1 The public religious banquet which is one of the characteristics of the Gah4nbér festival. It is given at the expense of the rich, and both rich and poor take part in it.
® As he has a general right to it, though he ought not to have taken it without authority.
* A man who does not belong to that Myazda.
* See above, page 35, note 1.
5 The case foreseen in this obscure paragraph seems to be that of two men, members of the same Myazda, according as they each bring their separate fare or not.
* Fridhast 4zau. Avaézé pasim ham pukhdhem (cf. infra). Kithrem id (H.; T. Aikéthrem id).
> Taurva payau bavad aspaydadka khraydadka. A. V. 3, Fr. Geus tasné geus uruné. Tava geus hudhaunghé uruné.
p. 347
There he shall dip and take up the same quantity of meat!;
There he shall hold out cheese.
The same shall it be for river water ;
But for river water,
The Frabaretar* may bring, without guilt, for a half,
Boiling milk of mares, cows, sheep, or goats.
68. The Frabaretar shall bring the libations,
The HAvanan shall prepare the Haoma,
In such a way that the libations, prepared to the best of their knowledge, come to me by daylight, not in the darkness *.
For there is no piety without knowledge ‘;
For all libations poured out and presented, that are poured in the darkness of night, and without singing the Ahuna Vairya, flow to the benefit of the Daévas 5;
And if one pour them without looking at the fire and the Baresman,
They accrue for the victory of the Anaryan countries °,
1 If the libations are intended for the water, not for the Baresman.
* The words 'a yava’s breadth’ seem to be out of place here. They may have crept in from the usual formula ‘an aésa long, a yava thick’ (cf. Vd. XIX, 19; infra §§ 70, go).
VI. ERPATISTAN AND NfRANGISTAN. 349
69. If he bring the libations to the water and not to the Baresman},
If the Baresman be distant an aésa’s length, a yava’'s breadth ?,
He shall bring them over the Baresman ;
If not, he shall pay three strokes (of the Sraoshéfarana) or a day’s work,
If he bring the libations to the Baresman and not to the water,
If the water be distant three steps,
He shall bring them over the water ;
If not, he shall pay three strokes (of the Sraoshéfarana) or a day's work.
70, If the Baresman be an aésa long, a yava thick *, one may bring them on any part of the Baresman.
If the Baresman’s size be larger,
He shall bring them on the point where the bundle is tied.
While the Zaotar sacrifices to Ahura Mazda‘, he brings them on the middle of the Baresman ;
While he sacrifices to the Amesha-Spentas °, he brings them before the Baresman ;
While he says: ‘ We sacrifice to the Waters *,’ he brings them on the left side of the Baresman ;
While he says: ‘We sacrifice to the souls and Fravashis of the Holy Ones’, he brings them on the right side of the Baresman.
3 If it has the normal dimensions.
4 When he recites the formula: ‘ We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda’ (Ahurem Mazdim ... yazamaidé; Yasna LXIII).
5 While he pronounces the words : ‘ We sacrifice to the Amesha- Spentas’ (Amesh4 Spent yazamaidé, ibid.)
* Yasna LXIII. 7 Ibid.
p. 350
Dakhsamaéstim aétad baresma yad paiti-Apem franayamtema ®.
1 In the modern sacrifice there are only two priests who divide between them the functions of the eight priests. The RAspi, who takes his name from the Rathwiskare, represents rather the Atravakhsha whose place he occupies near the fire, and who, of all the assistants of the Zaotar, is the one whose services can least be dispensed with (see, however, § 81).
p. 353
76. The Raéthwiskara shall mix the Haoma and the milk, and shall divide the mixture.
77. The Aberet shall bring the water. The Sraosh4varez shall superintend.
78. The right place of the Zaotar
Is in the middle of the house, . .
p. 353
76. The Raéthwiskara shall mix the Haoma and the milk, and shall divide the mixture.
77. The Aberet shall bring the water. The Sraosh4varez shall superintend.
78. The right place of the Zaotar
Is in the middle of the house, . .
79.. . . the right place of the HAvanan
Is on the right side, opposite the Baresman, behind the fire.
On his left-hand side shall the Asnatar stand.
The right place of the Atravakhsha
Is on the right side, opposite the fire.
The right place of the Frabaretar
Is on the left side, before the Baresman.
On his right-hand side shall the Raéthwiskara stand.
The places of the Aberet and the SraoshAvarez are not fixed; they come and go.
80. If these assistants' go without the leave of the Ratu,
The Zaotar may make all the mixtures
Without the Asndtar and the Havanan.
If the Zaotar go without leave, the preparation of the Zaothra shall fall to the wisest and truest? of the assistant priests.
81. If the Zaotar sacrifice alone* on a Myazda day, at the place of the Zaotar ‘4,
He shall announce that Myazda to the Lord (of the festival) and to the Lord of the Myazda ‘,
* The most respectable of the priests present.
* Without his seven assistants. * At his ordinary seat.
* He announces the banquet to the Ratu of the Gahanbér, that is to say, to the Genius of the Gahnbdr which is being celebrated, and to the Genius of the religious banquet itself.
1 One of the words in the second line of the Ahuna Vairya.
VI. ERPATISTAN AND NfRANGISTAN. 355
For sacrifice, prayer, gratification, and glorification to all the creation of the Good Spirit.
He shall sing the Ahuna Vairya in the place of the Zaotar.
At the word shyaothananim' he shall spring to seize the mortar,
Into the place of the HAvanan *.
VI. ERPATISTAN AND NfRANGISTAN. 355
For sacrifice, prayer, gratification, and glorification to all the creation of the Good Spirit.
He shall sing the Ahuna Vairya in the place of the Zaotar.
At the word shyaothananim' he shall spring to seize the mortar,
Into the place of the HAvanan *.
From the place of the Atravakhsha he shall feed the fire.
From the place of the Frabaretar he shall celebrate the Yasna Haptanghiiti.
82. And of those masters he who comes first represents the Havanan 3;
Secondly, the Atravakhsha ; thirdly, the Frabaretar ; fourthly, the Danazvaza ‘;
Fifthly, the Asndtar ; sixthly, the Raéthwiskara ; seventhly, the Sraosh4varez.
84° Woe to the struggler who struggles for the joy of his own soul *, O Spitama Zarathustra!
Woe to the deceiver who deceives for the joy of his own soul’, O Spitama Zarathustra !
* The H4vanan being the priest who holds the mortar and pounds the Haoma and the Urvarim.
* The case here is the most ordinary one, when besides the Zaotar there is one RAspf who represents, one after the other, the seven assistant priests.
* The DAnazvaza, ‘the water-bearer,’ is the same as the Aberet.
® «That the best of sacrifices is to give presents to the righteous, to teach and study the Law’ (lit. the Intelligence of the Righteous), Dinkart, 1.1. § 14.
* «Any evildoer who helps to do evil; some say, the warrior that helps the evil deed and does not repress it’ (Comm.)
7™*Any man who does evil with his tongue; some say, the priest that teaches error’ (Comm.)
Aa2
p. 356
Avoya [darem (read dathrem)] dadhditi Spitama Zarathustra yén[hé daJthrahé daiti 46id hava urva va raza (read urvaza ?)
5 This paragraph and the two following, referring to the preparation of the Baresman, appear to have been misplaced, as §§ 91-96 continue the remarks on the Zoroastrian’s garment, and the Baresman is again the subject of §§ 97 seq. The right order therefore would be: 87, 91-96, 88-go0, 97.
102. There are seven Lords of HAvani for whom one lays down the Baresman}.
The first is at yénhé mé ashdd haéa (Yasna XV, 2).
The second is at the Ahuna Vairyas.
The third is at daidt méi (Yasna XVIII, 1).
The fourth is at the end of the Ha Ustavaiti (Yasna XLIII), or of the HA Spe#t& Mainyu (Yasna XLVI).
The fifth is at yénhé mé ashéd haga (Yasna LI, 22).
The sixth is at daidt méi (Yasna LXV, 15).
The seventh is at the end of the HA Ustavaiti, or of the HA Spext4 Mainyu.
In the other rites? the Baresman is laid down four times.
The first time at yénhé mé; the second time at the Ahuna Vairyas; [the third time at]* daidt méi ye gam ; the fourth time at the Gatha Ustavaiti, or the Gaétha Spenta Mainyu.
1 This seems to mean that there are seven passages of the Yasna in the celebration at the Havan G4h, at which the Zaotar lays down on the M4hr(i the Baresman which he holds in his hand. Cf. the Guimet Zend-Avesta.
3 In the Visperad and the DvAzdaéhémast.
* The words ahun&n v4fr4n are in Pahlavi, and thritya is omitted.
p. 364
Umeméid (read éyuméid) ava vakim géthanim asrutem paiti-baré aratufris.
Found in a Parsi prayer known as Xithrem buy4d from its first two words. It was published by Tir And&z in his Khorda Avesta (Bombay, p. 374 seq.) and by Sachau in his Neue Beitrage (Vienna, 1871, p. 823).
Xithrem buy4d ahmya nmané
Pitum buy4d ahmya nmané
Thw4m pitdm buy4d ahmya nmd4né.
May welfare appear in this house! May plenty of food be in this house! May plenty of food be in thy house!
2.
374 seq.) and by Sachau in his Neue Beitrage (Vienna, 1871, p. 823).
Xithrem buy4d ahmya nmané
Pitum buy4d ahmya nmané
Thw4m pitdm buy4d ahmya nmd4né.
May welfare appear in this house! May plenty of food be in this house! May plenty of food be in thy house!
2.
The first of the following three lines, and sometimes the first two, are found in many of the Pahlavi colophons at the end of Zend manuscripts. The complete formula is found only in the colophon of the old Yasna of Kopenhagen (K°; see Geldner, Yasna LXXII, 11; West, Dinkart, 484).
He has gained nothing who has not gained the soul, He shall gain nothing who shall not gain the soul *, There is no good for man to receive of him‘, O Zarathustra ! 4,
This fragment from the Hadhékht Nask is quoted in the Sad-dar (ch. xl) to impress on children the respect due to their parents and masters.
M4 4zéraydis Zarathustra ma Pourushaspem m4 Dughdhévam mé aéthrapaitis.
' <The way of the Péryétkésh’ (Paoiry6-dkaésha; Ard& Viraf, CI, 15), that is, the pure orthodox religion, as founded by Zarathustra and followed by his first disciples.
® For various readings, see the Guimet Zend-Avesta, III, 150-151.
* The salvation of his soul, a place in Paradise. The Minékhard (I, 28-32) quotes the same passage with the following commentary: ‘For the spiritual world and the material one are like two fortresses, of which one can clearly take the one, but not the other’ (at the same time).
‘ Of Ahriman. ‘There is no profit to expect from the demons nor from the wicked : for if there be profit in the beginning, at the end there will be ruin’ (Comm.)
p. 371
Do not afflict, O Zarathustra! either Pourushaspa’, or Dughdhava ?, or thy teachers.
5. Kathrayéim Athraiam (Shayast 14-Shayast XIII, 17). The manifestation by the fire *,
6. Anaomé mananghé kya visdi kva paré ¢ ?
7.
This is an Avest4-f m4&r zadan (or text to be recited while killing a serpent). ‘If one recite it while killing a serpent, one gathers thereby the same merit as if one had killed a heretic’ (Gr. Rav&yat, p. 383). The text is too corrupt to allow of any translation, but it contains allusions to Varshna, son of Hanghaurvaungh, son of G&amaspa, whose Fravashi is invoked in the Fréhars Yast, § 104, to withstand the evil Pairikas, and who, from the present formula, appears to have been a dragon-destroyer.
383). The text is too corrupt to allow of any translation, but it contains allusions to Varshna, son of Hanghaurvaungh, son of G&amaspa, whose Fravashi is invoked in the Fréhars Yast, § 104, to withstand the evil Pairikas, and who, from the present formula, appears to have been a dragon-destroyer.
* The manifestation of the truth by the fire-ordeal.
* A quotation in the Kim-f g&s4n 6 (West, Pahlavi Texts, I, 356, with the various readings in note 1).
,
Bb2
VIII. AOGEMAIDE.
‘Tue Aogemaidé,’ says Dastur Jamaspji, ‘is a treatise that inculcates a sort of serene resignation to death.’ It is a sermon on death, originally written in Pahlavi, but preserved to us in a Parsi transcription ; in which original Zend texts are developed or paraphrased. These Zend quotations amount to twenty-nine, of which twenty-four are new. A good edition of the Parsi text, with a Sanskrit translation, based upon a manuscript of a. D. 1494, has been published by Prof. Geiger (Erlangen, 1879). Dastur JamAspji possesses two Pahlavi retranscriptions of an independent Parsi manuscript, which contain useful corrections and additions, We have thought it necessary to give here a complete translation of the treatise as the Zend quotations by themselves do not present either a continuous or a complete text. Unlike the Zend in the
Nirangistin, they are not the principal, but only the secondary text.
1. AogemaidéZa usmahifa visimadaééa' (‘We come, rejoice, and submit 2’). I come, I accept, I resign *;
2. I come into this world, I accept evil, I resign myself to death‘;
1 Yasna XLI, 5. According to Dastur Peshotan, these words were uttered by the first man, Gay6-Maretan, before his coming into the world, as a promise that he would never resort to suicide in order to free himself from pain (Andarze Atrepat, p. 6, note 1). Cf. § 104.
® Direct translation of the Zend text.
* Parsi translation of the Zend text.
‘ Parsi gloss to the translation.
p. 373
3. Shaté-manau vahist6-urvand (‘With the mind in joy and the soul in bliss’): In joy is he who realises the wish of his soul ?.
4. May the accursed Gand Mainyé® be smitten, destroyed, and broken, he who has no knowledge, who has evil knowledge, who is full of death,
5. Who destroys the body of the immortal soul!
6. May the immortal soul have its share in Paradise !
7. And may the pleasure and comfort that will dissipate the pain of the immortal soul come to us!
8. At the fourth dawn‘, may the holy, strong Sraosha®, and Rashn RAst*, and the good Vaé’, and Ashtéd@'® the victorious, and Mihir ® of the rolling country-side, and the Fravashis of the righteous °, and the other virtuous spirits come to meet the soul of the blessed one,
8. At the fourth dawn‘, may the holy, strong Sraosha®, and Rashn RAst*, and the good Vaé’, and Ashtéd@'® the victorious, and Mihir ® of the rolling country-side, and the Fravashis of the righteous °, and the other virtuous spirits come to meet the soul of the blessed one, g. And make the immortal soul pass over the Kinvad bridge ™ easily, happily, and fearlessly !
10. And may Vahman, the Amshaspand *, intercede for the soul of the blessed one,
1 Direct translation of the Zend text.
* A gloss to the Zend text.
® For Zan& Mainy6, the same as Ahriman.
* Literally at the third day-break (the day-break, Sshbam, belonging to the preceding day, the following dawn belongs to the fourth day). On the state of the soul during the first three days-and-nights, or sadis, see Yt. XXII, and above, pp. 218-220.
5 See above, p. 89, note 1; p. 196, note 3.
* See Yt. XII.
7 See Yt. XV, and above, p. 52, note 3. The Good Vaé or V4i is the Good destiny, that takes the soul to Paradise.
‘ This refers to the following details: silver, gold, &c. are the materials of which the throne is made.
ap. 375 doing Daévas tremble at his perfume after death, as doth a sheep on which a wolf is pouncing * ’).
As the sheep, on which the wolf is pouncing, tremble at the odour of the wolf, so these Druges tremble at the perfume of the blessed one.
20. For whosoever has been born and whosoever shall be born must act in such a way that, when the moment comes to leave this world, he may have Paradise as his portion and Gardthm4n as his reward.
20. For whosoever has been born and whosoever shall be born must act in such a way that, when the moment comes to leave this world, he may have Paradise as his portion and Gardthm4n as his reward.
21. There is a passage in which Hérmazd said to Zarathustra: ‘I created, O Spitama Zarathustra! good renown and salvation of the soul ;’
22. (That is to say, good renown in this world and salvation of the soul in the next ’).
And in case of doubt we must consider as being saved,
23. Him who, for all we have seen and known, has been a believer in body and soul, and has rejoiced Hérmazd and afflicted Ahriman,
24. And whoever has had this for his main object, or has been the source of this benefit, that from him should flow prosperity and joy, and from him should flow no harm and no pain.
And there is a passage in which the soul says to the body ¢
25. Aad mam tanvé ithyéganguhaiti manya manangha humatem.
1 Vd. XIX, 33, and notes 4, 5.
2 See above, p. 253, § 4, note 5.
* Asho, ‘holy, blessed, saved;’ in opposition to drvant, ‘wicked, damned.’
* Supplied from the Pahlavi transcription.
p. 376
O thou, my perishable body, think good thoughts with thy mind!
26. Aad mam tanvé ithyéganguhaiti hizva mrdidhi hdkhtem.
O thou, my perishable body, speak good words with thy tongue !
27. Aad mam tanvé ithyéganguhaiti zastaéibya vareza hvarestem shyaothanem.
O thou, my perishable body, do good deeds with thy hands!
O thou, my perishable body, do not throw me down into the Var of Angra Mainyu}, terrible, dreadful, (frightful), dark, undiscernible (for the darkness there is so dense that it can be grasped with the hand’), which Gan& Mainyu fabricated at the bottom of the dark world of endless hell.
29. There is a passage in which Hérmazd says to Zarathustra :
30. I created, O Spitama Zarathustra! the stars, the moon, the sun, and the red burning fire, the dogs, the birds, and the five kinds of animals?; but, better and greater than all, 1 created the righteous man who has truly received from me the Praise of Asha ¢ in the good Religion.
31. But without any reason men adhere to that
} Hell. * See above, p. 66, note 5. Cf. Arda Viraf XVIII. 8 See Yt. XIII, 10 and note. ‘ The recitation of the Ashem Vohd, the epitome of religion.
\p. 377 evil guide, Passion, created by the demons; so that they do not think of Fate,
32. And by the bent of their nature they forget death.
33. They do not keep in mind the working of Time and the transientness of the body,
34. They ever go wandering about on the way of desire, .
35. They are tossed in doubt by evil Passion,
36. They clothe themselves with spite, in the course of strife, for the sake of vanishing goods ;
37. They are intoxicated with pride in their youth,
They ever go wandering about on the way of desire, .
35. They are tossed in doubt by evil Passion,
36. They clothe themselves with spite, in the course of strife, for the sake of vanishing goods ;
37. They are intoxicated with pride in their youth,
38. And shall be full of regrets at the end of their time.
39. For if one say: ‘On this earth of the seven Karsvares there is somebody going to die,’ everybody ought to think: ‘ Perhaps it is I,’
40. Had he sense enough to know that every creature that has been created and has had existence shall die, and that the unseen, deceiving Astivihad'! comes for every one.
41. Hamaséid* pard avanghd isezté mashyékaunghé (‘All men wish for supplies’).
(Now) when a man sets out on a journey, he takes provisions with him ;
42. If it be for one day’s march, he takes provisions for two days;
43. If it be for two days’ march, he takes provisions for three ;
1 Astivihad, Asti-vahat, Ast6-vidhétu; see Vd. V, 8 and note 2. * From the Pahlavi transcription. The printed edition has ameshakid,
p. 378
44. If it be for ten days’ march, he takes provisions for fifteen ;
45. And he thinks that he will come back in health to his well-beloved friends, parents, and brethren.
46. How then is it that men take no provisions for that unavoidable journey, _
47. On which one must go once for all, for all eternity ?
48. Kim aoshanghau aoshanguhaiti dstem isaiti tanva, 4im uruna, 4im frazainti, Aim va gaéthahvd mahrkathem ?
How is it that a mortal can wish for another mortal the annihilation of his body (that his body should be no more’), or of his soul (that his soul should be damned), or death for his children or for his cattle (that his cattle should perish’), if he has sense enough to know that he himself is mortal ?
49. AnAmarezdiké zt asti havai marezdikai.
For he is pitiless to himself (he does not pity himself ') and none of the others shall pity him.
50. Blind are all those who, on this earth, do not follow the religion, do not benefit the living, and do not commemorate the dead.
51. Oiuim tad va... . ayare 4gasaiti, Spitama Zarathustra! aéva va khshapa (‘For there comes a day, O Spitama Zarathustra! or a night’).
There comes a day, O Spitama Zarathustra! or a night, when the master leaves the cattle, or the cattle leave the master, or the soul leaves that body full of desires ;
52. But his virtue, which is of all existences the
1 A gloss.
Sa
p. 379
greatest, the best, the finest, never parts from a man.
53. Ayare A4mithnaiti guyé tanus frayaéré ayan bavaiti hubadhr6é hupaitiznat6', adha aparé ayan duzathrem (‘Every day the living man ought to think that in the forenoon he is happy and in credit ; in the afternoon disgrace may come’).
Every day every living body ought to think (for that may happen any day): in the forenoon I am happy, rich, in credit (that is to say, well treated by the king) ;
Every day every living body ought to think (for that may happen any day): in the forenoon I am happy, rich, in credit (that is to say, well treated by the king) ;
54. And every day other people eagerly wish him evil; that he should be torn away from his palace, that he should have his head cut off and his wealth seized upon. Every day the living body is thrown for food to the birds that fly in the empty sky.
55. This is the way of things on this earth.
56. Deusdatayau fraésta drvanté duzdaunghd (‘It is ignorance that ruins most people, those illinformed’).
It is: ignorance* that ruins most people, those ill-informed; both amongst those who have died, and those who shall die.
57. Aad mraod Ahuré Mazdau frakeresté Astévidhétus zirigau (read zivigau ?) apairiay6 (‘Ahura Mazda said: Astévidhétus has been created a destroyer of the living and one whom none escape’).
Hérmazd said: Astivihadd has been created for the destruction of mortals (when the mortals see him, they tremble so much that they are unable to
? Corrected from hupaitian4t6 (translated padtraft). * Ignorance of their mortal destiny.
p. 380
struggle with the Drug) and no one escapes him (as said before) '.
58. Yahmad haa naé4is buzgay4d aoshanguhatam mashyanam (‘From whom not one of mortal men can escape’).
From whom not one of mortal men can escape ; no one has escaped to this day, and no one will escape hereafter.
59. Noid aéthrapatayé, nédid danhupatayé, ndid sdsevistau, néid asevistau (‘ Neither aéthrapaitis, nor chiefs of countries, neither well-doers, nor evildoers’).
Neither the herbed (the Mobed4n Mobed ’), nor the chief of the country (the King of kings’), neither well-doers, nor evil-doers.
60. Néid usyAstaéé, ndid niya (‘ Neither those who run up, nor those who go down ).
Neither those who run up (those who fly in the empty sky), like Kahés‘; with all his strength and kingly glory, he could not escape from Astivihad.
61. Nor those who go down deep (who hide themselves under the earth), like Afrasy4b the Turk, who made himself an iron palace under the earth, a thousand times the height of a man, with a hundred columns ®;
62. In that palace he made the stars, the moon, and the sun go round, making the light of day.
63. In that palace he did everything at his pleasure,
64. And he lived the happiest life.
1 Cf. § 40. 2 The chief of the religion, the high-priest. * The Shahanshah. * Cf. above, p. 262, note 7. > See Yt. V, 41 and notes 1, 2.
p. 381
65. With all his strength and witchcraft, he could not escape from Astivihad.
66. Naédha frakanem anhau zemé6 yad pathanayau skarenayau diraéparayau.
Nor he who dug this wide, round earth, with extremities that lie afar, like Dahak,
67. Who went from the East to the West, searching for immortality and did not find it.
68. With all his strength and power, he could not escape from Astivihad.
Nor he who dug this wide, round earth, with extremities that lie afar, like Dahak,
67. Who went from the East to the West, searching for immortality and did not find it.
68. With all his strength and power, he could not escape from Astivihad.
69. Anyé angheus frashé-éarethrau (‘Except the producers of the world of resurrection '’).
Thus until the author of the resurrection, Saoshyés?: until Saoshydés comes, no one shall escape from Astivihad.
70. To every one comes the unseen, deceiving Astivihad,
71. Who accepts neither compliments, nor bribe,
72. Who is no respecter of persons,
73. And ruthlessly makes men perish.
74. And this glorious One® must go the way he never went,
75. See what he never saw,
76. And discuss with him whom no one can deceive or mislead.
77. Pairithwé bavaiti paztau yim danus péiti fra bundd tafintis; hau did aévé apairithwé, yd vayaos anamarezdikahé :—
The way may be traversed which is barred by
* No others will escape death:
* Thus shall it be till the days of Saoshyés (Saoshyant ; Vd. XIX, 5, note 4).
* This King, this man of power.
p. 382
a river springing from the deep; but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu’.
78. Pairithw6 bavaiti pamtau yim azis paiti gaustavau, aspanghadhé, virangh4dhé, viraga, anamarezdik6; hau did aévd apairithwé, yd vayaos anamarezdikahé :—
The way may be traversed which is barred by a serpent as big as an ox, horse-devouring, mandevouring, man-killing, and pitiless; but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu.
79. Pairithwé bavaiti paztau yim areshé paiti akhshaéné anamarezdik6é; hau did aévé apairithwé, yd vayaos anamarezdikahé :—
The way may be traversed which is barred by a brown bear, [with a white forehead, man-killing, and] pitiless; but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu.
80. Pairithwé bavaiti paztau yim mashyéd gadhé paiti aévégan6 anamarezdiké; hau did aévé apairithw6, y6 vayaos anamarezdikahé :—The way may be traversed which is defended by a highwayman who kills at one stroke, (who stops the way and lets no one pass alive); but one way cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu.
81. Pairithw6é bavaiti paztau yé haénayau £akhravaityau vy4zdayau; hau did aévé apairithwé, yé vayaos anamarezdikahé :—
"The way may be traversed which is held by a horde armed with discs, and uplifted spears (that is, carrying spears to pierce men); but one way
? The way of Destiny.
a ie nnn, iep. 383 cannot be traversed, namely, the way of the pitiless Vayu.
(For) the ox turns to dust, the horse turns to dust, silver and gold turn to dust, the valiant strong man turns to dust; [the bodies of all men mingle with the dust. What do not mingle with the dust are the Ashem-voht which a man recites in this world and his almsgiving to the holy and righteous] *.
85. For if there were or could be any escape from death, the first of the world, Gayémard, king of the Mountain ’, [would have escaped],
1 This incomplete quotation is found only in the Pahlavi transscription, with a corrupt paraphrase as follows :—‘ Hormazd said, “The man without intelligence (that is, with a bad intelligence)
. who has not sung the Gathas (that is, who has not performed the sacrifice ; cf. Nirang. § 41) has no good renown on this earth nor bliss in heaven (cf. §§ 21, 22)... .”’
2 Cf. Arda Viraf CI, 20.
3 Gar-shah, king of Mount Damdavand (Albirfint, Chronology, p. 28), or Gib4l, the mountainous part of Media. Later chronicles corrupted Gar-shah into Gil-shah, king of clay, which was interpreted as king of the earth.
p. 384
86. Who for three thousand years kept the world free from death and old age, from hunger, thirst, and evil!;
87. Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death.
88. Or there was Héshang, the Péshdadian,
89. Who destroyed two-thirds of all the evil creatures of Ahriman ?;
go. Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death.
gt. Or there was Tahmiraf, the well-armed, the son of Vivanghat,
92. Who made the Demon of demons, Gana Mainyé, his steed*, and extorted from him the seven kinds of writing *;
93. Yet, when death came over him, he delivered up his body and could not struggle with death.
94. Or there was Gim, the Shéd, the good shepherd, the son of Vivanghat; (he was Shéd, that is to say, shining ; he was a good shepherd, that is to say,
1 Bundahis XXXIV, 1, 2. ® See Yt. V, 22, 23.
5 See Yt. XV, 11-13. In the Sanskrit translation this is interpreted as an allegory: ‘Tahmfraf rode on Ahriman; that means that he subdued the bad Ahriman in himself’ Cf. Mirkhond, in the History of the Early Kings of Persia, tr. by Shea, p. 98.