* Pahl. * Aragistán ódhávó (T dha)’=‘odh4-f Arangístánó ' of P. Vd. I, 77 (Sp); compare Av. “upa aodhaéshu Rang,hayau,' of Vd. I, 19; Yt. XII, 18. In the Iranian Bd. XX, 8 we are told that ‘the Arang river is that of which z/ is said that it comes out from Albürz in the land of Sürak, which they call also Sham (Sham); and it passes on through the land of Egiptós, which they call also Misr, and there they cail it the swift river Egipitdis.’ It is
152 SELECTIONS OF ZAD-SPARAM.
that ¢here was a river, and from them the body of
a naked woman floated, for the reason that, on account
of the strength and swiftness of the river, a woman,
except when she was quite naked while she was in
it, was not able to pass; and an old person, such as
he who is of seventy years and is called in revelation
a Hánó !, for want of power (a2páZiyávandih rai),
was not able to go back through it by his own
strength. 5. Zaratüst came on to the bank of the
water, and of women and old people seven persons
had come, and are passed on by him, zz the manner
of a bridge?; it was an emblem of the spiritual
performers? of bridging work, that is, of those pro-
viding a passage to heaven.
6. About his liberal disposition z7 is declared, that
the fodder of Pórüshaspó, which was stored for the
beasts of burden, was not only for the beasts of
Pórüshaspó in a scarcity, but also for distribution
among the beasts of others, which, owing to their
hunger on account of the scarcity, then constantly
ate off the tails of each other; and it was given to
them plentifully.
7. About his abandoning worldly desire, and his
laying hold of righteousness of way, this, too, is
declared, that when he became twenty years old,
without the consent (bên akámakih) of Zzs father
and mother, he wandered forth and departed from
—— M Án Sr). Nao a one of the two mythical rivers which were supposed to bound the Iránian world, and seems to represent the Aras as a northern and the Nile as a western boundary. Aran g often becomes Arag in Pahlavi, just as sang becomes sag.
* Av. hanó in Vd. III, 19, 20; &c.
* Probably holding each other's hands.
* The sacred beings who assist the ri
| ghteous souls to pass over the Kinvad bridge,
Chapter Xx, 5-13. 153
their house, and openly enquired thus: “Who is
most desirous of righteousness azd most nourishing
the poor?’ 8. And they spoke thus: ‘ He who is
the youngest (kéhist6) son of Afirvaité-dih! the
Tr, who every day gives an iron caldron (gêmak),
which is the height of a horse, full of bread and
milk and other food, unto the poor. 9. Zaratüst
went on to that place, and with his co-operation, for
the nourishment of the poor, some of the chief men
performed duty by carrying forth food for the poor.
10. About his compassion, not only upon man-
kind, but also his other creatures, this, too, is
declared, that a bitch was seen by him, which had
given birth to five? puppies, and it was three days
then that she ZaZ not obtained food *. 11. Whom-
ever she saw, she then advanced her mouth towards
him, and became as it were prostrated; Zaratüst
provided a remedy, dy swiftly bringing up bread for
her, óz£ when Ze was bringing it she had expired.
12. About his own desire for the good quality * of
a wife, on account also of the will of Zzs parents, and
fis not mingling his own seed before a suitable
obtainment, this, too, is declared, that when his father
sought a wife for him, Zaratüst argued with the
bride (nésh4) thus: ‘Show me thy face, so that |
may find out (barkhá m) its kind of appearance, and
this, too, whether its appearance ġe undesirable, or
shall not be gratifying ;' and the bride turned away
her face from him. 13. And Zaratüst spoke thus :
1 See Dk. VII, iv, 7 n.
2 T has ‘seven,’ but this difference may have arisen from an erroneous mode of writing the ciphers in T.
3 T has ‘a bone for food.’
* T has ‘ good child-bearing.’
154 SELECTIONS OF ZAD-SPARAM.
Whoever takes away a sight from me, does not practise respect for me.’
14. About his saving accepted progress even
from the iniquitous, 7Za£ listened sinfully desirous,
who accepted so much advantageousness as was
manifest, this, too, is declared, that he came into an
assembly who were well known in the place for
much knowledge, and he enquired of them thus:
‘What is most favourable for the soul?’ 15. And
they spoke thus: ‘To nourish the poor, to give
fodder to cattle, to bring firewood to the fire, to pour
Hóm-juice into water, and! to worship many demons
with words, with the words which are called revela-
tion (déné).’ 16. Then Zaratüst nourished the
poor, foddered the cattle, brought firewood to the
fire, and squeezed Hêm into water, bul never are
any demons whatever worshipped with words dy
Zaratist.
CHAPTER X XI.
I. About his coming to thirty years of age 7/ is
thus declared, that ox the lapse of thirty years
onwards from Zzs appearance, oz the day Anérán of
the month Spendazmaz"?, he had proceeded in that
direction zz which ZZere occurred the so-called festival
of spring (gasn6-i vahár)?, forty-five days beyond
* T inserts ‘not’ here, which is clearly wrong, and must have been introduced by some copyist who did not observe that the assembly, though learned, was sinful; and that the object of the anecdote is to exhibit Zaratüst's ability to distinguish between good works and sin, when still untaught by the sacred beings.
* On the last day of the twelfth Parsi month.
* The Maidhyózaremaya season-festival, held on the fifteenth day of the second Parsi month.
Chapter Xx, I4-Xxi, 6. 155
new-years day, a4 a place become specially noted,
where people went, from many quarters, out to the
place of festival (gasnó âr).
2. When Zaratüst, for the sake of going off to
the festival place, halted on the way in walking, he
chanced upon a solitary (aévaták) plain, and he
saw, in a vision, that mankind and a much-adorned
worldly exzstence were kept away to the north, so
that all the people in the earth have become fully
manifest in the north. 3. And he at the head
(pavan tékh) of them was Mé4yómáh, son of
Arástái ! even as Á rástái was brother of Pórüshaspó ? ;
Médyéméah was the leader of all mankind who have
gone out to the presence of Zaratüst, and he became
their guide, so that first MéZyómáh and afterwards
the whole material existence are attracted.
4. And about his coming out to the conference, oz
the lapse of those forty-five days, al the place of
festival 27 dawn oz the day Dadvó *-pavan-Mitré of
the month AzZavahistó. 5. And Zaratist, for the
purpose of squeezing the Hóm, went forth to the
bank of the water of the Dáitih, because it is the
river * of the conference for the supremacy (patih)
of Zaratüst, and is the water of Avan® which has
consisted of four channels (bét4). 6. Zaratüst also
! See Yt. XIII, 95.
? So Médyómáh was first cousin of Zaratüst, and became his first convert; see also Chap. XXIII, r.
s The Pahlavi letters represent Av. dadhvau, ‘creator’ ; com- pare the Khvárizmian name ,5» of the fifteenth day of the month in Sachau's Albirüni, p. 57, l. 35. The date here given is the fifteenth of the second month, as in § I.
* Assuming that rud stands for rfid.
^ Probably Anáhita, the female spirit of pure water, mentioned by her title Arédvisür in Chap. XVI, 3
156 SELECTIONS OF ZAD-SPARAM.
passed on through it; and its first channel was up to
the ankle!, the second up to the knee, the third up
to the parting of the two thighs, and the fourth up
to the neck. 7. This was an indicator that his
religion comes four times to supremacy ; the mani-
festations of which are through Zaratüst, Aüshézar,
A üshédar-máh, and Sósháns *.
8. When he came up from the water, and put on
his clothes, he then saw the archangel Vohümanó*
in the form (àyüinakó) of a man, handsome, brilliant,
and elegant, who wore his hair curve-tailed *, because
the curved tail is an indication of duality ; who had
put on and wore a dress like silk, than which ¢here
was no making anything superior, for it was light
itself ; and his height was. nine //z&s as much as ¢hat
of Zaratüst.
9. He also enquired of Zaratüst^ thus: ‘Who
mayst thou be, and from whom of them mayst thou
be ? also what is mostly thy desire, and the endeavour
in thy existence?’ ro. And he replied thus: ‘I am
Zaratüst of the Spitimas; among the existences
righteousness is more my desire, and my wish is that
I may become aware of the will of the sacred beings,
and may practise so much righteousness as they
exhibit to me in the pure existence.'
11. And Vohümanó directed Zaratüst * thus : ‘Do —— as Pe 088
* Literally ‘up to the leg (zang).’
* The past and future apostles of Zoroastrianism. For the last three, see Dk. VII, ix—xi.
* Compare Dk. VII, iii, 51-54.
* Assuming that vagdumak isa variant of the usual gagdümak. The scorpion (vagdum) would be a sign of duality, as, being
à noxious creature, it was produced by the evil spirit Aharman. * Compare Dk. VII, iii, 55-59.
* Compare. ibid. iii, 60-62.
Chapter Xxi, 7-I9. 157
thou proceed to an assembly of the spirits!’ 12. As
much as Vohümanó walked on in nine steps, Zara-
tüst dz in ninety steps, and when he had gone
nihety steps farther than him, he saw the assembly
of the seven archangels. 13. When he came within
twenty-four feet of the archangels, he then did not
see his own shadow on the ground, on account of
the great brilliancy of the archangels; the position
of the assembly was in Irán, and in the direction of
the districts on the bank of the water of the Daitih.
14. Zaratüst offered homage, and spoke thus:
‘Homage to AühazmazZ, and homage to the arch-
angels!’ and he went forward and sat down in the
seat of the enquirers.
IS. As to the asking of questions by Zaratüst, he
enquired of Athaymazd thus: ‘In the embodied
world which is the first of the perfect ones, which
the second, and which the third?’ 16. And Aüha»-
mazd replied thus: ‘The first perfection is good
thoughts, the second good words, and the third
good deeds.’
17. Zaratüst also enquired thus: ‘Which ¢hing
is good, which is better !, and which is the best of
all habits?’ 18. And Atharmazd replied thus:
‘The title? of the archangels is good, the sight of
them is better, and carrying out their commands is
the best of all habits.’
19. Afterwards he demonstrated the duality of
the original evolutions (bûn gastánó)?*, and the
divergence in each control, avd spoke thus: ‘Of
those spirits, he who was wicked preferred the
E MM —SLM .
1 Both MSS. have ‘ worse’ here.
2 This title, ameshaspenta, is ‘immortal benefactor.’
3 The two prime movers in creation.
158 SELECTIONS OF ZAD-SPARAM.
On 0 50 —
practice which is iniquitous (Aharman's desire was
for the practice which is iniquitous), and the spirit
of righteousness the propitious (Aühazmazg ) prefers
righteousness!) 20. Specially he demonstrated the
divergence in each control of the exhibitors of light,
and he spoke thus: ‘Neither our thoughts’, nor
desires, nor words, nor deeds, nor religion, nor
spiritual faculties agree*; he who is loving light, his
place is with the luminaries; and he who 25 loving
darkness is with the dark ones 4.
21. On the same day also, his omniscient wisdom
appeared three times: as regards the same first
questions, it pointed out the sky in great light and
splendour, and in its exhibition of the prevention of
darkness, at the sight of which z/ decomes an opposing
existence as regards that darkness. 22. And it.
exhibited its own appearance proportionally Zo the
sky, when it kept its head at the summit of the sky,
zts feet at the bottom of the sky, and z/s hands
reached to both sides of the sky; the sky also kept
ít covered, in the manner of a garment.
23. The six archangels* were manifest by their
similar stature (ham-basnih), in such manner that
it is obvious each one successively is apparently one
fingers breadth shorter than the other. 24. The
archangels exhibited three kinds of achievement
* Quoted from Pahl. Yas. XXX, 5 ab. The words in parentheses are glosses inserted by the Pahlavi translator.
