There once lived a poor woodcutter by the name of Mishkin who earned his livelihood by chopping and selling wood. He lived with his wife and daughter. One day, his neighbours were cooking their liver, and tempted by the aroma of the delicious food, the woodcutter's daughter went to their house with the excuse of borrowing some kindling wood in the hope of sampling some of their food. The neighbours gave her the wood but did not invite her to eat. She made three attempts with the same excuse but each time to no avail.
Finally, when the neighbours sat down to have their dinner, she went once more with an excuse that her fire had died down and she would like to get some more firewood. This time the neighbours got really angry and taunted her by saying, "I know why you keep on coming again and again. Here... take the wood and remember, it is a sin to put out fire deliberately." So saying, the neighbours slammed the door in her face.
Mishkin's daughter was very sad and miserable for the rest of the day. In the evening, when her father came home and enquired about her misery, she told him the whole story of how she craved for the delicious food her neighbours were cooking but got none to taste. The father reassured her that next day he would work extra hard and earn the extra money with which he would buy her the ingredients to cook the food and they would all have a feast.
Next day, Mishkin went to the forest early in the morning. To his disappointment, he found the forest on fire. He waited all day for the fire to subside, but to no avail. He went home in tears and the whole family had a glass of water and went to bed. This scenario continued for three days. On the third day, Mishkin could not get himself to go home empty-handed. So he burst out in tears and was full of despair. He sat in a corner not knowing what to do next.
Just then, five Angels were passing by the forest dressed in white, green, and yellow (Behram Yasht, Ardibehesht Yasht, Meher Yasht, Behman Yasht, and Sarosh Yasht). Out of all, Behram Yazad was the angel in charge of solving human problems. When they saw Mishkin, they stopped by and asked him, "Oh human being, what are you weeping for? If possible, we will try and help you." At first, Mishkin refused to divulge his problems but later opened up and explained the whole situation of how his family had to go without food for three days due to forest fires and about his selfish neighbours.
Behram Yazad picked up three handfuls of sand from the ground and put it in Mishkin's lap saying, "Keep this safely with you. If your situation improves with this, then narrate the whole story and offer some grams (nuts), flowers, and sweets and remember us whenever convenient." Mishkin thought to himself, "What good is this sand going to be to me? After they leave, I shall throw it away." The five Angels disappeared into the air and a mysterious voice came from above, "Oh, Mishkin, look after this sand as you would your own life. You will prosper with it, don't throw it away, otherwise you will face poverty all your life."
When Mishkin returned home, he dumped the sand in one corner of his room. In the very early hours next morning, when the neighbours saw a bright light in Mishkin's house, they yelled out “Fire!” Mishkin's daughter woke her father up saying, "There is unusual brightness in the house, could it be a thief?" Mishkin replied, "Don't be afraid. We have nothing in the house except a rope and axe for the thief to take. You have been starving for the last three days so you must be having visions." However, Mishkin was a little uneasy himself to notice this unusual brightness around the house, so he woke up to check around. To his amazement, he found that the sand he had dumped in a corner had all turned to precious and glittering gems.
In the morning, Mishkin thanked God and took a gem out of his precious jewels to the market to sell. The jeweller was amazed to see the piece and asked him if he could offer 100,000 or 200,000? Mishkin could not believe his ears, so he went to another jeweller to get the gem valued. He too could not believe his eyes, as in his lifetime he had never seen such a precious stone. He piled three bags full of money and asked Mishkin to toss his jewel and take away whichever bag it landed on. So he did, and sure enough, it landed on the biggest bag of money.
Mishkin went shopping for provisions and bought some of the nicest ingredients to cook food and got a servant to carry it down to his house. On his way home, he distributed some grams, sweets, and cardamom to whoever came his way. His wife and daughter refused to accept the groceries, thinking that they must belong to some rich family and had landed there in error. The daughter asked her father, "We are starved for every grain of food and we have no money, so how did you manage to bring all this? Did you steal?" Mishkin replied, "God bestowed this upon me as a gift." So saying, he narrated the whole incident of how the Angels had given him the sand. Soon after, he built a house for himself which was prettier than the King's Palace.
One day, as the King was passing by Mishkin's house, he was astonished to see a house that was more palatial than his own. Upon inquiring, he found out who the owner was. To test if Mishkin was arrogant or humble, he sent some food from his own table to Mishkin's house. Mishkin and his family felt highly obligated when they saw this food and wondered how to repay the King's obligation. He returned the King's plate with a diamond from his collection. The King's daughter was amazed to see this beautiful jewel and set it in a necklace.
Now Mishkin decided to go out of town on a pilgrimage, and before he left, he entrusted his daughter to say her prayers to Behram Yazad. Having become rich, Mishkin's daughter now had many friends. One day they came to a pond where the King's daughter also came with her servants for a bath. Mishkin's daughter and the Princess became good friends and soon started to visit each other's homes. In all this enjoyment, Mishkin's daughter forgot her promise to her father to pray to Behram Yazad.
One day, they were passing by a lake and the King's daughter decided to go for a swim. Since Mishkin's daughter did not know how to swim, she stayed behind to look after the Princess' clothes and diamond necklace. When the Princess came out, she found the diamond from her necklace missing. She accused Mishkin's daughter of stealing it and got both mother and daughter arrested.
In the meantime, Mishkin got robbed by thieves and returned home. When he came to know that his wife and daughter were in jail, he pleaded with the King to release them and put him in jail instead. The same night, Mishkin had a dream in which he saw an Angel who said, "You were granted so much happiness in life and you could not say a prayer to Behram Yazad?" Mishkin sincerely apologised for his daughter's mistake, to which the Angel said, "In the morning when you wake up, you will find some money under your pillow. Your chain will loosen up too. If you order some grams out of this money and pray to Behram Yazad, all your difficulties will be resolved."
In the morning when Mishkin woke up, his chain had become loose and he also found some money as promised by the Angels in his dream. He requested a passerby, who was passing on a horse, to buy him some grams (nuts). The man refused to do so saying, "I am in a hurry to pick up some wedding clothes and I do not have the time to bring you the grams." Soon after he left, his horse fell in quicksand and he broke his leg.
Just then, an old man was passing by with a sad face. He agreed to bring the grams for Mishkin as his son was on his deathbed counting his last moments. Mishkin requested him to sit with him while he narrated the story and acknowledged it by saying "jee ray jee" to his story. Mishkin completed his story and wished well for everybody and offered the grams to the man by way of offerings. When the old man went home, he saw that his son was hale and hearty and everyone in the family was rejoicing at his fast recovery. This established his faith in Behram Yazad and he began to pray with grams for Behram Yazad every week or whenever possible.
On the other side, the King and Queen were relaxing in a garden with their daughter. Just then, a bird flew over them and dropped the diamond into the Princess' lap. When they all looked up, it was an ostrich. The King apologised to Mishkin for falsely accusing his daughter of theft. Mishkin said, "You have degraded my family; now who will marry my daughter?" The King, seeing the truth in what Mishkin was saying, agreed to marry his son to Mishkin's daughter.
Being relatives, they now visited each other quite often. One day when they were all together at Mishkin's house, the Queen saw that Mishkin was peeling some grams while reciting a story. The Queen jokingly asked him the reason for peeling any grams. Mishkin said, "These grams have made us all very happy." The Queen said, "If there is truth in what you are saying, I have lost my brothers for the last 7 years and if they come back to me, I will make your story renowned throughout the kingdom."
The Queen and Mishkin prayed and by the Grace of God, the brothers returned in 3 days' time. The Queen fulfilled her promise and the story was made known to all her subjects who were advised to pray to Behram Yazad in times of difficulties. Just as the Queen's wish was fulfilled, just as Mishkin, his wife and child's desires were fulfilled, just as the old man's son recovered from his deathbed, so too may all our problems be resolved. (Pray 5 Yatha and 3 Ashem Vohu here... offer incense and wish well for all).
May God Almighty resolve all our difficulties. May Peace be on all of the World—Amen! A million thanks to Lord Almighty and all His Spiritual powers as also to Behram Yazad (the Angel of Problem Solving) with whose Blessings I may always find all my difficulties in life made easy. May you be protected and accept my humble offerings to you today. Amen!
PS: It is highly recommended that this prayer be done when you are facing extreme difficulties and possible human problems with no solution in sight.