
THE ZEND-AVESTA PART I THE VENDIDAD

THE Zend-Avesta is the sacred book of the Parsis, the few remaining followers of that religion which has been called Dualism, or Mazdeism, or Magism, or Zoroastrianism, or Fire-worship. In less than a century after their defeat, nearly all the conquered people were brought over to the faith of their new rulers, either by force, or policy, or the attractive power of a simpler form of creed. But many of those who clung to the faith of their fathers, went and sought abroad for a new home, where they might freely worship their old gods, say their old prayers, and perform their old rites. That home they found at last among the tolerant Hindus, on the western coast of India and in the peninsula of Guzerat 3. There they throve and there they live still, while the ranks of their co-religionists in Persia are daily thinning and dwindling away.
As the Parsis are the ruins of a people, so are their sacred books the ruins of a religion. There has been no other great belief in the world that ever left such poor and meagre monuments of its past splendour. Yet great is the value which that small book, the Avesta, and the belief of that scanty people, the Parsis, have in the eyes of the historian and theologist, as they present to us the last reflex of the ideas which prevailed in Iran during the five centuries which preceded and the seven which followed the birth of Christ, a period which gave to the world the Gospels, the Talmud, and the Qur’ân. Persia, it is known, had much influence on each of the movements which produced, or proceeded from, those three books; she lent much to the first heresiarchs, much to the Rabbis, much to Mohammed. By help of the Parsi religion and the Avesta, we are enabled to go back to the very heart of that most momentous period in the history of religious thought, which saw the blending of the Aryan mind with the Semitic, and thus opened the second stage of Aryan thought.
CONTENTS
Introduction | INTRODUCTION | PAGE |
Chapter I | THE DISCOVERY OF THE ZEND-AVESTA | 11 |
Chapter II | THE INTERPRETATION OF THE ZEND-AVESTA | 25 |
Chapter III | THE FORMATION OF THE ZEND-AVESTA | 30 |
Chapter IV | THE ORIGIN OF THE AVESTA RELIGION | 56 |
Chapter V | THE VENDÎDÂD | 83 |
TRANSLATION OF THE VENDIDAD. | ||
Fargard I | AN ENUMERATION OF SIXTEEN LANDS CREATED BY AHURA MAZDA, AND OF AS MANY PLAGUES CREATED IN OPPOSITION BY ANGRA MAINYU | 1 |
Fargard II. | MYTHS OF YIMA | 10 |
Fargard III | THE EARTH | 21 |
I (1-6). | The five places where the Earth feels most joy | 22 |
II (7-11). | The five places where the Earth feels most sorrow | 24 |
III (12-35). | The five things which most rejoice the Earth | 25 |
IV (36-42). | Corpses ought not to be buried in the Earth | 31 |
Fargard IV | CONTRACTS AND OUTRAGES | 33 |
I (1) | 34 | |
II a (2). | Classification of contracts | 34 |
II b (3-4). | Damages for breach of contract | 35 |
II c (5-10). | Kinsmen responsible | 36 |
II d (11-16). | Penalties for breach of Contract | 37 |
III (17-55). | Outrages | 39 |
(18). | Definitions | 39 |
(18-21). | Menaces | 39 |
(22-25). | Assaults | 40 |
(26-29). | Blows | 41 |
(30-33). | Wounds | 42 |
(34-36). | Wounds causing blood to flow | 42 |
(37-39). | Broken bones | 43 |
(40-43). | Manslaughter | 44 |
(44-45). | Contracts | 45 |
(46, 49 [bis]-55). | False oaths | 45 |
(47-49). | Praise of physical weal | 46 |
{p. viii} | ||
Fargard V | 48 | |
I (1-7). | If a man defile the fire or the earth involuntarily, or unconsciously, it is no sin | 49 |
II (8-9). | Water and fire do not kill | 50 |
III (10-14) | Disposal of the dead during winter | 51 |
IV (15-20). | How the Dakhmas are cleansed by water from the heavens | 53 |
V (21-26). | On the excellence of purity and of the law that shows how to recover it, when lost | 55 |
VI (27-38). | On the defiling power of the Nasu being greater or less, according to the greater or less dignity of the being that dies | 57 |
VII (39-44). | On the management of sacrificial implements defiled by the dead | 60 |
VIII (45-62). | On the treatment of a woman who has been delivered of a still-born child and what is to be done with her clothes | 61 |
Fargard VI | 66 | |
I (1-9). | How long the earth remains unclean, when defiled by the dead | 66 |
II (10-25). | Penalties for defiling the ground with dead matter | 67 |
III (26-41). | Purification of the different sorts of water, when defiled by the dead | 69 |
IV (42-43). | Purification of the Haoma | 72 |
V (44-51). | The place for corpses; the Dakhmas | 74 |
Fargard VII | 74 | |
I (1-5). | How long after death the Nasu falls upon the dead | 74 |
II (6-9). | How far the defiling power of the Nasu extends | 76 |
III (10-22). | Cleansing of clothes defiled by the dead | 77 |
IV (23-24). | Eating of corpses an abomination | 79 |
V (25-27). | Bringing corpses to fire or water an abomination | 80 |
VI (28-35). | Cleansing of wood and corn defiled by the dead | 81 |
VII a (36-40). | Physicians; their probation | 83 |
VII b (41-44). | Their fees | 84 |
VIII (45-49). | Purification of the earth, of the Dakhmas. The Dakhmas and the Daêvas | 86 |
IX (60-72). | Treatment of a woman who has brought forth a still-born child | 89 |
X (73-75). | Cleansing of vessels defiled by the dead | 911 |
XI (76). | Cleansing of the cow | 92 |
XII (77). | Unclean libations | 92 |
{p. ix} | ||
Fargard VIII | 93 | |
I (1-3). | Purification of the house where a man has died | 93 |
II (4-13). | Funerals | 94 |
III (14-22). | Purification of the ways along which the corpse has been carried | 97 |
IV (23-25). | No clothes to be wasted on a corpse | 99 |
V (26-32). | Unlawful lusts | 100 |
VI (33-34). | A corpse when dried up does not contaminate | 103 |
VII (35-72). | Purification of the man defiled by the dead | 103 |
VIII (73-80). | Purification of the fire defiled by the dead | 110 |
IX (81-96). | The Bahrâm fire | 112 |
X (97-107). | Purification in the wilderness | 116 |
Fargard IX. | THE NINE NIGHTS' BARASHNÛM | 119 |
I a (1-11). | Description of the place for cleansing the unclean (the Barashnûm-gâh) | 119 |
I b (12-36). | Description of the cleansing | 122 |
II (37-44). | Fees of the cleanser | 129 |
III (47-57). | The false cleanser; his punishment | 131 |
Fargard X | SPELLS RECITED DURING THE PROCESS OF THE CLEANSING | 138 |
Fargard XI | SPECIAL SPELLS FOR THE CLEANSING OF THE SEVERAL OBJECTS | 144 |
Fargard XII | THE UPAMAN: HOW LONG IT LASTS FOR DIFFERENT RELATIVES | 151 |
Fargard XiII | THE DOG | 152 |
I (1-7). | The dog of Ormazd and the dog of Ahriman | 152 |
I a (1-4). | The dog Vanghâpara (the hedge-hog) | 152 |
I b (5-77). | The dog Zairimyangura (the tortoise) | 153 |
II (8-16). | Offences against the dog | 153 |
III (17-19). | On the several duties of the dog | 156 |
IV (20-28). | On the food due to the dog | 156 |
V (29-38). | On the mad dog; how he is to be kept, and cured | 159 |
VI (39-40). | On the excellence of the dog | 160 |
VII (41-43). | On the wolf-dog | 161 |
VIII (44-48). | On the virtues and vices of the dog | 161 |
IX (49-50). | Praise of the dog | 163 |
X (50-54). | The water dog | 163 |
Fargard XIV | THE ATONEMENT FOR THE MURDER OF A WATER DOG | 165 |
Fargard XV | 172 | |
I (1-8). | On five sins the commission of which makes the sinner a Peshôtanu | 172 |
{p. x} | ||
II (9-19). | On unlawful unions and attempts to procure abortion | 174 |
III (20-45). | On the treatment of a female dog big with young | 175 |
IV (46-51). | On the breeding of dogs | 180 |
Fargard XVI | 181 | |
I (1-11). | On the uncleanness of women during their sickness | 181 |
II (11-12). | How it can be removed | 183 |
III (13-18). | Sundry laws relating to the same matter | 184 |
Fargard XVII | HAIR AND NAILS | 185 |
Fargard XVIII | 189 | |
I (1-13). | On the unworthy priest and enticers to heresy | 1189 |
II (14-29). | The holiness of the rooster | 192 |
III (30-60). | The four paramours of the Drug | 196 |
IV (61-71). | On unlawful lusts | 200 |
Fargard XIX | 219 | |
I (1-10). | Angra Mainyu attempts first to kill, then to seduce Zarathustra | 217 |
II (11-42). | Ahura Mazda reveals the law to Zarathustra | 207 |
III (43-47). | Angra Mainyu flees down to hell | 217 |
Fargard XX. | THRITA AND THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE | 219 |
Fargard XXI. | WATERS AND LIGHT | 223 |
I (1). | Praise of the holy bull | 224 |
II (2-3). | Invocation addressed to hail as a healing power | 225 |
III a (4-7). | Joint invocation addressed to the waters and to the light of the sun | 226 |
III b (8-11). | Joint invocation addressed to the waters and to the light of the moon | 227 |
III c (12-17). | Joint invocation addressed to the waters and to the light of the stars | 228 |
IV (18-21). | Spells against disease | 229 |
Fargard XXII | ANGRA MAINYU CREATES 99,999 DISEASES: AHURA MAZDA APPLIES FOR HEALING TO THE HOLY WORD AND TO AIRYAMAN |
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Suggestions for Further Reading
- Zend Avesta - The Vendidad - Introduction
- Part II: Khorda Avesta: Book of Common Prayers Part 1
- Part II: Khorda Avesta: Book of Common Prayers Part 2
- Part II: Nyayis Avesta: Book of Begging Prayers
- Part III: Avesta: Yasna
- Part III: Avesta: Visperad
- Part III: Avesta Fragments
- The Bundahishn
- Shayest Na-Shayest
- Zand-i Vohuman Yasht
- The Epistles of Manuskihar
- Dadestan-i Denig
- Menog-i Khrad
- Sad Dar
- The Yatkar-I-Zariran Or Memoirs Of Zarir
- Essays On Dharma
- Esoteric Mystic Hinduism
- Introduction to Hinduism
- Hindu Way of Life
- Essays On Karma
- Hindu Rites and Rituals
- The Origin of The Sanskrit Language
- Symbolism in Hinduism
- Essays on The Upanishads
- Concepts of Hinduism
- Essays on Atman
- Hindu Festivals
- Spiritual Practice
- Right Living
- Yoga of Sorrow
- Happiness
- Mental Health
- Concepts of Buddhism
- General Essays
Source: THE ZEND-AVESTA PART I THE VENDIDAD TRANSLATED BY JAMES DARMESTETER Sacred Books of the East, Volume 4. Oxford University Press, 1880. (Digitally Reorganized for Reader's Convenience at Hinduwebsite.com - July 2001)