The Pious Foundations of the Zoroastrians Author(s): Mary Boyce Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London , 1968, Vol. 31, No. 2 (1968), pp. 270-289 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/610684 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms School of Oriental and African Studies and Cambridge University Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS By MARY BOYCE In ancient Iran there was evidently a strong sense of existence which was reinforced by Zoroaster's reform and his teachings ab hell, so that life on earth came to be lived with the hereafter cont An orthodox Zoroastrian combines an appreciation of the g Ohrmazd, and an acceptance of his allotted tasks within it, w that this world is nevertheless only a halting-place, and that after death. The moral requirements of his faith make him self- the responsibility for his own conduct and ultimate fate; ye striking sense of community, of a bond between all those of the united by their common purpose and way of life.' This sense extends to a remarkable degree to the righteous dead, to those so overcome for righteousness' (y6i asdi vaonara).2 Religious w remote past (notably the Farvardin Yait) show that the Zoroastrians are at one with their ancestors in being aware of th departed, in wishing to please them, and in rejoicing at a sen tinuing care and protection.3 This awareness of the spirits of the dead, and concern for many observances on their behalf; indeed some very pious Zo be said almost to live for the dead, so devotedly do they main rites for the departed. This is a factor contributing to the m Zoroastrianism as a gloomy faith; but to a well-disciplined Zo there is little place for sorrow at the death of a good person, and natural human grief, this is assuaged in a practical manner by by the performance of the rituals prescribed by religion. Many are accompanied by offerings of food and drink, which are after of by the living in communion with the dead, the soul being join its kinsmen and friends, not in grief but in companiona Irani idiom such observances are for 'the rejoicing of the sou Some of the offerings are also given to the poor, so that piety t cheerfulness, and charity are combined in a way that is wholly Z Apart from specific observances for the individual departed so 1 This sense of community is discussed by J. J. Modi in his article 'A Z brotherhood', Journal of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, 16, 1930, 67-80 2 Y, xxvI, 6 (Pii. ki weh mard i ahraw hind). 3 There is a striking passage in the Tansar name (ed. M. Minovi, Tehran Boyce, Rome Oriental Series, Literary and Historical Texts from Iran, I, 196 Sasanian Tansar is represented as saying: 'I have various kinds of ple (pleasure) is that the spirits of the virtuous dead (arvah-i guzaltagan-i nikztkM understanding and wisdom and achievements. It is as if I heard their voices ut saw the gladness and radiance of their countenances.' Cf. a passage in t Ardasir' apud M. Grignaschi,' Quelques specimens de la litterature sassanid 1966, 50 (text), 71 (transl.). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 271 the great company of the spirits of the dead, the fravagis, is invo religious services ; and no festival passes without their presence being i It has been suggested that the religious (as distinct from theological) di between frava'i and ravan is an historical one; that the older conc belonging to a remote antiquity, is of the fravagi, originally thoug terrestrial continuation of more or less the whole person, surviving and that the later one, belonging to Zoroaster's reform, is of the ravan senting the ethically more advanced idea of a spiritual after-life li presence of God.5 That these two ideas became closely intertwined i terminology as well as in practice. Thus a departed soul is invoked a ravqn,6 as' ravan; 7 but with the passage of time it becomes merg company of the fravasis, personified as Arda Fravas. This concept, modified by the subsequent, ethical one, still brings with it ancie persisting despite developments in doctrine. It is evidently because of such ancient elements in Zoroastrianism addition to belief in the need for a moral life to save the soul at the Cinvat Bridge, there are also maintained rituals and offerings to help it both at thi time of decision and thereafter. There is a blend of a doctrine of salvation through virtue and a doctrine of salvation through rites ; and both virtue a rites are held to be essential. Originally rites and offerings were presumably to placate the formidable spirits of the dead; but with the ethical reform th became a means to supplement the moral acts of the departed, and to giv comfort and joy in the hereafter. In the remote past the rituals after death must have been solely th responsibility of the living, a more or less selfish act of propitiation; 8 bu when (after Zoroaster, according to the above theory) they came to be a means to salvation, then, since each man has the responsibility for the fate of his own soul, it became incumbent on the individual to make provision himself for the essential rites to be performed for him after death ; and the cost of these has been in later times the first charge on his estate. These essential rites ar those of the first three days after death, and of the fourth day ; of the recurre 4 After I had enjoyed for some time the hospitality of Irani Zoroastrians, but before I h begun to comprehend this feeling for the dead, I ventured, still haunted by associations of dea with sorrow, to ask if they never celebrated a feast-day without an accompanying ritual for th dead. The reply, made with mild astonishment, was ' But of course not. We always want th to share our happiness '. A striking example of this wish, coupled with the desire for the protect of the frava8is, is to be found in the old Parsi custom whereby on the second (khichdi) day of preliminary wedding-celebrations a stim ceremony is performed by both families in invitat to their fravasis to share in the rejoicings. [Information from Ervad Dr. Firoze M. Kotwal Navsari, to whose kindness I owe all material concerning the Parsis in the present article f which a written source is not cited. As usual, I am much indebted to Ervad Kotwal for the fullness and precision of his information, most generously given.] 5 See N. Soderblom, ' Les Fravashis--II', RHR, xxxIx, 1899, 394 f., 408. 6 See, e.g., the Pazand dibdc'e of the yasna, 16. 7 A general formula, whereby the departed soul is distinguished from that of a living person (zinde ravan). 8 See Sdderblom,' Les Fravashis[-I] ', RHR, xxxIx, 1899, 238. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 272 MARY BOYCE day of the month during the f Many would add as highly desir tenth day, and the recurrent t special observance on the sixth probably not provide for ceremo his family, however poor, would necessary in very simple fashion one generation.10 A richer man m more lavish fashion, making a c responsible for having the ritual there is no son, to appoint a ne Pahlavi stfir, in Irani Zoroas Bridge', and among the Pars inheritance is by primogeniture the youngest son, as the last to r to assume responsibility for rite that the ceremonies for the fr they knew on earth ; hence the m in Yazd, whose owners, having de the anniversary ceremonies in th In addition to the essential rites as a matter of duty, which are n soul; and till the recent past a as well as for the essential cere indeed accused the Zoroastrian purposes, to the deprivation of seems at first sight an un-Zoroas Parsis) is said to be that it remov the former Persian law, that if on he inherited everything, leaving registered with the local Muslim and the wishes of the testator w of such a trust usually received a provided in fact a safeguarded so 9 The thirtieth and the anniversary abbreviation of salroz) ; among the Pa simply the baj days, from the ceremo dahom in Iran, dasmun in India; those The six-monthly observance is named by 10 It is generally held that after this p fravalisa; but nevertheless individual an wealthy or distinguished families. 11 Nowadays this source of income m cases in Shariffabid of registered en administer, since the heirs have apos misappropriated in these circumstance This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 273 Because of benefits pertaining to some pious endowments, it is not un among Parsis and Iranis, for the responsibility for such trusts to be under the will among the testator's children. Thus, for example, in generation Ervad Ratanji Faramji Dabu of Navsari 12 established a t the performance of rituals after his death, whose administration was lef his sons,13 who duly take in turn the responsibility for the annual cerem each enjoying for his year of duty the trustee's emoluments. A littl Ervad Dada, son of Ervad Heera, of the Kanga family,14 established w known as the Heerabagh in Navsari, with its date-palms, mangoes an fruits, as a trust-property for the annual celebration of his father's muktad (farvardagan) ceremonies, and those of himself and his near r The income from this garden is considerable, and the surplus is enjoyed f years in rotation by the heirs, who during their term of office are in ch the ceremonies. This trust has now descended in this manner to the third generation. Sometimes an endowment for the performance of rites is given to the trustees of a sacred or a charitable institution to administer. This is becoming commoner with the great mobility of the population, since, as has been seen, it is desirable to have the rites performed near, if not at, the dwelling of the deceased. For example, the trustees of the boys' orphanage founded in Navsari in A.D. 1923 by Bai Dosibai Adarji Kotwal 15 have the responsibility under the trust deed for the perpetual annual ceremonies of the foundress, her father, grandfather, and those of her near relatives who predeceased her. They also administer the endowments of 240 other anniversary ceremonies entrusted to them during the past 45 years.16 There is a Dadgdh Fire at the orphanage, with paves, and the panthaki 17 performs there all the appropriate rituals with the exception of yasna, namely bqj, afrinagan, stim, and fravasi. The i~&ni is partaken of by the boys of the orphanage.s8 Entrusting the endowment funds thus to the orphanage is an act of merit beyond the immediate benefit to the testator's soul; for the endowment is always larger than is necessary for the 12 See R. J. Dustoor Meherjirana, The genealogy of the Naosari priests, London, 1926, 151. 13 One of Ervad Ratanji's sons and heirs is Raj Ratna Dinshah Dabu, who held high office under the late Gaekwads of Baroda. 14 See Meherjirana, op. cit., 80. Ervad Heera, son of Ervad Kaus, had four sons, Fr Kaus, Faredun, and Dada (or Darab). Faredun died childless, and his youngest brother was made his pilak. Dada was panthaki to a rich layman, Burjoreji Garda, who esteemed and sold to him at a low price a piece of land for this pious foundation. Dada improve property, which he named Heerabagh in memory of his natural father. 15 The sister of Ervad Jamsheed and Ervad Pheeroozshah, see Meherjirana, op. cit., The trustees are the Bhagarsdth Anjoman. 16 For the precise figures I am indebted, through Ervad Kotwal, to the kindness of Da Meherji Rana, the Vada Dastur of Navsari. 17 Under the trust-deed the panthak1 should, if possible, be a Kotwal. The post is he present by Ervad Hormuz, son of Ervad Bapu, son of Ervad Mehervan (the first panthaki, cousin of Bai Dosibai). 18 On 6`as'ni see 'Rapithwin and the feast of Sade ', Festschrift F. B. J. Kuiper, The Hague the press, n. 46. VOL. XXXI. PART 2. 19 This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 274 MARY BOYCE ceremonies themselves, the su ments are sometimes given to t That the custom of endowing the Sasanian law-book, the Madi is devoted, among other matter religious services for the dead, such trusts were ordinarily a able 21 son; or, if a trust yie among the members of the f ka xvustag ruwdn riy payddg d>an framan ne dad,24 widar nirmad-j andar, abag hamdida the soul, and a foundation is e no instruction is given for (it eldest son is to administer it in to administer it) together with income of a trust goes to the case :" ka xvastag ruwan yazi nihddag nihid, bar, .n i az ni property for services for the services, the income, that whi trustees'. Further, if a capita way, the surplus from it too go agar bar5mand, bar, agar abar, ud rzxg i~ sardardn be pardazid yields income, the income, if 19 A few of the passages relating to in his ' Mitteliranische Studien Iv ', WZKM, xxvII, 1913, 369-73 ; all of them have since been set out conveniently by J. de Menasce in his recent Feux et fondations pieuses dans le droit 8assanide, Paris, printed 1964, published 1966. For a discussion on some of the passages referring to sacred Fires see BSOAS, xxxI, 1, 1968, 52-68. Citations from the MHD in the present article are from the facsimile edition of the first part, published by J. J. Modi, Bombay, 1901. 20 MHD, 29.9-11 (de M., 13). 21 MHD, 24.12-13 (de M., 7). 22 MHD, 29.9-11. 23 MS 'BYDWN-x1. 24 MS YXBWN-yt. 25 The expression paydag kardan is used in the MHD in bequeath property by will. The idiom appears cognate wit 'to designate, appoint ' (see M. Minovi (ed.), Tansar name, law seems deficient in legal terms of art. Thus diAtan ap sense, 'to have, hold, possess (absolutely)', and in a spe administer'. Dddan is used with similar ambiguity (see de and ' to give in trust, entrust '. Windh, which in ordinary sin, is used in law for a civil offence (see further, below, p In the light of such imprecision it is debatable whether terms of English law to render the less well-defined MPe at least makes clear his own interpretation of the text. 26 cf. also MHD, 24.16-17 (zan ud frazand ... pad agnin to administer (it) jointly '). 27 MHD, 34.6-7 (de M., 15). 28 MHD, 34.2-3 (de M., 15). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 275 up 29 (as) recompense and provision for the trustees, on account work 30 and responsibility, and the expenses incurred over the cap are, however, other cases where the amount to be received by the adm is specified in the will; 31 ka xvdstag ruwan ray paydag kard, ud pa kas [dadd], ud bar ast, ud 5y kj awig dud (5 x"ve burdan 32 ry 33 framdn nej sted ku kardan I sardarth rdy, eg-iz 5y 4 k s awi dsd bar, friy burddn 35 rdy framdn dad, ne xve- 'If a property is devised for th [is entrusted] to someone to administer, and there is income, and if ins have been given that he to whom it has been entrusted should take for himself, since it is not that " (it is) for acting as trustee ", then he it has been entrusted has no right to more of the income than instruct been given for him to take'. The distinction here seems to be that were appointed as trustee (sarddr), he had a right to all the superfluous from the trust, which might vary from year to year; whereas under t the administrator has a fixed emolument, whatever the circumstan If, on the other hand, there is no superfluity, but a deficiency in an ment, it is a highly meritorious act to make this up : 36 ka kard ku waxt 37 7 az xvdstag Mah Farwardin pad ruwdn Farrox, ud Mdh TTr pa 7 Mihren, in yaziqn, ud harw sdl, pad dn r5z ka man frazim bawid, yaz Sdyed e~38 kuned, ka waxt and ne bawed 5and an yazi~n ham5yen azis ka dn kunin ka kuned,39 kirbag we- bawed ' If it is enacted that " from t and interest of the property these services should be celebrated in Farvardin for the soul of Farrox, and in the month Tir for the soul of and every year, on that day when I die, as many services as are fitting interest is not sufficient for all those services to be performed from i (nevertheless) performs those observances, the merit (for the admi becomes the more '. Such pious generosity can still be found a Zoroastrians of both communities. Thus, for example, the drying water supply at Mazra' Kaldntar, in the Yazdi plain, has made ma there barren, some of them the property of pious foundations. The he theless maintain the observances at their own expense, though so necessarily on a diminished scale. As is evident from the cases already cited, the administration foundations was regularly hereditary, in Sasanian as in later times, wh 29 lit. ' one uses up, finishes'. 30 On arg 'work, labour' see Bartholomae, Zur Kenntnis der mitteliranischen M 10 f., where examples are given for the phrases arg ud ranz and arg ud bar. The pres is translated there, slightly differently, on p. 14. 31 MHD, 34.9-12 (de M., 16). 32 MS YBLWN-x1, with -x2 written over -x1. 33 MS L'. 34 MS 'L. 35 MS YBLWN-x2. 36 MHD, 35.9-16 (de M., 17). 31 Here and in 1. 11 the MS has wxt, which Bartholomae points out (M is a well-attested by-form of wx ' interest, income'. De M. gives wax8 comment. 38 MS XN'. 39 Or kunih ; MS 'BYDWN-x1. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 276 MARY BOYCE not it was within the immedia case: 40 ka x"astag ruwdn ray Farrox girid ud ddred, widard devises a property for the sou Farrox accepts and administer heirs of Farrox '. The judgmen kunid, 5bir 41 bawed ; ud 6ean Farrox ' And (if) he commits a br And as Dadfarrox has said, the t Bulsara (followed by de Menasce family of the testator. In anot is in dereliction of duty, but family: 42 ka mard xvdstag i-' p be wizdrisn, sarddrih dbar nI ba amends for breach of trust 43 come to him to administer for become void, for it passes thu As has been said, pious found no means only for the perform naturally the commonest obje the MHD, only two wills speci religious interest. One runs Visperad-e raz 7 Ohrmazd, ya't-e 'In the month Adur one shoul Ohrmazd, a yasna on the day Ardwahi't '. The month Adur is a 'beloved' one for Zoroastrians, and the Iranis hold that a good action performed then acquires a ten-fold merit. The Parsis call it the month of myazd. The testator's wish to have his ceremonies performed during these specially sanctified days is readily comprehensible, the more so since, at the last intercalation under Yazdigird I, the five Gatha days had come to stand, in the religious year, at the end of the month Aban. This gave the following month Adur a special link with the fravasis. A difference from current usage in the services specified is that nowadays the Visperad is 40 MHD, 29.3-6 (de M., 13). 41 On 5bdr ' waste, destroyed; void, null ' (so read, as apdr, by S. J. Bulsara, The laws of the ancient Persians, 185; ad5r, de M.) see Bartholomae, Zum sasanidischen Recht, v, 8 (cf. P. Horn, Grundriss der neupersischen Etymologie, No. 53 ; H. Hiibschmann, Persische Studien, 9-10). The word occurs frequently in its legal sense in the Riviyat i ]mmid f Adawahidtan. 42 MHD, 35.7-9 (de M., 17). 43 Bulsara (op. cit., 212) correctly understands zydn wizdr- to mean 'atone for damage ', but renders winmh as ' (there has been committed) a criminal breach (of trust) '. In the light of the frequency of the idiom windh wizSr- 'atone for a fault, expiate a wrong' the above translation seems preferable. As Bulsara points out, the phrase zyin be wizar- occurs again in MHD, 29.3 : ka ... . '.nOn pointed zydn be wizared, the imprecision of abdz gumarisn the word 'If he winah (here makesas good rendered that ' breach damage, of trust ') see he should above be reap- p. 274, n. 25. 44 MHD, 35.13-14 (de M., 17). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 277 performed on only three occasions: at gahimbdrs, and on the four ndvar and of the parallel getT-xarid ceremony. The association of th with gahdmbdrs seems fundamental. As Darmesteter observed formulas of the Visperad are only comprehensible in connection gdhimbdrs and the offerings made there. Perhaps the Visperad should as a yasna adapted to the gahambdrs '.45 In the Rivdyat of Kamdin Shap enjoined 'at gahambirs one Visperad should be performed'; 46 and Iran and India it remains the custom for one communal (anjomani) to be performed during each gahdmbdr. In Yazd this Visperad is perfor the first day of each cycle (6axre); 4 and down to the second deca present century its celebration was an impressive occasion there. priests of the city, from the dastir mas down to the most newly-fledg then some 60 or 70 in all, gathered before sunrise at the Atad Ba when the Havan Gah began they celebrated together the yagt-i gad the Visperad). All those present (other than the zat himself) recited th together with the rdspi. When the nineteenth karde of the Visp reached, most of the assembled priests left their bdj, and withdrew to ceremonies in their own hiis-ts or parishes, leaving the z5t and raspi t the anjomani celebration. Many of the laity too gathered at the fire-te this communal rite, six times in the year; and the observance is st tained, although dwindling numbers have robbed it now of much attendant impressiveness and sense of communal solidarity.48 In both Iran and India the endowment of gahimbdrs is regarded as a meritorious act for an individual to perform. 'Everyone who has gahdmbdr has rejoiced the souls (of his ancestors) for 70 generations ' ( har kas ke bunydd kard, zi haftad pust-a" ruvdn ad kard).49 In the pas foundations were regularly established by will for the celebra gahambdr-i &axre, and among the behdins the names of forbears are so best remembered from the gahdmbdrs which they have founded 45 Zend-Avesta, I, lxvii. 46 M. R. Unvala (ed.), Ddrdb Hormazydr's Rivdyat, I, 75.5; transl. B. N. Dhab Persian Rivdyats of Hormazyar Framarz, 66 (see further below, p. 281). 47 The Iranis term the five days of each of the six seasonal gahimbdrs a 5axre colloquially a 6dra ; and they distinguish between a fixed gahdmbdr-i 6axre (gadmbdr a gahdmbdr-i t-ji, a relatively brief observance which can be celebrated at any tim 48 The above information about the former celebration of this anjomani gahd from Dastur Khodadad Neryosangi of SharifAbid, who was formerly dtas'-band o Atas' Bahrdm. In 1964 I was permitted, on an icy January morning, to attend Visperad in the new Atas Bahrdm in Yazd. There were then present only one villag myself in addition to the zat, Dastur Siyavakhsh, and the rispi, his son Dastur M two dta'-bands of the fire-temple) ; and at the appropriate point Dastur Mihraban to withdraw to other duties, leaving his father as zat to complete the service alone. Th lasted from about 6.30 to 11 a.m.-Dastur Khodadad estimates that when he was a small child there were still some 200 priests in Yazd ; now the number barely reaches double figures, including part-time priests. 49 Unvala, op. cit., I, 435, col. b, 1. 1. 50 Thus Agha Rustam Belivani's forbears are Noshiravan-i Gushtasp-i Khodarahm Gushtasp-i Belivan-i Jamshid-i Pavarza. Every one of these seven endowed a gahimbdr these gahdmbdrs are still celebrated in Sharifaabd by various branches of the family. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 278 MARY BOYCE villages, such as Sharifabad an any one of the six 'axres with celebration consists of both r some of the endowed feasts r through the benefactions of grea service of the Visperad may, h and the feasting. Thus in Navsar have at least one Visperad reci the course of the first year aft A Visperad is also regularly rec priesthood, the nevar. Its plac since the observance is in part himself able to conduct all ba geti-xarfd reproduces the ritu embodies the Visperad also. These three occasions, of gaham essential ones for celebrating upon which the ceremony is p passage is interesting because Visperad in the past in Iran; a in the Dddistdn denig, Purs [i.e. after death] a Visperad tasom Wisperad-i Arddy Frawa kindly informs me that in th Library, in the section on fo there are to be celebrated over t a Visperad dedicated to Sar5S (the Ata' Bahrdm) is to be ins dtaxs wag yast Sr&S ud wag 51 See J. J. Modi, The religious cerem The rising cost of living has reduced Iran some gahdmbdrs which were e celebrated only with lurk (i.e. myazd perforce takes place less often than un 52 This is not according to what is 'Ordinarily the Visperad is recited periods of the year when the Vispe Gdhambdrs '. Ervad Kotwal, a Bhagar not in accord with present Navsari p the oldest yaidaOragars of Navsari, wh celebrated in Navsari only on the ab made this error because he was not a p the 'inner liturgical' ceremonies. Th Avesta, II, 572) that ' the Vendfddd, is presumably also an error. 53 Edited by P. K. Anklesaria (Ph.D. by E. W. West, SBE, xviII, 240. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 279 kardan, ud pas [5] dadgdh ni~ndan).54 Ervad Kotwal adds that in a rituals written by Mobad M. K. Behram-Kamdin in A.D. 1931 for t Kadimi priests there is mention of Visperads dedicated to Arda F SarSs, and to other yazads, with the respective number of yaOd-ahfi-va each (eight, five, and seven).55 It seems therefore that in Irani usag from Sasanian times, Visperads were solemnized in honour of vario and upon a variety of occasions. The other passage in the MHD referring to specific ceremonies ap to be concerned with a Visperad, but with its more usual celebrat gahimbir. Its phrasing is, however, obscure. It runs as follows : 56 k r5z Ohrmazd Astad-i ki xAniiman Ohrmazd "i x1addy, ud raz Sr85 yast i Srs e yazed, ka ewag Sdyid kardan, *Agtad kardan ' If it is enacted the day Ohrmazd one should celebrate an AtaSd which (is) ded Ohrmazd, and on the day Sr5s a yasna which (is) dedicated to Sros " one can be celebrated, the *A'tFd (is) to be celebrated '. The word written clearly the first time; but the MS is damaged where the w again, and only the lower part of the first three letters remains. Bulsa that in the copy of the MS made c. A.D. 1882 by Dastur Jamshed Kuka 58 the damaged word is written 4" XY, but this reading appear helpful. De Menasce reads A'tit in both places, and comme Agitt is a ceremony in honour of the god of the same name, who with Rain presides at the judgment of the dead '.59 'It is a question of t recited at the dawn of the fourth day after a death, which comp prayers.., .of Rain and AMtat, of Ram, Sr5a, and the Arta Fravas however, the expression AtaSd were capable of this simple explanation, himself a learned Zoroastrian, would have had no difficulty in interpre There are in fact four reasons, each of them cogent, why the explanati possible: (1) the testator could not know that he would die on a d raspand, so as to have the baij of Avtad recited for him on a day 0h (2) there is no reason why the baj of Astad should be selected for speci out of the group of four bdjs, always celebrated together ; the more es since this first bdj is dedicated, not to A-tad alone, but to Rain-Astad t 54 See pp. 42-7 of this MS, i.e. section xxix apud B. N. Dhabhar, Descriptive cata manuscripts in the First Dastur Meherji Rana Library, Navsari, p. 56. 55 Pdw-mahal-ni lagti kriyd6, bij-dharnu ani nirangastan 'Rituals concerning h (and) the consecration of bdj and nirang ', p. 58, n. 56 MHD, 35.17-36.1 (de M., 18). 51 S. J. Bulsara, op. cit., p. 215, n. 11. 58 See ibid., preface, 11. 59 op. cit., 18. 60 ibid., 60. De Menasce calls these services ' prieres chuchotes '; but this word baj used (as in this case) for the dran-ceremony, and bdj used as a term recital, usually of Pazand texts. 61 i.e. on the third day. These four baj can be said to be performed on the f one considers the 24-hour day to begin at midnight, which is un-Zoroastrian. T the day begins at dawn, with the Hfvan Glh; and these baj, being celebr Gih, belong to rites of the third day after death. It is a little confusing fo are nevertheless called by the Parsis the &aharom-ni bj6o 'the fourth-da because their intention is to aid the soul at its judgment on the fourth day. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 280 MARY BOYCE (3) these four baij are celebrat it is not a recurrent ceremony of Atad--a baj of Adtad with in terms. Bulsara, unable to find a mor As'td to *a" ya't-T ' then a y yasna with the zxngiman of O the x~ngiman of SrSs on the gives good sense; but unfortu second, defective *A"tjd also as be celebrated, the yasna is to between the services. If the readings astdd-i and (alt)[dd] are accepted, then a new explanation must be sought. The use of the term As'td for a ceremony does not appear to be attested elsewhere in written sources, nor is it known in current Parsi practice. One has therefore to consider what ceremony exists, likely to be endowed under a will, which could be described as an ' A tad with the xs'nqman of Ohrmazd '. As has been seen, one of the religious ceremonies most frequently so endowed, apart from the essential rites, is that of the gahimbr ; and one of the services always dedicated to 0hrmazd is the Visperad of the gahambdr.62 The Visperad itself is offered to him under his title ralw5 bardzat5 'the high Lord ', Lord of the many lords invited to attend the ritual. The associated dran-ceremony has the ordinary x~niiman of Ohrmazd xodtiy.63 Further, it happens that two of the seasonal gahambdrs begin on the day Aitad, namely the third, Paitikhahya (day AVtad of the month ?ahrevar), and the fourth, Ay60rima (day AUtad of the month Mihr). This day, dedicated to the yazad of Righteousness, one of the judges of the dead, is particularly appropriate for a service to be celebrated asc ravdn ray. We have, further, a witness to the especial efficacy of a ceremony performed on that day; for Dastur Noshirvan Marzban, high priest of Kirman in the tenth century A.Y., established a gaharmbr on the day AMtdd of the month Mihr, because of a revelation which he received from SraS about the merit of this act.64 It is notable that this gahambdr is referred to simply as a gahdmbar-i Astad.65 62 The Visperad of Ndvar was celebrated in Iran with the xn~iman of Mirn Ndvar, see Unvala, op. cit., II, 34; Dhabhar, op. cit., 420; but the Bhagarias of Navsari celebrate this Visperad also with the x'nfiiman of Ohrmazd xodiy. 63 See Unvala, op. cit., I, 429.9-10 ; Dhabhar, op. cit., 324. The practice of the Bhagarias of Navsari is that the Visperad and the baj (dran) of the gahambdrs have the same xsnimans, i.e., in the Pazand dibdEe the xs'nman is, e.g., mainy5 ralw5 barazat buland gqh i gdhimbir hamaspa~maidyam ham karfa ham5i wohen haft kilwar zamin be rasdd, whereas in the Avestan liturgy the x'nifman (in its lesser form) is ahurahe mazdd raevat5 xwaranavhat5, i.e. the usual xsniiman of Ohrmazd the Lord. 64 See Unvala, op. cit., I, 434-6; Dhabhar, op. cit., 324. 65 Unvala, op. cit., I, 435, col. a, 1. 9 (gahdmbdr-i Ast&d bunygd kard, ravdn-i niyagdn-i x'ad sad kard). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 281 There is another Riviyat passage which underlines, moreover, connexion between the yazata SraS and the Visperad of the gahimb Rivdyat of Kamdin Shapur, among the ancillary ceremonies to be p in connexion with the founding of an Ata' Bahrim are enjoined the fol be gahambdr ... ya't-j Ormazd-i xoddy va ya't-e Sard s ri z 5vwyad gahkmbdrs one should perform a yasna of Ohrmazd the Lord, and a ya day SarS '.66 Now it is usual in Iran to refer to a Visperad re gahambdr simply as a yast (the equivalent of Parsi yaziln, European the precise term Visperad being used only when it is necessary to d between the ordinary yasna and the Visperad without a ceremonial The ya't- GOrmazd-i xoday indicated here is thus evidently a Visperad as always at gahdmbdrs, to the Creator. Here then is a linked celeb Visperad during a gahambdr, followed by a ceremony on the day Sa It seems therefore that in linking a Visperad dedicated to 0hrma subsequent service to SraS the testator of the MHD passage was en a double observance which remained familiar to Zoroastrians in po times also. Yet if one understands the Altid which he founded as th of a true gahambdr, the problem arises, why did he not specify in whi two appropriate gahambdrs it was to be celebrated ? The inter seeming to founder on this difficulty, I consulted Dastur Khodadad Ner of Sharifabad, in the faint hope that a tradition might survive in I would illumine the matter. Dastur Khodadad wrote back to say hesitation, that to an Irani priest an ANtad means, not the first day Paitivhahya or Ayaerima, but, as a matter of common mabadi usage day of the lesser Farvardagan, or Penje-keh, which is R-iz Avtad of Ma The greater Farvardagan, or Penje-meh, which follows, is of cours gakhmbir of Hamasparmaldaya. The Penje-keh, although not gahambdr, borrows some observances from the five greater days, amon it seems, the celebration of the Visperad. The whole ten-day period to the frava'is; and, as has been remarked, Avtad is a yazad pa associated with the fate of the soul after death. She is, moreover 66 Unvala, op. cit., I, 75.5-6 ; Dhabhar, op. cit., 66. 67 See, e.g., Unvala, op. cit., I, 429.9; and for the later Irani usage above, p. op. cit., 422, refers to the Visperad as the yasna (i.e. yazis'n) of the gdhambdr. In c usage, if the Visperad is spoken of without a ceremonial context, it is referred to Visferad. 68 See, e.g., MHD, 35.13; Unvala, op. cit., I, 467.7, 482.11. Dhabhar in his translation of the passage from the Rivdyat of Kamdin Shapur evidently understands the yalt-e Ormazd-i xodAy as a Visperad; but without noting any variants he translates this expression twice, perhaps through a confusion between draft translations. His rendering is as follows: 'During (those) Gahimbrs ... one Visparad ceremony should be performed. One Yasna for Ahuramazda Khodai and one Yasna on day Sarosh should be performed '. There is no expression for Visperad in Unvala's text other than yat-j. Ormazd-i xoddy. 69 The length of time between the two ceremonies would of course vary with the gahimbdr. If the Visperad were celebrated on the day Saras of the month Dai (the second day of the fourth gahdmbir, Maiay6i'am) then a full 30 days would elapse. Between the days A'tid and the next day Sar6a there are 20 days. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 282 MARY BOYCE yazad to whom a day is ded association. Everything points, therefore, to the explanation of the MHD passage being this, namely that it concerns the endowment of a Visperad to be celebrated on Rfiz A'tad of Mah Aspand, with the dedication proper to a gahambdr Visperad (namely to Ohrmazd), and a ceremony to Srbs to be performed subsequently in Mah Farvardin-a linked observance in every way appropriate to the a'5 ravdn. Dastur Khodadad's explanation of A'tad removes the apparent imprecision in the terms of the will. This first day of the lesser Farvardagan is evidently the only day in the Zoroastrian year which can be referred to simply as Aitad, without the necessity of specifying, as in Dastur Noshirvan's endow- ment, the month in which it occurs. The continuity of usage in such a matter provides another striking illustration of the strength of the living Zoroastrian tradition. If this explanation is correct, then one must assume that at some later date a copyist, who did not understand the significance of the term Astad, inserted in the text, before At~std-9, the words r6z Ohrmazd, on analogy with raz Srd6, in an attempt to clarify the passage. (It is very likely that in the past, as now, there were scholar-priests who were not perfectly familiar with the special usages current among practising yaidalragars.) It is by no means always only for his own soul's benefit that a testator endows services, though by providing for others he reaps an indirect savab himself also. As it is said in the MHD : 70 yazign i pad ruwan 7 mard mard nihed ud kunI d pad-iz ruwan i xv"e nihdd ud kard bawctd 'Services which one founds and celebrates for various men, are founded and celebrated for one's own soul also'. Sometimes a testator provides in his will for ceremonies both for his own and others' souls. One case has already been cited above.71 The following is another instance: 72 ka Farrox xvdstag, anj i pad ruwdn xe's', Mihrin ddstan rdy paydag kunid, ud kas dtStan rdy framan nj bawid, an xvdstag pad dn ewenag i payddg kard, xedstag ddri"n i Farrox ud xvdstag darien i Mihren, pad agnin dari'n 'If Farrox devises a property, other (than that) which (is) for his own soul, for administering on behalf of Mihran, and there is no injunction for anyone to administer (it), the administration of those properties in that manner in which they were devised, the administration of the property for Farrox and the administration of the property for Mihran, is to be in common '. It would seem that Farrox had appointed an administrator for the property he had bequeathed for his own soul's benefit, but had failed to do so in the case of the property left subsequently by him for Mihren's soul, hence the decision to have the two administered jointly. As this and other cases already cited show, as well as bequests for ' religious services for the soul' (ruwan yazi n rdy), foundations were also made simply 'for the soul' (ruwan ray); and the administrator then had wide discretion in 70 MHD, 35.16-17 (de M., 18). 71 p. 275. 72 MHD, 25.2-5 (de M., 8). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 283 the use of the funds, since charitable acts as well as religious rites b soul. The following judgment makes the point clearly: 73 a5n nibis ruwan yazi'n riy payd/ig kard, jwiz pad iziin ; ud agar arn nibi t s ruwan riy payddg kard, pad Jn 5y ke pad dadtan awiv dahed pad ruwan sifd5mandtar sahid dahivn ud uzinag kuni'n ' (If) it is so written th devised (this property) for services for (my) soul ", (it is) solely fo and if it is so written that " I have devised (it) for (my) soul ", it is to and expended for that which seems to him to whom he entrusts (it) to a most beneficial for the soul'. This then permits the executor to ex endowment money on objects of public benefit, for the provision Zoroastrians have been known down the centuries; roads and brid and tanks, hospitals and orphanages, schools and inns, or for regu the poor and needy. There is another form of pious bequest which is neither for religiou nor for charitable benefactions, and that is the a*5dad or gift to a pries the testator may hope to share in the kirbag of the priest's purity and of God. An interesting case occurs in the MHD concerning such a It is a fairly long one, since a number of possible grounds for cont legacy are considered. It is convenient therefore to follow de Me splitting the judgment up in order to take it point by point. The judge follows : 76 ka kard ku-m xvdstag ruwdn rdy paydig kard, ud xIastag T ray paydig kard Mihren e ddred, jg-is az ruwan abdz ne stad 77 b ahlawdad-iz andar ruwdn. Mihren tawdn guft ku pad ahlawdad ddd enacted that "I have devised the property for (my) soul, and the which I have devised for (my) soul, Mihran should possess ", then withheld from his soul, for a Sdadd also reaches the soul. Mihren ca it was given as acSddd '. The matter thus appears initially clear; b seem to have been objections, for he continues : 78 ka gawed ku in xeds grawih aydb gawed ku pad ruwan yaziin dd9tan 5 man mad, ud man i-m 5 man mad guft, 5 Mihrin ddd, ka-z ne nibesed ku pad an ewenag i mad guft, xvab, ud pad xdnag dahid 'If (the testator) says " this pr in pledge ", or he says " it came to me to administer for services for t and the property which I said came to me, I have given to Mihran does not also write " in that manner in which I said it came to me ", (t valid, and he gives it to the family'. Those contesting the will appe maintain that the testator had not himself an absolute right to the pro question, and so could not convey an absolute title to Mihran. The is that unless the testator has expressly limited Mihren's title in th terms of his own bequest, the gift is an outright one. The last wo 73 MHD, 34.3-6 (de M., 15). 74 MS 'YKt. 75 The MS has paydig kardan after ruwdn ray, presumably a mechan because of the frequency of this phrase. 76 MHD, 34.12-16 (de M., 16). 77 MS YNSBWN-x1. 78 MHD, 34.16-35.1 (de M., 16). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 284 MARY BOYCE judgment is controversial. It Bulsara emends to hMn, and t the other ').'9 De Menasce read 'erronement ', but is unable to that xanag is in fact the correct here instead of the usual pad p indicate that the gift was to Mi a limited title which ceased with Mihran's own death.80 The judge continues: 81 ud ka g5wid ku in xv stag ruwan yazi'n ray 82 paydag, ud xvdstag 7-m paydag kard, Mihren e ddred, ud n-iz nj nibesed ku-m pad an wjnag 7-m [guft] paydig kard, nj xvab 'And if he says that " This property is devised for services for the soul, and the property which I have devised, Mihran should hold ", and yet he does not write this, that " I have devised it in that manner which I [said] ", (the limitation) is not valid '. Here again it is found that a limitation made only verbally by the testator has no force. The judgment concludes: 83 ka gowid ku-m ruwan raiy paydag kard ud pad ddstan 6 Mihren ddd, Mihren ud anj-z kas fr5xt 84 ud be dad nj pddixgdy ; enyd-z bar pddix'dy fraxt ud bun pad-iz an weinag T-s awis mad be ddd ne pddixgdy, u-v pad paywand Ah rawid 'If he says that " I have devised it for (my) soul and have given it to Mihr'n to hold ",85 neither Mihran nor anyone else (is) empowered to sell or give (it) away. (He is) empowered only to sell the produce. (He is) not empowered to give away the ground-property (bun), not even in that manner in which it came to him. And it passes thus to his descendants'. The property given to Mihran being an acsdad, the benefit to the testator's soul comes from its being enjoyed by him as priest and by his priestly heirs. Mihran cannot therefore alienate it, since this would frustrate the purpose of the bequest. Thus though aB5ddd-land is given in perpetuity, with an unrestricted enjoyment of its income, it is not bequeathed in fee simple, but is entailed on the chosen priestly family. There is no recorded evidence for similar bequests in later times; but the practice of giving property to a priest distinguished for his piety, so that he might the better devote himself to the religious life, is not unknown among the Parsis. Thus in the first quarter of the sixteenth century A.D. a group of laymen in Navsari joined together to make a gift of land to the noted priest Rana 79 op. cit., 210, 211. 80 As Bartholomae has shown (Zum sas. Recht, III, 49) xSnag is used in legal terminology for the actual dwelling-house, as distinct from other buildings on a messuage. Its use in a sense parallel to that of didag is not therefore a priori improbable. 81 MHD, 35.1-3. 82 The MS has lwb'n l'y ycin L' pyt'k. 83 MHD, 35.1-6 (de M., 17). The first sentence has been transcribed and translated by Bartholomae (Mir. St., Iv, 370). 81 MS MZBNW-xl. 85 This sentence could as well be translated: 'have entrusted it to Mihran to administer'. The possibilities for litigation in such ambiguities seem almost limitless. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 285 Jesang 'for the sake of religion' (din-ne khltar). Subsequently a s of land, bearing 50 tadi-palms and 100 date-palms, was made to hi famous son, Dastur Meherji Rana.86 These properties descended in It is probably also as abSdid that under one will cited in the M is left to the serving priests of a fire-temple. The passage runs as ka dtaxs-j bandag mard 2, ud an'ahrIg mard 2 ast, ud mard xvFsta ku-m 5 bandagan i Jn atax did, az an 'ean an'ahrig bandagth i 5tax 5 an'ahrig i atax" tis-iz nr ddd ' If a Fire has 2 serving-priests,88 a and a man has declared concerning a property that " I have give servers of that Fire ", since the service of Fire is not for a slave, been given to the slave(s) of the Fire'. Similarly a fire-temple to- priests and its paid Zoroastrian servants, and no more than the s would these servants share in aSdOad to the priests, whose p performance of rituals benefit the soul of the giver. There is another pious foundation in honour of the dead, known am Parsis, which is evidently connected with the concept of aSdded endowed feast given on the anniversary day of death for all the prie community. The priests being called in this connexion the hamk workers', these feasts are known simply as hamkdrs.89 They take usual time of the midday meal, i.e. about 11 a.m. The priests assemble formal dress with flowing jdme, take the Amadaspand Bdj as gra then seat themselves in silence on the carpeted floor, on each side white table-cloths. The food is served to each on a separate tray, old rules of purity are strictly observed. Each priest first lays aside t for the dog (kutrd-n5 blk),91 which is afterwards gathered up and di by a Parsi servant; and then eats in silence. When the meal i washes face and hands, and leaves the bdj. After kust7 bastan t recites tan-dorosti for the living giver of the feast, and each re usually an additional ag6dad of money, they take their departure. These hamkdrs are particularly a Navsari custom, and it is po this observance developed there out of a union of the true Zoroastria the kirbag of hospitality to priests, and the local custom of cast public feasts, beloved by the Hindus of southern Gujarat.92 Eve 86 See J. J. Modi, The Parsees at the Court of Akbar and Dastur Meherjee R 1903, 63. 87 MHD, 1.7-10 (de M., 7). 88 On the expression dtaxs'-bandag see BSOAS, x 89 See Modi, Religious ceremonies and customs, amplified here by information from Ervad Firoze 90 Called in the Saddar Bundahe6, lix (ed. B. N 91 See Modi, op. cit., 350. 92 See BhimbhMi Kirpirim, ' Gujarit Hindus', Part I, 1901, p. xxv: 'One leading peculiarity of Gujardt is their fondness for public feasts .... Th the north, and is much more usual among town t Gujarst belong to three chief classes: trade dinn Among the many such feasts are 'special feasts.., memory of some deceased relation ', ibid., p. xxvi This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 286 MARY BOYCE practice accords admirably w kindred customs in both the Parsi and Irani communities. Thus both in Iran and India generously endowed feasts are often given to family, friends, and priests on the occasion of anniversary days, for the greater contentment of the a'5 ravin. In Navsari a notable one is given annually on one of their b-j days (R-iz Farvardin, Mah Dai) by the behdin family of B5rkhadivala. This family owns land in the village of BMrkhadi, and sumptuous fare is provided from their own farm. The whole community from the behdin quarter of Maleser is invited, some 300 or 400 persons, and also some 30 or 40 priests. The priests eat on a separate verandah, in silence, having taken the Amas'aspand Baj, as at a hamkir. The souls of the family's departed are of course remembered in their prayers. Similarly in the priests' quarter of Mota Falia the Pastakid family celebrates an annual baj with great circumstance, on Rfiz Zam Yazad, Mah Tir, to which again the whole quarter is invited, which means in this instance all the priests, who here too eat separately, in silence and ritual purity. Another associated custom is that of inviting to the house, during the first year after death, the y6idaOragar priests performing the ceremonies for the departed, so that they may partake of the food offered at the midday stfim. This they always eat seated on the ground under baj. The custom is known as ndhnyd jamadva ' to give food to those with barasnom '.3 Such xairdt to priests benefit the as' ravdn not only as charitable acts, but also through being the ritual eating of ritually offered, pure food by the ritually pure. This particular observance is by no means confined to Navsari.94 As de Menasce has pointed out, there is close similarity between the administration of endowments for the soul and for religious services, and those of the sacred Fires; and all three forms of bequest are treated in the same chapter of MHD, which is headed dar i yazisn nihadag, ud abar xir 7taxv, ud xvastagJ S ruwan nihd [rdy] paydag kard 'The chapter on foundations for religious services, and about the endowment of Fires, and property devised for foundations for the soul '.95 The three things are in fact closely linked in their religious purpose, as can be seen from Parsi practice to-day. When a Fire is endowed, then the priests of the fire-temple remember the founder in every service celebrated there, when the ndm'ist; formula is recited.96 Thus the founder of a Fire not only performs an act of great merit in itself, in establishing a place of worship, but secures continual prayers for his soul. The parallels with medieval Christendom in the West are striking. The wealthy then 93 Ndhn is used by the Parsis as a synonym for baraknom. Ndhnyd is thus synonymous with baras'nomvdld as a term for a priest who has undergone and is retaining the baradnom. 94 The existence of such Zoroastrian observances makes it possible that there was Zoroastrian influence on Mani's doctrine of the sacramental nature of the one daily meal of the Elect. 5 MHD, 34.1. 96 i.e. that part of the Pazand introduction to a service where the names of those who especially (ndmiiR) to be remembered are rehearsed. That the endowment of a sacred Fir the name of an individual, for the benefit of his or her soul, was a practice of the Sasanian k is shown by the inscription of 9ibuhr I on the Ka'ba-yi Zardust. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 287 endowed monasteries and abbeys, in whose churches prayers were offered for the founders' immortal welfare. The less well-to-do established chantries for the recital of masses for their souls, a practice very close to the ruwdn yazi'n nihddag ; and yet others left their money for charitable purposes to the indirect benefit of their souls, an immediate parallel with the ruwdn nihdd. These pious customs are continued to a certain extent in the Roman Catholic church. The Zoroastrians, like the Roman Catholics, maintain many ancient beliefs and observances, in perhaps an even stricter continuity; so that to a marked degree the Zoroastrianism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries remains that of Sasanian Iran, and knowledge of the one leads to a truer understanding of the other. APPENDIX Addenda to ' On the sacred Fires of the Zoroastrians', BSOAS, xxxI, 1, 1968, 52-68. Some relevant material was omitted from this article, namely several other occurrences of the word &darag/ddurag, and of the phrase pad warahranih. Adarag (spelt 'tlwwk) occurs in Dinkard, viII, 28.17 (ed. Sanjana, xvI, 20; Madan, 736.11), in a passage from the Huspdram Nask : abar paymdnag i ezm andar jzi/n, ud ewen i frdz-barisnih, an i Jtaxt 7 kadagig, ud adarag, ud dtaxl warahrdn ' Concerning the amount of wood for ritual worship, and the manner of placing it, that for the household fire, and the Adarag, and the Ata' Bahrm '. Here plainly, as in the Mjnog i Xrad passage, Adar5g represents the minor sacred Fires. It was so understood by Sanjana (op. cit., transl., 15), who emended the word, however, to adardnag, to bring it into accord with present usage. There are three occurrences of the word in the Pahlavi Riviyat accompanying the Dadistan i dinig (ed. B. N. Dhabhar, Bombay, 1913), which I have been re-reading in the edition prepared for a University of London Ph.D. thesis in 1940 by H. P. Mirza, with the view, by Dastur Mirza's permission, to revising this for publication. Adar6g is here spelt 'tlwk, 'twlwk, and 'twwlk. Dhabhar compared NP ~8arang, azarang ' fire '; but the word was duly read as adardg, in the light of the MX passage, by Dr. Mirza's supervisor, the late Professor Henning, who also referred to the Dk. passage cited above. The first occurrence of the word in the Pahl. Riv. is in another simple antithesis of Adar5g and AtaW Bahrim : 5taxl warahrdn . . . pad nim ab ka be abr5zind, ahrmen be zanid ... .ud adar5g ka pad nem ab be abr5zind, 1000 djw be zaned ' When they make the Ata' Bahram blaze up in the middle of the night, it smites Ahriman. And when they make the Adar5g blaze up in the middle of the night, it smites 1000 demons' (ch. 18, c; Dhabhar, 57-8). The other two pas- sages, which are alike, are less immediately clear. Ch. 18, e 3 (Dhabhar, 63) is concerned with the redemption of 'unowned and unprotected fires' (ataxs 7 adistir ud apahreiz); and it is said that 'he who collects one (such) fire, and carries it to the Adar6g i AtaS Bahram, then for him (it is) a merit of 90 (saters) ' (ka Jtaxc-e be bined, ud pad 3 Jdarag i 5taxi warahran bared, 5- 90 kerbag). In ch. 37, a (Dhabhar, 115) instructions are given about the care of the household This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 288 MARY BOYCE fire (ataxs 1 pad xdnag) ; and in then its flame (brih) should be Adarag I Ata Bahrdm ' (ud ab practice establishes the fact Atag Bahrdm itself.97 It seems ddardg i atax' warahrdn in on lesser Fires, since, as these ar of relationship can be logicall Ata' Bahrims in Zoroastrian Per (Dddgah) Fire which burns in th The latter interpretation rec (Dhabhar, 136), where Ohrm ' Men are entitled to prepare m prepared one meal, they will car affliction' (marddhman kdr i p ka-san ew pihan framird hdd kunind). Presumably this mean Adarag (Dddgah) of the Atas B The phrase pad warahrdnih translated by Dr. Mirza in th There is nothing in the text wh is in the MHD passages; but t instances better. In ch. 18, d Fire in this world, the Amah take the Fire and establish it vi us pad warahranih andar md Fire Guinasp in His own han and He established the Fire Farn hand' (us Adur Gusnasp pad d nidsst ; us Adur Farnbag ud J is a very similar passage in ch established the Fire Guinasp known concerning the reward fought with Dahag, in rew victoriously in Xwtrezm. An reward for that He establish plateaux of (Mount) Vistaspn warahranih be niisst ... ud Ohrm ahldyih payddganid. us Adur Dahdg kard, 5-S pad *warahrdnih pad Xwarezm be niSst. ud Adur BurzEn-Mihr pad an padahin, ka-; WitaQsp pad & din hAxt, [5- pad] *warahranih pad pustan 97 See ' The fire-temples of Kerman ', Acta Orientalia, xxx, 1966, 63-4. 98 Dastur Mirza's reading. 99 Dhabhar's reading. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE PIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS 289 i Wigtdspdn be nisdst).100 In the parallel passages of the Great Bu instead of pad warahrdnih nisdst, the phrase pad dddgdh nitSst oc two expressions, pad warahrdnih 'victoriously' and pad dadgdh 'i place', which are used together in the MHD passages, could thus ev used independently also to convey the same action, namely the c installation of a sacred Fire (of whatever grade) in a fitting sanctuary In the third passage in the Pahl. Riv., ch. 18, e 20 (Dhabhar, 64) concerning the establishing of an Atas Bahrdm : ' When one has collec fires for it, then one is entitled to establish it victoriously' (ka-' 1 dtaxs be *njd, pad 5n zaman pad warahranih be padixsay niUist). 100 This passage was understood rather differently by Dastur Mirza; but BundahiPn, xviii, 10, 11 (ed. T. D. Anklesaria, Bombay, 1908, 125.1 f., 125.8 Farnbag saved the Glory of Yima from the hands of Dahig .... When Zoroaster of brought his faith, the Fire Burzen-Mihr revealed many things clearly, for advancing establishing (it) beyond doubt, so that Vi'tisp and (his) children should accept the Gods ' (xvarrah i Jam az dast T Dahig Adur Farnbag b6zinid ... Adur Burzan-Mihr ruwan Zardux't din iward, pad rawagenidan i din ud abi-guman kardan, ti Witldsp [pad] din i yazdin stind, was tis wjndbdagihi nimiid kard). 101 ed. T.D.A., 124.14-15, 125.15. VOL. XXXI. PART 2. 20 This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:59:14 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Enter the password to open this PDF file:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-