The Zend Avesta

by Anonymous, James Darmesteter

THE Zend-Avesta is the sacred book of the Parsis, that is to say, of the few remaining followers of that religion which feigned over Persia at the time when the second successor of Mohammed overthrew the Sassanian dynasty, and which has been called Dualism, or Mazdeism, or Magism, or Zoroastrianism, or Fire-worship, according as its main tenet, or its supreme God, or its priests, or its supposed founder, or its apparent object of worship has been most kept in view. In less than a century after their defeat, nearly all the conquered people were brought over to the faith of their new rulers, either by force, or policy, or the attractive power of a simpler form of creed. But many of those who clung to the faith of their fathers, went and sought abroad for a new home, where they might freely worship their old gods, say their old prayers, and perform their old rites. That home they found at last among the tolerant Hindus, on the western coast of India and in the peninsula of Guzerat. There they throve and there they live still, while the ranks of their co-religionists in Persia are daily thinning and dwindling away.

Genres: Religion, Philosophy, History, Theology, Middle East, Classics, Poetry

629 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 501

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Mark]

The more ancient something is, the more strange and angular. This is very ancient, because so unexpected. It's repetitious because reading and writing are recent inventions, and all of this used to rattle around the heads of priests, recited and recited until it became true.

As we all know, the good god Ahura Mazda created the greatest of goods, such as entire landmasses, while the evil god Angra Mainyu is only capable of creating smaller evils, such as insects and sins. This makes sense, since I knew from childhood how hard it is to create and how easy it is to destroy (block towers as much as whole universes). In a bitterly funny turn, the book's second verse admits that "I have made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it." We are biased to that which is familiar, yet this isn't anything to be ashamed of, it's simply how existence and experience is. We likewise like being alive since it's all we know, and we naturally align with Ahura Mazda against Angra Mainyu, "who is all death" and who "counter-create[s] by his witchcraft" all sorts of bodily annoyances.

Thus on one level, there's nothing surprising, but on another level, everything is surprising. We start with the creation, since obviously, where else does one start? Next, we hear of the Zoroastrian Adam, named Yima, who declined becoming the first priest, instead opting to remain a herdsman. Rather than reacting with wrath, god is fine with this. A later Moses, named Zarathustra, will receive the Law, all in due time.

Next we recieve the law in perhaps the oldest instructive form, a catechism of (leading) questions with their answers: What is the law concerned with? Purity, as are all laws. What must remain pure? The elements. What pollutes the elements? Dead bodies, and everything that comes out of a human. Both of them are inanimate waste products which invite in demons. What shall we do to rid ourselves of such impurities? Far from discrete Abrahamic items which we count up (and can never escape from), sin is a state of being which can be escaped by bathing in bull urine and water and reciting lots of prayers, for nine nights in a row. The bull (and its piss) is holy because agrarian life depends on it. Once again, Zarathustra, rather than being some convoluted intellectual, gives it to us straight, all without blushing.

So, what's the first law we hear of, and what's the penalty?

Well, obviously two people must carry corpses ([?] so much of this text has been lost, that these assumptions seem simultaneously insane yet darkly logical [?]), so if a single person ever tries carrying a corpse you must imprison him in a mud hut until he is about retirement age, then flay him alive and chop off his head. Don't worry, this punishment forgives him of all sin. In case you were worried about that. But make sure to pick a strong, capable young man who can flay and behead. Be sure.

The only thing more important than corpses in this religion is "dogs", by which they basically mean certain dog-sized mammals, not just literal dogs (includes foxes, weasels, etc.). In order of importance, their laws punish physical harm the least, then breaking your word, then misuse of corpses, then finally harm to dogs. In a strange way this makes sense, since harming your neighbor is a visible, common thing, whereas if you break your word, civilization literally disintegrates; the text, or rather whatever pre-text this text borrows from, frays until it's unreadable. If language is magical in its essence, then breaking your word is the most demonic of magic. Next, we have the dead: them and the great mystery that they leave behind, both must be carefully excised, lest the death spread. And lastly, dogs...

Some unfortunately insult the section on dogs and the punishments for mistreating them or even feeding them bad food. I understand, it's a bit excessive to demand 10,000 whippings plus lots of other things for killing an otter ("water-dog"), but isn't that the point? That there's creatures so harmless and benign that doing harm to them is so vile that the gods must hate you forever if you do so? Thus it's missing the point to fixate on "water-dogs"; there's lots of other "water-dogs" out there. But yes, it is crazy, all the other requirements (bringing so many camels and sacrificing so many bulls, etc.). But then again, is it all a joke? Why was this preserved and not other things?

The thing about ancient texts is that they defy us. We aren't used to having something laugh in our face. We're used to thinking ourselves the gods of this world, so when someone chooses to list out the same thing over and over with a single word changed, we roll our eyes. But we forget that writing is an alien technology, unlike ritual, which is as old as humanity. Just because we deny the importance of rituals and have such paltry replacements doesn't mean that we get any right to laugh back. It is we who should be silent, not the dead.

But these texts, they're so tragic, like going through the belongings of a dead friend. They repeat, turn around, get lost, like a ghost trying to escape a confusing old building. They repeat on accident, they drop off at random points, they turn abruptly, they steal blatantly from other holy texts. The only thing you can't accuse this book of is faking it. It's the realest shit I've read in a long time. It's the Law of Moses but tied to the four elements, made material and thus even more intimate. It's what happens when things get half lost, only half-remembered, pieced together after the devastating explosion of Islam in your region.

But in spite of all of it, it makes a certain rational, logical sense. Of course breathing on fire is sacreligious: why would we dare polluting with our bad breath such a holy thing as fire? One need only stare at fire for half an hour or an hour to be convinced of its quasi-divinity. The same with water. And in a world without formaldehyde, bodies really rotted. We've insulated ourselves against reality, and thus we find such excessively-real texts like this to be surreal and fake. But they look back at us with tired, fragmented eyes, seeing all of creation while enthroned in the stomach of a vulture in flight. We can't even begin to know the wisdom that is embedded in this broken pottery. If or when the world falls apart, having rules written down, no matter how insane, suddenly imputes divinity onto that text and onto the people able to read and enforce it. Not the text itself, but the order which it imposes, is the miracle. It's folly to scoff at the dead. It's much better to leave them in a high, dry place, exposed to the sun, so that birds of prey can pick them clean. It's also best to have dogs purify the route taken by the funeral procession, because death leaves a trail. Even if the trail gets lost, even if the words get garbled, we must try, we must keep groping backwards in time, struggling against the tide. We walk backwards into the future like the Greeks, only seeing the past, and even that is obscured by mist and darkness, both long since compounded by our own arrogance, the arrogance of the living, an arrogance we dare not impute to the dead...

[Britt Kelly]

This is my first dip into zorastrianism. I appreciated the long introduction and all the foot notes the avestas are some of our earliest holy writings.

It is a little work because so many terms and names are new. There are a bit of cleansing rituals which are interesting but can be repetitive as with any religion. I really enjoyed the third fargard and discussed it verse by verse. I found it very inspiring i will read it again and broaden my understanding of zorastrainsim.

[Larry Kooper]

Enjoyed James Darmesteter's introduction. But the text is another story. It's overwhelmingly a weird and repetitive set of religious laws, mainly dealing with the corpses of people and dogs.

What a waste of time. Repeated formulas of praise for a fuckton of gods and minor deities. .

[Frank Nocera]

Holy book ( supposedly) for a fake religion that has less than one million followers today. The Zen Avesta is full of crap and fake info like about bulls.

The Holy Bible OTOH has incredible scientific accuracy like round Earth 🌎 and hydrologic cycle and much more.

[Dave]

An interesting trip back in time. Mostly a weird set of repetitive rules and punishments for their violations. Unless you have to read this for a class, probably should just skip.

[Daniel]

Like trying to understand the Catholic College of Cardinals by reading the book of Psalms.

[Mason Carter]

Really beautiful work. I read it when I was quite young and into religions. Loved it for sure. I hope to read it again.

[mike]

Kindle- Not quite what I expected. There were some problems with the naming of Gods. Not really a thorough exploration of Zoroastrianism but a collection of cleansing ritual translations.