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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1XCIII, to the peroration in Dd. XCIV, and also from the fact that a chapter is alluded to, in Dd. XVII, 20, XVIII, 2, which is no longer extant in the text. The questions, although very miscellaneous in their character, are arranged, to some extent, according to the subjects they refer to, which are taken in the following order :—The righteous and their characteristics; the temporal distress of the good; why mankind was created ; good works and their effects; the account of sin and good works to be rendered; the exposure of corpses and reasons for it; the paths, destinations, and fate of departed souls, with the ceremonies to be performed after a death; the contributors to the renovation of the universe; the contest between the good and evil spirits from the creation till the resurrection ; works of supererogation ; the sacred shirt and thread-girdle ; apostasy and its prevention; the use of fire at ceremonies, and other details; duties, payment, and position of priests; details regarding ceremonies; lawful and unlawful trading in corn, wine, and cattle, with a definition of drunkenness; adoption, guardianship, and inheritance; rights of foreigners and infidels; the origin of mankind and next-of-kin marriage; the cost of religious rites; the causes of the rainbow, phases of the moon, eclipses, and river-beds; things acquired through destiny and exertion; the sins of unnatural intercourse and adultery; imperfect prayer before drinking ; ceremonies and payments for them; the seven immortal rulers before Zaratist ; the sky, the source of pure water, and the cause of rain and storms. In his replies to these questions Mandséihar displays XXiV PAHLAVI TEXTS. much intelligence and wisdom, the morality he teaches is of a high standard for the age in which he lived, and, while anxious to uphold the power and privileges of the priesthood, he is widely tolerant of all deficiencies in the conduct of the laity that do not arise from wilful persistence in sin, The reader will search in vain for any confirmation of the foreign notion that Mazda-worship is decidedly more dualistic than Christianity is usually shown to be by orthodox writers, or for any allusion to the descent of the good and evil spirits from a personification of ‘boundless time,’ as asserted by strangers to the faith, No attempt is made to account for the origin of either spirit, but the temporary character of the power of the evil one, and of the punishment in hell, is distinctly asserted.
2Although Mandséihar does not mention, in his writings, any of the lost Nasks or sacred books of the Mazda-worshippers, except the Hiaspérim (Dd. LXI, 3) and the Sakadim (Ep. I, viii, 1, 6, 7), he certainly had access to many Pahlavi books which are now no longer extant ; hence he is able to give us more information than we find elsewhere regarding some of the legendary personages mentioned in Dd. II, 10, XXXVI, 4, 5, XLVIII, 33, XC, 3; he hints that the second month of the year (April-May) was called Zaremaya in the Avesta (Dd. XXXI, 14); and he mentions two places, instead of one, intermediate between heaven and hell, one for the souls of those not quite good enough for heaven, and one for those not quite bad enough for hell (Dd. XXIV, 6, XXXITI, 2). The present translation of this work is not the first that has been attempted. Shortly before the late Professor Haug left India he delivered a lecture on the Parsi religion to a large assemblage of Parsis in Bombay, at their request, and at his desire the sum of goo ripis, out of the net proceeds of the entrance-tickets sold, was offered as a prize for an edition of the Pahlavi text of the Dadist4an-i Dinik with a GugarAti translation and glossary. Some years afterwards this prize was awarded to Mr. Shehriarji Dadabhoy and Mr. Tehmuras Dinshawji Anklesaria, for their joint Gugarati translation of the work, which still, however, remains unpublished INTRODUCTION. XXV for want of funds, and has, therefore, been inaccessible to the present translator. 3. THE EPISTLES OF MANOSKfHAR. It has been already stated (see pp. xiii, xiv) that Zadsparam, a younger brother of Mandséihar, after having been at Sarakhs, in the extreme north-east of Khurds4n, where he seems to have associated with the heretical Tughazghuz, was appointed high-priest of Sirkan, south or south-west of Kirman'. Shortly after his arrival there he issued a decree, regarding the ceremonies of purification and other matters, which was so unpalatable to the Mazda-worshippers of that place that they wrote an epistle to MAndsfihar, complaining of the conduct of his brother (Ep. I, i, 2, ii, 1). In reply to this complaint, which was sent by a special courier (Ep. I, i, 2), and after going to Shiraz and holding a general assembly of the priests and elders (Ep. II, i, 11), Mandséihar wrote his first epistle, completed on the 15th March 881 (Ep. I, xi, 12), in which he condemned the practices decreed by Z4d-sparam, to whom he sent a confidential agent, named Yazd4n-panak (Ep. I, xi, 1, 2, 6, 10, II, vii, 2), with a copy of this epistle and a further one to himself, which has not been preserved, for the purpose of inducing his brother to withdraw his decree and conform to the usual customs.
3I, xi, 1, 2, 6, 10, II, vii, 2), with a copy of this epistle and a further one to himself, which has not been preserved, for the purpose of inducing his brother to withdraw his decree and conform to the usual customs. It would appear that Yazd4n-p4nak was not very successful in his mission, as we find M4ndskihar writing a general epistle (Ep. III) to all the Masda-worshippers in Iran, in the following June or July (Ep. III, 21), denouncing as heretical the mode of purification decreed by Zadsparam, and ordering an immediate return to former customs. At the same time (Ep. II, vii, 2, viii, 1) he wrote a second epistle (Ep. II) to his brother, as he had already 1 The city of Kirm4n was itself called Strgan, or Sirgan, in the middle ages, and is evidently mentioned by that name in Ouseley’s Oriental Geography, Pp. 139, 143, though the Sirgan of pp. 138, 141 of the same work was clearly further south. Which of these two towns was the Sirkdn of these epistles, may, therefore, be doubtful. XXVI PAHLAVI TEXTS. promised in Ep. I, xi, 2, and, after referring to an epistle (now lost) which he had received from Zad-sparam in the previous November or December, he proceeded to enforce his views by a judicious intermingling of argument, entreaty, and threats. He also contemplated making preparations (Ep. I, xi, 4, II, vii, 3) for travelling himself to Sirk4n, notwithstanding his age (Ep. II, ix, 1), to arrange the matters in dispute upon a satisfactory basis, Whether he actually undertook this journey is unknown, but that his brother must have finally submitted to his authority appears from Z4d-sparam retaining his position in the south, as has been already noticed (p. xiv). The matter in dispute between Zad-sparam and the orthodox Mazda-worshippers may seem a trivial one to people of other religions, but, inasmuch as the ceremonial uncleanness of a person insufficiently purified after contact with the dead would contaminate every one he associated with, the sufficiency of the mode of purification was quite as important to the community, both priests and laity, as avoidance of breach of caste-rules is to the Hindd, or refraining from sacrifices to heathen gods was to the Jew, the early Christian, or the Muhammadan. And much more important than any disputes about sacraments, infallibility, apostolic succession, ritual, or observance of the Sabbath can possibly be to any modern Romanist or Protestant.
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.
1XCIII, to the peroration in Dd. XCIV, and also from the fact that a chapter is alluded to, in Dd. XVII, 20, XVIII, 2, which is no longer extant in the text. The questions, although very miscellaneous in their character, are arranged, to some extent, according to the subjects they refer to, which are taken in the following order :—The righteous and their characteristics; the temporal distress of the good; why mankind was created ; good works and their effects; the account of sin and good works to be rendered; the exposure of corpses and reasons for it; the paths, destinations, and fate of departed souls, with the ceremonies to be performed after a death; the contributors to the renovation of the universe; the contest between the good and evil spirits from the creation till the resurrection ; works of supererogation ; the sacred shirt and thread-girdle ; apostasy and its prevention; the use of fire at ceremonies, and other details; duties, payment, and position of priests; details regarding ceremonies; lawful and unlawful trading in corn, wine, and cattle, with a definition of drunkenness; adoption, guardianship, and inheritance; rights of foreigners and infidels; the origin of mankind and next-of-kin marriage; the cost of religious rites; the causes of the rainbow, phases of the moon, eclipses, and river-beds; things acquired through destiny and exertion; the sins of unnatural intercourse and adultery; imperfect prayer before drinking ; ceremonies and payments for them; the seven immortal rulers before Zaratist ; the sky, the source of pure water, and the cause of rain and storms. In his replies to these questions Mandséihar displays XXiV PAHLAVI TEXTS. much intelligence and wisdom, the morality he teaches is of a high standard for the age in which he lived, and, while anxious to uphold the power and privileges of the priesthood, he is widely tolerant of all deficiencies in the conduct of the laity that do not arise from wilful persistence in sin, The reader will search in vain for any confirmation of the foreign notion that Mazda-worship is decidedly more dualistic than Christianity is usually shown to be by orthodox writers, or for any allusion to the descent of the good and evil spirits from a personification of ‘boundless time,’ as asserted by strangers to the faith, No attempt is made to account for the origin of either spirit, but the temporary character of the power of the evil one, and of the punishment in hell, is distinctly asserted.
2Although Mandséihar does not mention, in his writings, any of the lost Nasks or sacred books of the Mazda-worshippers, except the Hiaspérim (Dd. LXI, 3) and the Sakadim (Ep. I, viii, 1, 6, 7), he certainly had access to many Pahlavi books which are now no longer extant ; hence he is able to give us more information than we find elsewhere regarding some of the legendary personages mentioned in Dd. II, 10, XXXVI, 4, 5, XLVIII, 33, XC, 3; he hints that the second month of the year (April-May) was called Zaremaya in the Avesta (Dd. XXXI, 14); and he mentions two places, instead of one, intermediate between heaven and hell, one for the souls of those not quite good enough for heaven, and one for those not quite bad enough for hell (Dd. XXIV, 6, XXXITI, 2). The present translation of this work is not the first that has been attempted. Shortly before the late Professor Haug left India he delivered a lecture on the Parsi religion to a large assemblage of Parsis in Bombay, at their request, and at his desire the sum of goo ripis, out of the net proceeds of the entrance-tickets sold, was offered as a prize for an edition of the Pahlavi text of the Dadist4an-i Dinik with a GugarAti translation and glossary. Some years afterwards this prize was awarded to Mr. Shehriarji Dadabhoy and Mr. Tehmuras Dinshawji Anklesaria, for their joint Gugarati translation of the work, which still, however, remains unpublished INTRODUCTION. XXV for want of funds, and has, therefore, been inaccessible to the present translator. 3. THE EPISTLES OF MANOSKfHAR. It has been already stated (see pp. xiii, xiv) that Zadsparam, a younger brother of Mandséihar, after having been at Sarakhs, in the extreme north-east of Khurds4n, where he seems to have associated with the heretical Tughazghuz, was appointed high-priest of Sirkan, south or south-west of Kirman'. Shortly after his arrival there he issued a decree, regarding the ceremonies of purification and other matters, which was so unpalatable to the Mazda-worshippers of that place that they wrote an epistle to MAndsfihar, complaining of the conduct of his brother (Ep. I, i, 2, ii, 1). In reply to this complaint, which was sent by a special courier (Ep. I, i, 2), and after going to Shiraz and holding a general assembly of the priests and elders (Ep. II, i, 11), Mandséihar wrote his first epistle, completed on the 15th March 881 (Ep. I, xi, 12), in which he condemned the practices decreed by Z4d-sparam, to whom he sent a confidential agent, named Yazd4n-panak (Ep. I, xi, 1, 2, 6, 10, II, vii, 2), with a copy of this epistle and a further one to himself, which has not been preserved, for the purpose of inducing his brother to withdraw his decree and conform to the usual customs.
3I, xi, 1, 2, 6, 10, II, vii, 2), with a copy of this epistle and a further one to himself, which has not been preserved, for the purpose of inducing his brother to withdraw his decree and conform to the usual customs. It would appear that Yazd4n-p4nak was not very successful in his mission, as we find M4ndskihar writing a general epistle (Ep. III) to all the Masda-worshippers in Iran, in the following June or July (Ep. III, 21), denouncing as heretical the mode of purification decreed by Zadsparam, and ordering an immediate return to former customs. At the same time (Ep. II, vii, 2, viii, 1) he wrote a second epistle (Ep. II) to his brother, as he had already 1 The city of Kirm4n was itself called Strgan, or Sirgan, in the middle ages, and is evidently mentioned by that name in Ouseley’s Oriental Geography, Pp. 139, 143, though the Sirgan of pp. 138, 141 of the same work was clearly further south. Which of these two towns was the Sirkdn of these epistles, may, therefore, be doubtful. XXVI PAHLAVI TEXTS. promised in Ep. I, xi, 2, and, after referring to an epistle (now lost) which he had received from Zad-sparam in the previous November or December, he proceeded to enforce his views by a judicious intermingling of argument, entreaty, and threats. He also contemplated making preparations (Ep. I, xi, 4, II, vii, 3) for travelling himself to Sirk4n, notwithstanding his age (Ep. II, ix, 1), to arrange the matters in dispute upon a satisfactory basis, Whether he actually undertook this journey is unknown, but that his brother must have finally submitted to his authority appears from Z4d-sparam retaining his position in the south, as has been already noticed (p. xiv). The matter in dispute between Zad-sparam and the orthodox Mazda-worshippers may seem a trivial one to people of other religions, but, inasmuch as the ceremonial uncleanness of a person insufficiently purified after contact with the dead would contaminate every one he associated with, the sufficiency of the mode of purification was quite as important to the community, both priests and laity, as avoidance of breach of caste-rules is to the Hindd, or refraining from sacrifices to heathen gods was to the Jew, the early Christian, or the Muhammadan. And much more important than any disputes about sacraments, infallibility, apostolic succession, ritual, or observance of the Sabbath can possibly be to any modern Romanist or Protestant.
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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