Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1In dealing with this account of the Nasks it is always necessary to remember that the compiler of the Dinkard relies entirely upon their Pahlavi versions, as he states distinctly in Dk. VIII, Chap. I, 3; he occasionally mentions the Avesta texts, as in Chaps. VI, 1, XII, 1, and it is abundantly evident, to the practised translator, that Avesta phrases often underlie the Pahlavi passages which seem to be quoted at length from the original Nasks, especially in Dk. IX ; but, for some of the details mentioned, there may be no older authority than a Pahlavi commentary, and this should ever be borne in mind by the sceptical critic in search of anachronisms. Owing to his complete reliance upon the Pahlavi versions, it is impossible to ascertain with certainty whether any particular statement, made by the compiler of the Dinkard, was contained in the Avesta text; his summary, there- xhii PAHLAVI TEXTS. fore, throws little or no satisfactory light upon the origin of that text. A few of the details he mentions (such as those contained in Dk. VIII, Chaps. XIII, 17-20, XLIII, 24 and Dk. IX, Chaps. XXXII, 17, XX XIX, 13-16, LIII, 3) evidently refer to Sasanian times, and may be reasonably supposed to have originated in the Pahlavi versions of those times. But vaguer prophecies of good or evil, such as are common in all religions at all times, may have often occurred in the Avesta texts themselves, It is evident, however, that all the Nasks have accumulated around the Gatha centre of the St6d-yast, and that this Gatha centre in the earliest Sasanian times was neither more nor less extensive than it is at present. The age of Gathic composition had so long passed away in the time of the earliest Sasanian monarchs, that the sages whom they appointed to collect and re-arrange the sacred literature, were unable to fully understand many of the stanzas they had to translate into Pahlavi, much less could they have added to their number. How far they may have been able to write ordinary Avesta text is more uncertain, but any such writing was probably confined to a few phrases for uniting the fragments of old Avesta which they discovered, or for interpolating opinions of their own. All such compositions, however, would have been hazardous, as forming no part of their duties, which seem to have been confined to the arrangement of the fragmentary Avesta texts, and their translation into Pahlavi with explanatory comments in that language. It appears from the traditional statements, mentioned in p. 415, that this work was completed, and the Nasks were fully arranged, by Atdrpad, son of Maraspend, in the reign of Shahp(har II (A. D. 309- 379); but the Pahlavi versions were certainly revised, and some further commentaries added, after the suppression of the heresy of Mazdak, as late as the reign of Khisréit I (A. D. 531-579)
2D. 309- 379); but the Pahlavi versions were certainly revised, and some further commentaries added, after the suppression of the heresy of Mazdak, as late as the reign of Khisréit I (A. D. 531-579) That the Avesta texts themselves were not written, to any great extent, in Sasanian times, is shown by the quantity of Pahlavi commentary necessary to adapt them to the altered circumstances of those times. The Gathic INTRODUCTION. xliii Nasks, being strictly religious, required only some explanations, with little extended commentary ; because the religion had to be maintained without sensible modification. Of the Hadha-mathric Nasks we know but little. But the strictly Legal Nasks consisted chiefly of the commentary which is always necessary to adapt ancient laws to modern ideas. With regard to the mode of describing the Nasks, adopted in the Dinkard, it is evident that the compiler intended, in the first place, to give merely a very short account of the general contents of each Nask, to be followed by a detailed statement of the particular contents of each chapter (see Dk. VIII, Chap. I, 23, 24). But, when he had fully carried out this intention with respect to the first three Nasks, his work came to a premature conclusion, which has deprived us of much valuable information regarding the rest of the Nasks. The descriptions of these other Nasks vary in extent, but may be roughly classified as follows:—Of the Nadar and Vastag there is no description whatever. Of the Damddd, Radé-dad-aitag, Kaskisr6b6, Vistasp-sdst6, Bakan-yast, and Stéd-yast the description is very short, averaging 80 Pahlavi words for each. Of the Pagag, Baris, Kitradad, Spend, and Haddkht the description is rather longer, averaging 358 Pahlavi words for each; but, as such a description is still far too brief to be satisfactory, the compiler must have intended to add a detailed account of each chapter of all these Nasks. On coming to the strictly Legal Nasks, however, he adopted a different plan, by giving a much more voluminous statement of the contents of certain selected chapters ; thus the very long description of the Nikadim, Ganaba-sar-nigad, Hasp4ram, and Sakaddm averages 3670 Pahlavi words for each. This change of plan is somewhat modified in the case of the Vendid4d, where the description of 1272 Pahlavi words is only moderately long. While the first three Nasks, the Sidkar, Varstmansar, and Bak6, after a very short description averaging 65 Pahlavi words for each, are again described in detail, as already mentioned, to the average extent of 8647 Pahlavi words for each. xliv PAHLAVI TEXTS. From these descriptions, and their connection with certain Avesta texts and Pahlavi writings, it is now possible to form a more or less adequate conception of the contents of Nasks I-IV, X, XIII-XIX, XXI, and also some idea of those of Nasks VI, XII; but the accounts of the remaining six Nasks, most of which belonged to the Hadha-miathric or scientific class, are very unsatisfactory.
3With reference to the total extent of the Nasks, when they were all extant, it is obvious that the length of descriptions, drawn up on the same plan, ought to bear ap- ' proximately some definite proportion to the lengths of text described ; so that, if the extent of the text of one Nask be known, and the proportion it bears to the length of its description be ascertained, this proportion becomes a rough means of estimating the probable extent of other Nasks, from the length of their descriptions drawn up on the same plan. Three years ago an attempt was made’ to estimate the total extent of the Nasks in this way, based upon the assumptions that the Nasks still extant were three in number, that the length of the description of the Vendidad was a fair average one for estimating the extent of Pahlavi version in all the lost Nasks, and that the proportion of Avesta text to Pahlavi version in the Nirangistan was also a fair average for estimating the extent of their Avesta texts. These assumptions were carefully made, as the least liable to objection, and the total extent of the Nasks in Sasanian times, thus estimated, amounted to 133,000 words of Avesta text and 844,000 of Pahlavi version. Since the completion of the translation of Dk. IX it has, however, become possible to estimate the probable extent of the first three Nasks from the proportion between the actual extent of the first three fargards of the Bakd (Yas. XIX-—XXI) and the length of their description. It has also been thought no longer reasonable to neglect the actual length of the Nirangist4n asa basis for estimating the extent of the Pahlavi versions of the strictly Legal Nasks XV- + In the Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-philologischen und historischen Classe der k. b. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Miinchen, 1888, pp. 441, 442. INTRODUCTION. xlv XVIII; and the Bak4n-yast has been identified with the Yasts still extant'. These additional considerations have led to a new estimate of the probable extent of each Nask separately, based upon the best data available in each case, as stated in detail in the foot-notes to the names of the Nasks in the Extant Fragments (pp. 451-488 of this volume). These estimates are here collected, for the sake of convenient reference, as follows :— Avesta. Pahlavi. G2: Nask 1. Sfidkar . . . 4,700 words 10,500 »3 » 2 Varstmansar . - 8,300 ,, 18,500 4 » 3» Bakd . . - 9,500 , 21,200 Hr, = 4. Damdfd . . . 8,900 ,, 29,300 » 2 . §- Nadar . . . 6800 ,, 22,200 »3 » 6. Pagag . . + 9,100 ,, 29,800 »4 5 % Radd-d4d-aitag . - 10,500 ,, 34,300 » 5 » 8. Baris . . - 4,400 ,, 14,600 » 6 » 9. Kaskisr6b6 . - 5,500 4 14,900 07 » 10. Vist&sp-sést6 . - 2,200°—7,, 4,200 Gs » 1. Vastag . . - 8,900 ,, 18,400 L6 » 12. Kitrad&d . . - 2,600 ,, 23,400 Gy » 13. Spend. . - 9,900 ,, 20,500 Ly » 14. Bakan-yast . . 22,000 ,, 44,000 a » 15. Nik&dim . . - 62,600 ,, 562,900 » 2 » 16. Ganabé-sar-nigad . 28,000 ,, 251,500 »3 » 17. Haspaéram . + 44,900 ,, 403,600
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.
1In dealing with this account of the Nasks it is always necessary to remember that the compiler of the Dinkard relies entirely upon their Pahlavi versions, as he states distinctly in Dk. VIII, Chap. I, 3; he occasionally mentions the Avesta texts, as in Chaps. VI, 1, XII, 1, and it is abundantly evident, to the practised translator, that Avesta phrases often underlie the Pahlavi passages which seem to be quoted at length from the original Nasks, especially in Dk. IX ; but, for some of the details mentioned, there may be no older authority than a Pahlavi commentary, and this should ever be borne in mind by the sceptical critic in search of anachronisms. Owing to his complete reliance upon the Pahlavi versions, it is impossible to ascertain with certainty whether any particular statement, made by the compiler of the Dinkard, was contained in the Avesta text; his summary, there- xhii PAHLAVI TEXTS. fore, throws little or no satisfactory light upon the origin of that text. A few of the details he mentions (such as those contained in Dk. VIII, Chaps. XIII, 17-20, XLIII, 24 and Dk. IX, Chaps. XXXII, 17, XX XIX, 13-16, LIII, 3) evidently refer to Sasanian times, and may be reasonably supposed to have originated in the Pahlavi versions of those times. But vaguer prophecies of good or evil, such as are common in all religions at all times, may have often occurred in the Avesta texts themselves, It is evident, however, that all the Nasks have accumulated around the Gatha centre of the St6d-yast, and that this Gatha centre in the earliest Sasanian times was neither more nor less extensive than it is at present. The age of Gathic composition had so long passed away in the time of the earliest Sasanian monarchs, that the sages whom they appointed to collect and re-arrange the sacred literature, were unable to fully understand many of the stanzas they had to translate into Pahlavi, much less could they have added to their number. How far they may have been able to write ordinary Avesta text is more uncertain, but any such writing was probably confined to a few phrases for uniting the fragments of old Avesta which they discovered, or for interpolating opinions of their own. All such compositions, however, would have been hazardous, as forming no part of their duties, which seem to have been confined to the arrangement of the fragmentary Avesta texts, and their translation into Pahlavi with explanatory comments in that language. It appears from the traditional statements, mentioned in p. 415, that this work was completed, and the Nasks were fully arranged, by Atdrpad, son of Maraspend, in the reign of Shahp(har II (A. D. 309- 379); but the Pahlavi versions were certainly revised, and some further commentaries added, after the suppression of the heresy of Mazdak, as late as the reign of Khisréit I (A. D. 531-579)
2D. 309- 379); but the Pahlavi versions were certainly revised, and some further commentaries added, after the suppression of the heresy of Mazdak, as late as the reign of Khisréit I (A. D. 531-579) That the Avesta texts themselves were not written, to any great extent, in Sasanian times, is shown by the quantity of Pahlavi commentary necessary to adapt them to the altered circumstances of those times. The Gathic INTRODUCTION. xliii Nasks, being strictly religious, required only some explanations, with little extended commentary ; because the religion had to be maintained without sensible modification. Of the Hadha-mathric Nasks we know but little. But the strictly Legal Nasks consisted chiefly of the commentary which is always necessary to adapt ancient laws to modern ideas. With regard to the mode of describing the Nasks, adopted in the Dinkard, it is evident that the compiler intended, in the first place, to give merely a very short account of the general contents of each Nask, to be followed by a detailed statement of the particular contents of each chapter (see Dk. VIII, Chap. I, 23, 24). But, when he had fully carried out this intention with respect to the first three Nasks, his work came to a premature conclusion, which has deprived us of much valuable information regarding the rest of the Nasks. The descriptions of these other Nasks vary in extent, but may be roughly classified as follows:—Of the Nadar and Vastag there is no description whatever. Of the Damddd, Radé-dad-aitag, Kaskisr6b6, Vistasp-sdst6, Bakan-yast, and Stéd-yast the description is very short, averaging 80 Pahlavi words for each. Of the Pagag, Baris, Kitradad, Spend, and Haddkht the description is rather longer, averaging 358 Pahlavi words for each; but, as such a description is still far too brief to be satisfactory, the compiler must have intended to add a detailed account of each chapter of all these Nasks. On coming to the strictly Legal Nasks, however, he adopted a different plan, by giving a much more voluminous statement of the contents of certain selected chapters ; thus the very long description of the Nikadim, Ganaba-sar-nigad, Hasp4ram, and Sakaddm averages 3670 Pahlavi words for each. This change of plan is somewhat modified in the case of the Vendid4d, where the description of 1272 Pahlavi words is only moderately long. While the first three Nasks, the Sidkar, Varstmansar, and Bak6, after a very short description averaging 65 Pahlavi words for each, are again described in detail, as already mentioned, to the average extent of 8647 Pahlavi words for each. xliv PAHLAVI TEXTS. From these descriptions, and their connection with certain Avesta texts and Pahlavi writings, it is now possible to form a more or less adequate conception of the contents of Nasks I-IV, X, XIII-XIX, XXI, and also some idea of those of Nasks VI, XII; but the accounts of the remaining six Nasks, most of which belonged to the Hadha-miathric or scientific class, are very unsatisfactory.
3With reference to the total extent of the Nasks, when they were all extant, it is obvious that the length of descriptions, drawn up on the same plan, ought to bear ap- ' proximately some definite proportion to the lengths of text described ; so that, if the extent of the text of one Nask be known, and the proportion it bears to the length of its description be ascertained, this proportion becomes a rough means of estimating the probable extent of other Nasks, from the length of their descriptions drawn up on the same plan. Three years ago an attempt was made’ to estimate the total extent of the Nasks in this way, based upon the assumptions that the Nasks still extant were three in number, that the length of the description of the Vendidad was a fair average one for estimating the extent of Pahlavi version in all the lost Nasks, and that the proportion of Avesta text to Pahlavi version in the Nirangistan was also a fair average for estimating the extent of their Avesta texts. These assumptions were carefully made, as the least liable to objection, and the total extent of the Nasks in Sasanian times, thus estimated, amounted to 133,000 words of Avesta text and 844,000 of Pahlavi version. Since the completion of the translation of Dk. IX it has, however, become possible to estimate the probable extent of the first three Nasks from the proportion between the actual extent of the first three fargards of the Bakd (Yas. XIX-—XXI) and the length of their description. It has also been thought no longer reasonable to neglect the actual length of the Nirangist4n asa basis for estimating the extent of the Pahlavi versions of the strictly Legal Nasks XV- + In the Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-philologischen und historischen Classe der k. b. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Miinchen, 1888, pp. 441, 442. INTRODUCTION. xlv XVIII; and the Bak4n-yast has been identified with the Yasts still extant'. These additional considerations have led to a new estimate of the probable extent of each Nask separately, based upon the best data available in each case, as stated in detail in the foot-notes to the names of the Nasks in the Extant Fragments (pp. 451-488 of this volume). These estimates are here collected, for the sake of convenient reference, as follows :— Avesta. Pahlavi. G2: Nask 1. Sfidkar . . . 4,700 words 10,500 »3 » 2 Varstmansar . - 8,300 ,, 18,500 4 » 3» Bakd . . - 9,500 , 21,200 Hr, = 4. Damdfd . . . 8,900 ,, 29,300 » 2 . §- Nadar . . . 6800 ,, 22,200 »3 » 6. Pagag . . + 9,100 ,, 29,800 »4 5 % Radd-d4d-aitag . - 10,500 ,, 34,300 » 5 » 8. Baris . . - 4,400 ,, 14,600 » 6 » 9. Kaskisr6b6 . - 5,500 4 14,900 07 » 10. Vist&sp-sést6 . - 2,200°—7,, 4,200 Gs » 1. Vastag . . - 8,900 ,, 18,400 L6 » 12. Kitrad&d . . - 2,600 ,, 23,400 Gy » 13. Spend. . - 9,900 ,, 20,500 Ly » 14. Bakan-yast . . 22,000 ,, 44,000 a » 15. Nik&dim . . - 62,600 ,, 562,900 » 2 » 16. Ganabé-sar-nigad . 28,000 ,, 251,500 »3 » 17. Haspaéram . + 44,900 ,, 403,600
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.
No commentary for this page.