Pahlavi Texts, Part V: Marvels of Zoroastrianism — SBE Vol. 47 (trans. E. W. West, Clarendon Press, 1897)

p. 133

• 13. Parentage of Zaratfist . . 138
• 14. Demons try to injure him before and at his birth . 140
• 15. Five Karap brothers opposed to Zaratfst and his four brothers 143
• 16. One Karap tries to kil Zarattst five times 144

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• 17. Another foretells his glorious destiny . . . - 147
• 18. His father disagrees with him . . 148
• 1g. And he disagrees with his father and the chief Karap . 149
• 20. Legends indicative of his good disposition . . . 159t
• 21. His going to confer with Afharmazd . . . - 154
• 22. His conferences with the archangels. . . . 159
• 23. Dates of conversions, births, and deaths . . . 163
• 24. Five dispositions of priests and ten admonitions . . 167 INDEX . . . . . . . . . - qr ERRATUM . : . . . . . . . - 182

Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East . : . 183

INTRODUCTION.

1. IN the summary account of the Spend Nask, given in the eighth book of the Dinkard, chapter XIV, it is stated in § 4 (see S. B. E., vol. xxxvii, p. 32) that many marvels, owing to Zaratdst, are published therein, ‘just as there are some which, collected and selected, are noticed by the Dinkard manuscript.’ This statement evidently refers to the seventh book of the Dinkard, which contains the legendary history of Zaratist and his religion, related as a series of marvels extending from the creation to the resurrection of mankind. A much briefer account of some of the same details occurs at the beginning of the fifth book of the Dinkard, and appears to have been abridged from a compilation which was either derived partially from a foreign source, or prepared for the use of foreign proselytes. A third compilation of similar legends is found among the Selections of Zad-sparam. And a careful translation of these three Pahlavi Texts constitutes the Marvels of Zoroastrianism contained in this volume.

2. As the extent of Dk. VII is about 16,coo Pahlavi words (without allowing for one folio lost), it probably contains about four-fifths of the details included in the Spend Nask, the Pahlavi version of which has been estimated, in S. B. E., vol. xxxvii, p. 469, to extend to 20,500 words. It says very little about Zaratist’s conferences with the sacred beings (mentioned in Dk. VIII, xiv, 5, 6), and gives no description of the other world and the way thither (as reported ibid. 8). But it probably contains many verbatim extracts from other parts of the Pahlavi version of the Spend Nask, which appear, however, to have been previously collected in the Exposition of the Good Religion, an older MS. than the Dinkard, which is quoted as an authority in Dk. VII, i, 2.

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than the Dinkard, which is quoted as an authority in Dk. VII, i, 2.

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3. This seventh book commences with a detailed statement of the descent of the glorious ruling dynasty from the primeval man Gdyémard, through his descendants, the Pésdadian and Kaydanian rulers, to Kai-Vistasp. Among the individuals, rarely mentioned elsewhere, are the sacred being Hadish (the protector of homesteads in the Visperad), V4égered the brother of king Héshang,. Patakhsrébé6 king of the Arabs, and Aéshnar the chancellor of Kai-Os. Zarattst and the three millennial apostles are also mentioned, but the contents of this first chapter are probably derived from the Kitradad Nask (see Dk. VII, xiii, 20) and from Yt. XIX, 25-93.

4. Chapter II begins the legendary history of Zaratist with the descent of his glory, from the presence of Atharmazd to the house in which Zaratist’s mother was about to be born; and, alarmed at her radiance, the Kavigs and Karaps, or ruling priests of the district, oblige her father to send her away to another valley, where Pérfshdspé resided, to whom she was afterwards married; and several legends are related, in which both the archangels and archdemons are active agents, which lead on to the birth of Zaratdst, thirty years before the end of the ninth millennium of the universe, and his complete genealogy is given.

' 5. Chapter III begins with his laughing at birth, and describes the ill-will of the Karaps, or priests of those times, and their many attempts to destroy him during his childhood, till he openly defied them at the age of seven. At the end of the ninth millennium, when he was thirty years old, as he was bringing Hém-water out of the fourth effluent of the Daitt river, he met the archangel Vohimané who had come to invite him to a conference with Atiharmazd, about which no details are given.

6. Chapter IV, however, proceeds to mention that, in two years, he returned from his first conference, by order of Atharmazd, to preach his religion to the Kigs and Karaps in the presence of their ruler, Afrvaitéa-dang the Tar. They seem to have listened attentively till he advocated Khvétikdas, when they demanded his death, and

INTRODUCTION. xi

They seem to have listened attentively till he advocated Khvétikdas, when they demanded his death, and

INTRODUCTION. xi

were supported by the Tar’s brother; but the Tar’s son, who presided, remonstrated with them, and A(drvaita-dang himself protected him, but refused to be converted. Zaratist was afterwards sent to demand slaves and horses from Védvoist, a rich Karap, who refused them arrogantly ; he also went to Parshad-gau in Sagastdn and cured his bull with Hém-water, whereupon Parshad-gau joined him in worship, but not in public. Zaratist repulsed the demons as in Vd. XIX, 1-4; he is then tempted by a Karap in the form of Spendarmad, whom he also repulses. And he is finally sent to the court of Vistasp, where he is relentlessly opposed by the Kigs and Karaps who obtained his imprisonment, during which he is saved from starvation by a miracle ; then some of the sacred beings arrive to assist him, and Vistasp is at last converted, twelve years after the coming of the religion when Zaratdst went to his first conference with Atharmaed.

7. Chapter V refers to the marvels of the last thirty-five years of Zaratdst’s life, after Vistasp’s conversion, but says nothing about his own death, except that he departed to the best existence at the age of seventy-seven. It mentions the establishment of ordeals of thirty-three kinds, the victory of Vistasp over Argésp the Khyén, the useful works and advice of Zaratist, the compilation of the Avesta, and the birth of Péshyédtan, the immortal ruler of Kangdes.

8. Chapter VI continues this account of marvels till the death of Vistasp, which occurred forty-three years later. The legends related are about the presentation of a heavenly chariot to Vistasp by the soul of an old hero Srit6 who had been killed about 350 years before; and regarding the coming of two high-priests from the southern regions of the earth, ten years after the departure of Zaratist, to enquire about the religion.

g. Chapter VII relates the marvels occurring after the death of Vistasp until the end of the sovereignty of Iran; mentioning king Vohfimané who was a grandson of Vistasp, the high-priest Sénév who lived throughout the second century of the religion, the devastator Alexander the Great, the four successive high-priests who restore orthoxii PAHLAVI TEXTS.

doxy in the fifth and sixth centuries of the religion, the apostate Rashn-résh of about the same period, king Artakhshatar the founder of the Sdsd4nian dynasty, his chancellor Tanvasar, Attrpad-i MAraspend4n and his son surnamed Avarethrabau, with an anonymous arch-apostate of their time, and then king Khasré Anéshérvan. Finally, it condemns the proceedings of the devastators in later times, whose names are not mentioned.