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Pahlavi Texts, Part IV (SBE37), E.W. West, tr. [1892], at sacred-texts.com


CHAPTER XIX.

dkar Nask.

1. The eighteenth fargard, Ad-mâ-yavâ 5, is

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about the pregnancy of the demon from him who has eaten and chattered in sinfulness towards Khûrdad and Amûrdad 1, or who makes water when standing 2) or who heedlessly sees his semen. 2. And the hussy 3 who spills (gûyêdŏ) anything after sunset (hûk-frâshmôk-dâd), or who scatters a morsel (dânar) of food to the north, at night, without a recitation of the Ahunavair 4.

3. This, too, that only the soul is constantly desirable for the body, even through this alone, that this perishable body 5 [is a worldly state of righteousness, and, by rousing up (lâlâ-payamisnîh) 6 when thou wouldst sleep on, the righteousness] is on the advance when thou wouldst have retreated; and

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the righteousness, in arising, is like thee in every coming and departure; through fetching and delivering the breath it shall become good reward, abundant reward, and the reward of righteousness. 4. When the body shall act so, the soul is rejoiced and shall utter a blessing for the body thus: 'Happy may it be for thee, O perishable body! whom I have made tall, and whom I have brought near to the best existence.' 5. And when the body shall not accept the progress (afrâs) of the soul, and says it is evil progress on rousing up, evil progress on advancing, [and evil progress upwards, the soul is a demon]' and shall offer [lamentable] 1 words thus: 'Evil art thou, O perishable body! whom I made dwarfish (gasûk), and whom I have brought near to the worst existence.'

6. About where there are unaccustomed (avêsakŏ), imperfect, and secret signs of short life, and the healthfulness of uttering the Ahunavair 2 and Ashem 3 for it. 7. This, too, that, when thou wouldst squat for making water, thou recitest the Ahunavair, and the Ashem, afterwards, when thou wouldst stand up; so that any demon, or fiend, shall least injure thee. 8. And when thou wouldst go in unto thy wife (nârîk), thou recitest first the Ahunavair, and the Ashem, afterwards, when thou wouldst be coming together 4; for so thou wouldst be making that, too, which arises—which is thy son—more righteous and

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more successful through the Ashem. 9. This, too, that, when thou wouldst go into a house, thou shouldst be offering homage, and do thou utter the Ahunavair, for the spirit of the house and for everything of the material existence of the righteous which is and was and will be in that dwelling.

10. Also about the corruption (tavastanŏ) of the wicked, and the calamity (sûr) which is unjustly distributed by them in the realm 1.

11. Excellence that is perfect is righteousness.


Footnotes

206:5 The first three words of the third hâ of the third Gâtha (Yas. XLIX, 1), here written ad-mâ-îyûbŏ in Pahlavi.

207:1 Av. haurvatât, 'completeness, or health,' and ameretât, 'immortality;' the archangels who have special charge of water and plants, respectively (see Sls. XV, 25-29), and are said to be injured by the sin of talking while eating and drinking those things (see Chap. IX, 2).

207:2 Thereby polluting more ground than is necessary (see Sls. X, 5).

207:3 See Chap. XI, 5 n.

207:4 K does not mention the latter sinful action. The reason of the sin of such actions is that they may be considered as offerings to the demons (who are supposed to come from the north and to be powerful at night) unless protected by the Ahunavair (see Bk. VIII, Chap. I, 7) used as an exorcism (see Sd. XXX, 1, 2; Sls. X, 7, XII, 18).

207:5 B has 'even through the assertion that this is corporeal and perishable.' The passage in brackets occurs only in K.

207:6 This appears to be the most probable reading of the word which occurs again in § 5, where it is written lâlâ-ûpayamisnîh in K, which form is also found in Hn. I, 23, where it translates Av. ustryamnô. For the latter member of this compound see also Chap. XX, 6, 7. For the syllable yam we might substitute gam or gam without much alteration of meaning, or even dam if we translate by 'fanning up, exciting.'

208:1 The words in brackets are omitted in K.

208:2 See Bk. VIII, Chap. I, 7.

208:3 See Chap. III, 1; here, and in §§ 7, 8, it is expressed by Pahl. aharâyîh, 'righteousness,' being an abbreviation of its usual appellation, 'praise of righteousness,' in Pahlavi.

208:4 Pahl. 'amat andarg hakhtô vadîdûnâñ aê.'

209:1 Like Yas. XLIX this fargard begins with special references to the wicked, and returns to them towards the end.


Next: Chapter XX