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The Zend Avesta, Part I (SBE04), James Darmesteter, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com
This Fargard may be divided into two parts.
First part (1-20). Ahura Mazda proposes to Yima, the son of Vîvanghat, to receive the law from him and to bring it to men. On his refusal, he bids him keep his creatures and make them prosper. Yima accordingly makes them thrive and increase, keeps death and disease away from them, and three times enlarges the earth, which had become too narrow for its inhabitants.
Second part (21 to the end). On the approach of a dire winter, which is to destroy every living creature, Yima, being advised by Ahura, builds a Vara to keep there the seeds of every kind of animals and plants, and the blessed live there a most happy life under his rule.
The tale in the first part refers to Yima as the first man, the first king, and the founder of civilisation (see Introd. IV, 38); the tale in
the second part is a combination of the myths of Yima, as the first dead and the king of the dead over whom he rules in a region of bliss, and of old myths about the end of the world. The world, lasting a long year of twelve millenniums, was to end by a dire winter, like the Eddic Fimbul winter, to be followed by an everlasting spring, when men, sent back to earth from the heavens, should enjoy, in an eternal earthly life, the same happiness that they had enjoyed after their death in the realm of Yima. But as in the definitive form which was taken by Mazdean cosmology the world was made to end by fire, its destruction by winter was no longer the last incident of its life, and therefore, the Var of Yima, instead of remaining, as it was originally, the paradise that gives back to earth its inhabitants, came to be nothing more than a sort of Noah's ark (see Introd. IV, 39, and Orm. Ahr. §§ 94, 131, 184, 185).
1. Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda:
O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
Who was the first mortal, before myself, Zarathustra, with whom thou, Ahura Mazda, didst converse 1, whom thou didst teach the law of Ahura, the law of Zarathustra?
2 (4). Ahura Mazda answered:
The fair Yima, the great shepherd, O holy Zarathustra! he was the first mortal, before thee, Zarathustra, with whom I, Ahura Mazda, did converse, whom I taught the law of Ahura, the law of Zarathustra.
3 (7) Unto him, O Zarathustra, I, Ahura Mazda, spake, saying: 'Well, fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, be thou the preacher and the bearer of my law!'
And the fair Yima, O Zarathustra, replied unto me, saying:
'I was not born, I was not taught to be the preacher and the bearer of thy law 1.'
4 (11). Then I, Ahura Mazda, said thus unto him, O Zarathustra:
'Since thou wantest not to be the preacher and the bearer of my law, then make thou my worlds thrive, make my worlds increase: undertake thou to nourish, to rule, and to watch over my world.'
5 (14). And the fair Yima replied unto me, O Zarathustra, saying:
'Yes! I will make thy worlds thrive, I will make thy worlds increase. Yes! I will nourish, and rule, and watch over thy world. There shall be, while I am king, neither cold wind nor hot wind, neither disease nor death.'
7 (17) 2. Then I, Ahura Mazda, brought two implements unto him: a golden ring and a poniard inlaid with gold 3. Behold, here Yima bears the royal sway!
8 (20). Thus, under the sway of Yima, three hundred winters passed away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and
dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was no more room for flocks, herds, and men.
9. Then I warned the fair Yima, saying: 'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and there is no more room for flocks, herds, and men.'
10. Then Yima stepped forward, towards the luminous space, southwards, to meet the sun 1, and (afterwards) he pressed the earth with the golden ring, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus:
'O Spenta Ârmaiti 2, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.'
11. And Yima made the earth grow larger by one-third than it was before, and there came flocks and herds and men, at his will and wish, as many as he wished 3.
12 (23). Thus, under the sway of Yima, six hundred winters passed away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was no more room for flocks, herds, and men.
13. And I warned the fair Yima, saying: 'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and there is no more room for flocks, herds, and men.'
14. Then Yima stepped forward, towards the luminous space, southwards, to meet the sun, and (afterwards) he pressed the earth with the golden ring, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus:
'O Spenta Ârmaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.'
15. And Yima made the earth grow larger by two-thirds than it was before, and there came flocks and herds and men, at his will and wish, as many as he wished.
16 (26). Thus, under the sway of Yima, nine hundred winters passed away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was no more room for flocks, herds, and men.
17 (28). And I warned the fair Yima, saying: 'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and, herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and there is no more room for flocks, herds, and men.'
18 (31). Then Yima stepped forward, towards the luminous space, southwards, to meet the sun, and (afterwards) he pressed the earth with the golden ring, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus:
'O Spenta Ârmaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.'
19 (37). And Yima made the earth grow larger by three-thirds than it was before, and there came flocks and herds and men, at his will and wish, as many as he wished.
21 (42) 1. The Maker, Ahura Mazda, of high renown 2 in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya 3, called together a meeting of the celestial gods.
The fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown 2 in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya, called together a meeting of the excellent mortals 4.
To that meeting came Ahura Mazda, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the celestial gods.
To that meeting came, the fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the excellent mortals.
22 (46). And Ahura Mazda spake unto Yima, saying:
'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Upon the material
world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; upon the material world the fatal winters 1 are going to fall, that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî deep on the highest tops of mountains 2.
23 (52). And all the three sorts of beasts shall perish, those that live in the wilderness, and those that live on the tops of the mountains, and those that live in the bosom of the dale, under the shelter of stables.
24 (57). Before that winter, those fields would bear plenty of grass for cattle: now with floods that stream, with snows that melt, it will seem a happy land in the world, the land wherein footprints even of sheep may still be seen 3.
25 (61). Therefore make thee a Vara 4, long as a
riding-ground on every side of the square 1, and thither bring the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires.
Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long. as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
26 (65). There thou shalt make waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there thou shalt settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shalt establish dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery 2.
27 (70). Thither thou shalt bring the seeds 3 of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
28 (74). Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds shalt thou bring, two of ever), kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
29 (80). There shall be no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no
decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined 1, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
30 (87). In the largest part of the place thou shalt make nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part thou shalt bring a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara thou shalt seal up with the golden ring 2, and thou shalt make a door, and a window self-shining within.'
31 (93). Then Yima said within himself: 'How shall I manage to make that Vara which Ahura Mazda has commanded me to make?'
And Ahura Mazda said unto Yima: 'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Crush the earth with a stamp of thy heel, and then knead it with thy hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter's clay 3.'
32. And Yima did as Ahura Mazda wished; he crushed the earth with a stamp of his heel, he kneaded it with his hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter's clay 4.
33 (97). And Yima made a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square. There he brought the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of
dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires. He made Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
34 (101). There he made waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there he settled birds, by the evergreen banks that bear never-failing food. There he established dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
35 (106). There he brought the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
36 (110). There he brought the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds he brought, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
37 (116) And there were no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
38 (123). In the largest part of the place he made nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part he brought a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That
[paragraph continues] Vara he sealed up with the golden ring, and he made a door, and a window self-shining within.
39 (129). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What lights are there to give light 1 in the Vara which Yima made?
40 (131). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘There are uncreated lights and created lights 2. There the stars, the moon, and the sun are only once (a year) seen to rise and set 3, and a year seems only as a day.
41 (33). 'Every fortieth year, to every couple two are born, a male and a female 4. And thus it is for every sort of cattle. And the men in the Vara which Yima made live the happiest life 5.'
42 (137). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is he who brought the law of Mazda into the Vara which Yima made?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'It was the bird Karshipta 1, O holy Zarathustra!'
43 (140). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the lord and ruler there?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Urvatad-nara 2, O Zarathustra! and thyself, Zarathustra.'
11:1 'On the law' (Comm.)
12:1 In the Vedas, Yama, as the first man, is the first priest too; he brought worship here below as well as life, and 'first he stretched out the thread of sacrifice.' Yima had once the same right as his Indian brother to the title of a founder of religion: he lost it as, in the course of the development of Mazdeism, Zarathustra became the titular law-giver (cf. Introd. IV, 40; Orm. Ahr. § 156).
12:2 The § 6 is composed of unconnected Zend quotations, that are no part of the text and are introduced by the commentator for the purpose of showing that 'although Yima did not teach the law and train pupils, he was nevertheless a faithful and a holy man, and rendered men holy too (?).'
12:3 As the symbol and the instrument of sovereignty. 'He reigned supreme by the strength of the ring and of the poniard' (Asp.)
13:1 Thence is derived the following tradition recorded by G. du Chinon: 'Ils en nomment un qui s’allait tous les jours promener dans le Ciel du Soleil d’où il aportait la sciance des Astres, aprez les avoir visités de si prez. Ils nomment ce grand personnage Gemachid' (Relations nouvelles du Levant, Lyon, 1671, p. 478). There is no direct connexion, as it seems, between the two acts of Yima, namely, between his going to the heaven of the sun and his enlarging the surface of the earth. The meaning of the first is given, perhaps, by the tale about the dream of Cyrus: 'He saw in a dream the sun at his feet: thrice he tried vainly to seize it with his hands, as the sun was rolling and sliding away. The Magi said to him that the threefold effort to seize the sun presaged to him a reign of thirty years' (Dino ap. Cicero, De Divin. I, 23). Yima goes three times to the sun, to take thence royal power for three times three hundred years. In Aryan mythology, the sun is, as is well known, the symbol and source of royalty: Persian kings in particular are 'the brothers of the sun.'
13:2 The genius of the earth (see Introd. IV, 33).
13:3 The happiness which Yima made reign on the earth is also p. 14 described Ys. IX, 4; Yt. IX, 8 seq.; Yt. XV, 15. In the Shâh Nâmah he is the founder of civilisation, of social order, of arts and sciences, and the first builder (cf. § 25 seq.)
15:1 § 20 belongs to the Commentary.
15:2 Or perhaps, 'whose voice was loud,' &c. (while proclaiming the law).
15:3 See Farg. I, Introd., and notes to § 2.
15:4 Primitively the souls of the righteous (see Introd. IV, 38).
16:1 The Commentary has here: Malkôsân, which is the plural of the Hebrew Malkôs, 'rain;' this seems to be an attempt to identify the Iranian legend with the biblical tradition of the deluge. The attempt was both a success and a failure; Malkôs entered the Iranian mythology and became naturalised there, but it was mistaken for a proper noun, and became the name of a demon, who by witchcraft will let loose a furious winter on the earth to destroy it (Saddar 9). What may be called the diluvial version of the myth is thus summed up in the Mainyô-i-khard: 'By him (Gamshîd) the enclosure of Jam-kard was made; when there is that rain of Malakosãn, as it is declared in the religion, that mankind and the remaining creatures and creations of Hôrmezd, the lord, will mostly perish; then they will open the gate of that enclosure of Jam-kard, and men and cattle and the remaining creatures and creation of the creator Hôrmezd will come from that enclosure and arrange the world again' (XXVII, 27 seq.; edited and translated by E. West).
16:2 'Even where it (the snow) is least, it will be one Vîtasti two fingers deep' (Comm.); that is, fourteen fingers deep.
16:3 Doubtful.
16:4 Literally, 'an enclosure.' This Vara is known in later mythology as the Var-Gam-kard, 'the Var made by Yima.'
17:1 'Two hâthras long on every side' (Comm.) A hâthra is about an English mile.
17:2 The last three words are ἅπαξ λεγόμενα of doubtful meaning.
17:3 To be sown in the ground, and to grow up into life in due time (? see § 41, text and note).
18:1 See Introd, V, 14.
18:2 Doubtful.
18:3 In the Shah Nâmah Gamshîd teaches the Dîvs to make and knead clay; and they build palaces at his bidding. It was his renown, both as a wise king and a great builder, that caused the Musulmans to identify him with Solomon.
18:4 From the Vendîdâd Sâdah.
20:1 From the Vendîdâd Sâdah.
20:2 Heavenly lights and material lights. The Commentary has here the following Zend quotation: 'All uncreated light shines from above; all the created lights shine from below.'
We give here the description of Irân-vêg according to a later source, the Mainyô-i-khard (as translated by West): 'Hôrmezd created Erã-vêz better than the remaining places and districts; and its goodness was this, that men's life is three hundred years; and cattle and sheep, one hundred and fifty years; and their pain and sickness are little, and they do not circulate falsehood, and they make no lamentation and weeping; and the sovereignty of the demon of Avarice, in their body, is little, and in ten men, if they eat one loaf, they are satisfied; and in every forty years, from one woman and one man, one child is born; and their law is goodness, and religion the primeval religion, and when they die, they are righteous (= blessed); and their chief is Gôpatshâh, and the ruler and king is Srôsh' (XLIV, 24).
20:3 Doubtful.
20:4 From the seeds deposited in the Vara (see §§ 27 seq., 35 seq.); in the same way as the first human couple grew up, after forty years, in the shape of a Reivas shrub, from the seed of Gayômard received by Spenta Ârmaiti (the Earth. See Bund. XV).
20:5 'They live there for 150 years; some say, they never die.' (Comm.) The latter are right, that is to say, are nearer the mythical p. 21 truth, as the inhabitants of the Vara were primitively the departed and therefore immortal.
21:1 'The bird Karshipta dwells in the heavens: were he living on the earth, he would be the king of birds. He brought the law into the Var of Yima, and recites the Avesta in the language of birds' (Bund. XIX and XXIV). As the bird, because of the swiftness of his flight, was often considered an incarnation of lighting, and as thunder was supposed to be the voice of a god speaking from above, the song of the bird was often thought to be the utterance of a god and a revelation (see Orm. Ahr. § 157).
21:2 Zarathustra had three sons during his lifetime (cf. Introd. IV, 40), Isad-vâstra, Hvare-kithra, and Urvatad-nara, who were respectively the fathers and chiefs of the three classes, priests, warriors, and husbandmen. They play no great part in Mazdean mythology, and are little more than three subdivisions of Zarathustra himself, who was 'the first priest, the first warrior, the first husbandman' (Yt. XIII, 88). Zarathustra, as a heavenly priest, was, by right, the ratu in Airyana Vaêgô, where he founded the religion by a sacrifice (Bund. XXXIII and Introd. III, 15).