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The Avesta and the Pahlavi Texts STRUCTURE AND ZOROASTRIAN TEXTS: CONTENT OF
In its present form, the Avesta is a compilation from various sources, and its different parts date from different periods and vary widely in character. Only texts in the Avestan language are considered part of the Avesta. There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities between the texts of the Avesta and those of the early Indian Rigveda; the similarities are assumed to reflect the common beliefs of Proto-Indo-Iranian times, with the differences then assumed to reflect independent evolution that occurred after the pre-historical split of the two cultures. In its present form the Avesta may be classified into 5 sections: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Yasna (which includes the Gathas) Yashts Visperad Vendidad Khordeh avesta
The Avesta, as known today, represents only those parts of the text that are used liturgically, and therefore survived in the memory of the priests; and, as it now consists of all surviving liturgical texts in the Avestan language, it may include material that never formed part of the 21 nasks at all. In that sense, the current Avesta is a "prayer book" rather than a "Bible". The remainder of the 21 nasks has been lost since then, especially after the fall of the Sassanid empire, after which Zoroastrianism was supplanted by Islam. However, some secondary literature in Pahlavi purports to contain paraphrases or lists of contents of the lost books. European scholarship The texts became available to European scholarship comparatively late. Abraham Anquetil-Duperron travelled to India in 1755, and discovered the texts in Parsi communities. He published a French translation in 1771, based on a modern Persian language translation provided by a Parsi priest. Several Avesta manuscripts were collected by Rasmus Rask on a visit to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1820, and it was Rask's examination of the Avestan language that first established that the texts must indeed be the remnants of a much larger literature of sacred texts. Rask's collection now lies in the library of the University of Copenhagen. Other manuscripts are preserved in the East India House and the British Museum in London; the Bodleian library at Oxford and at various university libraries in Paris.
The use of the expression Zend-Avesta to refer to the Avesta in general is a misunderstanding of the phrase Zand-i-Avesta (which literally means "interpretation of the Avesta"). A related mistake is the use of Zand as the name of a language or script. In 1759, Anquetil-Duperron reported having been told that Zend was the name of the language of the more ancient writings. In his third discourse, published in 1798, Sir William Jones mentions a conversation with a Hindu priest who told him that the script was called Zend, and the language Avesta. This mistake results from a misunderstanding of the term pazend, which actually refers to the use of the Avestan alphabet in writing the Zand and other Middle Persian religious texts, as an expression meaning "in Zend". The confusion then became too universal in Western scholarship to be reversed, and Zend-Avesta, although a misnomer, is still occasionally used to denote the older texts. Rask's seminal work, A Dissertation on the Authenticity of the Zend Language (Bombay, 1821), may have contributed to the confusion. N. L. Westergaard's Zendavesta, or the religious books of the Zoroastrians (Copenhagen, 1852-54) only propagated the error.
Pazand: refers to the explanations and commentaries of the Pahlavi texts which were rewritten in the newly formed 42 lettered Avestan script.
The Yasna
The yasna is divided into 72 chapters called the Ha-iti or Ha. Some of these sections are repetitive. The 72 threads of lamb wool in the Kushti represent these sections. The main section called Staota Yesnya (words of praise and worship begins with Yasna (Ha) 14 and ends with Yasna 58 it is the formal liturgy of this religion. It ioncludes the Ahunavar prayer (yasna 19) and the prayer A airyema Ishyo that is recited immediately after the end of the fifth Gatha (Yana 53). This way the gathas are insulated as they are the spiritual core of the yasna ceremony. The Yasna, or Izeshne, is primarily the name, not of a book, but of a ceremony in which the entire book is recited and appropriate liturgical actions performed. In its normal form, this ceremony can only be performed in the morning. During this recital the gathas are structurally interrupted by the Yasna Haptanghaiti ("seven-chapter Yasna"), which makes up chapters 35-42 of the Yasna and is almost as old as the Gathas, consists of prayers and hymns in honour of the Supreme Deity, Ahura Mazda, the Angels, Fire, Water, and Earth
The Gathas
The holy Gathas comprise of FIVE HYMNS that incorporate the teachings of Asho Zarthust: NAME YASNA OR Ha First Ahunavad 28 to 34 Gatha Second Ushtavad 43 to 46 Gatha Third Spentomad 47 to 50 Gatha Fourth Vohukhshatra 51 Gatha Fifth Gatha Vahishtoisht 53
The Yashts
Hymns of praise for the Yazatas ( adorable beings worthy of worship) Name of days and months in calendar named after some of these Yazatas, e.g. Mehr, Adar. If name of day and month coincide then it is parab and special prayers are performed on that day The introduction and conclusion of the yashts are similar in style and syntax to one another, but each Yasht differs widely in age and content.
The Visperad
The Visperad (from vspe ratavo, "(prayer to all patrons") is a collection of supplements to the Yasna. The Visparad is subdivided into 23 or 24 kardo (sections) that are interleaved into the Yasna during a Visperad service (which is an extended Yasna service). The Visperad collection has no unity of its own, and is never recited separately from the Yasna.
The Vendidad
The Vendidad (or Vidvdt, a corruption of Avestan VDav-Dta, "Given Against the Demons") is an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them. The Vendidad includes all of the 19th nask, which is the only nask that has survived in its entirety. The text consists of 22 Fargards, fragments arranged as discussions between Ahura Mazda and Zoroaster. The first fargard is a dualistic creation myth, followed by the description of a destructive winter on the lines of the deluge of mythology. The second fargard recounts the legend of Yima. The remaining fargards deal primarily with hygiene (care of the dead in particular) [fargard 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 19] as well as disease and spells to fight it [7, 10, 11, 13, 20, 21, 22]. Fargards 4 and 15 discuss the dignity of wealth and charity, of marriage and of physical effort, and the indignity of unacceptable social behaviour such as assault and breach of contract, and specify the penances required to atone for violations thereof. The Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual, and there is a degree of moral relativism apparent in the codes of conduct. The Vendidad's different parts vary widely in character and in age. Some parts may be comparatively recent in origin although the greater part is very old. The Vendidad, unlike the Yasna and the Visparad, is a book of laws rather than the record of a liturgical ceremony. However, there is a ceremony called the Vendidad, in which the Yasna is recited with all the chapters of both the Visparad and the Vendidad inserted at appropriate points. This ceremony is only performed at night