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Pahlavi Texts, Part II (SBE18), E.W. West, tr. [1882], at sacred-texts.com
1. As to the thirty-sixth question and reply, that which you ask is thus: How shall they produce the resurrection, how do they prepare the dead, and when the dead are prepared by them, how are they? 2. When it is produced by them, is an increase in the brilliance of the stars, moon, and sun necessary, and does it arise, or not? are there seas, rivers, and mountains, or not? and is the world just as large as this, or does it become more so and wider?
3. The reply is this, that the preparation and production of the resurrection are an achievement connected with miracle, a sublimity (rabâîh), and, afterwards, also a wondrous appearance unto the creatures who are uninformed. 4. The secrets and affairs of the persistent creator are like every mystery and secret; excepting himself--he who is capable of all knowledge, the fully-informed, and all in all (vispânŏ vispô)--no one of the worldly beings and imperfect spirits has known them.
5. A true proverb (gôbisnŏ-gô) of the intelligent and worldly, which is obvious, is that as it is easier in teaching to teach again learning already taught and forgotten than that which was untaught, and easier to repair again a well-built house, given gratuitously, than that which is not so given, so also the formation again of that which was formed is more excellent (hunîrtar), and the wonder is
less, than the creation of creatures. 6. And through the wisdom and glory of the omniscient and omnipotent creator, by whom the saddened (âlîkhtŏ) creatures were created, that which was to perish is produced again anew, and that which was not to perish, except a little, is produced handsome even for a creation of the creator 1.
7. He who is a pure, spiritual creature is made unblemished; he, also, who is a worldly creature is immortal and undecaying, hungerless and thirstless, undistressed and painless; while, though he moves (gundêdŏ) in a gloomy, evil existence, the fiend is rightly judging from its arrangement (min nivârdŏ) that it is not the place of a beneficent being, but the place of an existence which is deadly, ignorant, deceiving, full of malice, seducing, destroying, causing disgrace; making unobservant (aûbêngar), and full of envy. 8. And his existence is so full of malice, deceit, seductiveness, unobservance, destructiveness, and destruction that he has no voice except for accomplices (ham-bûdîkân) and antagonists, except also for his own creatures and gossips when their hearts are desirous of evil, seducing, destroying, making unobservant, causing malice, and bearing envy. 9. And he is disclosed (vishâd) from his own origin and abyss full of darkness, unto the limits of darkness and confines of the luminaries; and in his terribleness and demoniacal deliberation he gazes at the unblemished light and creatures of the beneficent Aûharmazd. 10. And through abundant envy and complete maliciousness is his lying; and he mounts (sûbârêdŏ) to seize, destroy,
render unobservant, and cause to perish these same well-formed creatures of the sacred beings. I1. And owing to his observance of falsehood he directed falsehood and lies with avidity (varenô), which were necessary for obtaining his success in his own rendering others unobservant (aûbênŏ); even in the nine thousand winters (hazangrôk zîm) 1 of falsehood that which is disregarded therein is his own falsity.
12. He who is the most lordly of the lords of the pre-eminent luminaries, and the most spiritual of spirits, and all the beings of Aûharmazd the creator--who was himself capable of an effectual (tûbânŏ) gain for every scheme of his 2--do not allow that fiend into the interior, into the radiance (farôgîd) of the luminaries. 13. And they 3 understood through their own universal wisdom that fiend's thoughts 4 of vileness, and meditation of falsehood
and lies, and became aware of them by themselves and through their own intuition, and shall not accept the perdition (aôshîh) of the fiend, but are to be rightly listening to the commands of him 1 who is worthy. 14. For his 2 is not the nature of him who is good, nor the wisdom of him who is propitious; and he does not turn from the confines of the shining ones, and the developments pertaining to those of the good being 3, until he arrives at the creatures; and he struggles in an attempt (aûzmânŏ), spreads forth into the sky, is mobbed (garôhagî-aît) in combats, is completely surrounded, and is tested with perfect appliances. 15: His resources, also, are destroyed, his internal 4 vigour is subdued, his weapons of falsehood are disregarded, and his means of deceiving shall perish; and with completeness of experience, thorough painfulness, routed troops, broken battle-array, and disarranged means he enjoys on the outside the radiance of the luminaries with the impotence (anaîyyâragîh) of a desire which again returns to him.
16. And the same well-shining light of all kinds of the creator, when they shall not let in him who is Aharman, shall remain an unlimited time, while the fiend is in household attendance on those of the frontier through not being let in, and constantly troubled at the everlasting creatures. 17. The household attendance of the fiend seemed to it 5 perpetually afflicting; and also the previous struggle
of the fiend when the celestial spirit (ahvô) pertaining to the luminaries was not contended with by him, his defeat (makhîtûntanŏ) when the luminaries were not defeated by him, his infliction of punishment before sin, and his causing hatred before hatred exists are all recounted by it to the justice and judiciousness whose unchangeableness, will, persistence, and freedom from hatred--which is the character of its faithful ones--are not so 1, to him who is the primeval (pêsakŏ) creator.
18. The fiend, after his falsity, the struggle--on account of the fighting of the shining ones and the decreed keeping him away which was due to the fighter for the luminaries--and the ill-success of the struggle of himself and army, ordered the beating back of the worthy fighter against destruction, the malicious avenging again of the causer of hatred, and the destroyer's internal vileness and disorganisation anew of his own place. 19. He saw the beneficent actions by which, through the wisdom of Aûharmazd, the spiritual wisdom 2, within the allotted (burîn-hômônd) time, the limited space, the restricted conflict, the moderate trouble, and the definite (fargâm-hômand) labour existing, struggles against the fiend, who is the unlawful establisher of the wizard; and he returned inside to fall disarmed (asâmânŏ) and alive, and until he shall be fully tormented (pûr-dardag-hâe) and shall be thoroughly experienced, they shall not 3 let him out again in the allotted time that the fiend ordered for the success of falsehood and lies. 20.
[paragraph continues] And the same fiend and the primeval (kâdmôn) demons are cast out confusedly, irreverently, sorrowfully, disconcertedly, fully afflicting their friends, thoroughly experienced, even with their falsehoods and not inordinate means 1, with lengthy slumbers, with broken-down (avasîst) deceits and dissipated resources, confounded and impotent, into the perdition of Aharman, the disappearance of the fiend, the annihilation of the demons, and the non-existence of antagonism.
21. To make the good creatures again fresh and pure, and to keep them constant and forward in pure and virtuous conduct is to render them immortal; and the not letting in of the co-existent one 2, owing to the many new assaults (padgastŏîh) that occur in his perpetual household attendance 3 of falsity--through which there would have been a constant terror of light for the creatures of the sacred beings--is to maintain a greater advantage. 22. And his (Aûharmazd's) means are not the not letting in of the fiend, but the triumph arranged for himself in the end--the endless 4, unlimited light being also produced by him, and the constantly-beneficial space 5
that is self-sustained--which (triumph) is the resource of all natures, races, characters, powers, and duties from the beginning and maturing of those of the good religion and the rushing of the liar and destroyer on to the creatures, which are requisite for the final, legitimate triumph of the well-directing creator, and for the termination of the struggles of all by the protection and recompense of the praises and propitiation performed, which are the healing of the righteous and the restoration of the wicked at the renovation. 23. Even these developments, even these established habits (dad-sânîhâ), even these emissions of strength, even these births, even these races, even these townspeople (dihîkŏîhâ), even these characters, even these sciences 1, even these manageable and managing ones 2, and even these other, many, special species and manners which at various periods (anbânŏ) of time are in the hope that the quantity and nature of their auxiliaries may be complete, and their coming accomplished and not deficient in success (vakhtŏ), are distributed and made happy by him.
24. The sky is in three thirds, of which the one at the top is joined to the endless light, in which is the constantly-beneficial space; the one at the
bottom reached to the gloomy abyss, in which is the fiend full of evil; and one is between those two thirds which are below and above. 25. And the uppermost third, which is called 'the rampart of the supreme heaven' (garôdmânô drupûstŏ) 1, was made by him with purity, all splendour, and every pleasure, and no access to it for the fiend. 26. And he provided that third for undisturbedly convoking the pure, the archangels, and the righteous that have offered praises who, as it were unarmed (azenâvar), struggle unprepared and thoroughly in contest with the champions of the co-existent one, and they smite the co-existent one and his own progeny (gôhârakŏ) already described, and afford support to the imperishable state 2, through the help of the archangels and the glory of the creator. 27. And, again also, in their 3 fearlessness they seek for the destruction of the demons and for the perfection of the creatures of the good beings; as one who is fearless, owing to some rampart which is inaccessible to arrows and blows, and shoots arrows at the expanse below, is troubled (bakhsêdŏ) for friends below.
28. And he made a distinction in the prescribed splendour and glory for the lowermost third of the sky; and the difference is that it is liable to injury (pavan resh), so that the fiend, who is void of goodness, comes and makes that third full of darkness and full of demons, and shall be able to perplex in that difficulty when the thousand winters occur, and the five detested (lakhsîdakŏ) kinds of the
demons of life 1 have also overwhelmed with sin those of the wicked who are deceived by the demons and have fled from the contest. 29. But they shall not let the fiend fully in, owing to the luminaries of the resplendent one, during the allotted time when the demons' punishing and the repentance of the wicked are accomplished.
30. And he appointed for the middle third the creatures of the world separated 2 from, the world and the spiritual existence; and among those creatures 3 were produced for them the managing man as a guardian of the creatures, and the deciding wisdom as an appliance of man; and the true religion, the best of knowledge was prepared by him. 31. And that third is for the place of combat and the contest of the two different natures 4; and in the uppermost part of the same third is stationed by him the light of the brilliant sun and moon and glorious stars, and they are provided by him that they may watch 5 the coming of the adversary, and revolve around the creatures. 32. All the sacred ceremonies of the distant earth (bûm), the light, the abundant rains, and the good angels vanquish
and smite the wizards and witches who rush about below them 1, and struggle to perplex by injury to the creatures; they make all such assailants become fugitives 2. 33. And through their revolution the ascents and descents, the increase and diminution (narafsisnŏ), of the creatures 3 shall occur, the flow and ebb of the seas, and the increase of the dye-like 4 blood of the inferior creatures 5; also owing to them and through them have elapsed the divisions of the days, nights, months, years, periods, and all the millenniums (hazagrôk zîmân) of time.
34. He also appointed unto our forefathers the equipment which is their own, a material vesture, a sturdy bravery, and the guardian spirits of the righteous; and he provided that they should remain at various times in their own nature 6, and come into worldly vesture. 35. And those for great hosts and many slaves are born, for the duties of the period, into some tribe; he who has plenty of offspring is like Fravâk 7, he who is of the early law
[paragraph continues] (pêsdâdŏ) like Hôshâng 1, he who is a smiter of the demon like Tâkhmôrup 2, he who is full of glory like Yim 3, he who is full of healing like Frêdûn, he who has both wisdoms 4 like the righteous Mânûskîhar 5, he who is full of strength like Keresâsp 6, he who is of a glorious race like Kai-Kavâd 7, he who is full of wisdom like Aôshânar 8. 36. He who is noble is like Sîyâvash 9, he who is an eminent doer (avarkâr) like Kaî-Khûsrôî 10, he who is exalted like Kaî-Vistâsp 11, he who is completely good like the righteous Zaratûst 12, he who arranges the world like Peshyôtanû 13, he who is over the religion (dînô-avarag)
like Atûrŏ-pâd 1, he who is liturgical like Hûshêdar 2, he who is legal like Hûshêdar-mâh, and he who is metrical and concluding like Sôshâns. 37. Among them are many illustrious ones, glorious doers, supporters of the religion, and good managers, who are completely (âpûr) for the smiting of the fiend and the will of the creator.
38. He also produced the creatures as contenders, and granted assistance (vêdvarih), through the great, in the struggle for the perfect happiness from heaven at the renovation 3 of the universe; and he made them universally (vâspôharakânîhâ) contented. 39. A vitiated thought of a living, well-disposed being is a stumble (nisîvŏ) which is owing to evil; and these are even those 4 contented with death, because they know their limit, and it shall be definite (burînŏ-hômônd) and terminable; the evil of the world, in life, is definite, and they shall not make one exist unlimitedly and indefinitely in the evil of the world, through an eternal life with pain.
40. And through a great mystery, wholly miraculous, he produced a durable immortality for the living a perplexity so long as the best and utmost of it is such an immortality of adversity, for it is
ever living molested and eternally suffering. 41. And their development, the strength of lineage obtained, is ever young in succession, and the tender, well-destined ones, who are good, are in adversity and perpetuity of life, so that there is a succession of life through their own well-destined offspring 1. 42. They become eternally famous, so that they obtain, every one, an old age which is renewed, free from sickness and decay, visibly in their own offspring and family (gôharakŏ) whenever they become complete; and any one of the combative, whose struggle is through the smiting that his fellow-combatant obtains, is of a comfortable disposition at the balance 2. 43. This one, too, is for stepping forth to heaven, even as that pre-eminent one of the righteous, the greatest of the apostles and the most fortunate of those born, the chief of worldly beings, the righteous Zaratûst the Spîtamân, when the omniscient wisdom, as a trance (gîp), came upon him from Aûharmazd, and he saw him who was immortal and childless, and also him who was mortal and provided with children that perpetual life of the childless then seemed to him terrible, and that succession of mortals seemed commendable 3; so that
the coming of his assured offspring 1, Hûshêdar, Hûshêdar-mâh, and Sôshâns 2, became more longed for and more desired, and death more than the perpetual life of his own body.
44. And when he 3 who is all-watchful and all-knowing had arranged the means of opposing the fiend, there came for destroying, like a general leader (vispvar), that fiend of deceiving nature, the harassing, rushing, evil-wishing, primeval (pês) contender, together with the demons Akômanô ('evil thought') 4, Aêshm ('wrath'), Zarmân ('decrepitude'), Bûshasp ('lethargy'), craving distress, bygone luck 5, Vâê 6, Varenô ('lust') 7, Astô-vîdâd 8, and Vîzarâsh 9, and the original, innumerable demons and fiends of Mâzendarân 10. 45. And his darkness and gloom, scorpions (kadzûnŏ), porcupines, and vermin, poison
and venom, and the mischief originally in the lower-most third of the sky 1, issue upwards, astute in evil, into the middle third, in which are the agreeable 2 creatures which Aûharmazd created.
46. And he smote the ox 3, he made Gâyômard mortal, and he shook the earth; and the land was shattered, creation became dark, and the demons rushed below, above, and on all sides, and they mounted even to the uppermost third of the sky 4. 47. And there the barricade (band) and rampart fortifying (vakhshîkŏ) the spiritual world is approached, for which the safeguard (nigâs) of all barricades 5, that is itself the great glory of the pure religion, solving doubts--which is the safeguard of all barricades--is arrayed. 48. And the splendid, belt-bearing Pleiades 6, like the star-studded girdle of the spirit-fashioned, good religion of the Mazda-worshippers, are so arrayed as luminaries of the fully-glorious ones. 49. And there was no possibility (aîtŏkîh) of any demon or fiend, nor yet even of
the demon of demons, the mightiest (mazvantûm) in valour, rushing up across that boundary; they are beaten back now, when they have not reached it from the gloom, at once and finally (yak-vayô akhar).
50. And the fiend of gloomy race, accustomed to destruction (aôsh-âyin), changed into causes of death the position (gâs) of the brilliant, supreme heaven of the pure, heavenly angels--which he ordained through the power of 1 Mîtôkht ('falsehood')--and the triumph of the glory of the world's creatures, as ordained through two decrees (zîkŏ):--one, the destruction of the living by the power 2 of death; and one causing the manacling of souls by a course of wickedness. 51. And he made as leaders therein that one astute in evil who is already named 3, and Astô-vîdâd 4 who is explained as 'the disintegration of material beings;' he also intrusted the demon Bûshasp ('lethargy') 4 with the weakening of the breath, the demon Tap ('fever') 5 with stupefying and disordering the understanding, and the demon Âz ( greediness') 6 with suggesting cravings and causing drinking before having the thirst of a dog 7. 52. Also the demon Zarmân (decrepitude') 8 for injuring the body and abstracting
the strength; the bad Vâê's tearing away the life by stupefying the body; the demon Aêshm e wrath') for occasioning trouble by contests, and causing an increase of slaughter; the noxious creatures of gloomy places for producing stinging and causing injury; the demon Zâîrîk 1 for poisoning eatables and producing causes of death; with Nîyâz ('want') 2 the stealthily-moving and dreading the light 3, the fearfulness of Nihîv terror') chilling the warmth, and many injurious powers and demons of the destroyers were made by him constant assist-ants of Astô-vîdâd in causing death.
53. Also, for rendering wicked and making fit for hell those whose souls are under the sway of 4 falsehood (kadbâ), which in religious language is called Mîtôkht--since it is said in revelation that that is as much an evil as all the demons with the demons of demons--there is Akômanô (evil thought') 5, who is with the evil spirit owing to the speaking of Mîtôkht ('falsehood') 6. 54. And for his doctrine (dinôîh) of falsehood, and winning the creatures, slander the deceiver, lust the selfish, hatred, and envy, besides the overpowering progress of disgrace (nang), the improper desires of the creatures, indolence in seeking wisdom, quarrelling about that
which is no indication of learning, disputing (sitôg) about the nature of a righteous one, and many other seductive powers and demons helping to win, were made auxiliary to the doctrine of falsehood in deceiving the creatures.
55. Also, to turn his disturbance 1 to creatures of even other kinds, there are demons and fiends of further descriptions (freh-aîtân); and for the assistance of those combatants he established also those afflictions (nîvakân) of many, the witches of natures for gloomy places, whose vesture is the radiance of the lights 2 that fall, and rush, and turn below the luminaries which have to soar (vâzisnîkânŏ) in stopping the way of any little concealment of the spirits and worldly beings 3. 56. And they (the witches) overspread the light and glory of those luminaries, of whose bestowal of glory and their own diminution of it, moreover, for seizing the creatures, consist the pain, death, and original evil of the abode for the demon of demons 4.
57. And those demons and original fiends, who are the heads and mighty ones of the demons, injudiciously, prematurely moving, prematurely speaking, not for their own disciplined advantage,
but with unbecoming hatred, lawless manner 1, envy, and spears exposing the body 2, undesirably struggle together--a perplexing contention of troublers--about the destruction of the luminaries. 58. The army of angels, judiciously and leisurely fighting for the good creatures of the sacred beings, not with premature hatred and forward spears (pês-nîzahîh), but by keeping harm away from themselves--the champions' customary mode 3 of wounding--valiantly, strongly, properly, and completely triumphantly struggle for a victory triumphantly fought. 59. For Aharman the demons are procurers (vashîkânŏ) of success in the contests till the end, when the fiend becomes invisible and the creatures become pure.
60. Since worldly beings observe, explain, and declare among worldly beings the work of the spirits and knowledge of customs (rîstakŏ),by true observation, through wisdom, that that life (zîk) is proper when it is in the similitude of the true power of wisdom, and the visible life is undiscerning of that which is to come and that which is provided, so also the evidence of a knowledge of the end of the contention is certain and clearly visible. 61. And tokens are discernible and signs apparent which, to the wisdom of the ancients--if it extended, indeed, to a knowledge about this pre-eminent subject--were hidden by the fiends, who are concealers of them from the perception (hâzisnŏ) of worldly beings, and also from their coming to the perception of worldly beings.
62. The learned high-priests who were founders (pâyînkânŏ) of the religion knew it (the evidence), and those portions of it were transmitted by them to the ancients which the successive realisers of it, for the ages before me (levînam), have possessed. 63. The deceivers 1 of the transmitters, who have existed at various times, even among those who are blessed 2, have remained a mass of knowledge for me, by being my reminder of the mature and proper duty of those truly wise (hû-kîragânîkŏ), through the directions issuable by even worldly decision, and of so many of which I have a remembrance 3, for the writing of which there would be no end. 64. Then the manifest power of the fiend among us below, and the way provided by the creator for his becoming invisible and his impotence are clear; so also the full power of the creator of the army of angels, assuredly the procurers of success in the end, and 4 the accomplishment all-powerfully--which is his own advantage--of the completely-happy progress, for ever, of all creations which are his creatures, are thereby visible and manifest; and many tokens and signs thereof are manifestly clear.
65. One is this, that the creator is in his own predestined (bagdâdakŏ) abode, and the fiend is
advancing and has rushed in, and his advancing is for the subjugation of the creation 1.
66. One, that the creatures of Aûharmazd are spiritual and also worldly, and that is no world of the fiend, but he gathers an evil spiritual state into the world; and as among so many the greed of success is only in one 2, so the triumph is manifest of the good spirits and worldly beings over the evil spirits.
67. One is this, that his defeat in the end is manifest from his contention and aggression (pêszadârîh); for the fiend is an aggressor in an unlawful struggle; and leaving the army of Aûharmazd--subsequently the lawful defender (lakhvârzadâr)--the fiend of violence is a cause of power among those wholly unrequiting the creator in the world 3. 68. If, also, every time that he smites the creatures he is equally and lawfully beaten once again, it is assuredly evident therefrom that, when their beating and being beaten are on an equality together, at first he whose hand was foremost was the smiter, and the backward fighter was beaten; but at last that backward fighter is the smiter, and the foremost fighter becomes beaten 4; for when he is
beaten in the former combat, there is then a combat again, and his enemy is beaten.
69. One is this, that when the supply of weapons 1, the fighting, and the ability of the contenders are equal, the supply of weapons of him who is the beginner (pêsîdâr) has always sooner disappeared, and, at last, he is unarmed and his opponent re-mains armed; and an armed man is known to be 2 victorious over him who is unarmed, just as one fighting is triumphant over one not fighting 3. 70. And a similitude of it, which is derived from the world, is even such as when each ogle of two furious ones (ârdŏ) of equal strength, in a fight together, has an arrow, and each one is in fear of the other's possession of an arrow; and one of them alone shoots his arrow, and makes it reach his opponent; then he is without an arrow, and his opponent, fully mindful of it, has an arrow, and becomes fearless through possession of the arrow, his own intrepidity, and the lack of arrows and complete terror of that earlier shooter. 71. And as regards mighty deeds he is successful; and though there be as much strength for the earlier fighter a successful termination is undiscoverable for him; despoiled of possession by him who is later, and ruined in that which is all-powerful, his end and disappearance are undoubted, clear, and manifest 4.
72. One is this, that owing to the previous non-appearance of the fiend, the coming forward of sickness and death unto the creatures of the sacred beings occurred when the fiend rushed in, and he rendered the existence of men sickly; he also destroyed and put to death the progeny of animals. 73. Afterwards, through lawfully driving him away, sickness and death come in turn (bârîkîhâ) unto the demons, and the healthiness 1 of the righteous and perfect life unto the creatures of the sacred beings, as its counterpart is the great healthiness which comes, more rightly rising, unto the creatures advised by the sacred beings, through united arrangement 2. 74. And, in the end, a worldly similitude of the sickness and grievous, complete death for the fiends 3, and of the healthiness and intrinsic (benafsman-kîgûnîh) life for the creatures of the sacred beings, is that which occurs when one of two litigants (ham-patkâr), prematurely revengeful, gives to his fellow-litigant an irritating poison, and himself eats wholesome flour before the later litigant gives a poison, as an antidote, to the earlier litigant, and himself eats the poison-subduing flour; after which he is cured by the poison, and his enemy is dead through the poison of the later flour 4.
75. One is this, that Aûharmazd, the creator, is a manager with omniscient wisdom, and the contention of the fiend of scornful looks (tar nigîrisn) is through lust of defilement; of united power is the management of that creator, as existing with (hamzîk) 1 all the vigilance in the wisdom which is in everything; and that united power is the strength of the management of heaven. 76. And of much power is the contention of the fiend, as his manifold changing of will--which is hostile to the will of even his own creatures, and is through the weakness and exhausted 2 strength of an evil nature--is the contending power which forms his visible strength 3.
77. One is this, that is, on account of the fiend's contending ill-advisedly, however strongly the contest is adapted for the damage of his own fiendishness, and regret and bad consequences therefrom are perceptible. 78. Such as the very paralyzing 4 affliction which was appointed (nîhâdŏ) by him
for the creatures of the world in putting the living to death, which he ordered with violence and the hope that it would be his greatest triumph. 79. Even that is what is so self-damaging to the same fiend that, when he puts to death him who is wicked, and he who is wicked, who is performing what is desirable for him (the fiend)--that performance of what is desirable being the practice of sin--is useless and goes thither where he is penitent of that seduction, the spirit 1 of the owner (shah) of the sin, whose soul is wicked 2, is righteous, in whose worldly body exist the fetters of pain and darkness; and owing to the unfettering of its hands from that pain it (the spirit) is far away, and goes to heaven, which is the most fortified of fortresses. 80. Fearlessly it fights for it, even as the guardian spirit of Yim the splendid 3 kept away all trouble (vêsam), the guardian spirit of Frêdûn kept away even those active in vexing 4, and other guardian spirits of those passed away are enumerated as engaged in the defeat of many fiends.
81. One is this, that the most grievous severance that is owing to him (the fiend) 1 is the production of the mortality of the creatures, in which the afflicting (nîzgûn), demon Astô-vîdâd 2 is the head of the many Mâzînîkân demons 3. 82. And the propitious creator's developers were thus unprovoked (anârgônd) when the only person, who is called Gâyômard 4, was destroyed by him, and came back to the world as a man and a woman whose names were Marhayâ and Marhîyôih 5; and the propagation and connection of races were through their next-of-kin marriage of a sister 6. 83. The unlucky 7 fiend, while he
increased offspring and fortune for them through death, so uplifted his voice in their presence, about the death of the living ones of their offspring and lineage; that together with the unmeasured destructiveness of the deadly evil spirit, and the unjust contention of his through death and the conveyer of death 1, the sting also of birth was owing to death. 84. The repetitions of the cry were many, so that the issue (bâr) of thousands and thousands of myriads from those two persons, and the multitude passed away, from a number which is limited and a counterpart (aêdûnŏîh) of the living people in the world, are apparent; and for the annihilation of many fiends, through death, the propitiousness of the contending power of the creator is clear and manifest.
85. One is this, that the most steadfast quality of the demon himself is darkness, the evil of which is so complete that they shall call the demons also those of a gloomy race. 86. But such is the power in the arms and resources of the angels, that even the first gloomy darkness in. the world is perpetually subdued by the one power really originating with the sun and suitable thereto, and the world is illuminated 2.
87. One is this, that the most mischievous weapon of the demons is the habit of self-deception which,
on account of rendering the soul wicked thereby, seemed to them as the greatest triumph for themselves, and a complete disaster for the angels. 88. In the great glory of the pure, true religion of the sacred beings is as much strength as is adapted to the full power of the lawlessness and much opposition of falsehood, and also to the fully accurate (arsîdŏ) speaking which is in itself an evidence of the true speaking of every proper truth and no truth whatever is perverted by it. 89. And the false sayings are many, and good sayings--their opponents through good statement--do not escape from their imperfect truth 1; since a similitude of them is that which occurs when, concerning that which is white-coloured, the whole of the truthful speak about its white colour, but as to the liars there are some who speak of its black colour, some of its mud colour, some of its blue colour, some of its bran 2 colour, some of its red colour, and some of its yellow colour. 90. And every single statement of each of the truthful is as much evidence, about those several colours of those who are liars, as even the compiled sayings of the Abraham of the Christians 3, which are the word of him who is also called their Messiah 4, about the
[paragraph continues] Son of the Supreme Being 1; thus, they recount that the Son, who is not less than the Father, is himself He, the Being whom they consider undying. 91. One falsehood they tell about the same Messiah is that he died, and one falsehood they tell is that he did not die; it is a falsehood for those who say he did not die, and for those who say he did die; wherefore did he not die, when he is not dead? and wherefore is it said he did not die, when he is mentioned as dead 2? 92. Even the compilation itself is an opponent to its own words, for, though it said he is dead, it spoke unto one not dead; and though he is not dead, it spoke unto one dead. 93. The proper office (gâs) of a compiler and mutilator 3--through whose complete attainments the demons of like power as to the force of truth are strengthened, and the pure, good religion of the Mazda-worshippers is itself dissipated and rendered useless for itself--is a habit (dâdŏ) growing with
the fiend; and, as he is seen to be victorious who overturns reliance on changeableness and similar powers, the final disruption of forces is a disruption of peculiarities (khûdîh vishôpisnŏ) 1.
94: One is this, that is, even that prodigious devastation of which it is declared that it happens through the rain of Malkôs 2, when, through snow, immoderate cold, and the unproductiveness of the world, most mortals die; and even the things attainable by mortals are attended with threatenings of scarcity. 95. Afterwards--as among the all-wise, preconcerted remedies (pês kârîh) of the beneficent spirit 3 such a remedy was established (and nihâd kâr) that there is one of the species of lands, that is called 'the enclosure formed by
[paragraph continues] Yim 1,' through which, by orders issued by Yim the splendid and rich in flocks, the son of Vîvangha 2, the world is again filled--men of the best races, animals of good breeds, the loftiest trees, and most savoury (kharegistânŏ) foods, in that manner came back miraculously for the restoration of the world; which new men are substituted for the former created beings, which is an upraising of the dead 3. 96. Likewise from that miracle is manifested the non-attainment of the evil spirit to the universal control of the glory of the creator for every purpose.
97. One is this, that--when the heterodox (dûsdînô) Dahâk 4, on whom most powerful demons and fiends in the shape of serpents are winged 5, escapes from the fetters of Frêdûn, and, through witchcraft, remains a demon even to the demons 6 and
a destroyer--a mighty man who is roused 1 up beforehand from the dead, and is called Keresâsp the Sâmân 2, crushes that fiendishness with a club consisting of a cypress tree, and brings that Dahâk through wholesome fear to the just law of the sacred beings 3.
98. One is this, that these, which are distinct from those born and the men who have laboured together, Astô-vîdâd 4 has not obtained, nor even will obtain, for death; and through the power of immortals, and the action of the good discourses (hû-sakhunagânîh) 5, they urge on to the sacred beings those who are inquiring (kâv-hômand), even to the immortality which is the renovation of the other creatures. 99. One, which is where the mingled conflict of the meeting of good and evil occurs 6, is the glorious good-yielding one of the creator which is guarded by purity, so that the fiend has not attained to injuring it, since it is pronounced to be the uninjured ox which is called Hadhayãs 7. 100. Also the long life which
is through its all-controlling power 1 until they cause the end to occur, and the devourers of fires are subdued by it--besides the whole strength of the unboasting (akûm) creatures of the beneficent spirit, after they live even without eating 2--is because of the Hôm that is white 3 and the promoter (frâshm) of perfect glory, which possesses the wholesomeness of the elixir of immortality, and through it the living become ever-living. 101. And also as many more specially pure glorious ones whose enumeration would be tedious 4.
102. One is this, that the struggle of the evil one and the demons with the creatures is not precisely the existence of various kinds of contest, but
by natural operation and through desire of deceit 1. 103. And the demon of slander (spazg), whose nature it is to make the indignation (zôhar) of the creatures pour out, one upon the other, about nothing, as he does not succeed in making it pour out among the righteous 2, he makes the wicked even pour it out upon the wicked; and as he does not succeed even in making it pour out among the wicked, he makes a demon pour it out upon a demon. 104. The impetuous assailant, Wrath (Aeshm), as he does not succeed in causing strife among the righteous, flings discord and strife amid the wicked; and when he does not succeed as to the strife even of the wicked, he makes the demons and fiends fight together. 105. So also the demon of greediness (âzŏ), when he does not attain, in devouring, to that of the good, mounts 3 by his own nature unto devouring that of the demons. 106. So also the deadly Astô-vîdâd 4 is ever an antagonistic operator; when there is no righteous one who is mortal, nor any creatures in the world, the wicked dying one (mîrâk) rides to the fiends through a death which is an antagonism of himself 5.
107. The means of the united forces 1 are means such as the wise and the high-priests have proclaimed, that is, at the time of the renovation of the universe 2 being nigh, when completion has come to generation--those who were provided being born--and after they occasion freedom from generation (azerkhûnisnîh), they cause men and animals to exist, though passed away and dead. 108. All men, righteous and wicked, who continue in the world become immortal, the men are righteous whom Astôvîdâd does not obtain for death by evil noosing (dûs-vadisnŏ) 3 from behind, and who have completely attained to the rules of the sacred beings (yang-î yazdân); and the soul of the wicked, which is repentant of deceit, turns back upon the demons and fiends themselves all that previous violence of destruction and perversion, contention and blinding 4 which is natural to a demon, and they fight, and strike, and tear, and cause to tear, and destroy among themselves (benafsman val
benafsman) so long as they are in hell and numerous.
109. The wicked who are penitent become courageous anew as to the demon who perverts, the living occasion strength 1, and the retribution of the hellish existence of the wicked is completed, because the increase of sins 2, owing to the sin which they committed, ceases. 110. They are let out from hell, though their sins are thus accumulated by the demons; they have also prepared 3 the spirit of sin by the three days in molten metal 4, which drives away tears, as its name, is owing to the lessening of tears 5, which is all 6 in that which occurs when all the doers of actions for the demon of falsehood 7 pass through that preparation. 111. And he who, for three days, thus bathes (vushakêdŏ) his sins which are owing to the fiend, and has destroyed the filth (kakhû) of the accumulated sins, is like those who have passed off and turned over a burden.
112. And the impotence of sin is owing to the destroyer of the fiend by the perception of light,
who was their creator 1; they (men) all see all, they all forgive, and they all are powerful as regards all things for the creator. 113. And, moreover, after the three days, when they occur, all the creatures of the good creator are purified and pure by the perfect washing passed through, by the most amazing preparation ordained (bakhtŏ), and by the most complete account they render complete. 114. And they are triumphant over the fiend through their own weapons, through their own driving away of their own littleness (kâsvîdârîh), and the glory of the creator and that of the angels and since he becomes exhausted in resources (dên kâr) they make him become extinct.
115. But previously 2 they are attacked, and dispersed, and subdued, and this even fully painfully and with complete experience; and they aid, through backward goodness, in the antagonism of means which are separated divergently, through scattered resources and subdued strength, like the life from the body of worldly mortals, and this, moreover, confusedly, uselessly, and unmovingly. 116. But the abode 3 for the essential material existence (stî-î kîharîkŏ), about which there is a seeking for interment 4, is not powerless, and on enquiring the wishes of such numbers 5 they have
cast him out; and no share whatever, nor fragment of a share, of fiendishness, nor even so much as some morsel of unpardonableness sent by fiendishness, remains in this light.
117. Those who are righteous, intelligent through their own glory of religion--which is a spirit 1 in the form of light--are scattered (parvandag-aîtŏ) equally around the sky of skies, when from every single side of it there arises, for the sake of margin, three times as much space as the earth created by Aûharmazd, in the preparation of the creatures which were created by him. 118. Through his own will he again constructs the bodies of the evil creation, unlaboriously, easily, and full-gloriously, though their construction is even from the clay of Aûshdâstâr 2, and their moisture is from the purified water of Arekdvisûr 3 the undefiled. 119. And from that which is a good protector through him, and which is also connected with
him, even from the Hadhayãs ox 1, is the strength of everlasting welfare (vêhgarîh) and immortality; and the living are again produced for the body, they have immortal life, and they become hungerless and thirstless, undecaying and undying, undistressed and undiseased, ever-living and ever-beneficial.
120. After the renovation of the universe there is no demon, because there is no deceit; and no fiend, because there is no falsity; there is no evil spirit (angraminô), because there is no destruction; there is no hell, because there is no wickedness; there is no strife, because there is no anger; there is no hatred, because there is no ill-temper (dazîh); there is no pain, because there is no disease. 121. There is also no Dahâk 2, because there is no fear; there is no want, because there is no greediness; there is no shame, because there is no deformity; there is no falsehood 3, because there is no desire of falsehood; there is no heterodoxy, because there are no false statements; and there is no tardiness, because it speaks of a dilatory (sustŏ) race in that which is said thus: 'They are all those of evil thoughts, of evil words, of evil deeds, a race of all evils to be made to tear by the evil spirit.'
122. And on his (the demon's) disappearance every evil has disappeared, on the disappearance of evil every good is perfected, and in the time of. complete goodness it is not possible to occasion (andâkhtanŏ) any pain or distress whatever, by any means, to any creature. 123. Those who are present (nunak) sufferers 4, when there is a blow of
a fist on the body, or the point of a nail (têkh bûrâk) is driven into a limb, are pained on account of the combination (ham-dâdakîh) of a different nature for the purposes of the fiend in the body. 124. But at that time of no complication (aham-yâkhtîh), when a limb is struck upon a limb, or even such a thing as a knife, or sword, or club, or stone, or arrow reaches the body, there is no pain or discomfort whatever corresponding to that present pain. 125. And at that time one consideration (vusîd-aê) occurs, for now the pain from that beating and striking is always owing to that different nature, and on account of their being suitable to it, but at that time everything being of like nature and like formation there is never any distress.
126. And in that most happy time they let the sun, moon, and luminaries exist, but there is no need for a return of the day and a removal of its going forth (frâshm) 1, for the world is a dispenser (vakhtâr) of all light, and all creatures, too, are brilliant; those luminaries also become as it were perfectly splendid for them. 127. And every creature, too, is of like will and like power; whichever were mortals, unenvious of the welfare of all creatures, are alike joyous, and that share of their position and pleasure rejoices them which has come to them from the glory of all the existences and capabilities of him, the all-good, who is aware of all of everything through his own perfect persistence and complete resources.
128. And he allots, to the doers of good works
and the suitable ranks, the power of a judge (dadakŏ), wealthiness, goodness, and the directorship (radîh) of what is intended. 129. He is the designer of what is intended, as it is said about his creatures and capability that fire is producing wind, fire is producing water, and fire is producing earth; wind is producing fire, wind is producing water, and wind is producing earth; water is producing fire, water is producing wind, and water is producing earth; earth is producing fire, earth is producing wind, and earth is producing water. 130. The spirit is both the cause of spirit and the cause of matter (stîs); and the cause of matter, too, is also the cause of spirit, through that perpetual capability.
131. And, moreover, all the angels, the souls, and the guardian spirits are attending to the wishes of the glory of the creator and the commands of the creator, without trouble and fully rejoicing, in likeness unto the forms of seas, rivers, mountains, trees, and waters 1; and they have comforted and decorated the creation. 132. And the angels, souls, and guardian spirits, themselves also the constituted spirits of a former contact with life, are thereby pleased and rejoiced; eternal and thoroughly prepared they are naturalised in that complete joy.
81:1 This last clause is omitted in M14 and J.
82:1 The interval between the first appearance and the final disappearance of the evil spirit. Twelve thousand years are supposed to elapse between the first creation and the resurrection; during the first three (about B.C. 8400--5400) the creation remains undisturbed in a spiritual state, during the next three (B.C. 5400--2400) the evil spirit appears, but flies back to hell in confusion, during the next three (B.C. 2400--A.D. 600) he attacks the creation and keeps it in a constant state of tribulation, and during the last three (A.D. 600--3600) his power, having attained its maximum, is gradually weakened till it is finally destroyed at the resurrection (see Bd. I, 8, 18, 20, 22, III, I, XXXIV, I--9, Byt. III, II, 44, 52, 61, 62).
82:2 Probably 'the fiend,' but the sentence is by no means clear.
82:3 As the verbs 'allow' in § 12 and 'accept' in § 13 are both plural we must understand that the opposition to the fiend arises from the spiritual creatures of Aûharmazd, and not from Aûharmazd alone.
82:4 Reading minishnŏ instead of maînôgânŏ, 'spirits;' the difference between these words in Pahlavi being only a single stroke.
83:1 Aûharmazd.
83:2 The fiend's.
83:3 Reading vêhîkânakŏ vakhshisnŏ.
83:4 Assuming that andarmûnîh is a form analogous to pirâmûnîh, and with the meaning of andarûnîh.
83:5 The light.
84:1 That is, they are altogether different from the faults of the fiend, just recounted.
84:2 Perhaps the same as 'the spirit of wisdom' of Mkh.
84:3 Reading lâ, 'not,' instead of râi, 'on account of.'
85:1 The words va avigâftŏ afzârîhâ are omitted in M14 and J.
85:2 The evil, spirit. As the co-existent spirits of good and evil are antagonistic the word ham-budikŏ, 'co-existent,' is often supposed to mean 'antagonistic.'
85:3 See § 16. M14 and J have only 'that occur through his falsity and the constant terror of light which would have arisen from him.'
85:4 That the term asar has only its etymological meaning 'endless,' and not the wider sense of 'eternal,' is clear from this phrase. The 'endless light' is the phrase used in Pahlavi to express Av. anaghra raokau, a term implying 'the fixed stars,' so the passage in the text is very suggestive of the phrase, 'he made the stars also' (Gen. i. 16).
85:5 Instead of gung, 'space,' we might read gang, 'treasury,' p. 87 but it is written gûng in Chap. XXXI, 24, according to K35, and the meaning 'space' is more appropriate to the gâtus hvadhâtô, 'self-sustained place,' of Vend. XIX, 122. The epithet 'constantly-beneficial' is a Pahl. translation of Av. misvâna, and is evidently applied here to the unlimited heavenly space contained in the endless light' (see § 24) and including the supreme heaven, as appears from the order in which these three existences (the earliest creations of Aûharmazd) are mentioned in Chap. XXXI, 24.
86:1 M14 and J have 'separate doers.'
86:2 M14 and J have 'doers at different times.'
87:1 Bd. III, 26 says that 'the rampart of the sky was formed so that the adversary should not be able. to mingle with it.'
87:2 Reading âgûrazênd val aseg gûn.
87:3 Assuming that val stands for valman or valmansân.
88:1 Probably referring to the five fiends, or demonesses, which are the special embodiments of each man's evil passions, and are thus detailed in Mkh. XLI, 9-11:--'That man is the stronger who is able to contend with his own fiends, and who keeps these five fiends, in particular, far from his body, which are such as avarice, wrath, lust, disgrace, and discontent.'
88:2 Reading fîsardakŏ, but the word is doubtful. This central region of the sky would seem to be the place of the 'ever-stationary,' if it do not include the earth itself, which is not quite clear, owing to the obscure style of the author.
88:3 While in the world.
88:4 The beneficent and evil spirits.
88:5 Reading venâpênd, but the word is doubtful.
89:1 Below the sun, moon, and stars which protect the creatures.
89:2 Literally 'springers back.'
89:3 Reading dâmîkŏ, but the word is unusual; it might be read dahmîkô, 'of the holy man,' or be considered a corruption of damîkŏ, 'earth.'
89:4 Reading rangmânŏ, but the word is doubtful.
89:5 Five folios of text are here interpolated in J, of which four contain the passage (Ep. II, vi, 4--ix, 7) omitted at the end of that MS., and the fifth contains a passage on the same subject as Ep. III, and which may possibly be part of the text missing in Ep. III, r 1.
89:6 Meaning that the unembodied spirits of men should enter upon their worldly existence.
89:7 The great-grandson of the primeval man, Gâyômard, and the forefather of the fifteen races of undeformed human beings (see Bd. XV, 25-31, XXXI, 1).
90:1 See Chap. II, 10 for this and the following three names.
90:2 He is said to have kept the evil spirit thirty years as a steed (see Râm Yt. 12, Zamyâd Yt. 29, Mkh. XXVII, 22).
90:3 Here written Gîm.
90:4 Instinctive wisdom and that acquired by experience (see Chap. XL, 3).
90:5 Av. Manuskithra; the descendant of Frêdûn, in the eleventh generation, who overthrew the usurpation of the collateral branches of his family, and restored the Irânian line of the Pêsdâdian dynasty in his own person (see Bd. XXXI, 12-14, XXXIV, 6).
90:6 See Chap. XVII, 6.
90:7 Av. Kavi Kavâta; the first king of the Kayânian dynasty (see Bd. XXXI, 24, 25, XXXIV, 7).
90:8 Probably the Av. Aoshnara, mentioned in Af. Zarat., along with several of the other names, in a passage somewhat similar to that in our text. The name here can also be read Aûsh-khûr.
90:9 Av. Kavi Syâvarshân; the son of king Kaî-Kâûs and father of king Kaî-Khûsrôî, but he did not reign himself. He is said to have formed the settlement of Kangdez (see Chap. XC, 5, Bd. XXXI, 25, Byt. III, 25, 26).
90:10 See Chap. XXXVI, 3.
90:11 Av.. Kavi Vîstâspa, Pers. Gustâsp; the fifth king of the Kayânian dynasty, who received the religion from Zaratûst. His father, the fourth king, was of collateral descent from the first king (see Bd. XXXI, 28, 29, XXXIV, 7).
90:12 The great apostle of the Parsis (see Chap. II, 10).
90:13 Av. Peshôtanu; a son of Kaî-Vistâsp, who is said to be p. 91 immortal and to live in Kangdez, whence he is to come to restore the religion in the millennium of Hûshêdar (see Chap. XC, 3, 5, Bd. XXIX, 5, Byt. III, 25-32, 36-38, 41, 42).
91:1 Probably the supreme high-priest and prime minister of the ninth Sasanian king, Shâpûr II (A.D. 309--379; see Bd. XXXIII, 3).
91:2 See Chap. II, 10 for thee, last three names. The terms mânsarîk, 'liturgical,' dâdîk, 'legal,' and gâsânîk, 'metrical,' are those applied to the three divisions of the twenty-one Nasks, or books of the complete literature of the Mazda-worshippers.
91:3 M14 and J have merely 'granted assistance in the struggle at the renovation.'
91:4 Assuming that ghal stands for valman, as it sometimes does.
92:1 M14 and J have merely: 'are a succession in adversity and perpetuity of life.'
92:2 Assuming that tarâz stands for tarâzûk. The meaning is that any one who has successfully struggled with sin in the world, and leaves offspring behind him, goes to his account, at the balance of the angel Rashnû, with cheerfulness.
92:3 This seems to be a variation of the statement in Byt. II, 13, where Zaratûst, after asking for immortality, and having had the omniscient wisdom infused into him for a week, describes what he had seen, and amongst other things says: 'I saw a wealthy man without children, and it did not seem to me commendable; and I p. 93 saw a pauper with many children, and it seemed to me commendable.'
93:1 The Av. âsna frazaintis, 'inherent or natural offspring,' of Yas. LIX, 14, &c. The Pahl. equivalents âsnûdak and âsnîdak can hardly be mere transliterations of âsna, but are more probably translations, formed of â+sunudak and sinîdak, with some such meaning as 'assured.'
93:2 These three future apostles (see Chap. II, 10) are considered to be sons of Zaratûst (see Bd. XXXII, 8).
93:3 Aûharmazd.
93:4 These first four demons are described in Bd. XXVIII, 7, 15-17, 23, 26.
93:5 The words nîyaîzînâkŏ tangîh bûdŏ bakhtŏ, here translated, may possibly be a miswriting of five names of demons.
93:6 The bad Vâê (see Chap. XXX, 4).
93:7 See Bd. XXVIII, 25.
93:8 A demon of death (see Chap. XXIII, 3, note, Bd. XXVIII, 35).
93:9 Another demon of death (see Chap. XXXII, 4, 7).
93:10 The mountainous country south of the Caspian, said to be full of demons, the Mâzainya daêva of the Avesta (see Bd. III, Lo, XV, 28). These demons were, no doubt, merely idolators.
94:1 See § 28.
94:2 By omitting a stroke nôs, 'agreeable,' would become vêh, 'good.'
94:3. The sole-created, or primeval ox, whence all animals are said to have sprung. For an account of this incursion of the fiend, see Bd. III, 12-20, VIII, 1, Zs. II, 1-11.
94:4 M14 and J have 'even to the upper sky of the middle third,' which means the same thing, as the author's words imply that the demons did not enter the upper third, but only reached its borders (see § 49).
94:5 M14 and J conclude the sentence as follows: 'the pure religion, solving doubts, is arrayed.'
94:6 Reading vandvar Pêrvakŏ. The author seems to have been thinking of Yas. IX, 81: Mazda brought to thee the star-studded, spirit-fashioned girdle (the belt of Orion) leading the Pleiades; the good Mazda-worshipping religion' (Haug's Essays, p. 182).
95:1 Or, zôharakŏ may mean 'venomous.' Mîtôkht was the first demon produced by the evil spirit (see Bd. I, 24, XXVIII, 14, 16) who is supposed to be as much 'the father of lies' as his counterpart, the devil of the Christians.
95:2 Or, zôhar may mean 'venom.'
95:3 Mîtôkht.
95:4 See § 44.
95:5 See Chap. XXIII, 3.
95:6 See Bd. XXVIII, 27.
95:7 Reading pês tisnŏ-î sagak nôsânînîdanŏ, but we might read pês tisnŏg sedkûnisnînîdanŏ, 'causing gnawing before being thirsty.'
95:8 See § 44 for this demon and the next two.
96:1 One of the seven arch-fiends, the Av. Zairika, which probably means 'decay,' but from the resemblance of his name to zâhar, 'poison,' he is called 'the maker of poison' (see Bd. I, 27, XXVIII, II).
96:2 See Bd. XXVIII, 26.
96:3 Reading gadman bîm, but it may be yadman bîm, 'dreading the hand;' and it is doubtful whether the epithet be applied to Nîyâz, or to Nihîv.
96:4 Reading î instead of the va, 'and,' of the MSS.
96:5 See § 44.
96:6 See § 50.
97:1 Reading paitîyârakŏ, but K35 and J have paîtâzârakŏ, which, if it be a real word; would have nearly the same meaning.
97:2 Shooting stars, meteors, and comets, the last of which are apparently intended by the term Mûspar (Av. Mûs pairika, 'the Mûs witch') of Bd. V, 1, XXVIII, 44.
97:3 That is, the luminaries which have to prevent these beings from becoming obscured by the darkness produced by the evil spirits.
97:4 By the omission of one loop the MSS. have yazdânŏ, 'angels,' instead of shêdânŏ, 'demons;' the difference between the two words being very slight in Pahlavi characters.
98:1 Reading an-âyin gun, but this is uncertain.
98:2 Reading kîhar-tanû nîzah; the last word is usually spelt nîzak, but occurs in § 58 in the same form as here.
98:3 Reading nîvîkânmank gûn, but this is uncertain.
99:1 The unorthodox, or those holding erroneous views regarding the traditions handed down by them.
99:2 Reading âfrîn.îdŏ, which K 35 has converted into afgônêdŏ, 'casts,' by inverting the order of the two central characters.
99:3 M14 and J omit the words from 'through' to 'remembrance.' The author means that he has acquired much information on the subject even from the opinions of the unorthodox judiciously studied.
99:4 M14 has merely the words: 'and the completely-happy progress,' &c.
100:1 K35 has altered dakhshakŏ, 'token,' into dahisnŏ, 'creation,' by changing one letter, and M14 and J have adopted the wrong reading.
100:2 Reading kîgûn dên hâvandîh kîr âz dên khadûkŏ. The drift of these two first reasons seems to be that the fiend, being an invader and outnumbered, must. be vanquished in the end.
100:3 Reading zak-î zôr drûgô dên-i dâdâr barâ-atôgîgânŏ-î stîs vahânŏ-î nirûkŏ-hômandîh. This phrase seems to have been generally misunderstood by copyists, as both M14 and J have altered it into something like: 'when the violence of the fiend is in the hand of the creator, yet even if the motive of the army is so much power.'
100:4 M14 and J omit this clause, from 'but' to 'beaten.'
101:1 The term zênô afzâr evidently refers here to the warrior's stock of arrows and other missiles which were to be expended in battle, so that it is analogous to the modern term 'ammunition:
101:2 M14 has yehevûnêd, 'becomes,' instead of dânôstŏ, 'known.'
101:3 M14 and J omit these last four words.
101:4 The argument, both in this case and the preceding one, is that even when two combatants are equal in power and resources the hasty aggressor is likely to be beaten in the end, and, therefore, p. 102 the inferiority of the fiend is still more likely to lead to his final defeat.
102:1 M14 begins a fresh argument here, owing to some misunderstanding of the meaning of the sentence.
102:2 That is, the advantage of driving away the fiend in this life is a counterpart of the blessings attained at the resurrection.
102:3 The word drûgânŏ, 'fiends,' is omitted in K35, but is evidently necessary to complete the sentence.
102:4 This appears to be a description of ordeal by poison and the two usual modes of evading its operation: The hasty evader relies upon deceitfully substituting a wholesome, powder for the p. 103 poison he has to take; while the more cautious evader trusts to recognising his adversary's poison by its taste, and selecting another poison as an antidote for both to take, so that the hasty evader suffers through his own deceit in not taking the first poison. Similarly, the fiend is supposed to suffer in the end from the death and destruction which he was the first to introduce into the world.
103:1 By omitting a phrase M14 and J have: 'and the management of the fiend of scornful looks is as it were existing with,' &c.
103:2 This is little more than a guess at the meaning of a word which can be read vashakîdŏ (compare Pers. gas and kasîdan). The whole sentence is rather uncertain.
103:3 The argument is that this unstable power of the fiend cannot permanently stand against the consolidated strength of the creator.
103:4 Adopting J's reading samakgûntar, but K35 has vasmakgûntar, which may be 'very troublesome,' and M14 has samkîntar, probably for sahmgîntar, 'very terrible.'
104:1 That is, the guardian spirit (see Chap. II, 5) which is not rendered wicked by the sin of the soul.
104:2 The phrase mûn rûbân-î zak darvand is ambiguous, as it might mean 'which is the soul of that wicked one,' but this is not reconcile able with the context.
104:3 See Chap. II, 10. Yim-î shêdô is the Yimô khshaêtô of Vend. II, 43, 45, the Jamshêd of the Shâhnâmah. The legends here referred to are mentioned in Fravardîn Yt. 130-138, where the guardian spirit of Yima is said to withstand the misfortune brought on by the demons, while that of Thraêtaona (Frêdûn) withstands various diseases, and those of other heroes withstand various other evils and demons.
104:4 Reading pavan bêsh-ik kardârân, but for ik we ought probably to read az, so as to make the phrase correspond to the Av. azi-karstahê dbaeshanghô of Fravardîn Yt. 131.
105:1 Instead of zîs madam, 'that is owing to him,' we ought probably to read zîs bar, 'that is his production;' the Huz. madam, which is the proper equivalent of the preposition bar, 'on, according to,' being wrongly used for the noun bar, 'produce.'
105:2 See § 44.
105:3 The Mâzainya daêva of the Avesta (see § 44, note).
105:4 The sole-created, or primeval, man from whom the whole human race is said to have sprung (see Chap. II, 10, Bd. III, 14. 77, 19-23, XV, I, 31).
105:5 The progenitors of the undeformed human race, who are said to have grown up, in the manner of a plant, from the seed of the dead Gâyômard (see Bd. XV, 2-5). Their names are derived from Av. mashya mashyôi, 'the man and woman,' but the latter form is no longer extant in the Avesta. From Av. mashya we have the Mashya of Bd. XV, 6, and the Mâshya of Bd. XV, II, 19, 20, 30. From its dialectical variant martiya in ancient Pers., which would be marethya in the Avesta (compare Av. mareta, Pers. mard), we have the Marhayâ of our text. And by transposition of the letters rt = reth = rha in these latter forms, we have the Matrô of Bd. XV, 2 and the Maharîh or Maharyâ of Bd. XV, 22, note. Other forms of these names also occur (see Chaps. LXIV, 2, LXV, 2, LXXVII, 4).
105:6 M14 has 'of brother and sister,' but the insertion of the extra word is unnecessary. Regarding khvêtudâd, or next-of-kin marriage, see Chap. LXV.
105:7 Reading lâ-khâgastŏ; the fiend is certainly 'unlucky' here, p. 106 as by introducing death into the world he merely increases the number of beings who pass into the other world to join his opponents in the end; but the text probably means that he is 'inauspicious' and wishes to bring misfortune on mankind.
106:1 Astô-vîdâd (see § 81).
106:2 The argument is that, as the sun is able to subdue darkness, the most constant quality of the fiend, every day, it is probable that the fiend himself will be entirely subdued in the end.
107:1 Assuming that apûrâstîh stands for apûr râstîh; it may, however, be intended for avî-râstîh, 'want of truth.' The meaning is that even true statements become perverted by inaccurate speakers.
107:2 Perhaps sapûsag, 'bran,' may have originally been sapzag, 'green.'
107:3 Written Abrêhâm-î Tarsâkîgân.
107:4 The letter s in Masîkhâ is here written like âî, but the word is correctly written in § 91.
108:1 The phrase is barmanŏ-î dâd, literally 'son of the created one,' unless we assume that dâd is taken as a name of God. It is, however, quite conceivable that a priest would be reluctant to admit that a strange god could be anything better than a created being. That dâd is here used as a noun, and not with the meaning of 'gift' or 'law,' appears from the subsequent phrase dâdŏ-î amîrâkŏ yakhsenund, 'the created one whom they consider undying.'
108:2 Owing to the frequent repetitions of the same words in these phrases they are specially liable to corruption by copyists, but as they stand in K35 they can hardly be translated otherwise than as questions. M14 and J have an altered text which may be translated as follows:--'for whomever he did not die, when dead, he is as dead; for whomever it is said he died, he is so when he is mentioned as dead;' but this seems no improvement of the text.
108:3 Referring to those who compile commentaries and mutilate texts to suit their own views.
109:1 The argument is that even heterodoxy, 'the most mischievous weapon' of the fiend (see § 87), must fail in the end, because, like other revolutions, it relies on constant change, which implies want of permanency.
109:2 Malkôsânâ, 'of Malkôs,' is a denominative adjective derived from Chald. ו םַ?Lְ?Q?Wֹסה 'autumnal rain.' The deluging rain of Malkôs is supposed to usher in the dreadful winter foretold to Yima in Vend. II, 46-56, when all, or nearly all, living creatures were to perish, a truly glacial epoch. In a Persian paraphrase of the Bahman Vast (see Byt. Introd. p. lix) this period of Malkôs is described as follows:--'As three hundred years have elapsed from the time of Hûshêdar (Byt. III, 44-49) the period of Malkôs comes on; and the winter of. Malkôs is, such that, owing to the cold and snow which occur, out of a myriad of men in the world only one will remain, and the trees and shrubs all become withered, and the quadrupeds, whether carrying, walking, leaping, or grazing, will all utterly die. Then, by command of God, they will come from the enclosure formed by Vim, and the men and quadrupeds from that place spread over Irân, and make the world populous a second time, and it is the beginning of the millennium of Hûshêdar(-mâh).'
109:3 The formation of the enclosure was ordered, as a precaution by Aûharmazd (see Vend. II, 61-92).
110:1 Reading Yim-kard var, but these words are corrupted in three different ways in the three MSS. consulted. This enclosure is said to have been in the middle of Pârs in Bd. XXIX, 14.
110:2 Av. Vivanghau (see Bd. XXXI, 2).
110:3 That is, a type of the resurrection.
110:4 The Av. Azi Dahâka, 'destructive serpent,' slain by Thraêtaona. In later times he was converted into a usurping king, or dynasty, the Dha‘h‘hâk of the Shâhnâmah, who conquered Yim (Jamshêd) and, after a reign of a thousand years, was defeated by Frêdûn (Thraêtaona) and fettered under Mount Dimâvand; whence he is to escape during the millennium of Hûshêdar-mâh to devastate the world, till he is finally slain by the hero Keresâsp, who is revived for the purpose (see Bd. XXIX, 8, g, XXXI, 6, Byt. III, 56-60.
110:5 That is, attached to the shoulders like wings; referring to the serpents said to have grown from the shoulders of Dahâk.
110:6 M14 alters shêdân, 'demons,' into gêhân, 'world,' so as to read 'through the demon of witchcraft remains a destroyer unto the world.' The alteration in the Pahlavi text is small, but seems unnecessary.
111:1 Reading angêzŏî-aîtŏ, instead of the unintelligible angîdî-aîtŏ.
111:2 See Chap. XVII, 6.
111:3 Dahâk and all other heinous offenders are said to undergo a special punishment for three nights at the resurrection, and are then finally purified by passing through molten metal like the rest of mankind (see Bd. XXX, 16, 20).
111:4 See § 44.
111:5 Perhaps referring to the liturgical recitations.
111:6 In the atmosphere apparently (see Bd. I, 4).
111:7 Written Hadhayãm here, but Hadhayăs in § 119, Chaps. XLVIII, 34, XC, 4, and Hadhayôs or Hadhayâvs in Bd. XIX, 13, XXX, 25, though always in Pâzand. It is also called Sarsaok, or Srisaok, in Bd. XV, 27, XVII, 4, XIX, 13, always in Pâzand, and his name is converted into Pahl. Srûvô in Zs. XI, 10. p. 112 It is said to be an ox which never dies till it is slaughtered at the resurrection, so that its fat may form one of the ingredients of the elixir of immortality which all men have then to taste; it is also said that mankind, in ancient times, crossed the ocean on its back, when going to settle in the other regions of the earth. From what is stated in the text it may be supposed to be some form of cloud myth, but it is not mentioned in the extant portion of the Avesta, unless 'the ox Hadhayôs' be taken as a corruption of gâus hudhau, 'the well-yielding ox,' and Sarsaok as connected with Pers. srisk,' a drop,' and referring to showers of rain; but this is very uncertain.
112:1 The power of the white Hôm mentioned below.
112:2 As, it is said, they will do for ten years before Sôshâns, the last apostle, appears to prepare for the resurrection (see Chap. XXXV, 3, Bd. XXX, 3).
112:3 A tree said to grow in the ocean, the juice of which is the other ingredient of the elixir of immortality; it is also called Gôkarn, or Gôkard, Av. gaokerena, and is guarded by ten enormous fish (see Bd. XVIII, 1-3, XXVII, 4, XXX, 25).
112:4 The existence of such immortal creatures; said to be intended for special use at the resurrection, is here taken as a proof of the reality of the resurrection itself. Whether the seven immortals described in Chap. XC are to be included among them is uncertain.
113:1 That is, the demons do not come into personal conflict with material creatures, but are supposed to influence their evil passions and to pervert the original laws of nature.
113:2 M14 omits the passage from this word to the same word in § 104.
113:3 The word sôbârêdŏ, 'rides, mounts,' both here and in § 10b, is possibly only a miswriting of the very similar word dûbârêdŏ, 'runs, rushes.' Several words in this sentence are accidentally omitted in M14.
113:4 See § 44.
113:5 As it is uncertain whether the 'dying one' is a human being or the demon himself, it is doubtful which of them is here supposed to commit suicide. M14 and J have merely: 'nor even among the p. 114 creatures of the sacred beings those which are an antagonism of himself;' apparently connecting this section with the next. This final argument is that, as the demons by their very nature must injure their friends if they fail with their enemies, they contain within themselves the source of their own final destruction. In other words: 'if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end' (Mark iii. 26).
114:1 The army of angels of §§ 58, 64. The author, having exhausted his arguments in favour of the final triumph of the good creation, now returns to his description of the issue of the contest, which he was about to commence in § 64.
114:2 M14 and J omit the following words as far as 'provided.'
114:3 See Chap. XXIII, 3.
114:4 Or, perhaps, 'concealment,' as there is some doubt whether aûbênîdârîh means 'making unseeing, or making unseen.'
115:1 That is, the wicked who are still living, being penitent, rein-force the host of the righteous.
115:2 Referring probably to the 'growth of sin' mentioned in Chaps. XI, 2, XII, 5.
115:3 That is, 'purified.'
115:4 All men are said to be purified, at the time of the resurrection, by passing through melted metal, which seems like warm milk to the righteous, but is a final torment to the wicked (see Chap. XXXII, 12, 13, Bd. XXX, 19, 20).
115:5 This would seem to allude to some Avesta name of this molten metal, which is no longer extant.
115:6 We should probably read hamâî, 'ever,' instead of hamâk, 'all.'
115:7 Reading zûr, but it may be zôr, 'violence.'
116:1 That is, the destroyer of the fiend was the creator of the men mentioned in § 10S. The reading sinâsnŏ, 'perception,' is uncertain; perhaps we ought to read 'in the regions (dîvâgânŏ) of light.'
116:2 That is, before the purification in molten metal.
116:3 The 'body,' apparently, but this section is by no means clear.
116:4 This must be on the part of the fiend, as burial is unlawful.
116:5 Perhaps the meaning is that the fiend is at length overcome by the constantly accumulating numbers of the penitent wicked.
117:1 The handsome maiden who is supposed to meet the departed soul, and whose form is an embodiment of its own deeds and religion (see Chaps. XXIV, 5 XLIV, 20). Or, perhaps, the angel of religion (Dîn) itself, which is reverenced for its radiance and glory in Din Yt. 4.
117:2 A mythical mountain (see Chap. XXX, 2).
117:3 The mythical source of pure water which is said to flow from Mount Albûrz into Lake Urvis on the summit of Mount Hûgar, and thence to Mount Aûsîndôm in the wide-formed ocean, whence it partly flows into the ocean, and partly rains upon the earth (see Bd. XIII, 1, 3-5). Much the same account of it is given in Chap. XCII, 5, only the lake is said to be on the summit of Mount Aûsîndôm. It is the Av. Ardvî sûra of the Âbân Yt., and the Pahl. form Arekdvisûr = Aregdvisûr may be explained as a trans-position of Aredgvisûr, an ordinary mispronunciation of Ardvî sûra. Modern Parsis, who consider the Pahl. k as silent (or merely a soft aspirate) after a vowel, would pronounce Aredvisûr.
118:1 See § 99.
118:2 See § 97.
118:3 M14 and J omit what follows, as far as 'heterodoxy.
118:4 Literally 'attainers to endurance.'
119:1 The 'going forth' of the day or the sun means its disappearance or going away, and is an Avesta phrase. The sun is supposed to be 'forth' when it is absent, not when it appears.
120:1 All objects being supposed to be represented by guardian spirits in the other world.