good deeds, words, and worship

Step 5 — Internal tensions

No genuine contradiction. The polemic against the Daēva-worshippers (C6) is partisan, not a doctrinal tension; it expresses the same dualism as Yasna 30.

Step 6 — Synthesized chapter principles

B2-P1: Free moral choice is given by God

Ahura gave understanding "from His own mind" and ordained the rule "whereby the wisher may place his choices"; human freedom to choose good or evil is part of the divine creation.

Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: CHOICE+GOD · Covers: C1 · Evidence: Yasna 31:11

B2-P2: Asha is the way, grasped by the Good Mind

Through Righteousness "the better lot is given"; one must seek to know Asha with Vohu Manah. The Lie (Druj) opposes and destroys the settlements of Asha, and the Kingdom (Khshathra) is what smites it.

Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: ASHA+MIND · Covers: C2, C6, C7 · Evidence: Yasna 31:1,4,5 · Untranslatable: Asha, Vohu Manah, Druj, Khshathra

B2-P3: God sees all deeds, and a reckoning is coming

Ahura watches every act, open or hidden, "with His glittering eye"; the awards for the holy and the wicked in "the final state of completion" are real and certain.

Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: GOD+JUDGEMENT · Covers: C3, C4 · Evidence: Yasna 31:13–14

B2-P4: Productive, honest work is holy

The good creed belongs to "the thrifty toiler in the fields," not to the thieving nomad; the settled, industrious, life-giving labour is righteous, and predation is of the Lie.

Tier: OPERATIONAL · Domain: WORK+ETHICS · Covers: C5 · Evidence: Yasna 31:9–10

B2-P5: Devotion is returned to God through good deeds, words, and worship

Immortality, Asha, and the Kingdom are "given through holy deeds, words, and the sacrifice"; the bountiful person returns them "by the mind and the deed," soul going hand in hand with Asha.

Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: WORSHIP+ETHICS · Covers: C8 · Evidence: Yasna 34:1–3 · Untranslatable: Haurvatat, Ameretat, Amesha Spentas

Step 7 — Traceability

Principle	Atomic statements	Verses
B2-P1	C1	Yasna 31:11
B2-P2	C2, C6, C7	Yasna 31:1,4,5
B2-P3	C3, C4	Yasna 31:13–14
B2-P4	C5	Yasna 31:9–10
B2-P5	C8	Yasna 34:1–3

Step 8 — Quality

Coverage: the doctrinal spine of Yasna 31 (choice, Asha, judgement, work) and 34 (devotion) captured; Yasna 32 (anti-Daēva polemic) and 33 (prayer for the righteous) fold under P2/P5.
Orphaned: ritual-specific verses (33:4–7, 34:4–15 fire/offering details) folded under P5.
Principles: 5 (within range).
Traceability: 100%.

Step 9 — Validation

Standalone comprehension (frame-independent): B2-P1 (free will), B2-P4 (the dignity of honest, productive work), and B2-P3's claim (deeds are seen and answered for) read as intelligible to an outsider. B2-P3's warrant is theistic (a personal all-seeing God) — converges with Abrahamic traditions, diverges from non-theistic karma. B2-P2's Asha is the tradition's load-bearing untranslatable (truth = cosmic + moral order in one word): the claim "truth/right order is the way" converges widely, the warrant (Asha as a quasi-personal divine order and an Amesha Spenta) is frame-specific. Flagged for the Atlas.