* That is, when there is only light, and no darkness.
* J has ‘I zw2/ sit and move alone within it;’ and the Persian version has ‘I will sit alone in that place.’
I. Legends Relating to Keresasp. 379
Zaratist the Spitaman wept aloud! azd spoke thus :
“Though ¢kere should be no deceiver, 1 would be
the deceiver in ¢Zy eyes’,O Atharmazd! as regards
the soul of Keresdsp ; for when Keresdsp should not
have existed as a bodily-and living exzstence, there
would have been no remnant of anything whatever,
or of creature of thine, in the world?.”
‘When Zaratist had become silent therewith, the
angel of fire* stood upon Azs feet®, and the sinfulness
of Keresdsp unto himself was fully mentioned by
him, and he spoke thus: “I shall not let him into
heaven.” |
‘And the angel of fire, having spoken thus many ~
* The Persian version does not mention.the angels and the weeping.
* This can also be translated thus: ‘Though thou shouldst be no deceiver, thou wouldst be a deceiver in my eyes;’ the words hdmanayé, ‘would be,’ and hémanés, ‘ thou wouldst be,’ being written alike.
* The Persian version of this speech is, ‘O good creator! I know that hatred and anger are not in thy path, and when any one indulges in hatred of another, there is no acquiescence of thine therein, yet now I see this matter as though some one maintained hatred against another.’
* The Persian version says ‘the archangel Ardibahist,’ who is the protector of fire (see Sls. XV, 5, 12, 13).
° The Persian version proceeds, and concludes the sentence, as follows: ‘and Keresasp groaned unto Zarattist the Spitam4n, and Ardibahist, the archangel, said: “ O Zaratust ! thou dost not know what Keresdsp has done unto me; that in the world, formerly, my custom and habit would have been so, that, as they would place firewood under a caldron, I would send the fire, until that caldron should be boiled, and their work should be completed, amd then it would have come back to its own place. As that serpent that he speaks of was slain he became hungry, and because the fire fell one moment later upon the firewood which he had placed below the caldron, he smote the fire wi/i a club and scattered the fire, and now I wi/l not pass the soul of Keres4sp to heaven,”’
3280 APPENDIX.
words, desisted; and the angel Géds-afrvan? stood
upon her feet, and spoke thus: “I shall not let Zzm
into hell, for the benefit produced by him for me
was manifold.”
‘Gés-atrvan, having spoken thus many words,
desisted?; avd Zaratist stood upon zs feet, and
homage was offered by him unto the fire, and he
spoke thus: “I shall provide care for thee, and shall
speak of thy exploits in the world, and I shall speak
to Vistasp? and Gamasp ‘ thus: ‘ Observe fully that
a place is made for the fire as z¢ were at once!’ when
Keresdsp as engaged in renunciation of szz, and
you shall forgive him®’’’
The Pahlavi legend breaks off at this point, leaving
1 Av. geus urva, ‘the soul of the ox,’ that is, of the primeval ox, from which all the lower animals are supposed to have been developed. This angel, who is usually called Gés, is said to be a female, and is the protectress of cattle (see Bd. IV, 2-5); in this capacity she is supposed to be friendly to Keresasp, whose exploits had chiefly consisted in slaying the destroyers of animal life.
* The Persian version omits these words, and the preceding para- graph, proceeding in continuation of note 5, p. 379, as follows: ‘And as Ardibahist, the archangel, spoke these words, the soul of Keresasp wept and said: “ Ardfbahist, the archangel, speaks truly; I com- mitted sin and I repent.” And he touched the skirt of Zaratfist zzth Azs hand, and said : “ Of mankind no one has obtained the eminence, rank, and dignity that thou obtainedst; now, through this grandeur and glory which is thine, do thou entreat and make intercession of Ardibahist, the archangel, for me! so that it may be that I obtain liberation from this distress and torment.” ’
§ See Dd. XXXVII, 36. * See Dd. XELV, 26.
° The Persian version continues as follows : ‘ And as Zarattist the Spitaman made intercession, Ardfbahist, the archangel, said: “ Thy reputation is immense, and thy will is great.”’ And after that he made no opposition to the soul of Keresasp, but pardoned 7# for Zaratiist the Spitam4n ; and the soul of Keres4sp obtained liberation from that discomfort.’ This version then concludes with an admo- nition as to the necessity of treating fire with proper respect.
I. Legends Relating to Keresasp. 381
the reader to infer that Zaratist’s request was granted.
It is succeeded, however, by the following further
remarks about Keresdsp, which are evidently con-
nected with the same legend :—
‘Zaratdst enquired of Adhaymazd thus: “ Whose is the first dead dody thou shalt unite (varazés) ?”
‘And Athavmazd spoke thus!: ‘“ //zs who is Keresdsp?.”
‘And it seemed grievous Zo Zaratist, and he
spoke unto Afthaymazd thus: “ When the business
of Keresasp was the slaughter of men, why is his
the first dead dody thou wilt prepare ?”
‘Atharvmazd spoke thus: “Let it not seem
grievous to thee, O Zarattst! for if Keresasp had
not existed, and thus much work had not been
done by him, which “as been stated, ¢here would
have been no remains of thee, nor of any creature
of mine.”’
Besides the Persian paraphrase of this legend, in
prose, the Persian Rivayats contain another version
in metre, which consists of 173 couplets’. The
exploits of Keresdsp are also mentioned in the
Mainyé-i Khard (X XVII, 49-53) as follows :—
‘And from Sam the advantage was this, that by
him the serpent Sruvar, the wolf Kapéd which they
also call Pehan‘4, the water-demon Gazdarfi, the bird
Kamak’, and the bewildering® demon were slain.
? J omits the following words as far as the next ‘ thus.’
* Referring to the revival of Keresdsp from his trance, in order to destroy Dahak, which is expected to take place before the general resurrection (see Bd. XXIX, 8, Byt. III, 59-61).
* In Bzg, fols. 169-171, it is quoted from ‘ the book of Bahirém Firfiz.’
* Written Péhind, or Pasind, in the Pahlavi text.
* See p. 378, note 1. ® Or ‘seducing,’ or ‘ desolating.’
282 APPENDIX.
And also many other great actions, that weve more
valuable, he performed; and he kept back much
disturbance from the world, of which, if one of those
special disturbances had remained behind, it would
not have been possible to effect the resurrection and
the future existence.’
Ii]. the Nirang-I Kusti. 383
II]. THe Nirane-1t Kustt.
Tue Nirang-i Kustt, or girdle formula, isa religious
rite which a Parsi man or woman ought to perform
every time the hands have been washed, whether for
the sake of cleanliness, or in preparation for prayer ;
but it is not always strictly performed in all its
details. :
The Kusti, or sacred thread-girdle, is a string :
about the size of a stay-lace, and long enough to pass
three times very loosely round the waist, to be tied
twice in a double knot, and to leave the short ends
hanging behind. It is composed of seventy-two
very fine, white, woollen threads, as described in
Dd. XX XIX, I, note, and is tied in the manner
there mentioned, but with the actions and ritual
detailed below’.
The ceremonial ablution having been performed,
and the Kusti taken off, the person stands facing the
sun by day, or a lamp or the moon at night; when
there is no light he should face the south, as he
should also at midday, even when the sun is
northerly*. The Kusti is then doubled, and the loop
thus formed is held in the right hand, with the thumb
in the loop; while the left hand holds the two parts
of the string together, some twenty inches hori-
zontally from the other hand; and the ends hang
loosely from the left hand.
* For most of the details which follow I am indebted to Dastir JamAspji Minochiharji JamaAsp-As4-nd. * As it is, in Bombay, for about two months in the summer.
384 APPENDIX.
Holding the Kusti in this fashion, the person
recites the following prayer in Pazand, bowing and
raising to his forehead the horizontal portion of the
string at the name of Adhaymazd, dashing the string
loosely and sharply downwards towards the left when
mentioning Aharman, and repeating this downward
jerk to the left, less violently, as each of the other
evil beings is named :—‘ May Atharmazd be lord!
and Aharman unprevailing, keeping far away, smitten,
and defeated! May Aharman, the demons, the fiends,
the wizards, the wicked, the Kiks, the Karaps?, the
tyrants, the sinners, the apostates, the impious, the
enemies, azd the witches be smitten azd defeated !
May evil sovereigns be unprevailing! May the
enemies be confounded! May the enemies be
unprevailing !’
Bending forwards and holding the doubled Kusti
up, horizontally, as before, he continues: ‘Adhav-
mazd zs the lord; of all sin I am zz renunciation and
penitent, of all kinds of evil thoughts, evil words,
and evil deeds, whatever was thought by me, and
spoken by me, and done by me, and happened
through me, and has originated through me in the
world.’
Then, holding the Kustt single with both hands
near the middle of the string, but as far apart as
before, while the loose ends of the string are short-
* These two Pahlavi names are merely transliterations of the Av. Kavi and Karapan, the names of certain classes of evil-doers, traceable back to the earliest times, and, probably, to the Vedic kavi and kalpa, which would naturally be used in a bad sense in the Avesta (see Haug’s Essays, p. 289). The Pahlavi translators of the Yasna explain these names by the words kiir, ‘ blind,’ and kar, ‘ deaf,’ which are merely guesses.
II, THE NIRANG-I KusTt. 385
ened (to prevent their touching the ground) by being
partially gathered up in a large loop hanging under
each hand, like a pair of spectacles, he proceeds:
‘For those sins of thought, word, azd deed, of body
and soul, worldly axzd spiritual, do thou pardon this
one!! I am penitent avd in renunciation through the
three words?,’
He then continues to recite the following Avesta
phrases: ‘Satisfaction for Ahura-mazda!’ bowing
and raising the Kusti to the forehead; ‘scorn for
Angra-mainyu!’ jerking the Kusti to the left, with-
out altering the mode of holding it; ‘which is the
most forward of actual exertions through the will.
Righteousness is the best good, a blessing it is; a
blessing de to that which zs righteousness to perfect
rectitude®.’ Applying the middle of the Kusti to
the front of the waist at the first word, ‘ righteous-
ness, of the last sentence, it is passed twice round
the waist during the remainder of the sentence, by
the hands meeting behind, exchanging ends, and
bringing them round again to the front.
The following Avesta formula is then recited:
‘As a patron spirit is to be chosen, so is an earthly
master, for the sake of righteousness, ¢o de a giver of
good thought of the actions of life towards Mazda;
and the dominion is for the lord whom he has given
1 The Pazand word is ukhé or aokhé, which the Gugarati Khurdah Avesta translates by khudat4ela, ‘most high God;’ but it seems more probably a misreading of Pahl. han4-r, ‘this one.’ These phrases are a portion of the Patit or renunciation of sin.
* That is, in thought, word, and deed. So far the phrases are recited in Pazand, but the following recitations are in the Avesta
language. * This last sentence is the Ashem-vohfi formula (see Bd. XX, 2).
(18) ore
oe}
86 APPENDIX.
as a protector for the poor!’ At the first word the
long ends of the Kusti, hanging in front, are loosely
twisted round each other at the waist, with a right-
handed turn (that is, with the sun), and the reciter,
holding his hands together, should think that Adhar-
mazda is the sole creator of the good creation, until he
comes to the word ‘actions,’ after which the twist is
drawn closer to the waist during the remainder of
the recitation.
The same Avesta formula is then repeated. At
the first word the second half of the knot is formed,
by twisting the long ends of the Kusti loosely round
each other with a left-handed turn (that is, against
the sun), so as to complete a loose reef-knot, and the
reciter, holding his hands together, should think that
Mazda-worship is the true faith, until he comes to
the word ‘actions,’ after which the complete double
knot is drawn close during the remainder of the
recitation.
Then, passing the long ends of the Kusti round
the waist for the third time, from front to back, the
previous Avesta formula, ‘Righteousness is the best
vood, &c., is recited. At the first word the ends
of the Kusti are loosely twisted round each other
behind the waist, with a right-handed turn as before,
and the reciter should think that Zarattist was the
true apostle, until he comes to the first occurrence of
the word ‘blessing, when the twist is drawn close.
Luring the remainder of the formula the second half
of the knot is formed, with a left-handed twist as
before, while the reciter thinks that he must practise
