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1The Bundahis contains much matter which is not spoken of in the existing Avesta, but which appears to have been taken from Zend books that were still in the hands of its compiler. What helped to preserve the Avesta is obvious; taken as a whole, it does not profess to be a religious encyclopedia, but only a liturgical collection, and it bears more likeness to a Prayer Book than to the Bible. It can be readily conceived that the Vendidad S4da, which had to be recited every day, would be more carefully preserved than the Yasts, which are generally recited once a month; and these again more carefully than other books, which, however sacred they might be, were not used in the performance of worship. Many texts, no doubt, were lost in consequence of the Arab conquest, but mostly such as would have more importance in the eyes of the theologian than in those of the priest. But we are no longer in the dark as to the character and the contents of that larger literature of which our Avesta is a remnant: that literature is known to us, in its general outlines, through a Pahlavi analysis which was made in the ninth century, two centuries after the Arab conquest and at a time when the sacred literature of the Sassanian times was still in existence. West’s translation of that synopsis! is the greatest service rendered in the last twenty years in the field of Avesta scholarship, and has for the first time rendered a history of Avesta literature possible. § 3. During the Sassanian period, while Zoroastrianism was the state religion, the collection of sacred writings was composed of twenty-one books or Nasks, distributed into three classes, each of seven Nasks; being called respectively the Gatha group (g4s4n), the group of the law (dat), and the group of the Hadha-mathra; or the theological group, the legal group, and the mixed group. 1 Pahlavi Texts, IV (forming vol. xxxvii of the Sacred Books of the East). [4] c XXXiV VEND{DAD. The seven GAtha Nasks, thus named because they are mostly a development of the Gathas, are :-— The Stét Yast (Dk. VIII, 46) ; The Sdtkar (Dk. VIII, 2; IX, 2); The Varst-mansar (Dk. VIII, 3; IX, 24); The Bak (Dk. VIII, 4; IX, 47); The Vastag (Dk. VIII, 12) ; The Hadhékht (Dk. VIII, 45); The Spand (Dk. VIII, 14). We possess the Stét Yast (in Zend Staota yésnya) in its entirety: it is the core of the aggregate known as the Yasna, and the most holy part of the Avesta. It contains thirty-three chapters, of which twenty-two are metrical and written in an archaic style, these being the Gathas, properly so called, and the three chief prayers (Ahuna Vairya, Ashem Voht, and Yénhé hatém); eleven chapters are written in prose and in the common dialect 1.
2It contains thirty-three chapters, of which twenty-two are metrical and written in an archaic style, these being the Gathas, properly so called, and the three chief prayers (Ahuna Vairya, Ashem Voht, and Yénhé hatém); eleven chapters are written in prose and in the common dialect 1. The Sfitkar, the Varst-m4ansar, and the Bak contain each twenty-two chapters, answering to the twenty-two GAathas, of which they are mere commentaries or paraphrases. We possess small fragments of the Satkar? and one chapter of the Varst-mansar*. Three chapters of the Bak, which are commentaries to the three chief prayers aforesaid, have been incorporated in the Yasna ‘, Nothing is left of the Vastag, of which the Dinkart gives no analysis, as the author had neither its Avesta, nor its Zend (neither its original text, nor its Pahlavi translation), in an authentic form before him. Of the Hadhdékht we have three chapters counted as Yasts 5, and one inserted in the Yasna °. The Spand, which is dedicated to the story of Zoroaster, has been indirectly preserved, in a modern form, in the Zardust Nama and in Ard Viraf’s visit to hell. 1 Gathas (Yasna XXVIII-LIV) and Yasna XIV-XVII, XXII-XXVH, LVI. ? Fragments to Vd. II, 6; Tahmuras’ Fragm. LXIV-LXVIII (?). 3 Westergaard’s Fragm. IV (= Farg. XXIII of the Varst-mansar Nask). * Chapters XIX, XX, XXI. 5 Yasts XI and XXI, XXII. ® The so-called FshQsha-m&thra (Yasna LVIII). INTRODUCTION, III. XXXV § 4. The Legal group contains :— The Nikatdm (Dk. VIII, 16) ; The Ganbé-sar-nigat (Dk. VIII, 21) ; The Hasp4ram (Dk. VIII, 28); The SakétOm (Dk. VIII, 38); The Vendidad (Dk. VIII, 44) ; The Kitradat (Dk. VIII, 13); The Bakan Yast (Dk. VIII, 15). Only the first five of these Nasks are strictly legal; the last two deal with cosmogony and mythology. Of those five legal Nasks, one has been preserved in its entirety, the Vendid4d'. The NikAtim, the Ganbéasar-nigat, and the Sakatfm are represented by a few fragments. An important section of the Hfspaéram has been preserved, in text and translation, in the Pahlavi Erpatistan and Nirangistan *. The Kitradat, which gives an historical account of mankind and Iran from the creation of the world till the advent of Zoroaster, has been indirectly preserved in part of the Bundahis and in the Shahn4ma. The Bak4n Yast was a collection of prayers in honour of the several Yazatas. From that Nask are derived sixteen of our Yasts, to which may be added the Hém Yast (Yasna IX-X]I) and the Srésh Yast (Yasna LVII). § 5. The third group of Nasks, the Hadham&thra, is the least known and the least well preserved. It contained :— The Damdat (Dk. VIII, 5); The Natar (Dk. VIII, 6); . The Pagag (Dk. VIII, 7); The Rat-dat-itag (Dk. VIII, 8); The Baris (Dk. VIII, 9); The Kaskisrav (Dk. VIII, 10); The VistAsp-sast (Dk. VIII, 11). The DAamdA&t was the Zoroastrian Genesis; the cosmogonic part of the Bundahis is derived from it. There remains one Zend fragment of it 3.
3The Pagag (Dk. VIII, 7); The Rat-dat-itag (Dk. VIII, 8); The Baris (Dk. VIII, 9); The Kaskisrav (Dk. VIII, 10); The VistAsp-sast (Dk. VIII, 11). The DAamdA&t was the Zoroastrian Genesis; the cosmogonic part of the Bundahis is derived from it. There remains one Zend fragment of it 3. 1 See below, the Introduction to the Vendidad. 2 See below, p. 300 seq. 3 Fragm. Vd. H, 20 c. c2 XXXVI VEND{DAD. We know nothing of the NAtar, of which the Dinkart has no analysis. The G&h and Siréza may be derived from the Pagag that treats of the Gahanb4rs and of the relations between the liturgy and the divisions of time. The Rat-dat-ftag treats of the arrangement of the sacrifice. It is represented by two fragments |. The Baris is of an ethical character; the Kaskisrav teaches how to prevent the sacrifice being ill-managed and turning to the benefit of the demons. No fragment has been referred to either of these two Nasks with any certainty *. The Vistasp-sAst, or ‘the Introduction of Vist4sp, treated of the conversion of Vistasp by Zoroaster and of his wars against Argasp. It is represented by the Vistasp Yast (Yt. XXIV) and the Afrin Paighambar Zartdst (Yt. XXIII). It is one of the sources of the Zardust Nama. § 6. From this rapid review we may draw the following conclusions :— (1) Out of the twenty-one Nasks of the Sassanian Avesta, we possess two in their entirety (the Vendidd4d and the Stét Yast) and the most important part of a third (the Bakan Yast). (2) We have a considerable part of four Nasks: the Bak, the Hadhékht, the Vistasp-sdst, and the Hadspaéram; and several fragments of most of the others. (3) We know indirectly, through the medium of Pahlavi translations or compilations, the contents of many Nasks of which we have few or no remnants in their original language: the DAémdat, the Vistasp-sast, the KXitradat, and the Spand. In short we possess specimens, more or less considerable, of fifteen Nasks, and the complete text of the two Nasks which were considered all-important. For the Vendidad, being the book of purification; was to the priest the chief of the legal Nasks, and this is most ' Tahmuras’ Fragm. LVIII; Fragm. to Vd. VII, 43. ®* The quotations in the Pahlavi Nirangistén may be referred to the Kasktsrav. INTRODUCTION, IIL. XXXVIi
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1The Bundahis contains much matter which is not spoken of in the existing Avesta, but which appears to have been taken from Zend books that were still in the hands of its compiler. What helped to preserve the Avesta is obvious; taken as a whole, it does not profess to be a religious encyclopedia, but only a liturgical collection, and it bears more likeness to a Prayer Book than to the Bible. It can be readily conceived that the Vendidad S4da, which had to be recited every day, would be more carefully preserved than the Yasts, which are generally recited once a month; and these again more carefully than other books, which, however sacred they might be, were not used in the performance of worship. Many texts, no doubt, were lost in consequence of the Arab conquest, but mostly such as would have more importance in the eyes of the theologian than in those of the priest. But we are no longer in the dark as to the character and the contents of that larger literature of which our Avesta is a remnant: that literature is known to us, in its general outlines, through a Pahlavi analysis which was made in the ninth century, two centuries after the Arab conquest and at a time when the sacred literature of the Sassanian times was still in existence. West’s translation of that synopsis! is the greatest service rendered in the last twenty years in the field of Avesta scholarship, and has for the first time rendered a history of Avesta literature possible. § 3. During the Sassanian period, while Zoroastrianism was the state religion, the collection of sacred writings was composed of twenty-one books or Nasks, distributed into three classes, each of seven Nasks; being called respectively the Gatha group (g4s4n), the group of the law (dat), and the group of the Hadha-mathra; or the theological group, the legal group, and the mixed group. 1 Pahlavi Texts, IV (forming vol. xxxvii of the Sacred Books of the East). [4] c XXXiV VEND{DAD. The seven GAtha Nasks, thus named because they are mostly a development of the Gathas, are :-— The Stét Yast (Dk. VIII, 46) ; The Sdtkar (Dk. VIII, 2; IX, 2); The Varst-mansar (Dk. VIII, 3; IX, 24); The Bak (Dk. VIII, 4; IX, 47); The Vastag (Dk. VIII, 12) ; The Hadhékht (Dk. VIII, 45); The Spand (Dk. VIII, 14). We possess the Stét Yast (in Zend Staota yésnya) in its entirety: it is the core of the aggregate known as the Yasna, and the most holy part of the Avesta. It contains thirty-three chapters, of which twenty-two are metrical and written in an archaic style, these being the Gathas, properly so called, and the three chief prayers (Ahuna Vairya, Ashem Voht, and Yénhé hatém); eleven chapters are written in prose and in the common dialect 1.
2It contains thirty-three chapters, of which twenty-two are metrical and written in an archaic style, these being the Gathas, properly so called, and the three chief prayers (Ahuna Vairya, Ashem Voht, and Yénhé hatém); eleven chapters are written in prose and in the common dialect 1. The Sfitkar, the Varst-m4ansar, and the Bak contain each twenty-two chapters, answering to the twenty-two GAathas, of which they are mere commentaries or paraphrases. We possess small fragments of the Satkar? and one chapter of the Varst-mansar*. Three chapters of the Bak, which are commentaries to the three chief prayers aforesaid, have been incorporated in the Yasna ‘, Nothing is left of the Vastag, of which the Dinkart gives no analysis, as the author had neither its Avesta, nor its Zend (neither its original text, nor its Pahlavi translation), in an authentic form before him. Of the Hadhdékht we have three chapters counted as Yasts 5, and one inserted in the Yasna °. The Spand, which is dedicated to the story of Zoroaster, has been indirectly preserved, in a modern form, in the Zardust Nama and in Ard Viraf’s visit to hell. 1 Gathas (Yasna XXVIII-LIV) and Yasna XIV-XVII, XXII-XXVH, LVI. ? Fragments to Vd. II, 6; Tahmuras’ Fragm. LXIV-LXVIII (?). 3 Westergaard’s Fragm. IV (= Farg. XXIII of the Varst-mansar Nask). * Chapters XIX, XX, XXI. 5 Yasts XI and XXI, XXII. ® The so-called FshQsha-m&thra (Yasna LVIII). INTRODUCTION, III. XXXV § 4. The Legal group contains :— The Nikatdm (Dk. VIII, 16) ; The Ganbé-sar-nigat (Dk. VIII, 21) ; The Hasp4ram (Dk. VIII, 28); The SakétOm (Dk. VIII, 38); The Vendidad (Dk. VIII, 44) ; The Kitradat (Dk. VIII, 13); The Bakan Yast (Dk. VIII, 15). Only the first five of these Nasks are strictly legal; the last two deal with cosmogony and mythology. Of those five legal Nasks, one has been preserved in its entirety, the Vendid4d'. The NikAtim, the Ganbéasar-nigat, and the Sakatfm are represented by a few fragments. An important section of the Hfspaéram has been preserved, in text and translation, in the Pahlavi Erpatistan and Nirangistan *. The Kitradat, which gives an historical account of mankind and Iran from the creation of the world till the advent of Zoroaster, has been indirectly preserved in part of the Bundahis and in the Shahn4ma. The Bak4n Yast was a collection of prayers in honour of the several Yazatas. From that Nask are derived sixteen of our Yasts, to which may be added the Hém Yast (Yasna IX-X]I) and the Srésh Yast (Yasna LVII). § 5. The third group of Nasks, the Hadham&thra, is the least known and the least well preserved. It contained :— The Damdat (Dk. VIII, 5); The Natar (Dk. VIII, 6); . The Pagag (Dk. VIII, 7); The Rat-dat-itag (Dk. VIII, 8); The Baris (Dk. VIII, 9); The Kaskisrav (Dk. VIII, 10); The VistAsp-sast (Dk. VIII, 11). The DAamdA&t was the Zoroastrian Genesis; the cosmogonic part of the Bundahis is derived from it. There remains one Zend fragment of it 3.
3The Pagag (Dk. VIII, 7); The Rat-dat-itag (Dk. VIII, 8); The Baris (Dk. VIII, 9); The Kaskisrav (Dk. VIII, 10); The VistAsp-sast (Dk. VIII, 11). The DAamdA&t was the Zoroastrian Genesis; the cosmogonic part of the Bundahis is derived from it. There remains one Zend fragment of it 3. 1 See below, the Introduction to the Vendidad. 2 See below, p. 300 seq. 3 Fragm. Vd. H, 20 c. c2 XXXVI VEND{DAD. We know nothing of the NAtar, of which the Dinkart has no analysis. The G&h and Siréza may be derived from the Pagag that treats of the Gahanb4rs and of the relations between the liturgy and the divisions of time. The Rat-dat-ftag treats of the arrangement of the sacrifice. It is represented by two fragments |. The Baris is of an ethical character; the Kaskisrav teaches how to prevent the sacrifice being ill-managed and turning to the benefit of the demons. No fragment has been referred to either of these two Nasks with any certainty *. The Vistasp-sAst, or ‘the Introduction of Vist4sp, treated of the conversion of Vistasp by Zoroaster and of his wars against Argasp. It is represented by the Vistasp Yast (Yt. XXIV) and the Afrin Paighambar Zartdst (Yt. XXIII). It is one of the sources of the Zardust Nama. § 6. From this rapid review we may draw the following conclusions :— (1) Out of the twenty-one Nasks of the Sassanian Avesta, we possess two in their entirety (the Vendidd4d and the Stét Yast) and the most important part of a third (the Bakan Yast). (2) We have a considerable part of four Nasks: the Bak, the Hadhékht, the Vistasp-sdst, and the Hadspaéram; and several fragments of most of the others. (3) We know indirectly, through the medium of Pahlavi translations or compilations, the contents of many Nasks of which we have few or no remnants in their original language: the DAémdat, the Vistasp-sast, the KXitradat, and the Spand. In short we possess specimens, more or less considerable, of fifteen Nasks, and the complete text of the two Nasks which were considered all-important. For the Vendidad, being the book of purification; was to the priest the chief of the legal Nasks, and this is most ' Tahmuras’ Fragm. LVIII; Fragm. to Vd. VII, 43. ®* The quotations in the Pahlavi Nirangistén may be referred to the Kasktsrav. INTRODUCTION, IIL. XXXVIi
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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