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The Zend Avesta, Part I (SBE04), James Darmesteter, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com
I (1-13). On the unworthy priest and enticers to heresy.
II (14-29). The holiness of the cock.
III (30-60). The four paramours of the Drug.
IV (61-71). On unlawful lusts.
The text and the Pahlavi commentary of this Fargard are translated in Haug's Essays, pp. 243 seq., 364 seq.
1. 'There is many a one, O holy Zarathustra!' said Ahura Mazda, 'who wears a Paitidâna 2 but who has not girded his loins with the law 3; when such a man says, "I am an Âthravan," he lies; do not call him an Âthravan, O holy Zarathustra!' thus said Ahura Mazda.
2 (5). 'He holds a Khrafstraghna 4 in his hand, but he has not girded his loins with the law; when he says, "I am an Âthravan," he lies; do not call him an Âthravan, O holy Zarathustra!' thus said Ahura Mazda.
3 (7). 'He holds a twig 1 in his hand, but he has not girded his loins with the law; when he says, "I am an Âthravan," he lies; do not call him an Âthravan, O holy Zarathustra!' thus said Ahura Mazda.
4 (9). 'He wields the Astra mairya 2, but he has not girded his loins with the law; when he says, "I am an Âthravan," he lies; do not call him an Âthravan, O holy Zarathustra!' thus said Ahura Mazda.
5 (11). 'He who sleeps on throughout the night, who does not perform the Yasna nor chant the hymns, who does not worship by word or by deed, who does neither learn nor teach, with a longing for (everlasting) life, he lies when he says, "I am an Âthravan," do not call him an Âthravan, O holy Zarathustra!' thus said Ahura Mazda.
6 (14). ‘Him thou shalt call an Âthravan, O holy Zarathustra! who throughout the night sits up and demands of the holy Wisdom 3, which makes man free from anxiety, with dilated heart, and cheerful at the head of the Kinvat bridge 4, and which makes him reach that world, that holy world, that excellent world, the world of paradise.
7 (18). '(Therefore) demand of me, thou upright one! of me, who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of me; demand of me, that
thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier 1.'
8 (21). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is it that makes the unseen power of Death increase?'
9 (22). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the man that teaches a wrong law 2; it is the man who continues for three years 3 without wearing the sacred girdle 4, without chanting the Gâthas, without worshipping the good waters.
10 (25). ‘And he who should set that man at
liberty, when bound in prison 1, does no better deed than if he should flay a man alive and cut off his head 2.
11 (27). ‘The blessing uttered on a wicked, ungodly Ashemaogha does not go past the mouth (of the blesser); the blessing for two Ashemaoghas does not go past his tongue; the blessing for three is no word at all; the blessing for four is a curse against himself.
12 (29). ‘Whosoever should give some Haoma juice to a wicked, ungodly Ashemaogha, or some Myazda consecrated with blessings, does no better deed than if he should lead a thousand horse against the cities of the worshippers of Mazda, and should slaughter the men thereof, and drive off the cattle as plunder.
13 (32). 'Demand of me, thou upright one! of me, who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of me; demand of me, that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.'
14 (33). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: 'Who is the Sraosha-varez 3 of Sraosha 4? the holy, strong Sraosha, who is the incarnate Word, a mighty-speared and lordly god.'
15 (34). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the bird named Parôdars 1, which ill-speaking people call Kahrkatâs 2, O holy Zarathustra! the bird that lifts up his voice against the mighty dawn:
16 (37). ‘“Arise, O men! recite the Ashem yad vahistem that smites down the Daêvas 3. Lo! here is Bûshyãsta, the long-handed 4, coming upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world, as soon as it has awoke: ‘Sleep!’ she says, ‘sleep on, O man! the time 5 is not yet come.’”
17 (41). ‘For the three excellent things be never slack, namely, good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; for the three abominable things be ever slack, namely, bad thoughts, bad words, and bad deeds.”
18 (43). ‘In the first part of the night, Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, calls the master of the house for help, saying:
19 (43). ‘"Up! arise, thou master of the house! put on thy girdle on thy clothes, wash thy hands, take wood, bring it unto me, and let me burn bright
with the clean wood, carried by thy well-washed hands 1. Here comes Âzi 2, made by the Daêvas, who is about to strive against me, and wants to put out my life."
20 (46). ‘In the second part of the night, Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, calls the husbandman for help, saying:
21 (46). ‘"Up! arise, thou husbandman! Put on thy girdle on thy clothes, wash thy hands, take wood, bring it unto me, and let me burn bright with the clean wood, carried by thy well-washed hands. Here comes Âzi, made by the Daêvas, who is about to strive against me, and wants to put out my life."
22 (48). ‘In the third part of the night, Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, calls the holy Sraosha for help, saying: "Come thou, holy, tall-formed Sraosha, then he brings unto me some clean wood with his well-washed hands 3: here comes Âzi, made by the Daêvas, who is about to strive against me, and wants to put out my life."
23 (50). ‘And then the holy Sraosha wakes up the bird named Parôdars, which ill-speaking people call Kahrkatâs, and the bird lifts up his voice against the mighty dawn:
24 (52). ‘“Arise, O men! recite the Ashem yad vahistem that smites down the Daêvas. Lo! here is Bûshyãsta, the long-handed, coming upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world as
soon as it has awoke: ‘Sleep!’ she says, ‘sleep on, O man! the time is not yet come.’”
25 (52). ‘"For the three excellent things be never slack, namely, good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; for the three abominable things be ever slack, namely, bad thoughts, bad words, and bad deeds."
26 (53). ‘And then bed-fellows address one another: "Rise up, here is the cock calling me up." Whichever of the two first gets up shall first enter paradise: whichever of the two shall first, with well-washed hands, bring clean wood unto the Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, the Fire, well pleased with him and not angry, and fed as it required, will thus bless him:
27 (58). ‘"May herds of oxen grow for thee, and increase of sons: may thy mind be master of its vow, may thy soul be master of its vow, and mayst thou live on in the joy of the soul all the nights of thy life."
‘This is the blessing which the Fire speaks unto him who brings him dry wood, well examined by the light of the day, well cleansed with godly intent.
28 (64). ‘And whosoever will kindly and piously present one of the faithful with a pair of these my Parôdars birds, a male and a female, it is as though he had given 1 a house with a hundred columns, a thousand beams, ten thousand large windows, ten thousand small windows.
29 (67). 'And whosoever shall give to my Parôdars bird his fill of meat, I, Ahura Mazda, need not
interrogate him any longer; he shall directly go to paradise.'
30 (70). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! Thou then, alone in the material world, dost bear offspring without any male coming unto thee?'
31 (74). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! It is not so, nor do I, alone in the material world, bear offspring without any male coming unto me.
32 (77). ‘There are four males who are mine.
'And they make me conceive progeny as other males make their females.'
33 (78). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! Who is the first of those males of thine?'
34 (79). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! He is the first of my males who, being entreated by one of the faithful, does not give him anything, be it ever so little, of the riches he has treasured up 1.
35 (82). 'That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their females.'
36 (83). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! What is the thing that can counteract that?'
37 (84). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! This is
the thing that counteracts it, namely, when a man unasked, kindly and piously, gives to one of the faithful something, be it ever so little, of the riches he has treasured up.
38 (87). 'He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb as a four-footed wolf does, who tears the child out of a mother's womb.'
39 (88). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! Who is the second of those males of thine?'
40 (89). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! He is the second of my males who, making water, lets it fall along the upper forepart of his foot.
41 (92). 'That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their females.'
42 (93). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! What is the thing that can counteract that?'
43 (94). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! This is the thing that counteracts it, namely, when the man rising up 1 and stepping three steps further off, shall say three Ahuna-Vairya, two humatanãm, three hukhshathrôtemãm, and then chant the Ahuna-Vairya and offer up one Yênhê hâtãm.
44 (98). 'He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb as a four-footed wolf does, who tears the child out of a mother's womb.'
45 (99). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! Who is the third of those males of thine?'
46 (100). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! He is the third of my males who during his sleep emits seed.
47 (102). 'That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their females.'
48 (103). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! What is the thing that can counteract that?'
49 (104). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! this is the thing that counteracts it, namely, if the man, when he has risen from sleep, shall say three Ahuna-Vairya, two humatanãm, three hukhshathrôtemãm, and then chant the Ahuna-Vairya and offer up one Yênhê hâtãm.
50 (107). 'He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb as a four-footed wolf does who tears the child out of a mother's womb.'
51 (108). Then he shall speak unto Spenta Ârmaiti 1, saying: ‘O Spenta Ârmaiti, this man do I deliver unto thee; this man deliver thou back unto me, against the mighty day of resurrection; deliver him back as one who knows the Gâthas, who
knows the Yasna, and the revealed law 1, a wise and clever man, who is the Word incarnate.
52 (112). 'Then thou shalt call his name "Fire-creature, Fire-seed, Fire-offspring, Fire-land," or any name wherein is the word Fire 2.'
53 (113). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug! Who is the fourth of those males of thine?'
54 (114). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! This one is my fourth male who, either man or woman, being more than fifteen years of age, walks without wearing the sacred girdle and the sacred shirt 3.
55 (115). 'At the fourth step 4 we Daêvas, at once, wither him even to the tongue and the marrow, and he goes thenceforth with power to destroy the world of the holy spirit, and he destroys it like the Yâtus and the Zandas 5.'
56 (117). The holy Sraosha asked the Drug, with his club uplifted against her: 'O thou wretched and wicked Drug, what is the thing that can counteract that?'
57 (118). Then the Drug demon, the guileful one, answered: ‘O holy, tall-formed Sraosha! There is no means of counteracting it;
58 (120). ‘When a man or a woman, being more than fifteen years of age, walks without wearing the sacred girdle or the sacred shirt.
59 (120). 'At the fourth step we Daêvas, at once, wither him even to the tongue and the marrow, and he goes thenceforth with power to destroy the world of the holy spirit, and he destroys it like the Yâtus and the Zandas.'
60 (122). Demand of me, thou upright one! of me who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of me; demand of me that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.
61 (123). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: 'Who grieves thee with the sorest grief? Who pains thee with the sorest pain?'
62 (124). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the Gahi 1, O Spitama Zarathustra! who goes a-whoring after the faithful and the unfaithful, after the worshippers of Mazda and the worshippers of the Daêvas, after the wicked and the righteous 2.
6 3 (12 5). ‘Her look dries up one third of the mighty floods that run from the mountains; her look withers one third of the beautiful, golden hued, growing plants;
64 (12 7). ‘Her look withers one third of the grass
wherewith Spenta Ârmaiti 1 is clad 2, and her touch withers in the faithful one third of his good thoughts, of his good words, of his good deeds, one third of his strength, of his fiend-killing power, and of his holiness 3.
65 (129). 'Verily I say unto thee, O Spitama Zarathustra! such creatures ought to be killed even more than gliding snakes 4, than howling wolves, than the wild she-wolf that falls upon the fold, or than the she-frog that falls upon the waters with her thousandfold brood.'
66 (133). Demand of me, thou upright one! of me who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of me; demand of me that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.
67-68 (133). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: 'If a man shall come unto a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, and he does so wittingly and knowingly 5, and she allows it wilfully, wittingly, and
knowingly, what is the atonement for it, what is the penalty that he shall pay to atone for the deed they have done?'
69 (136). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If a man shall come unto a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, and he does so wittingly and knowingly, and she allows it wilfully, wittingly, and knowingly;
70 (137). ‘He shall slay a thousand head of small cattle; he shall godly and piously offer up to the fire 1 the entrails 2 thereof together with Zaothra-libations; he shall bring the shoulder bones to the good waters 3.
71 (140). ‘He shall godly and piously bring unto the fire a thousand loads of soft wood, of Urvâsna, Vohu-gaona, Vohu-kereti, Hadhâ-naêpata, or of any sweet-scented plant 4.
72 (142). ‘He shall tie and consecrate a thousand bundles of baresma; he shall godly and piously offer up to the good waters a thousand Zaothra-libations, together with the Haoma and the meat, cleanly prepared and well strained by a pious man, together with the roots of the tree known as Hadhâ-naêpata 5.
73 (144). ‘He shall kill a thousand snakes of
those that go upon the belly, two thousand of the other kind 1: he shall kill a thousand land frogs and two thousand water frogs; he shall kill a thousand corn-carrying ants and two thousand of the other kind 2.
74 (147). ‘He shall throw thirty bridges over canals; he shall undergo a thousand stripes with the Aspahê-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraoshô-karana 3.
75 (149). ‘This is the atonement, this is the penalty that he shall pay to atone for the deed that he has done.
76 (150). 'If he shall pay it, he shall enter the world of the holy ones; if he shall not pay it, he shall fall down into the world of the wicked, into that dark world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness 4.'
189:2 See above, p. 168, n. 7.
189:3 The word translated girded is the word used of the Kôstî, the sacred girdle which the Parsi must never part with (see § 54); the full meaning, therefore, is, 'girded with the law as with a Kôstî' (cf. Yasna IX, 26 [81]), that is to say, 'never forsaking the law,' or, as the Commentary expresses it, 'one whose thought is all on the law' (cf. § 5).
189:4 See above, p. 168, n. 8.
190:1 The bundles of baresma or the urvarân (see p. 22, n. 2; p. 169, n. 3).
190:2 The Aspahê-astra; see Introd. V, 19.
190:3 That is to say, studies the law and learns from those who know it (cf. Introd. V, 2).
190:4 See Farg. XIX, 30. 'It gives him a stout heart, when standing before the Kinvat bridge' (Comm.)
191:1 See Introd. V, 2.
191:2 'The deceiver Ashemaogha' (Comm.); the heretic. Cf. Farg. XV, 2, and Introd. III, 10.
191:3 Doubtful.
191:4 The Kôstî, which must be worn by every Parsi, man or woman, from their fifteenth year of age (see below, § 54 seq.); it is the badge of the faithful, the girdle by which he is united both with Ormazd and with his fellow believers. He who does not wear it must be refused water and bread by the members of the community; he who wears it becomes a participator in the merit of all the good deeds performed all over the Zarathustrian world (Saddar 10 and 46; Hyde 10 and 50). The Kôstî consists 'of seventy-two interwoven filaments, and should three times circumvent the waist. . . . Each of the threads is equal in value to one of the seventy-two Hâhs of the Izashnê; each of the twelve threads in the six lesser cords is equal in value to the dawâzdih hamâist . . .; each of the lesser cords is equal in value to one of the six Gahanbârs; each of the three circumventions of the loins is equal in value to humat, good thought, hukhat, good speech, huaresta, good work; the binding of each of the four knots upon it confers pleasure on each of the four elements, fire, air, water, and the earth' (Edal Daru, apud Wilson, The Parsi Religion Unfolded, p. 163). In the Brahmanical system also the faithful are bound to their god by means of a sacred girdle, the Mekhalâ.
Another piece of clothing which every Parsi is enjoined to wear is the Sadarah, or sacred shirt, a muslin shirt with short sleeves, that does not reach lower than the hips, with a small pocket at the opening in front of the shirt (see § 54 seq.)
192:1 See Introd. III, 10. Cf. § 12.
192:2 Doubtful. The Commentary seems to understand the sentence as follows: 'He who should free him from hell would thus perform no less a feat than if he should cut off the head of a man and then make him alive again.'
192:3 'Who is he who sets the world in motion?' (Comm.) See above, p. 56, n. 2.
192:4 See Introd. IV, 31.
193:1 'He who foresees' the coming dawn; the cock.
193:2 'When he is not called so, he is powerful' (Comm.) Cf. XIII, 2, 6.
193:3 The cock is called 'the drum of the world.' As crowing in the dawn that dazzles away the fiends, he shared with it the honour of the victory, and was believed to crow away the demons: 'The cock was created to fight against the fiends and wizards; . . . he is with the dog an ally of Srôsh against demons' (Bundahis XIX) 'No demon can enter a house in which there is a cock: and, above all, should this bird come to the residence of a demon, and move his tongue to chaunt the praises of the glorious and exalted Creator, that instant the evil spirit takes to flight' (Mirkhond, History of the Early Kings of Persia, translated by Shea, p. 57; cf. Saddar 32, Hyde 35, and J. Ovington, A Voyage to Suratt, 1696, p. 371).
193:4 See Introd. IV, 24.
193:5 'To perform thy religious duties' (Comm.)
194:1 The Parsi, as soon as he has risen, must put on the Kôstî, wash his hands, and put wood on the fire.
194:2 See Introd. IV, 19.
194:3 The text seems to be corrupt: it must probably be emendated into 'bring into me . . .'
195:1 'In the day of recompense' (Comm.); he shall be rewarded as though he had given a house, &c. . . . he shall receive such a house in paradise.
196:1 Cf. Farg. III, 34.
197:1 'Nec stando mingens . . . facile visitur Persa' (Amm. Marc. XXIII, 6); Ardâ Vîrâf XXIV; Mainyô-i-khard II, 39; Saddar 56, Hyde 60. Cf. Manu IV, 47 seq., and Polack, Persien I, 67: 'Von einem in Paris weilenden Perser hinterbrachte man dem König, um seine Emancipation und Abtrünnigkeit vom Gesetz zu beweisen, dass er Schweinefleisch esse und stehend die Function verrichte.'
198:1 The genius of the earth (cf. Farg. II, 10).
199:1 Literally, 'the answers made to the questions (of Zarathustra).'
199:2 Cf. Introd. IV, 30, and Orm. Ahr. § 205.
199:3 The Kôstî and the Sadarah; see above, p. 191, n. 4. It is the sin known as kushâd duvârisnî (Mainyô-i-khard II, 35; Ardâ Vîrâf XXV, 6).
199:4 'Going three steps without Kôstî is only a three Sraoshô-karana sin; from the fourth step, it is a tanâfûhr sin' (Comm.)
199:5 For the Yâtus, see Introd. IV, 20; the zanda is a hobgoblin.
200:1 The courtezan, as an incarnation of the female demon Gahi (see Introd. IV, 15).
200:2 'Whether she gives up her body to the faithful or to the unfaithful, there is no difference; when she has been with three men, she is guilty of death' (Comm.)
201:1 The earth.
201:2 Doubtful. The Pahlavi translation has, 'One third of the strength of Spenta Ârmaiti.'
201:3 'If a Gahi (courtezan) look at running waters, they fall; if at trees, they are stunted; if she converse with a pious man, his intelligence and his holiness are withered by it' (Saddar 67; Hyde 74). Cf. Manu IV, 40 seq.
201:4 It is written in the law (the Avesta): 'O Zartust Isfitamân! with regard to woman, I say to thee that any woman that has given up her body to two men in one day is sooner to be killed than a wolf, a lion, or a snake: any one who kills such a woman will gain as much merit by it as if he had provided with wood a thousand fire-temples, or destroyed the dens of adders, scorpions, lions, wolves, or snakes' (Old Rav. 59 b).
201:5 'Knowing her state and knowing that it is a sin' (Comm.)
202:1 To the Bahrâm fire.
202:2 The ōmentum (afsman) or epipleon. Strabo, XV, 13: τοῦ ἐπίπλου τι μικρὸν τιθέασι, ὡσ λέγουσί τινες, ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ. 'Ascending six steps they showed me in a Room adjoining to the temple, their Fire which they fed with Wood, and sometimes Burn on it the Fat of the Sheep's Tail.' A Voyage Round the World, Dr. J. F. Gemelli, 1698.
202:3 The meat is eaten by the faithful (Asp.); cf. Herod. I, 132.
202:4 Cf. Farg. XIV, 3 seq.
203:1 'Two thousand mâr bânak' (Comm.) See above, p. 157, n. 1.
203:2 'Two thousand dârak' (Comm.) See above, p. 157, n. 4 (there is no note 4 on page 157.--JBH).
203:3 Five tanâfûhrs, that is, six thousand dirhems.
203:4 §§ 75, 76 = Farg. XIV, 18.