Fetching
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Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1IX). The term for the hole was probably extended to the whole arrangement, including the seat, which latter has thus acquired the name of magh, although magh and maghAk still mean ‘a channel or pit’ in Persian. $ The Av. kata of Vend.V, 36-40; a special chamber for the temporary reception of the corpse, when it was impossible to remove it at once to the dakhma, owing to the inclemency of the weather. It should be large enough for standing upright, and for stretching out the feet and hands, without touching either walls or ceiling ; that is, not less than six feet cube. The text means that those times will be so distressing, that it will be considered lawful to perform the sacred ceremonies even in a place of such concentrated impurity as a dead-house not actually occupied by a corpse. 206 BAHMAN YAST. 37. Or, in those last times, it becomes allowable to perform a ceremonial (yazisn) with two men, so that this religion may not come to nothing and collapse’; there wz// be only one in a hundred, in a thousand, in a myriad, who believes in this religion, and even he does nothing of it though z¢ de a duty?; and the fire of V4hram, which will come to nothing and collapse, fad/s off from a thousand to one care-taker, and even he does not supply it properly with firewood and incense; or when a man, who has performed worship and does not know the Nirangistan* (‘code of religious formulas’), shall kindle 2¢ with good intentions, it is allowable. 38. ‘ Honourable‘ wealth will all proceed to those of perverted faith (kévid-késh4n); it comes to the transgressors, and virtuous doers of good works, from the families of noblemen even unto the priests (még-mard@4n), remain running about uncovered ; the lower orders take in marriage the daughters of nobles, grandees, and priests; and the nobles, grandees, and priests come to destitution and bondage. 39. The misfortunes of the ignoble will overtake greatness and authority, and the helpless and ignoble will come to the foremost place and advancement; the words of the upholders of religion, and the seal and decision of a just judge will become the 1 The P4z. MSS. add, ‘ and helplessness.’ 2? The Paz. MSS. add, ‘and the prayers and ceremonies that he orders of priests and disciples they do not fulfil.’ ® The name of a work which treats of various ceremonial details, and appears to be a portion of the Pahlavi translation of the seventeenth or Hfsparam Nask, containing many Avesta quotations which are not now to be found elsewhere. ‘ The Paz. MSS. have misread astr damfk, ‘ underground,’ instead of 4zarmik. CHAPTER Il, 37-41. 207
2‘ The Paz. MSS. have misread astr damfk, ‘ underground,’ instead of 4zarmik. CHAPTER Il, 37-41. 207 words of random speakers (andéz6-g6k4n) among the just amd even the righteous; and the words of the ignoble and slanderers, of the disreputable axd mockers, and of those of divers opinions they consider true and credible, about which they take! an oath, although with falsehood, and thereby give false evidence, and speak falsely and irreverently about me, Afharmazd. 40. They who bear the title of priest and disciples wish evil concerning ? one another; he speaks vice and they look upon vice; and the antagonism of Aharman and the demons is much brought on by them; of the sin which men commit, out of five® sins the priests and disciples commit three sins, and they become enemies of the good, so that they may thereby speak of bad faults relating to one another; the ceremonies they undertake they do not perform, and they have no fear of hell. 41. ‘And in that tenth hundredth winter, whzch is the end of thy millennium, O righteous Zaratdst! all mankind will bind torn hair, disregarding revelation‘, so that a willingly-disposed cloud and a 1 Literally, ‘devour an oath,’ which Persian idiom was occasioned by the original form of oath consisting in drinking water prepared in a particular manner, after having invoked all the heavenly powers to bear witness to the truth of what had been asserted (see the Safgand-namah). ? Reading rAi instead of 14, ‘not.’ The whole section is omitted by the P4z. MSS., possibly from politic motives, as the language is plain enough. * The Persian paraphrase has ‘ eight.’ ‘ Referring probably to the injunctions regarding cutting the hair and paring the nails, with all the proper precautions for preventing any fragments of the hair or nails from lying about, as given in Vend. XVII. One of the penalties for neglecting such precautions is supposed to be a failure of the necessary rains. The 208 BAHMAN YAST.
3XVII. One of the penalties for neglecting such precautions is supposed to be a failure of the necessary rains. The 208 BAHMAN YAST. righteous wind are not able to produce rain in its proper time and season. 42. And a dark cloud makes the whole sky night, and the hot wind and the cold wind arrive, and bring along fruit and seed of corn, even the rain in its proper time; and it does not rain, azd that which rains also rains more noxious creatures than water; and the water of rivers and springs will diminish, and there will be no increase. 43. And the beast of burden and ox and sheep bring forth more painfully’ and awkwardly, and acquire less fruitfulness ; and ¢her hair is coarser and skin thinner; the milk does not increase and has less cream (£arbist); the strength of the labouring ox is less, and the agility of the swift horse is less, and it carries less in a race. 44. ‘And on the men in that perplexing time, O Zaratist the Spitaman! who wear the sacred thread-girdle on the waist, the evil-seeking of misgovernment and much of its false judgment have come as a wind in which their living is not possible, and they seek death as a boon; and youths and children will be apprehensive, and gossiping chitchat and gladness of heart do not arise among them. 45. And they practise the appointed feasts (gasn6) of ¢hezr ancestors, the propitiation (adséfrid) of angels, avd the prayers and ceremonies of the season festivals and guardian spirits, in various places, yet that which they practise they do not believe in unhesitatingly ; they do not give rewards lawfully, and words an4stak din6é can also be translated by ‘despising the religion.’ 1 The word appears to be dardaktar, but is almost illegible in K2o; it may possibly be k@taktar, ‘more scantily,’ as the P4z, MSS. have kédaktar bahéd, ‘become smaller.’ CHAPTER II, 42-49. 209 bestow no gifts and alms, and even those [they bestow]! they repent of again. 46. And even those "men of the good religion, who have reverenced the good religion of the Mazdayasnians, proceed in conformity with (bar-hamak6 rdbisn) those ways and customs’, and do not believe their own religion. 47. And the noble, great, and charitable *, who are the virtuous of their own country and locality, will depart from their own original place and family‘ as idolatrous; through want they beg something from the ignoble and vile, and come to poverty and helplessness ; through them® nine in ten of these men will perish in the northern quarter. 48. ‘Through their way of misrule everything comes to nothingness and destitution, levity and infirmity; and the earth of Spendarmad opens z¢s mouth wide, avd every jewel and metal becomes exposed, such as gold and silver, brass, tin, and lead. 49. And rule and sovereignty come to slaves, such as the Tark and non-Taranian (Atdr) of the army®, and are turbulent as among the moun- 1 This verb is omitted in K20. ; 2 It is rather doubtful whether their own customs are meant, or those of their conquerors.
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.
1IX). The term for the hole was probably extended to the whole arrangement, including the seat, which latter has thus acquired the name of magh, although magh and maghAk still mean ‘a channel or pit’ in Persian. $ The Av. kata of Vend.V, 36-40; a special chamber for the temporary reception of the corpse, when it was impossible to remove it at once to the dakhma, owing to the inclemency of the weather. It should be large enough for standing upright, and for stretching out the feet and hands, without touching either walls or ceiling ; that is, not less than six feet cube. The text means that those times will be so distressing, that it will be considered lawful to perform the sacred ceremonies even in a place of such concentrated impurity as a dead-house not actually occupied by a corpse. 206 BAHMAN YAST. 37. Or, in those last times, it becomes allowable to perform a ceremonial (yazisn) with two men, so that this religion may not come to nothing and collapse’; there wz// be only one in a hundred, in a thousand, in a myriad, who believes in this religion, and even he does nothing of it though z¢ de a duty?; and the fire of V4hram, which will come to nothing and collapse, fad/s off from a thousand to one care-taker, and even he does not supply it properly with firewood and incense; or when a man, who has performed worship and does not know the Nirangistan* (‘code of religious formulas’), shall kindle 2¢ with good intentions, it is allowable. 38. ‘ Honourable‘ wealth will all proceed to those of perverted faith (kévid-késh4n); it comes to the transgressors, and virtuous doers of good works, from the families of noblemen even unto the priests (még-mard@4n), remain running about uncovered ; the lower orders take in marriage the daughters of nobles, grandees, and priests; and the nobles, grandees, and priests come to destitution and bondage. 39. The misfortunes of the ignoble will overtake greatness and authority, and the helpless and ignoble will come to the foremost place and advancement; the words of the upholders of religion, and the seal and decision of a just judge will become the 1 The P4z. MSS. add, ‘ and helplessness.’ 2? The Paz. MSS. add, ‘and the prayers and ceremonies that he orders of priests and disciples they do not fulfil.’ ® The name of a work which treats of various ceremonial details, and appears to be a portion of the Pahlavi translation of the seventeenth or Hfsparam Nask, containing many Avesta quotations which are not now to be found elsewhere. ‘ The Paz. MSS. have misread astr damfk, ‘ underground,’ instead of 4zarmik. CHAPTER Il, 37-41. 207
2‘ The Paz. MSS. have misread astr damfk, ‘ underground,’ instead of 4zarmik. CHAPTER Il, 37-41. 207 words of random speakers (andéz6-g6k4n) among the just amd even the righteous; and the words of the ignoble and slanderers, of the disreputable axd mockers, and of those of divers opinions they consider true and credible, about which they take! an oath, although with falsehood, and thereby give false evidence, and speak falsely and irreverently about me, Afharmazd. 40. They who bear the title of priest and disciples wish evil concerning ? one another; he speaks vice and they look upon vice; and the antagonism of Aharman and the demons is much brought on by them; of the sin which men commit, out of five® sins the priests and disciples commit three sins, and they become enemies of the good, so that they may thereby speak of bad faults relating to one another; the ceremonies they undertake they do not perform, and they have no fear of hell. 41. ‘And in that tenth hundredth winter, whzch is the end of thy millennium, O righteous Zaratdst! all mankind will bind torn hair, disregarding revelation‘, so that a willingly-disposed cloud and a 1 Literally, ‘devour an oath,’ which Persian idiom was occasioned by the original form of oath consisting in drinking water prepared in a particular manner, after having invoked all the heavenly powers to bear witness to the truth of what had been asserted (see the Safgand-namah). ? Reading rAi instead of 14, ‘not.’ The whole section is omitted by the P4z. MSS., possibly from politic motives, as the language is plain enough. * The Persian paraphrase has ‘ eight.’ ‘ Referring probably to the injunctions regarding cutting the hair and paring the nails, with all the proper precautions for preventing any fragments of the hair or nails from lying about, as given in Vend. XVII. One of the penalties for neglecting such precautions is supposed to be a failure of the necessary rains. The 208 BAHMAN YAST.
3XVII. One of the penalties for neglecting such precautions is supposed to be a failure of the necessary rains. The 208 BAHMAN YAST. righteous wind are not able to produce rain in its proper time and season. 42. And a dark cloud makes the whole sky night, and the hot wind and the cold wind arrive, and bring along fruit and seed of corn, even the rain in its proper time; and it does not rain, azd that which rains also rains more noxious creatures than water; and the water of rivers and springs will diminish, and there will be no increase. 43. And the beast of burden and ox and sheep bring forth more painfully’ and awkwardly, and acquire less fruitfulness ; and ¢her hair is coarser and skin thinner; the milk does not increase and has less cream (£arbist); the strength of the labouring ox is less, and the agility of the swift horse is less, and it carries less in a race. 44. ‘And on the men in that perplexing time, O Zaratist the Spitaman! who wear the sacred thread-girdle on the waist, the evil-seeking of misgovernment and much of its false judgment have come as a wind in which their living is not possible, and they seek death as a boon; and youths and children will be apprehensive, and gossiping chitchat and gladness of heart do not arise among them. 45. And they practise the appointed feasts (gasn6) of ¢hezr ancestors, the propitiation (adséfrid) of angels, avd the prayers and ceremonies of the season festivals and guardian spirits, in various places, yet that which they practise they do not believe in unhesitatingly ; they do not give rewards lawfully, and words an4stak din6é can also be translated by ‘despising the religion.’ 1 The word appears to be dardaktar, but is almost illegible in K2o; it may possibly be k@taktar, ‘more scantily,’ as the P4z, MSS. have kédaktar bahéd, ‘become smaller.’ CHAPTER II, 42-49. 209 bestow no gifts and alms, and even those [they bestow]! they repent of again. 46. And even those "men of the good religion, who have reverenced the good religion of the Mazdayasnians, proceed in conformity with (bar-hamak6 rdbisn) those ways and customs’, and do not believe their own religion. 47. And the noble, great, and charitable *, who are the virtuous of their own country and locality, will depart from their own original place and family‘ as idolatrous; through want they beg something from the ignoble and vile, and come to poverty and helplessness ; through them® nine in ten of these men will perish in the northern quarter. 48. ‘Through their way of misrule everything comes to nothingness and destitution, levity and infirmity; and the earth of Spendarmad opens z¢s mouth wide, avd every jewel and metal becomes exposed, such as gold and silver, brass, tin, and lead. 49. And rule and sovereignty come to slaves, such as the Tark and non-Taranian (Atdr) of the army®, and are turbulent as among the moun- 1 This verb is omitted in K20. ; 2 It is rather doubtful whether their own customs are meant, or those of their conquerors.
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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