Zend Avesta

“ Hints have been thrown out from time to time by various writers that certain ideas in the Old Testament might be ascribed to Persian influences, and be traced back to the Zend-Avesta, the sacred writings of Zoroaster. Much progress has been made in the deciphering of these ancient documents, since Anquetil Duperron brought the first instalment of MSS. from Bombay, and since the late Eugène Burnouf, in his 'Commentaire sur le Yasna,' succeeded in establishing the grammar and dictionary of the Zend [146] language upon a safe basis. ”

“ At the same time Haug thinks it probable that the term Zand was originally applied to a commentary written in the same language as the Avesta itself, for in the Pahlavi translations of the Yasna, a part of the Avesta, where the scriptures are mentioned, Avesta and Zend are coupled together, as of equal authority, which could hardly have been the case if by Zend the translator meant his own work. No name for the language of the ancient scriptures has been found in the Parsi books; and Avesta itself has been adopted by scholars in speaking of the language. ”

“ But as a religious book—the most important document of the Zoroastrian faith, and the sole literary monument of ancient Iran—the Avesta occupies a prominent position in the literature of the world. At the present day its significance is decidedly underrated. The future will doubtless be more just with regard to the importance of the book for the history of religion in general and even of Christianity.
Editions.—Zend-Avesta, ed. by N. L. Westergaard (Copenhagen, 1852–54) , complete; F. Spiegel, Avesta (Vienna, 1853–58) , only Vendidad, Vispered and Yasna, but with the Pahlavi translation ”

“ That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, thou living God! Who is holding the earth and the skies above it? Who made the waters and the trees of the [127] field? Who is in the winds and storms that they so quickly run? Who is the Creator of the good-minded beings, thou Wise?
This is a short specimen of the earliest portion of the Zend-Avesta. The following is an account of one of the latest, the so-called Ormuzd Yasht:
'Zarathustra asked Ahuramazda after the most effectual spell to guard against the influence of evil spirits. ”

“ The term Zendavesta, though used, as we see below, by Lord in 1630, first became familiar in Europe through the labours of Anquetil du Perron, and his publication of 1771. [The Zend-Avesta has now been translated in Sacred Books of the East, by J. Darmesteter, L. H. Mills; Pahlavi Texts, by E. W. West.]
c. 930.—"Zarādasht, the son of Asbimām, ... had brought to the Persians the book al-Bastāh in the old Fārsī tongue. He gave a commentary on this, which is the Zand, and to this commentary yet another explanation which was called Bazand...."—Maṣ'ūdī, ii. 167. [See Haug, Essays, p. 11.] c. ”

“ Zenana, in India the part of a house reserved for the women among Hindu families of good caste, and to which only since 1860 Christian women missionaries have been admitted, and a freer intercourse established.
Zend, name applied, mistakenly it would seem, by the Europeans to the ancient Iranian language of Persia, or the language in which the Zend-Avesta is written, closely related to the Sanskrit of the Vedas it appears. ”

“ In other languages, we generally begin by learning the grammar, and then make our way gradually through the literature. In Zend, the grammatical terminations had first to be discovered by a careful anatomy of [122] the literature. The Parsis themselves possessed no such work. Even their most learned priests are satisfied with learning the Zend-Avesta by heart, and with acquiring some idea of its import by means of a Pehlevi translation, which dates from the Sassanian period, or of a Sanskrit translation of still later date. ”

“ Abastâ, in the sense of law, occurs in the funeral inscription of Darius at Behistūn; and this seems now the most generally accepted origin of the term in its application to the Parsi sacred books. (This is not, however, the explanation given by Haug.) Thus, 'Avesta and Zend' signify together 'The Law and the Commentary.'
The Avesta was originally much more extensive than the texts which now exist, which are only fragments. The Parsi tradition is that there were twenty-one books called Nasks, the greater part of which were burnt by Alexander in his conquest of Persia ”

“ A French Orientalist, born in Paris. He studied theology and Oriental languages, and in 1754 enlisted as a private soldier for India. There, after securing the support of the French Government, he passed seven years in the collection and collation of manuscripts, and studied the language and doctrines of the sacred books of the Parsees. He returned to France in 1762, was elected a member of the Academy of Inscriptions in 1763, and in 1771 published Zend-Avesta, ouvrage de Zoroastre, 3 volumes, the first translation of Parsee religious works ever made into a European language. ”

“ In the earth shall Ahriman hide, In the earth, the demons hide. Up, the dead again shall rise And within their lifeless bodies Incorporate life shall be restored.
Other interesting fragments might be quoted which have escaped the ravages of 'the accursed Iskander' (Alexander) , the fanaticism of Islam, and the devouring maw of time. These fragments give us some idea of certain lost parts of the original Avesta the outlines of whose contents are preserved in the account found in the Pahlavi Dinkart, of the Zoroastrian 21 Nasks. ”

“ As things were now I had more work than Sapt and Fritz could manage, for they must come with me to Zenda, and I wanted a man to guard what I loved most in all the world, and suffer me to set about my task of releasing the king with a quiet mind. ”

“ With the king on one side and the duke on the other, Zenda felt itself the center of all Ruritania. We jogged gently through the town, but set our horses to a sharper pace when we reached the open country.
"You want to catch this fellow Johann?" asked Fritz.
"Aye, and I fancy I've baited the hook right. Our little Delilah will bring our Samson. It is not enough, Fritz, to have no women in a house, though brother Michael shows some wisdom there. If you want safety you must have none within fifty miles." ”

“ Such a work can hardly be other than authentic; for men do not forge liturgies, and, if they did, could hardly introduce them into the worship of a religious community.
The Avesta consists of the Vendidad, of which twenty-two Fargards, or chapters, have been preserved; the Vispered, in twenty-seven; the Yaçna, in seventy; and the Khordah Avesta, or Little-Avesta, which contains the Yashts, Patets, and other prayers for the use of the laity. Of these, Spiegel considers the Gâthâs of the Yaçna to be the oldest, next the Vendidad, lastly, the first part of the Yaçna, and the Khordah Avesta. ”

“ Another spirit which fights against the demons in the Avesta is called Çraosha. On the divine mountain stands "his triumphant dwelling with a thousand pillars, on the topmost height of the great mountain, illumined within with a light of its own, decked with stars without;" his chariot is drawn by four spotless horses, which are swifter than clouds, swifter than winds, swifter than storms, swifter than birds with strong wings. ”

“ Sapt was out and in of the throng, and where he had been, glances, smiles, and whispers were rife. I doubted not that, true to his relentless purpose, he was spreading the news that he had learnt. To uphold the Crown and beat Black Michael—that was his one resolve. Flavia, myself—ay, and the real King in Zenda, were pieces in his game; and pawns have no business with passions. ”

“ These titles represent the functions of different beings in the Avesta. The conception of the work of Jesus on earth is largely Zoroastrian. The Majesty on high has a colony and a people on earth, which otherwise is under the supremacy of the Evil One. As we have seen the Avestan definitions of Ahuramazda and Angra Mainyu, “the Living and the Not Living,” are reflected in the phrases of this Epistle,—the “Power of Imperishable Life” (vii. 16) and the “Power of Death” (ii. 14) . ”

“ Yet such was the struggle that began now between Zenda and Tarlenheim. When I look back on the time I seem to myself to have been half mad. Sapt has told me that I suffered no interference and listened to no remonstrances; and if ever a King of Ruritania ruled like a despot I was, in those days, the man. Look where I would I saw nothing that made life sweet to me, and I took my life in my hand and carried it carelessly as a man dangles an old glove. ”

“ For my part, if a man must needs be a knave, I would have him a debonair knave, and I liked Rupert Hentzau better than his long-faced, close-eyed companions. It makes your sin no worse, as I conceive, to do it à la mode and stylishly.
Now it was a curious thing that on this first night, instead of eating the excellent dinner my cooks had prepared for me, I must needs leave my gentlemen to eat it alone, under Sapt’s presiding care, and ride myself with Fritz to the town of Zenda and a certain little inn that I knew of. ”

“ Sapt and Fritz were waiting for me with six men and the horses. Over his saddle Sapt carried a long coil of rope, and both were heavily armed. I had with me a short stout cudgel and a long knife. Making a circuit, we avoided the town, and in an hour found ourselves slowly mounting the hill that led to the Castle of Zenda. The night was dark and very stormy; gusts of wind and spits of rain caught us as we breasted the incline, and the great trees moaned and sighed. When we came to a thick clump, about a quarter of a mile from the Castle, we bade our six friends hide there with the horses. ”

“ One man might escape notice, to double the party more than doubled the risk; and when he ventured to hint once again that my life was too valuable, I, knowing the secret thought he clung to, sternly bade him be silent, assuring him that unless the King lived through the night, I would not live through it either.
At twelve o’clock, Sapt’s command left the chateau of Tarlenheim and struck off to the right, riding by unfrequented roads, and avoiding the town of Zenda. If all went well, they would be in front of the Castle by about a quarter to two. ”

“ The Pairikas in the oldest Avesta are the fiendish females, who rob the gods and men of the heavenly waters. They hover between heaven and earth in the midst of the sea Vourū-Kasha, to keep off the rain floods, working in harmony with Apaosha, the drouth fiend. There are many other female demons, which it is unnecessary to describe, as their characteristics are most revolting. ”

“ For all my promises will not save you if any man here learns from you the truth as to the prisoner in Zenda. I'll kill you like a dog if the thing be so much as breathed within the house!"
Then, when he was gone, I looked at Sapt.
"It is a hard nut!" said I.
"So hard," said he, shaking his grizzled head, "that, as I think, this time next year is like to find you still King of Ruritania!" and he broke out into curses on Michael's cunning.
I lay back on my pillows.
"There seem to me," I observed, "to be two ways by which the king can come out of Zenda alive. ”

“ The kingdom of the good spirits is truth, increase, and life; the kingdom of the evil is deception and falsehood, lying, destruction, and death. The Avesta praises Auramazda as purity itself; and next to him Asha vahista, i. e. the best purity; the gods are chiefly extolled as "the pure," and Zarathrustra as the master and teacher of purity. The Avesta repeatedly declares "that purity after birth is the best thing for men." Hence it is the foremost of all duties to keep the soul and body pure. The worshipper of Auramazda must preserve his purity by good thoughts, words, and works ”

“ If I were not there, they were to return with all speed to Tarlenheim, rouse the Marshal, and march in force to Zenda. For if not there, I should be dead; and I knew that the King would not be alive five minutes after I ceased to breathe. I must now leave Sapt and his friends, and relate how I myself proceeded on this eventful night. I went out on the good horse which had carried me, on the night of the coronation, back from the hunting-lodge to Strelsau. I carried a revolver in the saddle and my sword. ”

“ Astarte set out for Babylon with Zadig’s servant, promising, immediately upon her arrival, to send a courier to inform him of all that had happened. Their parting was as tender as their meeting. The moment of meeting and that of parting are the two greatest epochs of life, as sayeth the great book of Zend. Zadig loved the queen with as much ardor as he professed; and the queen loved him more than she thought proper to acknowledge.
Meanwhile Zadig spoke thus to Ogul: “My lord, my basilisk is not to be eaten; all its virtues must enter through thy pores. ”

“ Of this Burnouf was fully [87] aware, and this was the reason why he postponed the publication of his researches into the antiquities of the Iranian nation. The same conviction is shared by Westergaard and Spiegel, who are each engaged in an edition of the Avesta, and who, though they differ on many points, agree in considering the Veda as the safest key to an understanding of the Avesta. ”

“ It is evident that the migrating tribes, in consequence of their separation from their brethren in Īrān, soon became estranged from them, and their most favored gods fell slowly into neglect or disfavor. Considerable time 114must have been required for the accomplishment of so great a change. The oldest portions of the Avesta may therefore fall a few centuries this side of the hymns of the Ṛig-veda, while the oldest portions of the later Avesta may be placed at a period somewhat later than Darius. ”