caused by a serpent. It next describes the proper size and materials of the sacred thread-girdle and shirt, giving some details about the sins of running about uncovered and walking with one boot, and thence proceeding to the sin of unseasonable chatter. Details are then given about good works, and those who can and cannot perform them; in which reference is made to Christians, Jews, and those of other persuasions (Chap. VI, 7). The next subjects treated of are reverencing the sun and fire} the sin of extinguishing fire, confession and renunciation of sin, atonement for sins, especially mortal sins, both those affecting others and those only affecting one’s own soul ; with a digression (Chap. VIII, 3) prohibiting the rich from hunting. The remainder of this first treatise is of a miscellaneous character, referring to the following subjects :—The Hasar of time, priests passing away in idolatry, the discussion of religion, ceremonies not done aright, throwing a corpse into the sea, evil of eating in the dark, the four kinds of worship, when the angels should be invoked in worship, the ephemeral nature of life, proper looseness for a girdle, when the sacred cake set aside for the guardian spirits can be used, maintaining a fire where a woman is pregnant, providing a tank for ablution, the Gathas not to be recited over the dead, food and drink not to be thrown away to the north at night, unlawful slaughter of animals, how the corpse of a pregnant woman should be carried, forgiveness of trespasses, evil of walking without boots, when the sacred girdle is to be assumed, breaking the spell of an inward prayer, ten women wanted at childbirth, and how the infant is to be treated, sin of beating an innocent person, evil of a false judge, men and women who do not marry, a toothpick must be free from bark, acknowledging the children of a handmaid, advantage of offspring and of excess in almsgiving, prayer on lying down and getting up, Avesta not to be mumbled, doubtful actions to be avoided or consulted about, evil of laughing during prayer, crowing of a hen, treatment of a hedgehog, after a violent death corruption does not set in immediately, necessity of a dog's gaze, putrid meat and hairy cakes or butter unfit for cere- monies, when a woman can do priestly duty, &c.
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ae nt ro 1 ee ee ee a a nt a a
The second part also commences with the names and amounts of the various degrees of sin, followed by the pro- per meat-offerings for various angels and guardian spirits. Next come miscellaneous observations on the following subjects :—The simplest form of worship, necessity of sub- mitting to a high-priest, advantage of a fire in the house, sin of clothing the dead, presentation of holy-water to the nearest fire after a death, nail-parings to be prayed over, advantage of light at childbirth, offerings to the angels, maintaining a fire where a woman is pregnant and a child is born, a toothpick must be free from bark, acknowledging the children of a handmaid, advantage of offspring and of excess in almsgiving, evil of drawing well-water at night, food not to be thrown away to the north at night, advantage of prayer at feasts, treatment of a hedgehog, praying when washing the face, the proper choice of a purifying priest, no one should be hopeless of heaven, necessity of a wife being religious as well as her husband, the ceremonies which are yood works, and the cause of sneezing, yawning, and sigh- ing. These are followed by a long account of the mystic signification of the Gathas, with some information as to the errors which may be committed in consecrating the sacred cakes, and how the beginning of the morning watch is to be determined.
The third part, or appendix, commences with an account of how each of the archangels can be best propitiated, by a proper regard for the particular worldly existence which he specially protects. This is followed by a statement of the various degrees of sin, and of the amount of good works attributed to various ceremonies. Then come some account of the ceremonies after a death, particulars of those who have no part in the resurrection, the duty of submission to the priesthood, whether evil may be done for the sake of good, the place where people will rise from the dead, Aéshmi’s complaint to Aharman of the three things he could not injure in the world, the occasions on which the Ahuna- var formula should be recited, and the number of recitals that are requisite, &c. And, finally, statements of the Jengths of midday and afternoon shadows, blessings invoked
INTRODUCTION, Lxili
renee —
from the thirty angels and archangels who preside over the days of the month, and the special epithets of the same.
But internal evidence points to a far higher antiquity for the first two parts, as the compilers of those treatises evidently had access, not only to several old commentaries, but also to many of the Nasks, which have long been lost. Thus, the first treatise contains quotations from the com- mentaries of Afarg, Gédgésasp, Kishtand-bigéd, Méddk- mah, Réshan, and Sdéshyans, which are all frequently quoted in the Pahlavi translation of the Vendidad (see Sls. I, 3, 4, notes); besides mentioning the opinions of Mard- bid, Néryésang, Nésai Bars-Mitré, and Vand-Adharmazd, who are rarely or never mentioned in the Pahlavi Vendidad. It also quotes no less than eleven of the twenty Nasks or books of the complete Mazdayasnian literature which are no longer extant, besides the Vendidad, the only Nask that still survives in the full extent it had in Sasanian times.
1 Except Chaps. XXII, XXIII (see the note on the heading of Chap. XXII).
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The Nasks quoted are the Stidgar (Sls. X, 8), the Bagh (X, 26), the Damdad (X, 22), the Pazén (IX, 9), the Ratis- taitih (X, 29), the Kidrast (X, 28), the Spend (X, 4), the Nihadam (X, 3, 22, 23), the Dibasragéd (X, 13), the His- param (X, 21), and the Sakadfim (X, 25), very few of which are mentioned even in the Pahlavi Vendidad. . The second treatise mentions only one commentator, Vand-Atiharmazd, but it quotes eight of the Nasks no longer extant; these are the Stidgar (Sls. XII, 32), the Damdad (XII, 5, 15), the Spend (XII, 3, 11, 15, 29), the Bag-yasné (XII, 17), the Nihadim (XII, 15, 16), the Hasparam (XII, 1, 7, 14, 31, XIII, 17), the Sakaddm (XII, 2, 10, 12, XIII, 30), and the Haddkht (XII, 19, 30, XIII, 6, 10).
Of two of these Nasks, the Bagh and Hadékht, a few fragments may still survive (see notes on Sls. X, 26, Haug’s Essays, p. 134, B. Yt. III, 25), but those of the latter Nask do not appear to contain the passages quoted in the Shayast la-shayast. With regard to the rest we only know that the Damdad, Hiisparam, and Sakadim must have been still in existence about A.D. 881, as they are quoted in the writings of Zad-sparam and Manisfihar, sons of Yidan-Yim, who lived at that time (see pp. xlii, xlvi); and the Nihadtim and Hiisparam are also quoted in the Pahlavi Vendidad. It is true that the Dinkard gives copious information about the contents of all the Nasks, with two or three exceptions ; and the Dinkard seems to have assumed its present form about A.D, goo (see Bund. XX XIII, 11, notes); but its last editor was evidently merely a compiler of old fragments, so there is no certainty that many of the Nasks actually existed in his time.
Thus far, therefore, the internal evidence seems to prove that the two treatises called Shayast la4-shayast, which con- stitute the first two parts of the present translation, are more than a thousand years old. On the other hand, they cannot be more than three centuries older, because they frequently quote passages from the Pahlavi Vendidad which, as we have seen (p. xlvi, note 1), could not have as- sumed its present form before the time of Khisré Noshir- van (A.D. 531-579). As they contain no reference to any
INTRODUCTION. Ixv
interference of the governing powers with the religion or priesthood, it is probable that they were written before the Muhammadan conquest (A.D. 636-651), although they do not mention the existence of any ‘king of the kings,’ the usual title of the Sasanian monarchs. And this probability is increased by there being no direct mention of Muham- madanism among the contemporary religions named in Chap. VI, 7, unless we assume that passage to be a quota- tion from an earlier book. We may, therefore, conclude, with tolerable certainty, that the Pahlavi text of the first two parts of the present translation of the Shdyast 14- shayast was compiled some time in the seventh century ; but, like the Bundahis and Bahman Yast, it was, for the most part, a compilation of extracts and translations from far older’ writings, and may also have been rearranged shortly after the Muhammadan conquest.
The fragments which are collected in the appendix, or third part of the present translation, are probably of various ages, and several of them may not be more than seven cen- turies old. The commentator Bakht-dfrid, whose work (now lost) is quoted in Chap. XX, 11, may have lived in the time of Khasré Noshirvan (see B. Yt. I, 7). And Chap. XXI must certainly have been written in Persia, as the lengths of noonday shadows which it mentions are only suitable for 32° north latitude. As regards the last two chapters we have no evidence that they are quite five cen- turies old,
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first volume. In K2o0 the first two parts are separated by
ninety-two folios, containing the Farhang-i Oim-khadtk,
Bundahis, Bahman Yast, and several other Pahlavi and
Avesta texts; Chap. XVIII precedes the first part, Chap.
XIX precedes the second part, and Chap. XXI is in an
earlier part of the MS.
It does not appear that the Shayast la-shadyast has ever been hitherto translated into any European language}, nor
' Except Chap. XVIII, which was translated into German by Justi, as the last chapter of his translation of the Bundahis (see p. xxvi).
INTRODUCTION, Ixvil is any Persian or Gugarati translation of it known to the present translator, though a good deal of the matter it con- tains may be found in the Persian Rivayats, but generally given in a different form. Owing to the technical charac- ter of the treatise, it is hazardous for any one but a Parsi priest to attempt to translate it, so that errors will, no doubt, be apparent to the initiated in the present transla- tion. At the same time it must not be forgotten that the laws and customs mentioned in the text were those current in Persia twelve centuries ago, which may be expected to differ, in many details, from those of the Parsis in India at the present day. This is a consideration which a Parsi translator might be too apt to ignore; so that his thorough knowledge of present customs, though invaluable for the decipherment of ambiguous phrases, might lead him astray when dealing with clear statements of customs and rules now obsolete and, therefore, at variance with his precon- ceived ideas of propriety.
7. CONCLUDING REMARKS.
The Pahlavi texts selected for translation in this volume are specimens of three distinct species of writings. Thus, the Bundahis and its appendix, which deal chiefly with cosmogony, myths, and traditions, may be roughly com- pared to the book of Genesis. The Bahman Yast, which professes to be prophetical, may be likened unto the Apoca- lypse. And the Shayast la-shayast, which treats of reli- gious laws regarding impurity, sin, ritual, and miscellaneous matters, bears some resemblance to Leviticus. But, though thus dealing with very different subjects, these texts appear to have all originated in much the same manner, a manner which is characteristic of the oldest class of the Pahlavi writings still extant. All three are full of translations from old Avesta texts, collected together probably in the latter days of the Sasanian dynasty, and finally rearranged some time after the Muhammadan conquest of Persia; so that, practically, they may be taken as representing the ideas entertained of their prehistoric religion by Persians in the
Ixviii PAHLAVI TEXTS.
sixth century, but modified so far as to suit the taste and exigencies of the tenth.
