ZOROASTRIAN SCRIPTURES
Presentation at
North American Mobed Council
July 30, 2005 – New York
Introduction
Zoroastrianism, like other
religions is a "religion with a book" or rather a
religion possessing written texts. From the beginning,
Zarathushtra's prophetic teachings were embodied in
words, though they were not written down until more than
a millennium later.
The Avesta is the analogue of the Bible for
Zoroastrians. Like the Bible, it is a collection of many
texts from many eras, in different languages. The texts
come from times that may be as early as 1700 BC and as
late as 400 A.D.
Avesta
The Zoroastrian scriptures
as a whole are known as Avesta. The language in which
these scriptures are written is also known as Avesta.
These scriptures were translated, commentaries
(explanatory notes) were added thereto, and expository
texts were written in later languages. Over a period of
time the language of the Iranians changed. Avesta was a
dead language by the Parthian period i.e. 2nd century
BCE and Pahalavi became the religious language of
Persia.
Zend Avesta
The Pahalavi language was
further developed during the Sassanian times in the 3rd
century CE and had an alphabet of only 14 letters. The
priests of that time started to write the Avestan
prayers for the very first time in the Pahalavi script.
The priests also did a word-to-word translation of the
Avestan prayers into Pahalavi as best as they could.
However, they were not fully conversant with the Avestan
language and unfortunately most of their translations
are not accurate or reliable though not without some
spiritual significance. You will agree that a
word-to-word translation cannot clearly express the
meaning of the original texts. So the priests also wrote
down explanations and commentaries of all the Avestan
text. This interpretation of the Avesta is called the
Zend.
Zend is a Middle Persian (Pahlavi) word and means
“commentary” and refers to the Pahlavi translations of
Avesta with Pahlavi commentaries thereon. Quite often
many amongst us erroneously refer our scriptures, the
Avesta, as the "Zend-Avesta." This is a misnomer and is
caused by the misinterpretation of the word "Zend."
Avesta in the West
In the West little was
known about the religion and customs of ancient Persia
before the knowledge of Avesta was brought to Europe in
the eighteenth century.
Anquetil du Perron, a Frenchman, traveled and lived in
India (Surat) from 1755-1761 and extensively interacted
with the local Parsee priests and high priest. Perron,
in 1771, on his return from India, gave the world, the
first translation of the Avesta which he erroneously
called the Zend-Avesta. His translations included the
surviving texts with ritual instructions and many
valuable personal observations on the customs and
rituals of the Parsis, as well as a translation of the
Pahlavi Bundahishn. These translations were not well
received by scholars at first but ultimately opened the
way for more than a century of scholarly research on the
ancient religion.
The western study of the Avesta stems from Anquetil du
Perron's works, which in turn were based on the Sanskrit
transliteration and translation handed down by
Neiryosang Dhaval and whatever meager understanding (or
misunderstanding) the Parsi priests possessed at that
time.
Brief Historical Account
It is reasonable to conclude that the Avesta was
composed in what is known as prehistoric times – during
the time when writing was unknown and the art of writing
was not invented. The Avesta was committed to writing at
a later stage, much later than other nations invented
their own scripts.
The foundation of the Sassanian dynasty marked the
beginning of the Zoroastrian revival. Avesta texts,
particularly the Yashts, provide important glimpses into
history of the Peshdadian and Kayanian dynasties; but
the Avesta terminates with the reign of Kayanian
Vishtasp and goes no further. The Achaemenians and the
Arsacides (Parthians) were entirely forgotten in Iranian
tradition. This is very noticeable in the Dibache of the
Afringan where we recite the names of rulers of Persian
Dynasties. The rulers of Achaemenians and the Parthian
Dynasties are conspicuous by their absense.
Great Avesta
After the invention of the current Avestan script in the
Sassanian Era, the priests recorded every surviving
Avestan text and formed the Great Avesta. This was
compiled into 21 Nasks to correspond to the 21 words of
the Ahunavar (Yatha Ahu Vairyo) prayer. Copies of these
books were placed in fire temples, libraries and
treasuries but during the Islamic reign were destroyed
through successive conquests by Arabs, Turks and Mongols
and not a single copy survived. We only know of its
existence from the later book, called the Denkard
written in the ninth century.
Journey (Compilation) of
Avesta
A linguistical and historical scrutiny of the Avesta,
however, will reveal several layers of literature which
could not but have taken almost a thousand years to
materialize into an oral literature -- oral because it
was precisely and meticulously memorized and passed on
by word of mouth through many generations until its
final reduction in writing possibly during the
Achaemenian period (550-330 BCE).
The Avesta suffered a disaster when Alexander of
Macedonia invaded Iran in 321 BCE, put an end to the
Achaemenian empire, and devastated the royal treasuries
in which the Avesta was reportedly kept. For almost five
hundred years after the Macedonian invasion the
Zoroastrian scriptures remained in a scattered
condition, much being preserved only by memory. At the
same time the understanding of the older Avesta texts
began to fade away and the need for a translation and
interpretation became evident.
During the Parthian era (250 BC-226 AD), King Valkhash
[Greek-Vologases (I) 51-77 AD], sponsored an attempt to
re-construct the Avesta from the scattered manuscripts.
Thereafter the founder and the first of the Sassanian
kings, Ardashir Papakan (226-240 AD), commanded his high
priest Tansar, to bring together the dispersed portions
of the holy book, and to compile from these a new Avesta,
which, as far as possible, should be a faithful
reproduction of the original.
Artakhshir’s son Shapur I (241-272 AD) enlarged this
re-edited Avesta by collecting and incorporating with it
the non-religious treatises on medicine, astronomy,
geography and philosophy.
During the reign of Shapur II (309-380 AD), the Avesta
was translated into Pahlavi. It is believed that the
high priest Adarbad Mahraspand, brought the new
redaction of the Avesta to its definitve conclusion.
Thereafter, the commentaries were added thereto during
the reign of Khusro I (531-579 AC). As can be seen it
was under the Sassanian dynasty, in about 560 CE, that
the Zoroastrian texts were collected, collated,
screened, augmented, codified, canonized translated into
Pahlavi and interpreted.
[Dastur Tansar – Ardeshir Papakan (226-240 AD)
Dastur Kirder – Shapur I (241-272 AD)
Dastur Adarbad Maraspand – Shapur II (309-380 AD)
- Chosroes I (Khusro Anoshirwan) (531-579 AD)]
The Avesta-Pahlavi scriptures suffered disruption once
again when the Arabs invaded and conquered Iran. This
conquest (637-651) was fatal to the Zoroastrian
religion. Out of 21 Avesta Nasks and their Pahlavi
translations, 20 Avesta Nasks and Pahlavi translations
of 19 Nasks were in existence in the 9th Century. A
summary of the contents of these 19 Nasks, based on
Pahlavi translation was prepared, and this
summary-account of the Nasks form the subject matter of
the VIII and IX books of the Pahlavi Denkart. Most of
the Pahlavi texts now extant were compiled or composed
in the 9th Century. Thereafter most of the Avesta Nasks,
their Pahlavi translations, and other Pahlavi works have
been irretrievably lost.
Contents of 21 Nasks
The 21 Avesta volumes contained writings not only on
religious matters but on mythology, epic, history,
geography, astronomy, hygiene, healing, medicine,
agriculture, judicial law, government and development.
The Sassanian canon of the Avesta was divided into 21
volumes called nasks in the Pahlavi language. The nasks
were put into three categories of seven volumes each.
The first category called Gathic had the first nask
named after two Gathic terms called Stoata Yesnya (Pahlavi
Stot yasn) meaning “Reverential Praises”. This category
is recognized as the “spiritual” in Pahlavi books.
The second category is Datic, meaning the “legislative”
part of the collection. It has rules and regulations for
socio-religion matters. It is called “material” by the
Pahlavi writings.
The third, Hadha-manthra, meaning the “Thought provoking
(words)” was a mixture of both, a kind of miscellany.
The Rivayats state that, when after the calamity of
Alexander they sought to find the books again, they
found a portion of each nask, but found no nask in its
entirity except the Vendidad (the 19th Nask). Out of the
original twenty-one nasks, the nineteenth alone (the
Vendidad) has survived. Portions of other nasks are
preserved, interspersed here and there among the Yasna
and Vispered, or have come down to us as fragments in
Pahlavi works, or have been rendered into Pahlavi, like
the Bundahishn (Book of Creation) and the
Shayast-la-Shayast (Treatise on the Lawful and
Unlawful).
Dichotomy – About existence of Nasks prior to Sassanian
Era.
Age of Avesta
The Avesta is like a great pearl, in which layers
and layers of material were added around a central core.
The central core of Avesta, is the Gathas, the five
hymns of Zarathushtra and the layers are the Yashts,
Yasna, Vispered and Vandidad. It would be correct to say
that the Avesta was worked at from the time of
Zarathushtra down to the Sassanian period. In its
present form, therefore, the Avesta is a compilation
from various sources, and its different parts date from
different periods and vary widely in character.
The collapse of the theocratic Sassanian Empire in 651
CE, left the Zoroastrian clergy without its dominating
royal support, and the whole system, including the
Avestan and Pahlavi scriptures, began to fall apart.
Nevertheless much of the collection survived as late as
the 9th century CE, a period during which many of the
Pahlavi scriptures were written --also revised to suit
the times -- in a sort of salvage operation. It is
estimated that between one fourth to one third of the
entire collection of the Avesta has been salvaged.
Yasna Haptanghaiti
The oldest text, after the Gathas, is called the Yasna
Haptanghaiti – Worship in Seven Chapters – and has been
given the second highest position (after the Gathas) in
the Avesta. This text was probably composed by some of
Zarathushtra’s contemporaries, a generation or so after
the Prophet. These are prayers for good rule, peace,
health, and statements of devotion to truth and the
Prophet’s teachings. The Seven Chapters are devotional,
not prophetic; liturgical, rather than didactic.
Yasna
The next major layer of text added onto the core is the
liturgical and hymnic collection called the Yasna
(worship). Yasna is what the Parsees call Yazashne –
Ijasni. It is a compilation extracted for liturgical
purposes from various nasks. The Yasna includes the
Gathas and the Seven Chapters.
The whole Yasna has 72 chapters (haiti, ha). The
arrangement of the chapters is purely liturgical. This
number, in time, became a holy number with the Kusti
having 72 interwoven strands to remind the wearer of the
holy writing and service. The Yasna is composed in a
dialect of Avestan called “Younger Avestan”, in which
many of the ancient Gathic words and usages have
changed.
Of the 72 chapters, chapters 1 to 27 and 55 to 72 are in
Avestan language. These are not in poetic but in prose
form and were not composed by Zarathushtra but hundreds
of years later by others, most likely by priests of that
era. The Gathas are composed in the Old Avesta, often
called Gathic language.
Visparad
In the next layer, also in Younger Avesta, is a set of
priestly texts called the Visparad, of 23 chapters. This
is a prayer in praise of all spiritual leaders (vispa-Ratu)
and is recited during thanksgiving ceremonies and feasts
during the Gahambars. In the ceremonial recitation, the
Visparad is not an independent text, but is supplement
to the Yasna, and its chapters are recited in addition
to the chapters of Yasna.
Yashts
The next major Younger Avestan text is a series of
praise-hymns called the Yashts. The word Yasht means
worship. The Yashts form a part of the ancient Bagan
Yasht, ancient pre-Zarathushtrian hymns. They are
composed in honour and worship of Ahura Mazda, Amesha
Spentas and Yazatas. Each of the Yashts is individually
dedicated to one of the divinities. At present there are
22/23/24 Yashts and fragments of some more. The Avesta
texts of some of the Yashts are identical with the texts
of some of the chapters of the Yasna; for instance Yasna
9 and 10 form Hom Yasht; Yasna 35 to 42, Haftan Yasht;
Yasna 57 is Sarosh Yasht. Each Yasht contains
introductory prayers in Pazand (Middle Persian), added
at a later date.
Zoroastrian scholar Mary Boyce has pointed out that much
of the texts of the epic and mythological hymns to the
Yazatas come from the old Indo-Iranian religion and are
thus older than the Gathas. Important historical
materials of the kings and heroes of the Pishdadian and
Kayanian times and epic narrations and heroic
descriptions of those times have been preserved in the
Yashts.
The Yashts are hard to place in Zoroastrian history.
Scholars disagree greatly as to when these poems were
created, or re-created. It would be prudent to say that
they were composed during or even prior to the
Achaemenid period, from 600-330 BC.
Vandidad
The latest book of the Avesta is a book of mythological
material, priestly instructions, and purity laws called
the Vandidad. It is the religious law-book, and contains
religious laws against visible and invisible impurities
and evil forces. Besides other matters, it contains
religious laws of sanitation, hygiene and ritual purity.
It is the code of ceremonial ablutions, penances and
purification. There are civil laws, which deal with
violence and sexual transgressions to abuse of animals
and people. There are also elaborate rituals of priestly
purification and instructions on making and keeping
sacred fires. The composition of the Vandidad dates back
to 4th or 3rd Century BCE though the material contained
in it is far older.
It is one of the 21 nasks of the Sassanian times; and in
the present condition it has 22 chapters. In the
ceremony, Vandidad is not an independent text. In the
ceremonial recital, the chapters of the Vandidad are
intermingled with the chapters and cantos of the Yasna
and the Visparad.
Khordeh Avesta
Much later in the Zoroastrian history, volumes of
excerpts from Avesta were compiled and adapted for the
various occurrences of ordinary life, into a hymn book
and has come to be known as Khordeh Avesta or Parts of
Avesta and has become the main prayer book among
Zoroastrians. It is believed to have been put together
by the Head Priest Adarbad Maharaspand of the Sassanian
Era. The contents of each Khordeh Avesta edition vary,
but the book usually contains the basic Avesta prayers
such as Kusti prayers, Gahs, Nyaeshes, and some of the
Yashts. There are also Pazand prayers like Doa Nam
Setayashne, Patet Pashemani, nirangs at the end of the
Yashts. In few editions, there may also be explanations
of the prayers.
Therefore, Khordeh Avesta (Smaller Avesta), the popular
book of daily prayers is neither an independent book,
nor a salvage of wrecked nasks, nor a standard scripture
of specific chapters and length. It has not been
mentioned in any of the Pahlavi writings, which supply
us with the names and contents of the Avestan
scriptures. It has many of its Avestan prayers
supplemented by late Middle Persian pieces especially at
the beginning and the end of each Nyaesh and Yasht. It
is, therefore, a bi-lingual prayer book and a recent
compilation.
Pahlavi and Extant Pahlavi
Literature
Pahlavi is also called Middle-Persian because it stands
midway between the Old Persian and the Modern Persian.
Old Persian is the language of the rock inscriptions of
the Achaemenian sovereigns and it bears relation to
Avesta.
The extant Pahlavi literature
can be divided into three classes:
(a) Pahlavi translations of Avesta texts. We have to-day
the Pahlavi translations of Yasna, Visperad, Vendidad,
fragments of Hadokht Nask, some Yashts and Nyaishes and
some Afringans. The translations may not have been
carried out by the same individual. They must have been
done by different translators.
(b) Pahlavi texts on religious subjects. There are three
most important viz. Denkart, Bundahishn and
Dadastan-I-Denik.
Denkart
is a voluminous work in Pahlavi dealing with
traditions, morals, precepts and history of the religion
of Mazda-worship. The compilation of Denkart was
undertaken by Adur Farnbag, son of Farokhzat, during the
reign of Caliph Al Mamun who ruled from 813 to 833 AD.
He was the high priest. The work was completed by
Adurbad I Emed I Ashvahisht in about 931 AD. A
manuscript of Denkart was brought from Iran to Surat in
1783 by Mulla Bahman, the son of Mulla Behram.
Khwady Namag was composed in the 4th
century CE and gives an account of the life and times of
the legendary Peshdadian and Kayanian dynasties. This
book was transcribed by four Zoroastrian priests into
Arabic in the 10th century and became the source of
Firdausi’s epic the Shahaname (975 to 1010 CE).
Bundahishn, the book on Creation was
compiled by one Franbag I Datakih I Ashvahisht who must
have edited the text by about 1008 AD. It was first
brought to Europe by Anquetil du Person who first
published its French translation in 1771.
Dadastan-I-Denik contains 92 questions and
answers. The queries were put to Manushchihr, son of
Yoshnjam, the high priest of Pars and Kerman in the 9th
Century AD. Some of the important subjects covered are
meritorious deeds and sins, fate of the soul,
resurrection, qualifications and functions of priests.
Of the other Pahlavi works relating to religious
subjects is Arda Viraf Nameh which contains descriptions
of the fate of souls in heaven, hell and purgatory.
(c) Pahlavi texts on other subjects not directly
connected with religion are those on historical matters
as Yatkar I Zariran which gives an account of the war
between King Gushtasp of Kayanian Dynasty and Arjasp,
the King of the Khyons.
Pazand and Extant Pazand
Literature
During the Sassanian Era the ancient Avesta language was
hardly understood, as a result, religious texts were
translated into Pahlavi and commentaries were also
written in that language. Under the Semetic influence
many words of Non-Iranian origin were introduced in the
Pahlavi language. Hence Pahlavi became a curious
admixture of Iranian and Semetic elements, and common
people found it difficult to understand. It was,
therefore, necessary to simplify the language.
Consequently, all the Sematic words were banished from
Pahlavi and were substituted by their Iranian
equivalents. Also, it was thought worthwhile not to
compose prayers in a language that contained so many
Semetic words. Hence a new and simplified literary
development came into being, and that was Pazand. To-day
Pazand is written in Avesta characters and is composed
of words which are purely Iranian, just as was the Dari
language spoken by the Iranian Zoroastrians to the day.
Adarbad Mahraspand, the high priest, during the reign of
Shapur II composed some Pazand prayers. These are
prayers of repentance (Patet), Dibache of Afringans,
blessings (Afrins), and adoration (Doa Nam Setayeshne).
There are also short laudatory passages (Nirangs)
composed in Pazand to be recited at the end of certain
Avesta Yashts. There is also the nuptial blessing in
Pazand (Ashirwad).
Conclusion
A very extensive Zoroastrian literature must have been
in existence in ancient times. The Avesta that has come
down to the modern Zoroastrian world is but a collection
of fragments and texts preserved from a far greater
whole. What we have is what was meticulously memorized
and passed on by word of mouth through generations until
its final reduction to writing. From what we know of the
scripts, it could have been done during the Achaemenian
period (550-330 BC) when the Iranians saw the need to
have a script which its subject nations already
possessed.
As a rule Avestan text, had a Pahlavi translation,
commentary and supplementary following. It was the
Pahlavi rendering on which the latter priests relied to
expound the religion, because Avesta as a language had
become unknown and was no more understood by the people.
After the Arab conquests, only the writings on religion
containing much of the current Avesta, and one law-book
survived. Though the actual texts may have been lost,
perhaps the knowledge and information in them survived
in various ways.
The truth is that we possess but a trifling portion of a
much larger Avesta consisting of 21 books called nasks.
From the Pahlavi Dinkard (9th century AD) we learn that
this larger Avesta was only a part of a yet more
extensive original Avesta, which is said to have existed
before Alexander. We are told that of a number of nasks
only a small portion was found to be extant after
Alexander.
The Avesta has been preserved through millennia of
hardship by the devotion of priests and people who kept
it alive in memory, sacred words preserved in linguistic
amber until the modern era when their code was cracked.
This preservation of the original words of Zarathushtra,
and the words of those who came after him, is perhaps
the foremost miracle of the entire Zoroastrian
tradition. It is up to the present generation of
Zoroastrians to keep this miracle alive and keep its
divine flames burning.
