but it is written gfing in Chap. XXXI, 24, according to K35, and the meaning ‘space’ is more appropriate to the gatus Avadhatd, ‘self-sustained place,’ of Vend. XIX, 122. The epithet ‘ constantly- beneficial’ is a Pahl. translation of Av. misvana, and is evidently applied here to the unlimited heavenly space contained in the ‘endless light’ (see § 24) and including the supreme heaven, as appears from the order in which these three existences (the earliest creations of Aftharmazd) are mentioned in Chap. XXXI, 24.
* Mrq and J have ‘separate doers.’
* Mrq and J have ‘doers at different times,’
Chapter Xxxvii, 23-28. 87
bottom reached to the gloomy abyss, in which is
the fiend full of evil; and one is between those two
thirds which are below and above. 25. And the
uppermost third, whzch is called ‘the rampart of the
supreme heaven’ (garéddm4n6é druptistd)}, was
made by him with purity, all splendour, and every
pleasure, and no access to it for the fiend. 26. And
he provided that third for undisturbedly convoking
the pure, the archangels, azd the righteous ¢hat have
offered praises who, as z¢ were unarmed (azendavar),
struggle unprepared azd thoroughly in contest wzth
the champions of the co-existent oze, and they smite
the co-existent ove and his own progeny (géharak6)
already described, and afford support to the im-
perishable state *, through the help of the archangels
and the glory of the creator. 27. And, again also,
in their® fearlessness they seek for the destruction
of the demons and for the perfection of the creatures
of the good Jdengs; as one who is fearless, owing to
some rampart which is inaccessible fo arrows and
blows, and shoots arrows at the expanse below, is
troubled (bakhsé@d@6) for friends below.
28. And he made a distinction in the prescribed
splendour and glory for the lowermost third of the
sky; and the difference is ¢hat it is liable to injury
(pavan resh), so that the fiend, who is void of
goodness, comes and makes that third full of dark-
ness and full of demons, azd shall be able to perplex
in that difficulty when the thousand winters occur,
and the five detested (lakhsidak6) kinds of the
1 Bd. III, 26 says that ‘the rampart of the sky was formed so that the adversary should not be able to mingle with it.’
* Reading 4gfrazénd va/ aseg gfin.
* Assuming that va/ stands for valman or valmans4an.
88 DADISTAN-1 DINiK.
demons of life! have also overwhelmed with sin
those of the wicked who are deceived by the demons
and fave fled from the contest. 29. But they shall
not let the fiend fully in, owing to the luminaries of
the resplendent ome, during the allotted time when
the demons’ punishing and the repentance of the
wicked are accomplished.
30. And he appointed for the middle third the
creatures of the world separated? from the world
and the spiritual evzstence; and among those crea-
tures* were produced for them the managing man
as a guardian of the creatures, and the deciding
wisdom as an appliance of man; ae the true
religion, the best of knowledge was prepared by
him. 31. And that third is for the place of combat
and the contest of the two different natures*; and
in the uppermost part of the same third is stationed
by him the light of the brilliant sun and moon and
glorious stars, and ¢dey are provided by him that
they may watch® the coming of the adversary, and
revolve around the creatures. 32. All the sacred
ceremonies of the distant earth (biim), the light,
the abundant rains, and the good angels vanquish
1 Probably referring to the five fiends, or demonesses, which are the special embodiments of each man’s evil passions, and are thus detailed in Mkh. XLI, g-11:—‘ That man is the stronger who is able to contend with his own fiends, and who keeps these five fiends, in particular, far from 47s body, which are such as avarice, wrath, lust, disgrace, and discontent.’
* Reading fisardak6, but the word is doubtful. This central region of the sky would seem to be the place of the ‘ever-stationary,’ if it do not include the earth itself, which is not quite clear, owing to the obscure style of the author. |
* While in the world.
* ‘The beneficent and evil spirits.
* Reading venapénd, but the word is doubtful.
Chapter Xxxvii, 29-35. 89
and smite the wizards azd witches who rush adout
below them!, azd struggle to perplex by injury
to the creatures; they make all such assailants
become fugitives’. 33. And through their revolu-
tion the ascents and descents, the increase and
diminution (narafsisn6), of the creatures® shall
occur, the flow and ebb of the seas, and the increase
of the dye-like* blood of the inferior creatures >;
also owing to them azd through them have elapsed
the divisions of the days, nights, months, years,
periods, azd all the millenniums (hazagrék ziman)
of time. |
34. He also appointed unto our forefathers the
equipment which is their own, a material vesture,
a sturdy bravery, and the guardian spirits of the
righteous ; and he provided that they sZoz/d remain
at various times in their own nature®, and come
into worldly vesture. 35. And those for great hosts
and many slaves are born, for the duties of the
period, into some tribe; he who has plenty of off-
spring is like Fravak’, he who is of the early law
* Below the sun, moon, and stars which protect the creatures.
? Literally ‘springers back.’
* Reading rangm4n6, but the word is doubtful.
° Five folios of text are here interpolated in J, of which four contain the passage (Ep. II, vi, 4—ix, 7) omitted at the end of that MS., and the fifth contains a passage on the same subject as Ep. III, and which may possibly be part of the text missing in Ep. III, rr.
* Meaning that the unembodied spirits of men should enter upon their worldly existence.
7 The great-grandson of the primeval man, GayOmard, and the forefather of the fifteen races of undeformed human beings (see Bd. XV, 25-31, XXXI, 1).
90 pDADISTAN-I DINIK.
* See Chap. II, 10 for this and the following three names.
> He is said to have kept the evil spirit thirty years as a steed (see Ram Yt. 12, Zamyad Yt. 29, Mkh. XXVII, 22).
° Here written Gim.
* Instinctive wisdom and that acquired by experience (see Chap. XL, 3).
> Av. Manusfithra; the descendant of Frédfin, in the eleventh generation, who overthrew the usurpation of the collateral branches of his family, and restored the Iranian line of the Pésdadian dynasty in his own person (see Bd. XXXI, 12-14, XXXIV, 6).
® See Chap. XVII, 6.
” Av. Kavi Kavata; the first king of the Kayanian dynasty (see Bd. XXXI, 24, 25, XXXIV, 7).
® Probably the Av. Aoshnara, mentioned in Af, Zarat., along with several of the other names, in a passage somewhat similar to that in our text. The name here can also be read Afish-khfir.
* Av. Kavi Syavarshan; the son of king Kat-Kafis and father of king Kat-Khfisrd?, but he did not reign himself. He is said to have formed the settlement of Kangdez (see Chap. XC, 5, Bd. XXX], 25, Byt. III, 25, 26).
© See Chap. XXXVI, 3.
" Av. Kavi Vistaspa, Pers. Gustasp; the fifth king of the Kayanian dynasty, who received the religion from Zarattst. His father, the fourth king, was of collateral descent from the first king (see Bd. XXXI, 28, 29, XXXIV, 7).
“The great apostle of the Parsis (see Chap. II, ro).
* Av. Peshétanu; a son of Kaf-Vistasp, who is said to be
Chapter Xxxvii, 36—40. Qi
avarag) like Attvd-pdd}, he who is liturgical like
Hishédar?, he who is legal like Hishédar-mah, and
he who is metrical and concluding like Sédshans.
37. Among them are many illustrious ones, glo-
rious doers, supporters of the religion, and good
managers, who are completely (aptir) for the smiting
of the fiend and the will of the creator.
38. He also produced the creatures as contenders,
and granted assistance (védvarih), through the
great, in the struggle for the perfect happiness from
heaven at the renovation? of the universe; and he made
them universally (vAspéharakantha) contented.
39. A vitiated thought of a living, well-disposed
being is a stumble (nisivd) which is owing to evil;
and these are even those‘ contented with death,
because they know their limit, azd it shall be definite
(burind-hémé6nd) and terminable; the evil of the
world, in life, is definite, and they shall not make
one exist unlimitedly azd indefinitely in the evil of
the world, through an eternal life with pain.
40. And through a great mystery, wholly mira-
culous, he produced a durable immortality for the
living ; a perplexity so long as the best and utmost
of it is such an immortality of adversity, for z¢ is
immortal and to live in Kangdez, whence he is to come to restore the religion in the millennium of Hfishédar (see Chap. XC, 3, 5, Bd. XXIX, 5, Byt. III, 25-32, 36-38, 41, 42).
' Probably the supreme high-priest and prime minister of the ninth Sasanian king, Shapfir II (a.p. 309-379 ; see Bd. XXXII, 3).
? See Chap. II, 10 for these last three names. ‘The terms mansarik, ‘liturgical,’ dadik, ‘legal, and gas4nik, ‘metrical,’ are those applied to the three divisions of the twenty-one Nasks, or books of the complete literature of the Mazda-worshippers.
* Mr4q and J have merely ‘ granted assistance in the struggle at the renovation.’
* Assuming that gha/ stands for valman, as it sometimes does.
92 DADISTAN-I DIN?K.
ever living molested and eternally suffering. 41. And
their development, the strength of lineage obtained,
is ever young in succession, and the tender, well-
destined oes, who are good, are in adversity and
perpetuity of life, so that there is a succession of
life through their own well-destined offspring?.
42. They become eternally famous, so that they
obtain, every one, an old age which is renewed, /vee
from sickness and decay, visibly in the‘r own off-
spring and family (gdharak6) whenever they become
complete; and any one of the combative, whose
struggle is through the smiting that his fellow-
combatant obtains, is of a comfortable disposition
at the balance?. 43. This ove, too, is for stepping
forth to heaven, even as that pre-eminent ove of the
righteous, the greatest of the apostles and the most
fortunate of those born, the chief of worldly beings,
the righteous Zaratist the Spitaman, when the
omniscient wisdom, as a trance (gip), came upon
him from Atthaymazgd, and he saw him who was
immortal azd childless, and also him who was mortal
and provided with children; that perpetual life of
the childless then seemed to him terrible, and that
succession of mortals seemed commendable’; so that
* Mr4 and J have merely: ‘are a succession in adversity and perpetuity of life.’
* Assuming that tardz stands for tardzfiik. The meaning is that any one who has successfully struggled with sin in the world, and leaves offspring behind him, goes to his account, at the balance of the angel Rashn4, with cheerfulness.
* This seems to be a variation of the statement in Byt. II, 13, where Zarattist, after asking for immortality, and having had the omniscient wisdom infused into him for a week, describes what he had seen, and amongst other things says: ‘I saw a wealthy man without children, and it did not seem to me commendable; and I
Chapter Xxxvii, 41-45. 93
the coming of 4zs assured offspring!, Htshédar,
Hashédar-mah, avd Sdshans?, became more longed
for and more desired, avd death more than the per-
petual life of his own body.
44. And when he® who is all-watchful and _ all-
knowing had arranged the means of opposing the
fiend, ¢here came for destroying, like a general
leader (vispvar), that fiend of deceiving nature, the
harassing, rushing, evil-wishing, primeval (pés) con-
tender, together with the demons Akémané (‘evil
thought ’)*, Aéshm (‘wrath’), Zarman (‘decrepitude’),
Bashasp (‘lethargy’), craving distress, bygone luck °,
Vaé®, Varei.d (‘lust ’)’, Asté-vidad'*®, and VizarAsh °,
and the original, innumerable demons and fiends of
Mazendaran?. 45. And his darkness aud gloom,
scorpions (kadztin6), porcupines, and vermin, poison
saw a pauper with many children, and it seemed to me com- mendable.’
2 These three future apostles (see Chap. II, 10) are considered to be sons of Zarattist (see Bd. XXXII, 8).
® Aftharmazd.
* These first four demons are described in Bd. XXVIII, 7, 15-17, 23, 26.
* The words niyaézinak6 tangih bfidd bakhtd, here trans- lated, may possibly be a miswriting of five names of demons.
® The bad V4é (see Chap. XXX, 4).
7 See Bd. XXVIII, 25.
* A demon of death (see Chap. XXIII, 3, note, Bd. XXVIII, 35).
* Another demon of death (see Chap. XXXII, 4, 7).
