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Pahlavi Texts, Part IV (SBE37), E.W. West, tr. [1892], at sacred-texts.com
Varstmânsar Nask.
1. In the sixteenth fargard, Kamnamaêza 3, about departure to any land whatever 4, in renewed search of fortune, there is also this, namely: 'Do not stay away discontentedly from this thy ceremonial and obeisance, O Zaratûst! through love of us, when they do not satisfy thee—neither thy own, nor the confederate, nor the companion, nor the serf, nor the wicked tyrant 5—by whom those who are demons are wont to be worshipped. 2. And where and when thou art far from us, even then do not stand aloof from our affairs; and also when the affairs of the worldly existence shall not stand well for thee, even then thou shouldst reverence us and shouldst pay us homage.' 3. So also this, that the wish of the evil spirit is thus: 'Thou shouldst not reverence and shouldst not pay homage to the archangels; and here 6 the people shall possess neither lordship, nor priestly instruction—that is, ruler and
high-priest—and their desire is not for perfect righteousness.'
4. And this, too, is said, namely: 'Of the contracted 1 spirituality and deficient wealth 2, owing to the little progress of men who are self-gratifiers, thou art aware, O Zaratûst! thou who art no seeker of this—that is, this want of opulence of thine—because thou dost not know it 3; but I perceive those words of complaint of thine, of which I demand an account from thee 4.' 5. And this, too, namely: 'Thou art aware of the gratification of desire 5 by us who are archangels, and which we give for the gratification that thou bringest forth (zihih); we also give thee the liberty which a friend gives to him who is a friend 5.'
6. About what occurs in future ages 6: the experienced (arvandân) who are beneficial through teaching and practising wisdom 7, and the thirst of youths is increased by them; by the assistance of complete mindfulness they improve the world of righteousness and produce distress for the fiend; and the advantage due to virtue extends to them 8. 7. And this, too, that he who is evilly oppressive has died off through his own deeds 9. 8. About always opposing villains with as much strength as exists, so that he who is a good ruler 10, whose high-priest is the bounteous liturgy (Mânsarspend), may become predominant 11 over Wrath.
9. About the praise of the renovators there is this,
too, namely: 'Blessings on good understanding and also on Mitrô, whose punishment of sinners they shall inflict for this consideration, that he is intelligent and friendly (mitrô-pân) 1.' 10. And, about adjudication as to a kinsman (nafsman) of any one whatever, there is this, too, namely: 'Through a revival of Rashnû, whoever is righteous and also whoever is wicked—that is, every one—is to be kept for judicial investigation 2.' 11. This, too, namely: 'A kinsman is to be considered as virtuous 3, by whom his own soul is preserved from wickedness 4.' 12. And this, too, namely: 'So thy high-priest is he whose own religion is pure 5.'
13. About the characteristics of the fiend, the broken-down (khastakŏ) Mânih 6,and the destruction of the wicked who were listening to him, that which came from him who was monarch. 14. And this, too, namely: 'The wicked one, who gives my world to that which the malicious 7 Aharman has established as supremacy (lâlâîh), is he who is a self-wounding 8 demon that is set going for the death of the world of righteousness which he praises. 15. The ceremonial
of righteousness is not such as that he praises, O Zaratûst! the priestly authority of the worldly settlements (gêhânân) that he mentions thus: "In priestly authority and high-priestship I am better (sapîr) and am better suitable;" and not so, O Zaratûst! is that excretion (mûtrisnŏ) 1 he stirs up for mankind; that which he mentions to them becomes a perpetual effusion from him, and they who stirred up the excretion afterwards think it theirs, and that which is a perfect ceremonial of the demons occurs. 16. Through the opposing arrival of Srôsh 2, the righteous, the ruler is in vexation with that person; that ruler who is a protection of these others through good emanation 3—not through evil living—and at every time a distresser of the wicked 4.'
17. About the peculiarity of attracters to the religion, and the good works of those attracted 5. 18. About the signs of the last times, which are the millenniums of the sons of Zaratûst.
19. This, too, that they cause disturbance (aâramênd) unto the sovereignty, and they who are Kaîs and Karaps 6, those even who are the most evil-ruling in the country—who by villanous deeds are those who destroy the existence of mankind through statements, and destroy their own souls 7—also destroy the material world which, confused by them,
is more beloved than righteousness; even the sovereignty is a scanty shelter, among the existences, from those whose command is villanous, when they produce that which is vicious and deliver their pupils (âmûkhtagânŏ) to that which is their end (afdûm), to the fiendish abode 1.
20. And here, too, about the praise of the family of the Fryânaks 2 it speaks thus: 'Righteousness comes up, O Spîtâmân! from the descendants and posterity of Tûrân; when extracted by the Fryânaks it is stated 3 just as though it were by Tûrân; through the assistance of complete mindfulness they develope the world 4 of righteousness and produce distress for the fiend; they likewise think about it with Good Thought, O Zaratûst! and thou shouldst bring forth (zâyês) their gratification 5 from us, who are archangels, by words, that is, do thou demand it.'
21. This, too, is said, namely: 'This liberality which is for thee is for us who are archangels; by him who shall provide liberality for thee 6, it is provided for us.' 22. About the praise of Vistâsp there is this, too, namely: 'Kai-Vistâsp 7 has propitiated thee, among the existences, by liberal giving; that Vistâsp, whose coming forth to thee in distress is through the reign of Vohûman, has developed the material world of righteousness; thou
shouldst think of him, the good companion, O Zaratûst! the pure friend who is Kat-Vistâsp 1; such is that Kaî-Vistâsp, the active, who, when he praises the religion, is attracting fellow-dwellers and converts them, that is, he brings them on to the religion 2.'
23. About attracting the Spîtâmas to the religion there is this, too, namely: 'Thou shouldst speak thus to the Spîtâmas: "Praise righteousness with much homage about it mentally; and a concession is to be discriminated by you, as well as whatever is no concession; even for those deeds of yours righteousness is the reward given unto you, that reward which is much given by Aûharmazd 3."' 24. About the place of the four marvels produced by Aûharmazd in yonder world: there where is the reign of Vohûman 4, there where is the hospitality of Aûharmazd 5, there where religion is along with complete mindfulness 6, and there where are the souls of the liberal 7.
25. About advice to Zaratûst as to speech, made for mankind, which is proportionate—abandoning want of proportion—which is an appropriation of liberality with humility and a wise proportion 8 for good works. 26. This, too, namely: 'To him who gives himself mentally up to thee in discipleship, thou also shouldst give up the best which thou hast to give of thine own; and thou shouldst give wealth to him who shall give wealth to thee 9, because so thy soul would be perfect, O righteous Zaratûst! when it shall act thus.' 27. This, too: 'Thou
shouldst select this religion of mine with wisdom and also with thought 1.' 28. This, too, that as to him who has to act with the freedom from effort (apêsitûnagîh) of righteousness 2 and owing to it, for the good works done by him the gift is good. 29. This, too, that whoever seeks by good works, and seeks good works by innocence, obtains freedom from harm (a-nâsîh); and whoever is liberal to the sacred beings 3 is free from destruction (a-nasînisnŏ), owing to the liberality of the sacred beings. 30. And this, too, namely: 'These are the rewards I am aware of 4, which have been, which still are, and which ever will be.'
31. Perfect excellence is righteousness.
276:3 See Chap. XVI, I n; it is here written kamnamêzŏ in Pahlavi.
276:4 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 1 a.
276:5 Ibid. 1 b, c, d.
276:6 In this world.
277:1 Assuming that tak stands for tang.
277:2 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 2 b.
277:3 Ibid. 2 a.
277:4 Ibid. 2 c.
277:5 Ibid. 2 d.
277:6 Ibid. 3 a.
277:7 Ibid. 3 c.
277:8 Ibid. 3 d.
277:9 Ibid. 4 c.
277:10 Ibid. 4 d.
277:11 Ibid. 5 a.
278:1 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 5 b. For Mitrô see Bk. VIII, Chap. XLIV, 16 n.
278:2 Ibid. 5 c. For Rashnû see Bk. VIII, Chap. XX, 153 n.
278:3 Ibid. 5 d.
278:4 Ibid. 5 e.
278:5 Ibid. 7 e.
278:6 The arch-heretic who was born in A.D. 215-6, first preached his doctrines on the coronation day of king Shahpûr I (20th March, 242), and was put to death by order of Bahrâm I in A.D. 276-7 (see Nŏldeke's Gesch. der Sas. pp. 47, 412, 415). From the mode in which he and his followers are mentioned in §§ 13-16, it would seem that the original Pahlavi version of this Nask must have been made at a time when this heresy was still fresh in men's memories, as it would have been in the first half of the fourth century, when Âtûrpâd-î Mâraspendân was collecting and revising the sacred books.
278:7 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 8 a.
278:8 Ibid. 8 b.
279:1 Compare Pahl. Yas. XLVII, 10 b.
279:2 See Bk. VIII, Chap. IX, 3 n.
279:3 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 8 c, d. This last word (hû-zahisnîh) ought certainly to be hû-zîvisnîh, 'good living.'
279:4 Ibid. 8 e.
279:5 Ibid. 10 d, e.
279:6 Ibid. 11 a; also see Bk. VIII, Chap. XXXV, 13 n.
279:7 Ibid. 11 b, c.
280:1 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 11 e.
280:2 A Tûrânian family of Mazda-worshippers, of whom Yôista is specially mentioned in the Avesta (see Bk. VIII, Chap. XIII, 18 n); and it appears from Dd. XC, 3 that Ashem-yahmâi-usta of Yt. XIII, 120 was another member of the same family.
280:3 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 12 b.
280:4 Ibid. 12 c, and compare § 6.
280:5 Ibid. 12 d, e.
280:6 Ibid. 13 a.
280:7 See Bk. VIII, Chaps. XI, 1, XIII, 15.
281:1 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 13 e.
281:2 Ibid. 14 c, d.
281:3 Ibid. 15 b, c, d.
281:4 Ibid. 16 d, b
281:5 Ibid. 16 e.
281:6 Ibid. 16 c.
281:7 Ibid. 16 a.
281:8 Ibid. 17 a, b, c, e.
281:9 Ibid. 18 a, b, c.
282:1 See Pahl. Yas. XLV, 18 e.
282:2 Ibid. 19 a. All but the last syllable of apêsitûnagîh is written by the repairer of the MS. on one of his patches, but the word is a strange equivalent for Av. haithîm.
282:3 Ibid. 19 d.
282:4 Ibid. 19 e.