Pahlavi Texts, Part III — SBE Vol. 24 (trans. E. W. West, 1885)

A cooking-pot must not be more than two-thirds full, for fear of boiling over . . . :

A fire must be cold before the ashes are removed .

How the morning ablutions must be performed

Why it is necessary to send a child to school

Why a sacred cake must be consecrated every year on the day Khurdad of the month Fravardin .

Any one travelling twelve leagues must have a sacred cake consecrated before he goes and every Bahiram day during his absence

If a man’s serving wife has a son, he may adopt it it; but if only a daughter, he must adopt a relation’s son

. When a sacred cake cannot be consecrated at a Navaz(d, bread must be eaten with the Hérmazd vag

. Precautions and prayers necessary when evacuating water . A hedgehog must not be injured, and why

. Advantages of a ceremony for the living soul . . The only Ny4yis for women is obedience to their husbands . Steadfastness in the religion leads to heaven, and helping others to be steadfast is the best good work

. Evils of falsehood .

. Advantages of truth in word and action

. Regarding the sin of adultery . .

. Penalties for theft with and without violence .

. Duties of thanksgiving and doing good : . All women must have the Dvazdah- hémast célebrated . . Why women must abstain from adultery

. Precautions to be taken by menstruous wonien

. Allowing the sun to shine on a fire, even through holes, is is sinful

. Precautions to be observed it in carrying the dead

. Punishment for eating dead matter as medicine

. Bringing dead matter to water or fire is a deadly sin

. Any cow, goat, or fowl that eats dead matter is impure, and its produce cannot be used, for a year '

» Morning ablutions . Cultivators must be careful that irrigation water i is not defiled with dead matter .

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p. 310

gir gir 3i2

p. 313

p. 314

p. 315

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321
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330°
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p. 338

e

Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East xiv CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

• 46. Period of purification after childbirth . . 339
• 447. Purification. and precautions after still-birth . ‘ 340
• 78. Why meat must not be eaten for three days after a death

CHAP. PAGE

• 46. Period of purification after childbirth . . 339
• 447. Purification. and precautions after still-birth . ‘ 340
• 78. Why meat must not be eaten for three days after a death

in the house . . . . . . . . 341

• 49. Advantages of liberality - 342
• 80. Different values of Ashem-vohfi on different occasions. 343
• 81. Hérmazd admonishes Zaratust not to postpone to-day’s duties and good works till to-morrow . 344
• 82. The sacred thread-girdle must be re-tied when dressing, before moving from the spot . 347 83.. Proper fasting is from sin, not from food 348
• 84. Prayers before sleeping and when restless . 348
• 85. Advice must always be asked of the wise and relations . 349
• 86. Beavers must not be killed. 350
• 84. Ceremonies to be celebrated after a death 360
• 88. Polluted wood must not be used or burnt 353
• 89. Any one eating dead matter, or polluting another with it, _ must be purified 353 go. Nothing is to be given to a sinner 384
• 91. How to purify articles of various materials when polated by dead matter 364
• 92. The sacred fire must be properly maintained, and an attendant provided (see Chap. 39) 355
• 93. Slander a sin, and how to atone for it 356
• 94. Benefits must be reciprocated . . 367
• 95. The merit of performing the NyAyises and the sin of neg-

; lecting them . . . 357

• 96. Mourning for the dead is improper . . - 358
• 97. Priests’ instructions must be treated with respect . 369
• 98. Priests must teach the Avesta to laymen correctly 359
• 99. Pahlavi must be taught to priests only . 360

too. Any one molesting a harmless person in this world will be delayed on his way to the other world . . 361 INDEX . 363

p. 373

INTRODUCTION.

1. THe DinA-t Matnédc-i Kurrap.

THE Pahlavi phrase Dina-t Matnédg-f Khirad, ‘ Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom,’ is a name applied to sixty-two enquiries, or series of enquiries, on subjects connected with the religion of the Mazda-worshippers, made by an anonymous wise man and answered by the Spirit of Wisdom. But, as this name is only found prefixed to a manuscript, written in A.D. 1569, in which the first part of the work is missing’, it is doubtful whether it be thé original name of the book, or not, although it is very suitable to the general character of the work.

But, as this name is only found prefixed to a manuscript, written in A.D. 1569, in which the first part of the work is missing’, it is doubtful whether it be thé original name of the book, or not, although it is very suitable to the general character of the work.

Regarding the reading of this name, here adopted, it must * be observed that the correct pronunciation of the Pahlavi word maindg, ‘spirit,’ is uncertain; the traditional reading is madénad, which is a possible pronunciation of its letters, but is otherwise inexplicable; Haug proposed to read mainivad or minavad, but, in that case, the word ought to end with d=t, or with nd; some of the present Dastirs read mindé, but this would be written min6ék in Pahlavi; the Pazand writers have mainy 4, but this is evidently an imitation of Av. mainyavé, and does not correspond with the Pahlavi letters. As the word is mand or miné6 in the Sasanian inscriptions, and min in Persian, to which words a final k would be added in Pahlavi, it seems probable that the final letter of the Pahlavi word is not d or 6, but g, a corruption of k, and that we ought to read minédg or mainég. At the same time it should be noticed that a very old copy of the Pahlavi Farhang, in the library of Dastir JamAspji Minochiharji in Bombay, has the word written with an extra medial stroke, so that it might be

1 See p. 3, note 1.

xvi PAHLAVI TEXTS.

read minavand, as required by Haug’s hypothesis, although this copy of the Farhang gives madonezd as the traditional reading.

The subjects discussed by the Spirit of Wisdom are of a very miscellaneous character, and their discussion is evidently intended to furnish an outline of the tenets, legends, and morality of the religion with which they deal; but it forms by no means a complete, or systematic, treatise on these subjects, and it is remarkably silent with regard to all details of religious rites and ceremonies, which are only occasionally mentioned. This silence may, perhaps, be due to the fact that the author was a layman, as seems clear from the account he gives of his doubts and enquiries in Chap. I, 14-56. Any incompleteness of the treatise may also be explained by the apparent loss of the latter end of the work, as the sixty-second reply (Chap. LXIII) terminates the extant text of the treatise abruptly, and without any trace of peroration.

By the Spirit of Wisdom the author means the innate wisdom of Atharmazd (Chap. LVII, 4), the Asna khratu of Yas. XXII, 29, XXV, 18, through which the spiritual and worldly creations were produced (Chaps. I, 49, 51, LVII, 5). It was originally created by AQhaymazd (Chap. VIII, 3, 8), and is superior to the archangels (Chap. I, 53); it can appear in a personal form, and undertake to be an instructor (Chap. I, 57, 60, 61); and it can likewise be used as a defence (Chap. XLIII, 6).