THE TEACHINGS OF THE ZEND-AVESTA.
THE GĀTHAS—THE WAIL OF THE KINE—THE LAST GĀTHA—THE MARRIAGE SONG—THE
YASNA—COMMENTARY ON THE FORMULAS—THE YASNA HAPTANG-HĀITI—THE SROSH
YAŚT—THE YASNA CONCLUDING.
The teachings of the Zend-Avesta have been partially treated in the
chapter devoted to Persian mythology, but other features of the work
seem to demand attention here. Briefly presented, the present world is
two-fold, being the work of two hostile beings—Ahūra-Mazda, the good
principle, and Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, the evil principle. All that is
good in the present state of things comes from the former, and all that
is evil from the latter. The history of the world is the history of the
conflict between these two powers, as Angra Mainyu invaded the world of
Ahūra Mazda, and marred its beauty and truth. Man is active in the
conflict, his duty being revealed to him in the law which was given by
Ahūra Mazda to Zarathuśtra.
Although of later date, it is evident that the religion of the Pārsīs is
derived from the same source as that of the Hindūs—derived from the
faith of the Āryan forefathers of the Hindūs and the Īrānians. We
therefore find two strata in the mythology which is under discussion;
the one comprises all the gods and myths which were already in existence
during the Indo-Īrānian period, and the other comprises the gods and
myths which were only developed after the separation of the two
mythologies.
There are two principal points in the Indo-Īrānian religion. First, that
there is a law in nature; and second, that there is also war in nature.
There is law in nature, because day returns with its golden splendor and
night with its eloquent mystery; seed-time and harvest, the planting and
the fruiting, succeed each other with unfailing regularity. There is war
in nature, because it contains powers that work for evil, as well as
those that work for good. Hence the unceasing struggle goes on, and it
is never more apparent to the human eye than in a storm, where a fiend
seems to bear away the waters which the earth so sadly needs, and fights
with the god who at last brings them to the thirsting plants. Amidst all
the various myths of the Indo-Īrānian system there is a monotheism and
an unconscious dualism. But both of these disappeared in the further
development of Hindū mythology. Mazdeism, however, lost neither of these
two ideas; it clung strongly to them both.
Hence we have the Ahūra-Mazda, “the lord of high knowledge,” “the all-
embracing sky.” He was the Varuṇa of the Hindūs, but this name was lost
in Īrān, or remained only as the name of a mythical region—the Varena,
which was the scene of a mythical fight between a storm-fiend and a
storm-god.
Ahūra, the heaven-god, is white, and his body is the fairest and
greatest of bodies. He is wedded to the rivers, and the sun is his eye,
while the lightnings are his children, and he wears the heavens as a
star-spangled garment.
In the time of Herodotus, the Persians, while invoking Ahūra-Mazda as
the creator of heaven and earth, still called the whole vault of the sky
the supreme god. This deity slowly brought everything under his sway,
and the other gods finally became, not only his subjects, but also his
creatures.
While the single elements of Mazdeism do not differ essentially from
those of the Vedic and the Indo-European mythology generally, still the
grouping of these elements in a new order presents them in a new form.
Thus we find that in Mazdeism everything is referred either to Ahūra
Mazda or to Angra Mainyu as its source, and hence the world is divided
into two parts, in each of which a strong unity prevails, representing
the dualism of this system. Ahūra is all light, truth, goodness and
knowledge, while Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, is all darkness, falsehood,
wickedness and ignorance.
Man, according to his deeds, belongs to Ormazd or to Ahriman. He belongs
to Ormazd if he sacrifices to him, and helps him by good thoughts, words
and deeds; if he enlarges his dominion and makes the realm of Ahriman
smaller by destroying his creatures; while the man who is a friend of
Ahriman and represents evil thoughts and evil deeds, who slays the
creatures of Ormazd, is classed as a demon. Even animals are classified
as belonging to one spirit or the other, in accordance with the idea
that they had been incarnations of either the god or the fiend.
Killing the Ahriman creatures is killing Ahriman himself, and many sins
can thus be atoned for, while killing Ormazdean animals is an
abomination like the killing of the god. The struggle between the good
and evil, however, is limited, for the world is not to last forever, and
Ahriman will be defeated at last.
There had been an old myth that the world would end in a fearful winter
like that of the Eddic Fimbul, which would be succeeded by an eternal
spring, but as a storm is the ordinary symbol of strife, the view which
finally obtained in their mythology, is the prediction that the world
will finally end in a battle of the elements.
The Pārsīs came at last to a pure monotheism, and to a certain extent
this change may have been influenced by the creed of the Moslem that
“there is one God, and Mohammed is his prophet,” but the difference in
sentiment cannot be ascribed to any one generation, for it is really
deeper and wider than the movement which, in earlier times, brought the
Magi from an imperfect form of dualism to one which was much more
decided in its presentations.[176]
THE GĀTHAS.
The five Gāthas which have been attributed to Zarathuśtra are doubtless
the earliest portions of the Zend-Avesta. They comprise seventeen
sections of poetical matter, equal in extent to twenty-five or thirty
hymns of the Ṛig-veda. They are composed in the ancient Āryan metre, and
ascribe supreme power to Ahūra Mazda, who is opposed constantly by the
spirit of evil.
In these early songs, the kine, as the representative of the people,
laments the burden which is laid upon Īrānian life. The effort to win
their bread by honest labor is opposed, although not entirely
frustrated, by the Deva-worshipping tribes, who still struggle with the
Zarathuśtrians for the control of the territory. The kine, therefore,
lifts her wail to Ahūra, who responds by the appointment of Zarathuśtra
as the being who is entrusted with her redemption; and he, accepting his
commission, begins his labors. We then have a series of lamentations and
praises addressed by Zarathuśtra and his immediate associates to Ahūra;
also exhortations which are addressed to the people.
These hymns were composed amidst an agricultural people, many of whom
were also herdsmen. Their land and their cattle being their most
valuable property, the raids of the Deva-worshippers were looked upon as
most terrible visitations. In the course of these invasions, we have
also intimations of an organized effort on the part of the foe to
overwhelm the Zarathuśtrians, and it appears that at times they very
nearly accomplished their object, sanguinary conflicts being repeatedly
alluded to. It may be inferred by the prevalence of the thankful tone in
the Gāthas, that the Zarathuśtrians were not conquered during the Gāthic
period, although at the time that the last hymns of the series were
written, the struggle was by no means over.
There is an historical tone in the Gāthas, which should be carefully
observed. Their doctrines and exhortations concern an actual religious
movement, which was taking place at the time of their composition, and
that movement was apparently pure and earnest. Their tone is always
serious, and nearly all the myths are dropped; even the old Āryan gods,
who reappear in the later Avesta, being ignored with a single exception.
In the first Gātha, the soul of the kine, as representing the herds of
the Īrānian people, raises her voice in lamentation. She asks why and
for whom she was made, since afflictions compass her and her life is
constantly threatened by the incursions of predatory tribes. She also
beseeches the Bountiful Immortals to instruct her as to the benefits of
agriculture, and confirm her protectors in the science, as the only
remedy for her sufferings.
THE WAIL OF THE KINE.
“Unto you, O Ahūra and Asha, the soul of the kine cried aloud,
‘For whom did ye create me?
And for whom did ye fashion me?
On me comes the assault of wrath and of violent power;
The blow of desolation and thievish might.
None other pasture given have I than you;
Therefore do ye teach me good tillage
For the fields, mine only hope of welfare.’”
Ahūra speaks:
“Upon this the Creator of the kine asked of Righteousness,
‘How was thy guardian for the kine appointed by thee,
When having power over all her fate ye made her?
In what manner did ye secure for her, together with pasture
A cattle-chief who was both skilled and energetic?
Whom did ye select as her life’s master
Who might hurl back the fury of the wicked?’”
Asha answers:
To him the Divine Righteousness answered:
“Great was our perplexity;
A chieftain who was capable of smiting back their fury
And who was himself without hate
Was not to be obtained by us.”
Zarathuśtra intercedes:
“The Great Creator is himself most mindful
Of the uttered indications which have been fulfilled beforehand
In the deeds of demon gods.
The Ahūra is the discerning arbiter;
So shall it be to us as he shall will.
Therefore it is that we both,
My soul and the soul of the mother kine,
Are working our supplications for the two worlds
To Ahūra, and he will answer,
‘Not for the righteous—
Not for the thrifty tiller of the earth,
Shall there be destruction together with the wicked?’”
Ahūra speaks:
Upon this the Lord spake thus:
“Not in this manner is a spiritual master found;
Therefore _thee_ have I named
For such a head to the tiller of the ground.
... This man is found
Who alone has hearkened to our enunciations:
Zarathuśtra Spitama
I will give him the good abode
And authoritative place.”
Voice of the Kine:
Upon this the soul of the kine lamented:
“Woe is upon me
Since I have obtained for myself in my wounding
A lord who is powerless to effect his wish,
The voice of a feeble and pusillanimous man;
Whereas I desire one who is lord over his will,
And able as one of royal state,—
Who is able to accomplish what he desires to effect.”
Zarathuśtra:
“Do ye, O Ahūra, and thou, O Righteousness,
Grant gladness unto these:
Bestow upon them the peaceful amenities of home
And quiet happiness....
Do ye now therefore assign unto us your aid in abundance
For our great cause.
May we be partakers of the bountiful grace of these your equals,
Your counsellors and servants.”
Zarathuśtra, having entered upon the duties of his office, composes a
liturgy for the benefit of his colleagues, which is given in the second
hymn. The doctrine of dualism is next taught. The progress and struggles
of the cause are presented. There is a song of thankfulness offered in
gratitude for improved fortunes.
In the third Gātha, salvation is announced as universal for believers,
and also contains the reflections of Zarathuśtra upon the sublimity and
bountifulness of Ahūra. There are also personal hopes and appeals.
THE LAST GĀTHA.
While the matter of this hymn is homogeneous with that of the other
Gāthas, it bears some evidence of having been composed in the latter
portion of Zarathuśtra’s life. The subject is a marriage song of a
political and religious character. The freshness and vigor of the style
may indicate Zarathuśtrian influence, if not authorship. The marriage
festival of the prophet’s daughter must have been a semi-political
occasion, and the author would naturally express himself in reference to
the struggle which was still going on.
THE MARRIAGE SONG.
“That best prayer has been answered,
The prayer of Zarathuśtra Spitama
That Ahūra Mazda
Might grant him those boons
Which flow from the Good Order;
Even a life that is prospered for eternal duration;
And also those who deceived him;
May he also grant him,
As the good faith’s disciples in word and in deed.”
The master of the feast then speaks as follows:
“And him will they give thee,
Oh Pouroukista,
Young as thou art of the daughters of Zarathuśtra,
Him will they give thee
As a help in the true service Asha and Mazda,
As a chief and a guardian.
Counsel well then together,
And act in just action.”
The bride answers:
“I will love him,
Since from my father he gained me.
For the master and toilers,
And for the lord-kinsman,
He, the Good Mind’s bright blessing.
The pure to the pure ones.
And to me be the insight which I gain from his counsel.
Mazda grant it for good conscience forever.”
Priestly master of the feast:
“Monitions for the marrying,
I speak to you, maidens,
And heed ye my saying:
By these laws of the faith which I utter
Obtain ye the life of the good mind
On earth and in heaven.
And to you, bride and bridegroom,
Let each one the other in righteousness cherish,
Thus alone unto each shall the home life be happy.
Thus real are these things, ye men and ye women
From the lie-demon protecting
A guard o’er my faithful
And so I grant progress and goodness
And the hate of the lie with the hate of her bondsmen
I would expel from the body—
Where is then the righteous lord that will smite them from life
And beguile them of license?
Mazda! there is the power which will banish and conquer.”[177]
THE YASNA.
The word Yasna means worship including sacrifice. This was the principal
liturgy of the Zarathuśtrians, in which confession, invocation, prayer,
exhortation and praise are all combined. The Gāthas are sung in the
middle of it and in the Vendīdad Sadah; the Visparad is interpolated
within it. Like other compositions of its kind, it is largely made up of
the fragments of different ages and modes of composition. We have no
reason to suppose that the Yasna existed in its present form in the
earlier periods of Zarathuśtranism, but the fragments of which it is
composed, may, some of them, reach back to that era, and even its
present arrangement is comparatively early in the history of Mazdean
literature. The following extracts have been chosen as representing the
finest specimens of poetic fervor to be found in the Yasna:
COMMENCEMENT OF THE SACRIFICE.
“I will announce and I will complete my Yasna to Ahūra Mazda,
The radiant and glorious, the greatest and best,
The one whose body is the most perfect,
Who has fashioned us,
And who has nourished and protected us,
Who is the most bounteous spirit....
“I will announce and I will complete my Yasna to the Good Mind,
And to Righteousness the best,
To the Universal Weal and Immortality,
To the body of the Kine and to the Kine’s soul,
And to the fire of Ahūra Mazda,
Who, more than all the Bountiful Immortals
Has made the effort for our success....
“I will announce and I will complete my Yasna to Mithra of the wide
pastures,
Of the thousand ears, and of the myriad eyes
The Izad of the spoken name.[178]
“I celebrate and complete my Yasna to the Fravishas[179] of the saints,
And to those women who have many sons,
And to a prosperous home life
Which continues without reverse throughout the year,
And to that might which strikes victoriously....
“I announce and complete my Yasna to the Māhya,
The monthly festivals, lords of the ritual order,
To the new and the later moon, and to the full moon which scatters
night....
“I announce and complete my Yasna to the yearly feasts....
Yea, I celebrate and complete my Yasna
To the seasons, lords of the ritual order....
“I announce and complete my Yasna
To all those who are the thirty and three,[180]
Lords of the ritual order....
“To Ahūra and to Mithra, to the star Tiśtrya,
The resplendent and glorious,
To the moon and the resplendent sun,
Him of the rapid steeds, the eye of Ahūra Mazda.”
The sacrifice is long continued, and the gods are again approached with
interminable ritual, and the naming of the objects of propitiation; the
offerings are then made to each of the gods, the fire of earth receiving
especial attention, as well as the stars of heaven and all the Bountiful
Immortals.
At each presentation of the offering by the priest, the object of
propitiation is named. There are invocations and dedications almost
without number, Zarathuśtra being also mentioned as an object of
worship.
“And we worship Zarathuśtra Spitama in our sacrifice,
The holy lord of the ritual order,
And we worship every Izad as we worship him;
And we worship also the Fravisha of Zarathuśtra Spitama, the saint.
And we worship the utterances of Zarathuśtra and his religion,
His faith and his love.
And we worship the former religions of the world devoted to
Righteousness,
Which were instituted at the creation,
The holy religion of Ahūra Mazda,
The resplendent and glorious....
And we worship the milk offering and the libation,
The two which cause the waters to flow forth,
And we worship all waters and all plants,
And all good men and all good women.”[181]
COMMENTARY ON THE FORMULAS.
This commentary is written in the Zend language, and is valuable as a
specimen of early exegesis. Zarathuśtra is here represented as holding a
conversation with Ahūra Mazda, and in reply to his questions Ahūra says:
“Whoever in this world of mine shall mentally recall a portion of the
Ahuna-vairya (formulas), and having thus recalled it, shall undertone
it, and then utter it aloud; whoever shall worship thus, then even with
threefold safety and speed I will bring his soul over the bridge of
_K_invaḍ (Chinvat). I who am Ahūra Mazda will help him to pass over it
to heaven, the best life, and to the lights of heaven.”
“And whoever, O Zarathuśtra, while undertoning the parts of the Ahuna-
vairya, takes aught therefrom, I who am Ahūra Mazda will draw his soul
off from the better world; yea, so far will I withdraw it as the earth
is large and wide.
“And this word is the most emphatic of the words which have ever been
pronounced, or which are now spoken, or which shall be spoken in the
future, for this utterance is of such a nature that if all the living
world should learn it, and learning, hold fast by it, they would be
redeemed from their mortality.”[182]
THE YASNA HAPTANG-HĀITA.
This Yasna of the “Seven Chapters” appears to rank next in antiquity to
the Gāthas, but the tone is considerably changed, although the dialect
remains the same. We have here a stronger personification of the
Bountiful Immortals, while fire is still worshipped; also the earth and
grass. We find here praise to Ahūra and the Immortals, to fire, to the
creation, to the earth and to sacred waters. The sacrifice to the “Soul
of the Kine” is also given, and the sacrifices to both earth and heaven,
to the stormy wind that Mazda made, also to the peaks of the beautiful
mountain.
“And we worship the Good Mind and the spirits of the saints. And we
sacrifice to the fish of fifty-five fins, and to the Unicorn which
stands in Vourūkasha, and to the sea where he stands, and to the Haoma,
golden flowered, growing on the heights. We sacrifice to Haoma, that
driveth death afar, and to the flood streams of the waters, and to the
great flight of the birds, and to the approach of the Fire-priests as
they approach us from afar,[183] and seek to gain the provinces and
spread the ritual law.”[184]
The Yasna also includes several Yaśts, or hymns of praise, some of which
contain poetry as well as praise. As Sraosha is the only divinity of the
later groups mentioned in the first four Gāthas, the Yaśt which is
dedicated to him appears to rank in antiquity next to those fragments
which are found in the Gāthic dialect. The name of Sraosha appears still
to retain its meaning as the abstract quality of obedience although it
is personified.
THE SRAŌSHA YAŚT.
“Propitiation be to Sraosha, Obedience the blessed, the Mighty,
The incarnate mind of reason,
Whose body is the Mithra,—
Him of the daring spear devoted to the Lord
For his worship, homage, propitiation and praise.
“We worship Sraosha, the blessed, the stately,
Him who smites with the blow of victory,
For his splendor and his glory,
For his might and the blow which smites with victory.
“I will worship him with the Yasna of the Izads.
And we worship all the words of Zarathuśtra
And all the deeds well done for him...
“We worship Sraosha, the blessed,
Whom four racers draw in harness,
White and shining, beautiful and powerful
Quick to learn and fleet,
Obeying before speech,
Heeding orders from the mind,
With their hoofs of horn, gold-covered,
Fleeter than our horses, swifter than the winds;
More rapid than the rain-drops as they fall,
Yea, fleeter than the clouds or well-winged birds,
Or the well-shot arrow as it flies
Which overtake not these swift ones
As they fly after them pursuing,
But which are never overtaken when they flee,
Which plunge away from all the weapons
And draw Sraosha with them,
The good Sraosha and the blessed.
“We worship Obedience, the blessed,
Who, though so lofty and so high, yea, so stately,
Yet stoops to Mazda’s creatures, even to the girdle....
For his splendor and his glory,
For his might which smites to victory.
I will worship him with the Yasna of the Izads,
And may he come to aid us,
He who smites with victory.
Obedience the blessed.”[185]
THE YASNA CONCLUDING.
This Yasna, having been composed long after the supposed time of
Zarathuśtra, can hardly be genuine in its present shape. It may,
however, be an elaboration of an earlier document.
“Frashaośtra the holy, asked the saintly Zarathuśtra, ‘What is, in very
truth, the memorized recital of the rites? What is the completed
delivery of the Gāthas?’”
“Zarathuśtra said, ‘We worship Ahūra Mazda with our sacrifice as the
holy lord of the ritual order, and we sacrifice to Zarathuśtra likewise
as the holy lord of the ritual order, and we sacrifice to the Fravisha
of Zarathuśtra, the saint.
‘And we sacrifice to the Bountiful Immortals, the guardians of the
saints, and we sacrifice to all the good, heroic and bounteous Fravishas
of the saints.... And we worship all the five Gāthas, the holy ones and
the entire Yasna, and the sounding of its chants.
‘And we sacrifice to all the springs of water and to the water streams
as well, and to growing plants and forest trees, and to the entire land
and heaven, and to all the stars, and to the moon and sun, even to all
the lights without beginning....
‘We sacrifice to the active man and to the man of good intent, for the
hindrance of darkness, of wasting of the strength and life, and to
health and healing.
‘We sacrifice to the Yasna’s ending words, and to them which end the
Gāthas, and we sacrifice to the bounteous hymns themselves, which rule
in the ritual course, the holy ones....
‘And we sacrifice to the souls of the dead which are the Fravishas of
the saints, and we sacrifice to that lofty Lord who is Ahūra Mazda
himself.’”