Teachings of Zoroaster-Extracts Pages 72-83

THE TEACHINGS OF ZOROASTER,

AND


THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE PARSI RELIGION

EXTRACTS 72 - 83

p. 72
. . . . .

"So mayst Thou be to us our life, and our body's vigour, O Thou most beneficent of beings, and that for both the worlds!

"Aye, let us win and conquer long life, O Ahura-Mazda! in Thy grace, and through Thy will may we be powerful. Mayst Thou lay hold on us to help, . . . and with salvation, O Thou most beneficent of beings!

. . . . .

"What reward most meet for our deserving Thou hast appointed for the souls, O Ahura-Mazda! of that do Thou bestow on us for this life, and for that of mind. Of that reward do Thou Thyself grant this advantage, that we may come under Thy protecting guardianship, and that of Righteousness for ever."

. . . . .

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD BY AHURA-MAZDA AND CORRESPONDING EVILS BY ANGRO MAINYUS *
Page 72 Continued

Ahura-Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathustra, saying:

"I have made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it. Had I not made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it,

p. 73

then the whole living world would have invaded the Airyana Vaêgô."

Countries and Lands Created by Ahura-Mazda.

1. Airyana Vaêgô by the good river Dâitya.

2. The plains of Sughdha.

3. The land of Mourn (Merv).

4. Bâkhdhi with high-lifted banners (Balkh).

5. The land of Nisâya.

6. Harôyu with its lakes (Herat).

7. Vaêkereta (Cabul).

8. Urva of the rich pastures (land in Khorasan).

9. Khnenta in Vehrkâna.

10. Harahvaiti the beautiful.

11. The bright and glorious Haêtumant.

12. Ragha of the three races (Rai, the birthplace of Zoroaster).


Corresponding Evils Placed there by Angro Mainyus (The Evil Spirit).

1. The serpent and winter.

2. The fly Skaitya, which stings and brings death to the cattle.

3. Sinful lusts.

4. Corn-eating ants.

5. The sin of unbelief.

6. The stained mosquito.

7. The Pairika Knāthaiti (meaning an evil creature or a pari who destroys mankind)

8. The sin of pride and tyranny.

9. Unnatural sin.

10. Sin of defiling the virgin earth by burying corpses.

11. Witchcraft and wizards.

12. Sin of utter unbelief (atheism).


p. 74


13. Holy Kakhra.

14. The four-cornered Varena.

15. Country of the Seven Rivers.

16. The land by the floods of the Rangha.


13. Sin of burning of corpses.

14. Illness of women.

15. Excessive heat.

16. Excessive frost.

"There are still other lands and countries, beautiful and deep, desirable and bright and thriving."

GOD'S WARNING TO YIMA OF WINTER AND DELUGE *
Page 74 Continued

And Ahura-Mazda spake unto Yima, saying:

"O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; . . . that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî, deep on the highest tops of mountains.

"And all the three sorts of beasts shall perish, those that live in the wilderness, and those that live on the tops of the mountains, and those that live in the bosom of the dale, under the shelter of stables.

"Therefore make thee a vara, † long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, and thither

p. 75

bring . . . sheep and oxen . . . men . . . dogs . . . birds and . . . red blazing fires.

. . . . .

"There thou shalt make waters flow in a bed a hâthra * long; there thou shalt settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shalt establish dwelling-places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.

"Thither thou shalt bring . . . men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring . . . every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth. Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those . . . shalt thou bring, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the vara.

"There shall be no hump-backed, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic, no poverty, no lying, no meanness, no jealousy, no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angro Mainyus stamps the bodies of mortals."

Then Yima said within himself: "How shall I manage to make that vara which Ahura-Mazda has commanded me to make?"

And Ahura-Mazda said unto Yima: ". . .

p. 76

Crush the earth with a stamp of thy heel, and then knead it with thy hands . . ."

BLESSINGS OF CULTIVATING THE SOIL *
Page 76 Continued

"He who would till the earth, . . . with the left arm and the right, . . . unto him will she bring forth plenty, like a loving bride, on her bed, unto her beloved; the bride will bring forth children, the earth will bring forth plenty of fruit.

"He who sows corn sows holiness: he makes the law of Mazda grow higher and higher.

. . . . .

"When barley is coming forth, the Daêvas start up; when corn is growing ripe, then faint the Daêvas’ hearts; when the corn is being ground, the Daêvas groan; when wheat is coming forth, the Daêvas are destroyed. In that house they can no longer stay; from that house they are beaten away, wherein wheat is thus coming forth.

. . . . .

"He who tilling the earth, . . . would not kindly and piously give to one of the faithful, he shall fall down into the darkness . . . down

p. 77

into the world of woe, the dismal realm, down into the house of hell."

HAPPINESS OF THE EARTH *
Page 77 Continued

"It is the place whereon one of the faithful erects a house with a priest within, with cattle, with a wife, with children, and good herds within; and wherein afterwards the cattle go on thriving, holiness is thriving, fodder is thriving, the dog is thriving, the wife is thriving, the child is thriving, the fire is thriving, and every blessing of life is thriving.

. . . . .

"It is the place where one of the faithful cultivates most corn, grass, and fruit; . . . where he waters ground that is dry, or dries ground that is too wet.

"It is the place where there is most increase of flocks and herds."

GRIEF OF THE EARTH †

. . . . .

"It is the place wherein most corpses of dogs and of men lie buried.

. . . . .

p. 78

"It is the place whereon the wife and children of one of the faithful . . . are driven along the way of captivity (the dry, the dusty way, and lift up a voice of wailing.

"Unhappy is the land that has long lain unsown with the seed of the sower, and wants a good husbandman, like a well-shapen maiden who has long gone childless and wants a good husband."

. . . . .

CULTIVATION OF LAND WHERE A CORPSE IS FOUND *
Page 78 Continued

". . . A year long shall the ground lie fallow whereon dogs or men have died."

PURIFICATION OF WATER DEFILED BY A CORPSE †

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! if a worshipper of Mazda, walking, or running, or riding, or driving, come upon a corpse in a stream of running water, what shall he do?"

Ahura-Mazda answered: "Taking off his shoes, putting off his clothes, boldly, O Zarathustra!

p. 79

he shall enter the river, and take the dead out of the water. . . .

"He shall draw out of the water as much of the corpse as he can. . . . No sin attaches to him for any bone, hair . . . that may drop back into the water.

. . . . .

"As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink.

"After the corpse has been taken out and the stream has flowed three times, * the water is clean. . . ."

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION †
Page 79 Continued

"He shall learn on during the first part of the day and the last, during the first part of the night and the last, that his mind may be increased in knowledge and wax strong in holiness: so shall he sit up, giving thanks and praying to God and His angels that he may be increased in knowledge. He shall rest during the middle part of the day, during the middle part of the night, and thus shall he continue until he can say ail the words which former Athrapaitis ‡ have said."

REWARD FOR THE PIOUS *
Page 80

Zarathustra asked Ahura-Mazda: "O thou all-knowing Ahura-Mazda, should I urge upon the godly man, should I urge upon the godly woman, should I urge upon the wicked Daêva-worshipper who lives in sin, that they have once to leave behind them the earth made by Ahura, that they have to leave the water that runs, the corn that grows, and all the rest of their wealth?"

Ahura-Mazda answered: "Thou shouldst, O holy Zarathustra."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! where are the rewards given? Where does the rewarding take place? Where is the rewarding fulfilled? Whereto do men come to take the reward that, in their life in the material world, they have won for their souls?"

Ahura-Mazda answered: "When the man is dead, when his time is over, then the hellish, evil-doing Daêvas assail him; and when the third night is gone, when the dawn appears and brightens up, and makes Mithra † . . . reach the all-happy mountains, and the sun is rising:

Then the fiend named Vîzaresha carries off in bonds the souls of the wicked Daêva-worshippers who live in sin. The soul enters the way made by Time, and open both to the wicked and to the righteous. At the head of the Kinvad

p. 81

[paragraph continues] (chinvat) Bridge . . . they ask for their spirits and souls the reward for the worldly goods which they gave away here below.

. . . . .

"Up rises Vohumanô (Door-Keeper of Heaven) from his golden seat. Vohumanô exclaims: 'How hast thou come to us, thou Holy One, from that decaying world into this undecaying one?'

"Gladly pass the souls of the righteous to the golden seat of Ahura-Mazda, to the golden seat of the Ameshaspentas, * to Garodemana. †"

FORGIVENESS OF SIN ‡
Page 81 Continued

"The law of Mazda indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! takes away from him who confesses it the bonds of his sin; it takes away the sin of breach of trust; it takes away the sin of murdering one of the faithful; it takes away the sin of burying a corpse; it takes away the sin of deeds for which there is no atonement; it takes away the heaviest penalties of sin; it takes away any sin that may be sinned."

THE TEMPTATION *
Page 82

Thus Zarathustra answered Angro Mainyus (the Evil Spirit): "O evil-doer, Angro Mainyus! I will smite the creation of the Daêva; I will smite the Nasu, a creature of the Daêva. . . ."

Again to him said the guileful one, . . . . Angro Mainyus: "Do not destroy my creatures, O holy Zarathustra! . . . Renounce the good law of the worshippers of Mazda, and thou shalt gain such a boon as Zohâk, † the murderer, gained, the ruler of the nations."

Thus in answer to him said Spitama Zarathustra: "No! never will I renounce the good law of the worshippers of Mazda, though my body, my life, my soul should burst!"

Again to him said the guileful one . . . Angro Mainyus: "By whose word wilt thou strike, by whose word wilt thou repel, by whose weapon will the good creatures strike and repel my creation?" . . .

". . . The words taught by Mazda, these are my . . . best weapons! By this word will I strike, by this word will I repel . . . O evil-doer, Angro Mainyus! To me Spenta Mainyus (Good Spirit) gave it; he gave it to me in the boundless time; to me the Ameshaspentas (Archangels), the all-ruling, the all-beneficent, gave it."

p. 83

Zarathustra chanted aloud the (prayer of) AHUNA VAIRYA.

"The will of the Lord is the law of holiness. The riches of Vohumanô (Good Mind) shall be given to him who works in this world for Mazda, and wields according to the will of Ahura the power he gave to him to relieve the poor." . . . . . . They run away, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas; they run away, casting the evil eye, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas.

"'Let us gather together at the head of Arezûra (the Gate of Hell). For he is . . . born, the holy Zarathustra, in the house of Pourushaspa. How can we procure his death? He is the stroke that fells the fiends.' . . .

"Down are the Daêva-worshippers, the Nasu made by the Daêva, the false-speaking lie! They run away, they rush away, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas, into the depths of the dark, horrid world of hell."

BANISHMENT OF ANGRO MAINYUS *
Page 83 Continued

"Away art thou driven, O mischievous Angro Mainyus! from the fire, from the water, from the earth, from the cow, from the tree, from the faithful man, and from the faithful woman . . . from all good things made by Mazda, the offspring of the holy principle."


NOTES

72:* Max Müller's "Sacred Books of the East."

74:* Sacred Books of the East.

74:†An enclosure.

75:* About an English mile.

76:* Sacred Books of the East.

77:* Sacred Books of the East.

77:† Ibid.

78:* Sacred Books of the East.

78:† Ibid.

79:* Probably tides.

79:† Ibid.

79:‡ A teaching priest.

80:* Max Müller's "Sacred Books of the East."

80:† God of Light.

81:* Archangels.

81:† Highest Heaven.

81:‡ Max Müller's "Sacred Books of the East."

82:* Max Müller's "Sacred Books of the East."

82:† See Notes.

83:* Max Müller's "Sacred Books of the East."





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