Khordeh Avesta (Book of Common Prayer)
Original Author: Anonymous Avestan priestly tradition
Credit: Digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson
Translations primarily by James Darmesteter (1880; revised 1898) and L. H. Mills, depending on the individual text.
Original Date Written: c. 1000 BCE – late antiquity
Resource Information
This resource is freely accessible online through Avesta.org, which provides a carefully prepared digital edition of the Khordeh Avesta, including Avestan text, transcription, and public‑domain English translations. The edition brings together the major sub‑collections traditionally used for daily devotion—such as the Nyayeshes, Gahs, Siroza, Afrinagans, and the full set of 21 Yashts—making it one of the most complete digital presentations of the Khordeh Avesta available.
Most translations on this site derive from the late‑19th‑century work of James Darmesteter and L. H. Mills, whose English renderings are now in the public domain. The digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson offers a stable, openly accessible resource for readers, students, and researchers, and may be read without cost on the publisher’s website.
The Khordeh Avesta, often translated as the “Little Avesta,” is the primary prayerbook used by Zoroastrian laypeople for daily devotion. Unlike the major liturgical texts (Yasna, Visperad, Vendidad), which are recited by priests during formal ceremonies, the Khordeh Avesta gathers together the shorter prayers, hymns, and invocations used in everyday religious life.
This collection includes:
Frequently used prayers, such as the Ashem Vohu, Ahunwar, Kem Na Mazda, and Padyab‑Kusti
Gahs, the prayers for the five divisions of the day
Nyayeshes, devotional litanies to the Sun, Moon, Waters, Fire, and other sacred beings
Siroza, invocations for the thirty days of the Zoroastrian month
Afrinagans, blessings used in communal and seasonal rituals
The 21 Yashts, long mythic hymns dedicated to individual divine beings (yazatas)
Because these texts span many centuries and genres, the Khordeh Avesta offers a vivid picture of Zoroastrian religious life: daily devotion, cosmological praise, mythic storytelling, and ritual observance. It remains the most widely used portion of the Avesta today, functioning as a practical and accessible prayerbook for both household and community worship.
This digital edition provides the complete set of prayers, many with Avestan text, transcription, English translation, and in some cases audio recordings.
