Pahlavi Texts, Part V: Marvels of Zoroastrianism (SBE47), E.W. West, tr. [1897], at sacred-texts.com
1. About the five dispositions of priests, and the ten admonitions with which all instruction as to religion is connected 2.
2. Of those five dispositions the first is innocence.
3. The second is discrimination among 3 thoughts, words, and deeds; [to fully distinguish the particulars of destruction from indestructiveness, such as
noxious creatures from cattle; and of production from unproductiveness, such as the righteous and worthy from the wicked and unworthy].
4. The third is authoritativeness, because that priestly master is always wiser and speaking more correctly who is taught wisely and teaches with more correct words.
5. The fourth is to 1 [understand and consider the ceremonial as the ceremonial of Aûharmazd, and the essentials with all goodness, beneficence, and authority; to be steadfast in his religion, and to consider the indications of protection (sâyag) 2 which are established for his religion. 6. To maintain the reverence of the luminaries prayerfully, also the reverence of the emanations 3 from the six 4 archangels, be they fire, be they earth, or be they of bodily form, and of the creatures which are formed by them; also the pure cleansing from dead matter, menstruation, bodily refuse, and ether hurtfulness; this is in order that they may be characterised, and thereby constituted, as better-principled, more sensible 5, and purer, and they may become less faulty. 7. The reverence of mankind is to consider authoritatively about knowledge and property; the reverence of cattle is about fodder, little hardship, and moderate maintenance; the reverence of plants is about sowing and ripening for the food of the worthy. 8. The ceremonial which is glorifying all
the sacred beings, praises the luminaries and worldly creations improperly, and is antagonistic to them, because complete glorification is proper through complete recitation of the ritual; and the ceremonial of any one whatever is his own proper duty professionally, so long as it is possible to, keep proceeding with very little sinfulness].
9. The fifth is to struggle prayerfully 1, day and night, with your own fiend 2, and all life long not to depart from steadfastness; nor allow your proper duty 3 to go out of your hands.
10. And the first of those ten admonitions is to proceed with good repute, for the sake of occasioning approving remarks as to 4 the good repute of your own guardian and teacher, high-priest and master 5.
11. The second is to become awfully refraining from evil repute, for the sake of evil repute not occurring to relations and guardians.
12. The third is not to beat your own teacher with a snatched-up stick, and not to bring scandal upon his name, for the sake of annoying him, by uttering that which was not heard from your own teacher.
13. The fourth is that whatever is taught liberally by your own teacher, you have to deliver back to the worthy, for the sake of not extorting a declaration of renown from the righteous 6.
14. The fifth is that the reward of doers of good
works and the punishment of criminals have to be established by law, for the sake of progress 1.
15. The sixth is to keep the way of the good open to your house, for the sake of making 2 righteousness welcome in your own abode.
16. The seventh is that, for the sake of not developing the fiend insensibly in your reason, you are not to keep it with the religion of the good 3, nor to remain in impenitence of sin.
17. The eighth 4 is that, for the sake of severing the fiend from the reason, you have to force malice away from your thoughts, and to become quickly repentant of sin.
18. The ninth is to fully understand the forward movement 5 of the religion, also to keep the advancing of the religion further forwards, and to seek your share of duty therein; and on a backward movement, when adversity happens to the religion, to have the religion back again, and to keep your body in the continence (makavadîh) of religion.
19. The tenth is that there is to be a period of obedience (Srôshdârîh) towards the ruler and priestly authority, the high-priesthood of the religious 6.
167:1 This chapter ends the first series of Selections of Zâd-sparam, and is immediately followed in the MSS. by a second series. It is evident from the extent of this chapter, as compared with the amount of text contained in the three misplaced folios (see p. 162, n; 3), that this chapter could have occupied only about one folio and a half in the dislocated MS., so that the second series must have commenced on the same folio as contained the end of this chapter, and that Chaps. XXIV, XXV cannot have belonged to this series. The three misplaced folios contain two distinct texts; the first (Chap. XXIV) is an Iranian version of the Five Dispositions of priests and the Ten Admonitions, and is here translated; the second (Chap. XXV) contains some details about the Nasks and Gâthas, and has been already translated in S.B.E., vol. xxxvii, pp. 401-405.
167:2 This Iranian version of the Dispositions and Admonitions is more complete than the Indian version, which, like the Bundahis, was brought from Irân five or six centuries ago, and is found in two MSS. (Pt. and J) written in India about 500 years ago, and now in the libraries of Dastûrs Dr. Peshotan and Di. Jâmâsp, respectively. Passages which occur only in the Iranian version are here enclosed in brackets, and other differences between the two versions are mentioned in the notes.
167:3 The Indian version has 'of.'
168:1 Ind. vers. has only: 'to celebrate the ceremonial of the sacred beings with the correct words, inward prayers, and complete mastery of the text (narm-nasgîhâ) in the ritual.' It omits §§ 6-8 altogether.
168:2 T has 'limit (kûstak).'
168:3 T has 'issue.'
168:4 T has 'seven.'
168:5 Or 'more fragrant;' hû-bôdtar has both meanings.
169:1 Ind. vers. has: 'to remain in diligence intelligently.'
169:2 Ind. vers. has: 'opponent.'
169:3 Ind. vers. has: 'steadfastness in religion, and to be diligent in your proper duty.' But it omits the rest of the sentence.
169:4 Ind. vers. has: 'for the sake of the appropriateness of.'
169:5 Or 'father.'
169:6 T has: 'not extracting the purity of the righteous.'
170:1 Ind. vers. adds: 'of religion.'
170:2 Ind. vers. inserts: 'a token of;' and T has: 'making the righteousness of the sacred beings in writing welcome.'
170:3 Ind. vers. has: 'not to maintain malice with the good,' which is more probable, and kênŏ, 'malice,' is easily corrupted into dênô, 'religion,' in Pahlavi writing.
170:4 This eighth admonition is omitted in the Irânian MSS.
170:5 Ind. vers. adds: 'and backward movement.'
170:6 Chapter XXV, about the three divisions of revelation, is translated in S.B.E., vol. xxxvii, pp. 401-405.