"We declare and positively make known this (that) we offer (our) entire
property (which is) the body (the self consisting of) bones (tanwas),
vital heat (ushtanas), aerial form (keherpas), knowledge (tevishis),
consciousness (baodhas), soul (urwanem), and spirit (frawashem), to the
prosperous, truth-coherent (and) pure Gathas (prayers)."
The ordinary Gujarathi translation differs from Spiegel's, and this
latter differs very slightly from what is here given. Yet in the
present translation there has been made no addition to, or omission
from, the original wording of the Zend text. The grammatical
construction also has been preserved intact. The only difference,
therefore, between the current translations and the one here given is
that ours is in accordance with the modern corrections of philological
research which make it more intelligible, and the idea perfectly clear
to the reader.
The word translated "aerial form" has come down to us without undergoing
any change in the meaning. It is the modern Persian word kaleb, which
means a mould, a shape into which a thing is cast, to take a certain
form and features. The next word is one about which there is a great
difference of opinion. It is by some called strength, durability, i.e.,
that power which gives tenacity to and sustains the nerves. Others
explain it as that quality in a man of rank and position which makes him
perceive the result of certain events (causes), and thus helps him in
being prepared to meet them. This meaning is suggestive, though we
translate it as knowledge, or foreknowledge rather, with the greatest
diffidence. The eighth word is quite clear. That inward feeling which
tells a man that he knows this or that, that he has or can do certain
things--is perception and consciousness. It is the inner conviction,
knowledge and its possession. The ninth word is again one which has
retained its meaning and has been in use up to the present day. The
reader will at once recognize that it is the origin of the modern word
Rawan. It is (metaphorically) the king, the conscious motor or agent in
man. It is that something which depends upon and is benefited or injured
by the foregoing attributes. We say depends upon, because its progress
entirely consists in the development of those attributes. If they are
neglected, it becomes weak and degenerated, and disappears. If they
ascend on the moral and spiritual scale, it gains strength and vigour
and becomes more blended than ever to the Divine essence--the seventh
principle. But how does it become attracted toward its monad? The tenth
word answers the question. This is the Divine essence in man. But this
is only the irresponsible minister (this completes the metaphor). The
real master is the king, the spiritual soul. It must have the
willingness and power to see and follow the course pointed out by the
pure spirit. The vizir's business is only to represent a point of
attraction, towards which the king should turn. It is for the king to
see and act accordingly for the glory of his own self. The minister or
spirit can neither compel nor constrain. It inspires and electrifies
into action; but to benefit by the inspiration, to take advantage of
it, is left to the option of the spiritual soul.
If, then, the Avesta contains such a passage, it must fairly be admitted
that its writers knew the whole doctrine concerning spiritual man. We
cannot suppose that the ancient Mazdiasnians, the Magi, wrote this short
passage, without inferring from it, at the same time, that they were
thoroughly conversant with the whole of the occult theory about man.
And it looks very strange indeed, that modern Theosophists should now
preach to us the very same doctrines that must have been known and
taught thousands of years ago by the Mazdiasnians,--the passage is
quoted from one of their oldest writings. And since they propound the
very same ideas, the meaning of which has well-nigh been lost even to
our most learned Mobeds, they ought to be credited at least with some
possession of a knowledge, the key to which has been revealed to them,
and lost to us, and which opens the door to the meaning of those
hitherto inexplicable sentences and doctrines in our old writings, about
which we are still, and will go on, groping in the dark, unless we
listen to what they have to tell us about them.
To show that the above is not a solitary instance, but that the Avesta
contains this idea in many other places, I will give another paragraph
which contains the same doctrine, though in a more condensed form than
the one just given. Let the Parsi reader turn to Yasna, chapter 26, and
read the sixth paragraph, which runs as follows:--
We praise the life (ahum), knowledge (daenam), consciousness (baodhas),
soul (urwanem), and spirit (frawashem) of the first in religion, the
first teachers and hearers (learners), the holy men and holy women who
were the protectors of purity here (in this world).