Passages similar to: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite — The Letters, Letter XI: Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher
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Christian Mysticism
The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite
The Letters, Letter XI: Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher (1)
At length I send a word to thee, O Love of my heart, and recall to thy memory the many anxieties and solicitudes, which I have formerly undergone on thy account." For thou rememberest with what a mild and benevolent disposition I have been accustomed to rebuke thy obstinacy in error, although with scant reason, in order that I might uproot those vain opinions with which thou wast deceived. But now, adoring the supreme toleration of the Divine long-suffering towards thee, I offer thee my congratulations, O part of my soul, now that you are turning your eyes to your soul's health. For, even the very things which formerly you delighted to spurn, you now delight to affirm; and the things that you used to reject with scorn, you now delight to enforce. For, often have I set before you, and that with great precision, what even Moses committed to writing, that man was first made by God, from mud, and the sins of the world were punished by the flood, and in process of time, that the same Moses, united in friendship with God, - performed many wonders, both in Egypt and the exodus from Egypt, by the power and action of the same God. Nor Moses only, but other divine prophets subsequently, published similar things, not infrequently, who long before foretold that God should take the nature of man from a Virgin. To which statement of mine, not once, but often, you replied, that you did not know whether these things were true, and that you were entirely ignorant, even who that Moses was, and whether he was white or black. Further, that you rejected with scorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Who is God of all Majesty--which you used to call mine. Further, that Paul, the globe trotter, and a scatterer of words, who was calling people from things terrestrial to things celestial, you were unwilling to receive. Lastly, you reproach me, as a turncoat, who had left the customs of my country's religion, and was leading people to iniquitous sacrilege, and urged me to unlearn the things in which I was placing my trust; or, at least, that I should put away other people's things, and deem it sufficient to keep what was my own, lest I should be found to detract from the honour due to divine deities, and the institutions of my fathers. But, after the supernal light of the paternal glory of His own will sent the rays of His own splendour upon the darkness of your mind, at once He put into my inmost heart, that I should recall to your mind the whole counsel of God. How, for instance, when we were staying in Heliopolis (I was then about twenty-five, and your age was nearly the same as mine), on a certain sixth day, and about the sixth hour, the sun, to our great surprise, became obscured, through the moon passing over it, not because it is a god, but because a creature of God, when its very true light was setting, could not bear to shine. Then I earnestly asked thee, what thou, O man most wise, thought of it. Thou, then, gave such an answer as remained fixed in my mind, and that no oblivion, not even that of the image of death, ever allowed to escape. For, when the whole orb had been throughout darkened, by a black mist of darkness, and the sun's disk had begun again to be purged and to shine anew, then taking the table of Philip Aridaeus, and contemplating the orbs of heaven, we learned, what was otherwise well known, that an eclipse of the sun could not, at that time, occur. Next, we observed that the moon approached the sun from the east, and intercepted its rays, until it covered the whole; whereas, at other times, it used to approach from the west. Further also, we noted that when it had reached the extreme edge of the sun, and had covered the whole orb, that it then went back towards the east, although that was a time which called neither for the presence of the moon, nor for the conjunction of the sun. I therefore, O treasury of manifold learning, since I was incapable of understanding so great a mystery, thus addressed thee--"What thinkest thou of this thing, O Apollophanes, mirror of learning?" "Of what mysteries do these unaccustomed portents appear to you to be indications?" Thou then, with inspired lips, rather than with speech of human voice, "These are, O excellent Dionysius," thou saidst, "changes of things divine." At last, when I had taken note of the day and year, and had perceived that, that time, by its testifying signs, agreed with that which Paul announced to me, once when I was hanging upon his lips, then I gave my hand to the truth, and extricated my feet from the meshes of error. Which truth, henceforth, I, with admiration, both preach and urge upon thee--which is life and way, and true light,--which lighteth every man coming into this world,--to which even thou at last, as truly wise, hast yielded. For thou yieldedst to life when thou renounced death. And surely thou hast, at length, acted in the best possible manner, if thou shalt adhere henceforth to the same truth, so as to associate with us more closely. For those lips will henceforth be on our side, by the splendour of whose words, as blunting the edge of my mind, thou hast been accustomed by pretexts brought from various quarters, and by a gorgeous glow of eloquence, to vex the innermost recesses of our breast;--yea, even sometimes to probe us sharply by occasional stings of malice. Wherefore as formerly, as thou thyself used to say, the knowledge of Christian doctrine, although savoury, was not savoury to thee, but when you had brought yourself to it, merely to taste, it shrank from your mental palate, and as it were, disdained to find a resting-place in your stomach; so now, after you have acquired a heart, intelligent and provident, elevate thyself to things supernal, and do not surrender, for things that are not, things which really are. Therefore in future, be so much more obstinate against those who have urged you to the false, as you showed yourself perverse towards us, when we invited you, with all our force, to the truth. For thus, I, in the Lord Jesus, Whose Presence is my being and my life, will henceforth die joyful, since thou also livest in Him. End of Dionysius the Areopagite. May his prayer be with us! Next: Preface Sacred Texts | Christianity « Previous: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite: Letters: Letter X.... Index Next: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite: Liturgy: Preface » Sacred Texts | Christianity
Accordingly this is the end of our third miscellany of gnostic notes in accordance with the true philosophy. Go to the Chronological List of all Early...
But since some are unbelieving, and some are disputations, all do not attain to the perfection of the good. For neither is it possible to attain it wi...
(9) For the Word of the Father of the universe is not the uttered word (logou proForikou), but the wisdom and most manifest kindness of God, and His power too, which is almighty and truly divine, and not incapable of being conceived by those who do not confess - the all-potent will. But since some are unbelieving, and some are disputations, all do not attain to the perfection of the good. For neither is it possible to attain it without the exercise of free choice; nor does the whole depend on our own purpose; as, for example, what is defined to happen. "For by grace we are saved:" not, indeed, without good works; but we must, by being formed for what is good, acquire an inclination for it. And we must possess the healthy mind which is fixed on the pursuit of the good; in order to which we have the greatest need of divine grace, and of right teaching, and of holy susceptibility, and of the drawing of the Father to Him. For, bound in this earthly body, we apprehend the objects of sense by means of the body; but we grasp intellectual objects by means of the logical faculty itself. But if one expect to apprehend all things by the senses, he has fallen far from the truth. Spiritually, therefore, the apostle writes respecting the knowledge of God, "For now we see as through a glass, but then face to face." For the vision of the truth is given but to few. Accordingly, Plato says in the Epinomis, "I do not say that it is possible for all to be blessed and happy; only a few. Whilst we live, I pronounce this to be the case. But there is a good hope that after death I shall attain all." To the same effect is what we find in Moses: "No man shall see My face, and live." For it is evident that no one during the period of life has been able to apprehend God clearly. But" the pure in heart shall see God," when they arrive at the final perfection. For since the soul became too enfeebled for the apprehension of realities, we needed a divine teacher. The Saviour is sent down - a teacher and leader in the acquisition of the good -the secret and sacred token of the great Providence. "Where, then, is the scribe? where is the searcher of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" it is said. And again, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent," plainly of those wise in their own eyes, and disputatious. Excellently therefore Jeremiah says, "Thus saith the Lord, Stand in the ways, and ask for the eternal paths,"what is the good way, and walk in it, and ye shall find expiation for your souls." Ask, he says, and inquire of those who know, without contention and dispute. And on learning the way of truth, let us walk on the right way, without turning till we attain to what we desire: It was therefore with reason that the king of the Romans (his name was Numa), being a Pythagorean, first of all men, erected a temple to Faith and Peace. "And to Abraham, on believing, righteousness was reckoned." He, prosecuting the lofty philosophy of aerial phenomena, and the sublime philosophy of the movements in the heavens, was called Abram, which is interpreted "sublime father." But afterwards, on looking up to heaven, whether it was that he saw the Son in the spirit, as some explain, or a glorious angel, or in any other way recognised God to be superior to the creation, and all the order in it, he receives in addition the Alpha, the knowledge of the one and only God, and is called Abraam, having, instead of a natural philosopher, become wise, and a lover of God. For it is interpreted, "elect father of sound." For by sound is the uttered word: the mind is its father; and the mind of the good man is elect. I cannot forbear praising exceedingly the poet of Agrigentum, who celebrates faith as follows: "Friends, I know, then, that there is truth in the myths Which I will relate. But very difficult to men, And irksome to the mind, is the attempt of faith."
"And Pistis Sophia cried out most exceedingly, she cried to the Light of lights which she had seen from the beginning, in which she had had faith,...
(1) "And Pistis Sophia cried out most exceedingly, she cried to the Light of lights which she had seen from the beginning, in which she had had faith, and uttered this repentance, saying thus: "'1. O Light of lights, in whom I have had faith from the beginning, hearken now then, O Light, unto my repentance. Save me, O Light, for evil thoughts have entered into me. "'2. I gazed, O Light, into the lower parts and saw there a light. thinking: I will go to that region, in order that I may take that light. And I went and found myself in the darkness which is in the chaos below, and I could no more speed thence and go to my region, for I was sore pressed by all the emanations of Self-willed, and the lion-faced power took away my light in me. "'3. And I cried for help, but my voice hath not reached out of the darkness. And I looked unto the height, that the Light, in which I had had faith, might help me. "'4. And when I looked unto the height, I saw all the rulers of the æons, how in their numbers they looked down on me and rejoiced over me, though I had done them no ill; but they hated me without a cause. And when the emanations of Self-willed saw the rulers of the æons rejoicing over me, they knew that the rulers of the æons would not come to my aid; and those emanations which sore pressed me with violence, took courage, and the light which I had not taken from them, they have taken from me. "'5. Now, therefore, O Light of Truth, thou knowest that I have done this in my innocence, thinking that the lion-faced light-power belonged to thee; and the sin which I have done is open before thee. "'6. Suffer me no more to lack, O Lord, for I have had faith in thy light from the beginning; O Lord, O Light of the powers, suffer me no more to lack my light. "'7. For because of thy inducement and for the sake of thy light am I fallen into this oppression, and shame hath covered me. "'8. And because of the illusion of thy light, I am become a stranger to my brethren, the invisibles, and to the great emanations of Barbēlō. "'9. This hath befallen me, O Light, because I have been zealous for thy abode; and the wrath of Self-willed is come upon me--of him who had not hearkened unto thy command to emanate from the emanation of his power--because I was in his æon without performing his mystery. "'10. And all the rulers of the æons mocked me. "'11. And I was in that region, mourning and seeking after the light which I had seen in the height. "'12. And the guards of the gates of the æons searched for me, and all who remain in their mystery mocked me. "'13. But I looked up unto the height towards thee and had faith in thee. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, I am sore pressed in the darkness of chaos. If now thou wilt come to save me,--great is thy mercy,--then hear me in truth and save me. "'14. Save me out of the matter of this darkness, that I may not be submerged therein, that I may be saved from the emanations of god Self-willed which press me sore, and from their evil doings. "'15. Let not this darkness submerge me, and let not this lion-faced power entirely devour the whole of my power, and let not this chaos shroud my power. "'16. Hear me, O Light, for thy grace is precious, and look down upon me according to the great mercy of thy Light. "'17. Turn not thy face from me, for I am exceedingly tormented. "'18. Haste thee, hearken unto me and save my power. "'19. Save me because of the rulers who hate me, for thou knowest my sore oppression and my torment and the torment of my power which they have taken from me. They who have set me in all this evil are before thee; deal with them according to thy good pleasure. "'20. My power looked forth from the midst of the chaos and from the midst of the darkness, and I waited for my pair, that he should come and fight for me, and he came not, and I looked that he should come and lend me power, and I found him not. "'21. And when I sought the light, they gave me darkness; and when I sought my power, they gave me matter. "'22. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, may the darkness and the matter which the emanations of Self-willed have brought upon me, be unto them for a snare, and may they be ensnared therein, and recompense them and may they be made to stumble and not come into the region of their Self-willed. "'23. May they remain in the darkness and not behold the light; may they behold the chaos for ever, and let them not look unto the height. "'24. Bring upon them their revenge, and may thy judgment lay hold upon them. "'25. Let them not henceforth come into their region to their god Self-willed, and let not his emanations henceforth come into their regions; for their god is impious and self-willed, and he thought that he had done this evil of himself, not knowing that, had I not been brought low according to thy command, he would not have had any authority over me. "'26. But when thou hadst by thy command brought me low, they pursued me the more, and their emanations added pain to my humiliation. "'27. And they have taken light-power from me and fallen again to pressing me sore, in order to take away all the light in me. Because of this in which they have set me, let them not ascend to the thirteenth æon, the region of Righteousness. "'28. But let them not be reckoned in the lot of those who purify themselves and the light, and let them not be reckoned with those who will quickly repent, that they may quickly receive mysteries in the Light. "'29. For they have taken my light from me, and my power hath begun to cease in me and I am destitute of my light. "'30. Now, therefore, O Light, which is in thee and is with me, I sing praises to thy name, O Light, in glory. "'31. May my song of praise please thee, O Light, as an excellent mystery, which leadeth to the gates of the Light, which they who shall repent will utter, and the light of which will purify them. "'32. Now, therefore, let all matters rejoice; seek ye all the Light, that the power of the stars which is in you, may live. "'33. For the Light hath heard the matters, nor will it leave any without having purified them. "'34. Let the souls and the matters praise the Lord of all æons, and [let] the matters and all that is in them [praise him]. "'35. For God shall save their soul from all matters, and a city shall be prepared in the Light, and all the souls who are saved, will dwell in that city and will inherit it. "'36. And the soul of them who shall receive mysteries will abide in that region, and they who have received mysteries in its name will abide therein.'"
Chapter XII: Basilides' Idea of Martyrdom Refuted. (2)
I will ask him, then, in the case of a confessor who has been arrested, whether he will confess and be punished in virtue of Providence or not? For...
(2) I will ask him, then, in the case of a confessor who has been arrested, whether he will confess and be punished in virtue of Providence or not? For in the case of denying he will not be punished. But if, for the sake of escaping and evading the necessity of punishing such an one, he shall say that the destruction of those who shall deny is of Providence, he will be a martyr against his will. And how any more is it the case, that there is laid up in heaven the very glorious recompense to him who has witnessed, for his witnessing? If Providence did not permit the sinner to get the length of sinning, it is unjust in both cases; both in not rescuing the man who is dragged to punishment for righteousness' sake, and in having rescued him who wished to do wrong, he having done it as far as volition was concerned, but [Providence] having prevented the deed, and unjustly favoured the sinner. And how impious, in deifying the devil, and in daring to call the Lord a sinful man! For the devil tempting us, knowing what we are, but not knowing if we will hold out, but wishing to dislodge us from the faith, attempts also to bring us into subjection to himself. Which is all that is allowed to him, partly from the necessity of saving us, who have taken occasion from the commandment, from ourselves; partly for the confusion of him who has tempted and failed; for the confirmation of the members of the Church, and the conscience of those who admire the constancy [displayed]. But if martyrdom be retribution by way of punishment, then also faith and doctrine, on account of which martyrdom comes, are co-operators in punishment - than which, what other absurdity could be greater? But with reference to these dogmas, whether the soul is changed to another body, also of the devil, at the proper time mention will be made. But at present, to what has been already said, let us add the following: Where any more is faith in the retribution of sins committed before martyrdom takes place? And where is love to God, which is persecuted and endures for the truth? And where is the praise of him who has confessed, or the censure of him who has denied? And for what use is right conduct, the mortification of the lusts, and the hating of no creature? But if, as Basilides himself says, we suppose one part of the declared will of God to be the loving of all things because all things bear a relation to the Whole, and another "not to lust after anything," and a third "not to hate anything," by the will of God these also will be punishments, which it were impious to think. For neither did the Lord suffer by the will of the Father, nor are those who are persecuted by the will of God; since either of two things is the case: either persecution in consequence of the will of God is a good thing, or those who decree and afflict are guiltless. But nothing is without the will of the Lord of the universe. It remains to say that such things happen without the prevention of God; for this alone saves both the providence and the goodness of God. We must not therefore think that He actively produces afflictions (far be it that we should think this!); but we must be persuaded that He does not prevent those that cause them, but overrules for good the crimes of His enemies: "I will therefore," He says, "destroy the wall, and it shall be for treading under foot." Providence being a disciplinary art; in the case of others for each individual's sins, and in the case of the Lord and His apostles for ours. To this point says the divine apostle: "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication: that each one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, as the Gentiles who know not the Lord: that none of you should overreach or take advantage of his brother in any matter; because the Lord is the avenger in respect of all such, as we also told you before, and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but to holiness. Wherefore he that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given His Holy Spirit to you." Wherefore the Lord was not prohibited from this sanctification of ours. if, then, one of them were to say, in reply, that the martyr is punished for sins committed before this embodying, and that he will again reap the fruit of his conduct in this life, for that such are the arrangements of the [divine administration], we shall ask him if the retribution takes place by Providence. For if it be not of the divine administration, the economy of expiations is gone, and their hypothesis falls to the ground; but if expiations are by Providence, punishments are by Providence too. But Providence, although it begins, so to speak, to move with the Ruler, yet is implanted in substances along with their origin by the God of the universe. Such being the case, they must confess either that punish-merit is not just, and those who condemn and persecute the martyrs do right, or that persecutions even are wrought by the will of God. Labour and fear are not, then, as they say, incident to affairs as rust to iron, but come upon the soul through its own will. And on these points there is much to say, which will be reserved for future consideration, taking them up in due course.
(Yea, I approach Thee with my prayers, I) who by these (great gifts of grace) will protect ((Thy) Divine Righteousness, and (Thy) Good Mind within...
(12) (Yea, I approach Thee with my prayers, I) who by these (great gifts of grace) will protect ((Thy) Divine Righteousness, and (Thy) Good Mind within us) for ever. And do Thou therefore, O Ahura Mazda! teach me from Thyself, yea, from Thine own mouth of spirit, that I may declare it forth to (these Thy waiting people) by what (powers and according to what laws ) the primeval world arose ! 17:1 Yânîm cannot well mean 'revealed,' except by the most farfetched conception. The Indian yâna, as in devâ´yna, should give the fundamental idea, easily reconcileable as it is with the ancient rendering of the Pahlavi translator. 17:2 Notice that the Ameshôspends are mentioned in this early heading. In the Gâthas themselves the name, 'Bountiful Immortals,' does not occur. 17:3 Possibly, 'take up and continue on the Gâthas.' Literally, 'seize forth.' 17:4 It is hardly necessary to say that this is no part of the Gâthas. It is, however, in the Gâthic dialect, and as it needs not, or perhaps cannot, be considered an intentional imitation, it must be very old. 17:5 Vocative with the Vendîdâd Sâdah, otherwise the accumulation of genitives would be suspicious. Ahura is, however, beyond any question elsewhere spoken of as 'the most bounteous Spirit.' The usage is like that of the Semitic scriptures; the Holy Spirit is both God and 'of God.' As to the rendering 'bounteous,' I fear that 'holiest' (so many) is too bold. Ashavan occurs side by side with spenta as applied to Ahura, and ashavan cannot mean 'righteous' there, but must mean 'holy.' The Pahlavi renders etymologically afzûnîk. Comp. svânta. The sole etymological bases for the meaning 'holy' are presented by the Lithuanian and Ecclesiastical Sclavonic; but, as Justi has well remarked, in the conceptions of the Avesta that which increases the kingdom of Ahura is equivalent to what is holy. 'Bountiful' must therefore be understood in a particular sense, only to be rendered by the words, 'gracious, sacred, and august.' 18:1 See Y. XXIX, 1. 18:2 The plural of majesty, or the literal plural, referring to the Bountiful Immortals as together. 18:3 Plural and singular interchange throughout. 18:4 Possibly, 'one may introduce.' 18:5 See Y. L, 5. Hvâthrâ and its allied forms are so often associated with raokah and the like, that I do not hesitate to accept an Iranian hvan = to shine (with Justi). As there is an Indian svar which means 'to roar,' and another 'to shine,' and again a svan = to sound, so in Iranian there is a hvan = to sound, and another = to shine, as in asmanem hvanvantem. The 'comfortable stone heaven' is difficult. Comfortable, or even 'delectable mountains' so we should have to say elsewhere), are not very likely to have been recognised or appreciated in the Avesta. 'Glorious beatitude' is a better rendering here. If hvâthrâ always means 'comfort,' how comes it that hvarenô is said to be hvâthravat? 'Comfortable glory' is hardly probable. Compare also the ancient subha. When it is the fashion to accept a separate Iranian root at every difficulty, small and great, I see no reason for stopping here, where the pressure is considerable. The Pahlavi also may be read to favour my view. (Comp. hveng = hvan.) 19:1 Or, 'having no first' (Roth, reading apourvîm). 19:2 I am very far from a positive rejection of the forms suggested by the Pahlavi translator, although he should never be pressed on such a point, being often free. As alternative read 'may Piety who bestows increase (fem. participle) come to my calls to give grace.' 19:3 The Pahlavi translator, unable to credit 'ye as = I who' (so also modern authority sometimes with regard to other occurrences of ye in this chapter), renders as follows: When I shall be your own (thus for 'worship,' and possibly deceived by the form of the words, ufyânî and nafsman being nearly alike in the Pahlavi character), O Ashavahist and Vohûman! the first [ ], Aûharmazd's also [his own I shall be], through whose unweakened acquisition his rule over them exists [ ], and [hers also I shall be], Spendarmad's, the giver of increase. She comes to me with joy when I invoke her [when I shall call upon you, come ye on toward me with joy]. (A plain and noticeable instance of an alternative rendering in the gloss. The verb was first thought of as a 3rd sing. middle subjunctive, afterwards as an imperative 2nd plural.) 19:4 Meñ = m + the nasal vowel, and may represent man, or I think also mãm, adverbially for menâ; or 'mân' = 'demânê.' 19:5 Mount Alborg, where the Kinvat Bridge extends; so also important authority; but we might read mengairê = mângairê (Garôdman). 19:6 Ashi, a blessing given in reward; so elsewhere. 20:1 I think it is better to hold by the parallel passage and the sense of 'teach' here. The Pahlavi has an irregular form which probably means 'I teach,' but might be intended for 'I am taught.' After the words 'so long as I have the power,' 'I will teach' is rather more natural than 'I will learn.' Haug's rendering of this word has never been accepted. Those most opposed to tradition follow it here. Perhaps, 'I will teach to desire R.' 20:2 The Pahlavi translation corrected by MSS. may be rendered thus: He who gives up his soul within Garôdmân does so by the aid of Vohûman [ ], and is also intelligent concerning the veneration which belongs to the doers of good works [ ] in that which is Aûharmazd's [religion]; as long as I am a suppliant and have [the power, so long do I inculcate the desire of Righteousness which is, duty and good works]. 20:3 Kadâ´ mrilîkám sumánâ abhí khyam (Rv. VII, 86, 2). 20:4 Obedience, throughout the Avesta and Parsi literature, guides the soul to heaven. 20:5 Or, 'knowing the throne of Ahura' (so the Pahlavi, most scholars following); but the construction would be awkward. 'Finding the way' occurs in the Riks, and gâtu need not always mean 'place' in the Gâthic, because it has that sense most frequently in the Zend. 20:6 Possibly, 'we may teach the foul polluted men.' Or, 'confess the greatest One with Khrafstra(-slaying) tongue.' Perhaps the text is to be amended; yet see XXXIV, 5, 9. 20:7 The Pahlavi translation may be rendered thus: O Ashavahist! when do (shall) I see thee? I know this one by means p. 21 of a good mind's instruction [that is, I see thee in that time when every man is intelligent because he is pious; but when shall it be?]. And the place of Aûharmazd, when do (shall) I see it, I who am a suppliant for a benefit? That place is known through Srôsh [ ], that greatest of Mãthras is to be taught, given forth with tongue to him whose understanding is confused. 21:1 It certainly involves a question how the words 'to Zarathustra and to us' can be compatible with Zarathustra's authorship. Vîstâspa and Frashaostra (verses 8, 9) are equally excluded. Who is then the individual who thus refers to himself with others? And is this verse an interpolation, and with it 8 and 9? This last seems to me a very feeble suggestion. Was this piece, together with the rest (for they all are connected), the work of some unnamed man of influence, the true author of Zarathustrianism? I think that there is also little gained by this supposition. There is no particular reason why Zarathustra's name should have come down to us as the chief figure, while that of the prime mover failed to reach us. I should say that the piece was composed by Zarathustra and put into the mouth of a leading priest, or that it was composed with many others under his inspiration. Or, can there have been a school, or family, of Zarathustrians, religious poets, similar to the Vedic seers? (See chap. LIII, 2 Zarathustris Spitâmô.) 21:2 This mention of 'overcoming an enemy,' strengthens the probability of my view of vâvarôimaidî (vâurôimaidî). 21:3 The Good Mind is now, as we should say, 'the Spirit of God' in the mind of God, and again His Spirit in the human soul. 22:1 The Pahlavi correctly renders pâdakhshâ. 22:2 Probably originally heard, inspired words. Compare Manyeus hakâ Thwâ aunghâ, verse 12. So often. Oral communications are figuratively alluded to everywhere. No literal articulation or sound (!) is of course intended. (Or 'sravayaêmâ = proclaim.') Neryosangh may be rendered as follows: Grant, O Sanctity! this devotion which (results) from the priority (an error from misreading the characters of the Pahlavi, chiefly his original) of the Good Mind [that is, make me so religious that prosperity may result [to me from my good conduct]. Grant thou to the perfect mind in, or to, the earth (so the Parsis understood Âramaiti)] the wish that proceeds from Gustâspa and from my people [ ]. Grant praisers, O great wise One! kings, who may be announcers of your word, and bestowers of arrangements (for the service); [that is, who may teach thy word, and render it progressive]. 22:3 The earliest occurrence of Asha Vahista. The Pahlavi: 'Since the best thing that Thou hast [Thy Religion] is better than all other things, the best through Righteousness.' 22:4 See verses 7 and 8. 22:5 In the millennial (sic) renovation as well as in heaven. See chap. XXX, 4, where Vahista Manah is equivalent to heaven. The Pahlavi gloss has: Aîgh Frashôstar va hâvistân î Frashôstar, vad tanû î pasînŏ hamâî nadûkîh padas vâdan; that is, for Frashôstar and the disciples of Frashôstar for ever, until the final body provide a benefit thereby. 23:1 Possibly, 'may we not anger you with our prayers for these blessings.' Kím me havyám áhrinâno gusheta. 23:2 That dasemê may now better be referred to a similar root with dasvare, I regard the more probable because the Pahlavi also freely renders as if it so understood. Its author knew the meaning of dasema = dasama. One is reminded of course of the dása-gva. 23:3 The Pahlavi with its peculiar view of anâis (not to be rejected too confidently; see note at another occurrence of it) is interesting (as corrected by the Persian MS.): On account of a not-coming to you, O Aûharmazd! This I would not do [ ]. Ashavahist also I will not pain for the sake of a blessing; [that is, I do not desire a single blessing which appears displeasing to Ashavahist (this turn of the sense is followed by some who have hitherto opposed tradition, but I cannot follow it, although I value every hint of the ancient writers). Also Vohûman, the excellent [I do not harass him]. 23:4 Or, 'to those whom thou seest as creatures (?) of V. fill up the desire with attainments.' 23:5 Possibly, 'the righteous,' erethweng; cp. ritâ´vânas (?). Pahl. trans. 'î frârûnŏ.' 23:6 Possibly, 'I obtain.' 24:1 Ner. has analaso(-ah) for asûnâ more correctly than the Pahlavi asûdak. 24:2 Or, 'well reaching their aim;' but the Pahlavi translator gives his evidence for the meaning 'food'—khûrisnŏ. Recall the constant prayers for nourishment in the Riks. And as favouring the ancient translation, see XXIX, 7, where 'food for the eaters' is declared to be the gift of God, who is at the same time 'bounteous with his doctrine.' 24:3 Neryosangh: Evam ye dharmasya vettârah* uttamasyaka dâter manasah [ ] ekahelayâ* Mahâgñânin Svâmin! tebhyah* pûrnam parikinohi* kâmam; [kila, [ ] subham tebhyah kuru]. Evamka igisneh* analaso labhatâm khâdyâni vastrânika vadanena. 24:4 One is tempted to read nipaunghê as an infinitive, but the Pahlavi translation anticipates us all with its more critical barâ netrûnam. 24:5 This question is answered in Y. XXX. 24:6 Ner. improving upon the Pahlavi has as follows: Yadi sunirîkshanatayâ dharmam pâlayâmi manaska* uttamam sadâpravrittaye; [kila, ket satyasya sadvyâpârasyaka rakshâm karomi]. Tvam tat* Mahâgñânin Svâmin! prakrishtam me sikshâpaya* [ ] vâki. Adrisya Tvatto mukhena [sphutaya] antar bhuvane pûrvam babhûva [tâm srishtim me brûhi]. A translation truly remarkable considering the circumstances under which it was made. Next: Yasna XXX Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism
(And how as to our deluded foes?) Have Daêva-(worshippers) e’er reigned as worthy kings? (This verily I ask of Thee, the Daêva-worshippers) who fight...
(20) (And how as to our deluded foes?) Have Daêva-(worshippers) e’er reigned as worthy kings? (This verily I ask of Thee, the Daêva-worshippers) who fight for these (who act amiss? Have they well reigned) by whom the Karpan and the Usig(k) gave the (sacred) Kine to Rapine , whence, too, the Kavian in persistent strength has flourished? (And these have also never given us tribal wealth nor blessings), nor for the Kine have they brought waters to the fields for the sake of the Righteous Order (in our hosts), to further on their growth (and welfare)! 111:1 Some who seldom cite the Pahlavi follow it here; nîyâyisno zak mûn aêtûno nîyâyisno î Lekûm [dînô]. Otherwise one might p. 112 read nemê with B.V.S. (variation) in Y. LVIII, 3, and render, 'how shall I bow myself in your worship?' 112:1 The Pahl. hamkardâr is likewise followed. The alteration to hâkôrenâ is very interesting, but, I think, hardly necessary. 112:2 Observe the great difficulty in referring Khshmâvatô to a human subject. Here we have 'the homage of the One like You (of Yours(?)' some would say); in Y. XXXIII, 8 we have Yasnem Mazdâ (Ahurâ) Khshmâvatô; in Y. XXXIV, 2 Khshmâvatô vahmê; in Y. XLIX, 6 Tãm daênãm yâ Khshmâvatô Ahurâ. Khshmâvatô is sometimes merely a way of saying 'of Thyself,' as mavaitê = to me. 112:3 Observe also the emphasis on his 'drawing near'; otherwise 'let Your one declare it to my friend' (?). 112:4 See Roth, Y. XXXI, 8. See, however, also de Harlez's suggestion, perhaps after the hint of the Pahlavi: 'qu’elle a été l’origine?' Here we have another instance where an entire verse seems to allude to Ahura in the third person with an address to Him thrown in, or at the close. In connection with angheus vahistahyâ Ahura must be the pourvya, as in Y. XXXI, 8, where Roth renders vornehmster. The guardian is also Ahura (see Y. XXXI, 13). 112:5 I cannot fully accept the hint of the Pahlavi here as others do who seldom heed it. I do not think that 'sin' is so much indicated as 'destruction.' 112:6 Mainyû is suspiciously expressive as a vocative; perhaps 'by spiritual power' would be safer. 113:1 'As a generator (?).' 113:2 Bartholomae follows the Pahlavi here as rendered by Ner. putting hveng and starem (-ãm) in the genitive, which is in itself far better than to regard dât as governing two accusatives. One would, however, rather expect hveng starãm adhvânem dât. 113:3 All follow the Pahlavi here, which renders with allowable freedom. Nerefsaitî (= Pahl. nerefsêd; Ner. nimîlati; Persian kâhad) might possibly be explained as a nasalised form of an Aryan correspondent to arbha, as nas = as. 113:4 Possibly from thine influence (?). 113:5 The infinitive vîduyê (= vîdvê) lies here in an unusual place, at the end of the sentence. It is because the word has no stress upon it. The emphasis rests on the objects which he desires to know about; the entire connection deals with 'knowing'; it has no prominence. 113:6 This rendering is not supported by the Pahlavi, which seems to report a rendering from some text with an a privative, and a form of dar. The 'unsupported' object might mean the 'air-space.' See the suggestion of Bartholomae 'the earth and the air-space,' comparing the later Sanskrit. 113:7 Or 'for velocity,' adverbially. Velocity, however, in the abstract as the object yoked-on, is rather too finely drawn. I should prefer p. 114 the fleet ones, the lightnings. My rendering follows the indication of another, as a dual, but not as to full exegesis. One naturally supposes the yoking together of the winds and dark clouds to be meant. 114:1 Recall svàr yád ásmann adhipâ´ u ándho.—Rv. VII, 88, 2. 114:2 Ner.: 'Who gave us the lights with his keen discrimination? And who the darkness? Who, in his keen discrimination, gave (us our) sleep and waking; [that is, our diligence and activity?] Who is he who gave us the time of husaina, and the time of rapithvana [ ], and the method and calculation of him who discerns by means of the just rule [ ]?' 114:3 So also the Pahlavi indicates by 'stavar.' 114:4 So I prefer; but the indication of the Pahlavi deserves an alternative 'giver of bounty'; skar = kar. 'Geus azyau' was later a common expression for a mature animal, but possibly vulgarised from its older special use here. 114:5 Root nî (?). 114:6 I thus add as the Pahlavi translator indicates such an element in uzemem. 115:1 Frakhshnî = in abundance (Pahl. kabed; Ner. prakuram; Persian MS. bisyar). The thought refers back to anyâkâ vîduyê [-vê]. 115:2 Haug sagaciously renders as if mendâidyâi were a miswriting for pendâidyâi, which is in itself very possible, as an 'm' looks much like an inverted in MSS. So the Pahlavi records the irregularity also, from which Haug derived his idea. But Haug explains the word as an allusion to the five prayer-hours of the day. I doubt very greatly whether the five prayer-hours existed at the date of the composition of this passage. Such regulations grew up much later. The Pahlavi translator indicates elsewhere an accusative (meng = mãm) with an infinitive 'that I should give forth,' which is in itself far from impossible. He was aware (!) that meng could also equal man; see Y. LIII, 5. 115:3 Vaêdyâi is infinitively used for vôizdyâi. 115:4 I do think that it is necessary on the whole to postulate two similar words here (although Geldner's suggestion is most keen and interesting). Urvâkhsanguha and urvâkhsukhti do not favour a comparison with vrag here. The Pahlavi is indifferent: Kîgûn denman î li rûbânŏ zak î sapîr hû-ravâkh-manîh? So Ner. uttamânandah. Barth. beglückend. 115:5 Kâ-tâ = kéna-téna. 115:6 Or, 'let those things happen to me;' gam means 'come' more frequently than 'go,' here. Lit. 'let it thus advance.' 115:7 Kîgûn denman î li dînô yôs-dâsar î avêgak yôs-dâsaryôm? Ner.: Katham idam aham yat* dînim pavitratarâm pavitrayâmi; [kila, dînim katham pravartamânâm karomi]? As Zarathustra is p. 116 represented as sanctifying the Fire (in Y. IX, 1), so here he would doubly sanctify the Faith itself. He would 'hallow its name' and meaning. 116:1 Pavanas-hamdemûnîh-ketrûnêd [pavan hamkhadûkîh]. 116:2 I cannot regard the caesura in this verse as possessing ordinary importance, the mahvyau (mahyau) kistôis is especially dependent on the following words. The Pahlavi translator hints at an important solution, which is, that a pause should be made before usen; 'the wish of mine understanding wishes, and I wish (am wishing); Khûrsand hômanam = I am content.' If we can accept a break (a possibility far too little recognised), the usen as representing a nom. sing. would refer back to the meaning in mahvyau (mahyau). But reading îstîs (as irregular for îstayô on account of the metre) we might regard usen as a third pl. Or shall we take it as a quasi-third singular, usen being usãm (en = the nasal vowel; comp. ûkãm as a third sing. imper. after Barth)? Let 'the wish (îstis) of my enlightened understanding wish for Thee.' 116:3 Compare 'aêshãm tôi, Ahura! ehmâ pourutemâis dastê.' p. 117 Auserkoren is a fine but a bold rendering. Election is, however, included in all divine prescience. 117:1 I have no doubt whatever, but that mainyeus and dvaêshanghâ belong together. 117:2 The Pahlavi translation is as follows: 'That which I ask of Thee, tell me aright, O Aûharmazd! when shall the perfect mind come to those persons [that is, when does the mind of my disciples become perfect]? When shall it come to those who declare this Thy Religion, O Aûharmazd? Grant to me before these the proclamation of the truth. Against every other spirit which is malevolent I keep my guard.' 117:3 Yâis adverbially, or possibly, 'with whom I question.' 117:4 Kyanghat is, I think, simply the equivalent for kî (?) anghat = quî fit, how does it happen that? 'Stands' free for 'comes.' 117:5 The Pahlavi on the contrary takes perenaunghô in the sense of combating, pavan anyôkhshîdâ´rîh patkârênd = '(who) are opposing you through disobedience.' It is far from certain that he does not indicate some improvement in text, or rendering. 117:6 Or, 'the counsels of holy men.' 118:1 Ashâi with Geldner. 118:2 The Pahlavi anticipates us in the correct general sense here. It has nas,hônisnŏ. The Persian MS. renders the Pahlavi, hamâvandî nîst dehand î darwand. 118:3 Anâshê seems regarded as an infinitive by the Pahlavi translator, anayâtûnisno. 'For the destruction of those deceivers' is an obvious alternative to the rendering above (â nashê?). 118:4 Geldner and Roth render mat = Sanskrit mad; otherwise 'with complete protection.' Or is mat ablative for genitive: If thou rulest over me to afford me protection? The Pahlavi affords no indication. 118:5 The Pahlavi translator erred widely in his attempt to render the word anaokanghâ. As it is certain that his MSS. differed from ours often, they probably did so here. The verse alludes beyond a question to some expected battle in a religious war, and perhaps in a religious civil war. It is the most positive allusion to the 'strife of the two parties' (V. XXXI, 2) which has come down to us. It was a struggle concerning the religious vows, or doctrines; avâis urvâtâis yâ tû Mazdâ dîdereghzô. 118:6 The Pahlavi renders vananãm by 'good thing,' explaining 'the sovereign power.' 119:1 Verethrem-gâ thwâ, following the Pahlavi with Westergaard, Geldner, and Bartholomae. 119:2 Compare Y. XXIX, 2 and Y. XXVIII, 3; or it may mean 'promise to establish' (Barth.). Kizdî, however, hardly seems to need an infinitive with it; it may mean 'appoint.' Compare dámsu (patnî) for a better sense than 'house-lord,' also for deng patôis. 119:3 This casts additional light on the 'one that should come' in Y. XLIII, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15. 119:4 This recalls ahmâi yahmâi ustâ kahmâikît. 119:5 The comparison with gar has long circulated among Zendists. Many adopt it. It agrees admirably with the Pahlavi as to sense: Aîmat, Aûharmazd! damânŏ kardârîh î Lekûm, when is Your appointment of the time? 119:6 The Pahlavi va mûnik zak i li gôbisno hômand khvâstar. 119:7 Va sardâr yehevûnisnîh madam Haurvadad va Amerôdâd; Ner. Svâmino bhavishyanti upari Avirdâde Amirdâde; comp. also Y. XLIX, 8 fraêstaunghô aunghâmâ. Professor Jolly compares bûzdyâi with φύεσθαι (Inf. s. 194). The long since circulated comparison with bhug seems to me hardly so probable. It may, however, deserve an alternative: 'to enjoy Weal and Immortality'; but accusatives p. 120 do not fall so naturally to the end of the sentence in Gâthic or Vedic, without preceding related or qualifying words. 120:1 Those suspected of no partisanship for the Pahlavi translation follow it here as against Haug, who translated the words ustremkâ by et amplius! It means a camel; so the Pahlavi translator rendered many centuries ago before Europeans even knew what the Indian úshtra meant, which simple analogy Neryosangh first drew. Horses were material for sacrifice among the Persians according to Herodotus. The reasons for the prayer are not fully expressed. 120:2 So better than as a first person aorist subjunctive, if taêibyô is to be read. The Pahlavi, however, read taibyô, which is not lightly to be passed over. 120:3 The rendering 'take' has long circulated. I do not, however, prefer it here. 120:4 Weal and Immortality, but hî might refer to the two objects, 'the mares' and the 'camel.' 120:5 The ideal Zarathustrian; comp. Y. XXXI, 15; XLIX, 9. 121:1 So also the Pahlavi followed by all. Kadâr valman pavan zak vinâsisnŏ aîtŏ fratûm; [aîgas pavan-vinâskârîh pâdafrâs fratûm maman]? Âkâs hômanam zak mûn valman aîtŏ afdûm [mamanas darvandîh]? Ner. (with regard to him) who does not give the reward which has come for the one fitted for, or deserving of, it [to Garathustra's equal], (the reward) which the truthful man; [that is, the good man] is giving to him, what is the first thing which happens through this sin of his? [that is, what is his first chastisement in consequence of this fault?] (For) I am aware of what his punishment shall be in the end [ ]. 121:2 The Pahlavi translator either had a text with some form of pâ, or was otherwise misled. He renders mûn netrûnd, but gives the word the adverse sense of 'hindering' in the gloss. Ner., however, has pratiskhalanti which points to peshyêintî, and also tends to show that other MSS. of the Pahlavi (and among them the one used by Ner.) read differently from our three, K5, D. J., and the Persian transliteration. Kãm = Ved. kám with dat. 121:3 See Y. XXIX, 1. 121:4 Professor Wilhelm 'vigour' (De Infin. p. 14). Next: Yasna XLV Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism
Through false believers the tormentor makes Thy helpers refusers ; (those who once helped our heroes shall no longer give succour). The estranged...
(9) Through false believers the tormentor makes Thy helpers refusers ; (those who once helped our heroes shall no longer give succour). The estranged thus desires, and the reprobate wills it, with the will that he harbours to conquer our honour . Where is then the Lord righteous who will smite them from life , and (beguile) them of license? Mazda! Thine is that power, (which will banish and conquer). And Thine is the Kingdom ; and by it Thou bestowest the highest (of blessings) on the right-living poor ! 190:1 Some lay stress upon the literal form 'was heard,' and regard the expression as indicating the fact that Zarathustra was no longer living (see the remarks in the summary). 190:2 Free. 190:3 I follow the Pahlavi with all; it has hû-âhûînâd. 190:4 I follow the frîftâr of the Pahlavi, as the conversion of those formerly hostile is suggested by vaurayâ and Fryâna, not to speak of the primary rendering of duserethrîs kikhshnushâ. The Pahlavi also has, 'even he who is the deceiver is to be instructed in the word and deed of the good religion.' The MSS. should not hastily be abandoned. 190:5 That more than a ritualistic sanctity is meant is certain (see Y. XXX, 3); but that no sanctity could be recognised apart from worship is equally undeniable. 190:6 Who was the Zarathustrian Spitâma? Some change the text after the Pahlavi translator, reading Zarathustra Spitâma; but I would not follow this evil example in a first translation of a translatable text. Why should a Spitâma, who was not Zarathustra, be called Zarathustrian? Were some of the Spitâmas not in sympathy with their great kinsman, Spitâmas who were Mazdayasnians, but not 'of Zarathustra's order?' One would however suppose that some one of Zarathustra's family was meant who occupied the position of his especial representative and natural successor. 191:1 Free. 191:2 Recall the 'path made for the Kine,' and 'the way' which 'Thou declarest to be that of the Good Mind.' 191:3 That is, will permanently found, establish. 191:4 Verses have here fallen out, as some allusion must have been made to the bridegroom. 191:5 So more according to the hint of the Pahlavi and the statement of the Bundahis; West, XXXII, 5. So Geldner, K.Z. 28, 195. 191:6 Or, 'will he, the Saoshyant, the bride's father.' 191:7 A chieftain, a protecting head. 191:8 It is, perhaps, safer to refer this 'questioning' to the pair; but forms of ham with pares are also used of consultations with the Deity (see Y. XXXIII, 6). Y. XLIV, 13 nearly necessitates the wider and less concrete view here. 191:9 Varânî looks somewhat like a gloss, but the metre seems to demand it. 191:10 Her father's sanction was a reason for devotion to the man to whom he had given her. 192:1 The Pahlavi translator has sîrîh here. 192:2 Bet = bád lies certainly nearer than beet=bavat. 192:3 See the previous verse. 192:4 Or, 'being zealous.' 192:5 These words do not seem adapted to the bridesmaids. 192:6 Gaini is elsewhere used in an evil sense. 192:7 I can only render thus literally: From the Drûg as a generous guide (I) who (compare ye in Y. XXVIII) (for) mine, (mê) a watching guardian (I guide as a râthema; nom. sing. with verbal force) increasing prosperity, i.e. progress, of the Drûg I pray (forth*; I exorcise) of the bond (?) (of the Drûg) the malicious injuries* from the body or person. *yêsê-parâ. *to 3rd pî. 192:8 'If ye bear, or promote, the interests of Vayu.' 192:9 Or, 'evil food.' 192:10 Some line here is gloss; the first thought would be to eliminate p. 193 the difficult second line; but the third line might be an effort (by the poet himself, or an associate, see the metrical form) to explain, or relieve, the awkward second line. Reading yemâ and râthemâ, and taking genayô as in an evil sense, with spasuthâ as a second plural, we might render as a question: 'Do ye, O ye twain, ye helpers of the Drûg; do ye regard promotion (as thus to be gained)?' But in that case verses 6 and 7 should be regarded as separated by many lost verses from the fifth verse. But is not the first line the gloss? It is merely an address. 193:1 Free. 193:2 Lit. 'the greatness.' 193:3 The difficulty here lies in the first line which seems to declare a reward in a good sense. Mîzdem is hardly used of retribution. It must therefore be taken in a good sense. The following evil results must be supposed to have been avoided; and 'Vayu' to be uttered in triumph. Vayu is used in an evil sense in verse 6. If mîzdem could be supposed to express retribution, then evil men and women would be threatened, and Vayu would be a cry uttered in woe. As to Vayu with his two natures, see part ii as per index. 193:4 The foiling of the evil here recalls âdebaomâ. 193:5 The Pahlavi translator seems to me too free in rendering zahvyâkâ (zahyâkâ), zanisn-hômand. It also makes a curious imitation of letters in gêh va mar for genarãm. It is of course far from certain that he had our present text. 193:6 See verse 9; also Y. XLVI, 4. 193:7 Recall the delivering of the evil into the two hands of Asha (Y. XXX, 8, and Y. XLIV, 14). 193:8 Khrûnerãmkâ must be a gloss. 194:1 'Let him "rout" or "stir" them.' 194:2 Comp. mazista = the strongest in Y. XLIX, 1, 'the prevailer.' Lit. 'with the chaining of death the greatest.' 194:3 For narpîs I can only suggest the suspiciously simple nar = hero (comp. the frequent nâ) and pî = nourish, support. The Pahlavi translator seems likewise to have had some such rendering in mind, for he translates dastôbar. 194:4 As to rigîs, the Pahlavi translation, which is here more than usually difficult, hints in the direction above followed, by a word which I would restore as rêgînênd. 194:5 The Pahlavi translator erroneously sees 'bridge' in peshô, or is free with his tanâpûharkânŏ hômand. See Geldner, Stud. 3. 194:6 See Geldner, Stud. 54. 194:7 See Y. XLVI, 4. 194:8 Comp. the Ahuna-vairya which takes its last line from this place, and Y. XXXIV, 5. Vahyô is a variation for vangheus vahyô. 194:9 Here I have endeavoured to imitate the swing of the rhythm by breaking up the sentences, especially in the second line. Literally it would be, 'with the desire, with the virtue-conquering (desire) of the reprobate.' Such freedom as the above is often a critical necessity in the attempts to reproduce the warmth of the original. Next: Yasna I. The Sacrifice Commences Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Yasna: Yasna I. Th... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism
Far different are (these) from him who gave Him honour. This latter one is through the Saoshyant's bounteous Faith, who likewise is the Lord of saving...
(11) (Him would we magnify and praise) who hath despised the Daêva-gods and alien men, them who before held Him in their derision. Far different are (these) from him who gave Him honour. This latter one is through the Saoshyant's bounteous Faith, who likewise is the Lord of saving power , a friend, brother, or a father to us, Mazda Lord ! 125:1 Ish means 'to come seeking.' The bavîhûnêd of the Pahlavi, followed by many, is by no means incorrect. 125:2 The reading mãzdaunghôdûm was suggested to me by Dr. Aurel Stein previously (as I believe) to its announcement elsewhere. Before this the indication of the Pahlavi (which always hesitates to change a MS. regarded at the time as sacred) had been followed by all with its necessary error. 125:3 The 'e' in kithre must represent a nasalised vowel, as in mehmaidî. 125:4 Îm may be merely a particle. 125:5 I would here strongly insist upon an alternative rendering in the sense of the Pahlavi. The rendering above is given on principle. A text should never be changed, if it is possible to render it as it is. Read, 'the wicked confessing (varetô, active sense) evil beliefs with his tongue.' The Pahlavi has zakas sarîtar kâmakŏ va zakas darvandîh pavan hûzvânŏ hêmnunêd. Many, with this view, would at once read varetâ without MSS. 125:6 Observe the peculiar pouruyê (pourviyê, if not a locative), the two first things, principles, forces; so in Y. XXX, 3. 125:7 Notice that vahyô akemkâ (in Y. XXX, 3) necessarily apply to the mainyû, and not only because, as nominatives, the words fall to the end of the sentence. Here we have analogous adjectives applied unmistakably to the two. The neuters correspond with vahistem manô and akistem manô, and are of capital importance as p. 126 expressing that abstract conception which renders the Gâthas so much more impressive as the earliest documents of their kind. 126:1 The Pahlavi thus glosses: I do not think what thou thinkest, [for I think what is pious, and thou thinkest what is impious]; nor our teachings, [for I teach what is pious, and thou, what is impious]—nor our religions, for mine is the Gâthic, and thine that of the sorcerer; nor our souls, [for he who takes his stand on my religion, and he who takes his stand on thy religion, are apart; their souls do not occupy the same position]. Ner.: naka dînih [yato me dînih gâthabhavâ teka râkshasî*]. 126:2 The 'first teaching' was a prominent idea with the Zarathustrians. Z. is called in the later Avesta the paoiryôtkaêsha (sic). He hardly plays the rôle of a reformer in the Avesta. He is mentioned after others chronologically, not as repudiating them. He might better be termed reviver. Yãm is difficult; perhaps daênãm is to be understood, or yem (mãthrem) read; see verse 4, angheus ahyâ vahistem. Neither pourvîm nor vahistem are adverbs. 126:3 Some change the text here to another which corresponds to some of the terms better. It should, however, first be rendered as it stands; the obscurities may well be owing to idiosyncrasy it the composer; possibly also to an affectation of obscurity (or 'dark speech'). How can Mazda be said to 'know Himself?' or how could any but Ahura be spoken of as 'the Father of Vohu Manah and Âramaiti?' He recognised Himself as having generated V. M. and Â. He was conscious of the completed relation. 127:1 Hishas looks irresistibly like a nom. sing., but may it not be a nom. actoris from the redup. root? Compare hîshasat (although the Pahlavi renders with a different cast of meaning). What Indian word to compare here is hard to say. I prefer Bartholomae's earlier view (as to the meaning) with the Pahlavi harvispŏ nikîrîdar. By dropping the later glosses, the sense of the Pahlavi comes out as usual, much closer to the Gâtha. 127:2 Observe the vigour possessed by 'Sraosha.' It designates the angel of Obedience; and at the same time it is the only word which can here bring out the sense when it is understood in its actual meaning; so continually with the words Vohu Manah, Asha, &c. 127:3 Lit. 'Him who I, doing aright, (praising Him with His immortals) who (all likewise) are (beneficent).' Or it may be 'that which.' 127:4 So with many who hold the least to the hints of the Pahlavi. Otherwise I would render 'there is furtherance,' comparing afrashîmantô. 128:1 Bvaintikâ (sic) seems, as elsewhere, to express 'those who are becoming.' 128:2 The Pahlavi uniformly errs, or is strangely free, with this word. The sense 'continuous' is here admirably adapted. 128:3 This word seems evidently used almost in a modern sense of 'character,' 'disposition.' Elsewhere we are in doubt whether to refer it to the Spenista Mainyu of Ahura, or to Ahura Himself. 128:4 Paradise; possibly 'home of sublimity.' 128:5 The change from singular to plural is frequent. Ner. varies from the Pahlavi in the last verse, improving upon it: Evam tasmai pranâmam antar Garothmâne nidadâmahe. This was probably an intentional improvement, as the Persian MS. follows our Pahlavi text. His MS. of the Pahlavi probably read barâ yehabûnd. 128:6 Or, 'who has created weal and sorrow for us with good intention, (and as our discipline);' but this is hardly probable. Ahura did not originate evil. Spenkâ, aspenkâ are used adverbially (see Y. XXXIV, 7). 128:7 I hardly agree to reading verezenyau (sic) here in the sense of 'homes.' The meaning is 'endow us with efficiency' in the pursuit of the objects mentioned in the context. Or 'the propitiation and p. 129 reverential honour' may have been more directly in the composer's mind; 'may He endow our (worship) with efficiency that it may accomplish its desired result.' See the positions of the words. The Pahlavi translation also bears witness to the rendering above, with its erroneous or free varzîdâr ayŏ lanman. 129:1 As it is impossible for those who have studied the subject to believe that the Pahlavi translator did not know the meaning of amavandîh in Zend, we must suppose him to have had some form like hazah before him instead of huzã(thwât). 129:2 The Pahlavi translator, rendering this word in the two other places by pavan astûbîh, had evidently some reason for seeing a form of nãman here. The natural conclusion is that his MS. read differently in this place. Ner. renders him appropriately. 129:3 Dãn looks like an accusative infinitive here (Bartholomae); otherwise the two verbs must be regarded as having indefinite pronouns understood, 'one assigns,' and 'they grant.' 129:4 I cannot see the applicability of Agni's title 'house-lord' here; compare dámsupatnî as adj. referring to páti. 130:1 He who despised the Daêvas, they returning the contempt is probably the same person expressed by the two hôi in the previous verse. It is therefore Ahura, but the words which mean friend, brother, father, are grammatically connected with ye—mainyâtâ. the one who reverenced Ahura. The expression 'father' gives a strong impression that Ahura is referred to, notwithstanding the vocative. Particularly as we have father in verse 4. The word 'brother,' however, inclines one to the more closely grammatical view. Next: Yasna XLVI Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(40) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
Chapter XVIII: The Use of Philosophy to the Gnostic. (25)
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(25) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
Chapter XXIX: The Greeks But Children Compared with the Hebrews. (7)
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(7) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
May we be (partakers) of the bountiful grace of these your equals (your counsellors and servants) ! 4:1 Something like this is implied. 4:2 If verses ...
(11) And when shall the (Divine) Righteousness, the Good Mind (of the Lord, and His) Sovereign Power (come) hastening to me (to give me strength for my task and mission), O Great Creator, the Living Lord! (For without his I cannot advance or undertake my toil.) Do ye now therefore assign unto us your aid and in abundance for our great cause. May we be (partakers) of the bountiful grace of these your equals (your counsellors and servants) ! 4:1 Something like this is implied. 4:2 If verses 4, 5, 6, were originally connected. 4:3 Or possibly a company of the religious chiefs poetically conceived to be present. 6:1 Ke ma tashat can only mean this here. The Pahlavi translator probably read kahmâi. He has val mûn li tukhshîd (?) hômanam. 6:2 One might think of 'inertia' as a rendering for remô, (if read), but the afflictions complained of seem rather to imply active violence. 6:3 Or read tâyuskâ (robbery?) with the Pahlavi translation; 'yu' and 'vi' would be written much alike in a manuscript. 6:4 Vastâ has been found, as I understand, in some manuscripts. The Persian manuscript of Haug has a curious vâstîrîdâr (vâsta-rîdâr?) in the Pahlavi text, which seems to confirm vastâ in the sense given. 6:5 As there are very many non-specialists to whom it is important to weigh this present subject as closely as it may be possible, and as everything here is a matter of the keenest questioning among experts, I add occasionally a word-for-word rendering, although necessarily very uncouth: To you the Kine's soul cried-complaining: For whom me did ye fashion? Who me made? Against me assaulting-rapine, violence-and, desolations-[blow], daring-insolence-and, (thievish) might-and (possibly change the text). Not for me a pasture-giver than-you other; therefore to-me teach-ye good (things) for-the-pasture (adj. acc. pl. neut.). 6:6 I fear that I cannot follow Haug in his later view, where he follows tradition in rather an extreme manner, rendering 'the cutter (wounder) of the Ox.' Neither Spiegel nor Justi would confide to a later myth to this degree (see Y. XXXI, 9 and XLVI, 9). This is p. 7 mentioned, however, not as complaining of an error, but solely to guard the reader against the mistake of an eminent authority. (See also Roth, Z.D.M.G., Bd. 25, s. 9.) 7:1 Observe the personification of righteousness. 7:2 Or, 'what salvation-lord,' governed by dâtâ from the preceding line; so also the Pahlavi translator mûn avo pavan nadûkîh khûdâî. Ustâ occurs only here as a verbal form. Supply anghat in b. 7:3 The Pahlavi aêshmo anâêr zanisno. 7:4 Or read ashem. The Pahlavi has ashavahisto pasukhvo gûft. I am not at all inclined to accept vocatives for nominatives in the Gâthas. 7:5 Sar-gan, compare Verethragan. The Pahlavi indicates this by tanû sardârîh. 7:6 Possibly, 'by which he approaches.' 7:7 The Pahlavi rôshano î râsto. 7:8 Cp. Y. XXX, 1: yâ raokebîs daresatâ urvâzâ. 7:9 The Pahlavi indicates a third person; and keredushâ is far the most simply explained as a nom. pl. Recall mâ mashâ and man (?) mathâ. Otherwise, 'to whom I will come with activity and invoking.' 8:1 A verse or verses may here have fallen out. 8:2 I cannot persuade myself to accept the nearly universally accepted comparison of Mazdau and medhâ. See note on p. 104. 8:3 Or, 'He has done by Daêvas?' If thus, absolute and not qualified sovereignty would be indicated. See the last line 8:4 Observe that while 'by Daêva-worshippers' would be an admirable rendering for Daêvâis, because more commonplace and therefore safer, it is here impossible on account of mashyâiskâ. We are closely confined to the acceptance of a large idea. Ahura was mindful of what transpired in the deeds of Daêva-gods and not in those of Daêva-worshippers alone. The inst. must be modified. 8:5 As varshaitê is elsewhere used in an active sense, it is possible, but not probable, that a special predestination may be indicated. 'He shall do by means of Daêvas and men.' 8:6 'To us men,' not to us Ameshôspends, of course! 8:7 Verbatim. Mazda the-words most-mindful which for have-been-fulfilled before by-means-of- (the actions of) Daêvas-and men-and what-and (shall)-be-done after, He the discriminating lord; so to-us shall-it-be as He shall-choose. 8:8 This seems to prove positively that a human being speaks here and in the previous verse; 'the soul of Righteousness' is of course impossible. 8:9 Some have referred the word to the root zan obscurely present in it; otherwise a drivable cow; one mature and fit for use. The term used in the Vendîdâd in a common meaning as merely p. 9 designating a cow at a certain age, may be the familiar use of an adjective here applied in the ancient Gâtha in a sacred sense. 9:1 This passage is one of the strongest for the comparison of Mazdau and medhâ. The sense 'asking wisdom in our doubt,' is admirable. I cannot however accept the comparison. 9:2 Pavan gômânîkîh hampûrsânî; root dî. 9:3 The Pahlavi awasînisnîh*, but in other connections fragyâitis might well mean 'continued life;' 'life long endured with the wicked.' 9:4 The Pahlavi has vishûpisnŏ, which here affords a better meaning; see however Y. XLVIII, 9. We might read as alternative here, 'knowing the calamity to be averted.' 9:5 Uncertain. The Pahlavi however indicates 'discernment.' 9:6 One is strongly tempted to read aêvô, 'not a single chief,' but the ancient writing read by the Pahlavi translator had aêvâ ahû. 9:7 This indicates that Zarathustra had been the speaker in the previous verses. 9:8 Appointed. 9:9 Verbatim. Thereupon spake Ahura Mazda knowing the-wonderful (thing) through-insight (?) not thus a master found, nor a ruler righteous-order-from-even from, therefore for thee to-the-thrifty-and to-the-husbandman-and (I) as-a-creator I-have-made. 10:1 Or a company of the saints conceived to be present. 10:2 So some writers, accepting an irregular reading hvarushaêibyô after the indication of the Pahlavi translation. Otherwise compare 'rush' (?), uru = ru, and render 'to the estranged.' We have often to stretch the meaning more than this. Converting instructions are elsewhere suggested for 'all mankind.' 10:3 The translation of Neryosangh is added here not merely because it is of interest, but because it is, together with the Pahlavi translation, of the last importance in forming correct conclusions. It may be rendered as follows; and the reader may regard it as a specimen, but by no means a particularly favourable one. At the words âzûtôîs and maretaêibyô different texts were before him and the Pahlavi translator as well. Those words are elsewhere rendered by the latter karpîh and ansûtâân: This greatest magnitude (sic) of the Mãthra, the Lord produced together with righteousness as his fellow-worker [ ]. The Great Wise One discloses the herds to the eaters; and he discloses also the great matter to the well-taught scholars. Who is thine, who endowed with the best mind, gives the two things, with the mouth to those who are prosecuting studies (sic)? To expect an ancient rendering to be closer would be unreasonable. The errors (as to root) are not errors, but the certain signs of differing MSS. This constantly occurs; and it is hardly necessary to add that sometimes from such supposed mistakes we get the only possible means of recovering the original text. 10:4 Repeating the announcement in verse 6. The aêvâ in 6 would incline one to read aêvâ (ye ne aêvâ), but the manuscript before the Pahlavi translator read aêvô = khadûk. It is quite out of the question to suppose his aêtûno and khadûk to be accidental. A sharp distinction is made. 11:1 So the Pahlavi translator, giving the only critical etymology in his hûdemûnîh, the gloss aside. 11:2 The Pahlavi text corrected by the Persian MS. may be rendered as follows: This gift I obtained [ ]. For this one is he who was listening to that which is our teaching, Zartûsht, the Spitâmân. For us, Aûharmazd, and for Aharâyîh is his desire, [that is, that perfectly performed duty, and good works are desired by him]. He recites also a remedy-making (free or erroneous), [that is, he declares a remedy-making against the Drûg who is in the world]; on account of which saying for his word of piety which he utters, they give him a good abode [ ]. (The glosses are often from a later hand and erroneous. Sometimes, however, they contain the truth while the text is futile. I drop them in the present citations when they are of no importance.) 11:3 Observe that Zarathustra, like other prophets, met at times little honour from his fellow-countrymen who are here well represented by the voice of the Kine's Soul. (See Y. XLVI, 1.) 11:4 Or could not hôi be taken in a reflective sense, and referred to the first person like the possessive sve; see the connection. 11:5 Verbatim. Thereupon-and the Kine's Soul wept: (I) who p. 12 (lament) one-not-able-to-effect-his-wish in-wounding as-a-master (or, I established?) [ ], whom as-against I-wish one wish-controlling-and-effecting-as-a-sovereign. When ever he may-(shall)-be who to her (possibly to-me-myself?) shall-give effected-by-the-hand help. 12:1 Zarathustra, having accepted his call to be the Ratu or his substitute, at once interposes with a prayer for his suffering charge. 12:2 See verse 1, to which reference is continually made as the chief expression of the sufferings to be remedied. 12:3 The Pahlavi without glosses may be rendered as follows: Give ye assistance to these, O Aûharmazd, Ashavahist and Khshatraver! So also Vohûman, who gives him a pleasing habitation, and also joy. I also think that the first gain and obtaining of this is from thee. (With the gloss slightly different; but valman should be rendered according to ahyâ.) The text literally is as follows: (Do) ye to these, O Ahura! happiness (? possibly strength; see the Pahlavi) grant, O Asha! Khshathra-and (=the Kingdom) such (kingdom as) by Vohu Manah by-which amenities peaceful-joy-and (one) may give-or-establish; I-even of this, O Mazda! Thee I thought foremost possessor. 12:4 So the Pahlavi translation indicates; compare gimâ and frâ man (?) mathâ; otherwise mâmashâ = I hasten (to fulfil my mission). 13:1 The Pahlavi has kabed. For the fundamental idea compare priksh + suffix. 13:2 The Ameshôspends just mentioned, together with whom Ahura governs and blesses His people. Ahmâ (so conjecturing with Barth.), is also quite sufficiently indicated by the lanman of the Pahlavi. Whether an instrumental ehmâ can be accepted is doubtful. The form should be altered. If ehmâ stands, istem must be understood, or the instrumental taken in a possessive sense. Ahmâ has no authority from MSS., but is better than anghâmâ, as being nearer the MSS. 13:3 As an impartial specimen I render Ner. thus: Whence will that gift come to me, (the gift which is) Asavahista, Gvahmana, and Saharevara, [that is, sanctity, the highest (best) mind, and the sovereignty, where is the place of the reward which will thus come to me?]. (Here the translation falls into confusion from an error which is most interesting and instructive, because it is corrected by Ner. in an alternative rendering in the gloss. As has been seldom noticed his original was the Pahlavi word pâdadahisnînêd, rather than the Gâthic paitî-zânatâ. This Pahlavi form he could not at first believe to be a second plural. Indeed the Pahlavi glossist may have taken it as a third sg. Neryosangh therefore abortively renders word-for-word as follows: You, O Great Wise One! it offers or presents more excellently through the 'greatest exaltation' (the holy cause). But he recovers himself in the gloss by reading the Pahlavi pâdâdahisnŏ vâdûnyên as an imperative: [Provide a reward through that spotless exaltation (the irreproachable cause)] continuing: Here, O Lord! is the gift (which is) ours, and (which comes) to us from Thee.) Next: Yasna XXVIII Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Intr... 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Chapter XXII: Plato's Opinion, That the Chief Good Consists in Assimilation To God, and Its Agreement with Scripture. (3)
He says, accordingly, in The Laws: "God indeed, as the ancient saying has it, occupying the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things, goes...
(3) He says, accordingly, in The Laws: "God indeed, as the ancient saying has it, occupying the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things, goes straight through while He goes round the circumference. And He is always attended by Justice, the avenger of those who revolt from the divine law." You see how he connects fear with the divine law. He adds, therefore: "To which he, who would be happy, cleaving, will follow lowly and beautified." Then, connecting what follows these words, and admonishing by fear, he adds: "What conduct, then, is dear and conformable to God? That which is characterized by one word of old date: Like will be dear to like, as to what is in proportion; but things out of proportion are neither dear to one another, nor to those which are in proportion. And that therefore he that would be dear to God, must, to the best of his power, become such as He is And in virtue of the same reason, our self-controlling man is dear to God. But he that has no self-control is unlike and diverse." In saying that it was an ancient dogma, he indicates the teaching which had come to him from the law. And having in the Theaoetus admitted that evils make the circuit of mortal nature and of this spot, he adds: "Wherefore we must try to flee hence as soon as possible. For flight is likeness to God as far as possible. And likeness is to become holy and just with wisdom." Speusippus, the nephew of Plato, says that happiness is a perfect state in those who conduct themselves in accordance with nature, or the state of the good: for which condition all men have a desire, but the good only attained to quietude; consequently the virtues are the authors of happiness. And Xenocrates the Chalcedonian defines happiness to be the possession of virtue, strictly so called, and of the power subservient to it. Then he clearly says, that the seat in which it resides is the soul; that by which it is effected, the virtues; and that of these as parts are formed praiseworthy actions, good habits and dispositions, and motions, and relations; and that corporeal and external objects are not without these. For Polemo, the disciple of Xenocrates, seems of the opinion that happiness is sufficiency of all good things, or of the most and greatest. He lays down the doctrine, then, that happiness never exists without virtue; and that virtue, apart from corporeal and external objects, is sufficient for happiness. Let these things be so. The contradictions to the opinions specified shall be adduced in due time. But on us it is incumbent to reach the unaccomplished end, obeying the commands - that is, God - and living according to them, irreproachably and intelligently, through knowledge of the divine will; and assimilation as far as possible in accordance with right reason is the end, and restoration to perfect adoption by the Son, which ever glorifies the Father by the great High Priest who has deigned to call us brethren and fellow-heirs. And the apostle, succinctly describing the end, writes in the Epistle to the Romans: "But now, being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." And viewing the hope as twofold - that which is expected, and that which has been received - he now teaches the end to be the restitution of the hope. "For patience," he says, "worketh experience, and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given to us." On account of which love and the restoration to hope, he says, in another place, "which rest is laid up for us." You will find in Ezekiel the like, as follows: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. And the man who shall be righteous, and shall do judgment and justice, who has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and hath not defiled his neighbour's wife, and hath not approached to a woman in the time of her uncleanness (for he does not wish the seed of man to be dishonoured), and will not injure a man; will restore the debtor's pledge, and will not take usury; will turn away his hand from wrong; will do true judgment between a man and his neighbour; will walk in my ordinances, and keep my commandments, so as to do the truth; he is righteous, he shall surely live, saith Adonai the Lord." Isaiah too, in exhorting him that hath not believed to gravity of life, and the Gnostic to attention, proving that man's virtue and God's are not the same, speaks thus: "Seek the Lord, and on finding Him call on Him. And when He shall draw near to you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his ways; and let him return to the Lord, and he shall obtain mercy," down to "and your thoughts from my thoughts."' "We," then, according to the noble apostle, "wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Thus, O Ahura Mazda! this Zarathustra loves the Spirit , and every man most bounteous prays (beside him): Be Righteousness life-strong, and clothed...
(16) Thus, O Ahura Mazda! this Zarathustra loves the Spirit , and every man most bounteous prays (beside him): Be Righteousness life-strong, and clothed with body. In that (holy) Realm which shines (with splendour) as the sun, let Piety be present; and may she through the indwelling of Thy Good Mind give us blessings in reward for deeds ! 95:1 Anaêshem manô, anaêshem vakô, anaêshem skyaothnem prove that the thought, word, and deed referred to were not limited to a ritual meaning. 98:1 Ahmâi as = to us, does not seem to be good grammar here, as it necessitates a forced separation between it and yahmâikahmâikît. Cp. ahmâi yahmâi-kahmâikît in Y. XLIV, 16. 98:2 I turn from the fine rendering of the Pahlavi with the greatest reluctance: Nadûk valman mûn zak î valman nadûkîh kadârzâî [aîgh kadârzâî ansutâ min nadûkîh î valman nadûkîh], happy is he whose benefit is for every one; [that is, for every man there is happiness from his benefit]; Ner. follows. 98:3 There is a question whether the particle gat (ghat?) may not have originated from gât. Barth. here follows the Pahlavi, reading gatôi (?) = pavan yâmtûnisnŏ. Lak may have been added, as often, to serve as an alternative rendering. 98:4 Or 'I will,' so Prof. Jolly (infinitive for imper.). 98:5 So also the Pahl. rayê-hômand, not as a rendering merely, but as a philological analagon. Otherwise 'riches.' 98:6 Gaêm recalls sraêsta gaya g(i)vainti. 98:7 As ahmâi would more naturally mean 'to this one' in the previous verse, it is desirable to render it in the same way here. 99:1 It is to the last degree improbable that hvâthrôyâ (hvâthravâ; 'y' miswritten for 'v') indicates a condition of ease and comfort here. The 'easy man' is the farthest possible from the thoughts of the composer. The 'best of all things' makes a word kindred to hveng (hvan) appropriate here. 99:2 Kîkî (?), if an imperative (?), may mean guard over; but the Pahlavi translator gives us the better view; he has lak pêdâkînŏ; Ner. tvam prakâsaya. Geldner's kîkîthwâ is important. 99:3 Thwâ = thy properties. 99:4 The Pahl. has merely padmânŏ. 99:5 This shade of meaning is expressed by the Pahlavi. 99:6 Ayâre, acc. pl. 99:7 This expression seems to equal the summum bonum; so also 'worse than the evil' is the ultimate of woe. 99:8 Cp. Y. XXVIII, 3. 99:9 Does haithyeng mean 'eternal,' with every passage in which it occurs considered? 99:10 Thwâvant may, however, like mavant, simply express the personal pronoun here. The position of aredrô, &c. is awkward if thwâvant = thy: 'Where dwells Ahura, Thyself, O Mazda! beneficent, wise, and bountiful.' But aredra is almost a special term for a zealous partisan. 99:11 The Pahl. has khûp-dânâkîh, indicating a meaning which would p. 100 better apply to Ahura than the one given, which cannot be applied to Him. 100:1 Subjunctive (see Prof. Jolly, V.S. p. 28). 100:2 'By Thy hand.' 100:3 The holy Fire of the altar. 100:4 Gimat may be regarded as an improper subjunctive here. 100:5 The Pahlavi: 'and that too which renders justice to the wicked and also to the righteous. And this Thy Fire is burning, since by it the strength of him who lives in Righteousness is (maintained) when that violence which approaches with a good intention comes to me.' 100:6 See Y. XXXI, 8, where the word is also rendered as = vornehmster. 100:7 Literally, 'When Thou didst render deeds provided with rewards.' We are forced to put the action in the past on account of zãthôi, but the influences originally set in motion were to have their issue in the end of the world. 100:8 I render hunarâ literally, and bring its Pahlavi translation to the same sense as necessarily. Otherwise hûmar would generally mean 'skill.' Ner. has tava guneshu. The Pahlavi would here be recognised by all reasonable scholars as striking in its closeness. 101:1 The word ratûs reminds one of the work of the Ratu for the afflicted kine. In the last changing, which shall complete the Frashakard, he, or his representatives, will appear as the last Saoshyant, introducing 'millennial' blessedness. 101:2 I render the Pahlavi here as in evidence: 'Through Thee, O (?) bountiful Spirit! the changing comes [(later (?) gloss) from wickedness to goodness]. And it comes likewise through Aûharmazd's supremacy within a good mind, through whose action the progress of Aharâyîh's settlements is furthered, those which the master is instructing with a perfect mind [ ], and in which this Thy wisdom shall in no wise be deceived thereby.' 101:3 As the kine thought little of her deliverer (see Y. XXIX, 9), so Sraosha, the obedient host, is here represented as inquiring as to the antecedents of the newly-appointed prophet. But he asks more properly concerning the settlements from which he comes than the lands. Gaêtha is not dahv(h)yu. An origin external to that of other chieftains is not at all necessarily indicated by the question. 101:4 The Pahlavi sees a denominative in isôyâ (isôvâ; y for v); it is denom. in the Altiranisches Verbum. It differs, however, as to root. I offer an alternative in its sense. An open tormentor; [that is, I openly torment the wicked] even as much as I desire, do I torment (them) [(later (?) gloss) Ganrâk mînavad]. 102:1 We must be cautious in accepting the statement that the Pahlavi translations attempt to be literal. Here is one which is free and far from erroneous: Aêtûnŏ avŏ aharûbŏ min valman î aôg-hômand aîtŏ; [aîghas, râmînam]. 102:2 The Pahlavi here shows only the correct root. 102:3 Mâ = smâ? 102:4 'So long as I can, will I be of this mind,' seems hardly expressed here. Observe the nearly parallel construction in verse 8. 102:5 The Pahlavi, Sanskrit, and Persian translations would here be regarded once more as extremely close even by opponents, if reasonable in their estimates. Manayâî seems to me hardly an infinitive, as it is comparatively seldom that an infinitive falls to the end of a sentence either in Gâthic or Vedic. I prefer the indication of the Pahlavi with Justi and Bartholomae (in the Altiranisches Verbum). 102:6 Read perhaps daidhîs (later shortened to suit the metre). 102:7 Or, 'ask us that we may be questioned by Thee.' 103:1 The Pahlavi translation bears evidence to a less subtle, and therefore more probable sense here, but at the same time to a rarer grammatical form. It renders dîdaiNhê as a third person, indicating an instance of a third person in ê, and not in the perfect. It also recognises a reduplicated form by its pavan nikêzisnŏ nikêzêdŏ. 103:2 The Pahlavi translator with a curious error, or still more curious freedom, has rûbâk-dahisnîh here and elsewhere. Possibly the Gâthic text before the last compiler differed from ours. 103:3 I still prefer Professor Bartholomae's earlier rendering, after the Pahlavi, as more in harmony with mraotâ and mraos. 103:4 Professor Jolly has the important rendering 'das will ich thun;' the infinitive in a future or imperative sense. 103:5 'Ye said.' 103:6 The Pahlavi unvaryingly kabed. 103:7 Here we probably have the missing subject in the other verses. 103:8 Reading mãzâ rayâ. (Rayâ cannot well mean 'riches' here.) The Pahlavi also indicates the division by its free or erroneous mas ratû (rad). Sraosha, an obedient will personified, guides the soul as in the later Parsism. Cp. the Ardâ Vîrâf. 104:1 Here we have the important reading rânôibyô as against the dual of K4, &c. (see Geldner). No mention of the fire occurs; and as the form does not agree with arani, we may well doubt that comparison in view of ãsayau in Y. XXXI, 2, and the unvarying and uniform patkardârânŏ of the Pahlavi. The rendering 'with the sticks' is, however, admirably adapted, and must be considered as an emphatic alternative. 104:2 The Pahlavi supports the reading vî for ve; it has barâ. Ashî might also mean merely 'holy,' as adjective. 104:3 In Y. XXVIII, 7, he asks for it that he may crush the malice of the foe. 104:4 Justi admirably suggested yânem understood. 104:5 The Pahlavi divides dârstaitê, and, as I hold, mistakes the root as was inevitable. The ancient scribe feared to restore the severed fragments, which appeared, as so often, in the MSS. before him. I would read darsaitê with Spiegel's c(?) (so Bartholomae, later, however, recurring to a division, with Geldner after the Pahlavi, for the sake of bringing out an infinitive). 104:6 Vairyau contracted from vairyayau by a corrupting improvement to regulate the metre. 104:7 So the Pahlavi indicates, Bartholomae following as against the rendering 'possessing.' 104:8 With regard to Mazdau and medhâ, I should perhaps long p. 105since have stated that I object to the comparison, not only because medhâ´ is a feminine, and, as Grassmann has supposed, possibly represented by the Zend madh, Greek math, but because 'wisdom' is an abstract (while su-medhâ´s, as a compound, does not apply so directly). I hold, however, that mazdâ, the fem. noun in Y. XL, 1 = medhâ´. It is also not impossible that this word may be represented (with differing shades of meaning) by both madh and mazdãm (fem.) in Zend. 105:1 Read, perhaps, frâkhstâ; or frâstâ, 'with Thine advancing kingdom I (am) to go forth to'; (frâ + as, participle.) 105:2 Prof. Jolly has the important rendering, 'Ich will mich erheben;' the infinitive in a a future or imperative sense. 105:3 Chieftainships. Compare (not with exactness, however) sárdhâmsi. 105:4 The idea of reciting from memory seems to be included in marentê. 105:5 The rendering pourûs (?) as=pl. of pûrús is attractive, but dregvatô hardly needs, and seldom has, a substantive. The wicked = wicked men; and, on the other hand, nâ constantly claims an accompanying word; (nâ ismanô; nâ vaêdemnô; hvô nâ-erethwô; nâ spentô, ye-nâ, ke vâ-nâ, &c.) Also it is improbable that the words nâ and pourûs, as = pûrávas, should come together; 'let not a man men evil ingratiate (?).' Compare for sense here purviâs in one or more of its applications. Possibly the meaning is, 'let not a man be foremost in conciliating the wicked.' The Pahlavi likewise has kabed (freely). Ner. has: Mâ narah* prakuram durgatinâm bhûyât* yathâ kathamkit satkartâ. An important rendering is that of Professor p. 106 Jolly, V.S. s. 47, 'möchte es wenige Verehrer des Lügners geben.' Cp. Y. XLVI, 1, where the composer speaks of the chefs as on their side, 'not contenting' him. 106:1 Or, with the Pahl.: Mûn aêtûnŏ lak harvisp-gûnŏ aharûbânŏ pavan anâk yakhsenund, for they consider all Thy saints as wicked. The rendering above is less natural as conveying the idea of a conversion (comp., however, yâ g(i)vantô vîspeng vaurayâ), but it renders the grammatical forms more simply. It is bad policy to force a text to express what we happen to believe to be a more natural idea. Using the hint of the Pahlavi here in an understanding manner, we might then render 'for they hold all sinners as holy.' 106:2 I had long since compared verentê with vrinîte (-devâ´nâm ávas); and am now sustained by Bartholomae's view. 106:3 Possibly the Spenista mainyu of Ahura. (See also Y. XLIV, 2.) 106:4 The Pahlavi, on the contrary, bears evidence to the meaning 'comes,' which I cannot accept as 'tradition' in view of the following precatives. 106:5 Ner.: 'The kingdom becomes established (in a manner completely manifest) in sun-publicity through mental perfection [ ]; and upon the workers of righteousness the Good Mind bestows it.' Next: Yasna XLIV Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism
Chapter XVIII: The Distinction Between Clean and Unclean Animals in the Law Symbolical of the Distinction Between the Church, and Jews, and Heretics. (12)
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(12) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
Chapter XXVI: How the Perfect Man Treats the Body and the Things of the World. (11)
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(11) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(19) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
Chapter XIV: Greek Plagiarism From the Hebrews. (123)
Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians...
(123) Early Christian Writings . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apostolorum Infancy Gospel of James Infancy Gospel of Thomas Acts of Pilate Diatessaron Gospel Fragments Oxyrhynchus 1224 Fayyum Fragment Gospel of the Egyptians Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Nazoreans Traditions of Matthias Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony Apostolic Acts Preaching of Peter Acts of Peter Acts of John Acts of Paul Acts of Andrew Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Acts of Thomas Martyrologies Martyrdom of Polycarp Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra Acts of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice Letter from Vienna and Lyons Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs Acts of Apollonius Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Didascalia Dialogues with Jesus Sophia of Jesus Christ Secret James Gospel of Mary Dialogue of the Savior Gospel of the Savior Books of Jeu Pistis Sophia Apocalypses 2nd Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Paul 1st Apocalypse of James Coptic Apocalypse of Peter Acts Acts of Peter and the Twelve Book of Thomas the Contender Letter of Peter to Philip More Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection Gospel of Philip Trimorphic Protennoia Authoritative Teaching Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth Melchizedek Quoted Authors Basilides Naassene Fragments Valentinus Marcion Epiphanes Ophite Diagrams Gospel of Judas More Quoted Authors Ptolemy Isidore Theodotus Heracleon Apelles Julius Cassianus Apostolic Fathers Didache Epistle of Barnabas First Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp to the Philippians Second Clement Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus Martyrdom of Polycarp Apologists Aristides Justin Martyr Tatian Minucius Felix Athenagoras of Athens Theophilus of Antioch Quoted Authors Papias Quadratus Aristo of Pella Claudius Apollinaris Melito of Sardis Hegesippus Dionysius of Corinth Rhodon Theophilus of Caesarea More Quoted Authors Bardesanes Maximus of Jerusalem Polycrates of Ephesus Victor I Pantaenus Anonymous Anti-Montanist Serapion of Antioch Apollonius Caius Irenaeus of Lyons Hippolytus of Rome Tertullian Origen Pagan and Jewish Mara bar Serapion Josephus Pliny the Younger Suetonius Tacitus Fronto Lucian of Samosata Marcus Aurelius Galen Celsus Talmud Philostratus Jewish/Christian The Twelve Patriarchs Non-Pagan Sibyllines Odes of Solomon Book of Elchasai Ascension of Isaiah Hypothesized Sources Passion Narrative Sayings Gospel Q Signs Gospel Anti-Marcionite Prologues Muratorian Canon Kerygmata Petrou Inscription of Abercius
Thus, as an offering, Zarathustra gives the life of his very body. And he offers, likewise, O Mazda! the priority of the Good Mind, (his eminence...
(14) Thus, as an offering, Zarathustra gives the life of his very body. And he offers, likewise, O Mazda! the priority of the Good Mind, (his eminence gained) by his holiness (with Thy folk); and he offers (above all his) Obedience (to Thee) in deed and in speech, and with these (Thine established) Sovereign Power ! 70:1 In this particular. As to ceremonies it had at a later period more than its share of absurdities; but as to honest work as against 'foraging on the enemy' there is a great difference between the Gâthas, and some other ancient hymns, for instance the Riks of the Veda. In fact these latter may be regarded as representing the opposite extreme. 72:1 See XXIX, 1. 72:2 See XXIX, 6, 8. 72:3 So the Pahl.; and so also Roth (Z.D.M.G., vol. xxxvii. 5, 223) taking mithahyâ as a nom. pl. (comp. vakahya). But I am strongly inclined to a former view of my own. Yêhyâ-mithahyâ look irresistibly like two genitives. I would render as an emphatic alternative 'what fraud he may lay hold of (hemyâsaitê with the gen.), reach (of the one), and what (seem) to him the righteous deeds (of the other).' But if Roth and the Pahlavi are right, we have here the origin of the later hamêstagã, the souls in the intermediate place between Heaven and Hell, whose sins and good works have been equal (West, Gloss. to M. î K.). The Persian manuscript of Haug 12 b. has: Kih ik (pro ham) û i ân ham rasîd êstêd ân i durûgh, kih ik (ham) û ân i ‘hâlis [kû, hamêstân]. 72:4 So the Pahlavi also indicates: Val valman î sapîr—kâshisn. Ner. uttamasya vâ âsvâdayanti dehinah. 72:5 Literally, 'they are offering a gift to their own choice' (var = varena; comp. yâvarenâ). 72:6 They are holding fast by the holy cause, and their vehemence in vengeance does not negative the fact that they are toiling in the love of Ahura. Pahlavi: Pavan zak î lak dôshisnŏ, Aûharmazd! 73:1 Literally, 'with, or as, the kinsman.' 73:2 'With the true ally.' 73:3 See XXIX, 2: 'Let that pasture-giver whom ye would appoint for us, teaching by example and precept vohû vâstryâ, let him be on our sacred pastures, and on our side.' 73:4 The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows: He who affords increase to the righteous on account of the relationship [that is, something is given to him?] does so also on account of the labourer's duty, or class [that is, the labourer is to be considered as his own] Through the loyalty; that is, the loyal class, that which adheres to Aûharmazd, he has a thorough understanding as to what is (true) energy toward the herds. Thus Vohûman (a good mind) is a workman with him to whom Righteousness also belongs. 73:5 Hübschm. Casuslehre, 'der ich von dir den Ungehorsam and schlechten Sinn durch Gebet abwenden will' (s. 180). 73:6 Observe that hvaêtu certainly designates an upper class. Why else arrogance? 73:7 Possibly this severity was the cause of the later high reputation of the Zarathustrians for veracity. 73:8 Literally, 'from the pasture of the Kine.' 73:9 The Pahlavi may be rendered: Him who will not listen to p. 74 Thee, O Aûharmazd! will I abjure, and Akôman also, for by him there is the despising of relations, and the deception of the labouring men who live close at hand [that is, of neighbours]. And he is ever bringing censure upon the clients. And he holds to the lowest measure of duty toward the Herd. 74:1 Avanghâ ne, or avanghânê, an infinitive (see Wilhelm, de Infin. p. 16). The Pahlavi has avŏ aîyyârîh. 74:2 Sraosha (= listening obedience) is the greatest for help, because by a Mãthra which appeals to him the way to Ahura is found out (XXVIII, 6) and the Demon defeated. If apânô is read, so strictly. The Pahlavi translator seems to have understood apâ ne; barâm ayâfînâi pavan dêr-zîvisnîh, zak î pavan khûdâyîh î Vohûman. Ner.: Avâpaya dîrghe gîvitatve. This may well restore for us the proper text. Reading apâ ne we should render 'obtain for us.' 74:3 Ahura Mazda dwells as in His abode amid the paths where His saints walk (see XLVI, 16). 74:4 So also indicated by bavîhûnêd. Kayâ properly refers to ye. 74:5 The Pahlavi translator seems to have seen an imperative in avâ, rendering it freely aîyyârînêdŏ. 74:6 Yâ may be an instr. sing. or an acc. pl. neut. 'I ask what he thought meet to be done;' yâ does not necessarily equal yen, in every instance. 74:7 I need hardly remind the reader that agriculture was the great question of orderly and religious life with the Zarathustrians. Without it there was of course no resource but wandering and plunder for them. 75:1 So I render from the context. Otherwise see tâ tôi izyâ in the previous verse. 75:2 I was formerly inclined to understand Ahura here, Indian usage permitting. (Indra and other Gods are maghavan.) But modern authority, aided by the ancient Pahlavi translator, brings me to a better mind. The Pahlavi has pavan fravôn magîh. It is better to refer the word to the disciple. The more prominent members of the congregation are meant. 75:3 Ner. renders the last line thus: And may these offerings be manifest in the midst of us, and accompanied with (sincerest) worship. 75:4 There are certain cases where allowance for an ancient scholar working under great disadvantages becomes a critical necessity. Here the Pahlavi translator was clearly the victim of a manuscript. The word 'âidûm' (sic) stood, as similar words so often stand, in his MS. as 'âi. dûm.' Deeply imbued with a superstitious regard for every letter, and with a public equally scrupulous, he saw no course before him but to translate each as best he could. He chose to render 'âi' by an infinitive, preserving the root, and could only think of a form of 'dâ' for dûm (so also moderns in another case). Many writers, seeing such a step, cast away his paper, regarding themselves as absolved by such a 'blunder' from mastering his translations. But a little honest labour will always bring one back to sounder exegesis. In the next following verse we have identically the same form in another word, which he renders awkwardly but correctly, using dâ again, but as a proper auxiliary. 76:1 To approach the offering of a praiser seems certainly an unnatural expression. I think that we are obliged to regard khshmâvatô as another way of saying Yourself rather than 'of Yours'; and if it equals 'Yourself' here, it may elsewhere; see XXXIV, 2, khshmâvatô vahmê, also XLIV, 1, neme khshmâvatô. All acknowledge mavaitê to mean 'to me.' Hübschmann, Casuslehre, s. 200: 'dass ich mit frommem sinne an eure Verehrung, Mazda, gehen kann.' 76:2 It is curious that draonô seems to be in apposition here. The word is used merely in the sense of offering in the later Avesta. It might possibly mean 'possessions' here. 76:3 See XXXII, 15. There helping princes are spoken of 'as borne by the two (Haurvatât and Ameretatât).' Here in immediate connection with the same two it is said: Let one bear the spirit of the two united chiefs. By the term 'spirit,' which sounds so suspiciously modern, we must nevertheless understand very nearly what the word would mean in a modern phrase. By these two leaders we may understand either Gâmâspa and Vîstâspa (XLIX, 9) or Gâmâspa and Frashaostra. (Compare yâvarenâ Frashaostra Gâmâspâ.) 76:4 'Let one bear them.' 76:5 Khvârîh mânînisnŏ. 76:6 The Pahlavi gives its evidence for an instrumental and for a less pronounced meaning than the one above. 76:7 Hamkardârîh. If the second kar is the root, the sense is figurative. 77:1 Bûndakŏ. 77:2 Pavan akvînŏ rûbânŏ. 77:3 So more probably. See the first person in verses 8 and 11. 77:4 So the Pahlavi also, hû-zîvisnîh. 77:5 So the Pahlavi also: Pavan hanâ î lak dôshisnŏ. 'In Thy will' is here very weak. 77:6 Nadûkîhik î avŏ tanû [am yehabûn]; Ner. subham tanau. 77:7 Neryosangh: Let them continue to live well, and be prosperous in all things [ ] those females (yâh most curiously) who are born thus [that is, come from elsewhere (and not from us)], and who are [gained over by myself]. Those, O Great Wise One! who shall exist [(or) come in the future], let them render these persons thine own through friendship to thee. Cause thou the Best Mind to increase within me, O Lord! [that is, make my mind ever the more piously zealous]. And in view of my righteousness grant me a benefit in my body, or person [ ]. 77:8 So the Pahlavi also: Am barâ âmûrzêd. 77:9 Observe that all the Ameshôspends, except the two mentioned in verse 8, are here bidden as persons to listen and be merciful. These recurring instances (recall the two hands of Asha &c.) necessitate the view that the idea of personality is never lost in that p. 78 of the abstract quality; and vice versâ; (the latter especially in the Gâthas where the names always retain much, if not all of their original force). As to âdâi; see vanghuyâ (sic) zavô-âdâ in the next verse. 78:1 We seem obliged to suppose that Ahura was poetically conceived of as sitting (like Vohûman in Vendîdâd XIX, 31 (Wg.)) upon an ornamented throne, or we may take the expression as pure metaphor equalling 'exert Thy power.' Âramaitî may be a voc. 78:2 See âdâi in verse tr. 78:3 Pavan zak î Vohûman sardârîh. The 'thrift-law' is the regulation established by the Ratu demanded in Y. XXIX for the redemption of the Kine. It expresses the entire polity and theology of the Zarathustrian people as summed up in the original Avesta. 78:4 Neryosangh: Up! O Lord! purify me [that is, make me pure, or free, from the influence of that tormentor, the Evil Mind]; and grant me perfect spirituality and zeal. For we are recipients of Gvahmana, O more mighty spirit [that is, let him be as a guest, arrived within my body]! And let sanctity have power over the murderer (?) [ ], and through the lordship of the Best Mind. 78:5 The Pahlavi has here pavan kâmak kâshisnŏ, on which see Darmesteter, Études Iraniennes, vol. ii, as per index. 78:6 Literally, 'Your.' 78:7 Ashi has this meaning in the later Avesta. It also means 'sacred regularity,' 'exactness' in religious duties. 78:8 So the Pahlavi also: As pavan Aharâyîh dînô frâz dakhshakînŏ; p. 79 Ner.: Punyena dinim prakihnaya. Possibly, 'give light to our consciences through Asha' would be better. 79:1 The tissues; the word seems contrasted with bones elsewhere. The Pahlavi has khayâ, and Ner. givam (sic). 79:2 The Pahlavi translation may be rendered as follows: Thus, as a gift of generosity, I who am Zartûst (so freely, and with no error from ignorance (!)) give the life of my own body, as the advance [as the chieftainship] to Vohûman and to Aûharmazd, and to Ashavahist, in actions [that is, I would do the deeds which Aharâyîh desires], and would give obedient attention to the word (literally the hearing of the word) to (i.e. of) Khshatraver. Next: Yasna XXXIV Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism « Previous: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... Index Next: The Zend Avesta, Part III (SBE31): The Gâthas: Yasn... » Sacred Texts | Zoroastrianism
With Thy Good Mind and Thy (holy) Kingdom he follows the Righteous Order both in his words and his actions. And to Thee, O Ahura Mazda! such a man sha...
(22) And to the wise are these things clear as to the one discerning with his mind (not blinded by the perverter ). With Thy Good Mind and Thy (holy) Kingdom he follows the Righteous Order both in his words and his actions. And to Thee, O Ahura Mazda! such a man shall be the most helpful and vigorous being (for he serves with every power )! 40:1 Roth, 'wollen wir Worte künden—ungern gehört von denen, welche nach des Unholds Geboten,' &c. Hübschmann preferring 'wir sprechen Worte nicht anhörbar für diejenigen' (Casuslehre, s. 223). A dative of the pronoun is certainly more natural than the ablative as inst. But on the whole agushtâ seems better in its ordinary sense, although in so rendering we are obliged to supply a word. 40:2 Valmansân mûn pavan âfrîngânîh î Drûg zak î Aharâyîh gêhân barâ, marenkînênd. 40:3 The Pahlavi may be rendered as follows: Both these benedictions, which I (we) recite as yours [the Avesta and Zand], we are teaching by word to him who is no hearer, [to the destroyer of sanctity (the heretical persecutor) [ ]]. Those who utterly slay the world of righteousness through the benedictions of the Drûg [ ], even those might be an excellent thing, if they would cause progress in what belongs to Aûharmazd. 40:4 Read perhaps advayâo; see the Pahlavi. Otherwise 'the way' advâo as panthâs; but the participle does not agree. Compare for meaning kavím ádvayantam, sákhâ ádvayâs.* 40:5 The Pahlavi renders 'in the soul' freely by 'believes:' Pavan nikîrisnŏ la hêmnunêdŏ as pavan zak î agûmânîkîh. The general indications are to be observed. 40:* Is it a loc.? 41:1 Comp. chap. XXIX, 2, where the Ratu is discussed; here the word might be the abstract. 41:2 Roth 'dieser beiden Parteien (Yasna XXXI).' 41:3 He repels and condemns the evil, and he hallows and helps the good. 41:4 Most striking is the use of mainyu. It is 'the Spirit' = God. It is 'His Spirit.' It is also used of man's spirit. 41:5 Or, 'from the two arani;' but see ãsayâo in verse 2. The Pahlavi translator has avŏ patkârdârânŏ shnâkhtârîh; so uniformly. In Y. XLIII, 12, K5 and most MSS., except K4, and likewise excepting the printed B.V.S., read ranôibyô which excludes the dual form; also the fire is not mentioned there. It is however far from impossible that the present Pahlavi translation may be a growth beyond an earlier one more in accordance with arani. The strivers, or fighters, might describe the two rubbing-sticks (?). 41:6 Aîmar (sic), vigârdâr. This meaning suits the connection admirably. The word is otherwise difficult, and this general sense is followed by some who do not so often cite the Pahlavi translator. 41:7 See verse 1. 41:8 Roth, 'wie ich alle lebenden bekehren soll.' So also the general indication of the Pahlavi translator. Pavan hûzvânŏ î Lak—zîvandakân harvist-gûn hêmnund. Observe that the religious system contemplated universal proselytism. 42:1 The general indications karîtûntâr and bavîhûnam point to the proper sense. 42:2 Or, with Roth, 'wenn wirklich sich rufen lassen die Ahura-Mazdas.' Otherwise, 'O Mazda and the Ahuras.' Hübschmann also maintained that Mazdau was here a plural; (see his Y. XXX, 10.) 42:3 Roth, rendering ishasâ in accordance with the Pahlavi, 'erbitte ich.' 42:4 Mûn pavan zak î valman gûrdîh—khûshîdŏ Drûgŏ aê sufficiently indicates the proper sense. Roth, 'kraft deren wir den Unhold bemeistern mögen.' 42:5 The Pahlavi may he rendered thus: Since in that dispensation [in the final body], I shall be an invoker of Ashavahist, and of Aûharmazd also [ ]; and of her who is veneration 'Spendarmad' [ ], I desire [that best of things which is the reward], of Vohûman. Let also that authority which belongs to my people [ ] be from the strong one [ ] by whose fortitude [ ] the Drûg is overcome [ ]. 42:6 Literally, 'Ye gave.' 42:7 I am far from sure that the indication of the Pahlavi is not correct here. According to it, when properly understood, we have here an accusative with the infinitive; 'that I should establish.' Its own translation is however avŏ li yehabûnâi. Men = man or mãm; en(g) = ã the nasal vowel. The Pahl. translator recognises men elsewhere as = mînisnŏ. It was from no ignorance (!) of the particular word that he wrote 'li' here. 42:8 Or 'my prophet;' comp. rishi; that is, 'that with which my prophet is concerned.' 43:1 Or, possibly, 'which shall not be, or which shall be.' Is the subjunctive here used to express obligation? Roth has 'was nicht sein soll oder was sein soll.' Ner. may be rendered as follows: Tell it to me distinctly [ ], that which is the highest gift, and which is given to me through sanctity; [that is, because duty and righteousness are fulfilled by me, the best gift of thy reward (is gained) by this means; but how is it possible to make it (actually) one's own?]. Grant me the knowledge through the best mind; [that is, declare that intelligence to me which comes through good conduct], and by which also safety is (secured) to me [ ]. And declare either that which is not, or that which is, O Great Wise One, the Lord! [ ]. 43:2 An interval of silence seems here to intervene, or lost verses leave an unexplained transition. The sage turns again to the people. 43:3 Vaokât K4 (Barth.). 43:4 See verse 4. 43:5 The Pahlavi has Aûharmazd având (sic) khûdâyîh kand dên valman vakhshêd Vohûmanŏ. 43:6 The Parsi-persian MS. is as follows: Û hast buland, kih ân man âgahîhâ (sic) gû-î âskârah [ ] mânsar i tamâm raftanî; [kû, tamâm pêdâisn pah râh i mânsar bâz ân ‘hwêsî i Hôrmuzd rasêd], kih pah Ṣawâb dârad—bî-marg raftanî azas [ ]. Hôrmuzd—‘hudâî kand andar û afzayêd Bahman [Kûs pâdisâhî pah tan i mard—kandî (?) Hôrmuzd pah tan mihmân]. 44:1 Mûnas avŏ rôshanîh gâmîkhtŏ khvârîh. Hvâthrâ and khvârîh can hardly mean 'comfortable' here. 'Ease' is the later sense. 44:2 Raokebîs certainly means, with illuminating objects, stars or shining lights. 44:3 Hübschmann, 'der Schöpfer des Asha.'—Casuslehre, s. 190. 44:4 Pavan mînavadîkih vakhshînêd [ ] mûn kevanik ham khûdâî. 44:5 Compare the frequent expression 'spentem at Th###vâ meNhî,' in chap. XLIII. 44:6 Roth, 'vornehmsten.' 44:7 When I seized Thee (took Thee in) with my eye. The Pahlavi: Amatam [ ] pavan hamkashmîh avŏ ham vakhdûnd hômanih. 44:8 Dên ahvânŏ pavan kûnisnŏ khûdâî hômanih. Ner. may be rendered as follows: Thus thou wert thought at the first by me, O Great Wise One, the Lord! when thou wert engaged in the production of Gvahmana [ ]. In which (production) they apprehend the father of the Best Mind when they observe him with a full-faced look [ ]. (And thou art the father) of that creation which is manifestly righteous; [that is, thou makest the purer creation good in conduct]. Thou art a King in the world as to action; [that is, where it is fitting to confer a benefit, and also where it is fitting to inflict a punishment, in each of these thou art capable]. 45:1 His spenta mainyu; otherwise 'spiritual (understanding),' but mainyu is used elsewhere (verse 3 and 7) alone, and certainly not as an adjective even with a substantive understood. The rendering 'spirit' as 'Thy spirit' is suspiciously significant; but what is the help? We are forced by grammar so to translate. 45:2 The ablative has this force as in Ashât hakâ. 45:3 I can hardly accede to an infinitive here: -tê is a rare infinitive termination in Gâthic. Also the infinitive seldom falls to the end of the sentence. The Pahlavi has yâtûnêd, a present; but the Pahlavi should never be positively cited for the forms, as it is free. 45:4 Observe that we are forced by every dictate of logic and common sense to avoid the commonplace rendering here. Cattle do not have 'paths' made for them, nor do they cry aloud for an overseer, or complain at the appointment of one who does not appear to them promising; nor is it one main effort of religion 'to content the soul of cattle.' Cattle, as the chief article of wealth, are taken to signify all civic life. The 'path' is the path for the people to walk in, securing safety for soul and life and herds. The adhvan is 'the way' which 'is the religious characteristics and teachings of the prophets' (XXXIV, 13). 45:5 Observe that this cow (some would say 'ox') chooses her master, unlike other cattle. But observe also, what is more interesting, that she seems reconciled to the guardian appointed by Ahura. In Y. XXIX, 9, she actually 'wept' at the naming of the pusillanimous Zarathustra, desiring a kingly potentate. Now, however, we see that she must have dried her tears, as she is satisfied with the simple workman whom he represents notwithstanding high rank. 45:6 In the later Avesta this first vâstrya fsuyant is declared to be Zarathustra. 45:7 Mûn fsuîh pavan Vohûmanŏ. 46:1 Pahlavi davãsahak; Ner. pratârayitre. 46:2 Khûpŏ-hôshmûrisnîh. 'Judicial blindness' is everywhere indicated. (The wicked are kept from the sight of the truth.) Hübschm., Casuslehre, 'der frohen Botschaft.' 46:3 This seems implied. 46:4 Or, 'madest the worlds and the souls (?).' 46:5 Geldner admirably 'flesh.' The Pahlavi: tanû-hômandânŏ gân yehabûnd. Notice that 'bodily life or flesh' is mentioned after 'understanding.' Compare Y. XXX, 7, where Âramaiti gives 'a body' after previous creations. 46:6 The Pahlavi has the following interesting gloss: [That is, even the actions and teachings of the pious are given forth by thee; and this was also given in this wisdom of thy mind]. And when there is a person in whom there is a desire for the other world, that desire is granted to him by thee; [that is, what is necessary when he is arriving in the other world, this which is thus required (or desired) by him at that time, is given by thee—through that which is thy mind and wisdom]. Although not able to follow the indications of the Pahlavi fully, I think that there is no question but that we have an important statement in the last line. It does not seem to me possible to render less profoundly than 'where the wisher may place his choices,' his religious preferences and beliefs, including all moral volition. 47:1 Avŏ zak libbemman. 47:2 See verse 13. 47:3 Pavan hagisnŏ î: the Persian MS. (Haug XII, b) transliterates khêzisnŏ: Ner. has mano-utthânena (sic). Or, 'immediately.' 47:4 The evil as well as the good spirit is questioned. The two spirits of Y. XXX, 3-6 were here inspiring the conflict. 47:5 The Pahlavi unvaryingly in the sense of mihânŏ [-as gâs tamman yehevûnêdŏ]; Ner. paralokanivâsân. See Y. XXX, 9; XXXIII, 9; XXXIV, 6. A questioning which was lightly made would indicate a willingness to tamper with error. The Persian MS. following the Pahlavi has: Anga bang i buland ân i durûgh guftâr [Ganâ Mînû] wa ân ham i râst guftâr [Hôrmuzd], &c. But Neryosangh is more accurate or literal: Atra bumbâm* karoti [antar gagati], mithyâvaktâ vâ satyavaktâ vâ, &c. 47:6 Pavan zak î âshkârakŏ. 47:7 Nîhânîk. 47:8 Thou seest even the questions and decisions of our thoughts as to matters which are simple or difficult, permitted or occult. 47:9 I have not followed what may yet possibly be a valuable and correct hint of tradition. I render Neryosangh: He who asks through what is open [through righteousness], or he who asks through what is secret [through sin]; or he (also) who through, or on account of, a little sin which has been committed, commits the great one to secure a purification; [that is, who for the sake of purification necessary on account of a little sin which has been committed, commits a greater one, in order that the first may not p. 48 become known], upon these two, each of them, look with thy two eyes. [Over sins and righteous actions thou art in one way, everywhere and again, the Lord.] The concretes here may give the right indication. 48:1 See verse 5. 48:2 Man madŏ, mûnik yâmtûnêdŏ, 'What has come? And what is coming?' 48:3 Mûn âvâm. 48:4 Hakâ in the Indian sense. 48:5 Angardîkîh, the judgment; but Ner. vipâkatâ, consummation. 48:6 Neryosangh has as follows: Tad dvitayam tvattah* prikkhâmi, Svâmin! yad âgatam, âyâtika, yo* rinam dadate dânebhyah* punyâtmane [Hormigdâya yathâ yugyate dâtum], yeka, Mahâgñânin! durgatimadbhyah; katham teshâm asti vipâkatâ* evam [kila, yah tat kurute, tasmai nidâne prasâdadânam kim bhavati, yaska tat kurute, tasmaika kim bhavatî ’ti; me brûhi!] This seems to me very close, far more so than we have any right to expect as a general rule from a Parsi living in India, and only five or six centuries ago, too late for 'tradition,' and too early for close criticism. 48:7 Roth, 'Ich frage—was die Strafe ist?' 48:8 The head of a party seems to have been plotting to introduce a hostile sovereign. 48:9 Î dûs-kûnisnŏ. 48:10 The Pahlavi translator, nîvîdînêdŏ, (otherwise nivêkînêd, which I much suspect has become confused with nîvîdînêdŏ through a clerical blunder); Ner. labhate. They both refer vînastî to vid (so Justi) followed by most. Roth (Yasna XXXI, p. 11), 'der sein Brot nicht findet ohne Gewalthat an der Heerde.' 48:11 The Pahlavi translator sees the root han in the sense of p. 49 acquisition, and not from ignorance of the sense given above. In another place, he renders vigîd min; (see XLVII, 5.) 49:1 Neryosangh may be rendered as follows: Thus I ask thee: What is for him who seizes upon destruction, and who provides the sovereignty for the wicked [ ], and commits that evil action. O Lord! from which he does not acquire life even through a bribe* (so meaning), [ ] and who is a calamity to the man who acts for herds and men removing calamities from them [ ]? 49:2 Roth, 'der die Herrschaft über Hof Gau and Land um das rechte zu fördern hat.' 49:3 Pahlavi, Lak hâvand; Neryosangh, tvattulyo; Roth, 'deiner werth.' 49:4 I render the Sanskrit of Neryosangh thus (it improves on the Pahlavi): I ask (thee) thus: How [dost thou bestow] the sovereignty upon one when he is beneficently wise? [ ] (in the body) of him who, through the increase of sanctity, is no opposer (of prosperity) in provinces or villages; [that is, with him who is discharging his duty and performing acts of sanctity. He is this teacher's teacher, he does not contend]. Thine equal, O Great Wise One, the Lord! thus is he verily, who (is such) in action, [who is thus Thine equal through activity]. 49:5 Possibly mazyô has the sense of mazista in chap. L, 1. There 'the most prevailing' seems to be the proper rendering. 50:1 Literally, 'Which of the two (creeds as) the greater does the righteous (the believing saint) or the wicked (opponent) believe?' 50:2 See verse 12. 50:3 Or with others 'be Thou'; but the gloss of the Pahlavi translation contains an explanation which may well afford the true solution as in so many instances in which he is both consciously and inadvertently followed. It reads [aîghmânŏ barâ khavîtûnînŏ—]. May we not see an az = ah in the form, or at least a separate Iranian root, as also in azdâ (L, r), where the Pahlavi translator gives the same explanation admirably suited to the context. Neryosangh: Which is it, the pure of soul, or the wicked who teaches as the great one? [ ] The intelligent speaks to the intelligent [ ]. Be not thou ignorant after this; because (ignorance is) from the deceiver. Instruct us, O Great Wise One, the Lord! [ ] Furnish us with a sign through the Best Mind; [that is, make me steadfast in good conduct through the recognition of the dîn]. Such renderings may suffice to show that an examination of these ancient translations in our search for hints is imperative. Yet the practice prevails of omitting a knowledge of the Pahlavi language, on which not only the oldest translation of the Avesta, but also the irregular Sanskrit of Neryosangh, closely depends. 50:4 Jolly, 'Keiner von euch höre auf die Lieder and Gebote des Lügners.' Roth, 'Rath and Befehle.' 50:5 Compare evîdvâo in verse 17. 50:6 Dûs-rûbisnîh. 50:7 Sazêd sanêh, 'prepare the sabre.' It was however a two-handed weapon; see Y. LVI, 12, (4 Sp.). The Parsi-persian MS.: Wa ma kas aêdûn az sumâ kih û p. 51 darwand mânsar sunawad wa âmû‘htisn (sic); [kû az Âsmôkân (?) Awestâ wa Zand ma sunawad], kih andar—mahall sahar wa deh dehad bad-raftisn wa marg an i Âsmôgh; aêdûn (sic) ôsân Âsmôghân râ sâzad silâh. (Again very close.) 51:1 So conjecturally. 51:2 Compare chap. XXX, 2. 'Behold ye the flames with the better mind;' possibly, also chap. XXX, 1, the signs in the lights seen friendly.' 51:3 According to the grammatical forms the agent here must be a divine being, as ye manta ashem ahûbis (see verse 7) is characteristic of the Deity. The vocative, strange as it may seem, does not necessarily exclude Ahura, as the subject referred to in ye. Several analogous cases occur. The Deity may here however represent His prophet, as the Daêvas do their worshippers in the later Avesta. Some writers force the language into a reference to the human subject for the sake of the greatly to be desired simplicity. One places Ahurâ in the instrumental, a case in which the Almighty seldom appears. The above translation needs no alternative, as the language would be the same whoever ye refers to. 51:4 See note on verse 3, and read as alternative 'from the two arani.' As an inferior rendering of tradition I cite Neryosangh here: The matter should be heard (taking gûshtâ as a third singular in a subjunctive sense); [that is, a study should be made of it by him] who is even (in any degree) acquainted with the righteous design of Hormigda for both the worlds. He is independent in the literal truth of his words, in his freedom of speech, [and his fear has no existence]. Thy brilliant fire gives the explanation to the contenders. [It makes purity and impurity evident.] 52:1 I follow the admirable lead of the Pahlavi here, as the previous verse mentions veracity. Its indication is pavan frîfisnŏ, freely. 52:2 I differ with diffidence from the hint of the Pahlavi here (as elsewhere). It has shîvan = tears, which however is free for 'calamity' and 'sorrow.' Nom. sing.; see its position. 52:3 Anâk rûbisnîh yemalelûnêdŏ. This, placed together with such passages as XLVI, 11, XLIX, 11, and LI, 13, formed the basis for the more complete Yast XXII. 52:4 Others prefer 'place,' but see âyû in line b. 52:5 'Has led on'? 52:6 I cite Ner.: He who betrays the pure through his fraud, may (deceit) be (also his portion) at the last; [that is, let it be so afterwards; it is in his soul]. Long is his journey, and his arrival is in darkness; and evil food and increasing lawlessness is his [ ]. Darkness is your world, O ye wicked! your in-bred deeds, and your dîn, are leading you on. 52:7 That Ameretatât means more than long life is clear from amesha. 52:8 Afas nafsman patîh. The Gâthic would be more literally perhaps 'from His own Dominion.' 52:9 Sardârîh. 52:10 Vazdvarîh; Ner. pîvaratvam. 52:11 One naturally thinks of urvatha (vratha), as having something of the sense of vratyá. But usage compels also the sense of friendship. Hübschmann, Casuslehre, s. 259, 'der durch Gesinnung and Thaten sich ihm als freund erweist.' 52:12 Ner.: Mahâgñâni dadau Svâmî* avirdâdât* an irdâdât sampûrnatvam p. 53 punyâtmane [ ] nigam prabhutvam râgñe* âdhipatyena [ ] uttamena pîvaratvam manasâ [-tasmâi dadate], yo nigasya adrisyamûrteh karmanâ mitram. 53:1 So according to frequent indications. 53:2 Tanû aîtŏ. Ner.: Sa te—mitram asti nivedîtatanuh. 53:3 See chap. XXXIII, 14. The Pahlavi translator renders freely as follows: Manifest things (so possibly; otherwise 'manifestly') (are) these to (so a MS. not yet elsewhere compared) the wise when according to his understanding he disposes and reflects, [that is, he who meditates with thought upon that which his lord and dastur declares to him]. Good is the King for whom they would effect righteousness in word and deed, the man whose body is a bearer of Thee, O Aûharmazd! 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