抄録
Having refuted many opinions thus far proposed about the meaning of ‘Avesta’, I have explained NP. Avesta, MP. Apastak/Abestag from OIr. *apa-sta-ka- to *apa-sta- ‘keep away from, reject’, hence ‘Avesta’ connotes ‘what keeps away from, what rejects’. What then does It keep away from or reject? From the Denkard ed. M. J. Dresden 4734-14=ed. D. M. Madan 4598-22, we can safely say that the Avesta is so called because It rejects our human comprehension, therefore ‘Avesta’ means ‘Profound Text’. Although derived from the same base *apa-sta-, Sogd. 'pšt'w'nh/'pšt'wn=apštawan connotes ‘Holy or Sublime Word’ (<‘what keeps away from’) and 'pšty'm=apštayam ‘I abandon’. For further details, see my “Gathica XII. On the meaning of ‘Avesta’”, Orient, Vol. 9, Tokyo 1973.
