descends until it meets with an obstruction to its downward pro- gress in the shape of the nearest descendants, but, when once in their possession, it can again ascend (like the dammed stream) for the support of the survivors of an older generation (see § 5).
1 Or, it may be ‘in the provisions (vfiiyagdan) of the will;’ or, by omitting two strokes, we have simply ‘otherwise (h4n) in the will.’
* That is, they have a share of the property when there are other next of kin. Mr4 adds, ‘and they should provide a living son as father and husband unless privileged,’ referring to the necessity of adoption when there is no son and the wife is not a privileged one.
* It being assumed that the will provides as much as is intended for any one whom it mentions.
* Reading amat, ‘when,’ instead of mfin, ‘who,’ which words are often confounded because their Paz. equivalents are nearly identical.
5 M14 has ‘ daughters.’
* Armést probably means literally ‘ most immovable.’
7 M14 omits this last clause. ® Mrq has ‘ mother.’
Qo 2
196 DADISTAN-1. DINIK.
without a guardian—the ready guardianship of a
capable man, and the shelter avd nourishment that
have become inadequate! are as indispensably forth-
coming ® from the possessors of wealth, of those who
have taken the property, as that ¢ak¢xg was indis-
pensable °.
6. If there be no son of that maz, but there be
a daughter or wife of his, and if some of the affazrs*
of the man are such as render a woman not suitable
for the guardianship, it is necessary to appoint a
family guardian; if there be, moreover, no wife or
daughter of his it is necessary to appoint an adopted
son. 7. This—that is, when it is necessary to ap-
point a family guardian azd who is the fittest, and
when it is necessary to appoint an adopted son and
which is the fittest—is written in the chapters oz
the question °.
CuapTerR LXIII.
1. The sixty-second question is that which you
ask thus: Would they authorisedly carry off any
property whatever from foreigners and infidels, or
not ?
2. The reply is this, that wealth and property and
anything that foreigners (an-afrand) possess and
is carried off by them from the good with violence,
and which through obstinacy they do not give back
* Literally ‘not issuing.’
* Mrq has ‘are thus forthcoming,
* Mrq has ‘or ave become indispensable to it.’
* Or, it may be ‘dependents,’ the text is merely va hat6 min zak-f gabra.
’ See Chaps. LVI-LIX.
Chapter Lxii, 6—Lxiv, 3. 197
CHAPTER LXIV.
1. As fo the sixty-third question azd reply, that
which you ask is thus: Whence was the first crea-
tion of mankind, and how was the formation of the
original race of men? 2. What issued from Gayé-
mard*, and what did it really become; axd from
what have Mashyaih azd Mashyayéih® arisen ?
3. The reply is. this, that Atharymazd, the all-
1 Reading vad zak amatas khfidaydn ay4zt-aitar far- m4n-i dadik. The form of ayazvi-aitar has not yet been met with elsewhere, but it seems to mean ‘one who holds the obtain- ment,’ though whether as agent or officer of justice is uncertain.
* M14 has merely ‘ but should they proceed in their obstinacy. to come with them is not to dissemble.’
* Literally ‘demon-worshippers,’ * See Chap. IT, ro.
* The same as the Marhaya and Marhiydih of Chap. XXXVII, 82.
198 DADISTAN-{ DINiK.
ruling, produced from the endless light the shape of
a fire-priest (Asrik6) whose name was that of Athar-
mazd, and 2z¢s brilliance that of fire; z¢s incombusti-
bility was like ¢hat¢ inside the light, axd z¢s expansion
like the western (khfirbarag) land. 4. And in the
shape of the fire-priest was created by him the mate-
rial existence (stih) ¢ha¢ is called man, and for three
thousand years!, when it did not progress and did
“not eat, it did not speak; likewise, it did not utter,
but it thought of, the righteousness of the perfect
and true religion, the desire for the pure glorifica-
tion of the creator.
5. Afterwards, the contentious promise-breaker?
injured the life of it, azd produced a burdensome
mortality ; and the mortality is c/ear from the appel-
lation, Gayémard?, of the nature produced. 6. The
seed which was the essence of the life of the leader
(mirak6) of life, who was Gayémard, flowed forth
on fis passing away, came on to the earth of the
beneficent angel+, avd is preserved in the earth until,
through the protection of the angels, a brother and
1 This is the second of the four periods of three thousand years of which time is said to be composed (see Chap. XXXVII, 11 n). The ‘shape of the fire-priest’ is one of the spiritual creations of the first period, in which shape man was created during the second period, and this primeval man became Gaydémard (that is, ‘a living mortal’) through the persecution of the evil spirit (see § 5) at the commencement of the third period. The first two steps of this creation are not described in the text of the Bundahis known to Europeans.
* The evil spirit, who is said to be the origin of falsehood (see Chap. XXXVI, 11).
* Which means ‘the living mortal,’ or ‘the mortal living one.’
* The female archangel Spendarmad, who has special charge of the earth. Or the phrase may be ‘came on to the earth which the beneficent sfzrz¢ produced.’
Chapter Lxiv, 4—Lxv, I. 199
sister of mankind?, connected together, have grown
from it, ave attained to movement azd walking
upon the earth, azd have advanced even to inter-
course and also procreation.
7. The ground where the life of Ane ete de-
parted is gold, axd from the other land, where the
dissolution of fAzs various members occurred, as
many kinds of decorative metals flowed forth it is
said ®,
CHAPTER LXV.
1. As to the sixty-fourth question and reply, that
which you ask is thus: Where azd from what did
the origin of race, whzch they say was next-of-kin
marriage (khvétidad6)*, arise; and from what
place did it arise ?
? The Mashyaih and Mashyayoth, or man and woman, of § 2, who are said to have grown up, in the course of forty years, con- nected together in the shape of a plant; but, after a breathing soul had entered them, they became human beings, and fifty years later they began to be the progenitors of mankind (see Bd. XV, 1-30).
2 Zs. X, 2 states that eight kinds of metal arose from the various members of the dead Gayémard, namely, gold, silver, iron, brass, tin, lead, quicksilver, and adamant.
* Usually written khvétfik-das (Av. Avaétvadatha, ‘a giving of, or to, one’s own’). It is a term applied to marriages between near relations, and is extolled as specially meritorious. For cen- turies past the Parsis have understood it to refer to marriages between first cousins, and all allusions to marriage between nearer relations they attribute to the practices of heretics (see Sls. XVIII, 4n); though, like the professors of all other religions, they must admit the necessity of such a practice in the first family of mankind, as detailed in the text. Translations of other passages relating to the subject will be found in Appendix III, and it is also mentioned in Chaps. XXXVII, 82, LXXVII, 6, and LXXVIIL, 19.
200 DADISTAN=1 DINIK.
2. The-reply is this, that the first consummation
of next-of-kin marriage was owing to that whzch
Mashyaih azd Mashydydih! did, who were brother
and sister together, and their consummation of inter-
course produced a son? as a consummation of the
first next-of-kin marriage. 3. So that they effected
the first intercourse of man with woman, azd the
entire progress of the races of every kind of lineage
of men arose from that, avd all the men of the world
are of that race.
4. It is truly said, that it was the joy of the lord
and creator after the creation of the creatures, and,
owing to that, its consummation, which was his
complete accomplishment of the existence of the
creatures (dAm4nih), was owing to him. 5. And
its occurrence, too, is in evidence that the creator,
who is so with unflinching (at érak) will, is as much
the cause of the begetting and entire progress of his
own perfect creatures*, in whom begetting is by
destiny, as Héshang* by whom two-thirds® of the
demons were smitten, Takhmérup* who overturned
Aharman through the power of the angels, Yim by
* See Chap. LXIV, 2. The names are here written Mashyéth and Mashyéyoth.
* Twins, according to Bd. XV, 22, 24.
* That is, he is not only the original creator, but also the per- petual promoter of the increase and progress of the creation, as much as those who appear to be such promoters, though merely acting as his agents.
* Here written Héshyang. For the Av. names of these four primeval monarchs, see Chap. II, ron.
° K35 has ‘three-thirds, but see Aban Yt. 22, Ram Yt. 8, Zam- yad Yt. 26,
° He is said to have subjugated the evil spirit, and to have used him as a steed for thirty years (see Chaps. II, 10, XXXVII, 35).
Chapters Lav, 2—Lxvi,.3. 201
whom order was arranged and death was driven
away (avakAldé)}, Frédtin who fettered Az-t Da-
hak? and stripped his blaspheming (nirangak) from
the world, and the many princes (kay4n) and high-
priests of grave spirit who were, and are, and wrll be.
CuapTerR LXVI.
1. As ¢o the sixty-fifth question axzd reply, that
which you ask is thus:* Zere zs a man of wealth of
the good religion who fully intends to order a cele-
bration of all the rites of his religion; and a priest
of it, to whom the five chapters (fragard6) of the
Avesta (‘text’) of the correct law of the Nirangistan
(‘ religious-formula code’)* are easy through the
Zand (‘commentary’), is ever progressing in priestly
manhood (magéi-gabvath). 2. And he (the man)
goes unto him, and he (the priest) speaks thus: ‘All
the religious rites are performed for 350 dirhams*,
as a gift always given beforehand by them who give
the order unto me, so that I may come to them.’
3. A man of the disciples’, to whom the five
1 He is said to have kept away cold and heat, decay and death, and other evils from the earth (see Ram Yt. 16, Zamyad Yt. 33).
2 See Chap. XXXVII, 97.
* This was the name of one of the first thirty sections of the Hfisparfim Nask (see Chap. LXI, 3), and a portion of it, contain- ing the Pahlavi commentary (or Zand) of three chapters, with many Avesta quotations, is still extant.
* The word gfigan6, ‘dirham,’ is here omitted, but occurs in §§ 16,20. The sum of 350 dirhams would be about 122} ripis (see Chap. LII, 1 n).
* That is, those who are still learning their priestly duties (see Chap. XLV).
202 DADISTAN-t D{NIK.
sections (vidag) of the Avesta are easy, and no-
thing whatever of its Zand is easy’, then says unto
him—unto that man who intends to order all the
religious rites—thus: ‘For this gift I will conduct
all the religious rites for thee twice, with the appli-
ances in the land of Pars?, shouldst thou give the
order unto me. 4. For it is quite possible for me
to pray so many sections through my own exertion
(dast6), du¢ for him’ it is necessary to order again
of an officiating priest (pavan z6tak6), who is him-
self not able to pray any section, av does not himself
pray; and it is not necessary for him to go for the
control (parvdr)* of all the religious rites when a
stipend (bahar) is the one consideration within him,
and the matter is that he® may receive again. 5. fle
who das always himself prayed is better than he who
shall accept readily ad orders the work again, and
is not able to pray it himself, when a fulfilment is
tedious to him; when z¢ is I who® receive, I always
pray myself better than he who would accept readily
and orders again, and it brings on my business to a
closing point.’
6. The priestly man speaks thus: ‘ The considera-
1 It being far easier to learn the Avesta by heart than to under- stand its meaning by aid of the Pahlavi commentary; a competent knowledge of the latter being sought only by advanced disciples, and rarely attained by any but the most learned priests.
? Reading pavan bim-i Pars, as in § 15; K35 has here pavan biin-fras, ‘for opening the beginning,’ which might be understood to refer to the preliminary ceremonies for preparing the ceremonial apparatus, if the phrase were not otherwise written elsewhere. In § 21 K35 has pavan biin-f Pars,
* K35 omits the last letter of valman.
* Or, it may be ‘to the precincts.’ 5 Literally ‘1,
