Chapter XIX: Section III (5)

GATE THE SIXTY-NINTH. The believers beware of any intercourse with a courtesan or unchaste woman, also of voluntary degradation (connivance) and adultery. For when a libertine engages in improper correspondence with a woman, she becomes an abomination to her husband; and if, after proof of her misconduct, the husband resume his intimacy with such a wife, he then becomes a _Rúspi_, or utterly contemptible.

GATE THE SEVENTIETH. If any one steal property to the amount of one direm, they take from the thief two direms, cut off the lobes of his ears, inflict on him ten blows of a stick, and dismiss him after one hour’s imprisonment. Should he a second time commit a similar act, and steal to the amount of a direm, they make him refund two, cut off his ears, inflict twenty blows, and detain him in prison two hours: should he after that steal three direms or two dangs, they cut off his right hand; and if he steal five hundred direms, they put him to death.

GATE THE SEVENTY-FIRST. Beware of open and secret sin: abstain from bad sights and thoughts. Offer up thy grateful prayers to the Lord, the most just and pure Ormuzd, the supreme and adorable God, who thus declared to his prophet Zardusht: “Hold it not meet to do unto others what thou wouldst not have done to thyself: do that unto the people which, when done to thyself, proves not disagreeable to thyself.”

GATE THE SEVENTY-SECOND. Direct the Hirbud to sanctify for thee an oblation or Darún once every day: if not he, then thyself. It is to be observed that Yazish has the sense of _Yashtan_; also that _Darún_ (the first letter with _Zemma_) means a prayer in praise of the Lord and of fire, which being recited by the professors of the pure faith, they breathe over the viands; whatever has been thus breathed over they call _Yashtah_: for _Yashtan_ signifies the reciting of a prayer.

GATE THE SEVENTY-THIRD. Let women perform the rites of oblation in the month of Aban (the 8th month), so that they may be purified from their illness and attain paradise.

GATE THE SEVENTY-FOURTH. Beware of committing adultery; for when the wife of a stranger has been four times visited by a strange man, she becomes accursed to her husband: to put such a woman to death is more meritorious than slaying beasts of prey.

GATE THE SEVENTY-FIFTH. A woman during her illness is not to look at the fire, to sit in water, behold the sun, or hold conversation with a man. Two women, during their illness, are not to sleep in the same bed, or look up to heaven. Women in this state are to drink out of leaden vessels, and not to lay their (bare) hands on bread. The drinking-vessel is to be half-filled with water, and not filled up to the brim. They are to fold their hand in the sleeve of their mantle and then lay hold of the vessel: they must not sit in the sun. On the birth of a child, the infant is to undergo ablution along with the mother.

GATE THE SEVENTY-SIXTH. A fire is not to be lighted in a situation exposed to the sun’s rays: also place not over the fire any thing through the interstices of which the sun may shine. But before the time of Mah Abád it was held praiseworthy to light a fire in face of the great luminary for the purpose of making fumigations.

GATE THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH. They show the Nisa or dead body to a dog, at the moment the person gives up the soul:[506] and again when they convey it to the burial-place. When removing the body, the bearers fasten their hands together with a cord, so that it comes to all their hands and keeps them close to each other; they bear the body along in perfect silence; and if the deceased be a woman advanced in her pregnancy, there are then four bearers instead of two. According to the precepts of Mah Abád, if the woman be pregnant, they are to extract the fœtus and bring it up: the same holds good respecting all animals. Finally, when the professors of the pure faith have conveyed the corpse to the _Dad Gah_, or “place for depositing the dead,” the bearers wash themselves and put on fresh garments.

GATE THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH. It is necessary to beware of (contact with) the wooden frame on which the dead body has been carried or washed; also of that on which any one has been hung; or one touched by a woman during her illness.

GATE THE SEVENTY-NINTH. If, during a malady, the physician prescribe the eating of any dead animal, let the patient comply without repugnance and partake of it.

GATE THE EIGHTIETH. A dead body is not to be committed to water or fire.[507]

GATE THE EIGHTY-FIRST. If any one force a professor of the pure faith to partake of the flesh of a dead body, or even throw it at him, he must perform the Barashnom and recite the _Patet Iran_. Note: that is, he must repent, and implore pardon, and exert himself in good works, that he may escape going to hell.[508]

GATE THE EIGHTY-SECOND. If any animal partake of a dead body, it continues unclean during a whole year.[509]

GATE THE EIGHTY-THIRD. Nothing should be given (to the unworthy) unless through dread of the oppressor: that is, if believers apprehend not danger from the sinner, and do not entertain alarm at his power of doing them injury, they are not to give him any thing.

GATE THE EIGHTY-FOURTH. In the morning, on arising from sleep, rub thy hands with something, then thrice wash thy face, thy arms from the wrist to the elbow, and thy foot as far as the leg; reciting the _Avesta_ at the same time. If the believer cannot find water, he is then permitted to use dust.

GATE THE EIGHTY-FIFTH. When the husbandman introduces water for the irrigation of his own fields, he carefully observes that there be not a dead body in the stream.

GATE THE EIGHTY-SIXTH. A woman after parturition must during forty days beware of using vessels of wood or earth, and is not to cross the threshold of the house. She is then to wash her head: during all this time her husband is not to approach her.

GATE THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH. If a woman be delivered of a dead child previous to four months’ gestation, as it is without a soul, it is not to be regarded as a dead body; but should this occur after the term of four months, it is then to be looked on as a dead body, and to be conveyed to burial with the usual ceremonies.

GATE THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH. When a death occurs, the people of the house and the relatives of the deceased are to abstain from meat during three days.

GATE THE EIGHTY-NINTH. It is incumbent on the professors of the true faith to be liberal, generous, and munificent; for God hath declared: “Paradise is the abode of the liberal.”

GATE THE NINETIETH. Reciting the Eshem Vehu[510] is attended with countless merits: it is necessary to do this at the time of eating bread, of going to sleep, at midnight, on turning from one side to the other, and at the time of rising up in the morning.

GATE THE NINETY-FIRST. You must not put off the good work of to-day until the morrow, for God declared thus to Zardusht: “Putting off the duties of this day until the following, brings with it cause of regret. O Zardusht! no one in the world is superior to thee in my sight. For thy sake I have even created it;[511] and princes earnestly desire to diffuse the true faith in thy life-time. From the age of Kaíomars to thine, three thousand years have elapsed;[512] and from thee to the resurrection is a period of three thousand years: thus I have created thee in the middle, as that point is most worthy of admiration. Moreover I have rendered obedient to thee king Gushtasp, the wisest and most prudent sovereign of the age; whose eminence arises from science and perfect morals, not merely from high birth and lineage. I have also given thee a volume such as the _Avesta_, and in like manner a perspicuous commentary on it. Expect not that, after thou hast passed away, others will perform good works for thee. Know that Gokhastah or Ahriman has expressly appointed two demons, named Tardiness and Procrastination, for putting off the performance of good works to a remote and future period.”

GATE THE NINETY-SECOND. Whatever is polluted by a dead body must be purified by _Pávyáb_ water according to this rule: gold once; silver twice; tin and copper thrice; steel four times; stone six times; earthen and wooden vessels must be thrown away. _Pávyáb_ signifies to wash with certain forms of prayer.[513]

GATE THE NINETY-THIRD. Shew vigilant attention to the fire of _Adar Behrám_, and to his attendant (genii); light up the fire every night and cast perfumes into it.

Note: Var (Adar) Behrám[514] is the name of the angel, the lord of victory, and the bestower of triumph.[515]

GATE THE NINETY-FOURTH. The _Gáhámbars_, which are six in number, must be observed, because the Almighty created the world in six periods or times, the commencement of each period having a particular name; in order to celebrate each of which commencements, they pass five days in festivity and rejoicing. According to the statement in the _Zand_, the righteous Hormuzd created the whole world in the space of one year.

_The first Gáhámbar_ is called _Mídúyzaram_, as on the day _Khúr_ (the 11th of the month) _Ardibehisht_, God commenced the creation of the heavens, which was terminated in forty-five days.

_The second Gáhambár_, called _Midyúshaham_, began on the day of _Khúr_, in the old month of _Tir_, in sixty days from which God completed the creation of the waters.

_The third Gáhambár, Pitishahím_, commences on the day of _Ashtád_ (the 26th) of the old _Shahrivár_, in seventy-five days from which God terminated the creation of the earth.

_The fourth Gáhambár_, called _Ayad sahrím_, begins on the _Ashtád_ of the old month of _Mihr_, in thirty days from which the creation of all plants and trees was completed.

_The fifth Gahambar_, named _Mídyárím_, begins on the _Miher_ of the old month _Ardí_ (November); God created from this day, in eighty days, all the animals.

_The sixth Gahambar, Hamshpata mihdim_,[516] beginning on the day of _Ahnavad_, the first of the five intercalary or surreptitious days, reckoning from which the Almighty terminated the creation of the human race in seventy-five days. Tradition thus ascribes to Jemshid the origin of the festival of the Gáhambár. In the _Sad-Dár_ we find it recorded, that the demon one day came to Jemshid’s palace, and the king, as usual, sent him to the kitchen to satisfy his hunger. The demon having devoured all that was there, and also swallowed up whatever they brought him beside, was still unsatisfied. On beholding this, Jemshid cried out to the Lord, and the most righteous God sent the angel Behrám (or Jabrael) to say thus to the king: “Slaughter the red ox, on which pour vinegar, rue, and garlic; take it when boiled out of the cauldron, and serve it up to the demon.” When they had done thus, the demon having tasted one morsel of it, fled and disappeared, from which day they instituted the festival of the _Gáhambár_.

The Abádiyán say, with respect to the creation, that the actions of God are not circumscribed by time. It must however be acknowledged that Jemshid first established this festival. In the first Gáhambár, Jemshid, by the command of the Almighty, began to depict on the ceiling of his palace the representation of the heavens, which undertaking was finished in forty-five days. Secondly, on the _Khúr_ of _Tír_ he was commanded by the Lord to introduce water into his palace, gardens, city, and cultivated grounds, which work was completed in the course of sixty days. Thirdly, on the _Ashtád_ of _Shahrivár_, by order of the Almighty (whose name be glorified!) he cleared the surface of the grounds and palace, and embellished them exceedingly; he levelled the place of exercise in front of his palace, built houses, and laid out in due order the city and its streets; all which was completed in seventy-five days. Fourthly, on the _Ashtád_ of _Mihr_, he began to ascertain the properties of all vegetable productions, and completed the embellishment of his garden, and terminated the entire in thirty days. He next, on the day of _Mihr_ in the month of _Dáí_, collected all species of animals in his garden and assigned their suitable employments to each: to the ox and the ass to carry burdens; to the horse to serve for riding, and so forth; which arrangements were completed in seventy days. Lastly, on the day of _Ahnavad_, he summoned mankind to appear in his presence, and assigned them their respective occupations; the details of which were finished in the course of seventy days. He then proclaimed: “The Lord has created all these things through me;” and commanded five days to be set apart for rejoicing at the beginning of each Gáhambár. As to the tradition of the demon’s appearing and eating up whatever he found, it is thus explained: by the demon is meant, the depraved sensual appetite, which loves to eat, sleep, shed blood, and such like, and is never satiated with such pursuits; but when the spiritual Jemshid prayed to the Lord, the Jabriel of intellect came with this divine communication: “Slay the sensual appetite (which is typified by the ox), that is, indulge it not in the excesses it demands; next apply to the cauldron of the body the vinegar of abstinence, the garlic of reflection, and the rue of silence; then serve up a portion of this food to the Satan-like propensities, that the demon may flee away.” On doing this, he was delivered from the presence of the evil one. Such was the enigma propounded to the people by Zardusht respecting the Gáhambár, and such the solution of it as given by the Abádián professors, who have interpreted in a similar manner the whole of Zardusht’s discourses, which were couched under this enigmatical form.

GATE THE NINETY-FIFTH. When any one does good to another, the latter should not forget his benefactor’s goodness.

GATE THE NINETY-SIXTH. The believers make _Níyáyish_ to the sun three times every day: they also perform the same to the moon and to fire.

GATE THE NINETY-SEVENTH. They weep not after the deceased, as the tears thus shed are collected and form a barrier before the bridge of _Chinavad_, or “of judgment,” and prevent the deceased from passing: but, on reading the _Vasta_ and _Zend_, they can pass over.[517]

GATE THE NINETY-EIGHTH. Whoever comes into the presence of the Dustúrs, Mobeds, or Kirbuds, listens to what they say, and rejects it not although painful to him.

GATE THE NINETY-NINTH. The professor of the true religion ought to understand thoroughly the characters of the _Avesta_ and the _Zend_.

GATE THE HUNDREDTH. The Mobeds must not instruct a stranger in the Pehlevi language; for the Lord commanded Zardusht, saying: “Teach this science to thy children.”

* * * * * * *

ENUMERATION OF SOME ADVANTAGES WHICH ARISE FROM THE ENIGMATICAL FORMS OF THE PRECEPTS OF ZARDUSHT’S FOLLOWERS.――The substance of the venerable Zardusht’s precepts is contained in enigmas and parables, because with the mass of society, fabulous narrations, though revolting to reason, excite stronger impressions. In the next place, if it were proposed to communicate to an ignorant person the idea of the existence of the necessarily existing God, independent of cause, he could not understand the proposition; and if we speak to him concerning the uncompoundedness of intelligences, the immateriality of souls, the excellence of the sphere and stars, he becomes overwhelmed in perplexity and amazement; being utterly unable to comprehend spiritual delights or tortures, or discover the exact truth; whilst the precepts enforced by the figurative expressions of the law come within the understanding of high and low, so that they are profited thereby, and the explanation of the law is attended with a good reputation both in this world and the next. The select few undoubtedly comprehend the nature of certainty, religious abstraction, and philosophy, although the vulgar, in general, hold these in abhorrence: it therefore becomes necessary to clothe the maxims of philosophy in the vestments of law, in order that all classes of society may derive their appropriate advantages from that source: these observations being premised, it is to be remarked, that some Yazdanian professors express themselves after this manner:――The book of the _Zend_ is of two kinds; the one perspicuous and without enigmatical forms of speech, which they call the _Mah Zand_, or “Great Zand;” the second, abounding in enigmatical and figurative forms of speech, is called the _Kah Zand_, or “Little Zand.” The Mah Zand contained the precepts of the law promulgated by the venerable Máhábád, such as the volume of Azar Sassán, and the Mah Zand was lost during the domination of strangers, particularly the Turks and Greeks: the Kah Zand still remained, but much of it was also lost in other subsequent invasions.

SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF THE MAH ZEND.――It entitles the supreme Lord, Aharmuz, and acknowledges the existence, immateriality, and uncompoundedness of his essence; accounting _Bahmán_ the Great, the first-created being, who is also called _Farvardín_ the Great, and looked upon and styled pure and uncompounded; from him was derived _Ardibehesht_ the Great, along with the sublime soul and body of the empyrean heaven; from _Ardibehesht_ the Great proceeded _Khurdád_ the Great; from him _Tír_ the Great; from him _Murdád_ the Great; from him _Shahrívar_ the Great; from him _Mihr_ the Great; from him _Abán_ the Great; from him _Azar_ the Great; and from him _Dai_ the Great; these are the lords of the heavens, and after _Farvardin_ the Great, are accounted as the months as well as the heavens collectively. In all other points, speculative and practical, such as the protection of harmless creatures and the destruction of noxious animals, it agrees with the _Dasátir_. During the Ashkanian dynasty, the people conformed to the _Kah Zend_, but as Ardeshir was obedient to the second Sasán, he, in compliance with the _Dasátir_ and _Mah Zend_, studiously avoided the destruction of harmless animals: for the _Mah Zand_ is a portion of the _Dasátir_. After him, others adopted the _Kah Zand_. But Nushirvan, under the guidance of the contemporary _Azar Sasán_, although conforming to the _Dasátir_ and _Mah Zand_, was during the whole of his life innocent of the crime of slaying harmless animals; his successors however followed the precepts of the _Kah Zend_, until the fifth Sasán,[518] having uttered imprecations against the people of Iran, they became the victims of privation and wretchedness.

The professors of the Abadíán faith say that Ahriman was produced by Time: they also say that the angels and the heavens have existed, exist, and will continue to exist.[519] Moreover the belief of the _Azar Húshengíáns_ or _Yazdaníáns_ is, that although the faith of Zardusht prevailed universally from the time of Gushtasp to that of Yezdejird, yet that the different intervening princes glossed it over and made it agree with the _Azar Hushengíán_ or _Mahabadíán_ system, so as never to sanction the destruction of animal life; and as they held the words of Zardusht to be figurative, they never put them in practice literally when they contradicted the _Azar Hushengíán_ faith, but invariably glossed them over.

This statement proves that _Ardeshir Babegan_ and the other Sasáníán princes showed great reverence to the _Azar Sasáníán_ family and paid them implicit obedience, as being truly the ministers and worshippers of the Lord; they besides accounted them as the legitimate sovereigns, regarding themselves merely as their lieutenants: in short, when the _Azar Sasáníáns_ ceased to reign, they exercised the government in their stead. However the _Azar Sasáníáns_ followed no faith except that of Máhábád, receiving no other without the requisite glosses, and attaching no esteem whatever to the external import of Zardusht’s precepts: that is, regarding his words as true, but holding their external import as figurative. The Behdiníáns also maintain that such was the system adopted by the kings of old, particularly by _Dárá_, _Dáráb_, _Bahmán_, _Isfendiár_, and _Lohrásp_.

The present seems the proper time for stating some of the enigmatical sayings ascribed to the Magians or followers of Zardusht, as philosophy is guarded by such expressions from falling into the hands of the ignorant, whilst the sages thereby attain their object.

It is well known that according to their system the world had two creators, _Yazdan_ (the Lord), and _Ahriman_: but the Lord having entertained this evil thought, “Perhaps an antagonist may rise up to oppose me,” Ahriman was produced, from that thought.[520] In some places it is mentioned that God was alone, and gloom having come over him, he entertained an evil suspicion, on which Ahriman was produced. They say that Ahriman, who was outside the world, on looking through a small aperture, and beholding the Lord surrounded with glory and majesty, bore him envy and raised up wickedness and corruption. God then created the angels to be his host, and with them fought against Ahriman; but being unable to destroy him, they made peace with each other on this condition; that Ahriman should remain in the world during a definite period; and on his departure it should become the abode of unalloyed good.[521] Jamásp, the venerable sage, says thus: “It is to be remarked that ‘_world_’ is a metaphorical expression for body; and ‘_God_,’ for the aspiration of the spirit; ‘_Ahriman_,’ for the physical temperament; ‘_the evil thought_,’ the habitual bias of the soul to material objects; by ‘_the wickedness and corruption of Ahriman, and his war_,’ are implied the domination of the sensual passions over spirit; and what they said of ‘_the terrestrial world_,’ means the same; by ‘_the creation of angels_,’ the existence of praiseworthy qualities and perseverance in pure morals, with the subjugation of the senses by means of religious austerities, for the senses constitute the gratuitous foes of the heart; by ‘_peace_,’ is signified the impossibility of expelling by one effort the evil propensities which are the armies of Iblis; that is, excess and extravagance are to be avoided, and the path of moderation followed; the circumstance of ‘_Ahriman’s remaining in the world for a definite period_,’ means the ascendancy and supremacy of the bodily passions, particularly in early years, and before arriving at mature reflection, and even during other periods of this mortal life, in certain constitutions; ‘_the departure of Ahriman from the world_’ implies voluntary death, or religious austerities, or compulsory death, which is the natural decease; when the soul has by such means been emancipated, it finds itself adorned with perfections and attains to its particular sphere or bliss without alloy.”

They have said: “Darkness besieged Light and imprisoned it; on which event the angels having come to the assistance of Light, Darkness demanded help from Ahriman, its source; but the angels having overcome the prince of Darkness, gave him a respite until the appointed hour and the predestined death.” As to Darkness having arisen from the evil thought of Light, the venerable sage Jamasp says: “The interpretation of this tradition is the same as that of the preceding; as thus: The soul is a precious substance, formed from light; its darkness, the bodily passions; its confinement and imprisonment, the dominion of the passions over that luminous essence, which drag down the souls of the wicked to the desolation of the lower world; the assistance of angels, is the obtaining of grace and power through elevation of mind, proceeding from illumination from on high, and the ascent of the spirit to the world of intellect; delay or respite implies the continuance of the passions until the period of natural death; and the corrupt thought the bias of the soul to material objects.”

Dáwar Haryár, the author of the _Dáráí Sekandur_, having once questioned the author concerning the enigmatical meanings attached to the words God and Ahriman, received this answer: “Light is the same as existence, and darkness signifies non-existence; God is therefore light or existence, and Ahriman is darkness or non-existence. When it is said that Ahriman is opposed to God, the meaning is, that God is existence, the opposite to which is non-existence.”

They say that the creation and production of diseases, serpents, scorpions, and such like is an abominable act, originating with Ahriman, which Jamásp thus explains: “It is evident that diseases, such as ignorance, folly, pride, negligence, noxious creatures, (such as) anger, lust, strong passions, concupiscence, calumny, envy, malignity, covetousness, treachery, fraud, and the like, arise not from spirit, but from the elemental constitution.” They have also said: “An angel is the agent of good, and Ahriman the agent of evil; and that God is exempt from both these acts; which the celebrated sage Jamásp thus explains:――By angel is implied spirit and the agent of good; which, if it overcome the senses, engages man in virtuous words and acts, which are styled ‘good.’ Ahriman, or Satan, in this place means the desires inherent in the constitution of the senses, which, on obtaining the victory over spirit, attract it towards the pleasures of sense, thus making it forget its original abode; which is denominated ‘evil:’ and as the Almighty has given his creatures free will, neither are their good or evil deeds to be imputed to him.” This saying: That the soul of him who has done evil, having determined on flight through fear of divine wrath, plunges downwards, is thus explained by the sage Jamasp: “By ‘_sinner_’ is understood one whose essence is defective; by ‘_descent_,’ turning away from the superior to corporeal attachments; by ‘_resolving on flight_,’ the strong desires of passion, through the suggestion of body, until the entire departure of divine grace.”

Thus far extend the illustrations of the sage Jamásp. But that the scope of Zardusht is couched under allegories agrees with the declaration made by the great Bahman, the son of Isfendiár, the son of king Gushtásp, who says: “Zardusht once said to me: ‘My father and mother delivered me to nurses, who dwelt in a place far remote from the city of my birth; with these I remained many a long year, until I quite forgot my father, mother, and native town. Suddenly this thought came over my mind――Who are my parents, and where the place of my birth?――I struggled hard until I returned naked and bare the way by which I had come; and having gained my house and beheld my father and mother, I returned again to the place where my nurses dwelt. As the dress worn by the people of this country was on my person, I shall therefore remain here until this dress is worn out, and then depart, in order that it may not be said――He was unable to perform his office and has run away, leaving our despised garments.’”

Bahman, the son of Isfendiár, thus says: “All that Zardusht uttered was enigmatical: the ‘_city and native place_’ are the angelic world; by ‘_father_,’ is meant the primary intelligence; and by ‘_mother_,’ the universal soul; ‘_the nurses_,’ this lower world and junction with body; ‘_forgetting the original abode_,’ attachment to the elements of body; ‘_recalling it to memory_,’ implies the struggle towards that direction; ‘_the arriving there_,’ means religious austerities; ‘_the state of nakedness_,’ the divesting one’s self of bodily attachments; ‘_the returning back to the nurses_,’ means resuming the body; ‘_that it may not be said that he was alarmed at the performance of duty, and ran off, leaving his clothes behind; I shall not therefore depart from hence, until these clothes be worn out_;――_the performance of duty_,’ signifies the amassing of the capital of knowledge, true faith, and good works; by ‘_the clothes being worn out_,’ is implied the separation of the bodily members; that is, I will remain here as long as the body lasts, and after its dissolution return to my native place.”

Prince Isfendiár, the son of king Gushtásp, also tells us: “Zardusht once said to me: ‘A number of persons once left their native place for the purpose of acquiring wealth, that on their return they might pass their time in pleasure and enjoyment. On arriving at the city of their destination, some of them amassed wealth; some devoted themselves to wandering about the place and contemplating the beauties with which it abounded; whilst others remained altogether inactive. When the time of packing up came, the king of that people said――Depart from hence, that another set may arrive, and obtain their portion, as you have done.――On which all these people went out, some provided with stores for the journey; some without any provision; a few on horseback; a multitude on foot; a wide desert lay before, and a toilsome road, through rocks and prickly thorns, devoid of cultivation, destitute of water and shade. Those who were on horseback and furnished with provisions passed over, and having reached their native city, gave themselves up to joy and gladness; those who were on foot, and had provided stores for the journey, after experiencing many ups and downs, at last, with extreme difficulty, reached their halting place, where they passed their time in a state of happiness proportioned to their gains, although, on instituting a comparison between themselves and those inhabitants and dignified persons who had acquired opulence by commercial pursuits, they feel pangs of regret; but those who came out of the city without any kind of conveyance or stores, and thinking that without supplies they could reach their native place, when they had gone some little distance, became wearied and unable to proceed through weakness, and fatigue from walking, want of provisions, the difficulties of the road, distress, the sun’s overpowering heat, and the gloom of night; they were forced by necessity to turn back to the city, where they had been; but other merchants had in the meantime taken possession of the houses, dwellings, shops, and apartments which they formerly occupied: they were thus reduced to a state of destitution, and had no resource left but that of working for hire or turning mendicants, pursuits which they adopted.’”

Isfendiar says: “‘_The city from which they departed for the purposes of commerce_’ is the angelic world; _that to which they came with the design of accumulating wealth_’ is the lower world; ‘_the houses, shops, etc._,’ signify the human body; ‘_the people of the city_’ are the animals, vegetables, and minerals; ‘_the king_,’ the elemental nature; ‘_what the merchants have amassed_’ are their words and deeds; ‘_what others have collected_’ is devotion without knowledge; ‘_the inactive_’ are those whose only “pursuits were sleep, sensual gratification, etc.; ‘_the exclamation of the king_’ is Death, who expels them from the mansions of body; ‘_the deserts and mountains_,’ the extremes of heat and cold; ‘_the equestrians_’ are those who unite the speculative and practical; ‘_the pedestrians, who were furnished with some provisions_’ are those who adore God, but neither knew themselves nor the Lord; ‘_they who are without provisions or conveyance_’ are those destitute of knowledge and good works, who being unable to reach the angelic world, return in despair to the elemental world, forfeiting the rank they once possessed.”

The sage _Shah Nasir Khusran_ says on this head:

“When any one travels this road for that important purpose,
He takes at least a loaf of bread under his arm:
How then canst thou, who hast no store, proceed up the mount,
From the centre of darkness to the zenith of Saturn?”

In some other parables of Zardusht, which are here noticed, he speaks thus: “When the travellers, in consequence of the want of stores and fatigue of walking, return back to the king’s city, not finding their former beautiful mansions, they settle themselves in caverns or lanes, hiring themselves as labourers or subsisting on alms.”

Esfendiar says: “By this is understood, that when they quit this mortal frame, they cannot reach the world on high, owing to their want of knowledge and good works; being thus rejected, on their return to the elemental world, they cannot obtain human bodies, but are invested with the forms of the brute creation.” As this parable nearly resembles what has been heretofore mentioned, it is unnecessary to describe it more in detail.

“When thou departest from the inn of the body, there is no other
storehouse;
Why dost thou not therefore procure supplies for the road in this
place of sojourn?”

Isfendiar also records: “Zardusht once said: ‘Two persons of one house were partners, and were both possessed of great capital; they said:――We have gained a sufficient stock of wealth in the world, and live and dress in a manner suitable to our great riches; we now only want some beloved object, that our existence may be more blissful: therefore, to attain our desire, it will be necessary to undertake a journey. They directed their course to a city, the inhabitants of which were famed for beauty and gracefulness; on arriving there with the caravan, one of the partners gave himself up to traversing the gardens, and was so absorbed in admiring the beauties of the city, that he attended to no business whatever, whilst the other partner obtained a mistress of exquisite beauty. All of a sudden the garden-door was closed.’”

Isfendiar says “_Záíd_ and _Amru_[522] may serve as an example of the two friends; ‘_the capital and stock_,’ the original world; ‘_the city of beauteous persons_,’ this world; ‘_the desirable beloved object_,’ good works; ‘_the rapacious animals, reptiles, and beasts_’ are anger, lust, excessive desire, hatred, envy, concupiscence, malignity, and avarice; ‘_the herbage and gardens_’ are sloth and pride; ‘_the garden-door_,’ the dakhmah (or sepulchral vault); ‘_the urn_,’ the grave, or the place of burying the dead; ‘_shutting the garden-door_’ the moment of death.”

His reasons for enumerating the urn, dakhmah, and grave are, that according to the faith of Azur Húshang, or Máhábád, they sometimes put the body of the deceased into a jar of aqua-fortis, as among them the body is deposited indifferently either in the dakhmah or the jar: but the sepulchre is in use among the people of Room, and the funeral pile among those of Hindustan.

King Gushtásp also relates the following parable of Zardusht: “A certain man delivered his son to a preceptor, saying: ‘Within such a time teach this boy the accomplishments necessary for a courtier.’ The boy, however, through a fondness for pleasure, sport, and amusements, was unwilling to give himself any trouble, and was slow in learning any thing; he however every day secretly brought from home sweetmeats and agreeable objects, as his tutor had a great inclination for such enjoyments. When the preceptor’s time had passed in this manner, and his pupil had become habituated to revelling, sensual pleasures, and enjoyments, the tutor at last fell dangerously indisposed through these excesses, and laid himself down on the bed of death. His pupil well knew he had no other place left, and that he must return to his parents, so that when his master fell sick, he became sensible of his own state. Through dread of his father, shame of his mother, the disgrace of ignorance, and a sense of contrition, he went not near them, but pined in melancholy and wandered about in obscurity.”

This parable has been thus explained by Gushtásp: “‘_The preceptor_’ signifies the five senses; ‘_the son_,’ the immortal spirit; ‘_the father_,’ the universal intelligence; ‘_the mother_,’ the universal soul; ‘_the sweetmeats and mistresses_,’ worldly enjoyments; ‘_the indispensable necessity of the immortal spirit_,’ that it should, through the senses and the common reflection which is their instructor, attain the objects of intellect and amass provisions for its return, so that it may become the associate of the only true king. If this purpose be not effected, it of course feels terror at the death of the body. When it has become thus biassed to sensual pleasures and devoid of all goodness, on being separated from the body, although still possessed of sufficient energy for mounting on high, yet through shame and confusion, it feels no desire of arriving there and beholding its parents, soul and intellect.”

The venerable Húryár once said to the author: “I have seen the following narrative in the _Ramazastán_ of Zardusht: ‘The prime minister to the sovereign of the world had so many sons, that their number surpassed all computation; these he first sent to a place of education, where, along with the children of Rayas (cultivators), they might attain knowledge. If the minister’s sons became intelligent, the Dustúr summoned them to his presence, and enrolled them among the king’s confidential servants; but if they remained without science, they were not regarded as the Vizir’s sons, but classed among the Rayas; were not permitted to come into his presence; and were cut off from all share in their father’s inheritance.”

The author replied: “It occurs to me that, by ‘_the king of the world_,’ is meant the supreme God without equal; by ‘_vizir_,’ the primary intelligence; and by ‘_the sons of the vizir_,’ the souls endowed with reason; by ‘_school_,’ the elemental world, and the bodies formed of the elements; and by ‘_the children of the common people_’ the corporeal senses and passions.”

When the immortal spirits have acquired knowledge in this place of education, their father, “Universal Intelligence,” brings them near himself, and advances them to the rank of holding intercourse with the Lord of Eternity: but the souls which do not acquire knowledge in this school are not allowed access to the world of uncompounded beings, the abode of the Universal Intelligence, and remain banished from the presence of the Creator of the world; so that they make no advance from the material bodies of this abode of the elements, which hold the rank of Rayas, but are excluded from all share in the inheritance of the primary intelligence or the acquisition of knowledge.

Zardusht has also said: “In the upper regions there exists a mighty ocean, from the vapors of which a great mirage appears in this lower world: so that nothing save that illusion subsists here; exactly as nothing besides that ocean exists in the world on high.”

The revered ruler of Húryár, having asked the author the meaning of this parable, received this answer: “‘_The mighty ocean_’ means the absolute essence and pure existence of God; ‘_the mirage_’ implies contingent existences, which in truth exist not, but appear to do so, through the inherent property of God’s absolute existence; according to this view, he has said: ‘From the vapors of that ocean has arisen the mirage.’”

It is recorded in the books composed by Zardusht’s followers, and also in the ancient histories of Iran, that at the period of Arjásp’s second invasion of Balkh, king Gushtasp was partaking of the hospitality of Zál, in Sistan, and Isfendiar was a prisoner in Dazh Gambadán; and that Lohorásp, notwithstanding the religious austerities he performed through divine favor, laid aside the robes of mortality in battle, after which the Turks took the city. A Turk named _Turbaratur_, or _Turbaraturhash_, having entered Zardusht’s oratory, the prophet received martyrdom by his sword. Zardusht, however, having thrown at him the rosary (_Shumar Afin_, or _Yád Afráz_) which he held in his hand, there proceeded from it such effulgent splendor, that its fire fell on Turburatur and consumed him.[523]

[382] If the claims to originality and antiquity of the
language in which the Desátir is written were admitted, we
should have (pp. 146, 147, Engl. transl.) _Hertushád_ or
_Hertúrásh_, as the first and true name of the Persian
prophet who followed immediately Kái Khusro. In Zand, upon
which language we are now better informed, the true name of
this legislator of the Persians is _Zerethoshtró_, or
_Zarathustra_, which signifies “star of gold;” of this was
formed in the Pehlevi language the name of _Zaratesht_ or
_Zaratosht_, and in Farsi that of _Zardúsht_ or _Zaradusht_.
The Greeks have changed the original Zand name, either by
removing the “th” in the middle of it, and thus making it
_Zereoshtró_, _Zoroastrés_; or by omitting the final
syllable “tro,” whence it became _Zaratos_, _Zabratos_,
_Zaradas_, _Zarasdés_, _Zathraustés_; we find, moreover,
_Zoromasdrès_, _Azonaces_, and _Nazaratús_. The most ancient
mention of the name of Zoroastrès, in Greek books, is to be
found in the works of Plato, and dates therefore from the
fourth century before our era. The original word has been
translated by ἀστροδύτης, “he who sacrifices to the stars;”
by ἀστροδέατης “he who contemplates the stars;” and by
“living star.” These interpretations relate to the character
of a priest and of an astronomer, generally attributed to
Zoroaster, who is also believed to have been the inventor of
_magic_; this word was originally taken in a sense very
different from that which has been given to it in later
times, and can be referred to the name of _Magi_, or
_Mobeds_ (see note, p. 17), well known to Herodotus in the
fifth century B. C. These Magi are represented as the
teachers and priests of a most pure philosophy and religion,
the origin of which is placed by the Desátir and the
Dabistán in the most remote and ante-historical times of the
Máhábádiáns. It may therefore appear less surprising to find
in Pliny’s Natural History (I. xxx. c. 1. 2.) Zoroaster
placed, pursuant to the authority of Aristotle and Eudoxus,
6000 years before the death of Plato, and, conformably to
Hermippus, 5000 years before the Trojan war. The last date
is repeated by Plutarch (lib. de Is. et Osir.). Diogenes
Laertius says: “Hermodoros, a Platonic philosopher, counts
5000 years from the establishment of the Magi to the
destruction of Troy.” According to Suidas, a Zoroaster lived
500 years before the Trojan war; if the number 500 had been
erroneously substituted for 5000, which is admissible (see
M. de Fortia d’Urban, _Mathématiciens illustres_, p. 354),
we should have the agreement of all these creditable authors
just mentioned, from the fourth century before, to the
twelfth century after, our era, in fixing the age of
Zoroaster and the establishment of the Magi, 6352 or 6194
years B. C.

The epocha of the Magi (putting aside that of the Máhábádiáns)
has also been taken for that of Tahmuras and Jemshid, that
is, 3460 or 3429 years B. C. According to other accounts
(collected in the Hist. Diction. of Moreri, Bayle, etc.,
etc.), a Zoroaster ruled the Bactrian empire in the times of
Ninus, the Assyrian king, 2200 years B. C.; vanquished by
the latter, he desired to be consumed by the fire of heaven,
and exhorted the Assyrians to preserve his ashes as a
palladium of their empire; after he had been killed by
lightning, his last will was executed. Some historians (see
Herbelot _sub voce_) admit a Zerdúsht in the age of Feridún,
1729 years B. C. Several other learned men concur in placing
him much later, few below the sixth century before our era.

In the utter impossibility to decide upon so many conflicting
statements, there is perhaps no better means of reconciling
them all, than concluding that Zoroaster having, in the
course of ages, become a generic or appellative name for
sages, prophets, and kings professing and promoting a
certain religion or philosophy, this name could be applied
to several individuals who appeared at different times, and
in different countries of Asia. Hence we explain in the
various accounts a plurality of Zoroasters, and an identity
of several personages with one Zoroaster; he has indeed been
supposed to be the same with _Japhet_, _Ham_ (_Heemo_),
_Zohak_, _Nimrod_, _Buddha_, _Abraham_, _Moses_, _Ezekiel_,
_Balâam_, etc., etc. Whatever it be, the Dabistán treats in
this chapter of the Zardúsht, who appeared under the reign
of Gushtasp, king of Persia, upon whose epocha too our
chronologers are not unanimous.

Independently of the Dasátir, written originally in a
particular language, the Persians have Zand books which they
attribute to the last Zoroaster himself. Except these works,
the age of which is a subject of dispute, they have no
written records of their great legislator prior to the ninth
or tenth century of our era, and these are the poems of
Dakiki and Ferdusi. The latter narrates, in his Shah-nameh,
the history of Zerdúsht under the reign of Gushtasp. We have
besides a Shah nameh _naser_, or a Shah-nameh in prose,
composed by some one of the Magi (_Hyde_, p. 324). The
_Zardusht-nameh_, and the _Changragatcha-nameh_ are Persian
poems, the epocha of which, according to Anquetil du Perron
(_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. pp. 6, can scarcely be fixed farther
back than the fifteenth century.――A. T.

[383] This is also related in Mirkhond’s _Runzat-us-Safa_
(Shea’s transl., p. 286).――A. T.

[384] Zaratúsht-Bahram is the author of the Zaratúsht-namah
before-mentioned (see _Hyde_, p. 332). The epoch of this
work is uncertain, according to the opinion of the dostúrs
of India; yet the author of it informs us, in the 2nd
chapter, that he has translated it into Persian from the
Pehlvi under the dictation of a Mobed skilled in this
language; and in the last chapter in which he names himself
he says that he composed the Zaratusht-namah in the year 647
of Yezdegerd, which answers to 1276 of our era (see
_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p. 6).――A. T.

[385] According to Cedrenus, an author of the eleventh
century, Zoroaster descended from Belus or Nimrod: this king
is, by some authors, identified with Zohák, who married two
daughters of Djemchid, from whom also Faridun descended; on
account of this relationship, Zoroaster’s origin may without
contradiction be referred to Belus and to Faridun. In the
Desâtir, the name of his father is _Heresfetmád_. According
to the authority of the book Sad-der (see _Hyde_, p. 316),
_Patirásp_, the grandfather of Zoroaster, descended from
_Hitcherasp_, who sprung from _Tchechshúnesh_, and this from
_Espintaman_, or _Sad-yuman_; who is therefore the third
ancestor of the prophet: nevertheless this last is often
called simply _Espintaman_, or also _Sapetman_; which word,
according to Anquetil du Perron (t. I. 2. p. 9), signifies
“excellent.”――A. T.

[386] The same dream is related in the _Zardusht-namah_ (c.
3 and 4), as well as in the work of Henry Lord (p. 451),
quoted by Anquetil du Perron (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p.
11).――A. T.

[387] The tradition of this appears to be widely spread, not
only in the East but also in the West, as it is mentioned
by Pliny (H. N. I. vii. c. 16), with the addition of one
wonderful particular, namely, that Zartusht’s brain
palpitated so much as to repel the hand laid upon his head,
a presage of future science. Solinus (c. 1) relates the same
fact. Zoroaster is proverbially known as the first child who
laughed on being born.――A. T.

[388] See note, p. 211. This name has also been supposed a
mere corruption of ازر دوست, _azer dóst_, that is, “a
friend of fire” (see Hyde, who rejects it, p. 314).――A. T.

[389] The same circumstances of the child’s dangers and
miraculous escapes are related in the _Zardusht-namah_ (c.
7-11), and in _Changrégatha-namah_ (c. 2).――A. T.

[390] In the _Zardusht-nameh_, the name of the magician is
Turberatorsh.――A. T.

[391] The edition of Calcutta reads generally ژند, _zhand_;
we shall keep the more familiar name, زند, _zand_. We find
also _Avesta-zand_, and simply _Asta_ and _zand_.

Herbelot has interpreted this name of Zoroaster’s writings
by “the book of life.” Hyde thought (p. 336) that _Zand
Avesta_ was properly _Zand va Esta_, or _Zand u Esta_, and
_Zand_, an Arabic word signifying “igniarium, focile, pixis
ignaria,” joined to the Hebrew-Chaldaic word _Eshta_, or
_Esta_, “ignis,” and explained the whole name by “igniarium”
and “ignis,” or “tinder and fire.” According to Anquetil du
Perron (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 423), _zand_ signifies
“living,” and _Avesta_, “word;” therefore _Zand-Avesta_,
“the living word;” which was anciently the law of the
countries limited by the Euphrates, the Oxus, and the Indian
ocean (_ibid._, t. I. p. xiv). This law or religion is still
professed by the descendants of the Persians who, conquered
by the Muhammedans, have not submitted to the Koran; they
partly inhabit Kirman, and partly the western coast of
India, to the north and south of Surat. It is besides now
decided by the investigations of the above-named author, and
by those of Kleuker, Rask, as well as by those of Messrs.
Eugene Burnouf, Bopp, Lassen, and other philologers, that
Zand was an ancient language derived from the same source as
the Sanskrit; it was spoken before the Christian era,
particularly in the countries situated to the west of the
Caspian sea, namely in Georgia, Iran proper, and Azerbijan
(the northern Media). Moreover the _Pa-zand_ denotes a
dialect derived from the Zand, or a mixed Zand, similar to
the Rabbinic language of the Jews (_Z.-Av._, t. II. pp. 67,
68).

It is generally known that Anquetil du Perron brought, in
the year 1762, from Surat in India, and deposited in the
Royal library of Paris, several Zand, Pehlvi, and Persian
works, which, according to his opinion, were partly the
original works written by Zoroaster himself, partly
translated, or at least derived from original works of the
Persian prophet. These writings, namely _The Vendidad_, in
Zand and Pehlvi, were brought about the year 1276, by the
Dostur Ardeshir, from Sistan to Guzerat, and there
communicated to the Parsees, who made two copies of them;
from these come all the _Vendidads_, Zand and Pehlvi, of
Guzerat. These works, parts of which only existed in
England, were then for the first time translated into an
European language, and published in French by Anquetil.
Examined as monuments of an ancient religion and literature
of the Persians, they have been differently appreciated by
learned men, and their authenticity denied by some, among
whom the most conspicuous are sir William Jones, Richardson,
and Meiners, and defended by others, by none with more zeal
than John Frederic Kleuker, who not only translated
Anquetil’s _Zand-Avesta_ into German, in three volumes, but
in an appendix of two volumes (all in quarto) commented and
discussed with great judgment, sagacity, and erudition, all
that relates to the Zand-books attributed to Zoroaster. Here
follow, as shortly as possible, the principal results of his
laborious investigations:――testimonies of the existence of
works attributed to Zoroaster are found in Greek authors who
lived before our era. It was in the sixth century B. C. that
the Persian religion and philosophy became known in Europe
by Hostanes, the Archimagus who accompanied Xerxes in his
expedition against Greece. In the fourth century B. C.,
Plato, Aristotle, and Theopompus show a knowledge of
Zoroaster’s works. In the third century B. C., Hermippus
treats expressly of them, as containing not less than
120,000 distichs. Soon after the beginning of the Christian
era, works attributed to Zoroaster are mentioned under
different names by Nicolaus of Damascus, Strabo, Pausanius,
Pliny, and Dion Chrysostomus. St. Clement of Alexandria, in
the third century, was not unacquainted with them. Later,
the Gnostics made a great use of the oriental cosmogony and
psychology as derived from Zoroaster. The testimony of
Eusebius establishes that, in the fourth century, there
existed a collection of sacred works respecting the theology
and religion of the Persians. It was mostly the liturgical
part of them that was spread about, mixed with notions
relative to the magical art. The empress Eudokia of the
fifth, and Suidas of the twelfth, century, attribute to
Zoroaster several books, four of which treat of nature, one
of precious stones, and five of astrology and prognostics.
So much and more can be gathered from Greek and Latin works
about the writings of the Persian legislator.

The records of the Muhammedans concerning them begin only in
the ninth century, by Muhammed Abu Jafar Ebn Jerir el Tabari
(Hyde, 317-319), according to whom Zoroaster wrote his
revelations upon 12,000 cow-skins (or parchment folios). Abu
Muhammed Mustapha, in his life of Gushtasp, says: “Zoroaster
wrote the just-mentioned work in 12 tomes, each of which
formed a bullock’s load.” Both authors say that the Persian
king deposited these books, magnificently ornamented, in
Istakhar. By several other authors, from the ninth to the
seventeenth century, it is positively established that the
books of the Zand-Avesta existed in all the centuries in
which the Muhammedans had intercourse with the disciples of
Zartusht. Works composed by the latter are: the _Bun-Dehesh_,
the _Viraf-nameh_, the _Sad-der Bun-Dehesh_, the _Ulemai-Islam_,
the _Ravacts_ (that is, the correspondence between the
Dosturs of Persia and India since the fifteenth century),
the _Zaratusht nameh_, the _Changragachah namah_, and the
history of the flight of the Parsees to India. In all these
works breathes the spirit of the strongest conviction that
authentic works of Zartusht have, although not entirely, yet
partly, been preserved to later days. This conviction is
common to a numerous nation, who adhere to their sacred
books as to the inappreciable inheritance of their
forefathers. The generality of this sentiment is attested by
several respectable and intelligent European travellers in
the East, such as Henry Lord, Gabriel de Chinon, J. B.
Tavernier, D. Sanson, the chevalier Chardin, and others.