Pahlavi Texts, Part IV (SBE37), E.W. West, tr. [1892], at sacred-texts.com
Varstmânsar Nask.
1. The ninth fargard, Hvaêtumaiti 1, is about the coming of three deceitful demons, and their making supplication (lâgak-karîh) to Aûharmazd 2, so that he should consider and reward those aggrieved by him, and it would amount to strength for them in destroying the creatures. 2. The disgorging (akhvârdanŏ) of supplication by those demons clamorously upwards from an abyss, and the statement of one that he is 3 the kindred that is undeceitful, of another one that he is the serfdom that is undeceitful, and of the third one that he is the confederacy that is undeceitful, was in these words, namely: 'We are those spirits when the kinsman, confederate, and serf 2 do not break promises, one with the other; we are not really these that are no implements of thine, but our religion and law are thine, and we do thy will; we become assistants of him who is thy friend, and injurers of him who is thy enemy 4; and from thee we beg a position in the existence that is best, the reward that is a reward of the worthy.'
3. The reply of Aûharmazd to them was thus: 'You rush out, astute in evil, to the extremity (bûn) of that horrible gloom 5; so you are all from the demon, your race is really from Evil Thought, that
is, your race is from there where Evil Thought 1, as well as Lust the destroyer and also Greed the well-accumulating, resides, and where, moreover, Îndar the fighter is the spirit of the religion of apostasy and further deceives the worldly existence of mankind, as to proper living and immortal progress 2, and first confines their thoughts. 4. He shall first do this, so that he may restrain the thoughts of men from virtuous things 3, and their further words and perverted further deeds from the ceremonial of us who are archangels; they further lose their wisdom 4, and further consider even as perfect righteousness that which is loved by the demons; they utter the false words and consecrate with the worse deeds of mankind; and with the holy-water which one consecrates most to you, more falsely and more arrogantly 5 than that falsity and arrogance, do they enhance the greatest ceremonial, so that they shall make more of the most. 5. Owing to discord, through that love of you who are demons, they smite with destruction him who shall not be a satisfaction to you in the presidency; and the leader they take (girênd) becomes a destroyer, so in the sequel, too, there is some one that smites him; even though they
consider him as your follower, they shall occasion his destruction. 6. You are evil demons for a congregation when they speak of avoiding you, and worse for the ceremonial, or obeisance, when it occurs; that which becomes all clearness to the utterer of righteousness, in this existence, you utterly destroy; and the lodgment of complete mindfulness in the body is for admonition to human beings about abstaining from the demons.'
7. This, too, is stated, namely: 'Evil are you who are wicked and worship the demons with good holy-water and with words; through them the holy-water obtains evil recompense, even the hell that is horrible.' 8. This, too, he spoke, namely: 'Concerning those malicious demons 1 I will first mention intelligibly to thee when they have come to the world, that is, first when they have rushed in, how their jurisdiction arose. 9. For thirty centuries 2 those of my world were immortal and undecaying, O Zaratûst! but when the thirtieth century was accomplished 3, O Spîtâmân! the sweat (khvâe) produced by the demons then came on to my Gâyômard 4, for his affliction, so long a time as a man speaks forth these words of the Yathâ-ahû-vairyô 5, relating to the spiritual lord and priestly master. 10. And when he issued from that sweat he was shadowless, that is, darkness had entered 6; and the words of the formula (âyîn) relating to the spiritual lord and priestly master were spoken forth by me, and when
vâstârem 1 was uttered by me the demons then fell 2 into the gloom.'
11. About the harm owing to the demons this, too, he spoke, namely: 'The destructiveness of the evil spirit is his evil teaching by statements 3 to my creatures; and my riches (îstŏ) plundered by him are the proportion of the production and possession of wealth for which a desire exists through Good Thought; that is, when they possess it with propriety it is desirable 4. 12. And mankind were gratified by that son of Vîvanghau who was Yim 5, and cattle were gratified by him, producing thus the phrase "you are mankind" in words, O Zaratûst! when he spoke to mankind thus: "You are the mankind for cattle, that is, you who are mankind eat meat of your own subdivision, and through subdivision by you there is a superabundant occurrence of meat 6; you are mankind, neither for Greed (âzŏ), nor for Envy (arêshkŏ) 7, do thou throw away the warm entrails (taftôg rûdîk), nor do thou throw them away warm on account of custom (pîsakŏ), now you slay for slaughtering, so that thus it may be beneficial for you and your servant."'
13. This, too, is stated, namely: 'Even that man
is produced for the destruction of mine 1, who is possessed by the wicked evil spirit; the want of discernment of that man is a tedious life, in which the utterance of the praise of righteousness is the want of ceremonial of which a righteous man spoke thus: "At the place where their pasture is you are the mankind, the all-producer that fully developes them, and the all-collector that would thoroughly set them moving; in their pasture you are the mankind, and they all remain 2; with hospitality for the body they remain on account of their pasture, and in fighting they strike their heads together; you are the mankind of their pasture, it is expedient and you deprive it of moisture 3 through fire; as to other things, it was also you that made one altogether believe that untrue statement which is a lie—the possession of material existence by life—owing to external seduction by the fiend who has come chiefly to you."'
14. About the harm owing to the demons this, too, is stated, namely: 'Their accomplishment of arrogance over these creatures of mine, and also the unfitness for heaven (avahistîh-ik) of a righteous man, and that, too, of a valiant one, are due to the burial of a corpse.' 15. This, too, namely: 'They who drag away a corpse 4 are most hurtful for men, as regards the wealth of the religion in this world, and as regards sheep and beasts of burden.' 16. This, too, namely: 'As to the people, assisted by
one living in terrible difficulty, who deliver the corpse of a dead person, on a sheep or beast of burden, at a village where they shall convey it, they distress the fire and also the water flowing from the hills 1, likewise those liquids of the body which are ten 2, and those saps (aêvanŏ) of plants which are fourfold in thousands, that is, they come out a thousand at one time.'
17. 'They are giving more assistance when 3 it is the corpse of a wicked person; concerning them, too, I tell thee, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! that they shall arrive in the ninth and tenth centuries 4 who are the spawn of the fiend (drûgô hûnôyâkŏ) and the cesspool (rîkhdâr) of the evil spirit; even one of them is more to be destroyed than ten idolators (dêvîyastô) by him they shall make pure, that is, the people shall make him quite void of wealth who is a priest without recitation and commendation. 18. And they, who will be full
many in the future, shall bring prostration upon him who is an innocent person, the husbandman who watches the frog of the ditch (zak-î gîlûgŏ vazagh) so that he may keep it away from mankind; and they execute ill-contrived commands. 19. They also produce destruction for these of mine, and speak of the living state, to these of my religion, thus: "When living is an expediency it is in our way;" they are wicked, they dwindle through greatness and even terror, that is, they shall commit sin through leadership and vassalage 1 who are smiting thee, and they speak folly who are smiting this pure religion of thine, O Spîtâmân!'
20. 'They, too, who recite this thy revelation of the Mazda-worshippers, say that the distinction (nîsôn) of those others from those who are thine, even those whom they hurt, is this, that they plunder, they also think scornfully of this thy ceremonial, and think scornfully of the obeisances (nîyâyisnŏ) and of both those blessings from me, the Avesta and Zand which I, who am the most propitious of spirits, spoke forth to thee. 21. They also injure the ceremonial of him who is perfectly righteous 2, even the obeisance arisen from a disciple of Zaratûst the Spîtâmân; and they chant that which is a settled effusion (barâ-hankhetûntô rêgîh) that is very evil, as a perfect deed for mankind 3, which those of very evil deeds call joy 4.'
22. 'They seek sovereignty as a devouring (grehmakŏ), that is, they seek privilege for a bribe, and in their abode is he who is very evil in thought, that is, they seek with this design, that, for the hundred which another gives up, they may take two hundred away from the other 1; they destroy the best existence 2, they destroy their own souls, and they destroy the world of material beings. 23. Then they who are privileged shall convey that sovereignty of the Kîk and Karap 3, even those that are the worst-ruling who are in the country, unto him who is best-ruling in house, village, community, and province; and then both shall keep up an uproar, he who is well-ruling and also he who is ill-ruling, and he who is ill-ruling is beaten, and he is delivered up to the best-ruling ruler. 24. And then, among them, he who seeks for a devouring (grehmakŏ) of all that which is animate, as well as that which is inanimate, is he who is desirous of assault and complaint; and he who fears him who is a righteous man of mine allots him comfort, and is he who watches those who are an exposition of righteousness 4, and who would be wizards or witches, so that the authorities shall inflict punishment upon them.'
25. And this, too, is stated, namely: 'The malice of many malicious ones demands that they shall inflict punishment on sinners 5 when they put (pad-mûgênd) life into the body, that is, they give life
back to the body; but for that purpose the metal, melted forth, arises full upon the earth, which does not wreak vengeance on him who is righteous, and does wreak vengeance on him who is wicked, when I, who am Aûharmazd, produce the renovation among the existences 1. 26. Thus, too, that which becomes a healthful world—a healthful one that is thus mine—never first becomes that further sick one which, apart from me, is even now the immortal and manifest place where vengeance exists 2; and they become also aware, through that sovereignty of mine, that, apart from me, even now immortal is the material world of righteousness.'
27. Excellence that is perfect is righteousness.
252:1 See Chap. IX, 1 n.
252:2 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 1 a.
252:3 Literally 'I am.'
252:4 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 1 c.
252:5 Compare Pahl. Vend. XIX, 147.
253:1 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 3 a. For the demons here mentioned, Akômanô, Varenô, and Âzŏ, see Bk. VIII, Chaps. IX, 3, XXXI, 44; Îndar is the same as Andar (in Chap. IX, 1), the arch-demon who perverts from virtue and despises the sacred shirt and girdle (Bd. I, 27, XXVIII, 8). With reference to the good old schism-hypothesis, that identified the Av. daêva Indra, or Andra, with the Sans. deva Indra, it is worthy of note that he is here represented as the pervading spirit of an apostate religion, and is termed the kûshîdâr, 'fighter, slayer.'
253:2 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 5 a.
253:3 See Bd. XXVIII, 8.
253:4 See Pahl. Yas. XXX, 4 c.
253:5 Ibid. 3 b.
254:1 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 7 a, 8 a.
254:2 See Bd. I, 20, 21. But from § 10 it appears more probable that these are the three millenniums mentioned in Bd. I, 8.
254:3 Bd. III, 3.
254:4 Ibid. 19.
254:5 See Bk. VIII, Chap. I, 7 n.
254:6 Bd. III, 20.
255:1 The last word of the formula. In Bd. I, 21, 22 this utterance seems to be placed before the attack upon Gâyômard, but until the complete text of the Irânian Bundahis has been examined, some doubt as to the exact sequence of its statements may be entertained.
255:2 Pahl. zîflûnîd, for yîflûnîd, formed from the aorist of Ch. נְפַל; instead of the usual neflûnast, formed from the preterit.
255:3 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 9 a.
255:4 Ibid. 9b. Instead of avôrdŏ, 'plundered,' B has the miswriting spôrdŏ, 'consigned.'
255:5 Ibid. 8 a and Bk. VIII, Chap. XIII, 6.
255:6 Ibid. 8 b.
255:7 Alluding, perhaps, to the legend detailed in Bd. XV, 18, 19.
256:1 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 10 a.
256:2 Or, perhaps, 'and they remain astonished,' (va-sîpŏ mânênd).
256:3 Pahl. vîyâvânînêd which, with vâstar, 'pasture,' occurs in Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 10 c.
256:4 They who carry a corpse alone, like the iristô-kasha of Vend. III, 15.
257:1 Pahl. gêrân-tagisnŏ = Av. hebvainti in Yas. XXXVIII, 3 and Av. thraotô-stâd in Yas. LXVIII, 6, &c. It is the second species of liquid in Bd. XXI, 1.
257:2 Only nine are mentioned in Bd. XXI, 1, namely: semen, urine, sweat, skin-fluid, tears, blood, oil, saliva, and milk.
257:3 Assuming that mûn stands for amat as in Bk. VIII, Chap. XXI, 10.
257:4 If these centuries are dated from 'the coming of the religion,' according to the incorrect Arabian chronology of the Bundahis, they extended from A.D. 393 or 435 to 593 or 635 (see Byt. III, 11 n). In the ninth century lived king Yazdakard (A.D. 399-420), surnamed 'the sinner' by the priesthood because he tolerated other religions, and the heretic Mazdak who was put to death in A.D. 528. In the tenth century the Muhammadan religion arose, and the Sasanian dynasty tottered to its fall. If it were not for the manifest errors in the Bundahis chronology, this passage in our text might be important for fixing the age of the Pahlavi version of this Nask.
258:1 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 11 a.
258:2 Ibid. 11 c.
258:3 Ibid. 12 a, which has corrupted rêgîh into rêsh; the former, corresponding better with the original Av. raunghayen, can be compared with Pers. rîhîdan, rêzîdan; or it might mean 'imposture,' compare Pers. rîgan.
258:4 Ibid. 12 b.
259:1 See Pahl. Yas. XXXII, 13 a; the exact meaning of grehmakŏ (Av. gerehma) is uncertain, and the last verb is literally 'I may take.'
259:2 Ibid. 13 b.
259:3 Ibid. 14 a, 15 a, and Bk. VIII, Chap. XXXV, 13 n.
259:4 Ibid. 13 c.
259:5 Ibid. 16 c.
260:1 At the resurrection all men are said to be purified in melted metal which hurts only those who have been wicked (see Bd. XXX, 19, 20).
260:2 That is, the earth never becomes hell.