Yashts — Hormazd Yasht and Mihr Yasht (Yt. 1 & Yt. 10)

N=1 fine-grained distillation. Source: Darmesteter, Yashts/Sîrôzahs (SBE 23, 1883), zendavesta02darm. Quote anchors are working text pending Phase 7 char-for-char verification against clean SBE scans. Methodology & tags: ../00-methodology.md.

Chapter role

The Yashts are the Avesta's devotional hymns. Yasht 1 (Hormazd Yasht) enumerates the names of Ahura Mazda — a structured meditation on divine attributes (creator, all-seeing, undeceivable, the source of weal, the bestower of health). It is recited daily at the Havan Gah. Yasht 10 (Mihr Yasht) — one of the longest hymns of the Avesta — invokes Mithra, whose name is also the common noun for "contract / covenant." Mithra is the divinely guaranteed binding of oaths between persons and between nations: he watches, with "a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes," whether a person lies-to-Mithra (breaks faith), and brings prosperity to those who keep faith and ruin to those who break it. Together these two Yashts give the theistic-devotional and covenantal-ethical face of Zoroastrianism beyond the Gāthās.

Atomic statements

B6-C1: Ahura Mazda's own Names are the strongest, most fiend-smiting, best-healing part of the Holy Word. (FOUNDATIONAL / GOD+WORSHIP)

• Yt. 1.3–4: "Our Name, O Spitama Zarathushtra! who are the Amesha-Spentas, that is the strongest part of the Holy Word; that is the most victorious; that is the most glorious; that is the most effective; that is the most fiend-smiting; that is the best-healing; that destroyeth best the malice of Daevas and Men…"
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Amesha Spentas (Bounteous Immortals)

B6-C2: Ahura's twenty self-revealed names compose a meditation on the divine attributes — Lord, All-knowing, Strong One, Perfect Holiness, Understanding, Knowledge, Weal, the Most Beneficent, the Unconquerable, He who makes the true account, the All-seeing, the Healing One, the Creator, Mazda. (FOUNDATIONAL / GOD)

• Yt. 1.7–8: "My name is the One of whom questions are asked… the Herd-giver… the Strong One… Perfect Holiness… Understanding… Knowledge… Weal… Ahura (the Lord)… the most Beneficent… the unconquerable One… He who makes the true account… the All-seeing One… the healing One… the Creator… Mazda (the All-knowing One)."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Ahura Mazda, Asha Vahishta ("Perfect Holiness")

B6-C3: Reciting Ahura's names by day and night is the believer's standing protection against every assault — material and demonic. (OPERATIONAL / WORSHIP)

• Yt. 1.9–11, 17–19: "Worship me, O Zarathushtra, by day and by night, with offerings of libations well accepted; I will come unto thee for help and joy, I, Ahura Mazda…" / "He who shall pronounce them, when he rises up or when he lays him down… that man, neither in that day nor in that night, shall be wounded by the weapons of the foe…"
• Stance: assert · Importance: supporting

B6-C4: Mithra (the contract) was created by Ahura as worthy of sacrifice and prayer "as myself, Ahura Mazda" — the covenant is divinely guaranteed. (FOUNDATIONAL / GOD+ETHICS)

• Yt. 10.1: "Verily, when I created Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, O Spitama! I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Mithra (= contract, oath, the god of the covenant)

B6-C5: To break faith with Mithra — to lie to one with whom one has made covenant — brings death upon the whole country; the contract binds toward the faithful and the unfaithful alike. (FOUNDATIONAL / ETHICS)

• Yt. 10.2: "The ruffian who lies unto Mithra brings death unto the whole country, injuring as much the faithful world as a hundred evil-doers could do. Break not the contract, O Spitama! neither the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the faithful who is one of thy own faith. For Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Note: claim is frame-independent and prophetic; warrant (Mithra as personified yazata) is frame-specific.

B6-C6: Mithra sees all, sleepless and ever awake, with a thousand ears and ten thousand eyes — the all-seeing guardian of truth and oaths. (FOUNDATIONAL / ETHICS+GOD)

• Yt. 10.7, 24, 45–46: "We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who is truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand ears, well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake." / "He of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-seeing, undeceivable Mithra." / "Helping and guarding, guarding behind and guarding in front, Mithra… proves an undeceivable spy and watcher…"
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

B6-C7: Mithra rewards covenant-keeping and ruins covenant-breaking — both in households and in nations: he upholds and enlarges the pious house, breaks the impious; he routs armies of the Mithradruj (those who lie to Mithra). (OPERATIONAL / ETHICS+WORK)

• Yt. 10.28, 30, 38: "Who upholds the columns of the lofty house and makes its pillars solid; who gives herds of oxen and male children to that house in which he has been satisfied; he breaks to pieces those in which he has been offended." / "Thou makest houses large, beautiful with women, beautiful with chariots, with well-laid foundations…" / "Sad is the abode, unpeopled with children, where abide men who lie unto Mithra…"
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Untranslatable: Mithradruj (the contract-breaker, lit. "Mithra-lie")

B6-C8: Mithra is the structural binding of human society — friend to friend, partner to partner, husband to wife, master to pupil, father to son, nation to nation — graduated from the lighter bond to the hundredfold bond, with the strongest tie of all being the contract joined to the Law of Mazda. (FOUNDATIONAL / ETHICS+WORK)

• Yt. 10.115–117: "O Mithra, lord of wide pastures! thou master of the house, of the borough, of the town, of the country…" / "Mithra is twentyfold between two friends or two relations; … thirtyfold between two men of the same group; … fortyfold between two partners; … fiftyfold between wife and husband; … sixtyfold between two pupils; … seventyfold between the pupil and his master; … eightyfold between the son-in-law and his father-in-law; … ninetyfold between two brothers; … a hundredfold between the father and the son; … a thousandfold between two nations; … ten thousandfold when connected with the Law of Mazda."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Note: a remarkable explicit account of the rising weight of covenant through concentric social relations — Darmesteter calls it "a fair recognition of the jus gentium."

B6-C9: The faithful pray with Mithra as the sun rises, so as to "rise up above the will of the fiend Angra Mainyu" — covenant-fidelity is itself a participation in the cosmic resistance to the Lie. (EXHORTATION / ETHICS+DUALISM)

• Yt. 10.118: "May I come unto thee with a prayer that goes lowly or goes highly! As this sun rises up above the Hara Berezaiti and then fulfils its career, so may I, O Spitama! with a prayer that goes lowly or goes highly, rise up above the will of the fiend Angra Mainyu."
• Stance: assert · Importance: supporting

Step 4 — Clusters

Cluster	Atomic statements	Intent
The divine names as meditation	C1, C2, C3	Knowing/reciting Ahura's attributes is the strongest part of the Word and the daily protection of the believer
The covenant is divine	C4, C5, C6	Mithra (the contract) is created by Ahura, binds toward all parties, and is watched by an all-seeing god
The covenant orders the world	C7, C8	Reward/ruin in households and nations follows the keeping/breaking of faith; covenant rises in weight through concentric social relations
Covenant-fidelity as cosmic resistance	C9	To keep faith is to rise above the Lie

Step 5 — Internal tensions

The Yashts personify Mithra strongly (a god worthy of sacrifice "as myself, Ahura Mazda") in a way the strict Gāthic monotheism does not. This is layered development, not contradiction: the Yashts represent the yazata-devotional layer of the Avesta, presupposing Ahura as one creator but venerating his attributes and gifts (Asha, Mithra, the Fravashis, the Khwarrah) as quasi-personified yazatas — comparable to Christian theology's "communicable attributes" rather than independent deities. Flagged for the cross-tradition Atlas.

Step 6 — Synthesized chapter principles

B6-P1: Ahura's names are the strongest Word and the believer's daily standing protection

"Our Name… is the strongest part of the Holy Word; that is the most victorious; that is the most glorious; that is the most fiend-smiting; that is the best-healing." Recited day and night, the names — Lord, All-knowing, Creator, the Healing One, He who makes the true account — protect the faithful and orient the heart to the divine attributes.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: GOD+WORSHIP · Covers: C1, C2, C3 · Evidence: Yt. 1.3–4, 7–8, 9–11, 17–19 · Untranslatable: Ahura Mazda, Asha Vahishta, Amesha Spentas

B6-P2: Covenant is divine — Mithra is created by Ahura and binds the keeper toward every party

"I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda." The contract is a divine institution: "Break not the contract, O Spitama! neither the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the unfaithful, nor the one that thou hadst entered into with one of the faithful… For Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaithful." The contract binds the keeper, irrespective of the other party's character.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: ETHICS+GOD · Covers: C4, C5 · Evidence: Yt. 10.1–2 · Untranslatable: Mithra (contract/covenant)

B6-P3: God sees and remembers — the all-seeing, undeceivable guardian of oaths

Mithra is "sleepless and ever awake," "with a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes," "the powerful, all-seeing, undeceivable" guardian — who watches behind and in front of the man whose life is sought by covenant-breakers. The oath is kept under unsleeping divine surveillance.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: ETHICS+GOD · Covers: C6 · Evidence: Yt. 10.7, 24, 45–46

B6-P4: The covenant orders human society — house, partnership, marriage, teaching, kinship, nation, and the Law

"Mithra is twentyfold between two friends … fiftyfold between wife and husband … seventyfold between the pupil and his master … a hundredfold between the father and the son … a thousandfold between two nations … ten thousandfold when connected with the Law of Mazda." The pious house is enlarged, the impious house broken; covenant-breakers are routed in battle. The contract is the connective tissue of households, communities, and nations.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: ETHICS+WORK · Covers: C7, C8 · Evidence: Yt. 10.28–30, 38, 115–117 · Untranslatable: Mithradruj

B6-P5: To keep faith is to rise above the Lie

"As this sun rises up above the Hara Berezaiti… so may I, O Spitama! … rise up above the will of the fiend Angra Mainyu." The daily prayer at sunrise frames covenant-keeping as a personal participation in the cosmic resistance of Asha to the Druj.

• Tier: EXHORTATION · Domain: ETHICS+DUALISM · Covers: C9 · Evidence: Yt. 10.118 · Untranslatable: Druj, Angra Mainyu

Step 7 — Traceability

Principle	Atomic statements	Verses
B6-P1	C1, C2, C3	Yt. 1.3–4, 7–8, 9–11, 17–19
B6-P2	C4, C5	Yt. 10.1–2
B6-P3	C6	Yt. 10.7, 24, 45–46
B6-P4	C7, C8	Yt. 10.28–30, 38, 115–117
B6-P5	C9	Yt. 10.118

Step 8 — Quality

• Coverage: the structurally load-bearing material of Yt. 1 (the names + the recitation framework) and the principle-bearing core of Yt. 10 (the contract, the all-seeing watcher, the graduated social bond, the cosmic frame) is captured.
• Orphaned: Yt. 10's long descriptive passages of Mithra's chariot, weapons, military intervention, and his eight spies (§§35–43, 65–95, 100–114) are not foregrounded — they elaborate but do not add principle-content beyond C6/C7.
• Principles: 5 (within the 3–12 range).
• Traceability: 100%.

Step 9 — Validation

• Standalone comprehension (frame-independent): B6-P2 (covenant-keeping as a divine institution, binding toward every party irrespective of their merit), B6-P3 (the all-seeing watcher), and B6-P4 (covenant rises in weight through concentric social relations and is highest when bound to the Law) read as strikingly intelligible prophetic-ethical claims to an outsider — and are a prime convergence candidate with biblical oath-ethics (Ps 15:4 "swears to his own hurt and does not change"; Mt 5:33–37; covenants in the Hebrew Bible) and with the broader pool's ethics of fides. The claim (the keeper is bound, the keeper is watched, the keeper of faith builds the world) converges very widely; the warrant (Mithra as a personified yazata of the contract, the Mithradruj as a cosmic offence) is frame-specific. This file strengthens P9 (deeds are seen, justly answered) and may justify a new principle for covenant-fidelity in the N=3 set. B6-P1 (the divine names as meditation) is also broadly intelligible (cf. the Islamic 99 names, biblical names of God) — the practice converges; the list is frame-specific. B6-P5's claim (faith-keeping participates in moral cosmic order) converges; the warrant (Angra Mainyu) is frame-specific.