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Pahlavi Texts, Part I (SBE05), E.W. West, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com
1. In one place it is declared that it is said by revelation (dînô) that a man is to go as much as possible (kand vês-ast) to the abode of fires 3, and the salutation (nîyâyisnŏ) of fire 4 is to be performed with reverence; because three times every day the archangels form an assembly in the abode of fires, and shed good works and righteousness there; and then the good works and righteousness, which are shed there, become more lodged in the body of him who goes much thither, and performs many salutations of fire with reverence.
2. This, too, that the nature of wisdom is just like fire; for, in this world, there is nothing which shall become so complete as that thing which is made with wisdom; and every fire, too, that they kindle and one sees from far, makes manifest what is safe and uninjured (aîrâkht); whatever is safe in fire is safe for ever, and whatever is uninjured in fire is uninjured for ever.
3. This, too, that a disposition in which is no wisdom is such-like as a clear, unsullied (anâhûk) fountain which is choked (bastŏ) and never goes into use; and the disposition with which there is wisdom is such-like as a clear, unsullied fountain, over which an industrious man stands and takes it into use; cultivation restrains it, and it gives crops (bar) to the world.
4. This, too, that these three things are to be done by men, to force the demon of corruption (nasûs) 1 far away from the body, to be steadfast in the religion, and to perform good works. 5. To force the demon of corruption far away from the body is this, that before the sun has come up one is to wash the hands 2 and face with bull's urine and water; to be steadfast in the religion is this, that one is to reverence the sun 3; and to perform good works is this, that one is to destroy several noxious creatures.
6. This, too, that the three greatest concerns of men are these, to make him who is an enemy a friend, to make him who is wicked righteous, and to make him who is ignorant learned. 7. To make
an enemy a friend is this, that out of the worldly wealth one has before him he keeps a friend in mind; to make a wicked one righteous is this, that from the sin, whereby he becomes wicked, one turns him away; and to make an ignorant one learned is this, that one is to manage himself so that he who is ignorant may learn of him.
8. This, too, that the walks of men are to be directed chiefly to these three places, to the abode of the well-informed, to the abode of the good, and to the abode of fires 1. 9. To the abode of the well-informed, that so one may become wiser, and religion be more lodged in one's person; to the abode of the good for this reason, that so, among good and evil, he may thereby renounce the evil and carry home the good 2; and to the abode of fires for this reason, that so the spiritual fiend may turn away from him.
10. This, too, that he whose actions are for the soul, the world is then his own, and the spiritual existence more his own; and he whose actions are for the body, the spiritual existence has him at pleasure, and they snatch the world from him compulsorily.
11. This, too, that Bakht-âfrîd 3 said, that every Gâtha (gâsân) 4 of Aûharmazd has been an opposition
of the one adversary, and the renunciation of sin (patîtîk) 1 for the opposition of every fiend.
12. This, too, that, regarding the world, anxiety is not to be suffered, it is not to be considered as anything whatever, and is not to be let slip from the hand. 13. Anxiety is not to be suffered for this reason, because that which is ordained will happen; it is not to be considered as anything whatever for this reason, because should it be expedient it is necessary to abandon it; and it is not to be let slip from the hand for this reason, because it is proper, in the world, to provide a spiritual existence for oneself.
14. This, too, that the best thing is truth, and the worst thing is deceit; and there is he who speaks true and thereby becomes wicked, and there is he who speaks false and thereby becomes righteous.
15. This, too, that fire is not to be extinguished 2, for this is a sin; and there is he who extinguishes it, and is good.
16. This, too, is declared, that nothing is to be given to the vile; and there is he by whom the best and most pleasant ragout (khûrdîk) is to be given to the vile.
17. On these, too, is the attention of men to be fixed, because there is a remedy for everything but death, a hope for everything but wickedness, everything will lapse 3 except righteousness, it is possible
to manage everything but temper (gôhar), and it is possible for everything to change but divine providence (bakô-bakhtô).
18. This, too, is declared, that Frêdûn 1 wished to slay Az-i Dahâk 2, but Aûharmazd spoke thus: 'Do not slay him now, for the earth will become full of noxious creatures.'
393:2 The contents of this chapter conclude the MS. M6; a few lines even having been lost at the end of that MS., though preserved in some of its older copies. A more modern copy, in the MS. No. 121 of the Ouseley collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, contains §§ 4-17, appended to the Bundahis. Complete Pâzand versions, derived from M6, occur in L7 and L22, immediately following the Pâzand of Chap. XVIII.
393:3 The fire-temple.
393:4 That is, the Âtâs Nyâyis is to be recited.
394:1 See Chap. II, 1.
394:2 See Chap. VII, 7.
394:3 See Chap. VII, 1-6.
395:1 The fire-temple.
395:2 Assuming that the word sapîrîh, 'the good,' has been omitted by mistake; the sentence appearing to be unintelligible without it.
395:3 See B. Yt. I, 7.
395:4 The word gâsân being plural, Gâtha must be taken in its collective sense as an assemblage of hymns. The word can also be read dahîsn, 'creation,' but this meaning seems improbable here.
396:1 That is, the Patit or formula of renunciation (see Chap. IV, 14).
396:2 Literally, 'killed.'
396:3 M6 ends at this point, the next folio being lost. The remainder of the chapter has been recovered from a copy in Bombay, checked by the Pâz. MSS. L7 and L22, all of which must have p. 397 been derived from M6 before it lost its last folio; whereas the MS. No. 121 of the Ouseley collection at Oxford, which ends at the same point, must have been written after the folio was lost.
397:1 See Bund. XXXI, 7.
397:2 See Bund. XXIX, 9, XXXI, 6, B. Yt. III, 55-61.