* In Dk. the following is here inserted:—‘ And this, too, was thus considered by them, that in ome’s nature there is no wisdom, but in wisdom /here is nature, and in religion are both wisdom and nature. It is known how to manage the affairs of the spirit by the nature, they are preserved by wisdom, and the soul is preserved by aunion of both. And this, too, was thus considered by them, that shame is that which should not allow ove to commit sin, and dis- grace is that it would not allow to cause. And this, too, was thus considered by them, that the essential thing of the primitive faith is freedom from sin. And this, too, was thus considered by them, that one becomes diligent about that wth which he is conversant. And this, too, was thus considered by them, that the good thoughts that are in the records of the religion of every kind one should always put fully into practice, so far as he understands /hem. And this, too, was thus considered by them, that Atharmazd, the lord, produced these creatures through Azs nature, maintains ¢hem through wisdom, and forces them back to himself through religion,’
2 The evil spirit (see Chaps. II, rr, XIX, 1).
* Or‘ when he has done it,’ which would be expressed by the same words.
* Dk. omits ‘indeed.’
®’ In Dk, the following is here inserted :—‘ And this, too, was thus considered by them, that people are to keep an eye most “diligently on the world for these three things: that which is realis- able dy a sinner through sin, a follower made famous, and to beg the recompense of good works from the spirits: and keeping their eye on the world is said /o de this, that z/ 7s he who observes himself, so that a part of whatever he really desires he should always per- form. And this, too, was thus considered by them, that three
274 DApISTAN-I DINIK.
9. And this, too, was thus considered by them,
that a person of whatever description is to be kept’
in remembrance of the affairs of the spirit at every
period and time, and of the happiness of heaven and
misery of hell at that period when comfort, happi-
ness, and pleasure have come to him.
10. And this, too, was thus considered by them ?,
that happiness, indeed, would be there, in the
heaven of light®, when even here z¢ is so happy,
though, owing to many ¢hzngs*, Aharman—with
whom the happiness there is not connected—is
even here so happy at the time when distress,
vexation, azd misery have come hereto; and this,
too, was thus considered, that evils, indeed, would
be there, in hell, when here is such misery, though
even here much of the earthly happiness of Athav-
things which are very difficult to do are even such as these: one is not to render the sinfulness famous by the sin; one is not to exalt the opinions of the fiend, and the various sovereignties of the evil one, for the sake of wealth; and one is to beg the recompense of good works from the spirits, avd not from the world.’
* Dk. has merely ‘ keeps.’
Dk. has ‘ this, too, is to be considered,’ as a continuation of the preceding section.
° Dk. omits ‘ of light.’
* The oldest MS. of Dk. has ‘ though some of the much happiness of Atharmagzd,’ &c., as in the latter part of the section, omitting the passage referring to Aharman and hell; later MSS., however, insert a modified version of the omitted passage, and read as follows: ‘When even here z¢ is so happy at. the period when it should be distressing and the mischievous vexation of much pain has come; this, too, is to be considered, that misery, indeed, is the calamity (afat6) there, in hell, when even here z¢ is so, though some of the much happiness of Atharmazd,’ &c., as before. This interpolation in Dk. is evidently modern (as the word afat6 is Arabic and not Pahlavi), and was probably composed by a copyist in India who was acquainted with the text of Dk.
Chapter Xciv, 9-13. 275
mazd—with whom the misery there is not con- nected—is here so evil.
11. And this, too, was thus considered by them,
that that person is the more fortunate}, in whom
are soundness of body, happiness, and energy
(rayinisnd)?; who has done those things about
which the last wish of him who departs from the
world is then thus: ‘I wz// strive to do more;’ and
who shall have exercised much complete abstinence
from those things aéout which his last wish, when
he departs from the. world, is then such as ‘I we//
strive to do less, and it would have occurred more
comfortably for my soul 3.’
12. Do you good people of those of the good
religion of these countries of Iran keep in use the
laws appointed dy those of the primitive faith who
were high-priests, so that your bodies may become
more renowned, azd your souls more perfect, in
the radiant supreme heaven which‘ is the seat of
Atthaymazd and the archangels, of the angels and
all the guardian spirits of the righteous. 13. So these
are so many answers of the questions provided, and
are given explanatorily from the exposition of the
religion aud the statements of the high-priests of
? Dk. has ‘that a person is most fortunate in that.’
? M14 and J have ‘are the appearance of health of body and pleasure ;’ Dk. has ‘is the appearance of perfection.’
* Dk. concludes as follows: ‘who has done those things which are done, about which on his last day—when the things of the world depart—his wish is then thus, that ‘more endeavour should be made by me;’ and has exercised much abstinence from those things about which his last day’s wish is this, that the endeavour made should not be made.’ The quotations from Dk. end at this point.
* Reading mfin, as in Mr4 and J, instead of amat, ‘ when,’ (see Chap. LXII, 4 n.)
276 DADISTAN-? DINiK.
those of the primitive faith, and ave the nature of
the teachings ¢hat Mantsihar, son of Yadan-Yim?,
pontiff (radd5) of Pars and Kirman?, and’ director
(farmadar) ® of the profession of priests, ordered to
write.
14. Steadfast in the propitiation and praise of the
creator Atthaymazd is the righteousness of obtain-
ments of prayers, perfect is Zaratist, axd one only
is the way * which righteousness obtains, the others
are no ways; homage to the exalted pontiff sez¢ from
the creator Athaymazd, the heavenly, most righteous
Zarattist the Spitaman.
15. Completed in peace and pleasure, joy and
delight; happy for him who reads, azd happier for
him who keeps z¢ in use and shall take his duty
therefrom °, if they exist unto time eternal.
1 See p. 3, note 2.
2 The two southern provinces of Persia, bordering on the Persian Gulf.
° This title seems to be always spelt in Pahlavi with 4 in the middle syllable, so. that the form framapuHdr in Néldeke’s Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, p. 9, must be looked upon as an Arabic corruption, and the idea that it means ‘a pre- ceder or one who has precedence’ can hardly be maintained. It probably stands for farmaidar, ‘a director or commander,’ not in a military sense. It occurs also in Bd. XXXIII, 2, where the title ‘great farmadar’ is evidently equivalent to ‘prime minister, or grand vazir,’ but applied to a priest, as farm4d4r is here and in Chap. XLV, 5.
* Reading ras, as in Mr4, instead of ra, which is merely an imperfect word. This clause of the sentence is a slight modifica- tion of a well-known quotation (said to be taken from the lost part of the Hadékht Nask) which is often used in perorations.
* Or ‘who keeps to duty and shall do his duty theréby.’
Sal el ee Pte a ps
Of
be AcN, U.S.A ELAR.
I. TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF S{RKAN. II. TO HIS BROTHER, ZAD-SPARAM.
lI. TO ALL OF THE GOOD RELIGION IN IRAN.
A.D. 881.
OBSERVATIONS.
1. For all divisions into chapters and sections the translator is responsible, as the manuscripts are written continuously, with very few stops marked, and even those are often misplaced.
2-6. (The same as on page 2.)
BK, an old imperfect copy of K35 written in Kirman, but now in Bombay.
J (about 60 years old), belonging to Dastir Jémaspji Minochi- harji in Bombay.
K35 (probably written a.p. 1572), No. 35 in the University Library at Kopenhagen; upon the text of which this translation is based.
Mio (about 150 years old), a Persian Rivayat, No. 10 of the Haug Collection in the State Library at Munich.
Bristles: of Manousk Thar
Soe gd Ba 0 I neg
TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF SIRKAN.
TuHRouGH the name and assistance of the creator
Atthaymazd and the whole of the sacred beings,
all the angels of the spiritual avd the angels of the
worldly exzstences.
A copy of the epistle of the priest MAndsfihar!,
son of Yfidan-Yim, which was composed by him for
the good people of Sirkan’, on the contents of the
precepts (vigir-kard6) which the priest Zad-
sparam *, son of Yiidan-Yim, prepared.
1. Jw the name of the sacred beings, who sent
you a soul with long life, with provision for proper
progress, and with the protection of increase of
righteousness and wisdom, may such works and
1 The high-priest of Pars and Kirman (see the heading to Dd., P- 3).
# Written Sirkaén once, Sirk4énd twice, and Sirgan6 four times, in these epistles. It was a town of considerable importance in former times (see Ouseley’s Oriental Geography, pp. 138-145), about thirty parasangs south of Kirman.
* He was high-priest of Sirkan and brother of Manfisfihar (as expressly stated in the heading to Ep. II), both being sons of the same father,
280 EPISTLES OF MANUSKIHAR.
mysterious dignity, encompassed with’ happiness,
now possess increasing prosperity and a complete
share of pre-eminent welfare and great exaltation in
both worlds.
2. The epistle? which was wisely, properly, and
with religious demeanour ordered by you, avd sent
by a courier (patkd), Zas come, and sas enveloped
and assailed (gastd) me, indeed, with appalling
intelligence on other subjects; and if even a por-
tion® of the vast importance and great value, as
regards your heavenly concerns, arrangements, and
natural azd unpremeditated (avarik) prodigies‘,
which are for my knowledge, for the sake of
courteous (dridik) information, de owing to in-
telligence for which the courteousness aud proper
courageousness are among you, special pleasure is
received ¢herewith. 3. And praise is, thereupon,
recited by me to the sacred beings, as regards the
conflicting affairs even of this disordered (gimé
zisnik6) existence; worldly possessions, as much as
are suitable for the assistance of wisdom, are proper®,
and the gift of virtuous pleasure is the gain of the
undeserving good work oy prayer they (the sacred
beings) shall accept; it causes aggrandizement and
is as deserving as even that which the decision of
? Or, ‘sent down in,’ according as we read parvasto or frdésto.
* An epistle complaining of certain heretical teachings of their high-priest, Zid-sparam, which is no longer extant.
* Reading va hat vahar-ié.
* The epistle which he had received from his brother, Zad- sparam, some time before, seems also to have mentioned certain omens (see Ep. II, i, 3).
* J omits shayed6, ‘are proper, because it follows the other shayed, ‘are suitable ;’ but it is not always safe to assume that the repetition of a word is a blunder.
Epistle I, Chapter I, 2—5. 281
the wise has said about 2¢, that even from the
management of disordered possessions which are
impaired ¢here is advantage through the power of
wisdom; azd they (the sacred beings) select and
cleanse and uplift the good works zz such manner
as a precious stone (sag khél) from the water, and
gold brocade! from the dust.
4. My pleasure, also, is as much increased through
the information due to the same courtesy, aud [
have a new and great desire for the arrival of
information, continuously from henceforth, about
the perfect courageousness, enduring humility, good
works, worshipping, favouring position, and eager-
ness of soul of you who ave recounted your great
thoughtfulness for religion axd have provided good
works.
5. On account of the universal renown (aspéha-
rakanih) of the good feople of Khvaniras?, which
is yours, owing to the favour that is your complete
happiness, ardently azd joyfully most desired, and
constantly so, when ¢here are opportunities of seeing
you—though it is supposed Zo de the advantage of
your own religion, joy of soul, courteousness, and
proper constancy—since my will resedes among you,
you make known azd command my actions, through
the will of the sacred beings.
? Reading dipak6-?f zahaba.
* The central region of the earth, containing all the lands best
known to the Iranians (see Dd. XC, 3).
282 EPISTLES OF MANUSKIHAR.
