? See B. Yt. III, 25. The passage here quoted must have been in the first division of the Nask.
* This section is a repetition of Chap. X, 31.
> See Bund. XX, 2.
* The yésdasardn, ‘ purifiers’ (Av. yaozdathrya), are those priests who retain so much of the purifying effect of the Bareshnim ceremony (see Chap. II, 6) as to be able to assist in purifying others by means of the same ceremony. When that effect has passed away a priest can no longer perform the sacred rites, until he has again undergone the nine nights’ purification of the Bareshniim.
* Reading band, but it may be bdd, ‘vitality, essence.’
® See Chap. II, 52.
348 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
' The passage here quoted is from Pahl. Vend. IX, 4-6.
* Referring to the Bareshnfim-gih, or place prepared for the Bareshnim ceremony of purification with bull’s urine and water, which are handed to the person undergoing purification by an officiating priest (see Chap. II, 6). The place is marked out with furrows in the ground, and furnished with stones (magh) to squat upon during the ablutions (see B. Yt. II, 36). The construction of this paragraph is very obscure in many places, and its proper division into sentences is, therefore, uncertain.
Chapter Xii, 23-28. 349
care #e is thus done; for in the periodic interval
many secret’ kinds of pollution are produced. 26.
Of the celebrators of the Vendidad the good are
they who shall again perform the Navashadar rite? ;
for, on account of the same nicety (ndzikih) which
is written above by me, azd on account of much also
that ts secret, which has happened azd mostly
arises about it, ‘here is no harm from performing 77.
27. And any one of those who shall receive the
water and bull’s urine z¢ is very important to wash
beforehand (pavan pés)*; because, if ‘Here be im-
purity adout him‘, and he puts a hand to the cup
(gimak), the water, avd the bull’s urine, /Aey are
unclean (apdidav5)*; when 7z¢ zs so that ‘here be
some one, when so, 2 is better ¢Aat they always
wash his eyelids (méyak gas), avd to wash them
by the clean is good.
28. The rule is this, that thou shouldst not con- sider even any one hopeless (andiméd) of heaven,
’ Reading nihan, but we might perhaps read ‘ causes (vah4n) of pollution of many kinds.’ The meaning of the section is, that it is necessary for the purifying priest to maintain his own purity by frequently undergoing the Bareshnim ceremony himself.
2 Yast-i Navash4dar in all MSS., but the latter word is most probably a corruption of Av. navakhshapara, ‘a period of nine nights,’ for which length of time the Bareshnim ceremony must be continued (see Vend. IX, 144, XIX, 80). The ‘ Navashdar rite’ is, therefore, ‘the ceremony of the nine nights,’ which should be frequently undergone by the priests who celebrate the Vendidad ceremonial.
* M6 has pavan pisak, ‘ with ceremony.’
* M6 has ‘them.’
350 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
and they should not set ¢Aezr minds steadfastly on
hell; thereby much sinfulness for which ¢here is a
desire would be undesirable, because ¢here is nothing
which is a sin zz my religion for which ¢here is no
retribution, as it says in the Gathas! thus:—‘ Of
those who are aware that thou art, O Adtharmazd! is
even he who is infamous (raspak6); and they know
the punishment of him even who is very sinful.’ 29.
And as fo him even who is a very sinful person,
through the desire? of good works which is enter-
tained by him, ¢4erve then comes more fully to him
the joy of a soul newly worthy (nuk shdyaa); as
in the Spend ask * 7¢ was shown to Zaratist about
one man, that all zs limbs were in torment, and one
foot was outside; azd Zaratist enquired of Afthar-
mazd about the reason of zt; and Atharmazd said
that he was a man, Davans* by name; he was ruler
over thirty-three® districts, and he never practised
1 The passage here quoted from the G&athas will be found in Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 7.
® M6 has merely ‘through the good works which are practised by him;’ but K2o has ‘rt hamak’ inserted at this point, which seems to indicate the existence of the nearly identical Pahlavi letters kAmak, ‘desire,’ in the original from which it was copied.
* See Chap. X, 4. The passage here quoted was no doubt con- tained in that part of the Nask which treated of the exhibition of heaven and hell to Zaratfist, which must have been very similar to the Arda-Viraf-namak, in which most of the details of this story about Davins are given (see AV. XXXII).
* This is, no doubt, the Av. davis of Yas. XXXI, ro, which may be translated ‘hypocrite.’ The Pahlavi translation of the line in which the word occurs is thus rendered in Haug’s Essays (p. 351) : ‘Afiharmazd does not allot to him who is an idler, the infidel who is any hypocrite (davas) in the sacred recitations. In the good religion it is asserted that even as much reward as they give to the hypocrite they do not give to the infidel.’
® K2o has ‘thirty-four.’
Chapter Xii, 29-31. 351
any good work, except one time when fodder was conveyed by him to a sheep with that one foot.
30. The rule is this, that when a man has per-
formed his form of worship (yast), and his wife has
not performed 7/, z¢ is extremely necessary to per-
form the suitable form of worship, or to order a
Gété-kharid’, so that they may become such as are
dwelling more closely /ogether in the spiritual ex7s/-
ence than in the world; and in the Had@ékht Wask?
it says that a woman (nairik) who shall be reverent
(tarsak) is to be considered as much as she who is
suitable (ziyak).
31. The rule is this, that these five ceremonies
(yazisn), when they shall perform ¢hem, are good
works *; when ove does not perform ¢Aem, and the
time is manifest to him, and when he shall set ¢hewe
aside to perform ¢Aem out of the proper time, they
shall go to the bridge * as sin; the ceremonies which
go to the bridge are these, and in the Hispaéram
Nask® it says that ¢hey are the non-celebration of
the rites (l4 yastand) of the season-festivals*®, the
1 Here written gét6k-kharid, but see Chap. V, 6, and Bund. XXX, 28.
2 See B. Yt. III, 25; but the passage here quoted is not clearly indicated in the accounts we have of the contents of this Nask.
8’ The distinction between these ceremonies and those whose values as good works are given in Chap. XVI, 6, appears to be that any omission in performing these five at their proper times amounts to an absolute sin, whereas the others are not so indis- pensable.
* That is, they will be taken into account at the judgment on the soul’s actions at the Xinvad bridge (see Bund. XII, 7).
5 See Chap. X, 21. The passage here quoted was probably in the section called Nirangistan.
®° The Gasinbars or Gahanbars (see Bund. XXV, 1-6).
352 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
Rapitvin!, the three ights? after a death, the days
devoted to the guardian spirits?, and the sun and
moon *.
32. The rule is this, that at every one of these
three things, wzch come through hungry living, that
is, sneezing, yawning, and sighing, ove is to speak
out a Yathd-ahd-vairy6 and one Ashem-vohti*; and
also when owe hears the sneezing of any one, to
speak zz like manner is so considered as an action of
the good®; and in the Stddgar Mask’ it says thus:
‘“ What prepares sneezing? that is, through what
process (k4r) does it come?” And Adharmazd said
thus: “ Hungry living, O Zaratist! because the re-
medy for its existence is the Ahunavar, O Zarattist!
and righteousness *.””’
CuaPpTer XIII.
o. The signification of the Gathas®. 1. These three Ashem-vohtis (Yas. XI, end) which
’ The midday period (see Bund. II, 8, 9, XXV, 9-14).
* See Chap. VIII, 6. ® See Chap. X, 2.
* See Chap. VII, 1-5. 5 See Bund: I, 21, XX, 2.
* That is, it is commendable, though not obligatory. The
practice of uttering a blessing on hearing a sneeze is still common
in many parts of Europe.
7 See B. Yt. 1, 1. The passage here quoted is not to be traced in any of the accounts of this Nask.
* <The Ahunavar and praise of righteousness’ would be a Pahlavi equivalent for ‘the Yath4-ah(-vairy6 and Ashem-voht.’
* That is, the mystical meaning or influence supposed to attach to various parts of the ancient hymns, or to the manner in which they are chanted. The term Gatha or ‘hymn’ (Pahl. g4s) is applied, in this chapter, not only to the five G&thas properly so called, but also to the Yasna of seven chapters, and apparently to
Chapter Xii, 32—Xiii, 2. 353
Soseeeeenteeimentateememenmememeimmeiameensanneeneneenen sane eeeen
represent’ the Fravarané (Yas. XI, end) of the
preliminary ritual (pés nirang) and the rotation
of these three Has (‘chapters’), the Fravarané,
Frastuyé, and Astuy¢—fravarané cing the begin-
ning of the Fravarané* whch extends as far as fras-
astayaésa’*, frastuyé‘, the beginning of the Fras-
tuyé (Yas. XII, 1-XIII, 26) which extends up to the
Astuyé, and Astuyé’, the beginning of the pico
wanem ° (Yas. XIII, 27—X1V, end) which extends as
far as Astaothwaneméa daénayau Mazdayas-
ndis—also represent the Visdi-ve-amesha-spenta
(Yas. XV), which ts the beginning of the Stétan-
yasno (‘the ritual of praisers’)’, and these three
HAs of the Baghim (Yas. X1X-XX]).
2. In the exposition (4ashidak) and through the
other portions of the Yasna written in the Gatha dialect of the Avesta.
1 This appears to be the meaning, but the construction of this section is altogether very obscure, and the text is more or less corrupt in all MSS. In the celebration of the Yasna or Yazisn the officiating priest tastes the H6m juice during the recitation of Yas. XI (see Haug’s Essays, p. 404), and shortly afterwards he com- mences the preliminary prayers mentioned in the text.
? Both K2o and M6 have Freran in Pazand.
$ Both K2o and M6 omit the initial f.
_* M6 has astuyé.
® M6 omits this word,
6 This is the Avesta name of the HA or chapter consisting of Yas. XIII, 27-XIV, 19; as Fraoreti is the name of the preceding Ha, consisting of Yas. XII, 1-XIII, 26,
7 Probably consisting of the three Has, Yas. XV-XVIJ; in which case, the meaning seems to be that the three Ashem-vohis, at the beginning of this preliminary ritual, are symbolical of each of the three triplets of chapters which follow them; first, of the Fravarané, Fraoreti, and Astaothwanem chapters; secondly, of the three chapters of the St6t@n-yasn6 ; and thirdly, of those of the Baghan Yast.
[5] Aa
354 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
evidence of revelation (dind) the wise of those of
the primitive faith! Zave thus said, that a man of
fifteen years*, and a son and brother of Mazdayas-
nians—when he confesses Azs failings (mandak) to
the high-priests (radan), and they shall bring him
the whip and scourge *, and these five Gathas* are
chanted and the good waters consecrated by him,
and the whole of the renewed-birth ceremony (navia-
zadih)*® is performed by him— decomes a mature
youth and not a child, and a share of the prayers of
initiation (ndpar) and of the fires is to be given
over to him®; and when thus much is not performed
by him, a share is not to be given. 3. These five’
Gathas are made up from the body of a righteous
man,
* Referring to one about to become a priest.
* The Av. astra and sraoshé-farana of Vend. IV, 38-114, &c., which were formerly used for the temporal punishment of sinners. Whether they are here brought to the neophyte as a token of his admission to the priesthood, or are administered to him as a punishment for his offences, is not quite clear.
* The five Gathas are the Ahunavaiti (Yas. XXVITI-XXXIV), the Ustavaiti (Yas. XLII-XLV), the Spemté-mainyfi (Yas. XL VI- XLIX), the Vohfi-khshathra (Yas. L), and the Vahistdisti (Yas. LIT) ; these collections of hymns are thus named from the words with which each of them commences, excepting the first, which derives its name from the Ahunavar (see Bund. I, 21) which is written in the same metre.
* This is the Pahlavi form of the Parsi navazfidt, a term applied to the whole initiatory ceremonial of a nén4bar, or newly initiated priest; the term evidently implies that the ceremony is considered somewhat in the light of ‘ regeneration.’
* That is, he can take his part in the regular priestly duties, including the initiation of other neophytes.
* Both K2o0 and M6 have four in ciphers, which can hardly be right; the sentence is clear enough, but the idea of its writer is rather obscure.
