THE DOCTRINE OF THE AVESTA.
When the tribes of the Aryas advanced from the Panjab towards the East,
and established themselves on the Ganges, the gods to whom they had
offered prayers on the Indus faded away amid the abundant fertility of
the new land; and the lively perception of the struggle of the gods of
light against the spirits of darkness made room for the conception of
the world-soul, from which nature and all living creatures were thought
to have emanated. Similar religious principles led the Arians in Iran to
a religious reform of an opposite kind. The idea of an emanation of the
world, proceeding without any opposition, could not maintain itself in a
life occupied in labour for the means of sustenance, in toiling and
struggling against nature. Luxuriant growth and dreary desolation,
scorching heat and severe winter, such as were found alternating in
Iran, could not flow from one and the same source. There man must be
active and brave, and therefore the divine being could not be regarded
as existing in repose. The nature of the table-land, divided between
fertile tillage and desert, between heat and cold, not merely caused the
old idea of the conflict between good and evil spirits to continue, but
even increased and extended it. All nature was made subject to this
opposing action of the gods, and the old conception of the conflict was
developed into a complete system. With the extension of the operation of
the beneficent and harmful power over the whole of nature, man was drawn
into the conflict as active force. He must not only invoke the
assistance of the good spirits; he must himself take part in the
struggle of the good against the evil. In this way he provided for his
soul and salvation better than by prayer and sacrifice; he strengthened
so far as in him lay the life and increase of the world, and lessened
the sphere in which the power of the evil spirits could operate. If the
Indians by the elevation of Brahman arrived only at the great contrast
between nature and spirit, between soul and body; if all nature was
regarded as something evil and to be annihilated, so that the
mortification and torturing of the body and annihilation of self became
the highest ethical aims--the Bactrians or Arians in Iran were directed
by their reform to more energetic work and activity against the harmful
side of nature, and the evil part of the soul. With the free choice of
this or that side, with the duty of working on nature, and educating
self, the conditions of a more happy and powerful development were given
them.
It was the duty of any earnest and eminent adherents of the reform, and
afterwards of the priestly races who joined it, or grew up in it, to
guide the impulse it had given, and bring the new ideas and the rules to
be deduced from them into harmony with the old conceptions. If the
contrast between the beneficent and harmful powers once took the shape
of opposing spirits, the next object was to represent more exactly the
character and nature of these spirits, and define more closely the good
and evil Deity. As the reform tended to elevate the natural side in
these shapes into ethical qualities, it was inevitable that advance in
this direction should lead at an early time to abstract views--that both
spirits should be identified with the pure contrast of light and
darkness, of truth and lying, of moral good and moral evil.
If the good spirit was supreme purity and truth, he must originally have
created the world in accordance with his nature. Whence then came the
injurious, the evil? Had the evil spirit also a creative power? Or was
the evil first introduced after the creation of the world? If this was
the case, and evil was not always in the world, then it must again
disappear from it; if the pure god was the more powerful, he must again
overcome the resistance of the evil. Moreover, with the subordination of
the light and dark powers to Auramazda and Angromainyu, and their
combination into these two forms, an impulse was given which gradually
forced the ancient deities into the background. The first point was, to
put the latter in the right relation to the new god, who had created
heaven and earth, and even these ancient gods. In the same way the old
Arian legend of the golden age of Yima must be harmonised with the new
doctrine of the creation, and a relation must be established between the
sacrificers of the old days, who were without the good law of
Zarathrustra, and the latter. The sayings which held in check the evil
spirits, and which the reform took from the body of ancient invocations
or added to them in their spirit, must be accurately preserved if they
were not to lose their force, especially the prayers and incantations
which Zarathrustra himself had spoken or was thought to have spoken.
Lastly, the mode of worship must be regulated in accordance with the
tendencies of the reform. Which and what kind of sacrifices, which
invocations and songs of praise were the most efficacious, was a matter
which required settling. The old customs of purification so
indispensable for keeping at a distance the evil spirits, which the
reform, as we ventured to assume, largely increased by new prescripts,
must be united with the increased importance attached to truth and
purity and combined into a comprehensive rule for the life pleasing to
Auramazda. What means were there for wiping out offences against this
rule, and sins when committed, for turning aside the anger of Mithra,
for expiating falsehood, lying, and deception? We have already indicated
(p. 101) how numerous and complicated were the duties of the priesthood
arising out of pollution and its removal. The answers which the
priesthood of Iran gave to all the questions which successively arose
have been collected in the Avesta.
The Gathas of the Avesta, in which the metre has been retained, and
along with it the older forms of the language--poems which, according to
another part of the Avesta (the Crosh Yasht), Zarathrustra composed and
Craosha first sang[228]--are the most speculative part of the book. They
tell of the existence of the good and evil spirits, place both in the
beginning of things, identify Auramazda with the truth and Angromainyu
with the lie, bring forward Auramazda as the creator of the world and of
living creatures, as the source of what is good in man and nature, and
describe the duties of the true worshippers and the rewards which they
may expect, together with the punishments which will come upon the
worshippers of the Daevas. The ancient gods, Mithra, Haoma, Tistrya,
Anahita and Drvacpa are not mentioned in the Gathas; though emphasis is
laid on the blessing of the "imperishable red fire of Auramazda." In
their place we have Asha (Truthfulness), and Vohumano (Good
disposition), Armaiti (Piety), and Kshathra (Dominion); these are at
times merely ideas, at times they are personified beside Auramazda.
In these poems Zarathrustra addresses a number of questions to
Auramazda: "This question I will ask of thee; answer it truly, O Ahura.
Who is the first father and begetter of truth? Who created their paths
for the sun and stars? Who causes the moon to wax and wane? Who sustains
the earth and holds the clouds above it? Who created the water and the
trees of the field? Who is in the wind and the storms that they move so
swiftly? Who created the beneficent lights and the darkness? For whom
didst thou create the imperishable cow Ranyockereti (the Earth)? Who
formed the earth with its great blessings? Who are the Daevas, which
fight against the good creation? Who slew the hostile demons? Who is the
truthful one, who is the liar? How are we to chase away the lies, how
shall I put the lies into the hand of Asha (Truthfulness)? How can I
come to your dwelling (the dwelling of the gods), and to your song? Give
me now the command, what ought to be and what ought not to be, in such a
way that we attentive ones may understand it, O Mazda, with the tongue
of thy mouth, how am I to convert all living creatures, and guide them
to the right path, which leads to him who hears the praises of the truly
pious in heaven (Garonmana). Tell me clearly, what ye command me as the
best, that I may keep it in my heart, and remember what has been
forgotten, Mazda Ahura, all that ought to be, and ought not to be. Teach
us, O True one, the way of Vohumano created by thee. Let us, O Mazda,
receive thy sayings which bring blessing."
"On thee have I looked as the source in the creation of life, because
thou, O rich in gifts, didst establish the sacred customs and announce
the words. He who first willed that the spaces of the sky should clothe
themselves with lights, he in his wisdom establishes the law of duty for
the pious. In the spirit a man must think of thee that thou art ever the
same, Ahura. I regarded thee as the most excellent, O Mazda, whom thy
people have to worship in spirit, as the father of the pious, since I
saw thee with my eye, as the eternal law-giver of the world, living in
his works. Since thou of old, O Mazda, didst create all beings and
spirits according to thy will, and gave them reason and a material body,
all men, the wise and the unwise, cause their voices to sound, each
according to his heart and mind; he who strives after wisdom proves in
his spirit on which side is error. All gleaming bodies with their
manifestations, everything that by Vohumano has a bright eye, the stars
and the sun, the herald of the day, move for thy praise, O Mazda. In
thee the holy earth exists, and the highly-intelligent framer of the
body of the earth, O living spirit Mazda. Thou didst create the world,
the earth with the fire that rests in its bosom. With pleasant fields
thou didst adorn it, after taking counsel with Vohumano, O Mazda. Thou
didst first create the fields, and didst devise the sayings by thy
spirit, and the various kinds of knowledge; thou didst then create this
world of existence, by holy acts and speeches. To Mazda belongs this
kingdom which he causes to grow by his grace."[229]
"To you, all ye that come, I will announce the praises of Mazda the
all-wise lord, and the hymns to Vohumano. O wise Asha, I will entreat
that friendship may display itself through the stars. Hear with your
ears the glorious, see with your spirit the clear, that every one for
himself may choose his faith before the great work begins. Those two
primaeval spirits, which are twins, represent themselves in thought,
words, and works as this dualism, the good and the evil, and between
both the virtuous know how to decide, but not the evil. When these two
deities first came together, they created the good creatures and the
bad, and (arranged) that at the last hell should be awarded to the bad
and blessedness to the good. Of these two spirits the evil one chooses
the worst way of action; but the increase-giving spirit chooses virtue,
he whose robe is the firm heaven,--and those who in faith make Auramazda
content by truthful acts. Between them the worshippers of the Daevas,
the deceived, cannot rightly decide; they chose the worst disposition,
and came to the evil ones when in council, and together they hastened to
Aeshma, that by him they might bring plagues upon the life of men. But
when the punishment of their evil deeds shall be accomplished, and thy
kingdom as the reward of piety shall come upon those who put the Druj
(the lie) in the hands of Asha (Truthfulness), then destruction overtake
the destroying Druj; but those who possess high renown will gather as
immortal in the beautiful dwellings of Vohumano, of Mazda, and Asha.
Thus then let us work to make this world eternal, O Auramazda, O Asha
that givest blessing; may our thoughts be there, where wisdom is
enthroned."[230]
"Teach me to know both, that I may walk in the way of Vohumano, the
sacrifice, O Mazda, which is fit for a god like thee, and the pure
words of thanksgiving; give me the duration over which Ameretat
presides, and the blessings of Haurvatat.[231] May he be praised, who in
complete truth, so far as he knows it, will tell the charm of Asha, the
utterance of prosperity (Haurvatat, _i.e._ health--and afterwards the
spirit of prosperity and the waters) and of immortality (Ameretat
immortality, and afterwards the spirit of long life and good
plants)."[232] "The acts, words, and sacrifices by which I, O Mazda,
might attain immortality, purity, and power over Haurvatat, I will, so
far as I can, perform for thee.[233] Grant to me, O most holy spirit,
Mazda, thou who didst create the cow, the waters, and the plants, grant
me immortality and health, power and duration, that I may follow the
doctrine of Vohumano."[234] "From thee comes the nourishment of
Haurvatat and Ameretat; may piety (Armaiti) increase with truth
under the dominion of Vohumano, and power and continuance as a
counter-protection."[235] "Send us the blessing of a long life."[236]
"I ask thee, answer me truly, Ahura, When shall I win this reward by
truthfulness?--ten mares with their stallions and a camel, that
Haurvatat and Ameretat may be in my possession, and I make an offering
to thee of their blessings."[237] "I will proclaim what the most holy
one says to me, the best word for mortals to hear; those who for its
sake lend ear to me, to those will Haurvatat and Ameretat come." "To
every one who is a friend to him in thought and word, Auramazda has
given power over the rich Haurvatat (health), over the rich Ameretat
(freedom from death); he has given him dominion and independence and
the riches of Vohumano."[238] "Let none of you listen to the counsel
and command of the evil one, for he brings farm and community, canton
and land, into distress and ruin, but punish him with the weapon."[239]
"On the day when Asha will slay the Druj, on the day of immortality,
when that comes forth, that was denied, when the Daevas and men will
receive their reward; then, O Ahura, a mighty song of praise will be
raised to thee."[240]
"To thy kingdom and thy truth, I offer praise, Ahura, Asha. Listen to
this with kindly spirit, Mazda; incline thine ear, Ahura. Let the
worshippers of the liar be few; may all these turn themselves to the
priests of the truthful fire! The good must rule over us, not the evil!
Ahura, the all-knowing, cannot be deceived. I will think of thee, most
glorious one, at the final departure of life. With prayers, O Mazda,
Asha, will I come forward to praise thee, and with the works of
Vohumano. In your dwelling, O wise one, sound the praises of them that
give thanks. I will be called the singer of thy praises, and will
continue to be so as long as I can, by advancing the laws of life, that
the life of the world may continue of itself. With the verses which have
been composed and handed down for your praise, I will approach both of
you, and with uplifted hands. As a worshipper I will invoke you one and
all, ye who give blessing, as well as all those who attain to the strong
bridges of your blessedness, Auramazda, Asha, and Vohumano; those
bridges which belong to you. Come ye to my aid."[241]
These are the essential traits of the doctrine of the Gathas. Auramazda,
himself a shining one (_hvathra_), has created the shining bodies of the
heaven, the earth, the waters, the trees, and men; he has appointed
their paths for the stars. He is the sustainer of the world, inasmuch as
he devises the good sayings (_daena_) for the protection of the good
creation. He is light and truth, and therefore is not to be deceived; he
shows the right way to Zarathrustra, and gives him the proper charms
against the evil spirits. That at this stage of ideas there can be no
myth attached to Auramazda, _i.e._ to the concentrated essence of the
gods of light, is obvious. In the Gathas it is only the quite abstract
forces of Vohumano and Asha, of good disposition and truthfulness, which
stand beside him. Auramazda is simply the creator and lord; and the same
position is ascribed to him as we saw (p. 87) in the inscriptions of the
Achaemenids. In spite of the strongly-marked trait of spiritualisation
and abstraction which runs through the Gathas, there is no lack in them
of unreflecting and naive conceptions, which have come down to us from
ancient days. It is true that the contrasts in nature and men are
elevated to the opposition of truth and falsehood, and the service of
truth is proclaimed as the highest command; but on the other hand, it is
the strong fire of Auramazda which causes the right to be recognised,
and gives the decision in battle.[242] It is the good sayings which
sustain the world, _i.e._ the old magic of prayers and invocations is to
keep off the evil, and increase the strength of the good, spirits.
However high may be the conception of Auramazda, he who walks in his
way, and performs the commands of purity, not only expects his reward,
but insists on it; he desires to obtain ten mares and stallions, and at
least one camel; he wishes for the blessings of Haurvatat in order to
sacrifice from them; he desires continuance and power, health and long
life. In these traits the old contrast between powers that give
increase, blessing, and life, and powers of destruction, is plainly
retained.
From the beginning the evil one was ranged over against Auramazda as his
twin brother. He has created all that is evil, but nevertheless he is
without any independent power of creation. If the Gathas express this
merely in such a manner that they give prominence to Auramazda as the
creator, they were as far from setting up a dualism of equally-balanced
forces, as any other religion has been from attempting such a task, and
carrying it out. The other fragments of the Avesta leave no doubt of the
fact, that Angromainyu was not in a position to create the world
according to his own will; he can only implant the form of evil in the
good creation of Auramazda; he puts desolation, destruction, and death
in the place of increase. The Vendidad quotes a whole series of lands
which Auramazda created good, and enumerates the evils which the deadly
Angromainyu brought into each:--into one winter, into another excessive
heat; in one case vermin, in another disease, in a third beasts of prey.
In the same way, in opposition to moral good, the evil one creates
idleness, lies, lust, doubt, disbelief. An equally poised power of the
two deities would have led to a direct conflict between them, which
occurs nowhere in the Avesta; God and the devil only contend for the
increase and injury of the world, and for the souls of men. The relative
inferiority of the evil deity has not escaped the Greeks. "Some are of
opinion," Plutarch says, "that there are two opposite deities, one of
which framed the good, the other the evil. Others, however, name the
better power the god, the other the demon, as Zoroaster the Magian. He
calls one Oromazdes, the other Areimanius, and states that Oromazdes
most resembles light among perceptible things, and Areimanius gloom and
uncertainty."[243] It is a later speculation, diverging from the Avesta,
which formed the good and evil spirits into simple forces, and ranged
them against each other with equal powers.[244]
In the Gathas we have the nucleus of the conceptions from which the
reform of the ancient faith of Iran arose, but not in their original
state. On the contrary, they have been systematised in the circles of
the priests. Hence the contents and prescripts of other parts of the
Avesta, which do not present a speculative tendency, are not on that
account to be regarded as of later origin than the Gathas--least of all
the invocations to the ancient deities. It was an essential object of
priestly meditation to bring these old gods, which existed vividly
before the soul of the nation, into harmony with the new faith. On every
page of the Avesta it is clear that the priests of Eastern Iran did not
attain to an accepted system in this direction; that the old gods
remained in existence beside Auramazda, and the direct contest against
the evil spirits, after the reform as before it, was carried on by
Mithra, Verethraghna, and Vayu, Tistrya and Craosha, while Auramazda is
in the background, and sits somewhat passively on his golden throne in
the heaven of Garonmana. When the Avesta was written down and collected,
the ideas of the priests were still so naive, or still preserved such a
respect for the traditional forms of the gods of light and water, as
they obviously lived in the mind of the people, that they represent
Auramazda himself as offering sacrifice to Mithra,[245] Anahita, Vayu,
and Tistrya, with Haoma and the sacred bundle of twigs, in order to
strengthen their power or carry out his own wishes, just as the gods of
the Aryas in India offer sacrifices to one another. In India the old
gods received a subordinate position as protectors of the world after
the rise of Brahman, but in Iran this was not the case; nor were they
brought into any genealogical connection with their new head Auramazda,
though fire is occasionally spoken of in a figure as the son of
Auramazda, and the earth (Armaiti) is once or twice called his
daughter.[246] The only bond of union between the new god and the old
gods in the Avesta is the fact that Auramazda is made the creator of the
old gods, and even of Mithra. Yet the old position of Mithra appears,
when Auramazda says to Zarathrustra: "When I created Mithra, the lord of
wide pastures, I created him as mighty to pray to, mighty to worship as
myself." Tistrya also was created by Auramazda as worthy of adoration
and praise as himself.[247] We are already acquainted with Auramazda's
command to Zarathrustra to invoke and worship Mithra, Vayu, the other
ancient gods, and fire (p. 131). The existence and extent of this
worship is proved not only by the prayers of the Yacna, but also by the
accounts of western writers which we have already examined.
As a compensation for the independent life of the ancient gods by the
side of Auramazda, the priests surrounded his throne with six spirits,
who were his associates and helpers. These are called Amesha Cpentas,
_i.e._ the holy immortals; as good and wise kings they rule with
Auramazda over the seven girdles of the earth,[248] as in India the
eight protectors of the world rule over the eight zones. The views out
of which these spirits arose are found in the Gathas, but they did not
receive their complete form till the Gathas had been composed and
generally received. Plutarch tells us that, according to the faith of
the Persians, Oromazdes had created six gods: the first, the god of good
disposition ([Greek: eunoia]); the second, the god of truth ([Greek:
aletheia]); the third, the god of order and law ([Greek: eunomia]); the
three remaining deities were the gods of wisdom ([Greek: sophia]), of
wealth ([Greek: ploutos]), and of delight in the beautiful ([Greek: epi
tois kalois hedeon]). The two first, good disposition (Vohumano), and
truth or truthfulness, we already found frequently mentioned in the
Gathas, but chiefly as ideas rather than persons. With the priests
Vohumano and Asha vahista (the most excellent truthfulness) became the
Amesha Cpentas, who stand next to Auramazda. The Avesta speaks not only
of the good way of Vohumano, but also of his acts, his dwelling, and his
kingdom. According to the books of the Parsees it is his duty to protect
the flocks. Asha vahista, as the truthful one, is the protector of fire,
which points the right path, and, according to the Gathas, gives the
decision in the contest against the liars. According to the books of the
Parsees, Asha builds the bridge of Chinvat, to which the souls come
after death, making it wide when the pious souls step upon it. Not less
correctly does Plutarch describe the third Amesha Cpenta as the spirit
of order and law. Kshathra, _i.e._ the kingdom, the dominion, is
mentioned impersonally in the Gathas; and this idea the priests have
elevated into Kshathra vairya, _i.e._ the good spirit of the desired
dominion, of good order and law, which is the third Amesha Cpenta.
Metals were allotted to him as the king of the Ameshas.[249] The fourth
figure in this circle, which Plutarch correctly describes as the spirit
of wisdom, though he is wrong in calling it a god, is the earth spirit
Armaiti. In the Rigveda Aramati (the earth) is a maiden worthy of
praise, who, morning and evening, brings butter to Agni. In the Avesta
Armaiti is "the beautiful daughter of Auramazda, the bearer
(_barethri_) of cattle, of beasts of draught, and men;" with "her hands
Auramazda performs pure actions," while the Gathas also ascribe to her
special relations to the corporeal world.[250] Among the priests the
spirit of the "patient humble earth" has become the spirit of humility
and piety. According to the books of the Parsees Armaiti gives patience
and firmness.[251] The fifth and sixth spirits also, whom Plutarch calls
the gods of wealth and delight in the beautiful, were found in existence
by the priests, and merely ranged by them in the circle of the Amesha
Cpentas. These are Haurvatat and Ameretat. We saw how earnestly the
Arians of India besought the gods for wealth and length of life; and in
this matter the Arians of Iran were not behind them. Here, as there, the
powers which could grant such gifts were elevated into special spirits,
to whom, naturally, all that gave wealth and long life, good and healing
plants and refreshing water, belonged. The good plants were the kingdom
of Ameretat, refreshing water the domain of Haurvatat. In the fancy of
the Arians of Iran good plants sprang from the tree of heaven, the
Gaokerena, which grew in Ardvicura (p. 126); the water flowed down from
this source in heaven, or came from Vourukasha, the lake on the divine
mountain. Those two spirits, who ruled over plants and water, were
brought by the system of the priests into the circle of the Amesha
Cpentas; the province over which they ruled had long been apportioned to
them. They were distinguished from the first four by the fact that those
were personifications of moral ideas, these two were personifications of
real goods.[252] With wealth, prosperity and happy life is given, with
length of life the complete enjoyment of its blessings, and so the
Greeks could arrive at the conclusion that these two spirits were gods
of wealth and delight in beauty. Thus Auramazda now ruled surrounded by
six sacred forms. The semblance of this circle on earth was the throne
of Cyrus and his successors, which was surrounded by the six tribal
princes of the Persians.
The personification of ideas--the process of transforming old figures,
and changing them into abstractions--did not come to an end with the
Amesha Cpentas. We are acquainted with Craosha, the warrior against the
Daevas, his habitation on the divine mountain, his horses, his club, and
how he fights at the side of Mithra, and keeps watch in the dark of the
night against the demons (p. 121). Now it is he who first sang the
sacred four Gathas of Zarathrustra, who first bound the sacred withes,
"three twigs, five twigs, seven twigs;" he not only knows the sacred
word; the sacred word is the body of Craosha. Instead of the club which
he held raised against the head of the Daevas, the invocations of the
Avesta and the prayer Ahuna vairya are now the weapons with which he,
"the pure lord of the pure," "advances the world." We remember the
process by which the Arians in India came to represent Indra as smiting
Vritra, and shattering his cave, not as formerly with the lightning, but
with Brahman, the power of the prayer and the sacred acts. Obviously we
have some influence of these old Arian conceptions of the mysterious
power of prayer, and the control of the spirits possessed by the correct
invocations and sayings against gods and spectres, when we find Craosha
fighting with the prayers of the Avesta, and in the Avesta the sacred
word is praised as a Divine power--[253] when Zarathrustra offers
sacrifice to the good law.[254] More liberal creations on the part of
the system of the priests are the elevation of "excellent thought,
knowledge, and conception," of "the long study," "and the thought of the
pure man," which are invoked and praised in the Avesta, into Divine
powers. Of not less abstract nature are other forms, like Rashnu
razista, _i.e._ the most straight-forward justice,[255] which, according
to the Dinkart, tests the souls on the bridge of Chinvat; time, which is
invoked as unlimited, as the ruler of the long periods, and like the
genius of the five portions into which the priests divided the day. Of
older origin, though also modified by the reform, is the invocation of
the heights, which Mithra first illuminated with his light. In the
Avesta this invocation is mainly addressed to the high "navel of the
waters," the Divine mountain, which reaches to the sky, "on which were
asked the holy questions," _i.e._ on which Zarathrustra has received the
revelation; "by reason of the revelation of the sacred word we invoke
the height, which preserved the knowledge."[256] Many of the traditional
forms of ancient times were partly modified by the priests and partly
allowed to fade away. The goddess Drvacpa, to whom the ancient heroes
had sacrificed, they changed into the soul of the primeval bull, which
Angromainyu had slain.[257] Nairyocangha, the Naracansa of the Veda, an
ancient name of the spirit of fire, which we learned to know in the Veda
as the messenger of men to the heavenly beings, as priest and mediator
between heaven and earth (IV. 39), appears in the Avesta merely as the
messenger of the gods.[258] The form of Vayu, the more ancient
conception of which still plainly breaks through (p. 116), becomes
merely the air "whose operation is on high;" and Ashi vanguhi, whom the
ancient sacrificers and heroes invoked, together with Ardvicura, for
victory, bears traces which can hardly any longer be recognised. We
merely perceive that she could once confer power, fertility, beauty, and
wealth. We saw above how she called Zarathrustra to her chariot, and
promised splendour to his body, and long prosperity to his soul (p.
130). If the luminaries of heaven, in spite of the creation described to
Auramazda, are extolled as "having no beginning," we have in this fact a
glimpse of the old position of the spirits of light. The struggles of
Tistrya against the demons of drought were allowed to remain (p. 120).
Plutarch observes that, according to the doctrine of the Magians,
Oromazdes had placed Sirius (Tistrya) as a watchman and advanced guard.
On the other hand, the worship of the sun-god appears but faintly in the
Avesta--in our fragments at any rate. Yet Herodotus informs us that with
the Persians the neighing of horses at sunrise was regarded as a
favourable sign from the gods, and Xenophon states that the Magians
offered bulls to Zeus, but horses to the sun-god, and that on the
journeys of the Achaemenids the chariot of Zeus went first, then that of
the sun-god; both were white and crowned; and these were followed by a
third chariot covered with purple, which as it seems was the chariot of
fire. In the march of Xerxes to Hellas, according to the account of
Herodotus, a sacred car, yoked with eight white horses, went before him;
and ten sacred horses were led, clothed in the most beautiful trappings.
Curtius represents the emblem of the sun as glowing over the tent of
the last Darius, who invokes "the sun, Mithra, and the sacred eternal
fire;" and he tells us of the chariot of Zeus in the army, yoked with
white horses, behind which was led a horse of remarkable size, the horse
of the sun, with golden bridle and white covering, like those before the
chariot. Dio Chrysostom tells us that the Magians reared a yoke of
Nisaean horses for Zeus, _i.e._ for Mithra, which were the largest and
most beautiful in all Asia, and a horse for Helius.[259] We can call to
mind the battle-chariot of Mithra, "with golden wheels and silver
spokes" (p. 110). These were imitations of the divine chariots of which
the Greeks tell us, and if they were not in a position to distinguish
accurately what belonged to Mithra (Auramazda does not come into the
question), and what to Hvare Kshaeta (the sun-god)--Strabo is of opinion
that the Persians called the sun Mithras[260]--we may still conclude
with certainty from these statements, that the worship of Mithra and the
sun-god remained more vigorous and effectual among the princes and
nations of Iran than our fragments of the Avesta would allow us to
assume, if the old invocations to Mithra, Tistrya, Haoma, Vayu, and
Verethraghna had not been preserved in them. Yet the fragments do
present us with an invocation to the sun-god, though weakened, it is
true, and adapted to the new faith. "We celebrate the brilliant,
immortal sun, whose horses are unwearied. When the sun gleams in heaven,
the heavenly spirits come by hundreds and thousands, and spread the
light over the earth for the salvation of the pure world, for the
salvation of the pure bodies. As the sun rises, the earth purifies
herself, and the fructifying waters of the springs, pools and lakes;
the sun-god purifies all creatures that belong to Cpentomainyu. If the
sun came not, the Daevas would slay all that inhabits the seven girdles
of the earth, and the heavenly beings would not be able to withstand
them; they could not drive them away. He who sacrifices to the sun in
order to withstand the dark Daevas, the thieves and robbers, he
sacrifices to Auramazda, to the Amesha Cpentas and to his own
soul."[261] In the time of the Sassanids, the worship of the sun comes
definitely forward.
Plutarch states that the demon Areimanius had created an equal number of
evil spirits to match the six good gods of Oromazdes, _i.e._ the Amesha
Cpentas. The Vendidad mentions five of them: Andra, Caurva,
Naonghaithya, Tauru, and Zairicha,[262] to which we have only to add
Akomano, which has been mentioned already in the Gathas, in order to
make up the number. They are all of them creations of the priests,
partly invented to match the Amesha Cpentas, partly borrowed from older
forms, which had lost their brightness among the Arians of Iran.
Akomano, _i.e._ Bad disposition, is naturally the counterpart of
Vohumano, or Good disposition: opposite Asha vahista, _i.e._ the most
excellent truthfulness, the priests placed the demon Andra (Indra),
_i.e._ an old Arian name which the Arians beyond the Indus had elevated
to be the best warrior against the demons, the god of the storm. No
special qualities of Andra are known or mentioned in the Avesta; the
books of the Parsees can only say that he brings care and sorrow of
heart to men, and makes narrow the bridge of Chinvat. The demon Caurva
is the opponent of Kshathra vairya, of order and law, of good dominion;
hence, according to the Sad-der-Bundehesh, he leads kings astray into
despotism, and nations into lawlessness and robbery. Naonghaithya is the
opponent of Armaiti, the spirit of humility and piety; this spirit
therefore, as the Bundehesh maintains, makes men impatient and proud;
the science of languages claims to find in this name a Vedic name for
the two Acvins,--Nasatya (IV. 42). Only the last two opposing spirits of
the Amesha Cpentas, the opponents of Haurvatat and Ameretat, display,
like these beings, real characteristics. If they are the spirits of
water and plants, of prosperity and long life or immortality, then Tauru
is the spirit of thirst and sickness, and Zairicha of hunger and
death.[263]
If the ancient gods have preserved more lively traits than the Amesha
Cpentas, the old demons have also more definite outlines than the
opposing spirits. Such are the Daeva Apaosha, who parches up the land
and keeps back the water from the earth; Cpenjaghra, the comrade of him
who was struck by lightning; Zemaka, the spirit of the cold winter; and
finally Azhi, who seeks to steal away the fire from men in the night.
Among these evil spirits may further be reckoned a female demon
Bushyancta, with long hands and of a yellow hue, who leads men astray
into much sleep and idleness, who does not allow them to see the rise of
the sun, and shortens the joy of existence;[264] the three Daevas of
drunkenness, Kunda, Banga, and Vibanga; the Daeva Buiti, the spirit of
lies and falsehood, who deceives men;[265] the spirit of flattery,
Ashemaogha;[266] and the very wicked Ashma "of evil glance," who
attempts to slay the sleeping, and withstands Craosha by night with
terrible weapons.[267] Very evil also is Actovidhotu, _i.e._ the
destroyer of bodies, and a female goblin, the spirit of the Daevas, the
Druj Nacu. This spirit enters the body immediately after death, and
exercises power over all who come in contact with it.
Under Auramazda are united the gods, the Amesha Cpentas, the rest of the
Yazatas (those worthy of adoration), in opposition to the troops of
hell, the Daevas, Druj, Pairikas and Jainis, which are led by
Angromainyu. The first are found in the light of sunrise, in the clear
gleam of the pure sky; the latter in the gloom of sunset, or in the
distant clouds of the north; in burial-places, and where the dead are
placed; in all corners into which the light of heaven does not pierce;
in the dark abyss under earth; in "the worst place."[268] On the summit
of the mountain Arezura (Demavend, apparently), they take counsel how
they are to turn the evil eye on men; how they can injure and slay
them.[269] To them belong gloom, cold, drought, the barren land and the
wilderness, thorns and poisonous herbs, hunger and thirst, sickness,
death, dirt, laziness, lying, sin. Theirs are the harmful beasts, the
Khrafctras; beasts of prey, wolves, serpents; all animals which live in
holes and corners, lizards, scorpions, toads, frogs, rats, mice, gnats,
and lastly mosquitoes, lice, and fleas.[270] To the good spirits belong
light, water, springs, rivers, the fruitful earth, good plants,[271]
trees, fields, pastures, good food, purity, truth, life in this world
and the next; and theirs are the good animals, the animals of the
flocks, the birds which nestle on the heights, and live in the clear
air. The dog and the cock are worshipped in the Avesta as fighting with
men against the Daevas. The first protects the flocks against the beasts
of prey of Angromainyu. Of the cock the Avesta says: "The bird
Parodarsh, which evil-speaking men call Kahzkatac (_i.e._ Kikeriki or
the like), lifts up his voice in the last third of the night, roused by
the holy Craosha at every divine dawn. He cries: 'Rise up, ye men;
praise the most excellent truth; drive away the Daevas.' Who gives a
pair of these birds to a pure man, in purity and kindness, gives as much
as if he had given a palace with a thousand pillars and a thousand
beams, ten thousand windows, and a hundred thousand turrets." "And
whoever gives to a pure man as much meat as makes the size of a
Parodarsh"--the book of Auramazda tells us in another place--"I who am
Auramazda will ask him no other question on his way to Paradise."[272]
According to the Avesta the dog and cock unite their powers against the
Druj.[273] The bird Asho-zusta fights against the Daevas, and the bird
Karshipta (the sacred hawk) announces the good law in the garden of
Yima. Two other mythical birds, the two eagles (_caena_) of the sky,
Amru and Chamru, are invoked as helpful powers.[274] They nestle on the
tree of life in the heaven. Besides the tree Gaokerena, which grows in
Ardvicura and bears the heavenly Haoma, the Avesta has also the tree
Vicpataokhma, which grows in the Lake Vourukasha, and bears all seeds.
When Amru sits on this tree, the seeds fall down, and Chamru carries
them away where Tistrya collects the water, who then rains down the seed
with the water to the earth. In the book of kings of Firdusi, Simurgh
(Cinmurv), the king of the birds, carries Rustem on his pinions over the
broad earth as far as the sea of Chin (China) to the tree of life.[275]
A prophet of the Hebrews represents Jehovah as saying of Cyrus: "I
summoned from the East the eagle, the man of my counsel."[276] Xenophon
tells us that Cyrus, and the Achaemenids who succeeded him, carried as a
standard a golden eagle on a tall lance;[277] and Curtius says, that a
golden eagle with outspread wings was attached to the chariots of the
Persian king.[278]
The fragments of the Avesta which have been preserved do not give us
very full information on the sacrifices. The essential matters are hymns
of praise and prayers. The chief sacrifice is offered to one of the old
deities, Haoma, the supporter and protector of life. When Plutarch
represents the Magi as pounding a certain herb of the name of Omomi in a
mortar, with invocations to avert Hades, he gives a correct account of
the supposed tendency of this sacrifice. According to the Avesta the
utensils for this sacrifice--the mortar, cup and bundle of twigs--were
found in every house. The sacrifice consisted in the offering, _i.e._
the elevation of the cup filled with the juice of the Haoma, during the
recitation of the proper prayers. Beside this offering, which even now
is offered twice each day by the priests of the Parsees, the fire is to
be kept up perpetually, and fed with good dry wood and perfumes. The
flesh of the sacrifice (_myazda_) is not often mentioned; yet the book
of the law provides that a thousand head of small cattle must be offered
in expiation of certain offences,[279] and we are told in the
invocations that the heroes of old time, from Thraetaona down to King
Vistacpa, had offered great sacrifices of animals to Ardvicura and
Drvacpa, in order to gain the victory, viz. 100 horses, 1000 cattle, and
10,000 head of small cattle. Herodotus tells us that the Magians, when
Xerxes marched into Hellas, sacrificed 1000 oxen on the summit of
Pergamus to Athene of Ilium, and at a later time white horses in Thrace;
Xenophon maintains that the Persians sacrificed beautiful bulls to Zeus,
_i.e._ to Auramazda, and horses to the sun, and burnt them whole;
Athenaeus tells that with the king of the Persians a thousand animals
were daily slaughtered as sacrifices; camels, horses, oxen, apes, deer,
and especially sheep. According to Arrian, the Magians who kept guard
over the burial-place of Cyrus received a horse every month, and a sheep
every day, for sacrifice.[280] Herodotus has already told us, that the
animals were led to a pure place, and when the sacrificer had invoked
the god were killed, cut up, cooked, and then laid out on delicate
grass. The Magian then sang the theogony, and after some time, the
person who offered the sacrifice "carried away the flesh, and used it at
his pleasure" (p. 85). Herodotus is better informed than Xenophon;
according to the Avesta only the head of the animal belongs to the
gods.[281] Obviously, as the nature of the gods became more
spiritualised--and the reform prepared the way for this--the sacrifice
of animals was restricted in this manner, so that it consisted
essentially in the offering of the animals, _i.e._ in the consecration
of the flesh. We may conclude from the statement in Athenaeus, that only
consecrated flesh could be eaten at the court of the kings. Xerxes
certainly would not have sacrificed to Athene, "a lying deity" of the
Greeks, on the summit of Ilium; but he might very well have selected the
last eminence in Asia Minor, "the many-fountained Ida," in order to
offer there a sacrifice of 1000 oxen to Ardvicura for his victory beyond
the sea--a sacrifice which corresponds exactly to the first offering
made by Kava Hucrava and Kava Vistacpa to the same goddess for victory
over the Turanians.[282]
Temples and images are unknown to the Avesta. The reform preserved for
the nations of Iran the traditional form of worship without images, on
which it was founded. The accounts of western writers, from Herodotus
and Xenophon downwards, establish the fact that there were only
sacrificial places on the heights and consecrated fire-altars in
Iran.[283] But this must not be taken to mean that the forms of worship
and the images of the nations with which the Persians became acquainted
after the foundation of their supremacy, especially of their nearest
neighbours, the Semites on the Tigris and Euphrates, remained without
influence on them. On the monuments of Darius we see the picture of
Auramazda, cut exactly after the pattern which the Assyrian monuments
exhibit in the portraiture of their god Asshur. We are also told of
images of Anahita. Berosus maintains that Artaxerxes Mnemon erected
statues to Aphrodite Anaitis at Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa, and taught
this form of worship to the Damascenes and Lydians.[284] From this
statement, taken in connection with the account of Herodotus that the
Persians had learnt to sacrifice to Mylitta,[285] the conclusion has
been drawn that Artaxerxes II. introduced the worship of Bilit among the
Persians. But it was not necessary to teach this worship to the
Damascenes and Lydians (I. 358, 563), and even in the Avesta, Anahita as
the goddess of the heavenly water is the goddess of fertility. Hence the
statues made by Artaxerxes were, no doubt, images of Anahita the
goddess, whom he invokes along with Auramazda and Mithra in his
inscription at Susa. Strabo describes the worship of the Magians at the
fire-altars of Cappadocia in a manner which completely agrees with the
accounts given in the Avesta, and then adds that these functions were
also performed in the enclosures ([Greek: sekoi]) which were consecrated
there to Anaitis, Amardatus, and Omanus, and the image of Omanus was
carried round in processions. He concludes with the words: "this (_i.e._
the form of worship described) I have myself seen."[286] According to
this account, then, Amardate,[287] _i.e._ the Amesha Cpenta Ameretat,
who averts death, was worshipped there beside Anahita, and Omanus,
_i.e._ the Amesha Cpenta Vohumano, the protector of the flocks, had an
image. As this is all that we can discover about the image-worship of
the Persians, it is clear that the influence of the picture-worship of
Hither Asia and Egypt had no great influence even on the western nations
of Iran. It is limited to the facts that Darius added the symbolical
picture of Auramazda to his inscriptions without, however, building him
a temple; that a century after him Artaxerxes II. erected statues and a
temple to Anahita at Ecbatana; and that at a later time a portable image
of Vohumano was in existence in Cappadocia.
The nucleus of the old religious conceptions of the Arians--the desire
to obtain increase and life from the gods--has been sufficiently
disclosed; and that which could not be obtained in this world, the
continuance of the individual life, heaven was to bestow upon them. This
line was followed up by the reform; the spirits of health and long life
were added by the priests to the circle of the Amesha Cpentas. When
Zarathrustra had increased the means for the protection and support of
life; when it became a fixed maxim that purity preserved life in this
world and ensured it after death; the sharp insistence on the command of
the pure and active and truthful life which men ought to lead in this
world, became developed into the conception of a judgment on the souls
after death. He who had lived purely, and given the Daevas no room to
exercise their power on his body, became himself pure and bright, and
could therefore enter after death as a pure spirit among the spirits of
light. Thus the Avesta announces that "when body and soul have
separated," the soul on the third night after death, as soon as the
brilliant sun arises, and the victorious Mithra seats himself with "pure
brilliance" on the mountains, comes over the Hara berezaiti to the
bridge of Chinvat, _i.e._ the bridge of assembly or of assembling, which
leads to Garonmana, _i.e._ to the dwelling of hymns, the abode of the
good gods. Here the Daevas and the gods contend for the soul;[288] the
judgment of the souls takes place;[289] here Auramazda asks the souls
about their conduct.[290] The pure soul, whose odour the Daevas
dread,[291] which approaches with virtue and sanctity, is joined by the
other pure souls and by the souls of the dogs which keep watch over the
bridge of Chinvat,[292] and the host of the heavenly Yazatas brings the
soul of the good over the bridge into heaven. In contentment the pure
soul goes to the golden throne of Auramazda, to the thrones of the
Amesha Cpentas, to the dwelling of the pure. And Vohumano rises from his
golden throne and inquires of the pure one: "How hast thou, O pure one,
come hither out of the perishable to the imperishable world?"[293] But
the souls which come to the bridge full of terror and sick, find no
friend there; the evil spirits, Vizaresha by name, lead them bound down
into the place of the bad, into the darkness, the dwelling of the
Druj.[294]
In the Veda the spirits of the fathers are invited to the sacrificial
meal; they are to enjoy the gifts which are laid for them on the grass,
to support the prayers of their descendants, to keep away the evil
spirits, and to increase wealth. Each day water was poured there for the
forefathers, and corns of rice were scattered for them; on the new moon
the clans held the funeral feast for the dead; and we are acquainted
with the consequences which attended expulsion from this banquet.[295]
The belief in the spirits of the ancestors, and their continued relation
to their descendants, existed also among the Arians of Iran, and the
Avesta alters it only so far as to limit consistently the assistance
given by the spirits of the fathers to the souls of those who have lived
in truth and purity, and have thus found entrance into heaven. According
to the Avesta the Fravashis of the pure--this is the name given to the
Pitaras, or fathers of the Indians--protect their descendants against
the Daevas, help them in distress and danger, and fight for their
families on the day of battle, if they are honoured and satisfied by
their descendants. It is only an old conception, repeated in the Avesta,
when we are told: "We invoke the good, strong, holy Fravashis. Where
strong men fight in severe conflict, there come the Fravashis with
strong shield, iron helmet, and iron weapons; with Mithra and the
victorious wind they go forward; strong warriors against the enemies,
they are mighty saviours; strong conquerors, they destroy the victory of
the enemy--the Turas (Turanians)."[296] It is due to the additions and
modifications introduced by the priests that we hear that the hosts of
the Fravashis watch the body of Kerecacpa till the resurrection, and the
seed of Zarathrustra, and protect the sleepers from the rising of the
stars till midnight.[297] As among the Arians of India the ancient
belief in the fathers was retained in spite of all changes of the
religious system, so also in Iran. At the close of the year, on the
intercalary days which were added to it, the Fravashis come to their
families, abide among them for ten nights, and ask: "Who will receive
us, and sacrifice to us, and praise us?" and "if any one offers to them
prayers and flesh and clothes, him they bless, and in his dwelling there
will be abundance of oxen and men, swift horses and a strong car."[298]
The Greeks had therefore reason to say that according to the doctrine of
the Magians the air was full of spirits.[299]
In another direction the system of the priests deviated far more widely
from the ancient conception of the spirits of the ancestors. They held
that only the pure and bright part of the soul could live on after
death. Hence, even in the living they distinguished this part from the
polluted part, and in the pure immortal half they saw the side created
by the good gods, its true being, the Fravashi or protecting spirit
allotted to each man. In the Avesta therefore rules can be given for the
invocation of this pure part and nature of the individual soul, of the
separate Fravashis. The priests then transferred this notion to the
heavenly spirits, and even to Auramazda himself. His purest nature, his
best self, must be praised and invoked for aid. Auramazda says to
Zarathrustra in the book of the law: "O Zarathrustra, praise thou my
Fravashi, the Fravashi of Auramazda, the greatest, best, most
intelligent, best-formed, highest in holiness, whose soul is the holy
word."[300] And in the prayers we are told: "We praise the Fravashis of
the Amesha Cpentas, of the holy Craosha, of Mithra, together with all
the Fravashis of the heavenly Yazatas. I invoke the Fravashi of the holy
Zarathrustra, the Fravashis of the men of the ancient law, and the
Fravashis of the men of the new law, the good mighty Fravashis of the
pure, of the nearest relations, and of my own soul."[301] The Persians
at the king's gate, according to the Greeks, set apart a separate table
at each meal with bread and food for the "demon" of the king, and at a
Persian banquet the host, according to Plutarch, calls on his guests,
"to honour the demon of king Artaxerxes." Hence it clearly follows that
the priestly doctrine of the Fravashis of the living was current even in
Western Iran under the Achaemenids.[302]
Zarathrustra had increased the means for keeping off the evil ones, and
had made the struggle against the wicked spirits easier for men. But the
time will come when the struggle will be no longer necessary, and the
bright spirits alone will rule. This doctrine is indicated even in the
Gathas.[303] In the book of the law Zarathrustra says to Angromainyu: he
will smite the Daevas till Caoshyant is born from the water of Kancava
in the eastern region.[304] Caoshyant, _i.e._ the useful, the saviour,
is called in the Avesta, "the sublime, the victorious;" he will smite
the Druj, and Aeshma will bow before him. He will make the world to live
for ever, without age and death; the dead will rise again, and the
living will be immortal. Vohumano will smite Akomano, Asha will kill the
lies. Haurvatat and Ameretat will destroy thirst and hunger: "The
evil-doer Angromainyu, robbed of his dominion, bows himself."[305] This
doctrine of the Avesta also was well known to the western world. In
Herodotus Prexaspes tells Cambyses that when the dead rise again he will
see Smerdis and Astyages.[306] Theopompus of Chios tells us: Zoroaster
had proclaimed that there would be a time in which the dead will arise,
and men will be immortal, and everything will be done by their
invocations. Last of all, Hades will pass away; men will then be happy;
they will need no nourishment, and throw no shadows, and the god who
will accomplish this rests for a time, but not a long time for a
god.[307] It is true that men required no nourishment when Caoshyant had
appeared, in the meaning of the Avesta, for Haurvatat and Ameretat had
overcome hunger and thirst as well as sickness and death; and as the
dark side of man was taken away, and only the bright side remained, they
could not cast any shadows.
As already remarked, it was part of the duty of the priests to bring the
ancient legends of the old time into harmony with the new doctrine. We
saw that the legends of Iran began with the happy age of Yima, and his
reign of a thousand years full of increase and blessing. This conception
of a perfect age for the creatures of earth at the very beginning of
things did not suit with the struggle, which, according to the new
doctrine, Angromainyu commenced immediately after the creation. The
priests, therefore, conceived the beginning of things in a different
manner. In their system Auramazda first created the heaven, then the
water, then the earth and the trees, and after these the four-footed
bull, and the two-legged pure man Gayo maretan.[308] In the Avesta the
primeval bull and man are at the head, and time extends from Gayo
maretan to Caoshyant.[309] The books of the Parsees then tell us that
Angromainyu killed the primeval man and bull, but from the seed of the
bull proceeded a pair of oxen, and then all kinds of good animals; and
out of the seed of Gayo maretan grew up the first man and the first
woman. As we have already remarked, our fragments of the Avesta identify
the soul of the first created bull with the Drvacpa, the ancient
guardian spirit of the flocks; next to Gayo maretan they place
Haoshyangha, the Paradhata (p. 36), and represent him as sacrificing to
Ardvicura, Vayu, and Ashi vanguhi, in order to obtain the dominion over
the evil spirits.[310] After him Takhmo urupa rules the earth of seven
parts; he sacrifices to Vayu in order to obtain grace to restrain
Angromainyu for thirty years.[311] Then, according to the system of the
priests, follows the dominion of Yima the son of Vivanghana, during
which there was no cold and no heat, no age and no death, as was
represented in the old views. Yima kindles the red-glowing fire. Flocks
and men, _i.e._ life, increase; and the earth must be made larger. The
end of this happy period, and the death of Yima, is brought about,
according to the priests, by the fact that Yima refused to be the
preacher of the doctrine of Auramazda, that he was unable to maintain
purity and truth, and began to "love lying speech" (p. 41). As Yima was
born to Vivanghana as a reward for his Haoma sacrifice, there follows a
series of those who have offered the sacrifice: Athwya, Thrita,
Pourushacpa, and their sons. To the first Thraetaona was born, who
smites the serpent Dahaka; to Thrita Kerecacpa, who smites the serpent
Cruvara; and to Pourushacpa was born Zarathrustra, who receives the law
of Auramazda and proclaims it; by this law the Daevas will be warded off
till Caoshyant appears, when everything which has once had life will
come to life again.
FOOTNOTES:
[228] "Yacna," 56, 3, 1-3.
[229] "Yacna," 28, 29, 42, 43, 44, 46, according to Haug's translation,
which is not universally accepted; "Yacna," 31 after Roth. "Z. D. M. G."
25, 6 ff.
[230] "Yacna," 30, after Huebschmann's rendering.
[231] "Yacna," 33, 8.
[232] "Yacna," 31, 6.
[233] "Yacna," 34, 1.
[234] "Yacna," 50, 7.
[235] "Yacna," 34, 11.
[236] "Yacna," 41, 10, 11; cf. 57, 20.
[237] "Yacna," 43, 18.
[238] "Yacna," 44, 5. The passages in the text concerning Haurvatat and
Ameretat are given after Darmesteter, "Haurvatat et Ameretat," p. 35 ff.
[239] "Yacna," 31, 18.
[240] "Yacna," 47, 1.
[241] "Yacna," 47-49, according to Haug's translation.
[242] "Yacna," 31, 3, 19; 33, 3; 46, 7.
[243] Plut. "De Isid." 46.
[244] From the invocation of the time without limit, _Zrvana akarana_,
in the Avesta (p. 79), some have sought to draw the conclusion, that
this is the supreme principle, and that Auramazda and Angromainyu
proceeded from it. This is no less incorrect than if it were maintained
that according to the Christian dogma God and the devil owed their
origin to eternity. In the Avesta Zrvana akarana does not assume an
important place either at the creation or in the worship. I have already
remarked above, that the spirits of light are called in the Rigveda sons
of Aditi, _i.e._ of the unlimited, the eternal. Parallel similitudes
which, however, mean no more than the eternity of the gods, could be
made even among the Arians of Iran. But there is a difference between
speaking in similes, and derivation from a principle. The faith of Iran
was not a philosophical system, but a religion; a religion cannot
combine the good and evil god into one unity. It is only when
speculation becomes master over religion, that conceptions of this kind
can find a place; and this speculation, which sought for primeval
cosmical unity, arrived as a fact at an identical origin for the good
and evil spirit; but this was not the case with the Avesta. Centuries
after the establishment of the canon we find the oldest form of such
teaching in a demand made to the Armenian Christians that they should
join the faith of Auramazda. In this we are told that the great deity
Zrovan had sacrificed for a thousand years, and had received two sons,
Ormuzd and Ahriman. The first had created heaven and earth, the other
had opposed him with evil works. About the same time Theodorus of
Mopsuestia in Cilicia (Phot. "Biblioth." p. 63, ed. Bekker), tells us:
"Zoroaster called the creator of all things Zaruam, and described him as
fate;" and in the sixth century Damascius ("De prim. princip." p. 384)
writes: "The Magi and the whole Arian nation call the Whole and One in
thought, space and time respectively; from this One arose the good and
evil god, Oromasdes and Areimanius, or as others say light and darkness
were divided before these." The sect of the Zarvanites, who deviated
from the faith of Zoroaster, inasmuch as they carried these principles
still further, has been already mentioned (p. 67).
[245] "Mihr Yasht," 123.
[246] Ashi vanguhi is in one passage called the daughter of Auramazda
and Armaiti; "Yacna," 44, 4; "Vend." 19, 45; "Ashi Yasht," 16.
[247] "Tistar Yasht," 50.
[248] "Vend." 19, 40; "Yacna," 56, 10, 2.
[249] "Vispered," 23, 1.
[250] "Yacna," 44, 4; 46, 2; 13, 6; "Vend." 19, 45; Haug, "Essays," p.
231.
[251] Spiegel, "Eran," 1, 435.
[252] Darmesteter, "Haurvatat et Ameretat," p. 68, 81 ff.
[253] "Vend." 19, 30-34, 54.
[254] "Din Yasht," 2.
[255] "Rashnu Yasht," 8.
[256] Burnouf, _l. c._ p. 417, 468.
[257] "Gosh Yasht;" Yacna, 29; 39, 1.
[258] "Vend." 19, 111, 112; 22, 22.
[259] Herod. 7, 40, 55; Xenoph. "Cyr. inst." 8, 3, 12; Curtius, 3, 3, 8;
4, 48, 12. Dio Chrysost. 2, 60, ed. Dindorf.
[260] p. 732.
[261] "Khorshed Yasht," in De Harlez, "Avesta," p. 34.
[262] 10, 17, 18.
[263] "Zamyad Yasht," 96; Darmesteter, _l. c._ p. 10.
[264] "Vend." 18, 38.
[265] "Vend." 19, 6, 146.
[266] Burnouf, "Journ. Asiatic," 1845, p. 433.
[267] "Vend." 10, 23. Windischmann, "Zoroastrische Studien," s. 138.
[268] "Vend." 19, 147.
[269] "Vend." 4, 139.
[270] "Vend." 12, 65, 71; 14, 9 ff.; Plut. "De Isid." c. 46; Agath. 2,
24.
[271] Plut. "De Isid." c. 46.
[272] "Vend" 18, 34-37; 64-69.
[273] Cf. "Bundehesh," c. 19.
[274] "Yasht Farvardin," 109; "Yasht Bahram," 19-21.
[275] Kuhn, "Herabkunft des Feuers," s. 125; Darmesteter, _loc. cit._ p.
55. Cinmurv has arisen out of _Caena (Cin), i.e._ eagle, and _meregha_,
"bird;" Middle Pers. _murv_; New Pers. _murgh_. In New Pers. Cinmurv
becomes Simurgh.
[276] Isaiah xlvi. 11. In Aeschylus also an eagle represents the
Persians and a falcon the Hellenes; "Pers." 205-210.
[277] "Cyri instit." 7, 1, 4.
[278] 3, 7.
[279] "Vend." 18, 137, 138, 149.
[280] Xenophon, "Cyri instit." 8, 3, 11, 24; Athen. p. 145; Arrian,
"Anab." 6, 29.
[281] "Yacna," 10. 38, 11, 16. Strabo, p. 732, tells us that the deity
of the Persians received nothing from the sacrifice.
[282] What Herodotus tells us of the sacrifice of girls and boys by the
Magi in Thrace contradicts his own statement that the Magi did not
venture to kill any one, and the whole conception of the Avesta. If
Cambyses is said to have caused twelve Persians to be buried alive, this
is not to be regarded as a sacrifice, but as a barbarous form of
execution, which occurs also under the Sassanids. What Herodotus says of
the fourteen boys offered by Amestris as a sacrifice, if true, must have
its origin in some other superstition, not in the Avesta; and the
actions of Amestris and Parysatis in this direction, as recorded by
Ctesias, were in any cases crimes, not sacrifices.
[283] Strabo, p. 732.
[284] Fragm. 16, ed. Mueller.
[285] 1, 131.
[286] Strabo, p. 733.
[287] Windischmann has shown, "Abh. Bair. Akad. phil. philol. Kl." 8,
90, 120, that, [Greek: Amardatos] must be read for [Greek: Anandatos].
[288] "Vend." 7, 132-136; 19, 90-100.
[289] "Vend." 19, 89.
[290] "Vend." 18, 68, 69.
[291] "Vend." 19, 108.
[292] "Vend." 13, 22, 25.
[293] "Vend." 19, 100-108.
[294] "Vend." 8, 252, 310; 19, 94; cf. 3, 118-121. In the Dinkart the
proceedings on the bridge are related at greater length.
[295] Vol. IV., 61, 163, 230.
[296] "Farvardin Yasht," 35-48, 70, 71.
[297] "Farvardin Yasht," 61, 62.
[298] "Farvardin Yasht," 50-52.
[299] Diogen. Laert. "Prooem." 6.
[300] "Vend." 19, 46, 48.
[301] "Yacna," 1, 47; 23, 6; Burnouf, "Commentaire," p. 571.
[302] Plut. "Artax." 15; Theopomp. Fragm. 135, ed. Mueller.
[303] "Yacna," 45, 3; 47, 1; above, p. 156.
[304] "Vend." 19, 17-19; above, p. 135.
[305] "Zamyad Yasht," 89, 95, 96.
[306] 3, 62.
[307] Theopomp. Fragm. 71, 72, ed. Mueller.
[308] "Yacna," 19, 16-18.
[309] "Yacna," 26, 32; "Farvardin Yasht," 135.
[310] "Aban Yasht," 21-23; "Farvardin Yasht," 157; "Ashi Yasht," 24;
"Zamyad Yasht," 26.
[311] "Ram Yasht," 11; "Zamyad Yasht," 28.