Parallel fra Persien 2

Avesta er en gruppe af religiøse skrifter, som er tilknyttet den religion, vi betegner som zoroastrisme eller zarathustrisme. Religionen er opkaldt efter dens ophavsmand Zoroaster eller Zarathustra, som han også kaldes. De fleste kender ham måske bedst som hovedfiguren fra Nietzsches Also Sprach Zarathustra. Zoroaster levede i det 7. årh. f.v.t.

Religionen er centreret omkring guden Ahura Mazdah, og teksterne, som er blevet til over en meget lang periode, er ofte udformet som en samtale mellem denne og hans profet. Zoroasters slægtsnavn er Spitama, og han omtales under dette navn i teksten.

Teksten her er en senere udgave af Avesta - beskrivelsen af verdenstræet fra Avesta har vi ikke længere. Den er hentet fra www.sacred-texts.com og kan være lidt svær at læse, da den er forsynet med noter. Afsnittene om verdensaldrene står med blå skrift.

Se også http://www.avesta.org/, hvis du vil vide mere om Avesta og Zoroastrisme.

 

BAHMAN YAST.

CHAPTER II.

1. In the Vohûman Yast commentary (zand) it is declared[4] that Zaratûst asked for immortality from

[1. That is, Khusrô Nôshirvân. As the names of his priests and councillors stand in K20 they can hardly be otherwise distributed than they are in the text, but the correctness of the Ms. is open to suspicion. Dâd-Aûharmazd was a commentator who is quoted in Chap. III, 16, and in the Pahl. Yas. XI, 22; Âtarô-frôbâg was another commentator mentioned in Sls. I, 3; and Âtarô-pâd and Bakht-âfrîd are names well known in Pahlavi literature, the former having been borne by more than one individual (see Sls. I, 3, 4).

2. The Pers. version says nothing about this promise, but states that Khûsrô sent a message to the accursed Mazdak, requiring him to reply to the questions of this priestly assembly on pain of death, to which he assented, and he was asked ten religious questions, but was unable to answer one so the king put him to death immediately.

3. A similar prohibition, addressed to Zaratûst, as regards the Avesta text, is actually found in the Horvadad Yt. 10.

4. This seems to imply that this text is not the commentary {footnote p. 195} itself, but merely an epitome of it. The Pâz. MSS. which have been examined, begin with this chapter.]

{p. 195}

Aûharmazd a second time, and spoke thus: 'I am Zaratûst, more righteous and more efficient among these thy creatures, O creator! when thou shalt make me[1] immortal, as the tree opposed to harm[2], and Gôpatshah, Gôst-i Fryân, and Kîtrôk-miyân son of Vistâsp, who is Pêshyôtanû, were made[3]. 2. When thou shalt make me immortal they in thy good religion will believe that the upholder of religion, who receives from Aûharmazd his pure and good religion of the Mazdayasnians, will become immortal; then those men will believe in thy good religion.'

3. Aûharmazd spoke[4] thus: 'When I shall make thee immortal, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! then Tûr-i Brâdarvash the Karap[5] will become immortal, and

[1. Or, 'when I shall become;' the verb is omitted by mistake in K20.

2. Three of these immortals are mentioned in Bund. XXIX, 5, and Gôst-i Fryân is included in a similar enumeration in Dâd. (Reply 89). The tale of Gôst-i Fryân (Av. Yôistô yô Fryananãm, of Âbân Yt. 81 and Fravardîn Yt. 120) has been published with The Book of Ardâ-Vîrâf,' ed. Hoshangji and Haug.

3. Or, 'became;' most of this verb is torn off in K20.

4. The verb is placed before its nominative in the Pahlavi text, both here and in most similar sentences, which is an imitation of the Avesta, due probably to the text being originally translated from an Avesta book now lost, or, at any rate, to its author's wish that it might appear to be so translated. In such cases of inverted construction, when the verb is in a past tense, the Pahlavi idiom often requires a pronominal suffix, corresponding, to the nominative, to be added to the first word in the sentence; thus, gûftös Aûharmazd, or afas gûft Aûharmazd, does not mean 'Aûharmazd spoke to him (or said it),' but merely 'Aûharmazd spoke'(lit. 'it was said by him, Aûharmazd').

5. According to an untranslated passage in the Selections of Zâd-sparam, mentioned in the note on p. 187, this is the name of {footnote p. 196} one of the five brothers in the Karapân family of sorcerers, who were enemies of Zaratûst during his childhood. Their names, as written in SZS., may be read as follows, 'Brâdarvakhsh, Brâdrôyisnö, Tûr Brâgrêsh, Azânö, and Nasm,' and the first is also called 'Tûr-i 'Brâdarvakhsh;' they are described as descendants of the sister of Manûskîhar. In the seventh book of the Dînkard a wizard, who endeavours to injure Zaratûst in his childhood, is called 'Tûr-i Brâdrôk-rêsh, the Karapö,' and was probably the third brother, whose name (thus corrected) indicates brâthrô-raêsha as its Avesta form. Karap or Karapân in all these passages is evidently the name of a family or caste, probably the Av. karapanô which Haug translates by 'performers of (idolatrous) sacrificial rites,' in connection with Sans. kalpa, 'ceremonial ritual' (see Haug's Essays, pp. 289-291).]

{p. 196}

when Tûr-i Brâdarvash the Karap shall become immortal the resurrection and future existence are not possible.'

4. Zaratûst seemed uneasy about it in his mind[1]; and Aûharmazd, through the wisdom of omniscience, knew what was thought by Zaratûst the Spîtâmân with the righteous spirit, and he[2] took hold of Zaratûst's hand. 5. And he, Aûharmazd the propitious spirit, creator of the material world, the righteous one, even he put the omniscient wisdom, in the shape of water, on the hand of Zaratûst, and said to him thus: 'Devour it.'

[1. K20 has 'among the spirits;' the word mînisn having become maînôkân by the insertion of an extra stroke.

2. Reading afas instead of minas (Huz. of agas, 'from or by him,' which is written with the same letters as afas; 'and by him'), not only here, but also in §§ 5, 7, 9. The copyist of K20 was evidently not aware that afas is a conjunctive form, but confounded it with the prepositional form agas, as most Parsis and some European scholars do still. The Sasanian inscriptions confirm the reading afas for the conjunctive form; and Nêryôsang, the learned Parsi translator of Pahlavi texts into Pâzand and Sanskrit some four centuries ago, was aware of the difference between the two forms, as he transcribes them correctly into Paz. vas and azas.]

{p. 197}

6. And Zaratûst devoured some of it; thereby the omniscient wisdom was intermingled with Zaratûst, and seven days and nights Zaratûst was in the wisdom of Aûharmazd. 7. And Zaratûst beheld the men and cattle in the seven regions of the earth, where the many fibres of hair of every one are, and whereunto the end of each fibre holds on the back. 8. And he beheld whatever trees and shrubs there were, and how many roots of plants were in the earth of Spendarmad, where and how they had grown, and where they were mingled.

9. And the seventh day and night he (Aûharmazd) took back the omniscient wisdom from Zaratûst, and Zaratûst reflected in this way, that I have seen it in a pleasant dream produced by Aûharmazd, and I am not surfeited with the dream. 10. And he took both hands, rubbed his body (kerp) again, and spoke[1] thus: 'I have slept a long time, and am not surfeited with this pleasant dream produced by Aûharmazd.'

11. Aûharmazd said to the righteous Zaratûst thus: 'What was seen in the pleasant dream produced by Aûharmazd?'

12. Zaratûst spoke thus: 'O Aûharmazd, propitious spirit! creator of the material world, righteous creator! I have seen a celebrity (khunîd) with much wealth, whose soul, infamous in the body, was hungry (gurs)[2] and jaundiced and in hell, and he did not seem to me exalted; and I saw a beggar with no wealth and helpless, and his soul was thriving (farpîh) in paradise, and[3] he seemed to me exalted.

[1. This verb is omitted in K20 by mistake.

2. Or else 'dirty.'

3. Reading afam instead of minam, both here and in § 14; the {footnote p. 198} copyist of K20 having confounded these two words, like those mentioned in the note on § 4.]

{p. 198}

[1. The passage in brackets is omitted in K20, but is supplied from the Paz. MSS., being evidently necessary to complete the contrast. It occurs also in the Pers. version.

2. Supplied from the Paz. and Pers. versions, being omitted here in K20, though occurring in § 20.

3. The female archangel who has charge of the earth (see Bund. I, 26).

4 The Pâz. MSS. omit the description of the silver age.

5. Usually identified with Artaxerxes Longimanus, but his long reign of 112 years may include most of the Achæmenian sovereigns down to Artaxerxes Mnemon, several of whom are called Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes in the biblical books of Ezra and Esther. See Bund. XXXI, 30, XXXIV, 8.]

{p. 199}

[1. Reading mûn, 'whom,' instead of amat, 'when' (see the note on Bund. I, 7).

2. Contracted here into Spendâd, as it is also in Bund. XXXIV, 8 in the old MSS. This name of the king is corrupted into Bahman son of Isfendiyâr in the Shâhnâmah.

3. This brazen age is evidently out of its proper chronological order. The Pâzand and Persian versions correct this blunder by describing the copper age before the brazen one here, but they place the brazen branch before the copper one in § 14, so it is doubtful how the text stood originally.

4. Artakhshatar son of Pâpakî and Shahpûharî son of Artakhshatar are the Sasanian forms of the names of the first two monarchs (A.D. 226-271) of the Sasanian dynasty, whose reigns constitute this brazen age.

5. Literally, 'deliverance from sin' or 'salvation' by one's own good works, and, therefore, not in a Christian sense.

6. Referring to the ordeal of pouring molten brass on his chest, undergone by Âtarô-pâd son of Mâraspend, high-priest and prime minister of Shâpûr I, for the purpose of proving the truth of his religion to those who doubted it.

7. It is uncertain which of the Askânian sovereigns is meant, or whether several of the dynasty may not be referred to. The Greek {footnote p. 200} successors of Alexander were subdued in Persia by Ask (Arsaces I), who defeated Seleucus Callinicus about B.C. 236. But the third book of the Dînkard (in a passage quoted by Haug in his Essay on the Pahlavi Language) mentions Valkhas (Vologeses) the Askânian as collecting the Avesta and Zand, and encouraging the Mazdayasnian religion. This Valkhas was probably Vologeses I, a contemporary of Nero, as shown by Darmesteter in the introduction to his translation of the Vendidad.]

{p. 200}

[1. I am indebted to Professor J. Darmesteter for pointing out that Nêryôsang, in his Sanskrit translation of Yas. IX, 75, explains Kalasiyâkâh as 'those whose faith is the Christian religion;' the original Pahlavi word in the oldest MSS. is Kilisâyâîk, altogether a misunderstanding of the Avesta name Keresâni, which it translates, but sufficiently near the name in our text to warrant the assumption that Nêryôsang would have translated Kilisyâkîh by 'Christianity;' literally it means 'ecclesiasticism, or the church religion' (from Pers. kilisyâ, Gr. {Greek ?ekklhsi'a}). Akandgar is probably a miswriting of Alaksandar or Sikandar; though Darmesteter suggests that Skandgar (Av. skendô-kara, Pers. sikandgar), 'causer of destruction,' would be an appropriate punning title for Alexander from a Persian point of view. The anachronisms involved in making Alexander the Great a Christian, conquered by an Askânian king, are not more startling than the usual Pahlavi statement that he was a Roman. To a Persian in Sasanian times Alexander was the representative of an invading enemy which had come from the countries occupied, in those times, by the eastern empire of the Christian Romans, which enemy had been subdued in Persia by the Askânian dynasty; and such information would naturally lead to the anachronisms just mentioned. The name Kilisyâkîh is again used, in Chap. III, 3, 5, 8, to denote some Christian enemy.

2. This Sasanian monarch (A. D. 420-439), after considerable provocation, revived the persecution of the heretics and foreign creeds which had been tolerated by his predecessor, and this conduct naturally endeared him to the priesthood.]

{p. 201}

[1. Reading vênâp (Pers. bînâb), but it may be va davâg, in which case the phrase must be translated as follows: 'when he makes the spirit of pleasure and joy manifest.'

2. See Chap. I, 5. The characteristic of the steel age, like that of the tin one, was the persecution of heretics who had been tolerated by the reigning monarch's predecessor.

3. Generally written Mazdak, a heretic whose teaching was very popular in the time of King Kêvâd (or Kavâd, A. D. 487-531). His doctrine appears to have been extreme socialism built upon a Mazdayasnian foundation. He was put to death by Khûsrô I, as hinted in the text. It is remarkable that none of the successors of Khûsrô Nôshirvân are mentioned in the Bahman Yast, so that a Parsi, who even did not believe in the verbal inspiration of the book, might possibly consider the remainder of it as strictly prophetical.

4. The passage in brackets is omitted in K20 by mistake, and is here supplied from Chap. I, 5, in accordance with the Pâz. and Pers. versions.]

{p. 202}

[1. Or 'of Khûrâsân.' it is difficult to identify these demons with the Arabs, who came from the west, though a dweller in Kirmân might imagine that they came from Khûrâsân. In fact, hardly any of the numerous details which follow, except their long-continued rule, apply exclusively to Muhammadans. It appears, moreover, from § 50 and Chap. III, 8, that these demons are intended for Tûrks, that is, invaders from Turkistân, who would naturally come from the east into Persia.

2 Reading gêhân-zivö zektelûnd, but the beginning of the latter word is torn off in K20, and the other versions have no equivalent phrase. The Pâzand substitutes the phrase 'black banners, and black garments.'

3. This word, being torn off in K20, is supplied from the Pâz. MSS.]

{p. 203}

[1. This word is omitted in K20, but supplied from the Pâzand. The whole section is omitted in the Pers. version.

2. This word, being torn off in K20, is doubtfully supplied from the Pers. paraphrase. The Pâz. MSS. omit §§ 30-32.

3. Or, perhaps, 'parents- in-law;' the original is khûsrûînê, followed by some word (probably nafsman) which is torn off in K20. The Pers. version gives no equivalent phrase.]

{p. 204}

[1. Or, 'tax-collectors;' Pahl. tangtar va râs-vânagtar.

2. In K20 'va 3' is corrupted into the very similar va vâi, 'and a portion.'

3. Literally, 'white.'

4. Reading anâzarm instead of hanâ âzarm.

5. That is, for the Iranians in general, who are the 'they' in §§ 32-35.]

{p. 205}

[1. The Av. Aêshmô khrvîdrus, 'Aêshma the impetuous assailant' (see Bund. XXVIII, 15-17); this demon's Pahlavi epithet is partly a transcription, and partly a paraphrase of the Avesta term.

2. According to Dastûr Hoshangji (Zand-Pahlavi Glossary, p. 65) the term magh is now applied to the stones on which the person undergoing purification has to squat during ablution in the barashnûm ceremony. Originally, however, Av. magha appears to have meant a shallow hole dug in the earth, near or over which the person squatted upon a seat, either of stone or some other hard material (see Vend. IX). The term for the hole was probably extended to the whole arrangement, including the seat, which latter has thus acquired the name of magh, although magh and maghâk still mean 'a channel or pit' in Persian.

3 The Av. kata of Vend .V, 36-40; a special chamber for the temporary reception of the corpse, when it was impossible to remove it at once to the dakhma, owing to the inclemency of the weather. It should be large enough for standing upright, and for stretching out the feet and hands, without touching either walls or ceiling; that is, not less than six feet cube. The text means that those times will be so distressing, that it will be considered lawful to perform the sacred ceremonies even in a place of such concentrated impurity as a dead-house not actually occupied by a corpse.]

{p. 206}

[1. The Pâz. MSS. add, 'and helplessness.'

2 .The Pâz. MSS. add, 'and the prayers and ceremonies that he orders of priests and disciples they do not fulfil.'

3. The name of a work which treats of various ceremonial details, and appears to be a portion of the Pahlavi translation of the seventeenth or Hûspâram Nask, containing many Avesta quotations, which are not now to be found elsewhere.

4. The Pâz. MSS. have misread azîr damîk, 'underground,' instead of âzarmîk.]

{p. 207}

[1. Literally, 'devour an oath,' which Persian idiom was occasioned by the original form of oath consisting in drinking water prepared in a particular manner, after having invoked all the heavenly powers to bear witness to the truth of what had been asserted (see the Saûgand-nâmah).

2. Reading râî instead of lâ, 'not.' The whole section is omitted by the Pâz. MSS., possibly from politic motives, as the language is plain enough.

3. The Persian paraphrase has 'eight.'

4. Referring probably to the injunctions regarding cutting the hair and paring the nails, with all the proper precautions for preventing any fragments of the hair or nails from lying about, as given in Vend. XVII. One of the penalties for neglecting such precautions is supposed to be a failure of the necessary rains. The {footnote p. 208} words anâstak dînô can also be translated by 'despising the religion.']

{p. 208}

[1. The word appears to be dardaktar, but is almost illegible in K20; it may possibly be kûtaktar, 'more scantily' as the Pâz. MSS. have kôdaktar bahôd, 'become smaller.']

{p. 209}

[1. This verb is omitted in K20.

2. It is rather doubtful whether their own customs are meant, or those of their conquerors. .

3. Or dahâkân may mean 'the skilful.'

4. Reading dûdak instead of rûdak. At first sight the miswriting of r for d seems to indicate copying from a text in the modern Persian character, in which those two letters are often much alike; but it happens that the compounds dû and rû also resemble one another in some Pahlavi handwriting.

5. Whether through poverty and helplessness, or through the conquerors, is not quite clear.

6. Very little reliance can be placed upon the 'details of this sentence, but it is difficult to make any other complete and consistent translation. Darmesteter suggests the reading hênô, 'army,' but another possible reading is Khyôn (Av. Hvyaona), the old name {footnote p. 210} of some country probably in Turkistân, as Argâsp, the opponent of Vistâsp, is called 'lord or king of Khyôn' in the Yâdkâr-i Zarîrân (see also Gôs Yt. 30, 31, Ashi Yt. 50, 51, Zamyâd Yt. 87).]

{p. 210}

[1. Or, 'as the mountain-holding Khûdarak.' Darmesteter suggests that Khûdarak may be an 'inhabitant of Khazar.'

2. Probably the people of Samarkand, which place was formerly called Kîn according to a passage in some MSS. of Tabart's Chronicle, quoted in Ouseley's Oriental Geography, p. 298. See also Bund. XII, 22.

3. The Kâbulî and Byzantine Rûman are plain enough; not so the Sôftî and Karmak (Kalmak or Krimak).

4 That is, the. Tûrks, as appears more clearly from Chap. III, 8, 9. The Arabs are mentioned here, incidently, for the first time, and again in Chap. III, 9, 51.

5. Literally, 'both are one.']

{p. 211}