~ See Chap. I, 4, note.
2 A blank space is left for this verb in M6, indicating that that MS. was copied from an original already old and not very legible.
$ See Chap. I, 1, 2.
* Consecrating a sacred cake is a Tanapfihar good work (see Chap. XVI, 6). The theory of counterbalancing sins by good works of the same weight is here clearly enunciated.
5 Written izimn in the MSS. This quotation appears to be, from some part of the Avesta, no longer extant, and being only the first words of the passage its exact meaning is very uncertaia. The section, generally, seems to refer to the beneficence of Atharmazd.
308 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
once,’ &c.) it is evident, and it becomes his through
ceremonial ablution of the hands; it amounts to a
whole quarry (kind) of good works, and the worship
of God (yazisn-i yazd4n6) is to be performed for
him! 23. Ataré-pad? son of Maraspend said that
it is always necessary to be more diligent in per-
forming one’s worship of God a¢ the time that many
mortal s¢zs are committed; all sins de¢zng admissible
into renunciation, when thou shalt atone by com-
plete self-sacrifice (pir-gAn-dadih4), axd when one
engages in renunciation of the sin from 2¢s root, he
becomes free from the sin in renunciation of which
sin he engaged; for Atharmazd will not leave his
own creatures unto the evil spirit, unless on the
path of non-renunciation.
Cuapter IX.
1. The greater HAsar is one part in twelve parts
of the day and night, and the lesser Hasar is one
part in eighteen parts’®.
* It seems that the execution of the sinner after repentance is here considered as furnishing him with a store of good works, so that it is allowable to perform such ceremonies for him, after death, as are usually performed for righteous men; the reason being given in § 23. The end of this section and beginning of the next are omitted in Kao.
* Whether the prime minister of Shapfr II, or the last editor of the Dinkard (see Bund. XXXIII, 3, 11), is not clear.
* The Hasar is not only a measure of distance (see Bund. XXVI, 1), but also a measure of time (see Bund. XXV, 5). According to the text here the greater Hasar must be two hours, and the lesser Hasar (which is not mentioned in M6) must be one hour and twenty minutes. But Farh. Okh. (p. 43) says, ‘dvada- sang-h&threm asti aghrem ayare, ‘of twelve HAsars is the
Chapter Viii, 23-Ix, 4. 309
4. In order to be steadfast in the good religion it
is to be discussed with priests avd high-priests, and
when oxe does not discuss it is proper that he do
not teach it.
longest day;” the day and night in which is the longest day are twelve of the greatest Hasars, eighteen of the medium, and twenty- four of the least;’ according to which statement there are three kinds of Hasar, that are respectively equivalent to two hours, one hour and twenty minutes, and one hour. As the longest day is said (Bund. XXV, 4) to be twice the length of the shortest day, and the greatest Hasar is twice the length of the least one, it may be conjectured that the Hasar varied with the length of the day, being a subdivision (one-eighth) of the time the sun was above the horizon; this would account for the greatest and least Hasars, which are one-eighth of the longest and shortest days, respectively ; but it does not account for the medium Hasar, which is not a mean between the two extremes, but one-ninth (instead of one- eighth) of the mean day of twelve hours. If the H4sar of distance were really a Parasang, as is sometimes stated, the connection between it and the Hasar of time would be obvious, as the average HAsar of one hour and twenty minutes is just the time requisite for walking a Parasang, which seems indeed to be stated in Farh, Okh. p. 42. |
1 Or it may be ‘ passes over into idolatry.’
8 That is, he reads andfrdn instead of viradn in the foregoing statement.
* Or, perhaps, ‘this calamity is at once announced.’
310 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
5. The cerenionial worship (yazisn) which they
perform in a fire-temple!, when not done aright, does
not reach unto the demons; é#¢ that which they
perform zz other places, when they do not perform
zt aright, does reach unto the demons; for there is
no medium in worship, it reaches either unto the
angels or unto the demons. 6, Of a man who has
relinquished a dad habit, and through his good
capabilities engages in renunciation of s7z*, the good
work advances unto the future existence.
7. Any one who shall die in a vessel (kastik) it is
allowable, for fear of contamination (padvishak), to
throw into the water; some say that the water itself
is the receptacle for the dead (khazanth).
8. This, too, zs declared: ‘ When in the dark it is
not allowable to eat food; for the demons and fiends
seize upon one-third of the wisdom and glory of him
who eats food in the dark;’ and it is declared by
that passage (gindk) which Aftharmazd spoke to
Zaratist, thus: ‘After the departure of the light let
him not devour, with unwashed hands, the water
and vegetables of Horvadad and Amerédad@?; for if
after the departure of the light thou devourest, with
unwashed hands, the water and vegetables of Hor-
vadad and Amerdédad, the fiend seizes away from
thee two-thirds of the existing original wisdom
' Literally, ‘in the dwelling of fires.’ The fire must always be sheltered from the sun’s rays, and in a fire-temple it is kept in a vaulted cell, with a door and one or two windows opening into the larger closed chamber which surrounds it.
* K2o has, ‘and it shall happen through his good capabilities.’
* The two archangels whose chief duties are the protection of water and plants, respectively (see Chap. XV, 5, 25-29, Bund. IX, 2).
Chapter Ix, 5-9. 311
which, when he seizes z¢ away, is the glory and
religion which are auspicious for thee that day, so
that diligence becomes a vexation this day'.’
9. In a passage of the fifth fargard of the Pazén Nask®* it is declared that ove mentions these charac-
1 This passage does not appear to be now extant in the Avesta,
* This was the sixth nask or ‘ book’ of the complete Mazda- yasnian literature, according to the Dinkard, which calls it Past or Pazag; but according to the Dini-vagarkard and the Rivdyats it was the seventh nask, called Pagam. For its contents, as given by the Dini-vagarkard, see Haug’s Essays, pp. 128, 129. The follow- ing is a short summary of the account of it given in the eighth book of the Dinkard (that published in the Pahl.-Paz. Glossary, pp. 184, 185, being taken from the fifteenth nask, whose contents were mixed up with those of the seventh through the abstraction of several folios from the Iranian MS. of the Dinkard before M13, or any other copy, was written in India) :—
The Past (or Pizag) is about the lawful slaughtering of animals in the ceremonial rites of fire and water at the season-festivals ; also where, when, and how the festivals are to be celebrated, their advantages, and the duties of the officiating priests. The rotation of days, months, and years, summer and winter, the ten days at the end of the winter, when the guardian spirits visit the world, and the ceremonies to be then performed. The time for gathering medicinal plants. The retribution necessary for the various sins affecting the soul, the advantage of providing for such retribution, and the harm from not providing it. The thirty-three principal chiefs of the spiritual and worldly existences. The miracles of great good works, and the heinous sinfulness of apostasy. How far a wife can give away her husband's property, and when it is lawful for him to recover it. Whither winter flees when summer comes on, and where summer goes when winter comes on. The amount of disaster (vOighn) in one century, and the duration of everything connected with such disaster. The summer and winter months, the names of the twelve months, their meaning, and the angels they are devoted to; also the thirty days of the month, and the five GAtha days at the end of the year, when the guardian spirits are to be reverenced.
The fifth fargard, quoted in the text, was probably that portion of the Nask which described the duties of the officiating priests.
312 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
ii, In every ceremonial (yazisnd), at the begin-
ning of the ceremony’, and the beginning of the
sacred-cake consecration (drén)*, the angels and
guardian spirits of the righteous are to be invited to
the ceremony. 12. When they invoke the angels
they will accept the ceremony, and when they do
1 K2o has hfizvan, ‘tongue, speech,’ for zifan, ‘faulty’ (com- pare Pers, zif, ‘ sin’), in all occurrences of the word.
* Kz2o omits from this word to ‘will approach’ in the next clause of the sentence.
* That is, shortly before beginning the regular recitation of the Yasna, the angels, in whose honour the ceremony is being per- formed, are invited to approach by reciting their proper Khshna- mans, or plopitiatory formulas (see Chap. VII, 8, and Haug’s Essays, p. 404).
* This begins with Yas. III, 1, and the spirits are to be invited by adding their proper Khshnimans to those contained in Yas. III, 3-20 (see Haug’s Essays, p. 408).
Chapter Ix, 10-12. 313
1 This may be at the ‘staomi’ of Yas. XII, 6, which is recited before the Yasna is commenced; but K2o alters the meaning (by inserting the relative particle) into ‘/dey are to be invoked at “staomi,” the beginning of “all the guardian spirits of the righteous ” (Yas. XXVI, 1).’
2 Yas. XXVI, 20.
5 Yas. XXVI, 34.
* K20 has, ‘shall not invoke,’ and ‘ will not accept.’
5 The concluding words of the yéxnhé hatim formula, probably of that one at the end of Yas. XXVII, just preceding the recital of the Gathas, up to which time the spirits wait, but, if not invoked, they are then supposed to ascend, away from the ceremony, as mentioned in the text.
6 K20 has, ‘when they do not invoke them.’
7 Yas. VIII, 10; which is preceded by a thrice-told ‘ashem voha,’ at which the officiating priest tastes the sacred cake, being the end of the Drdn ceremony (see Haug’s Essays, pp. 404, 408).
§ Yas. XXII, 33 (§§ 14-33 being recited twice). At this point the officiating priest brings out the mortar for pounding the Hém twigs (see Haug’s Essays, p. 405); Yas. XXII being called the beginning of the Héméast in the Vistésp Yast Sadah.
® Yas. XXIV, 30, when the officiating priest turns the mortar right side upwards.
© Yas. VIII, 9, which is practically the same place as the three- fold ‘ashem vohii’ before mentioned.
314 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
they will accept'; and when not, they go up the
height of a spear (nizak) and will remain. 13. And
they speak thus: ‘This man does not understand
that it will be necessary even for him? to go from
the world, and our prayer (apist4n) is for reminding
men; it is not ¢Za¢ our uneasiness arises from this,
that we are in want of their ceremony, but our un-
easiness arises from this, that when they do not
reverence and do not invoke us, when evil comes
upon them it is not possible for us to keep z¢ away.’
14. ‘O creator! how much is the duration in life
of him who is dead?’ And Attharmazd spoke thus:
‘As much as the wing of a fly, O Zaratist the Spita-
man! or as much as the hearing a wing unto a sight-
less one ®.’
CHAPTER X.
1. The rule‘ is this, that a sacred thread-girdle (kQstik) be three finger-dreadths loose transversely
‘ K2o has, ‘they will not accept.’
* Literally, ‘for me,’ which seems to refer to the man, and not to the spirits,
* This appears to be the complete translation of the Avesta sen- tence partially quoted in Pahl. Vend. VIII, 64: ‘ yatha makhshyau perenem, yatha va perenahé,’ &c. The last clause is doubtful; the reading adopted here is Aand zak-i shinavak-? par andarg avénak, as nothing more satisfactory suggests itself; it might also be translated by ‘as much as the sound of a wing in the invisible.’
* Reading 4inak; Pazand writers convert it into yak, which can, however, have the same meaning, though they evidently take the word to be Huz. khad{fik, ‘one,’ which is written precisely like 4inak in Pahlavi characters. Most of the miscellaneous state- ments, contained in the latter part of Sls., commence with this phrase.
