Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Jobs Worldwide & Bottom prices, cheaper then Amazon & FB
( 17.905.982 jobs/vacatures worldwide)
Beat the recession - crisis, order from country of origin, at bottom prices! Cheaper then from Amazon and from FB ads!
Become Careerjet affiliate
451
« on: July 08, 2019, 11:51:56 PM »
1916 Semitic Mythology pag.39: The Hebrew tradition connected their ancestral home with SYRIA, (so NOT PALESTINE !) also page 72 Habiru OR saishu Dilmun Saudi Arabia? and especially with the “land of the rivers,” the region of Harran and Paddan on the river Balih. https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra51gray/page/n5https://archive.org/details/ShlomoSandTheInventionOfTheJewishPeople2009https://archive.org/details/ShlomoSandTheInventionOfTheLandOfIsrail_201801/page/n23https://archive.org/details/SandHowIStoppedBeingAJewTHE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES Volume V SEMITIC SEMITIC BY STEPHEN HERBERT LANGDON, M.A. JESUS COLLEGE, OXFORD FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY MARY W. SHILLITO READER IN AND PROFESSOR OF ASSYRIOLOGY VOLUME V ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA MARSHALL JONES COMPANY • BOSTON M DCCCC XXXI l\ A Copyright, 1931 By Marshall Jones Company, Incorporated Copyrighted in Great Britain All rights reserved including the right to re- produce this hook or parts thereof in any form Printed July, 1931 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE PLIMPTON PRESS • NORWOOD • MASSACHUSETTS TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND FACULTY OF THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK BY A FORMER SCHOLAR OF THE SEMINARY -f ^ OQO -L O G O Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra51gray CONTENTS PAGE Introduction xv Chapter I. Geographical and Linguistic Distribution OF Semitic Races, and Deities i II. The Sumero-Accadian Pantheon .... 88 III. The Legend of Etana and the Plant of Birth i66 IV. The Myth of Adapa and Adam 175 V. The Sumerian Legends of Tagtug and Paradise 190 VI. Legends of the Deluge 203 VII. The Epic of Gilgamish 234 VIII. Legends of the Destruction of Men, or THE Poem of Ea and Atarhasis 270 IX. The Babylonian Epic of Creation and Simi- lar Semitic Myths 277 X. The Descent of Ishtar to Arallu .... 326 XI. Tammuz and Ishtar 336 XII. The Devils, Demons, Good and Evil Spirits 352 Notes 375 Bibliography 419 Index 433 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURES AND PLATES PAGE 1 Sabaean Altar 3 A. Grohmann, Gottersymbole, Abb. 88. 2 Lapis-lazuli Seal 4 Delaporte , i, PI. 35, No. 7.
3 Copper Coin with Crescent and Disk 4
From cast supplied by the British Museum. See p. 377, n. 9.
4 Copper Coin Shewing Sacred Baetyl 16
G. F. Hill , PL iv. 2.
5 Basalt Statue of Busares 17
Syria, V. PI. xx. No. 2.
6 Tyche of Antioch 18
Journal of Hellenic studies, ix, after P. Gardner.
7 Tyche of Damascus 19
Journal Asiatique, 1904, PI. i, No. 2.
8 Head of Tyche 1 9
G. F. Hill ,Pl. vi. 10.
9 The Assyrian Tyche 23
Sidney Smith, History of Assyria, p. 233.
10 Venus as Goddess of War 24
Langdon [h], PI. i, No. 1.
11 Ishtar’s War Chariot 27
Langdon [d], PI. vii, No. 2.
12 Enkidu and the Bull of Heaven 29
A. Boissier, Note sur deux cylindres orientaux, p. 9.
13 Egyptian Bas-relief, Shewing ‘Anat facing 30
H. Gressmann, Texte und Bilder^ PI. cxiv, opp. p. 30.
14 Hesi-Nekht Astart of Beth-shan facing 32
From photograph supplied by the University Museum, Philadel- phia, opp. p. 31.
15 Terra-cotta Shrine of Beth-shan 31
Museum Journal, Vol. xvii, p. 295.
16 Ishtar Parakyptousa 32
D. G. Hogarth, Efhesus, PI. 28, No. 5.
17 Terra-cotta Movable Altar 33
W. Andrae, Die Archaischen Ischtar-Temfel, Taf. 17.
ILLUSTRATIONS
X
FIGURES AND PLATES PAGE
1 8 Nude Ishtar 34
R. Koldewey, Das wiedererstehende Babylon, p. 271.
19 Azizos and Monimos 35
Revue Archeologique, 1903, Part ii, p. 130.
After R. Dusseaud.
20 ‘Ate of Hierapolis 36
E. Babelon, Les Rots Perses, p. lii, Fig. 15.
21 Atargatis 36
H. Strong and J. Garstang, The Syrian Goddess, p. 70.
22 Western Type of Adad-Rimmon 39
Revue d^Assyriologie, xiii, p. 16, PI. ii, No. 16, after V. Scheil.
23 Yaw, Coin of Gaza 43
G. F. Hill, Coins of Palestine, PI. xix, 29.
24 Astart-Yaw 44
E. Babelon, Les Rois Perses, PI. viii. No. 7.
25 Stele of Mikal of Beisan jacing 44
Museum Journal, xix, p. 150. See pp. 46-8.
26 Bas-relief from Moab 46
H. Gressmann, Texte und Bilder^ Abb. 617.
27 Phoenician Deity, from Amrith 47
Ibid. Abb. 307.
28 SealofAddumu 48
Catalogue De Clercq, Vol. i. No. 386.
29 Seal of Rameses II 49
Museum Journal, xx, p. 55.
30 Coin of Tyre, Melkart on Sea-horse 51
E. Babelon, Les Rois Perses, PI. xxxv. No. 13.
31 Colonial Coin of Tyre with Sun Pillars 51
Ibid, xxxvii. No. 16.
32 Coin of Tyre 53
Ibid, xxxv. No. 20.
33 Sun-symbol of Tyre in Chariot 54
Ibid, xxxii, No. 15.
34 Tessara from Palmyra 57
Comptes Rendus de PAcademie frangaise, 1903, p. 277.
35 Bas-relief; Semia, Solar Deity, Adad 59
Revue Archeologique, 1904, Part ii, p. 249.
36 Sumerian Roll Seal 60
Otto Weber, Siegelbilder, No. 375.
37 Palmyrene Altar 62
Memoir es de PInstitut frangais, xx, PI. i. No. i.
After Layard.
ILLUSTRATIONS
XI
FIGURES AND PLATES PAGE
38 El with Wings. Astarte 68
E. Babelon, Les Rots Perses, PI. xxvii, No. 4.
39 Seal Shewing Two-headed Marduk 69
Babyloniaca, ix, p. 78, No. 128, after Contenau.
40 Stele of Yehaw-Melek 70
H. Gressmann, Texts uni Bilder^ Abb. 516.
41 Coin of Elagabalus. Eshmun the Healer 77
G. F. Hill, Coins of Phoenicia, PI. x, No. 14.
42 Statue of Dagan 8 1
Archiv fur Keilschriftforschung, iii, p. iii, after Nassoubi.
43 Coin Shewing Dagon 83
G. F. Hill, Coins of Phoenicia, PI. xlv. No. i.
44 Babylonian Bronze Plaque 85
Bronze Plaque in Collection de Clercq, after Catalogue De Clercq ii, PI. xxxiv.
45 Assyrian Cone Seal with Fish-men 86
W. H. Ward, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, No. 659.
46 Pictograph for Earth-goddess 90
Design by the author.
47 Grain-goddess 90
Catalogue De Clercq, No. 140.
48 God with Overflowing Waters 95
Revue d' Assyriologie, v, p. 131.
49 Winged Angel with Water of Life 96
Museum Journal, xviii, p. 75.
50 Gilgamish with Jar of Overflowing Water 98
Catalogue De Clercq, No. 46.
51 Boundary Stone of Melishipak facing 106
Delegation en Perse, i, PL xvi, opp. p. 105.
52 Top of a Water Jar IIO
Langdon, S. [d], PI. xiii. No. 2.
53 Mother and Child Ill
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
54 Ningirsu 116
Delaporte L. , p. 13, T. no.
55 Marduk in Chariot 118
W. H. Ward, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, No. 127.
56 Musrussu 127
R. Koldewey, Das wiedererstehenie Babylon, Fig. 31.
ILLUSTRATIONS
xii
FIGURES AND PLATES PAGE
57 Ninurta Pursuing Musrussu 131
W. H. Ward, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, No. 579.
58 Seal from Kish 133
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
59 Terra-cotta Bas-relief from Kish 137
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
60 Sun-god and Hammurabi 149
Delegation en Perse, iv, PI. iii.
61 Four-pointed Star 150
Babyloniaca, ii, p. 144.
62 Model of Statue of Shamash 151
H. C. Rawlinson, Inscriptions of Western Asia, v, PI. 57.
63 Coin of Caracalla Shewing Moon-god 154
Hill, G. F. , PI. xii. No. 8.
64 Assyrian Seal. Marduk and Nabu 159
Delaporte, L. [c], PI. 88, A 686.
65 Combat of Eagle and Serpent 1 70
Museum Journal, xix, p. 392, No. 28.
66 Etana on Eagle 172
O. Weber, Siegelbilder, No. 404.
67 Ilabrat or Papsukkal 176
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
68 Serpent and Tree of Life (?) 177
Delegation en Perse, xii. Fig. 288, after Toscane. See p. 179.
69 Woman and Serpent 178
Ibid., Fig. 299, after Toscane, see p. 179.
70 The Temptation According to Sumerian Myth 179
W. H. Ward, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, No. 388.
71 Deity Offering Poppy Branch to a Worshipper 186
L. W. King, History of Sumer and Accad, p. 246.
72 Goddess Offering Palm Branch to Three Gods .... 187
Delaporte, L. [a]. No. 81.
73 Mother-goddess, Worshipper, and Tammuz 188
Ibid., No. III.
74 Flood Stratum at Kish facing 216
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition, opp. p. 204.
75 Babylonian Map of the World 217
From CT. xxii, PL 48, after R. C. Thompson. Restored conjec- turally, with omission of cuneiform text.
76 Enkidu in Combat with Two Lions 237
Revue d'Assyriologie, vi, p. 156, PI. i. No. 4.
ILLUSTRATIONS xlii
FIGURES AND PLATES PAGE
77 Gilgamish and Enkidu 238
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
78 Gilgamish, Enkidu, and Ishtar 245
Louis Speelers, Catalogue des Intailles et Emfreintes Orientates des Musees Royaux du Cinquantenaire, p. 166.
79 Terra-cotta Mask of Humbaba 254
Revue d’Assyriologie, xxii, p. 23.
80 Terra-cotta Bas-relief of Humbaba 255
Ibid., p. 25.
81 Combat of Marduk and a Dragon 278
Otto Weber, Siegelbilder, No. 3 1 1 .
82 Combat of Marduk and Zu 279
W. H. Ward, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, No. 580.
83 Combat of Marduk and Scorpion-man 280
Delaporte, L. [c], No. 652.
84 Combat of Marduk and the Eagle-headed Lion 281
W. H. Ward, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, No. 585.
85 Marduk in Combat with Winged Lion 282
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
86 Combat of Marduk and a Dragon (Ostrich) 283
Delaporte, L. [a]. No. 330.
87 Man in Combat with Sphinx 284
Ibid., No. 325.
88 The Dragon Musrussu 285
Revue d’Assyriologie, vi, p. 96.
89 The Constellations Leo and Hydra as Musrussu .... 286
Archiv fiir Keilschriftforschung, iv, PI. v.
90 Marduk and Musrussu . 301
F. Weissbach, Babylonische Miscellen, p. 16.
91 Constellations Corvus, Hydra, and Virgo 305
Revue d’Assyriologie, xvi, p. 135.
92 The Pleiades. Moon in Taurus 305
Archiv fiir Keilschriftforschung, iv, PI. v.
93 The Tower of Babel 309
Journal of the Society of Oriental Research, xiv, p. 2.
94 Bas-relief of Ishtar 331
From photograph by the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition.
95 The Arabian Ghoul 353
C. M. Doughty, W anderings in Arabia, i, p. 54.
96 Assyrian Winged 359
L. W. King, Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities^ p. 10, PI. iv.
XIV
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES AND PLATES PAGE
97 The Sumerian Lamassu 360
H. R. Hall, Assyrian Sculptures, PI. Ixviii, BM. 90954.
98 Lamashtu Sent on Her Journey jacing 368
Photograph from Beiblatt zuni Jahrbuch des Konigl-Preusz. Kunstsatnlung. See p. 417, note 39, opposite p. 367.
99 Babylonian Amulet. Expulsion of Lamashtu 368
F. Weissbach, Babylonische Miscellen, p. 42.
100 Babylonian Amulet. Seven Devils and Lamashtu .... 370
Revue d'Assyriologie, xviii, PI. i, No. 2, after F. Thureau-Dangin.
1 01 Pazuzu, Demon of the Winds 371
Museum Journal, viii (1917), p. 43.
102 Head of Pazuzu
Revue d’Assyriologie, xi, p. 57.
372
INTRODUCTION
T he subject of this book offered such great difficulties in the vastness of its material, in its contents, time, and geo- graphical extent, in its significance as the presentation of the mythology and religion of those cognate races, on whose soil arose three great religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism, that the author has been embarrassed by the difficulty of selecting what is strictly essential. Since the notable effort of W. Robertson Smith to compass in a single volume the religion of the Semitic races in his Religion of the Semites (1889, 1894, 1901), in which the most important of all Semitic races, the Accadian, was almost entirely neglected, and the equally valuable survey by M. P. Lagrange, l^tudes sur les religions semitiques (1903, 1905), the material, especially in Cuneiform, South Arabian, and Phoenician, has increased to such extent that the whole subject appears in a new light. This book has been written almost entirely from the sources in the original languages, Sumerian, Accadian, Hebrew, Phoenician, Aramaic, Himyaritic (South Arabic), and Arabic. In the case of the sources in the last two mentioned languages I have had from time to time the invaluable assistance of my colleague. Dr. D. S. Margoliouth, Laudian Professor of Arabic. On all important points the specialists are requested to refer to the notes j more especially have I felt bound to state in these the philological reasons for arguments and translations based upon Sumerian and Accadian texts. Here the new material is so im- portant, and in some cases utilized for the first time, that the notes are necessarily numerous.
In the translation of Sumerian and Accadian texts a few pe- culiarities must be made clear to the general reader. Words in
XVI
INTRODUCTION
italics indicate that the meaning of the corresponding words of the texts has not been fully established. It may appear incon- sistent to find both “ land” and “ Land” in the translations; “ Land ” is employed only when the Sumerian kalam-ma, Ac- cadian matu, refer to the “ home-land,” that is, Sumer, Accad, Babylonia, Assyria. In this book “ Accadian ” means the Semitic languages of Babylonia and Assyria, which are funda- mentally identical. Sumerian is not a Semitic language, but no discussion of Semitic religion is possible without the Sumerian sources. This language belongs to the agglutinating group, and was spoken by the earliest inhabitants of Mesopotamia. They founded the great cities of that land, Opis, Sippar, Kish, Nip- pur, Erech, Ellasar, Shuruppak, Ur, Eridu, Lagash, etc., long before 4000 b.c., and formulated the religious system which the Accadians adopted. The date of the entry of the Semites into Mesopotamia is uncertain, and it is even debatable whether they are not as ancient in that land as the Sumerians themselves. The entire evidence of the very early inscriptions proves that the Sumerians not only invented the pictographic script, which they developed into the more easily written cuneiform script, but that they already had a very considerable literature, and a great pantheon, when the Semites learned to write, and adopted their religion and culture. The new material, now rapidly in- creasing for the study of the most remote period of writing, tends to confirm this view of the origin of Babylonian and Assyrian mythology and religion. In taking a general survey of the whole field of Semitic religion, over the wide territory of Western Asia, and through the four thousand years and more in which it ran its course, it is clear that it can be classified into two large groups. The religion and mythology of all those Semitic peoples, which, by accident of geographical contiguity and cultural influence, came into contact with the advanced and affluent civilization of Sumer and Accad, Babylonia and As- syria, became heavy borrowers from that source. Sumero- Babylonian cults established themselves in the very midst of
INTRODUCTION
xvii
the old Canaanitish, Aramaean, Phoenician, Moabite, and Nabataean cults. The mythological conceptions of their own deities were assimilated to or transformed by the doctrines taught in the great temples of Sumer and Accad. Their legends and myths are almost entirely of Sumero-Babylonian origin. The cult of Tammuz, the lord of weeping and the resurrection, appears firmily established at Gebal on the shores of the Mediterranean at an early period. On the other hand there is only the religion of Arabia, which remained entirely outside the mission of the higher culture and theology of Sumer and Accad.
There are, then, only two great currents of mythology and religion in the Semitic lands — the Sumero-Babylonian of the east and north, and the Arabian of the south. In the great cur- rent of the northern stream are mingled many pure Semitic sources in the west. Some of their cults, notably that of Adad, actually influenced the mythology of Sumer and Accad. Of these two systems of mythology, the Sumero-Babylonian is Infinitely more profound and elaborate. Here alone great mythological poems and epics were written, which attempted to grapple with the problems of life, the origin of the universe, the relation of the gods to men, the salvation of their souls.
In exposing the fundamental facts of the mythologies of the western group, the history of Hebrew religion is a unique ele- ment in the vast Semitic field. Although from the beginning and during its entire evolution the religion of this small Canaanitish people was constantly influenced by Babylonian mythology, they alone of all the western peoples seem to have understood the Import of the profound problems conveyed in the guise of the legendary poems and epic verse of Babylonia and Assyria. Converted into their own magnificent Hebrew prose and poetry and in terms of their conception of deity, Sumero-Babylonian theology and mythology found there their greatest interpreter and means of transmission to the religions which became the heirs of the ancient Semitic world. And it
INTRODUCTION
xviii
must be obvious to all unprejudiced minds, who have a clear view of the whole sphere of Semitic religions, that Hebrew reli- gion stands entirely apart and reached a higher plane at the hands of “ Jehovah’s ” prophets. The author was bound to con- fine himself strictly to mythology in this volume. In the pro- phetic works of the Hebrew sources much mythology survives, and use of it may lead to the inference that their place in the history of religions does not differ essentially from the great poets and teachers of Babylonia. This is clearly untrue. The evolution of Hebrew religion is unique in the history of the Semites.
Some of the views and arguments in this book undoubtedly invite criticism. The quo warranto for all statements has been defined in the notes and elucidated in the text. After long study of the Semitic and Sumerian sources I have become con- vinced that totemism and demonology have nothing to do with the origins of Sumerian or Semitic religions. The former can- not be proved at all} the latter is a secondary aspect of them. I may fail to carry conviction in concluding that, both in Su- merian and Semitic religions, monotheism preceded polytheism and belief in good and evil spirits. The evidence and reasons for this conclusion, so contrary to accepted and current views, have been set down with care and with the perception of ad- verse criticism. It is, I trust, the conclusion of knowledge and not of audacious preconception.
To the editor of this series. Canon John A. MacCulloch, I am indebted for his valuable proof-reading and assistance in edi- torial details. I feel that I have put upon him an unusual amount of labour in editing my manuscript, and I am grateful to him for his assistance. My friends, Pere Schell, Professor of Assyriology at the Sorbonne, Dr. F. Thureau-Dangin, Profes- sor Zimmern of Leipzig, and many others have constantly kept me supplied with their books and articles before they were ac- cessible in ordinary commerce. The works of these three bril- liant scholars have been of special value in the elucidation of
452
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:46:27 PM »
"Life and Death (Iranian)," viii. 37.
"Light and Darkness (Iranian)," viii. 61-62.
"Literature (Pahlavi)," viii. 104-06.
Jackson, A. V. W., "Ahriman," i. 237-38.
"Amesha Spentas," i. 384-85.
"Avesta," ii. 266-72.
"Demons and Spirits (Persian)," iv. 619-20.
"Images and Idols (Persian)," vii. 151-55.
Jones, H. S., "Mithraism," viii. 752-59.
Menant, D., "Gabars," vi. 147-56.
Mills, L. H., "Ahuna-Vairya," i. 238-39.
Mills, L. H., and Gray, L. H., "Barsom," ii, 424-25.
Modi, J. J., "Haoma," vi. 506-10.
Moulton, J. H., "Fravashi," vi. 1 16-18.
"Iranians," vii. 418-20.
"Magi," viii. 242-44.
Nicholson, R. A., "Mazdak," viii. 508-10.
404 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
Sayce, a. H., "Median Religion," viii. 514-15.
SoDERBLOM, N., "Agcs of the World (Zoroastrian)," i. 205-10.
"Incarnation (Parsi)," vii. 198-99.
SoDERBLOM, N., and Gray, L. H., "Death and Disposal of the Dead (Parsi)," iv. 502-05.
453
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:45:55 PM »
GuRDON, P. R. T., "Ahoms," i. 234-37. "Khasis," vii. 690-92.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 393
HiLLEBRANDT, A., "Brahman," ii. 796-99.
"Death and Disposal of the Dead (Hindu)," iv. 475-79.
HoDsoN, T. C, "Lushais," viii. 197-98.
HoERNLE, A. F. R., "Ajivikas," i. 259-68.
Hopkins, E. W., "Festivals and Fasts (Hindu)," v. 867-71.
Jacobi, H., "Agastya," i. 180-81.
"Ages of the World (Indian)," i. 200-02.
"Blest, Abode of the (Hindu)," ii. 698-700.
"Brahmanism," ii. 799-813.
"Chakravartin," iii. 336-37.
"Cosmogony and Cosmology (Indian)," iv. 155-61.
"Cow (Hindu)," iv. 224-26.
"Daitya," iv. 390-92.
"Death and Disposal of the Dead (Jain)," iv. 484-85.
"Digambaras," iv. 704.
"Divination (Indian)," iv. 799-800.
"Durga," V. 1 17-19.
"Heroes and Hero-Gods (Indian)," vi. 658-61.
"Incarnation (Indian)," vii. 193-97.
" Jainism," vii. 465-74.
Jolly, J., "Fate (Hindu)," v. 790-92. Lyall, Sir C. J., "Mikirs," viii. 628-31. Macdonell, a. a., "Hymns (Vedic)," vii. 49-58.
"Indian Buddhism," vii. 209-16.
"Literature (Buddhist)," viii. 85-89.
? "Magic (Vedic)," viii. 311-21.
Rhys Davids, T. W., "Anagata Varhsa," i. 414.
"Hlnayana," vi. 684-86.
Rose, H. A., "Life and Death (Indian)," viii. 34-37.
"Magic (Indian)," viii. 289-93.
Russell, R. V., "Central Provinces," iii. 311-16.
Scott, Sir J. G., "Burma and Assam (Buddhism in)," iii. 37-44.
Sieg, E., "Bhrgu," ii. 558-60.
Stevenson, M., "Festivals and Fasts (Jain)," v. 875-79.
Temple, Sir R. C, "Fetishism (Indian)," v. 903-06.
De la Vallee Poussin, L., "Adibuddha," i. 93-100.
"Ages of the World (Buddhist)," i. 187^0.
"Avalokitesvara," ii. 256-61.
394
INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
De la Vallee 'Poussin, L., "Blest, Abode of the (Buddhist)," ii.
687-89.
"Bodhisattva," ii. 739-53.
"Cosmogony and Cosmology (Buddhist)," iv. 129-38.
"Death and Disposal of the Dead (Buddhist)," iv. 446-49.
"Incarnation (Buddhist)," vii. 186-88.
"Karma," vii. 673-76.
"Magic (Buddhist)," viii. 255-57.
"Mahayana," viii. 330-36.
"Mafijusrl," viii. 405-06.
"Mara," viii. 406-07.
Waddell, L. a., "Death and Disposal of the Dead (Tibetan),"
iv. 509-11.
"Demons and Spirits (Buddhist)," iv. 571-72.
"Demons and Spirits (Tibetan)," iv. 635-36.
"Divination (Buddhist)," iv. 786-87.
"Festivals and Fasts (Tibetan)," v. 892-94.
"Jewel (Buddhist)," vii. 553-57.
"Lamaism," vii. 784-89.
Winternitz, M., "Jataka," vii. 491-94.
IRANIAN
I. TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
1. Avesta. Ed. N. L. Westergaard, Copenhagen, 1852-54, F. Spiegel (incomplete), 2 vols., Vienna, 1853-58, K. F. Geldner, 3 vols., Stuttgart, 1885-96; the Gdthds only ed. and tr. M. Haug, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1858-60, L. H. Mills, Oxford, 1892-94; tr. Anquetil du Perron, 2 vols., Paris, 1771, F. Spiegel, 3 vols., Leipzig, 1852-63 (English tr. by A. Bleeck, 3 vols., Hertford, 1864), C. de Harlez, 2nd ed., Paris, 1881, J. Darmesteter and L. H. Mills, in SBE * iv (2nd ed., 1895), xxiii, xxxi (1883), J. Darmesteter, 3 vols., Paris, 1892-93, F. Wolff, Strassburg, 1910; the Gdthds only tr. L. H. Mills, ^Oxford, 1900, C. Bartholomae, Strassburg, 1904.
2. Pdhlavi. (i) Artd-i-Vlrdf. Ed. and tr. E. W. West and M. Haug, Bombay, 1872; ed. K. J. Jamasp Asa, Bombay, 1902; tr. A. Bar- thelemy, Paris, 1887. (ii) Bahman Yaskt. Ed. K. A. Nosherwan, Bombay, 1899; tr. E. W. West, in SBE v. 191-235 (1880). (iii) Bundahish. Ed. and tr. F. Justi, Leipzig, 1868; tr. E. W. West, in SBE V. 3-151 (1880). (iv) Dlnkart. Ed. and tr. P. B. and D. P. Sanjana, Bombay, 1874 ff.; ed. D. M. Madan, 2 vols., Bombay, 191 1; tr. (partial) E. W. West, in SBE xxxvii, xlvii. 1-130 (1892-97). (v) Great Bundahish. Ed. T. D. Anklesaria, Bombay, 1908. (vi) Gujastak-l-Abdlish. Ed. and tr. A. Barthelemy, Paris, 1887; tr. I. Pizzi, in Bessarione, II. iii. 299-307 (1902). (vii) M alnog-l-Khrat. Ed. and tr. E. W. West, Stuttgart and London, 1871; ed. D. P. Sanjana, Bombay, 1895; tr. E. W. West, in SBE xxiv. 3-1 13 (1885). (viii) Selections of Zdt-Sparam. Tr. E. W. West, in SBE v. 155-87, xlvii. 133-70 (1880-97). (ix) Yosht-t-Frydnd. Ed. and tr. E. W. West, in The Book of A r da Firaf, pp. 207-66, Bombay, 1872; tr. A. Bar- thelemy, Paris, 1889.
3. Persian and Arabic, (i) Dabistdn. Tr. D. Shea and A. Troyer, 3 vols., Paris, 1843 (only vol. i relevant here), (ii) Firdausi, Shdhnd- mah. Ed. T. Macan, 4 vols., Calcutta, 1829; ed. and tr. J. Mohl, 7 vols., Paris, 1838-78 (translation separately, 7 vols., Paris, 1876-78); ed. J. A. Vullers and S. Laudauer, 3 vols., Leyden, 1877-84 (incom- plete); tr. L Pizzi, 8 vols., Turin, 1886-88, A. G. and E. Warner,
* For the abbreviations see those given in the Indian Bibliography, supra, p. 371.
396 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
London, 1905 ff. (iii) Mas^udi, Les Prairies (Tor. Ed. and tr. C. Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, 9 vols., Paris, 1861-77. (iv) Mirkhond, History of the Early Kings of Persia. Tr. D. Shea, London, 1832. (v) Mohl, J., Fragmens relatifs a la religion de Zoro- astre, Paris, 1829 (German tr. by J. A. Vullers, Bonn, 183 1). (vi) Shahristdni, Kitdb al-Milal zv^al-Nihal. Ed. W. Cureton, London, 1846; tr. T. Haarbriicker, 2 vols., Halle, 1850-51. (vii) Tabari, Chronique . . . sur la version persane de Bel^ami. Ed. and tr. H. Zotenberg, 4 vols., Paris, 1867-74 (see also T. Noldeke, Geschichte der Perser und Araher zur Zeit der Sasaniden aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari, Leyden, 1879). (viii) Tha' alibi, Histoire des rois de Perse. Ed. and tr. H. Zotenberg, Paris, 1900. (ix) ^ Ulamd-i- Isldm. Ed. J. Mohl, Fragmens relatifs a la religion de Zoroastre, pp. l-io, Paris, 1829; tr. J. A. Vullers, Fragmente ueber die Religion des Zoroaster, pp. 43-67, Bonn, 1831, E. Blochet, in Revue de V histoire des religions, xxxvii. 23-49 (1899). (x) Zardtushtndmah. Ed. and tr. F. Rosenberg, Petrograd, 1904.
II. NON-IRANIAN SOURCES
EzNiK OF KoLB, Against the Sects. Tr. J. M. Schmid. Vienna, 1900. Gelzer, H., "Eznik und die Entwicklung des persischen Religions- systems," in Zeitschrift fur armenische Philologie, i. 149-63
(1903)- GoTTHEiL, R. J. H., "References to Zoroaster in Syriac and Arabic
Literature," in Classical Studies in Honour of Henry Drisler, pp.
24-51. New York, 1894. Gray, L. H., "Zoroastrian . . . Material in the Acta Sanctorum,"
in Journal of the Manchester Egyptian and Oriental Society,
1913-14, pp. 37-55. Hoffmann, G., Ausziige aus syrischen Akten persischer Mdrtyrer.
Leipzig, 1880. Kleuker, J. F., Zend-Avesta, Appendix, vol. ii, part 3. Leipzig and
Riga, 1783. Noldeke, T., "Syrische Polemik gegen die persische Religion," in
Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, pp. 34-38. Stuttgart, 1893. Rapp, a., "Die Religion und Sitte der Perser und iibrigen Iranier
nach den griechischen und romischen Quellen," in ZDMG xix.
1-89, XX. 49-204 (1865-66). English translation by K. R. Cama,
2 vols. Bombay, 1876-79. SoDERBLOM, N., " Theopompus and the Avestan Ages of the World," in Dastur Hoshang Memorial Volume, pp. 228-30. Not yet published.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 397
Theodore Bar Koni, Liber Scholiortcm, tr. H. Pognon, Inscriptions manddites des coupes de Khouabir, pp. 161-65. Paris, 1898.
TiELE, C. P., "Plutarchus over de Amsaspands," in Feestbundel Prof. Boot, pp. 1 17-19. Leyden, 1901.
III. GENERAL TREATISES
Ayuso, F. G., Los Pueblos iranios y Zoroastro. Madrid, 1874.
Bartholomae, C, Altiranisches Worterbuch. Strassburg, 1905.
Brisson, B., De regio Persarum principatu, pp. 338-401. Ed. J. H. Lederlin. Strassburg, 1710.
Carnoy, a. J., Religion of the Avesta. London, no date.
" Le Nom des Mages," in Museon, II. ix. 121-58 (1908).
"La Magie dans I'lran," in Museon, III. i. 171-88 (1916).
" The Moral Deities of India and Iran and their Origins,"
in American Journal of Theology, xxi. 58-78 (191 7).
Casartelli, L. C, Philosophy of the Mazdayasnian Religion Under the Sassanids. English translation by F. Jamaspji. Bombay, 1889.
The Religion of the Great Kings. London, no date.
Darmesteter, J., Etudes iraniennes, ii. 187-231. Paris, 1883.
Desai, p. B., "Iranian Mythology: Comparison of a few Iranian Episodes with Hindu and Greek Stories," in Spiegel Memorial Volume, pp. 40-49. Bombay, 1908.
Dhalla, M. N., Zoroastrian Theology. New York, 19 14.
Easton, M. W., "The Divinities of the Gathas," in JAOS xv. 189- 206 (1891).
Frachtenberg, L. J., " Allusions to Witchcraft and Other Primi- tive Beliefs in the Zoroastrian Literature," in Dastur Hoshang Memorial Volume, pp. 399-453- Not yet published.
Geiger, W., Ostiranische Kultur in Altertum. Erlangen, 1882. Eng- lish translation by D. P. Sanjana. 2 vols. London, 1885-86.
Geldner, K., "Zend-Avesta," in Encyclopcsdia Britanyiica, nth ed., xxviii. 967-69.
"Zoroaster," in Encyclopedia Britannica, nth ed., xxviii.
1039-43.
Geldner, K., and Cheyne, T. K., "Zoroastrianism," in Encyclo- pcedia Biblica, coll. 5428-42. London, 1 899-1 903.
Gilmore, G. W., "Zoroaster, Zoroastrianism," in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, xii. 522-35. New York, 1908-12.
398 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
GoRVALA, R. F., "The Immortal Soul: Its Pre-Existence, Persistence
after Death and Transmigration," in Spiegel Memorial Volume,
pp. 99-124. Bombay, 1908. Harlez, C. de, "Les Origines du zoroastrisme," in Journal asiatique,
VII. xi. 101-34, xii- ^^7~7^) xiii- 241-90, xiv. 89-140 (1878-79). Haug, M., Essays on the P arsis. 3rd ed. London, 1884. Henry, V., Le Parsisme. Paris, 1905.
HovELACQUE, A., U Avesta, Zoroastre et le mazdeisme. Paris, 1880. HusiNG, G., Die iranische Ueberlieferung und das arische System.
Leipzig, 1909. Hyde, T., Historia religionis veterum Persarum eorumque magorum.
Oxford, 1700.
Jackson, A. V. W., "Die iranische Religion," in Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, ii. 612-708. Strassburg, 1903.
JusTi, F., Iranisches Namenbuch. Marburg, 1895.
"Die alteste iranische Religion und ihr Stifter Zarathustra,"
in Preussische Jahrbucher, Ixxxviii. 55-86, 231-62 (1897).
Karaka, D. F., History of the P arsis. 2 vols. London, 1884.
Lehmann, E., "Die Perser," in P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, Lehr-
buch der Religionsgeschichte, ii. 162-233. 3^'i ^<^- Tubingen,
1905- Lord, H., Religion of the Par sees. London, 1630.
Menant, J., Zoroastre. Essai sur la philosophie religieuse de la Perse. 2nd ed. Paris, 1857.
Modi, J. J., Catechism of the Zoroastrian Religion. Bombay, 191 1. Moore, G. F., History of Religions, chh. xv-xvi. Edinburgh, 1913. MouLTON, J. H., "Zoroastrianism," in Dictionary of the Bible, iv. 988-94. Edinburgh, 1 898-1904.
Early Zoroastrianism. London, 1913.
Orelli, C. von, Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte, ii. 140-87. 2nd ed. Bonn, 1911-13.
Rawlinson, G., Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World: Third Monarchy (Media), ch. iv; Fifth Monarchy (Persia), ch. vi. London, 1862.
Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy, ch. xxviii. London, 1876.
Sanjana, R. E. p., Zarathushtra and Zarathushtrianism in the Avesta. Leipzig, 1906.
SoDERBLOM, N., " Du Gcnic du mazdeisme," in Melanges Charles de Harlez, pp. 298-302. Leyden, 1896.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 399
SoDERBLOM, N., "The Place of the Christian Trinity and of the Buddhist Triratna amongst Holy Triads," in Transactions of the Third International Congress for the History of Religions^ pp. 391-410 (London, 1912).
SpiEGBh^F., Era7iische Jlterthumskunde. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1871-78.
"Zur Geschichte des Dualismus," in his Arische Studien, i.
62-77. Leipzig, 1874.
Die arische Periode. Leipzig, 188 1.
"Die alten Religionen in Eran," in ZDMG lii. 187-96 (1898).
Stein, M. A., "Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins," in
Babylonian and Oriental Record, 1887, pp. 155-66. TiELE, C. P., Geschichte der Religion im Altertum (tr. G. Gerich), i.
1-187. Gotha, 1898. WiLHELM, E., On the Use of Beef's Urine according to the Precepts of
the Avesta. Bombay, 1899. "Analogies in Iranian and Armenian Folklore," in Spiegel
Memorial Volume, pp. 65-83. Bombay, 1908. WiNDiscHMANN, F., Zoroastrische Studien. Berlin, 1863.
IV. TREATISES ON SPECIAL POINTS I. Zoroaster
Jackson, A. V. W., Zoroaster, The Prophet of Ancient Iran. New
York, 1899. "Some Additional Data on Zoroaster," in Orientalische
Studien Theodor Noldeke . . . gewidmet, pp. 1031-38. Giessen,
1906. JusTi, F., "The Life and Legend of Zarathushtra," in Avesta . . .
Studies in Honour of . . . Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana, pp.
117-58. Bombay, 1904. Kern, J. H. C, "Over het woord Zarathustra en den mythischen per-
soon van dien naam," in Verslagen en mededeelingender koninklijke
akademie van wetenschappen, xi. 132-64 (1868). Yohannan, a., "Some Passages in Persian Literature Relating to
Zoroaster," in Spiegel Memorial Volume, pp. 150-55. Bombay,
1908.
2. Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu
Bradke, p. von, Dydus Asura, Ahura Mazda und die Asuras. Halle,
1885. Darmesteter, J., Ormazd et Ahriman. Paris, 1877.
400 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
Jackson, A. V. W., "Ormazd, or the Ancient Persian Idea of God,"
in The Monist, ix. 161-78 (1899).
3. Haurvatat and Ameretat Darmesteter, J., Haurvatat et Ameretat. Paris, 1875.
4. Khshathrya Vairya
Jackson, A. V. W., "Khshathra Vairya," in Avesta . . . Studies in Honour of . . . Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana, pp. 159-66. Bombay, 1904.
5. Spenta Armaiti
Carnoy, a. J., "Aramati-Armatay," in Museon, II. xiii. 127-46 (1912).
6. Fravashi Soderblom, N., Les Fravashis. Paris, 1899.
7. Verethraghna
Charpentier, J., Kleine Beitrdge %ur indoiranischen Mythologie, pp. 25-68. Upsala, 191 1.
8. Anahita
Windischmann, F., Die persische Anahita oder Anaitis. Munich, 1856.
9. MiTHRA
CuMONT, F., Textes et momiments figures relatifs aux mysteres de
Mithra. 2 vols. Brussels, 1896-99. Les Mysteres de Mithra. 2nd ed. Brussels, 1902. English
tr. by T. J. McCormack. Chicago, 1903. Eggers, a., Der arische Gott Mitra. Dorpat, 1894. Gray, L. H., "Deux etymologies mithriaques," in Museon, III. i.
189-92 (1916). Meillet, a., "Le Dieu indo-iranien Mitra," in Journal asiatique, X.
i. 143-59 (1907)- Modi, J. J., "St. Michael of the Christians and Mithra of the Zoroas-
trians," in his Anthropological Papers, pp. 173-90. Bombay, no
date. Windischmann, P., Mithra. Leipzig, 18^7.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 401
10, SlMURGH
Casartelli, L. C, "Cyena-Simurgh-Roc," in Compte rendu du congres scientifique international des catholiques . . . i8gi, vi. 79-87.
1 1 . Khvarenanh
WiLHELM, E., "Khvareno," in Sir Jamshetjee Jejeebhoy Madressa Memorial Volume' Bombay, 191 4.
12. Cosmology
Carnoy, a. J., "Iranian Views of Origins in Connection with Sim- ilar Babylonian Beliefs," in J JOS xxxvi, 300-20 (191 7).
Darmesteter, J., "Les Cosmogonies aryennes," in his Essais orien- taux, pp. 171-207. Paris, 1883.
13. Deluge
Lindner, B., "Die iranische Flutsage," in Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, pp. 213-16. Stuttgart, 1903.
14. Eschatology
Brandt, W., " Schicksale der Seele nach dem Tode nach mandaischen und parsischen Vorstellungen," in Jahrbiicher fiir protestantise he Theologie, xviii. 405-38, 575-603 (1902).
Casartelli, L. C, "The Persian Dante," in Dastur Hoshang Memo- rial Volume, pp. 258-73. Not yet published.
HiJBSCHMANN, H., "Patsische Lehre vom Jenseits und jiingsten Gericht," in Jahrbiicher fiir protestantische Theologie, v. 203-45 (1879)-
Jackson, A. V. W., "The Ancient Persian Doctrine of a Future Life," in Biblical World, viii. 149-63 (1896).
Modi, J. J., "The Divine Comedy of Dante and the Viraf-nameh of Ardai Viraf," in his Asiatic Papers, pp. 31-44. Bombay, 1905.
SoDERBLOM, N., La Vie future d''apres le mazdeisme. Paris, 1901.
402 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
V. ZOROASTRIANISM, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND MUHAMMADANISM
Aiken, C. F., "The Avesta and the Bible," in Catholic University
Bulletin, iii. 243-91 (1897). BoKLEN, E., Verwandtschaft der jiidisch-christlichen mit der parsischen
Eschatologie. Gottingen, 1902. Cheyne, T. K., "Possible Zoroastrian Influences on the Religion of
Israel," in Expository Times, ii. 202-08, 224-27, 248-53 (1891). GoLDZiHER, I., "Islamisme et parsisme," in Revue de I'histoire des
religions, xliii. 1-29 (1901). Gray, L. H., "Zoroastrian Elements in Muhammadan Eschatology,"
in Museon, II. iii. 153-84 (1902). Haupt, E., Uber die Beriihrungen des Alten Testaments mit der Religion
Zarathustras. Treptow, 1867. Jackson, A. V. W., "Zoroastrianism and the Resemblances between
it and Christianity," in Biblical World, xxvii. 335-43 (1906). KoHUT, A., Jiidische Angelologie und Ddmonologie in ihrer Abhdngig-
keit vom Parsismus. Leipzig, 1866. "Was hat die talmudische Eschatologie aus dem Parsismus
aufgenommen.^" in ZDMG xxi. 552-91 (1867). KuHN, E., "Eine zoroastrische Prophezeiung in christlichem Ge-
wande," in Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, pp. 217-21. Stuttgart,
1893. Mills, L. H., Zarathushtra (Zoroaster), Philo, the Achaemenids and
Israel. 2 vols. Chicago, 1906. Avesta Eschatology Compared with the Books 0/ Daniel and
Revelations. Chicago, 1908. Our Own Religion in Ancient Persia. Chicago, 1913.
MouLTON, J. H., "Zoroaster and Israel," in The Thinker, i. 406-08, ii. 308-15, 490-501 (1892).
"Zoroastrian Influences on Judaism," in Expository Times,
ix. 352-58 (1898).
Spiegel, F., "Der Einfluss des Semitismus auf das Avesta," in his Arische Studien, i. 45-61. Leipzig, 1874.
Stave, E., Uber den Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judentum. Haar- lem, 1898.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 403
VI. PRINCIPAL ARTICLES ON IRANIAN RELIGION IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS
(vols, i-viii)
Ananikian, M., "Armenia (Zoroastrian)," i. 794-802. Carnoy, a. J., "Magic (Iranian)," viii. 293-96. Casartelli, L. C, "Dualism (Iranian)," v. 111-12. CuMONT, F., "Anahita," i. 414-15. Edwards, E., "Altar (Persian)," i. 346-48.
"God (Iranian)," vi. 290-94.
Gray, L. H., "Achaemenians," i. 69-73.
"Blest, Abode of the (Persian)," ii. 702-04.
"Cosmogony and Cosmology (Iranian)," iv. 161-62.
"Divination (Persian)," iv. 818-20.
"Fate (Iranian)," v. 792-93.
"Festivals and Fasts (Iranian)," v. 872-75.
"Fortune (Iranian)," vi. 96.
"Heroes and Hero-Gods (Iranian)," vi. 661-62.
454
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:45:01 PM »
VI. BUDDHISM
{a) Texts and Translations
Of the texts of the Southern canon, preserved in Pali and at the present time current in Ceylon, the most important for mythology is the sixteenth Sutta of the Dlgha Nikdya, the Mahdparinibbdnasutta, tr. T. W. Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, London, 1910, K. E. Neumann, Die letzten Tage Gotamo Buddho's, Munich, 191 1. The tales of the Jdtakas pertain to folk-lore rather than mythology proper.
Of works which, while belonging frankly to the HInayana, show a tendency to the doctrines of the Mahayana the chief is the Mahd- vastu, ed. E. Senart, 3 vols., Paris, 1882-97.
Of those of Mahayanistic tendency the most notable are: Lalita- vistara, ed. S. Lefmann, 2 vols., Halle, 1902-08; tr. P. E. Foucaux, in Annales du Musee Guiniet, vi, xix (Paris, 1884-94; this may originally have been a Hinayana text); Buddhacarita by Asvagho?a, ed. E. B. Cowell, Oxford, 1893; tr. E. B. Cowell, in SBE xHx (1894) (it dates perhaps from about 100 a. D.); Saundardnanda Kdvya by Asvaghosa, ed. Haraprasada Sastri, in BI 1910; Siltrdlamkdra by Asvaghosa, of which only a Chinese translation exists, tr. E. Hubcr, Paris, 1908; Mahay dnasraddhotpdda by an author whose identity is uncertain, tr. from Chinese by Tcitaro Suzuki, Asvaghosha's Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahdydna, Chicago, 1 900; Jdtaka-
384 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
mala by Aryasura (of the school of Asvaghosa), ed. H. Kern, Cambridge, Mass., 1891; tr. J. S. Speyer, London, 1895; Avaddnasa- taka, ed. J. S. Speyer, Petrograd, 1902-09; tr. L. Feer, in Annates du Musee Guimet, xviii (Paris, 1891); Divydvaddna, ed. E. B. Cowell and R. A. Neil, Cambridge, 1886 (in the main Hinayana of the second or third century A. d.).
The following Sutras are strictly Mahayanistic: Saddharmapun- darika, ed. H. Kern and Bunyiu Nanjio, Petrograd, 1908 ff.; tr. H. Kern, in SBE xxi (1884); Kdrandavyuha, prose version ed. Satyavrata Samasrami, Calcutta, 1873; Sukhdvatlvyuha, ed. F. Max Miiller and Bunyiu Nanjio, Oxford, 1883; tr. F. Max Miiller, in SBE xlix (1894); Amitdyurdhydnasiitra, tr. from Chinese by J. Takakusu, in SBE xlix (1894); Lankdvatdra, ed. Calcutta, 1900; Rdstrapdlapraiprcchd, ed. L. Finot, Petrograd, 1 901.
Of the Buddhist Tantric literature the Pancakrama is edited by L. de la Vallee Poussin, Ehides et textes tantriques, Ghent and Louvain, 1896; Bodhicary avatar a by Santideva, tr. L. de la Vallee Poussin, Paris, 1907.
{h) Indian Buddhism
BuRNOUF, E., Introduction a Vhistoire du houddhisme indien. 2nd ed.
Paris, 1876. CoPLESTON, R. S., Buddhism, Primitive and Present, in Magadha and
Ceylon. 2nd ed. London, 1908. Dahlmann, J., Nirvdna. Berlin, 1896.
Buddha. Berlin, 1898.
Indische Fahrten. Freiburg, 1908.
Die Thomas-Legende. Freiburg, 1912.
Eklund, J. A., Nirvana. Upsala, 1900.
FoucHER, A., Etude sur Viconographie bouddhique de Vlnde. 2 vols.
Paris, 1900-05.
V Art greco-bouddhique du Gandhdra. Paris, 1905.
The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and other Essays in Indian
Archaeology. London, 1915. Getty, A., The Gods of Northern Buddhism. Oxford, 1914. GoGERLY, D. J., Ceylon Buddhism. New ed. Colombo, 1908. Grunwedel, a., Buddhistische Kunst in Indien. 2nd ed. Berlin,
1900; English translation, with additions, by T. Burgess and Mrs.
Gibson. London, 1901. Hackmann, H., Buddhism as a Religion. London, 1910. Hardy, E., Der Buddhismus. Miinster, 1890. Hardy, R. S., Manual of Buddhism. 2nd ed. London, 1880.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 385
Kern, J., Der Buddhismus und seine Geschichte in Indien (tr. H. Jacobi). 2 vols. Leipzig, 1882-84.
Manual of Indian Buddhism. Strassburg, 1896.
KoEPPEN, C. F., Die Religion des Buddha. 2nd ed. Berlin, 1906. Lehmann, E., Der Buddhismus. Tubingen, 1910. MoNiER-WiLLiAMS, SiR M., Buddhism. London, 1889.
Nagendra Nath Vasu, The Northern Buddhism and its Follozvers in Orissa. Calcutta, 191 1.
Oldenberg, H., Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre und seine Gemeinde. 5th ed. Berlin, 1906. English tr. of ist ed., London, 1882.
PiscHEL, R., Leben und Lehre des Buddha. 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1910.
Rhys Davids, T. W., Historv of Indian Buddhism. 3rd ed. London, 1897.
Buddhism, its History and Literature. London, 1904.
"Buddha," in Encyclopcedia Britannica, nth ed., iv. 737-42.
"Buddhism," in Encyclopcedia Britannica, nth ed., iv.
742-49.
Senart, E., Essai sur la legende du Bouddha. 2nd ed. Paris, 1882.
Suzuki, Teitaro, Outlines of Mahdydna Btcddhisfn. London, 1907.
De la Vallee Poussin, L., Bouddhisme, Etudes et materiaux. Brus- sels, 1897.
Bouddhisme, Opinions sur I'histoire de la dogmatique. Paris,
1909.
WiNDiscH, E., Mara und Buddha. Leipzig, 1895.
Buddha''s Geburt. Leipzig, 1908.
WiNTERNiTZ, M., Geschichte der indischen Litteratur, ii, part i. Leipzig, 191 3.
(c) Tibetan Buddhism
Francke, a. H., Antiquities of Indian Thibet, i. Calcutta, 1914. Grunwedel, a., Mythologie des Buddhismus in Thibet und der Mon-
golei. Leipzig, 1900. Bericht uber archdologische Arheiten in Idikutschari und
Umgebung im Winter ig02-iQ0j. Munich, 1906. Alt-buddhistische Kulturstdtten in Chinesiscli-Turkestan. Ber-
lin, 1912. Pander, E., Das Pantheon des Tschangtscha Hutuktu; ein Beitrag zur Iconographie des Lamaismus. Ed. A. Grunwedel, in Veroffent- lichungen aus dem koniglichen Museum fiir Folkerkunde in Berlin, 1890.
386 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
Rhys Davids, T. W., " Lamaism," in Encyclopedia Britannica, nth
ed., xvi. 96-100. RocKHiLL, W. W., The Land of the Lamas. London, 1891. ScHLAGiNTWEiT, E., Buddkism in Thibet. Leipzig and London, 1863. Waddell, L. a., The Buddhism of Thibet. London, 1895.
id) Buddhism^ Hinduism, and Christianity
Aiken C. F., The Dhamma of Gotama the Buddha and the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Boston, 1900.
Clemen, C, Religions gesc hie htlic he Erkldrung des Neuen Testaments. Giessen, 1909.
Edmunds, A. J., Buddhist and Christian Gospels. 4th ed. by M. Anesaki. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1908-09.
Faber, G., Buddhistische und N eutestamentliche Erzdhlungen. Leip- zig, 1913-
Garbe, R., Indien und das Christentum. Tubingen, 1914.
Gray, L. H., "Brahmanistic Parallels in the Apocryphal New Testament," in American Journal of Theology, vii. 308-13
(1903)- Hase, K. von, N eutestamentliche Parallelen zu buddhistischen Quellen.
Berlin, 1905. Hopkins, E. W., India Old and New. New York, 1902. KuHN, E., "Buddhistisches in den apokryphen Evangelien," in
Gur^ipHjdkaumudi, Festgabe . . . Albrecht Weber, pp. 116-19.
Leipzig, 1896. Pfleiderer, 0., Die Entstehung des Christentums. 2nd ed. Munich,
1907. Seydel, R., Das Evangelium von Jesu in seinen Verhdltnissen zu
Buddha-Sage und Buddha-Lehre. Leipzig, 1882. Die Buddha-Legende und das Leben Jesu nach den Evangelien.
2nd ed. Weimar, 1897. Soderblom, N., "The Place of the Christian Trinity and of the
Buddhist Triratna amongst Holy Triads," in Transactions of the
Third International Congress for the History of Religions, pp.
391-410 (London, 1912). De la Vallee Poussin, L., "L'Histoire des religions de I'Inde et
I'apologetique," in Revue des sciences philosophiques et theolo-
giques, vi. 490-526 (1912). Van Den Bergh Van Eysinga, A., Indische Einfliisse auf evangelische
Erzdhlungen. 2nd ed. Gottingen, 1909.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 387
Weber, A., Uber Krshna's Geburtsfest, Krshnajanmdshtamu Berlin, 1868.
Wecker, O., Christus und Buddha. 3rd ed. Miinster, 1910.
VII. JAINISM
{a) Texts and Translations
The sacred texts of the Jains have been published in Indian edi- tions, usually with Sanskrit commentaries and vernacular explana- tions. The following have been edited or translated in Europe, being classed either as Aiigas or Updhgas: Niraydvaliydsuttam, een Upanga der Jama's, ed. S. J. Warren, Amsterdam, 1879; Acdrdhga Siitra, ed. H. Jacobi, London, 1882; tr. H. Jacobi, in SBE xxii (1884); Ut- tarddhyayana Sutra, ed. Calcutta, 1879; ^^- H. Jacobi, in SBE xlv (1895); Sutrakrtdnga Sutra, ed. Bombay, 1880; tr. H. Jacobi, in SBE xlv (1895); Updsakadasd Siitra, ed. and tr. A. F. R. Hoernle, in BI 1888-90; Aupapdtika Siitra, ed. E. Leumann, Leipzig, 1883; Dasavaikdlika Siitra, ed. E. Leumann, in ZDMG xlvi. 581-613 (1892); Antakrtadasd Siitra and A nuttar aupapdtika Siitra, ed. Cal- cutta, 1875; tr. L. D. Barnett, London, 1907.
Of the many later canonical and non-canonical texts by far the most important is the Kalpasiitra by Bhadrabahu, ed. H. Jacobi, Leipzig, 1879; tr. H. Jacobi, in SBE xxii (1884). Jacobi has also edited and translated the following: Bhaktdmarastotra and Kalydna- mandirastotra, in Indische Stiidien, xiv. 359-91 (1876), Caturvini- satijinastuti, in ZDMG xxxii. 509-34 (1878), Sthavirdvalicarita or Parisistaparvan by Hemacandra, in BI 1891, Tattvdrthddhigama Sutra by Umasvati, in ZDMG Ix. 287-325, 512-51 (1906). Other note- worthy texts are RsabhapaUcdsikd by Dhanapala, ed. and tr. J. Klatt, in ZDMG xxxiii. 445-83 (1879); Yogasdstra by Hemacandra, ed. and tr. E. Windisch, in ZDMG xxviii. 185-262, 678-79 (1874); Sryddisvaracarita by Hemacandra, ed. Narmadasankarasarman, Bombay, 1905; Prabandhacintdmani by Merutunga, tr. C. H. Taw- ney, in BI 1899; Kathdkosa, tr. C. H. Tawncy, London, 1895; Kalpasiitra, ed. and tr. W. Schubring, Leipzig, 1905; Jlvavicdra by Santisuri, ed. and tr. A. Guerinot, in Journal asiatique, IX. xix. 231-88 (1902).
{b) Treatises
Bhandarkar, R. G., Report on the Search for Sanskrit Manuscripts
in the Bombay Presidency for the Year 188 j-4. Bombay, 1887. BiJHLER, G., Ueber die indische Secte der Jaina. Vienna, 1887.
388 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
Burgess, J., "Note on Jaina Mythology," in Indian Antiquary, XXX. 27-28 (1901).
"Digambara Jaina Iconography," in Indian Antiquary,
xxxii. 459-64 (1903).
?Jaina Mythology," in his translation of G. Biihler, On the
Indian Sect of the Jains. London, 1903. Feer, L., "Nataputta et les Niganthas," in Journal asiatique, VIII. xii. 209-52 (1888).
GuERiNOT, A., "La Doctrine des etres vivants dans la religion jaina,"
in Revue de Uhistoire des religions, xlvii. 34-50 (1903).
Essai de bibliographie jaina. Paris, 1906.
Repertoire d'epigraphie jaina, precede dhine esquisse de Phis-
toire du jainisme d'apres les inscriptions. Paris, 1908. HoERNLE, A. F. R., " Jainism and Buddhism," in Proceedings of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1898, pp. 39-55. Jacobi, H., "Ueber die Entstehung der ^vetambara und Digambara
Sekten," in ZDMG xxxviii. 1-42 (1884), xl. 92-98 (1886). " Die Jaina Legende von dem Untergange Dvaravati's und
von dem Tode Krishna's," in ZDMG xlii. 493-529 (1888).
"Ueber den Jainismus und die Verehrung Krischna's," in
Berichte des VII iniernationalen Orientalisten-Congresses, pp. 75-77 (Vienna, 1889). Jaini, J., Outlines of Jainism. Cambridge, 1916.
Jhaveri, J. L., First Principles of Jaina Philosophy. Bombay,
1912. Karbhari, B. F., The Jain Philosophy collected and edited. Bombay,
1912. Leumann, E., "Die alten Berichte von den Schismen der Jaina,"
in Indische Studien, xv. 91-135 (1885).
Die Avasyaka-Erzdhlungen. Leipzig, 1897.
Milloue, L. de, Essai sur la religion des Jains. Louvain, 1884. "Etude sur le mythe de Vrisabha," in Annales du Musee
Guimet, x. 413-43 (1887). MiRONOW, N., Die Dharmaparlksa des Amitagati. Leipzig, 1903. PuLLE, F. L., "La Cartografia antica dell' India," part i, in Studi
italiani di filologia indo-iranica, iv. 14-41 (1901). Stevenson, Mrs. Sinclair, Notes on Modern Jainism. Oxford,
1910.
The Heart of Jainism. Oxford, 191 5.
Warren, S. J., Over die godsdienstige en wijsgeerige begrippen der Jainas. Amsterdam, 1875.
BIBLIOGRAPHY " 389
Weber, A., Ueher das Qatrunjaya Mdhdtmyam. Leipzig, 1858.
Ueber ein Fragment der Bhagavatl. 2 parts. Berlin, 1866-67.
"Ueber die Suryaprajnapti," in Indische Studien, x. 2^6-^16
(1868).
Paiicadandachattraprabandha. Berlin, 1877.
"Ueber die heiligen Schriften der Jaina," in Indische Studien,
xvi. 211-479, xvii. 1-90 (1883-85). English translation by H.
W. Smyth, in Indian Antiquary, xvii-xxi (1888-92). Ueber die Samyaktakaumudl. Berlin, 1889.
VIII. MODERN HINDUISM
Bhandarkar, Sir R. G., Faisnavism, ^aivism and Minor Religious
Systems. Strassburg, 191 3. Birdwood, Sir G. C. M., The Industrial Arts of India. London,
1880.
Campbell, A., Santal Folk Tales. Pokhuria, 1891.
Campbell, J. S., Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom. Bom- bay, 1885.
Carnegy, p.. Notes on the Races, Tribes and Castes inhabiting the Province of Oudh. Lucknow, 1868.
Crooke, W., North Indian Notes and Queries. 6 vols. Allahabad, 1891-96.
Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
4 vols. Calcutta, 1896.
Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India. 2 vols.
Westminster, 1896. Dalton, E. T., Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal. Calcutta, 1872. Day, L. B., Folk-Tales of Bengal. London, 1883. Dubois, J. A., Hindu Manners and Customs. 3rd ed. by H. K.
Beauchamp. Oxford, 1906. Elmore, W. T., Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism. Lincoln,
Neb., 1915. Farquhar, J. N., Modern Religious Movements in India. New York,
1915- Gangooly, O. C, South Indian Bronzes. Calcutta, 191 5. GopiNATHA Rao, T. A., Elements of Hindu Iconography. Madras,
1914. Grierson, G. a., Bihar Peasant Life. Calcutta, 1885. Growse, F. S., Rdmdyan of Tulasi Dds. 4th cd. Allahabad, 1887.
390 INDIAN IVmrHOLOGY
Growse, S. F., Mathura, a District Memoir. Allahabad, 1885. Ibbetson, D. C. J., Panjab Ethnography. Calcutta, 1883. Jackson, A. M. T., and Enthoven, R. E., Folklore Notes, i
(Gujarat). Bombay, 1914. KiTTEL, F., Ueber den Ursprung des Lingakultus in Indien. Manga-
lore, 1876. Knowles, J. H., Folk-Tales of Kashmir. 2nd ed. London, 1893. Levi, S., Le Nepal, i. Paris, 1905.
McCuLLOCH, W., Bengali Household Tales. London, 191 2. Natesa Sastri, Folklore of Southern India. 3 parts. Bombay, ' 1884-88.
Parker, H., Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon. 3 vols. London, 1910-14. Ralston, W. R. S., Tibetan Tales. London, 1906. RiSLEY^ H. H., Tribes and Castes of Bengal. Calcutta, 1891.
The People of India. 2 vols. 2nd ed. London, 1915.
Rivers, W. H. R., The Todas. London, 1906.
Russell, R. V., The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of
India. 4 vols. London, 191 6. Sherring, M. a.. The Sacred City of the Hindus. London, 1868.
Hindu Tribes and Castes. 3 vols. Calcutta, 1872-81.
Sleeman, W. H., Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official.
London, 1893. Srinivas Aiyangar, ]\I., Tamil Studies. Madras, 1914. Swynnerton, C, Indian Nights'* Entertainment. London, 1892.
Romantic Tales from the Panjab. Westminster, 1903.
Temple, R. C, Panjab Notes and Queries. 4 vols. Allahabad,
1883-86.
Wide-Azvake Stories. Bombay, 1884.
Legends of the Panjab. 3 vols. Bombay, 1884-1900.
Thurston, E., Omens and Superstitions of Southern India. London, 1912.
Thurston, E., and Rangachari, K., Castes and Tribes of Southern
India. 7 vols. Madras, 1909. ToD, J., Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. Rev. ed. with preface
by D. Sladen. 2 vols. London, 1914. Whitehead, H., The Village Gods of South India. London, 1916. WiLKiNS, W. J., Modern Hinduism. 2nd ed. London, 1900. Ziegenbalg, B., Genealogy of the South Indian Gods. English tr,
Madras, 1869.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 391
Valuable information as to Hindu religion and mythology is given in the fragments of the Greek embassador to India, Megasthenes (early part of the third century b. c), translated by J. W. McCrindle, Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian, London, 1877. Still more importance attaches to the writings of the Chinese Bud- dhist pilgrims Fa Hien and Sung Yun (400 and 518 a. d. respectively), translated by S. Beal, London, 1869 (Fa Hien also by J. Legge, Oxford, 1886), Hsiian Tsang (629-45 a.d.), translated by S. Beal, new ed., London, 1906, and by T. Watters, 2 vols., London, 1904-06, and I Tsing (671-95 a.d.), translated by E. Chavannes, Paris, 1894, and J. Takakusu, Oxford, 1897. The account of India by al-Blrunl (about 1030 A.D.), translated by E. Sachau, new ed., London, 1906, contains much on mythology, as does the Persian Dabistdn, written in the seventeenth century (tr. D. Shea and A. Troyer, Paris, 1843, ii. 1-288). Some incidental material may be gleaned from the old trav- ellers in India, such as Pietro della Valle (early seventeenth century; ed. E. Grey, 2 vols., London, 1892), and from the earlier missionary material, notably A. Roger, Open-Deure tot het verborgen Heydendom, Leyden, 165 1 (new ed. by W. Caland, The Hague, 191 5; French tr. Amsterdam, 1670; German tr. Nuremberg, 1663), and an anonymous Roman Catholic Portuguese missionary of the early seventeenth cen- tury partly translated by L. C. Casartelli, in Babylonian and Oriental Record, viii. 248-59, 265-70, ix. 41-46, 63-67 (1900-01) and An- thropos, i. 864-76, ii. 128-32, 275-81, iii. 771-72 (1906-08) (the author is believed by H. Hosten, in Anthropos, ii. 272-74 [1907], to have been Fr. Francis Negrone). For the problem of the relations between India and the Greeks see A. Weber, "Die Griechen in Indien," in Sitzungsberichte der koniglich preussischen Akademie der Wissen- schaften, 1890, pp. 901-33; G. d'Alviella, Ce que Vlnde doit a la Grece, Paris, 1897; S. Levi, Quid de Grcecis veterum Indorum nionu- menta iradiderint, Paris, 1890, H. G. Rawlinson, Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome, Cambridge, 1916. Reference may also be made to M. Reinaud, Memoire geographique, historique et scientifique sur Vlnde . . . d'apres les ecrivains arabes, persans et chinois, Paris, 1849.
IX. PRINCIPAL ARTICLES ON INDIAN RELIGION IN THE ENCYCLOPiEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS (vols, i-viii)
Allan, J., "Maya," viii. 503-05. Anderson, J. D., "Assam," ii. 131-38- Anesaki, M., "Docetism (Buddhist)," iv. 835-40. .VI — 26
392 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
Bloomfield, M., "Literature (Vedic and Classical Sanskrit),"
viii. 106-13. BoLLiNG, G. M., "Divination (Vedi.)," iv. 827-30.
"Dreams and Sleep (Vedic)," v. 38-40.
Crooke, W., "Aghorl," i. 210-13.
"Ahir," i. 232-34.
"Baiga," ii. 333.
"Banjara," ii. 347-48.
" Bengal," ii. 479-50I •
"Bhangi," ii. 551-53-
"BhiV'ii. 554-56.
"Bombay," ii. 786-91.
"Death and Disposal of the Dead (Indian, non-Aryan),'*
iv. 479-84-
"Demons and Spirits (Indian)," iv. 601-08.
"Dosadh, Dusadh," iv. 852-53.
"Dravidians (North India)," v. 1-21.
"Ganga, Ganges," vi. 177-79.
"Gurkha, Gorkha," vi. 456-57.
"Hinduism," vi. 686-715.
"Images and Idols (Indian)," vii. 142-46.
"Kandh, Khond," vii. 648-51.
Deussen, p., "Atman," ii. 195-97-
Frazer, R. W., "Dravidians (South India)," v. 21-28.
"Literature (Dravidian)," viii. 91-92.
Garbe, R., " Bhagavad-Gita," ii. 535-38. Geden, a. S., "Buddha, Life of the," ii. 881-85.
"Devayana," iv. 677-79.
"Fate (Buddhist)," v. 780-82.
"God (Buddhist)," vi. 269-72.
"God (Hindu)," vi. 282-90.
"Images and Idols (Buddhist)," vii. 119-27.
"Inspiration (Hindu)," vii. 352-54.
Grierson, Sir G. A., " Bhakti-Marga," ii. 539-Si-
"Dards," iv. 399-402.
"Ganapatyas," vi. 175-76.
455
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:43:49 PM »
III. THE VEDIC PERIOD
{a) Texts and Translations (a) Saihhitds
1. Rgveda. Ed. T. Aufrecht, 2 vols., Bonn, 1877; with Sayana's commentary, ed. F. Max Aliiller, 4 vols., London, 1890-92; tr. H. Grassmann, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1876-77, A. Ludwig, 5 vols., Prague, 1876-88 (with an elaborate introduction — vol. iii — and notes), R. T. H. Griffith, 2 vols., Benares, 1896-97, F. Max Miiller (hymns to the Maruts, Rudra, Vayu, and Vata), in SBE xxxii. (1891), H. Oldenberg (hymns to Agni from Books i-v), in SBE xlvi. (1897); commentary by H. Oldenberg, 2 vols., Berlin, 1909-12.
2. Sdmaveda. Ed. and tr. T. Benfey, Leipzig, 1848; ed. Satyavrata Samasrami, Calcutta, 1873; tr. R. T. H. Griffith, Benares, 1893. See also W. Caland, Die Jaiminlya Sanihitd, Breslau, 1907.
3. Yqjurveda. (i) Kdthaka Samhitd. Ed. L. von Schroeder, 3 vols., Leipzig, 1900-10. (ii) Taitlirlya Samhitd. Ed. BI 1860-99, A. Weber, in Indische Studien, xi-xii (1871-72); tr. A. B. Keith, 2 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1914. (iii) Maitrdyani Samhitd. Ed. L. von Schroeder, 4 vols., Leipzig, 1881-86. (iv) Vdjasaneyi Samhitd. Ed. A. Weber, Berlin and London, 1852; tr. R. T. H. Griffith, Benares, 1899. The tirst three texts belong to the "Black" division of the Yqjurveda, and the fourth to the "White."
374 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
4. Atharvaveda. Ed. R. Roth and W. D. Whitney, Berlin, 1856; tr. R. T. H. Griffith, 2 vols., Benares, 1897, M. Bloomfield (selected hymns), in SBE xlii. (1897), W. D. Whitney and C. R. Lanman, 2 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1905. See M. Bloomfield, The Atharvaveda, Strassburg, 1899.
(/3) Brdhmanas
1. Attached to the Rgveda. (i) Aitareya Brdhmana. Ed. T. Auf- recht, Bonn, 1879; ed. and tr. M. Haug, 2 vols., Bombay, 1863. (ii) Kausltaki Brdhmana. Ed. B. Lindner, Jena, 1887.
2. Attached to the Sdmaveda. (i) Pancavuhsa Brdhmana. Ed. A. Vedantavagisa, in BI 1869-74. (ii) Sadvimsa Brdhmana. Ed. Jibananda Vidyasagara, Calcutta, 1881.
3. Attached to the Yajurveda. (i) Taittiriya Brdhmana. Ed. Rajendralala Mitra, in BI 1855-70, N. Godabole, in ASS 1898. (ii) Satapatha Brdhmana. Ed. A. Weber, Berlin and London, 1855; tr. J. Eggeling, in SBE xii, xxvi, xli, xliii, xliv (i 880-1900). There are no separate Brdhmanas for the Kdthaka and the Maitrdyani Samhitds, but these texts include Brdhmana portions.
4. Attached to the Atharvaveda. Gopatha Brdhmana. Ed. Rajen- dralala Mitra, in BI 1872.
(7) Aranyakas and Upanisads
1. Attached to the Rgveda. (i) Aitareya Aranyaka, including the Aitareya Upanisad. Ed. and tr. A. B. Keith, Oxford, 1909. (ii) Sdnkhdyana Aranyaka. Tr. A. B. Keith, London, 1908. (iii) Kausitaki Upanisad. Ed. E. B. Cowell, in BI 1861.
2. Attached to the Sdmaveda. (i) Jaiminlya Upanisad Brdhmana. Ed. and tr. H. Oertel, in JAOS xvi. 79-260 (1894). (ii) Chdndogya Upanisad. Ed. and tr. O. Bohtlingk, Leipzig, 1889.
3. Attached to the Yajurveda. (i) Kdthaka Upanisad. Ed. and tr. O. Bohtlingk, Leipzig, 1890. (ii) Taittiriya Aranyaka. Ed. H. N. Apte, in ASS 1898. (iii) Taittiriya Upanisad. Ed. Poona, 1889. (iv) Maitrdyani Upanisad. Ed. E. B. Cowell, in BI 1870. (v) Brhad_dranyaka Upanisad. Ed. and tr. O. Bohtlingk, Leipzig, 1889, (vi) Isd Upanisad. Ed. ASS 1888. (vii) Svetdsvatara Upanisad (attributed, though without much reason, to the Black Yajurveda). Ed. ASS 1890.
4. Attached to the Atharvaveda. (i) Mundaka Upanisad. Ed. ASS 1889. (ii) Prasna Upanisad. Ed. and tr. O. Bohtlingk, Leip- zig, 1890. (iii) Mdndukya Upanisad. Ed. and tr. Bombay, 1895.
There are many other Upanisads, but they are of less importance and of doubtful age. The principal Upanisads are translated by F.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 375
Max Miiller, in SBE i (2nd ed., 1900), xv (1884), and by P. Deussen, Sechzig Upanishads des Feda, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1905 (see also his Philosophy of the Upanishads, tr. A. S. Geden, London, 1906, and A. E. Gough, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, London, 1882).
(5) Ritual Literature
The most important source for mythology in the ritual literature is furnished by the Grhya Sutras, of which those of Asvalayana, Sankhayana, Paraskara, Khadira, Apastamba, Hiraijyakesin, and Gobhila are translated by H. Oldenberg, in SBE xxix, xxx (1886). The Kausika Sutra of the Atharvaveda, the chief text on Vedic magic, is edited by M. Bloomfield, New Haven, 1890, and translated in large part by W. Caland, Altindisches Zauberritual, Amsterdam, 1900, who has also edited the Pitrmedha SUtra (on ancestor-worship) of Gautama, Baudhayana, and Hiranyakesin. Of the Dharma Sdstras, or law-books, those of Apastamba, Gautama, Vasistha, and Baudh- ayana are translated by G. Biihler, in SBE ii (2nd ed., 1897), xiv (1882), who has also translated the later Manu Smrti, in SBE xxv (1886).
{h) General Treatises
Bergaigne, a.. La Religion vedique. 4 vols. Paris, 1878-83.
Bloomfield, M., The Religion of the Veda. New York, 1908.
CoLiNET, P., "Le Symbolisme solaire dans le Rig- Veda," in Melanges Charles de Harlez, pp. 86-93. Leyden, 1896.
Deussen, P., Philosophie des Veda {Allgemeine Geschichte der Philoso- phie mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Religionen, i, part i). 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1915.
Hardy, E., Die vedisch-brahmanische Periode der Religion des alien Indiens. Miinster, 1893.
Henry, V., La Magie dans Plnde antique. 2nd ed. Paris, 1909.
HiLLEBRANDT, A., Vedische Mythologie. 3 vols. Breslau, 1891-1902.
Hopkins, E. \V., "Henotheism in the Rig- Veda," in Classical Studies in Honour of Henry Drisler, pp. 75-83. New York, 1894.
"The Holy Numbers of the Rig-Veda," in Oriental Studies:
A Selection of the Papers Read before the Oriental Club of Phila- delphia, pp. 141-59. Boston, 1894.
Raegi, a., Der Rigveda. 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1 88 1. English transla- tion by R. Arrowsmith. Boston, 1886.
KuHN, A., Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks. 2nd cd. Giitersloh, 1886. VI — 25
376 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
Levi, S., La Doctrine du sacrifice dans les hrdhmanas. Paris, 1898. Macdonell, a. a., Vedic Mythology. Strassburg, 1897. Macdonell, a. a., and Keith, A. B., Vedic Index of Names and
Subjects. 2 vols. London, 191 2. Oldenberg, H., Die Religion des Veda. Berlin, 1894. PiSCHEL, R., and Geldner, K., Vedische Studien. 3 vols. Stuttgart,
1 889-1901. Roth, R., "Die hochsten Gotter der arischen Volker," in ZDMG
vi. 67-77 (1852). Sander, F., Rigveda und Edda. Stockholm, 1893. ScHROEDER, L. VON, ludiens Literatur und Kultur. Leipzig, 1887.
Mysterium und Mimus im Rigveda. Leipzig, 1908.
SiEG, E., Die Sagenstoffe des Rgveda. Stuttgart, 1902. De la Vallee Poussin, L., Le Vedisme. Paris, 1909.
Le Brahrdanisme. Paris, 1910.
Weber, A., "Vedische Beitrage," in Sitzungsberichte der koniglich
preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1 894-1901.
(f) Treatises on Special Points I. Cosmology
ScHERMAN, L., Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- und Atharva-
Veda-Sanhitd. Strassburg, 1887. Wallis, H. F., Cosmology of the Rigveda. London, 1887.
2. Dyaus
Bradke, p. von, Dyaus Asura, Ahura Mazda und die Asuras. Halle, 1885.
Hopkins, E. W., "Dyaus, Visnu, Varuna, and Rudra," in Proceed- ings of the American Oriental Society, 1894, pp. cxlv-cxlvii.
3. Varuna
Bohnenberger, K., Der altindische Goti Varuna. Tubingen, 1893. FoY, W., Die konigliche Gezvalt nach den altindischen Rechtsbiichern,
pp. 80-86. Leipzig, 1895. Hillebrandt, a., Varuna und Mitra. Breslau, 1877. Oldenberg, H., "Varuna und die Adityas," in ZDMG 1. 43-68
(1896).
BIBLIOGRAPHY 377
4. Mitra
Eggers, a., Der arische Gott Mitra. Dorpat, 1894. Meillet, a., "Le Dieu indo-iranien Mitra," in Journal asialique, X. i. 143-59 (1907)-
5. Pusan
Perry, E. D., "Notes on the Vedic Deity Pusan," 'n Classical Studies in Honour of Henry Drisler, pp. 240-43. New York, 1894. Siecke, E., Pusan. Leipzig, 1914.
6. Adityas
Oldenberg, H., "Varuna und die Adityas," in ZDMG xlix. 177-78 (1895), 1. 5(^54 (1896).
7. Savitr
Oldenberg, H., "Noch einmal der vedische Savitar," in ZDMG lix. 253-64 (1905).
8. Asvins
Myriantheus, L., Die Asviris oder arischen Dioskuren. Munich, 1 876.
9. U?as Brandes, E., Usas. Copenhagen, 1879.
10. Indra
Hopkins, E. W., "Indra as the God of Fertility," in J JOS xxxvi.
242-68 (1917). Perry, E. D., "Indra in the Rigveda," in J JOS xi. 117-208 (1885).
11. Trita
Bloomfield, M., "Trita, the Scape-Goat of the Gods, in Relation to Atharva-Veda, vi. 112 and 113," in Proceeditigs of the Jmerican Oriental Society, 1894, pp. cxix-cxxiii.
Macdonell, a. a., "The God Trita," in JRJS 1893, pp. 419-96.
12. Rudra and the Alaruts
Charpentier, J., "tjbcr Rudra-^iva," in WZKM xxiii. 151-79
(1909). "Bemerkungen iiber die Vratyas," in JVZKM xxv. 355-68
(1911)- Keith, A. B., "The Vratyas," in JRJS 1913, pp. 155-60.
378 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
ScHROEDER, L. VON, " Bemcrkungen zu Oldenberg's Religion des
Veda," in WZKM ix. 233-52 (1895). SiECKE, E., IndrcCs Drachenkampf {nach dem Rig-Veda). Berlin,
1905.
13. Aditi
CoLiNET, p., "Etude sur le mot Aditi," in Museon, xii. 81-90 (1893). HiLLEBRANDT, A., Uebcr die Gottin Aditi. Breslau, 1876. Oppert, G., "IJber die vedische Gottin Aditi," in ZDMG Ivii. 508-19 (1903).
14. Saranyu
Bloomfield, M., "Contributions to the Interpretation of the Veda," in J JOS XV. 172-88 (1893).
15. Gandharvas
Meyer, E. H., Gandharven-Kentauren. Berlin, 1883. ScHROEDER, L. VON, GHechische Goiter und Heroen, i. 23-39. Berlin, 1887.
16. Apsarases
SiECKE, O., Die Liebesgeschichte des Himmels. Strassburg, 1892.
17. Rbhus Ryder, A. W., Die Rbhus im Rgveda. Giitersloh, 1901.
18. Animal Worship
Hopkins, E. W., "Notes on Dyaus, Visnu, Varuna, and Rudra," in Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, 1894, p. cliv.
Keith, A. B., "Some Modern Theories of Religion and the Veda," in JRAS 1907, pp. 929-49.
Winternitz, M., Der Sarpabali. Vienna, 1888.
19. Asura
Macdonell, a. a., "Mythological Studies in the Rigveda," in JRAS 1895, pp. 168-77.
20. Namuci
Bloomfield, M., "Contributions to the Interpretation of the Veda," in JAOS xv. 143-63 (1893).
BIBLIOGRAPHY 379
21. Dadhikra
Henry, v., "Dadhikri-Dadhikravan et reuhemerisme en exegese vedique," In Album Kern, pp. 5-12. Ley den, 1903.
22. Pisacas
Charpentier, J., Kleine Beitrdge zur indoiranischen Mythologie, pp. 1-24. Upsala, 191 1.
23. Matarisvan
Charpentier, J., Kleine Beitrdge zur indoiranischen Mythologie, pp. 69-83. Upsala, 191 1.
24. Brhaspati Strauss, O., Brhaspati im Veda. Leipzig, 1905.
25. Manu
Lindner, B., "Die iranische Flutsage," in Festgruss an Rudolf von
Roth, pp. 213-16. Stuttgart, 1903. MiJLLER, F. AIax, India, What can it teach us?, pp. 133-38. London,
1883. Weber, A., "Zwei Sagen aus dem (^atapathabrahmana iiber
Einwanderung und Verbreitung der Arier in Indien," in
Indische Studien, i. 161-232 (1851).
26. Eschatology
BoYER, A. M., "Etude sur I'origine de la doctrine du sarhsara," in Journal asiatique, IX. xviii. 451-99 (1901).
Caland, W., Altindischer Ahnencult. Leyden, 1893.
Die altindischen Todten- und Bestattungsgebrduche. Amster- dam, 1896.
Ehni, J., Der vedische Mythus des Yama. Strassburg, 1890.
Die urspriingliche Gottheit des vedischen Yama. Leipzig,
1896.
Geldner, K., "Yama und YamT," in Gurupuj dkaumudi, Festgabe . . . Albrecht Weber, pp. 19-22. Leipzig, 1896.
Keith, A. B., "Pythagoras and the Doctrine of Transmigration," in JRAS 1909, pp. 569-606.
ScHERMAN, L., Materialien zur Geschichte der indischen Visions- litteratur. Leipzig, 1892.
WiNDiscH, E., Buddha's Geburt, pp. 57-76. Leipzig, 1908.
38o INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
IV. THE EPIC
(a) Texts and Translations (a) Mahdhhdrata
The Mahdbhdrata has been edited several times in India: at Cal- cutta in 1834-39 ^11^ 1894, at Madras in 1855-60, at Bombay in 1863, 1888, and 1890. An edition based on the South Indian manu- scripts, which vary greatly from those in Northern India, was pub- lished at Bombay in 1906-1 1. There are two complete English trans- lations, one made at the expense of Pratapa Chandra Ray, Calcutta, 1882-94, and one by M. N. Dutt, Calcutta, 1 895-1 904.
The Bhagavadgitd, which has been edited repeatedly, is translated by K. T. Telang in SBE viii (2nd ed., 1898) (together with the Anugltd and Sanatsujdtiya), R. Garbe, Leipzig, 1905, P. Deussen and O. Strauss, in Fier philosophische Texte des Mahdbhdratam, Sa- natsujdta-Parvan-Bhagavadgitd-Moksadharma- Anugltd^ Leipzig, 1 906 (the Bhagavadgitd separately, Leipzig, 191 1).
(/3) Rdmdyana
The Rdmdyana, which exists in three different recensions, has often been edited: by G. Gorresio, Turin, 1843-67, K. B. Parab, 3rd ed., Bombay, 1909, and T. R. Krishnacharya and T. R. Vyasacharya, Bombay, 191 1. It has been translated by R. T. H. Griffith, Benares, 1895, M. N. Dutt, Calcutta, 1892-93, and A. Roussel, Paris, 1903-09.
{b) Treatises
BiJHLER, G., Indian Studies, ii. Vienna, 1892.
Dahlmann, J., Das Mahdbhdrata als Epos und Rechtsbuch. Berlin,
1895-
Genesis des Mahabharata. Berlin, 1899.
Die Sdmkhya Philosophie. Berlin, 1902.
Fausb5ll, v., Indian Mythology according to the Mahdbhdrata in
Outline. London, 1902. Feer, L., "Vrtra et Namuci dans le Mahabharata," in Revue de
rhistoire des religions, xiv. 291-307 (1886). Garbe, R., Indien und das Christentum, pp. 209-71. Tubingen,
1914. HoLZMANN, A., Agni. Strassburg, 1878.
Arjuna. Strassburg, 1879.
"Indra," in ZDMG xxxii. 290-340 (1878).
BIBLIOGRAPHY 381
HoLZMANN, A., "Die Apsarasen," in ZDMG xxxiii. 631-44 (1879).
"Agastya," in ZDMG xxxiv. 589-96 (1880).
''Brahman," in ZDMG xxxviii. 167-234 (1884).
— ^ Das Mahdbhdrata. 4 vols. Kiel, 1892-95.
Hopkins, E. W., The Great Epic of India. New York, 1901.
India Old and New. New York, 1901.
"Mythological Aspects of Trees and Mountains in the
Great Epic," in JAOS xxx. 347-74 (1910). "Sanskrit Kabairas or Kubairas and Greek Kabeiros," in
JAOS xxxiii. 55-70 (191 3).
Epic Mythology. Strassburg, 1915.
Jacobi, H., Das Ramdyana. Bonn, 1893.
Das Mahdbhdrata. Bonn, 1903.
Keith, A. B., "The Child Krsna," in JRJS 1908, pp. 169-75.
Kennedy, J., "The Child Krsna," in JRJS 1907, pp. 951-92.
LuDWiG, A., Ueber das Verhdltnis des mythischen Elementes zu der historischen Grundlage des Mahdbhdrata. Prague, 1884.
Ueber das Rdmdyana und die Beziehiuigen desselben zum Mahd- bhdrata. Prague, 1894.
RoussEL, A., Idees religieuses et sociales de Vlnde ancienne d'apres les legendes du Mahdbhdrata. Fribourg, 1911.
ScHOEBEL, C, Le Rdmdyana au point de vue religieux, philosophique
et moral. Paris, 1888. SoRENSEN, S., Index to the Mahdbhdrata. London, 1904 ff. Speijer, J. S., "Le Mythe de Nahusha," \n Acten des sechsten inter-
nationalen Orientalisten-Congresses, iii. 81-120 (Leyden, 1885). Vaidya, C. v.. The Riddle of the Rdmdyana. Bombay and London,
1906. Weber, A., Ueber das Rdmdyana. Berlin, 1870.
V. THE PURANAS AND TANTRAS
The following eighteen texts are generally recognized as the Purdnas par excellence:
1. Brahma Ptcrdna. Ed. ASS 1895.
2. Padma Purdna. Preserved in two recensions, the first as yet unedited, the second ed. N. N. Mandlick, in ASS 1894.
3. Visnu Purdna. Ed. JIbananda Vidyasagara, Calcutta, 1882; tr. H. H. Wilson, London, 1840 (2nd ed. by F. Hall, in Wilson's Works, vi-ix, London, 1864-77), M. N. Dutt, Calcutta, 1896; Book
382 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
V, on the life of Krsna, by A. Paul, Krischnas Weltengang, Munich, 1905.
4. Vdyu Purdna. Ed. Rajendralala Mitra, in BI 1880-88, ASS 1905.
5. Bhdgavata Purdna. Ed. Bombay, 1904, 1910; ed. and tr. E. Burnouf, M. Hauvette-Besnault, and P. Roussel, 5 vols., Paris, 1840-98. See also P. Roussel, Cosmologie hindoue d'apres le Bhdgavata Purdna, Paris, 1898, Legendes morales de Vlnde, Paris, 1900.
6. Ndrada (or Ndradlya or Brhanndradiya) Purdna. Ed. Hrsikesa Sastri, in BI 1891.
7. Mdrkandeya Purdna. Ed. K. M. Banerjea, in BI 1862, JI- bananda Vidyasagara, Calcutta, 1 879; tr. F. E. Pargiter, in BI 1 888-1*905, M. N. Dutt, Calcutta, 1897.
8. Agni Purdna. Ed. BI i^jo-jg, ASS 1900; tr. M. N. Dutt, Calcutta, 1903-04.
9. Bhavisya Purdna. Ed. Bombay, 1897. (An interpolated and in part untrustworthy text; see T. Aufrecht, in ZDMG Ivii. 276- 84 [1903].)
10. Brahmavaivarta (or Brahmakaivarta) Purana. Ed. Calcutta, 1888.
11. Lihga Purdna. Ed. Bombay, 1857, Jibananda Vidyasagara, Calcutta, 1885.
12. Vardha Purdna. Ed. Hrsikesa Sastri, Calcutta, 1887-93.
13. Skanda Purdna. The original is lost, but various texts claim to be parts of it: Sutasamhitd, ed. ASS 1893; Sahyddrikhanda, ed. T. G. da Cunha, Bombay, 1877; Kdslkhanda, ed. Benares, 1868, Bombay, 1881.
14. Vdmana Purdna. Ed. Calcutta, 1885.
15. Kurma Purdna. Ed. Nilmani Mukhopadhyaya Nyayalarh- kara, Calcutta, 1886-90.
16. Matsya Purdna. Ed. Jibananda Vidyasagara, Calcutta, 1876, ASS 1907.
17. Garuda Purdna. Ed. Jibananda Vidyasagara, Calcutta, 1890, Bombay, 1903; tr. in Sacred Books of the Hindus, ix, Allahabad, 1911.
18. Brahmdnda Purdna. Not extant as a whole; a part, Adhydtma- rdmdyana ed. Bombay, 1 891, 1907.
Of the Upapurdnas, or minor texts of this type, the Kdlikd Purdna, which contains an important chapter on the victims offered to Durga, was published at Bombay in 1891; the Saura Purdna is edited in ASS 1889, and summarized and partially translated by W. Jahn, Strassburg, 1908.
Much information on the contents of the Purdnas is given by H. H. Wilson in his translation of the Visnu Purdna and in his Essays on
BIBLIOGRAPHY 383
Sanskrit Literature {Works, iii. 1-155), by E. Buraouf in the preface to his edition and translation of the Bhdgavata Purdna, by T. Auf- recht in his Catalogus codicum mss. Sans critic or urn . . . iji Biblio- theca Bodleiana, Oxford, 1859, and by J. EggeHng in his Catalogue oj the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, vi, London, 1899. See also A. Holzmann, Das Alahdbhdrata, 4 vols., Kiel, 1892- 95 (especially vol. iv.).
The Tantric texts are now being made accessible by a series of translations, etc., by "Arthur Avalon," Calcutta and London, 1913 flf. Those which have thus far appeared are as follows: T antra of the Great Liberation {Mahdnirvdriatantra), with introduction and com- mentary; Hymns to the Goddess {Tantrdbhidhdna), Sanskrit text and English translation; Satcakraniriipana, Sanskrit text and English translation; Principles of Tantra, part I, The Tantratattva of Sriyukta Siva Chandra Vidydrnava Bhattdchdrya Mahodaya, with introduction and commentary; Prapancasdra Tantra, ed. Taranatha Vidyaratna; Kulacuddmani Tantra, ed. Girlsa Candra Vedantatirtha. These texts are intended to bring out the philosophic meaning of the belief in the female principle as the Supreme Being.
456
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:42:43 PM »
NOTES 361
17. Yasht, viii. 23-24.
18. Yasht, viii. 29.
19. Yasht, viii. 13. Fifteen was the paradisiac age to the Iranian mind,
20. Bundahish, vii. 4-7 (tr. E. VV. West, in SBE v. 26-27).
21. Bundahish, xix. i-io.
22. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 148; E. W. West, in SBE v. 67, note 4.
23. M. Ananikian, "Armenia (Zoroastrianism in)," in Encyclo- pcedia of Religion and Ethics, i. 799, Edinburgh, 1908.
24. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 559.
25. Yasht, xiv.
26. Cf. the healing functions of Thrita and Thraetaona, supra, p. 265, and infra, p. 318.
27. Cf. the story of Atar, supra, pp. 266-67.
28. Cf. the legend of Tishtrya, supra, p. 269.
29. Namely, seizing its prey with its talons and rending it with its beak. The bird Vareghna is apparently the raven.
30. Yasht, xiv. 19-21. The comparison of the lightning to a bird is of frequent occurrence.
31. Yasht, xiv. 27-33.
32. Yasht, xiv. 62-63.
33. Yasna, ix. 11.
Chapter II
1. Adapted from E. W. West's translation of Bundahish, i-iii, and Selections of Zdt-Sparam, i-ii, in SBE v. 1-19, 156-63.
2. "As the best lord"; the opening words of Yasna, xxvii. 13, and a formula frequently used in prayers. Cf. L. H. Mills, in JRAS, 1910, pp. 57-68, 641-57.
3. A reminiscence of the myths of Tishtrya and Verethraghna; cf. supra, pp. 269, 272.
4. A reminiscence of the storm-myths of Azhi, etc.; cf. supra, pp. 266-67.
5. The planets are evil beings since they do not follow the regular course of the stars.
6. Bundahish, xiii.
7. Yasht, V. 1-4.
8. Yasht, V. 7, 64, 126-129.
9. BUndahish, ix; Selections of Zdt-Sparam, viii.
10. Bundahish, xviii.
11. Yasna, ix. 17-18.
12. Yasna, ix. 19-20.
362 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
13. Yasna, ix. 22-23. It is scarcely necessary to note that the word "Haoma" is dissyllabic.
14. A. A. Macdonell, Fedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. iii.
15. M. Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston, 1898, pp. 52C^2I.
16. Bundahish, xxvii. I.
17. Selections of Zat-Sparam, ii. 5.
18. O. Schrader, "Aryan Religion," in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, ii. 39, Edinburgh, 1910.
19. A. A. Macdonell, Fedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 88 flF.
20. See supra, pp. 44-45.
21. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta^ i. pp. lix ff.
22. Bundahish, xvii. I-4.
23. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, i. 150.
24. Bundahish, iii. 24; Selections of Zat-Sparam, ii. 11.
25. Selections of Zdt-Sparavi, ii. 6.
26. Namely, his spiritual prototype, his supra-terrestrial self or guardian spirit. For this account of Geush Urvan see Bundahish, iii. 17-18, iv. 1-5.
27. F. Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra, Chicago, 1903, p. 131 ff.
28. See P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, Religion of the Teutons, Boston, 1902, p. 341.
29. Yasht, xiv. 19.
30. Yasht, xiv. 41.
31. Mainog-l-Khrat, Ixii. 40-42 (tr. E, W. West, in SBE xxiv. 112).
32. Bundahish, xix. 13.
33. Supra, p. 272.
34. Yasht, xix. 35.
35. Yasht, xiv. 34-36.
36. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 571, note 51; Shahndmah, tr. A. G. and E. Warner, i. 246.
37. Shdhndmah, i. 320-22.
38. Fendiddd, ii. 42.
39. Bundahish, xix. 16.
40. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 189.
41. Fendiddd, xvii. 9.
42. Bundahish, xix. 19.
43. C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worterbuch, col. 259.
44. J. Darmesteter, in SBE xxiii. 203, note 4.
45. A. A. Macdonell, Fedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 152; see also supra, pp. 47, 62.
46. Bundahish, xix. 21-25.
47. Bilndahish, xix. 36.
NOTES 363
Chapter III
1. Yasht, xiii. 87.
2. Yasna, xxvi. 10.
3. Bihidahish, xxx. 7.
4. Bundahish, xxiv. i.
5. Alainog-i-Khrat, xxvii. 14.
6. Mainbg-i-Khrat, xxvii. 18; J. Darmesteter, Ortnazd et Ahriman, p. 159-
7. F. Windischmann, Zoroastrische Studien, p. 216.
8. Yasht, xiii. 86; Yasna, Ixviii. 22; Visparad, xxi. 2.
9. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 159.
10. See supra, p. 68.
11. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 159, note 4.
12. F. Windischmann, Zoroastrische Studien, p. 215.
13. The Pahlavi text is very uncertain in this place.
14. The nature of this sin is not clear. It seems, however, that they were required to respect all the creatures of Ahura Mazda.
15. This w^hole passage is very uncertain.
16. BUndahish, xv. 1-24.
17. Shdhndmah, i. 120.
18. F. Justi, Iranisches Namenbuch, p. 126.
19. Yasht, V. 21.
20. The bundle of twigs which the Iranian priest holds in his hand during the sacrifice.
21. Yasht, XV. 7.
22. Yasht, xix. 26. The metre shows that the last word of the second line, haptaithydm ("sevenfold"), should be omitted, so that it should read yat khshayata paiti biimim ("so that o'er the earth he governed"). Mazana is probably the modem Alazandaran, and Varena seems to have corresponded to Gilan (see L. H. Gray, " Mazan- daran," in Encyclopcedia of Religion and Ethics, viii. 507, Edinburgh, 1916).
23. Yasht, xvii. 25.
24. Yasht, xiii. 137.
25. Mirkhond, History of the Early Kings of Persia, tr. D. Shea, p. 68.
26. Shdhndmah, i. 123; cf. also L. H. Gray, "Festivals and Fasts (Iranian)," in Encyclopcedia of Religion and Ethics, v. 873-74, Edin- burgh, 1912.
27. Shdhndmah, i. 124.
28. J. Darmesteter, in SBE xxiii. 252, note I.
29. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 266, note 49.
30. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 169.
364 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
31. xvii. 4.
32. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 167.
33. Shdhndmah, i. 127.
Chapter IV
1. Shdhndmah, 1. 13 1, 133.
2. Yasna, ix. 4-5.
3. Yasht, xix. 31-32.
4. Shdhndmah, i. 134.
5. E. W. West, in SBE xlvii. p. xxix,
6. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 18.
7. J. Ehni, Der vedische Mythus des Yama, Strassburg, 1890, p.
171-
8. Shahndmah, i. 131.
9. Vendlddd, ii. 3-4. The second and fourth Hnes of verse read, more literally, "to remember and carry the religion." In the first line of Ahura Mazda's speech me ("my") has been omitted as un- metrical both in Avesta and in English.
10. Biindahish, xvii. 5-8. Cf. the enumeration of the fires, supra,
11. This line is unmetrical in the original {mashydndmcd sundmca vaydmcd). The second or third word (probably the latter) appar- ently should be omitted.
12. Goddess of the earth.
13. Vendlddd, ii. 9-1 1.
14. Worshipful beings.
15. A mythical land, at one time identified with the valley of the Aras in Transcaucasia.
16. The river-goddess; cf. supra, p. 278.
17. The deserts (C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worterhuch, col.
1799)-
18. In stalls (C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worterhuch, col. 819).
ig. The meaning of these terms is unknown. The Editor suggests that kasvish may mean "dwarfishness" (cf. Avesta kasu, "small," kasvika "trifling").
20. Vendlddd, ii. 21-31.
21. Vendlddd, ii. 31-42.
22. Dlnkart, XII. ix. 3 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xlvii. 108).
23. Yasna, xxxii. 8; cf. J. H. Moulton, Early Zoroastrianism^ p. 149; C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worterhuch, col. 1866.
24. Sad-Dar, xciv. (tr. T. Hyde, Historia religionis veterum Per- sarum, p. 485).
25. Yasht, xix. 33.
NOTES 365
26. Shahndmah, i. 134.
27. Rgveda, X. x; cf. supra, p. 68.
28. Bundahish, xxiii. i.
29. Yasht, xix. 34-38.
30. Yasht, V. 29-34.
31. Shahndmah, i. 140.
32. Yasht, xix. 46.
33. Mirkhond, History of the Early Kings of Persia, tr. D. Shea, p. 120.
34. See supra, pp. 68-69; cf. also pp. 99-100, 159-61, 214-15.
35. A. A. Macdonell, Fedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 43.
36. J. Ehni, Die ursprungliche Gottheit des vedischen Yama, Leip- zig, 1896, p. 8.
37. A. A. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 167; cf. Rgveda, X. Ixviii. 11, "the manes have adorned the sky with con- stellations, like a black horse with pearls."
38. Rgveda, X. Ixv. 6.
39. Rgveda, X. cxxxv. i (cf. A. A. Macdonell, fedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 167); Atharvaveda, V. iv. 3.
40. J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 107.
41. Shdhndmah, i. 139-40.
42. J. Darmesteter, Etudes iraniennes, ii. 210-12.
43. E. H. Meyer, Indogermanische Mythen, Berlin, 1883-87, i. 229.
44. Shdhndmah, i. 132.
45. i. 132. _
46. Shahnamah, i. 133.
47. Mirkhond, History of the Early Kings of Persia, tr. D. Shea, p. 103.
Chapter V
1. Shdhndmah, i. 147.
2. Shdhndmah, i. I54~55-
3. Shdhndmah, i. 145.
4. On his way to Dahhak's capital, Gang-i-Dizhhukht (which Firdausi identifies with Jerusalem) Faridun was checked for an in- stant by a river, and a curious legend preserved in the Avesta {Yasht, V. 61-65) is related to the episode. Since the ferryman Paurva was unwilling to row him across, he, having a complete knowledge of magic, assumed the shape of a vulture and flung the man high in air, so that for three days he went flying toward his house, but could not turn downward. When the beneficent dawn came at the end of the third night, Paurva prayed to Ardvl SOra Anahita, who hastened to his rescue, seized him by the arm, and brought him safely home.
5. Shdhndmah, i. 146.
366 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
6. Shdhndmah, i. 162.
7. Shdhndmah, i. 167.
8. VIII. xiii. 9 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xxxvii. 28).
9. Bundahish, xxxi. 10.
10. Yasht, xix. 38-44 (cf. Yasna, ix. 11, Yasht, v. 38, xv. 28).
11. Yasht, xiii. 136.
12. Yasna, ix. ii = Yasht, xix. 40, Pahlavi Rivdyat, tr. E. W. West, in SBE xviii. 374.
13. The metre of the original shows that Keresaspa is to be pro- nounced Krsa-aspa.
14. Supra, pp. 58-59, 94-95, 143-
15. The author is not convinced by the arguments advanced by G. Hiising {Die traditionelle Ueberlieferung und das arische System, pp. 135-39) to prove that Gandarewa was originally a bird.
16. Yasht, xix. 41, Pahlavi Rivdyat, tr. E. W. West, in SBE xviii.
375-
17. Heaven.
18. Yasht, xix. 43-44. The metre of the original is not wholly correct.
19. Yasht, XV. 28, xix. 41.
20. Pahlavi Rivdyat (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xviii. 376).
21. E. W. West, in SBE xviii. 378, note i.
22. Maindg-i-Khrat, xxvii. 50.
23. Pahlavi Rivdyat (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xviii. '},7^~77)-
24. Yasht, xix. 41, Vendiddd, i. 9.
25. Bundahish, xxix. 7.
26. Yasht, xiii. 61.
27. Pahlavi Rivdyat (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xviii. 373-80).
28. Shdhndmah, i. 174.
29. Yasht, xiii. 131.
30. BUndahish, xii. 10.
31. BUndahish, xxxi. 21-22.
32. A Persian weight of widely varying values.
33. Shdhndmah, i. 291, 296-97.
34. Shdhndmah, i. 320-22.
35. On the story of Rustam cf. G. Husing, Beitrdge zur Rustamsage, Leipzig, 1913.
36. Shahndmah, ii. 119-87; for the motij in saga-cycles see M. A. Potter, Sohrab and Rustam: The Epic Theme of a Combat between Father and Son, London, 1902.
37. Yasht, V. 41-43.
38. Yas7ia, xi. 7; Yasht, ix. 18-22, xix. 56-64.
39. Bundahish, xxxi. 21; J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 400,
40. BUndahish, xxix. 5.
NOTES 367
41. Malndg-l-Khrat, Ixii. 31-36. This seems to be a reminiscence of the man-headed bulls in Babylonian art (L. C. Casartelli, Phi- losophy of the Mazdayasnian Religion under the Sassanids, § 182).
42. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 400.
43. Dinkart, VII. i. 31 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xlvii. 1-12).
44. Bundahish, xxxi. 24.
45. Dinkart, VII. ii. 62-63 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xlvii. 31-32).
46. Shahndmah, ii. 26.
47. Yasht, xiii. 131; Afrin-i-Zartusht, 2.
48. Dinkart, VII. i. 36 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xlvii. 13).
49. Yasna, xlvi. 12; Yasht, v. 81-83.
50. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 386; cf. the Pahlavi text as ed. and tr. by E. W. West, in The Book of Arda Viraf, Bombay, 1872.
51. Dinkart, IX. xxii. 4-12 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xxxvii. 220- 23)-
52. A. A. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 64.
53. Yasht, V. 50.
54. Yasht, ix. 17-18. Haosravah and Caecasta arc trisyllabic.
55. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, i. 154.
56. Shahndmah, iv. 264-69.
57. Dinkart, VII. i. 40 (tr. E. W. West, in SBE xlvii. 14).
58. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 661, note 29; see also supra, pp. 149-50.
59. Afrin-l-Zartusht, 7.
60. Yasht, V. 54.
61. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, ii. 380.
62. C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches JVorterbuch, col. 1459.
63. The prose line dat me tum arpdvi sure andhite hush{k)3m psshum raecaya should probably read,
dat hush{li)3m psshum raecaya arsdvl sure andhite ("So a crossing dry provide thou, Ardvl Sura Anahita").
64. Yasht, V. 77-7^.
65. Yasht, V. 113.
66. J. Darmesteter, Etudes iraniennes, ii. 230. The chief Pahlavi source for Zairivairi, the Y dtkar-i-Zarlran, has been edited by Jam- aspji Minochehcrji Jamasp-Asana (Bombay, 1897) and translated by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi (Bombay, 1899).
67. Deipnosophistae, xiii. 35 (p. 575).
68. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, iii. p. Ixxxii.
69. Shahndmah, iv. 318 ff.
70. J. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, iii. p. Ixxxi; cf. E. Rohdc, Dcr griechische Roman, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1900, pp. 47-55.
368 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
71. F. Rosenberg, Le Livre de Zoroastre {Zaratusht Ndma), pp. 47-
55-
72. Yasna, ix. 13.
73. See supra, pp. 44, 284-85,
74. See supra, pp. 327-28.
Chapter VI
1. Cf. also E. J. Becker, A Contribution to the Comparative Study of the Medieval Visions of Heaven and Hell, Baltimore, 1899.
2. Cf. L. H. Gray, "Marriage (Iranian)," in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, viii. 456-59, Edinburgh, 1916.
3. See supra, pp. 283, 336.^
4. Cf. the literature cited in the Bibliography (V), p. 402.
Chapter VII
1. "Aryan Religion," in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics^ ii. 39, Edinburgh, 1910.
2. Shdhndmah, i. 308—11.
3. Shdhndmah, i. 378.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDIAN
I. ABBREVIATIONS
ASS . . . Anandasrama Sanskrit Series.
BI .... Bibliotheca Indica.
JAOS . . Journal of the American Oriental Society.
JRAS . . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
SBE . . . Sacred Books of the East.
WZKM Wiener Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
ZDMG . . Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesell- schaft.
II. GENERAL WORKS
Barth, a., The Religions of India. London, 1882.
Benfey, T., in J. S. Ersch and J. G. Gruber, Allgemeine Encyklo-
pddie der Wissenschaften und Kiinste, II. xvii. 158-213. Leipzig, 1840. CoLEBROOKE, H. T., Essays. Revised ed. by W. D. Whitney. 2
vols. London, 1871-72. Coleman, C., Mythology of the Hindus. London, 1832. CooMARASWAMY, A. K., Mediaeval Sinhalese Art. London, 1908.
The Arts and Crafts of India and Ceylon. London, 191 3.
Eggeling, H. J., "Brahman," in Encyclopedia Britannica, nth ed.,
iv. 378-79- "Brahmanism," in Encyclopcedia Britannica, nth ed., iv.
381-87. "Hinduism," in Encyclopcedia Britannica, nth ed., xiii.
501-13- Fergusson, J., Tree and Serpent Worship. 2nd ed. London, 1873. History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. London, 1878.
Revised ed. by J. Burgess and R. Phene Spiers. 2 vols. London,
1910. Frazer, R. W., Indian Thought Past and Present. London, 191 5. Garbe, R., Indien und das Christentum. Tubingen, 1914.
372 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
Griswold, H. DeWitt, Brahman: A Study in the History of Indian
Philosophy. New York, 1900. Havell, E. B., Indian Sculpture and Painting. London, 1908.
The Ideals of Indian Art. London, 191 1.
The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India. London,
1915- Hopkins, E. W., The Religions of India. Boston, 1895.
India Old and New. New York, 1901.
"The Sacred Rivers of India," in Studies in the History of
Religions Presented to Crawford Howell Toy, pp. 213-29. New York, 1912. Lassen, C, Indische Alterthumskunde. 4 vols. Bonn and Leipzig,
1847-61. 2nd ed. of i-ii. Leipzig, 1867-73. Lehmann, E., "Die Inder," in P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye,
Lehrbuch der Religions geschichte, ii. 4-1 61. 3rd ed. Tubingen,
1905. Lyall, a. C, Asiatic Studies. 2 series. London, 1882-99. Macdonell, a. a., Sanskrit Literature. London, 1900. MacNicol, N., Indian Theism. Oxford, 1915. MoNiER-WiLLiAMS, SiR M., Brahmanism and Hinduism. 4th ed.
London, 1891.
Indian Wisdom. 4th ed. London, 1893.
Moor, E., The Indian Pantheon. London, 18 10. New ed. by W. O.
Simpson. Madras, 1897. Moore, G. F., History of Religions, chh. xi-xiv. Edinburgh, 1913. MuiR, J., Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the
People of India, their Religion and Institutions. 5 vols. London,
1858-72. 3rd ed. of i, London, 1890; 2nd ed. of ii, 1871; 2nd
ed. of iii, 1868; 2nd ed. of iv, 1873; 3rd ed. of v, 1884. MiJLLER, F. Max Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion.
London, 1878. Contributions to the Science of Mythology. 2 vols. London,
1897. Noble, M. E., and Coomaraswamy, A. K., Myths of the Hindus and
Buddhists. London, 191 3. Oldham, C. F., The Sun and the Serpent. London, 1905. Oltramare, p., UHistoire des idees theosophiques dans Vlnde.
Paris, 1906. Oman, J. C, The Brahmans, Theists and Muslims of India. London,
1907.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 373
Orelli, C. von, "Indische Religionen," in Allgemei7ie Rdigions-
geschichte, ii. 4-140. 2nd ed. Bonn, 1911-13. ScHROEDER, L. VON, Indtens Lileratur und Kultur. Leipzig, 1887. Smith, V. A., History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon. London,
1911.
Spiegel, F., Die arische Periode. Leipzig, 1881.
VoDSKOV, H. S., Sjczledyrkelse og ?iaturdyrkelse, i. Copenhagen, 1897.
Ward, W., J View of the History, Literature and Mythology of the Hindoos. 5th ed. Madras, 1863.
Whitney, W. D., Oriental and Linguistic Studies. 2 vols. New York, 1873-74.
WiLKiNS, W. J., Hindu Mythology. 2nd ed. Calcutta, 1882. Wilson, H. H., Works, ed. R. Rost. 7 vols. London, 1861-62. WiNTERNiTZ, A4., Geschichte der indischen Litteratur. 2 vols. Leipzig,
1905-13- WuRM, P., Geschichte der indischen Religion. Basel, 1874.
457
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:41:45 PM »
THE LIFE TO COME 347
visions was influenced b^ the conceptions of other reHgions, including Judaism and Christianity. That the Semites in- fluenced Iranian thought in some measure is obvious — the myth of the attempt of Kai Kaus to fly to heaven, for instance, shows a remarkable parallelism to the Babylonian story of Etana, who sought to ascend on an eagle's back to the sky that he might secure the "plant of life."^ The close association of Jews and Persians in the Exilic and post-Exilic periods seems to have caused some interchange of religious concepts, though the precise degree of this influence is still sub judice^
CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION
THE special interest presented to the mytliologist by the study of Iranian myths lies in the fact that they show with ideal clearness the various stages in the evolution of myth toward historical legend.
As is well known, a myth originally is an effort toward ac- counting for some phenomenon. The attempt is made, of course, with the mental tendencies of people of a fairly elemen- tary culture, but it is clear enough that primitive man does not only aim at giving an explanation, but at making it picturesque and appealing to his imagination; and it is equally obvious that he desires to stimulate the fancy of his fellow men by using symbols, testing their ingenuity by transferring one order of facts to another. This tendency generates parable, moral fic- tion, and riddle, and it is difficult to doubt that myth is one more aspect of that same turn of mind when we compare old riddles with old myths.
Otto Schrader has collected ^ several Indo-European riddles that are very instructive in this regard, and an episode of the Shdhndmah also illustrates this explanation of myth. Thus, in Firdausi's epic ^ Minucihr tests Zal by hard questions, con- cocted by the shrewd priests, who formulate a series of riddles that are very much of the same kind as those which are found among people of primitive culture and which Schrader consid- ers to be a source of myths. Zal is asked what are a dozen cypresses with thirty boughs on each, and he finds them to be the twelve moons of every year, each moon having thirty days. Two horses, one white and one black, moving rapidly to catch
CONCLUSION 349
each other, but in vain, prove to be day and night. A lofty pair of cypresses in which a bird nests, on the one at morning and on the other at evening, represents the two portions of the sky, and the bird which flies between them is the sun. The turn of mind which generated such stories would readily produce myths.
In the Rgveda, where we have found so many names of gods and heroes of Iranian mythology, mythical symbolism is rife and in full operation. Not only does the singer in his prayers remind his god of the myths that are current about him, but he makes new ones and gives another turn to mythical interpre- tations of facts because he is conscious that they are myths. For that reason the Rgveda makes us live in an atmosphere that is truly mythic, but, on the other hand, it presents such a free treatment of the various stories that it is much more dif- ficult to give a clear account of the old Indian myths than of the Iranian legends. Vedic mythology is more fluid; the singer deals freely with the stories, mixes them, makes new combina- tions with the traditional elements, and even goes so far as to invent myths which are entirely new.
If we compare the Iranian situation with the Vedic, which, of course, at one time was the Indo-Iranian status, we observe that the Mazdean Iranians have plenty of myths, but that, to a great extent, the creative tendency has been checked. Their myths appear rather as survivals of prior times, and, conse- quently, they are more clearly delineated than in the Veda. In addition to this, they have been systematized according to the general tendency of Mazdeism, and the necessity of fitting them into the dualistic scheme accounts for the monotonous character of these myths, in which a good being is always at war with some evil one. The good beings are pretty much identical with one another, and the fiends are almost the same throughout. A sure proof that the real meaning of the myths has faded is the great number of epithets and details that are quite clear in the original form of the story, but are often mean- ingless and merely traditional in Mazdean lore*
350 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
The special evolution of myths in Iran assumes three forms.
(a) The myth, being no longer understood as such, becomes a mere tale and, as is the case with tales, is apt to be sub- divided into several stories or to be reproduced many times with different names. This has especially been the case with the storm-myth. The dragon is Azhi, Srvara, Zainigav, Apaosha, Gandarewa, etc.; the youthful and godlike victor is Thraetaona, Keresaspa, Raodhatakhma (Rustam), Hao- sravah, etc.
Myths are duplicated. Besides Yima-Yimak, we find Mashya-Mashyoi. Kavi Usan is twice a prisoner; Kavi Keresavazdah has been calumniated twice; Urupi and Keres- aspa both ride on a demon; Kavi Kavata and Zal are both abandoned on Mount Albiirz at their birth; Thraetaona and Vistauru both cross a river in a miraculous way; Yoishta and Aoshnara both answer the riddles of a sphinx. All heroes marry Turanian girls, and all stories take place on Mount Hara Berezaiti (Alburz) or in the sea Vourukasha, etc., etc.
(b) On the other hand, several myths coalesce into one story, the most complete instance being the legend of Yima, which unites a story of primeval twins, a winter-myth, a myth com- paring sunset to the death of man, a story of women cap- tured by a fiend, etc.
(c) There is a gradual anthropomorphization of the myths. On the one hand, the mythical contest is changed into a moral one, the cloud-dragons, imprisoners of water, becoming here- tics or enemies of the Zoroastrian religion. A curious instance of this is Farldiin's conversion of Jamshid's daughters, who had been brought up in vice and pagan lore by Dahhak, this being a transformation of the traditional story of the storm-god re- leasing the women of the cloud, i.e. the imprisoned waters. In Yima's story a moral motive has been introduced into the darkening of the sun by the cloud-dragon.
On the other hand, the mythical material becomes historical or, at least, epic. Monsters, dragons, etc., become Turanians,
CONCLUSION 351
and the gods are transformed Into kings of a purely human char- acter, so that In many cases in the Shdhndmah it is impossible to determine whether we are dealing with some historical event, more or less embellished by legend, or with a nature- myth that has been humanized. Dahhak is an Arabian king; Farldiin is an audacious soldier; haoma, the draught of im- mortality, becomes a hermit in the story of Afrasiyab, etc.
In the legend of YIma we see all successive stages. First we have the setting sun, and then the setting sun, showing the path to the departed, becomes their sire, and his solar quality fades away. He is thus evolved Into the first mortal or the king of the dead, and finally becomes an ordinary Iranian monarch of ancient times.
This transformation has, It Is true, deprived the Iranians of the great source of Indian poetry, but has resulted, on the other hand, in providing them with a rich epic material, the direction in which their literature has been developed. They were also creative In this domain, for they wove many legends around their real kings, their prophet, etc. Both sources of inspiration have been so blended that in the Shdhndmah Rustam's mace, which was originally the thunderbolt of Indra, is swung against the castellan bishops of the Syrian Church,^ and that Zairlvairi, a son of Apam Napat, is the lover of the daughter of the Emperor of Byzantium.
NOTES
INDIAN
Chapter I
1. Original Sanskrit Texts, v. 356, note.
2. This is what F. Max Miiller {Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Lon- don, 1859, pp. 526 ff.) called "henotheism."
3. Original Sanskrit Texts, v. 64, note.
4. See Al. Bloomfield, Religion of the Veda, pp. 12, 126 ff. For the Iranian Asha see infra, pp. 260, 264.
5. For the Iranian conceptions of Ahura Mazda and Mithra see infra, pp. 260-61, 275 ff., 287-88, 305 ff.
6. For Ouranos see Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 5-6, and for Moira see ib. pp. 283-84.
7. See H. Winckler, in Mitteilungen der deutschen Orientgesell- schaft, No. 35 (1907); E. Meyer, "Das erste Auftreten der Arier in der Geschichte," in Sitzungsberichte der koniglich-preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1908, pp. 14-19, and Geschichte des Altertums, I. ii. 651 ff. (3rd ed., Berlin, 1913) ; H. Jacobi, in JRAS 1909, pp. 721 ff., H. Oldenberg, ib. pp. 1095 ff., J. H. Moulton, Early Zoroastrian- ism, London, 1913, pp. 6 ff.
8. For the Amesha Spentas see infra, p. 260.
9. R. T. H. Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda, ii. 87.
10. See infra, pp. 282, 294, 304.
11. See M. Bloomfield, in American Journal of Philology, xvii. 428 (1896), from vi-\-snu (cf. sdnu, "back").
12. See Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 26-27, 246-47.
13. See Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 245-46.
14. See A. Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, iii. 157 ff.
15. See Shdhndmah, tr. J. Mohl, Paris, 1876-78, i. 69-70.
16. See infra, pp. 267, 340.
17. The word siva means "auspicious."
18. See L. von Schroeder, Mysterium und Mimus im Rigveda, pp. 47 ff., 124 ff.
Chapter II
1. See A. Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, ii. 122-23.
2. Cf. Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 208-09, 298.
356 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
3. See M. Bloomfield, in JAOS xvi. i ff. (1894); H- Usener, in Rheinisches Museum, Ix. 26 ff. (1905).
4. See infra, pp. 265, 282.
5. See A, A. Macdonell and A. B. Keith, Vedic Index, ii. 434-37.
6. R. T. H. Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda, iv. 355-56.
7. See J. Rhys, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom, London, 1888, pp. 1 14-15.
8. See L. R. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, Oxford, 1896-1908, iii. 50 ff.
9. This expression denotes first five tribes famous in Vedic his- tory, and then all men generally.
10. See A. Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, iii. 418-19.
11. See A. B. Keith, in JRAS 1915, pp. 127 ff.
12. See infra, pp. 325-26.
13. See L. von Schroeder, Mysterium und Mimus im Rigveda, pp.
304-25.
14. See L. von Schroeder, op. cit. pp. 52, 63.
15. See infra, pp. 306-09.
16. Indische Studien, iv. 341 (1858).
17. Hence istdpHrta, "sacrifice and baksheesh," go together; see M. Bloomfield, Religion of the Veda, pp. 194 ff.
18. R. T. H. Griffith, Hym7is of the Rigveda, iv. 133.
Chapter III
1. See A. Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, iii. 430 ff. Unlike M. Haug {Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsis,2,rd ed., London, i884,pp.287ff.), Hillebrandt places the hostile contact with Iran after the period of the Rgveda and associates it with an older form of Iranian religion, not with Zarathushtra's teaching.
2. In Videgha Mathava V. Henry {La Magie dans flnde antique, 2nd ed., p. xxi.) sees the Indian Prometheus.
3. See A. B. Keith, in JRAS 1911, pp. 794-800.
4. Kubera appears as king of the Raksases in Satapatha Brdhmana^ XIII. iv. 3. 10; cf. Atharvaveda VIII. x. 28.
Chapter IV
1. See Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 17-18.
2. Apparently each of these years is equal to 360 years of man; so Manu, i. 69, and the Purdnas (cf. H. H. Wilson, Visnu Purana, ed. F. Hall, i. 49-50, and E. W. Hopkins, in JAOS xxiv. 42 ff. [1903]).
3. See B. C. Mazumdar, in JRAS 1907, pp. 337-39; Sir R. G.
NOTES
357
Bhandarkar, Faisnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious Systems, pp.
113-15-
4. Religions of India, pp. 465 ff.
5. Indien und das Christentum, pp. 215 ff.; for another view see Bhandarkar, op. cit. p. 12.
6. See A. B. Keith, in JRJS 1908, pp. 172 ff., 1912, pp. 416 ff., I9I5> PP- 547-49, 1916, pp. 340 ff., and in ZDMG Ixiv. 534-36 (1910).
7. Das Ramayana, pp. 127 ff. For a different view see J. von Negelein, in WZKM xvi. 226 ff. (1902).
Chapter V
1. This story forms the subject of a Vedic imitation, the Suparnd- dhydya (edited by E. Grube, BerHn, 1875); cf. J. Hertel, in WZKM xxiii. 299 ff. ( 1909), and H. Oldenberg, in ZDMG xxxvii. 54-86
(1893)-
2. See J. Charpentier, in ZDMG Ixiv. 65-83 (1910), Ixvi. 44-47 (1912). ^
3 . This is a new element in the tale and gives the best ground for regarding the narrative as Babylonian in origin; see M. Winternitz, in Mitteilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien, xxxi. 321 ff. (1901).
4. See W. Caland, Uber das rituelle Sutra des Baudhayana, Leipzig, 1903, p. 21 ; A. B. Keith, in JRAS 1913, pp. 412-17.
5. See G. A. Grierson, in ZDMG Ixvi. (1912) 49 ff.
6. This idea is based on a popular etymological connexion with Sanskrit yam, "to restrain"; but as a matter of fact the word Yama means "Twin."
Chapter VI
1. This explanation is based on a purely fanciful etymology of mam, "me," and dhd, "to suck."
2. Cf. J. F. Fleet, in JRAS 1905, pp. 223-36; R. Garbe, Indien und das Christentum, pp. 131 ff.
3. See Sir G. A. Grierson, in JRAS 1913, p. 144.
4. See A. B. Keith, in JRAS 1908, pp. 172-73.
5. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar {Faisnavism, Saivism, and Minor Reli- gious Systems, pp. 35 ff.) seeks (though without success) to show that Kr§na as a cowherd is late.
6. See C. Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, ii. 811, ii07ff. A. Barth {Religions of India, p. 200, note), while doubting this view, points out that the androgynous form of Siva was known to Barde- sanes (in Stobaeus, Eel. phys. i. 56).
358 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
7. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar (Faisnavism, Saimsm, and Minor Religious Systems, pp. 147-49) ascribes the growth of a single deity to the period about the sixth century a. d. The Vinayakas, who appear reduced to one in Ganapati, or Ganesa, are found in the Mdnava Grhya Sutra (ii. 14), and the Mahdbhdrata (xiii, 151. 26) mentions Vinayakas and Ganesvaras as classes. Cf. M. Winternitz, in JRAS 1898, pp. 380-84.
8. See Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, ^aivism, and Minor Reli- gious Systems, pp. 153-55; R- Chanda, The Indo-Aryan Races, Raj- shahi, 1916, pp. 223 ff.
Chapter VII
1. Pali is the term used to describe the language in which the Bud- dhist texts are preserved. It is a literary dialect whose origin is un- certain, but which is certainly not the language spoken by the Buddha, being much later than his time.
2. Vaisnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious Systems, pp. 8 ff.
3. Indien und das Christentum, pp. 215 fF.
4. Cf. Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 174-75.
5. See L. de la Vallee Poussin, Bouddhisme, Opinions sur Vhistoire de la dogmatique, p. 239.
6. The phrase in question is chaddanta; see J. S. Speyer, in ZDMG Ivii. 308 (1903).
7. See H. Liiders, in Nachrichten von der koniglichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, 1901, p. 50; A. Foucher, in Melanges d'indianisme . . . offerts a M. Sylvain Levi, Paris, 191 1, pp. 246-47, for very clear cases of a difference in date.
8. This conception is often ascribed to Iranian influence, i.e. the concept of the Fravashis; see A. Griinwedel, Buddhistische Kunst, 2nd ed., pp. 169 ff.
9. See infra, pp. 261, 300, 336. 10. See infra, pp. 327, 338.
Chapter VIII
1. SBE xxii., p. xxxi., note, Oxford, 1884.
2. Cf., however, J. Charpentier, in JRAS 1913, pp. 669-74, who would connect the Ajivikas with the Saivite sects.
3. Cf. W. H. Schoff, in JAOS xxxiii. 209 (1913)-
4. See M. Winternitz, in JRAS 1895, pp. 159 ff. Nejamesa is also obviously to be read for Nejameya in Baudhdyana Grhya Sutra, ii. 2, as in W. Caland, Uber das rituelle Sutra des Baudhdyana, Leipzig,
NOTES 359
I903) P- 31- This passage, however, with its invocation of "mothers" (apparently the diseases of children), is evidently late.
Chapter IX
1. See G. A. Grierson, in JRAS 1907, pp. 311 flF.; R. Garbe, Indien und das Christentum, pp. 271 ff.
2. The name of the river means "destroying (the merit of good) works."
3. On this mythological figure see I. Friedlander, "Khidr," in En- cyclopcsdia of Religion and Ethics, vii. 693-95, Edinburgh, 191 5.
VI — 24
IRANIAN
Chapter I
1. On this cycle of legends see M. Breal, "Hercule et Cacus," in his Melanges de mythologie et de linguistique, Paris, 1877, pp. i- 161, and cf. Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 86-87, 303.
2. See supra, pp. 23-24.
3. Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston, 1898, pp. 429, 432.
4. ib. p. 537.
5. ib. p. 541.
6. A. A. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, Strassburg, 1897, p. 67.
7. For all these myths see supra, pp. 33, 35-36, 87-88, 93, 133.
8. Yasna, ix. 7.
9. Fendiddd, xx. 2-4.
10. Thrita, whose name means "third," was the third man who prepared the haoma, according to Yasna, ix. 9.
11. Yasna, ix. 7.
12. Yasht, V. 61.
13. This line, frd thzvam zadanha paiti uzukhshdne zafara paiti uzraocayeni, well illustrates the extent to which much of the Avesta in its present form has suffered interpolation. It is obvious, from the parallelism with Azhi Dahaka's speech, that the line should read simply /ra thzvam paiti uzukhshdne ("thee will I besprinkle wholly" [i. e. with fire]). The same thing occurs below in the last line of the translation from Yasht, viii. 24, where the parallelism with dasandm gairindm aojo ("strength of mountains ten in number") shows that the word ndvayandm ("navigable") is interpolated in the line dasandm apdm ndvayandm aojo, which should read dasandm apdm aojo ("strength of rivers ten in number").
14. Yasht, xix. 47-51. The "Child of Waters" is mentioned in magic Mandean inscriptions as "Nbat, the great primeval germ which the Life hath sent" (H. Pognon, Inscriptions mandaites des coupes de Khouahir, Paris, 1898, pp. 63, 68; cf. also p. 95).
15. G. Hiising {Die traditionelle U eh er liefer ting und das arische System, p. 53) thinks that Apaosha means "Coverer," "Concealer" (from apa + var).
16. Yasht, viii. 4-5.
458
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:40:49 PM »
In this contest, being helped by the fire of warriors that was burning on his horse's mane, so that he could see in the sub- terranean darkness where the Turanian was living and where he had his idols, ^^ Haosravah destroyed everything and then established the fire on Mount Asnavand. The intervention of
338 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
Haoma (the drink of the gods when they fight the demons), and the presence of a supernatural fire, of the white steed, and of the cavern, as well as the location of the contest on a lake, point to some natural myth as the origin of the story, though it is too adulterated to admit of any convincing inter- pretation. Firdausi, of course, introduces still more profound alterations. Instead of being in his own subterranean palace, Afrasiyab is supposed to have taken refuge in a cavern after having been completely beaten by Kai Khusrau and having taken to flight, while Haoma has become the hermit Hiim, who overhears him bewailing his defeat and tries to capture the fugitive, who escapes by plunging into the lake. Kai Khusrau is called immediately and seizes Garsivaz (Keresavazdah), the murderer of Siyavakhsh. To compel Afrasiyab to emerge from his retreat his beloved brother Garsivaz is tortured, and finally both brothers are put to death. ^®
Having achieved the greatest exploit of the epic and having avenged his father, Haosravah fears that he may lapse into pride and meet the same end as Yima. He becomes melancholy, resolves to resign the throne to Aurvat-aspa (Persian Luhrasp), and finally rides with his paladins into the mountains, where he disappears. A few knights follow him till the end, but are lost in the snow, so that he alone, guided by Sraosha, arrives alive in heaven, where, in a secret place and adorned with a halo of glory, he sits on a throne until the renovation of the world. ^^
This very noteworthy legend of the retirement of the mighty king and warrior has been compared by Darmesteter ^^ with an episode of the Mahdbhdrata, the great Indian epic, where the hero Yudhisthira, weary of the world, designated his suc- cessors and with his four brothers set out on a journey north- ward toward the mountains and the deserts of Himavant (the Himalayas). One after the other all his companions expired exhausted on the way, but he with his faithful dog, who was Dharma ("Righteousness") in disguise, entered heaven, not
TR.A.DITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 339
having tasted death. Unless the story has been borrowed from the Indians, it is Indo-Iranian, the latter explanation being the more probable since the immortality of Haosravah is already known in the Avesta.^^
Among the companions of Haosravah who died on the way were Giv, son of Gudarz, both gallant heroes who played an important part in the war against Afrasiyab, and Tiis, son of Naotara (Persian Naudhar), the last monarch of the Pishda- dian dynasty. He had been barred from his realm by the ac- cession of the Kaianian kings because he was too frivolous, but after having been the competitor of Haosravah, he became his friend. An epic of Naotara's sons seems to have existed in which Tus was the conqueror of the sons of Vaesaka (Persian Visah), the uncle of Afrasiyab, for he is said to have besieged them in the pass of Khshathro-Suka on the top of the holy and lofty Mount Kangha;^" and as a reward for his exploits and after his death he will be among the thirty who will help Saoshyant at the end of the world. ®^
His brother "Vlstauru ("Opposed to Sinners "^2) is famed for having obtained from Ardvi Siira, when he was pursuing idolators, the power to cross the River Vltanguhaiti.
"'This is true, in sooth veracious, Ardvi Sura Anahita, that as many demon-worshippers have been slain by me as I have hairs on my head. Therefore do thou, Ardvi Siira Anahita, provide me a dry crossing ^^
O'er the good Vltanguhaiti.' Ardvi Sura Anahita hastened down
With a lovely maiden's body,
Very strong, of goodly figure,
Girded high and standing upright.
Nobly born, of brilliant lineage.
Wearing golden foot-gear shining
And bedecked with all adornment.
Certain waters made she stand still,
Others caused she to flow forward.
And a crossing dry provided
O'er the good Vltanguhaiti." ^
340 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
After the reign of Kai Khusrau the scene of Flrdausl's epic shifts toward Balkh in Bactria, and the military character of the poem yields to more religious interests. We have, Indeed^ arrived at the point where legends, which are for the most part of a mythical character, are brought into connexion with tradi- tions concerning the origins of the Zoroastrian religion, of Zoroaster himself, and of the persons around him.
In Firdausi's view the successor of Kai Khusrau is Luhrasp,^ the Aurvat-aspa of the Avesta, who Is renowned only as the father of Vishtaspa, the first Zoroastrian king, and of Zairivairi ("Golden-Breastplated"; Persian Zarir). The deeds of the latter are of much the same kind as those of other Iranian heroes. He Is a slayer of Turanians, and near the river Daltya he killed Humayaka, a demon-worshipper who had long claws and lived in eight caverns, and he also did to death the wicked Arejat-aspa,^^ but was treacherously assassinated by the wizard Vidrafsh and avenged by his son Bastvar.^^ All this savours pretty much of a combat with dragons.
In the Greek author Athenaeus ®^ Zairivairi appears under the name Zariadres and is said to be a son of Adonis and Aphro- dite. This is a truly mythic genealogy, for Aphrodite Is the usual Greek translation of Anahlta, the goddess of the waters, and her most natural lover is Apam Napat, the Child of the Waters," whose name the Greek writer here renders by Adonis, the habitual paramour of Aphrodite. A very frequent epithet of Apam Napat is aurvat-aspa ("with swift steeds"), which is precisely the name of Zairivairl's father. Accordingly, Dar- mesteter thinks ^^ that Zairivairi is a mythical being and extends the conclusion to his brother Vishtaspa and even to the prophet Zarathushtra. This opinion is rejected by Orientalists of the present day, who, not without reason, think that Zarathushtra actually existed; but nevertheless It is possible that Zairivairi has been introduced into Vishtaspa's family by a contamina- tion of legends or by a similarity of names, such as has pro- duced many errors concerning Vishtaspa himself. Zairivairi
PLATE XLIII
GusHTASP Kills a Dragon
The hero slays a dragon in serpent form. The representation of the desert scene is very well done, and Perso-Mongolian influence is strongly marked. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1587-88 A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
i# / >^i; ? ? ?? I -^—i *^: ' 'fin yy L .t^ i
TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 341
is the hero of a romantic adventure, which is attributed to his brother Gushtasp (Vishtaspa) in the Shdhndmah.^^ He was the handsomest man of his time, just as Odatis, the daughter of King Omartes, was the most beautiful woman among the Ira- nians. They saw one another in a dream and fell in love, but when the princess was invited to a great feast at which she had to make her choice and throw a goblet to the young noble who pleased her, she did not see Zairivairi. Leaving the room in tears, she perceived a man in Scythian attire at the door of the palace and recognized the hero of her dream. It was Zairi- vairi, who had come in haste, knowing the intentions of Omar- tes, and the lovers fled together. ^°
Vishtaspa himself is known for heroic exploits. He defeated some unbelievers, like Tathryavant, Peshana, and Arejat- aspa (Persian Arjasp), king of the Hyaonians, although it is difhcult to say whether these are more or less historical facts in connexion with the protector of Zoroaster or are mythical exploits attributed to some other Vishtaspa who became iden- tified with the prophet's patron. The old tradition concerning the latter reports that he was the husband of Hutaosa, a name which is the same as that of Darius's wife Atossa. He had in his possession the Iranian Glory, which he is said to have taken to Mount Roshan, where it still is; and he was converted to the new faith after having imprisoned Zoroaster, who had been falsely accused by priests of the old religion, but had proved his innocence by miraculously curing the favourite horse of the king.''^ In Vishtaspa's court was the important family of the Hvogvas, containing Jamaspa, the minister of Vishtaspa, who became the husband of Zoroaster's daughter Pouruclsta and who was one of the prophet's first protectors; while his brother Frashaoshtra was the father-in-law of Zoroaster through the latter's marriage to Hv5vi,
Zoroaster (Zarathushtra), of the Spitama family, was the son of Pourushaspa, who is said to have been the fourth priest of Haoma,^^ but we know very little about him from the Avesta
342
IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
itself. Later literature, on the other hand, concocted a life of Zoroaster which is full of marvels and in which the prophet is in continual intercourse with Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas, achieving all manner of prodigious deeds. These legends appear comparatively late in Mazdeism, centuries after Zoroaster's life, and probably contain very few historical elements, although they have accumulated stories borrowed from various sources and even include pious forgeries. The Avesta knows of an intervention of divine beings only at Zo- roaster's birth. A plant of haoma contained the prophet's Fravashi, or pre-created soul, which Pourushaspa, the father of Zoroaster and a priest of Haoma,. happened to absorb. He married Dughdhova, who had received the khvarenanh which has been so frequently mentioned, and thus the Glory of Yima himself was transferred to Zoroaster. The daevas repeatedly sought to kill the prophet both before and after his birth, and the adorers of idols persecuted him, but in vain. Ahura Mazda then entered into communion with him and revealed the reli- gion to him. For ten years he had only one disciple, his cousin Maidhyoi-maongha, but at last he won converts in Vishtaspa's court among the members of the Hvogva family, the king him- self becoming a believer through the insistence of his wife Hutaosa. A long war followed between Vishtaspa and Arejat- aspa, king of the Hyaonians, who was determined to suppress Zoroastrianism, and though the prophet's brothers Zairivairi (Persian Zarir) and Spentodata (Persian Isfandyar) fought gallantly, Zoroaster was slain by the Turanian Bratro-resh, one of the karapans (idolatrous priests) who had tried to kill him at his birth.
Zoroaster has left three germs in this world, and they are like three flames which NairySsangha, the messenger of the gods and a form of Agni,^^ has deposited in Lake Kasu (the Hamiin Swamp in Seistan), where they are watched by ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Fravashis. Near that lake is a mountain inhabited by faithful Zoroastrians,
PLATE XLIV
Sculpture Supposed to Represent Zoroaster
Parsi tradition seeks to identify this figure with Zoroaster, and the conventional modern pictures of the Prophet are of this general type. The identifica- tion is by no means certain, for the figure has also been held to represent Ahura Mazda or — with much greater probability — Mithra. Ahura Mazda regularly appears as a bearded man in a winged disk (see Plate XXXIV, No. 5); identification with Mithra is favoured bv the sunflower on which the figure stands and by the mace which he holds (cf. Tasht^ vi. 5, x. 96). The face is mutilated, probably by the early Arab conquerors, who, as strict Muhammadans, objected to representations of living beings (cf. the similar mutilations in miniature paintings, Plate XLII). From a Sassanian sculpture at Takht-i-Bustan,' Kir- manshah. After a photograph by Professor A. V. Williams Jackson.
:^.-
.-?
,-: ?:^::
\"
V^-
\
v.^-
PV^^ A^n
•l.Vo
L
TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 343
and once in each millennium a maiden, bathing in the waters, will receive one of those germs. Thus three prophets (Saosh- yants, "They Who Will Advantage") will be born in succes- sion: first Ukhshyat-ereta (Hushetar), then Ukhshyat-nemah (Hiishetar-mah), and finally Astvat-ereta, the Saoshyant par excellence. They will reveal themselves in periods when evil will be prevalent and will put an end to wickedness. The last Saoshyant will come when Dahhak will have desolated the world after having broken his fetters on Mount Damavand; but Keresaspa, as we have seen,'^'* will slay him at the very instant when Saoshyant appears with the kingly Glory (Khvarenanh), and when he will definitely conquer the Druj (the principle of falsehood), Angra Mainyu, and the evil creation.
VI — 23
CHAPTER VI THE LIFE TO COME
THE accountof the Saoshyants, the future sons of Zoroaster, brings us to the theme of Iranian eschatology. Like Odysseus in Greece, or Dante in the Divina Commedia,^ Arta Viraf, a wise and virtuous Mazdean, is supposed in a late Pahlavi book to have visited the other world, and it will be interesting to follow him in his journey to see what were the Mazdean conceptions of heaven and of hell.
When the soul of Viraf went forth from its body, the first thing which it beheld was the Cinvat Bridge (the bridge of "the Divider") which all souls must cross before they pass to the future world. There he saw before him a damsel of beautiful appearance, full-bosomed, charming to heart and soul; and when he asked her, "Who art thou? and what person art thou.? than whom, in the world of the living, any damsel more elegant, and of more beautiful body than thine, was never seen by me," she replied that she was his own religion {daena) and his own deeds — "it is on account of thy will and actions, that I am as great and good and sweet- scented and triumphant and undistressed as appears to thee."
Then the Cinvat Bridge became wider, and with the assist- ance of Sraosha ("Obedience to the Law") and Atar ("Fire") Viraf could easily cross. Both Yazatas promised to show him heaven and hell, but before entering the kingdom of the blest, he had to pass through Hamistakan, the resting-place of those whose good works and sins exactly counterbalance. There they await the renovation of the world, their only sufferings being from cold and heat.
THE LIFE TO COME 345
Passing from Hamistakan, Viraf ascended the three steps of "good thought, good word, good deed," which are the abodes of the souls of those who did not practise the specific Mazdean virtues, although they were righteous men. These steps lead to Garotman (A vesta Garo Nmana, "House of Praise"), and there dwell the souls of men who constantly practised the Zoroastrian precepts: the Hberal, who walk adorned in all splendour; those who chanted the Gdthds (the "Hymns" of Zoroaster), in gold-embroidered raiment; those who contracted next-of-kin marriages, ^ illuminated by radi- ance from above; those who killed noxious creatures; the agri- culturists; the shepherds. All of them are brilliant and walk about in great pleasure and joy. Then the pilgrims came to a river which souls were endeavouring to cross, some being able to do this easily, and others failing utterly. In reply to Viraf's questions Atar explained that the river came from the tears which men shed from their eyes in unlawful lamentation for the departed, and that those who could not cross were the souls for whom their relatives made an exaggerated and irre- ligious display of grief. Atar also showed a lake whose water was the sap of wood which had been placed on the sacred fire without being quite dry.
Returning to the Cinvat Bridge, Viraf and his guides fol- lowed the soul of a wicked man, just arrived from earth. In its first night of hell it must endure as much misfortune as a man can bear in a whole unhappy life. A dry and stinking cold wind comes to meet that man, and he sees his vile life under the shape of a profligate woman, naked, decayed, gaping, and bandy-legged. Descending the three steps of "evil thought, evil word, evil deed," the soul of the wicked arrives at the greedy jaws of hell, which is a most frightful pit, where the darkness is so thick that the hand can grasp it, and where the stench makes every one stagger and fall. Each of the damned thinks, "I am alone," and when three days and three nights have elapsed, he wails, "The nine thousand years are com-
346 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
pleted, and they will not release me!" Everywhere are noxious creatures, the smallest of them as high as mountains, and they tear and worry the souls of the wicked as a dog does a bone.
For special crimes there are special punishments. The woman who has been unfaithful to her husband is suspended by her breasts, and scorpions seize her whole body, the same creatures biting the feet of those who have polluted the earth by walking without shoes. The woman who has insulted her husband is suspended by her tongue. A wicked king must hang in space, flogged by fifty demons. The man who has killed cattle un- lawfully suffers in his limbs, which are broken and separated from one another. The miser is stretched upon a rack, and a thousand demons trample him. The liar sees his tongue gnawed by worms. The unjust man who did not pay the salary of his workmen is doomed to eat human flesh. The woman who has slain her own child must dig into a hill with her breasts and hold a millstone on her head. The bodies of impostors and deceivers fall in rottenness. The man who has removed the boundary stones of others so as to make his own fields larger must dig into a hill with his fingers and nails. The breaker of promises and contracts, whether with the pious or with the wicked — since Mithra is both for the faithful and the un- believers — is tortured by pricking spurs and arrows. Under the Cinvat Bridge there is an abyss for the most heinous sin- ners, this pit being so deep and so stinking that if all the wood of the earth were burned in it, it would not even emit a per- ceptible smell. There the souls of the wicked stand, as close as the ear to the eye, and as many as the hairs on the mane of a horse, and they also are submitted to various torments ac- cording to their different offences. At the very bottom of the abyss is Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the Evil Spirit, who ridi- cules and mocks the wicked in hell, saying, "Why did you ever eat the bread of Ahura Mazda, and do my work.^ and thought not of your own creator, but practised my will.'"'
It would be interesting to know how much in Arta Viraf's
459
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:39:58 PM »
PLATE XL RUSTAM AND THE WhITE DeMON Entering the cavern where the demon lurks, the hero hews him limb from limb and finally slays him. In this miniature the sole traces of the animal nature of the demon are the horns springing from his head. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1605—08 A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York'. rrr-K.'y^)!" .:;r^,,i/,iw>/> ''••j\j:J,^\^.>,>A \_,<,^.iOcfi,j fclu^y,i,J'^: JjJi^:^,,,: wj:^J-la/\ \^\.:„.^,^C} ^Coy.jc': ^cj.;-.^-:/ j^i.-.X'r' ^^.>,Ci(j/ TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 329 Narlman the great-grandfather, of Rustam, who took the place of Keresaspa as the Hercules of Iran, whereas Garshasp, the tenth Shah, who bears Keresaspa's name, is little more than a shadowy personality.^^ Garshasp appears for the first time as a prince who helped Mlnuclhr (Manushclthra) to take revenge for the death of his grandfather Iraj at the hands of his two brothers. FIrdausI does not make it quite clear whether this Garshasp is identical with the one who reigned as the tenth Shah, but it seems more than likely that the two Garshasps are the remnants of a hero who has been stripped of his exploits by the popularity of the new comer Rustam and his family, the deeds of the Rustamids being the central subject of FIrdausi's epic throughout the reigns of several Shahs, beginning with Mlnuclhr. Mlnuclhr himself seems to be a faded personality. His name, Manushclthra, appears In the Avesta ^^ and means "off- spring of Manu" (the Vedic name of the first man), whereas in Pahlavl literature It was held to signify "born on Mount Manush." ^° Besides his punishment of his grandfather's mur- derers, the Bundahish records that he mounted a sheep of the kind called kurishk, which was as high as a steed. He had a prosperous reign during which he made canals to regulate the course of the rivers, but for twelve years he was a captive of the Turanian king Afraslyab (Pahlavl Fraslyav, the Frangras- yan of the Avesta), who confined him in a mountain gorge and kept him there In misery till Aghrerat (Avesta Aghraeratha, Persian Ighrlrath) saved him from his distress and conse- quently was slain by the tyrant.^^ This is not much, but is more than Is told by the Shdhndmah, which, indeed, devotes its account of Minucihr's reign to the facts in connexion with Rustam's birth. Sam Is the most prominent vassal of Mlnuclhr. He is, as already noted, a fragment of Keresaspa's personality and be- trays his origin In telling stories of dragons slain by him with a club that weighed three hundred mans.^^ His adversary was 330 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY "Like some mad elephant, with Indian sword In hand. Methought, O Shah! that e'en the mountains Would cry to him for quarter! He pressed on, Then like a maddened elephant I dashed him Upon the ground so that his bones were shivered." More striking still is the slaying of the dragon which haunted the river Kashaf : "That dragon cleared the sky Of flying fowl and earth of beast of prey. It scorched the vulture's feathers with its blast, Set earth a-blazing where its venom fell. Dragged from the water gruesome crocodiles, And swiftly flying eagles from the air. Men and four-footed beasts ceased from the land; The whole world gave it room. I came. The dragon seemed a lofty mountain And trailed upon the ground its hairs like lassos. Its tongue was like a tree-trunk charred, its jaws Were open and were lying in my path. Its eyes were like two cisterns full of blood. It bellowed when it saw me and came on. When it closed And pressed me hard I took mine ox-head mace And in the strength of God, the Lord of all. Urged on mine elephantine steed and smote The dragon's head: thou wouldst have said that heaven Rained mountains down thereon. I smashed the skull, As it had been a mighty elephant's. And venom poured forth like the river Nile. So struck I that the dragon rose no more." ^^ All these details strikingly resemble the story of Srvara. A son is born to Sam in his old age, but the white hair of the babe so disgusts the father that he commands the child to be carried to the famous mountain Alburz (Hara Berezaiti). There, fortunately, It is found by the SImurgh, the mythical bird Saena, which we have described above and which takes care of the Infant until he becomes a tall and sturdy youth. TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 331 In the meanwhile Sam regrets his fault, and being told in a dream where the child is, he goes to Mount Albiirz and fetches home his son, to whom he gives the name of Zal. Zal falls in love with Rudabah, the daughter of the prince of Kabul, a descendant of Dahhak; but though the maid is fair and grace- ful, the marriage is opposed first by her father and then by the Shah because she is of the race of the devilish King. This is the subject of a tale which FirdausI narrates with much talent, but it is no mythology, although the love for an Ahrimanian woman recalls the errors of Keresaspa. Finally, of course, every obstacle is removed, and Zal marries Riidabah. Before long the princess is found to be pregnant, but no de- liverance comes, and Rudabah suffers in vain. Then a thought occurs to Zal. On his departure from the nest where he had spent his infant years the SImurgh had given him one of its pinions as a talisman, bidding him burn the feather in case of misfortune, whereupon the bird would immediately come to his rescue. He did so, and the SImurgh, arriving instantly, told him that the birth would be no natural one. It bade him bring "A blue-steel dagger, seek a cunning man. Bemuse the lady first with wine to ease Her pain and fear, then let him ply his craft And take the Lion from its lair by piercing Her waist while all unconscious, thus imbruing Her side in blood, and then stitch up the gash. Put trouble, care, and fear aside, and bruise With milk and musk a herb that I will show thee And dry them in the shade. Dress and anoint Rudaba's wound and watch her come to life. Rub o'er the wound my plume, its gracious shade Will prove a blessing." ^^ The mandate of the SImurgh was scrupulously obeyed, and when Rudabah awoke and saw her babe, she joyously cried, "I am delivered" (birastam), which in Persian happens to be a pun on the name of the future hero, Rustam, the ancient form of which (if the word were extant) would be Raodhatakhma 332 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY ("Strong in Growth ").^^ When little more than a child the promising youth breaks the neck of an elephant with a single blow of his mace and with some companions takes possession of a stronghold on Mount Sipand. Henceforth Rustam will be the Roland or the Cid of the Persian epic and he puts his sword — or rather his club — at the disposal of all Iranian kings in succession. There are no traces of mythology in his adventures, which are of a warlike character par excellence, although occasionally they are at the same time romantic, as in the story of his son Suhrab, who was brought up among the Turanians, and whom his father killed in single combat, not knowing that he was his son.^^ The feats performed by Rustam in the service of the Iranian kings against the Tu- ranians are attributed in Pahlavl literature to the monarchs themselves, and it is evident that Rustam is a personality whose importance has been made much greater in compara- tively recent times. He is the hero of Seistan and has clearly taken the place of Keresaspa and other Persian or Median heroes. If Rustam is the Roland of FirdausT, Afrasiyab plays the part of the Emir Marsile, the chief of the Saracens in the French epic; he is the arch-unbeliever, the leader of the Tura- nian hordes. In the Avesta he is known as Frangrasyan and has a much more mythical character than Rustam. Judging from the episode of his fight with Uzava, in which he is said to have detained the rivers so as to desolate Iran by drought, he be- longed originally to a rain-myth. Ancient legend says that he lived in a stronghold (Jiankana) in the depths of the earth, where he offered an unsuccessful sacrifice to Ardvi Sura Ana- hita in the desire of seizing the kingly Glory of the Aryans which had departed from Yima and, escaping Azhi Dahaka, had taken refuge in the midst of the sea Vourukasha.^^ The treacherous Turanian king tried to seize it, but though he stripped himself naked and swam to catch it, the Glory fled PLATE XLI The Death of Suhrab The figure of the king, bending over the son whom he has unwittingly slain, is full of pathos. Rustam's famous steed, Rakhsh, stands in the upper background. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnatnah^ dated 1605—08 A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. tlLr<^''-V! ic>^5^-> :i ^ry^'/v^^'^ ^.'^?'^J^':? -_Jl<j/>j<i i<5'a: >:u:^/| /I i 'yr^,^..->e/^ i ;u<.c;^-*iw;:'i -^ ^i? ^.. >^-'.*/v'>*'<;' TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 333 away, and an arm of the sea, called lake Haosravah, resulted from the movement of the water. Twice again he renewed his effort, but each time a new gulf was formed, and all was in vain. Then the crafty Turanian rushed out of the sea, with evil words on his lips, uttering a curse and saying: "I have not conquered that Glory of the Aryan lands, bom and unborn, and of righteous Zarathushtra. Both will I confound together, All things that are dry and fluid, Both great and good and beautiful; Sore distressed, Ahura Mazda Formeth creatures that oppose him." Thus, according to this legend, he became a maleficent fiend, a drought-demon, who was made prisoner by Haoma and finally killed by Haosravah.^^ All these elements are preserved in Firdausi's legend, but the story has become a regular conflict between two nations or, at least, between two dynasties. This warfare is the kernel of the Iranian epic material, the struggle being divided into several episodes. The first is the defeat of Naotara (Persian Naudhar), a son of Manushcithra (Persian Miniicihr). Although FirdausI places the event after Minucihr's death, the older tradition ^^ connects the facts with the reign of the latter king. The Ira- nians are made prisoners in the mountains of Padashkhvargar (Tabaristan), but though Afrasiyab afflicts them with starva- tion and disease, his brother Aghraeratha (Persian Ighrlrath) sympathizes with the captives and releases them, whereupon Afrasiyab, in anger, kills his brother. Aghraeratha, although living among unbelievers, was a pious man, and after his death was placed among the immortals. Under the name of Gopat- shah ^° he dwells in the region of Saukavastan, near Airyana Vaejah, his form being that of a bull from his feet to his waist and of a man from his waist to his head. His home is on the sea-shore, where he continually pours holy water into the sea for the worship of God. Thus he kills innumerable noxious 334 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY creatures, but if he should cease doing so, all those maleficent beings would fall on earth with the rain.^^ The second episode is the battle between Afrasiyab and Uzava Tumaspana (Persian Zav), this hero being a nephew of Naotara, and his mother being the daughter of Afrasiyab's sorcerer. Afrasiyab had invaded Iran, stopped the course of all the rivers, and by his witchcraft prevented rain from fall- ing, thus producing drought and starvation; '*^ but Uzava, who, though a child, had the maturity and the strength of an adult,^^ frightened the sorcerers and their chief and caused rain to fall. In two myths, therefore, Afrasiyab inflicts starvation on the Iranians, and in the latter he does it by withholding the rain, so that his original nature as a rain-demon is scarcely open to question. The third invasion is connected with the name of Kavi Kavata (Persian Kai Qubad), the first king of the dynasty of the Kaianians. In India the word kavi means "a sage," a respectable person in ancient days; in Iran it was applied to princes in olden times, and since those rulers originally were not Zoroastrians, kavi (Persian kai) in the Avesta often has the signification of "unbeliever," though this pejorative sense does not apply to the group of legendary kings who are regularly provided with that epithet and who, therefore, are called Kaianians. Like Zal, Kai Qubad is said to have been aban- doned on Mount Albijrz at his birth, and there, protected only by a waist-cloth, he was freezing near a river when Zav per- ceived him and saved his life.^ He remained on Alburz until, Zav and his successor being dead, the Iranian throne was vacant; but meanwhile Afrasiyab had again invaded the coun- try. Thereupon Zal sent his son Rustam to Mount Alburz to fetch Qubad and to make him the sovereign of all Iranian tribes; and then it was that Rustam, who had received Sam's club (i. e. the mace of Keresaspa), began to distinguish him- self and to beat back the invaders. The successor of Kavi Kavata is Kavi Usan (Persian Kai TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 335 Kaus), whose name has been compared with that of an ancient seer who Is known as Kavya Usanas In the Vedas, where he Is renowned for his wisdom. There he Is said to have driven the cows on the path of the sun and to have fashioned for Indra the thunderbolt with which the god slew Vrtra. The Identifi- cation Is not quite certain, however, because the character of Usan Is completely altered In Iran Into that of an ordinary- king, although a trace of his quality of driver of cows may per- haps survive In the legend of his wonderful ox, to whose judge- ment all disputes were referred as to the boundary between Iran and Turan.^^ Yet Kal Kaus was not really wise, for he was, at least according to FIrdausI, an Imperfect character, easily led astray by passion.*^ Legend has transferred wisdom to his minister Aoshnara, whose epithet Is pouru-jira, "very Intelligent." ^" While yet In his mother's womb, he taught many a marvel and at his birth he was able to confound Angra Malnyu by answering all the questions and riddles of Fraclh, the unbellever.^^ This story Is a replica of the legend of Yolshta, a member of the virtuous Turanian family of the Fryanas,^^ who preserved his town from the devastations of the ruffian Akhtya by resolving the ninety-nine riddles asked by that malicious spirit and by confounding the fiend with three other enigmas which he was unable to answer,^" a tradition which reminds us of the legend of QEdipus. Aoshnara became the administrator of Usan's kingdom and taught many Invaluable things to mankind, but unfortunately the Inconstant monarch at last became tired of his minister's wisdom and put him to death. Kai Kaus was not only inconstant but presumptuous, for he ascended Mount Alburz, where he built himself seven dwellings, one of gold, two of silver, two of steel, and two of crystal. He then endeavoured to restrain the Mazainyan daevas, or demons of Mazandaran, only to be led Into a trap by one of these evil beings who tempted him by making him discontented with his earthly sovereignty and by flattering him so as to Induce him 336 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY to aim at the sovereignty of the heavenly regions. Yielding to the tempter, he sought to reach the skies by means of a car supported by four eagles, and he also began to display insolence toward the sacred beings to such a degree that he lost his Glory. His troops were then defeated, and he was compelled to flee to the Vourukasha, where Nairyosangha, the messenger of Ahura Mazda, was about to slay him when the Fravashi of Haosravah, yet unborn, implored that his grandfather might be spared on account of the virtues of the grandson. ^^ During this expedition — or during one to Hamavaran, which is only a duplicate of the other — the land of Iran, being abandoned by its ruler, was laid desolate by a fiend called Zainigav, who had come from Arabia and in whose eye was such venom that he killed any man on whom he gazed. So dire was the calamity that the Iranians called their enemy Afrasiyab into their country to rid them of Zainigav, and for that task the Turanian received the kingly Glory which had abandoned the frivolous king Kai Kaiis. Afrasiyab, however, abused his power, and the Iranians had once more to be saved by Rustam, who released Kai Kaus and expelled the Turanians. Kai Kaias had married a Turanian woman named Sudabah, a vicious creature who made shameful propositions to Syavar- shan (Persian Kai Siyavakhsh), who was the son of a previous wife of her husband and a superb youth. Since, however, the pious young man rejected her love, she calumniated him to Kai Kaus, so that Syavarshan had to flee to Afrasiyab, who received him well and even gave him his daughter in marriage; but the honour with which he was welcomed roused the jealousy of Keresavazdah (Persian Garsivaz), the brother of Afrasiyab, who by false accusations persuaded the king to put Siyavakhsh to death. To avenge this deed was the life-task of his son Haosravah (Persian Kai Khusrau), the greatest king of the Kaianian dynasty. His name means "of good renown, glorious," and perhaps he was originally the same person as the Vedic hero PLATE XLIl Kai Kaus Attempts to Fly to Heaven The ambitious king fastens four young eagles to the corners of his throne, making them fly upward by attaching raw meat to four spears. As he rises through the clouds, the animals on the mountain-top look at him with amazement. The king's features have been obliterated by some pious Muhammadan who was offended by the transgression of the prohibition against portraying living creatures (cf. Plate XLIV). From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1587—88 A. D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 337 Susravas, who helped Indra to crush twenty warriors mounted on chariots. ^2 It is, indeed, a striking coincidence that in the Avesta the gallant Haosravah, who united the Aryan nations into one kingdom, begs of Ardvi SOra as a boon, not only that he may become the sovereign lord of all countries, but also "That of all the yoked horses I may drive my steeds the foremost O'er the long length of the racecourse; That we break not through the pitfall Which the foe, with treacherous purpose, Plots against me while on horseback." " The war waged by Haosravah against Afrasiyab is a long one, full of incidents of a fine epic character as we find them in the Shdhndmah^ but all this has been grafted on the old legend of Frangrasyan's death, which originally was in close connexion with the story of the vain attempts of the impious king to seize the Glory of the Aryan monarchs. As we have already seen, Frangrasyan, enraged by his failure, was swearing, cursing, and blaspheming in his subterranean abode; but at that very mo- ment he was overheard by Haoma (probably the "White Haoma," the tree of all remedies, which grows in the sea Vouru- kasha), who managed to fetter the Turanian murderer and to drag him bound to King Haosravah. "Kavi Haosravah then slew him Within sight of Lake Caecasta, Deep and with wide spreading waters, Thus avenging the foul murder Of his father, brave Syavarshan." *^
460
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:39:01 PM »
LEGENDS OF YIMA 319
"Temper earth with water And taught them how to fashion moulds for bricks. They laid foundations first with stones and lime, Then raised thereon by rules of art such structures As hot baths, lofty halls, and sanctuaries."
Even more is ascribed to Jamshid by the writers of Muham- madan times. As a wise king of great brilliancy he was as- similated to Solomon, while as a primeval monarch and prob- ably as the builder of the enclosure against the destructive winter he was confused with Noah. Either on account of this or because his wisdom brought to light the properties of things he was supposed to have discovered wine. Mirkhond tells an anecdote about this.^'' Having tried the taste of the juice of grapes, the king observed a sensation of bitterness and con- ceived aversion for it, thinking that it was a deadly poison. A damsel of the palace, seized with violent pain in her head, longed for death and accordingly resolved to drink of the juice that was deemed poisonous. She did not die, however, but drank so much of It that she fell into a beneficent sleep which lasted an entire day and night. On awaking she found herself restored to perfect health, and for this reason the monarch ordered the general use of wine.
CHAPTER V
TRADITIONS OF THE KINGS AND ZOROASTER
THE serpent-like dragon of the storm-cloud described as the three-headed monster in Indo-European myths has often appeared in our account of Iranian mythology. We have seen how the cloud was forgotten for the serpent, and how the ser- pent became a human monster, the conqueror of Yima. Of his dragon nature he preserves a dragon-like face and two snakes on his shoulders, the fruit of Angra Mainyu's kisses. As we find the legend in Firdausi in a completely anthropomorphized shape, it retains many features of the myth in the form in which it appears in its most complete version in Armenian books: the monstrous dragon Azhdak (Azhi Dahaka), with serpents sprung from his shoulders and served by a host of demons, is conquered by Vahagn (Verethraghna), the hero who replaces Faridiin (Thraetaona) in Armenian Mazdean myth- ology, and the demon is fettered in a gorge on Mount Dam- avand, the serpents sprung from his shoulders being fed on human flesh. We find all these features in Firdausi's account. Dahhak every night sent to his cook two youths who were slaughtered so that their brains might feed the snakes. Two high-born Persians disguised as cooks devised a scheme to rescue one youth from each pair doomed to death, and when the young men who escaped, thanks to their contrivance, fled to the mountains,
"Thus sprang the Kurds, who know no settled home, But dwell in woolen tents and fear not God." ^
Like the dragon of old, Dahhak is a coward who lives in con- stant terror because his death at the hand of Faridun has been predicted in a dream which he had one night when he was sleep- ing with one of Jamshid's sisters. Like the serpent of early myth, who roared at the blows of the storm-god, he yells with fright through fear of Faridun.
Dahhak is not merely a wicked and maleficent being, but is also the personification of tyranny and barbarity in contrast with Iranian civilization. Like rude tribes at war in all times, he knows only massacre, pillage, and arson. In his kingdom oppression reigns, and like all tyrants he desires the best of his subjects to give official excuse to his abuses.
"He called the notables from every province To firm the bases of his sovereignty, And said to them: 'Good, wise, illustrious men! I have, as sages wot, an enemy Concealed, and I through fear of ill to come Despise not such though weak. I therefore need A larger host — men, divs, and fairies too — And ask your aid, for rumours trouble me; So sign me now a scroll to this effect: — "Our monarch soweth naught but seeds of good, He ever speaketh truth and wrongeth none.'" Those upright men both young and old subscribed Their names upon the Dragon's document. Against their wills, because they feared the Shah." ^
All this is in complete contrast to the Iranian ideal of order, truth, and wisdom, and accordingly Dahhak is the type of the dregvant, the man of the Lie and the king of madmen.
"Zahhak sat on the throne a thousand years Obeyed by all the world. Through that long time The customs of the wise were out of vogue, The lusts of madmen flourished everywhere, All virtue was despised, black art esteemed. Right lost to sight, disaster manifest; While divs accomplished their fell purposes And no man spake of good unless by stealth." ^
322 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
As if by a natural instinct of justice, the tyrant in his abuses is pursued by fear of punishment. After the dream which we have already mentioned Dahhak runs about the world, quar- relling and slaughtering men and nations to anticipate the attack of him who is to satisfy the popular conscience by caus- ing his ruin. He has an army of spies, among them being Kun- drav, a very ancient mythical creature of the Indo-Iranlans (Sanskrit Gandharva, Avesta Gandarewa), who appears in the Avesta as a dragon killed by Keresaspa. Kundrav manages to penetrate Into Faridun's tent when he is at table, and having gained his confidence, he notes all his preparations against Dahhak, after which, escaping from the hero's camp, he makes a full report to the tyrant. Dahhak endeavours to avert his destined ruin, but in vain, for he is opposed by Farldun, en- dowed with the kingly Glory of YIma, and tall and firm like a cypress.^ Abtin (I.e. Thrlta Athwya), the father of Faridun (Thraetaona), had been killed by Dahhak to feed the serpents, and his son planned revenge for this ignominious murder, another task being the release of the two sisters of Jamshid (YIma), who had been surrendered to the monster when their
brother fell.
"Trembling like a willow-leaf,
Men bore them to the palace of Zahhak And gave them over to the dragon king, Who educated them In evil ways And taught them sorcery and necromancy." ^
After Farldun had taken possession of Dahhak's palace,
"Then from the women's bower he brought two Idols Sun-faced, dark-eyed; he had them bathed, he purged The darkness of their minds by teaching them The way of God and made them wholly clean; For Idol-worshippers had brought them up And they were dazed in mind like drunken folk. Then while the tears from their bright eyes bedewed Their rosy cheeks those sisters of Jamshid Said thus to Faridun: 'Mayst thou be young
TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 323
Till earth is old! What star was this of thine, O favoured one! What tree bore thee as fruit, Who venturest inside the Lion's lair So hardily, thou mighty man of valour?'" ®
It is curious to see the old myth of the release of the women of the clouds transformed into a merely romantic episode, and one wonders whether the bath which the women must undergo is not a remnant of their sojourn in the waters on high.
Faridun then assails Dahhak with a lasso made of lion's hide, and while the dragon king, blinded by jealousy at the sight of
"dark-eyed Shahrinaz, Who toyed bewitchingly with Faridun," '
rushed about like a madman, the hero bound him around the arms and waist with bonds that not even a huge elephant could snap. He conveyed the captive to Mount Damavand, where he fettered him in a narrow gorge and studded him with heavy nails, leaving him to hang, bound by his hands, to a crag, so that his anguish might endure. He Is not killed by the hero because In myth the storm-dragon does not die, but often es- capes from the hold of the light-god.
Tradition knows little of Faridiin outside of his healing power and his victory over the dragon. Nevertheless the Dinkart ^ mentions the division of his kingdom between his sons Salm, Tijr, and Iraj; and the Bundahish^ explains that the two former killed the latter, as well as his posterity, with the exception of a daughter who was concealed by Faridun and who bore the hero Manushclthra, or MInucihr, the successor of Faridun. The legends concerning these princes thus date back to a fairly ancient period, although It Is doubtful whether they had the amplitude and the character which they assume in Flrdausi's epic. These stories are not mythical, but merely epic, and they centre about the jealousy of two older brothers who, envious of the younger son of Faridun because he was braver and more beloved by his father, trea'cherously put him
324 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
to death. Manushcithra, grandson of the unfortunate Iraj, was to be the avenger of his grandfather, aided by Keresaspa (Garshasp), an ancient hero, who occupies a very secondary position in the Shdhndmah, but is, nevertheless, one of the greatest figures of old Iranian tradition. Keresaspa, whose name means "with slender horses," is another son of Thrita Athwya, the father of Farldun (Thraetaona) and seems origi- nally to have been a doublet of the latter, especially as his main exploit is also the slaying of dragons.
With his strength and his club Keresaspa is the Hercules of Iran, and it is not in the least remarkable that he is supposed to have slain many foes both human and demoniacal, among them being not only Gandarewa and Srvara, but also Vare- shava, Pitaona, Arezo-shamana, the sons of Nivika and of Dashtayani, the nine sons of Pathana, Snavldhka, and the nine sonsofHitaspa, the murderer of his brother Urvakhshaya.^" Moreover he is one of the heroes who, at the end of time, when Azhi Dahaka (Dahhak) will escape from the place of concealment where Thraetaona (Farldun) has fettered him, will slay the dragon and free the world.
He has accomplished his exploits under the protection of a third part of Yima's Glory {Khvarenanh) and he is, therefore, worshipped by the warriors to obtain strength "to withstand the dreadful arm and the hordes with wide battle array, with the large banner, the flag uplifted, the flag unfolded, the bloody flag; to withstand the brigand havoc- working, horrible, man- slaying, and pitiless; to withstand the evil done by the brigand." ^^
Among Keresaspa's feats some are described in the Avesta and in the Pahlavi books. ^^ His most dreadful fight was with the dragon Srvara ("Horned"),
"Which devoured men and horses, Which was venomous and yellow, Over which a flood of venom Yellow poured, its depth a spear's length,
TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 325
On whose back did Keresaspa ^^ Cook food in an iron kettle As the sun drew nigh the zenith. Heated grew the fiend and sweaty, Forth from 'neath the kettle sprang he And the boiling water scattered. To one side in terror darted Manly-minded Keresaspa."
The Pahlavi sources further inform us that the dragon's teeth were as long as an arm, its ears as great as fourteen blan- kets, Its eyes as large as wheels, and its horn as high as Dahhak. Undismayed, Keresaspa sprang on its back and ran for half a day on it, and, notwithstanding his alarm, finally contrived to smite Its neck with his famous club, thus slaying the monster with a single blow.
In the case of Gandarewa the victory was no less brilliant. The personality of this demon Is very Interesting, for he Is an Indo-Iranlan spirit of the deep.^* In India his abode Is gen- erally In the regions of the sky, where he hovers as a bright meteor, though he often appears likewise In the depths of the waters, where he courts the aqueous nymphs, the Apsarases, so that he becomes a genius of fertility. In Iran Gandarewa Is a lord of the abyss who dwells In the waters and Is the master of the deep. Sometimes he Is a beneficent being who brings the haoma, but more often he withholds the plant as Its jealous guardian. He Is decidedly a fiend, although he has preserved the epithet "golden-heeled" to remind us of his previous bril- liancy. He Is a dragon like AzhI Dahaka or Srvara,^^ rushing on with open jaws, eager to destroy the world of the good creation. As Keresaspa went to meet him, he saw dead men sticking In Gandarewa's teeth, and when the monster had seized the hero's beard, both began to fight In the sea. After a conflict of nine days and nights Keresaspa overcame his ad- versary, and grasping the sole of his foot, he flayed off his skin up to his head and bound him hand and foot, dragging him to the shore of the sea. Even so, the fiend was not wholly sub-
326 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
jugated, but slaughtered and ate Keresaspa's fifteen horses and pushed the hero himself blinded Into a dense thicket. Meanwhile he carried off the hero's wife and family, but Keres- aspa quickly recovered, went out to the sea, released the pris- oners, and slew the fiend. ^^
Of Snavldhka It Is recorded that he used to kill men with his nails, and that his hands were like stones. To all he shouted:
" 'I am immature, not mature; But if I attain to manhood, Of the earth a wheel I '11 make me, Of the sky I'll make a chariot; I '11 bring down the Holy Spirit From the House of Praise ^^ all radiant, Angra IMainyu I '11 make fly up From the hideous depths of Hades; And they twain shall draw my chariot. Both those spirits, good and evil,
if the manly-minded Keresaspa slay me not.' The manly- minded Keresaspa slew him." '^
Arezo-shamana was a more sympathetic adversary, brave and valiant, always on his guard, and supple In his mode of fighting. Hitaspa was the murderer of Keresaspa's brother Urvakhshaya, a "wise chief of assemblies," and to avenge this crime the hero smote Hitaspa and bore him back on his chariot."
Moreover the Iranian Hercules purged the land of highway- men, who were so huge that the people used to say, "Below them are the stars and moon, and below them moves the sun at dawn, and the water of the sea reaches up to their knees." ^° Since Keresaspa could stretch no higher, he smote them on their legs, and falling, they shattered the hills on the earth.
A gigantic bird named Kamak, which overshadowed the earth and kept off the rain till the rivers dried up, eating up men and animals as if they were grains of corn, was also killed by Keresaspa, who shot arrows at It constantly for seven days and nights. ^^ This story Is evidently the adulterated form of an old myth of storm or rain.
TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND ZOROASTER 327
A wolf called Kaput or Pehin likewise fell, together with its nine cubs, at the hand of Keresaspa,^- who was also compelled to fight even with the elements of nature, the wind being tempted to assail him when the demons said, " See, Keresaspa despises thee and resists thee, more than anyone else." Aroused by the taunt, the wind came on so strongly that every tree and shrub in its path was uprooted, while by its breath the whole earth was reduced to powder, and a dark cloud of dust arose. When it came to Keresaspa, however, it could not even move him from the spot, and the hero, seizing the spirit of the wind, overthrew him until he promised to go again below the earth.23
Unfortunately, the conqueror of so many foes was himself conquered by a woman, a witch {pairikd) called Khnathaiti, who was in the court of Pitaona, a prince whom Keresaspa had also killed.^^ Under the influence of his wife he became addicted to Turanian idolatry and completely neglected the maintenance of the sacred fire. On account of this grievous sin Ahura Mazda permitted him to be wounded during his sleep by one of the Turks with whom he lived in the plain of Peshyansal, and though he was not killed, he was brought into a state of lethargy .^^ Since that moment he has lain there in slumber, protected by the kingly Glory which he took from Yima and by nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Fravashis, or guardian spirits. ^^ Thus he will remain till the end of the world, when Dahhak (Azhi Dahaka), fettered by Fari- dun on Mount Damavand, will be released by the powers of evil, who will rally for the last struggle against good. Freed from his chains, Dahhak will rush forth in fury and swallow everything on his way: a third of mankind, cattle, and sheep. He will smite the water, fire, and vegetation, and will commit all possible abuses. Then the water, the fire, and the vegeta- tion will lament before Ahura Mazda and pray that Faridun may be revived to slay Dahhak, else fire declares that it will not heat, and water that It will flow no more. Then Mazda
328 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
will send Sraosha to rouse Keresaspa, whom he will call three times. At the fourth summons the hero will wake and go forth to encounter Dahhak, and smiting him on the head with his famous club, will slay him, the death of the arch-fiend marking the beginning of the era of happiness.
Till then, however, as long as Keresaspa is asleep, his soul must make its abode either in paradise or in hell, but since the heinous offence which he committed against the fire made entrance into paradise very difficult for him in spite of all his exploits, he was sent to hell, though Zarathushtra obtained the promise that he would be summoned by Ahura Mazda. He complained at the hideous sights which he saw in the realm of punishment and said that he did not deserve such misery, for he had been a priest in Kabul, but Ahura Mazda with great severity reminded him of the fire, his son, which had been extinguished by him. He then implored Mazda's pardon, reciting all the deeds which he had performed: "If Srvara, the dragon, had not been killed by me, all thy creatures would have been annihilated by it. If Gandarewa had not been slain by me, Angra Malnyu would have become predominant over thy creatures " ; but Mazda was inflexible : " Stand off, thou soul of Keresaspa! for thou shouldst be hideous In my eyes, because the fire, which Is my son, was extinguished by thee." Never- theless, when the spirits in heaven heard of Keresaspa's valor- ous feats, they wept aloud, and Zarathushtra Intervened, so that after a discussion between him and the spirit of fire, who pleaded against Keresaspa, Geush Urvan made supplication unto Mazda, while Zarathushtra, to propitiate Atar's wrath, vowed that he would provide that the sanctity of the fire should be maintained on earth, wherefore the hero's soul was finally admitted Into Garotman ("House of Praise," " Paradise ").2^
As has already been said, no fair place Is granted to the great national hero in the Shdhndmah, his personality being divided by splitting the name Sama Keresaspa Naire-manah Into several personalities. In this way Sam became the grandfather, and
461
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:37:50 PM »
As to the nature of Yima's sin some uncertainty prevails in the tradition. Nevertheless, there are certain hints that this fault consisted in having rendered his subjects immortal by giving them forbidden food to eat, and in the Gdthds of Zoroaster
3IO IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
the poet prays to Ahura Mazda In order to avoid such sins as that of Yima, who gave men meat to eat in small pieces, as it was offered to the gods in sacrifice.^^ A late book, on the other hand, relates that Yima unwittingly gave meat to a daeva,^* although the most current form of the legend is that Yima
"In his mind began to dwell on Words of falsehood and of untruth." ^^
Firdausi explains that Yima's lie was in reality a sin of presumption.
"One day contemplating the throne of power He deemed that he was peerless. He knew God, But acted frowardly and turned aside In his ingratitude. He summoned all The chiefs, and what a wealth of words he used! 'The world is mine, I found its properties, The royal throne hath seen no king like me, For I have decked the world with excellence And fashioned earth according to my will. From me derive your provand, ease, and sleep, Your raiment and your pleasure. Mine are greatness And diadem and sovereignty. Who saith That there is any great king save myself.? Leechcraft hath cured the world, disease and death Are stayed. Though kings are many who but I Saved men from death? Ye owe me sense and life: They who adore me not are Ahrimans. So now that ye perceive what I have done All hail me as the Maker of the world.'" ^e
Another story of Yima's sin is connected with the fact that he had a sister Yimak who, as is the case with all primeval pairs, was also his wife. Various moral considerations regard- ing the incestuous union of this twin pair have been made for Yama and Yam! in India as well as for Yima and Yimaka in Iran. In India a Vedic hymn ^^ records a conversation between the twins in which Yama refuses to do what the sages at that time condemned as a grave sin, whereas in the Pahlavi books the union of Yim and Yimak is given as an example of the
PLATE XXXIX
I
Dahhak (Azhi Dahaka)
The tyrant is seated on his throne, surrounded by his courtiers. From his shoulders spring the serpents. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1602 A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
2
Jamshid on His Throne
The king administers justice and is attended not merely by human servitors, but also by <//'yi(" demons") in monstrous guise, ynurghs ("birds"), and parls ("fairies"). The figures show a mixture of Indian and Chinese influence, and it has been conjectured that the miniatures in this manuscript are the work of a Mongolian or Turkistan artist well acquainted with Persia, but living in northern India. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1602 a.d., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
i . •
\ Js^^jkdX^^J^ u^^-'Jk^S^M '\\J'^^'^)^M
LEGENDS OF YIMA 311
Khvetdk-dds, or incestuous marriage, which was recommended by the Mazdeans at one period in their history. In the Biin- dahish ^^ Yima is said to have given his sister to a demon after he had been bhnded by folly at the end of his reign, and to have himself married a demoness, these unions result- ing in monstrous and degenerate beings, such as tailed apes.
Whatever Yima's sin may have been, the king soon received his punishment, for the Glory {Khvarenanh), an emanation of divine radiancy that gave prestige to the Iranian monarchs, deserted him immediately and left him trembling, confounded, and defenceless before his foes. The first time that the Glory departed from Yima, it was in tKe shape of a Vareghna bird, and Mithra, the lord of broad pastures, whose ear is quick to hear, and who has a thousand senses, seized it. The second time that the Glory departed from Yima the Brilliant, it was seized by Thraetaona, the victorious hero who after a thousand years was to take from the devilish Dahhak (Azhi Dahaka) the realm which Yima lost. The third time it was the manly- minded Keresaspa who seized the Glory, and who also was to be a valiant and victorious ruler of the Iranians. ^^
Yima, deprived of the Glory that made his power, was over- come by a being of decidedly mythical nature, the famous serpent Azhi Dahaka, whom we have seen to be an incarnation of the storm-cloud. In later texts this monster is called by a Semitic name, Dahhak ("the Man with a Sarcastic Laugh"), but this is merely a popular etymology, a pun on his real ap- pellation. He is now an Arab king, living in Babylon, and in the Avesta itself we read that Azhi Dahaka, the triple-mouthed, offered sacrifice to Ardvi Sura in the land of Bawrl (Babylon), wishing to become the ruler of the world and to make the seven regions of earth empty of men. Although his prayer was not granted to such an extent, he overcame Yima and made cap- tives of his two sisters, Sanghavak and Arcnavak.^° If in the Avesta Azhi Dahaka still has three mouths like the dragon, in the Shdhndmah he is completely a man, though he has two
312 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
snakes springing from his shoulders, where they grew through a kiss of Angra Mainyu, a legend which recurs in Armenia. In the presence of this monstrous fiend Yima
"fled, surrendering crown, throne and treasure, Host, power and diadem. The world turned black To him, he disappeared and yielded all." ^^
For a hundred years he hid himself, but then appeared one day in the Far East, on the shores of the Chinese sea, where his foe, informed of the fact, gave him no respite, and sawing him asunder, freed the world from him. In the older texts it is Spityura, a brother of Yima, who sawed Yima in twain. ^- Sometimes it is explained that he was in a hollow tree, where he had concealed himself; but by the command of Dahhak the stem of the tree was severed by the saw, and with it the man inside. ^^
The story of Yima is the most interesting and the only ex- tensive myth of the Iranians, and it is certain that the legend dates back to Aryan, or at least to Indo-Iranian, times.
As the Avesta knows of Yima, son of Vivanghvant, so the Veda speaks of Yama, son of Vivasvant. As Yima is the chief of a remote kingdom, a marvellous realm where there is neither cold nor suffering, so Yama is the ruler of the fathers, the de- parted souls, with whom he revels in a huge tree. Just as Yima's vara is concealed either on a mountain or in some re- cess where sun and moon are not seen, Yama's dwelling is in the remote part of the sky. While Yima calls a gathering of men to assemble them in his vara, Yama collects the people and gives the dead a resting-place. Yima has opened the earth for mankind; Yama is "lord of the settlers" (vispati) and "father." Yima has found new countries, following a road toward the sun; Yama has a path for the dead to lead them to their abode, being the first to die and having discovered "a way for many." A bird brings messages into Yima's vara; Yama has the owl or the pigeon as his envoy.
LEGENDS OF YIMA 313
In spite of these points in common, there is an important discrepancy. Yama is the first mortal being and is clearly associated with death and with a kingdom of the departed, whereas Yima is simply a monarch of ancient times, his reign is a golden age for mankind, and his enclosure has no clear location.
This divergency is explained by the fact that the Iranians had another legend for the first man: the story of Gaya Mare- tan, which dates back to the Aryan period. Thus, owing to the desire of the Iranians for a more coherent system of mythology, the concurrent legend of Yima has been transferred into later, though still primeval, times, although Yima has remained — and this is very eloquent — the first sacrificer, the patriarchal lord of mankind at the dawn of history.
The story of Yama as it is in India ^'* Is clearly a legend ac- counting for the origin of man, but the primitive shape of the story is probably an elemental myth. Several scholars have endeavoured to show that Yama originally was the sun, and although this has never been conclusively demonstrated, there is much to be said in favour of the hypothesis.
It is certain that in the Veda Yama is often treated as a god. He is the friend of Agnl and sometimes is identified with him. He is the son of the deity Vivasvant ("Whose Light Spreads Afar"), who most probably was at first the rising sun ^^ and who was also father of the Asvlns (the morning and the evening star).
The evidence concerning Yama- Yima is, on the whole, that he is the setting sun. He follows the path of the sun to go to a remote recess, whither he leads all men with him. The path of the sun was a very natural symbol of the path of human life, the same words were used In Sanskrit for the death of men and for the sunset,^^ and Indian literature declares that the sun is the sure retreat. The sun is a bird or has birds as its messengers, like Yama; and like a sun-god Yama has two steeds, golden-eyed and Iron-hoofed.
314 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
In Iran the solar nature of Yima is rather more accentuated than in India, and the old epithets of Yima are striking in this respect. He is commonly called khshaeta ("brilliant"), an adjective which is at the same time the regular epithet of the sun {hvare khshaeta, Persian khurshid); and moreover he is khvarenanguhastema ("the most glorious, the most surrounded with light") and hvare-daresa ("who looks like the sun, the sun- like one"). These epithets, which are very natural as a sur- vival if Yima had once been the sun, would be incomprehensi- ble if he was originally the first man and nothing more. He is also hvathzua ("with goodly herds"), an adjective that very possibly alludes to the stars following the setting sun in his retreat, especially as stars are said in Vedic literature to be the lights of virtuous men who go to the heavenly world,^^ so that they would thus form the natural flock of Yima. Yima's golden arrow reminds us strikingly of a similar missile in the hands of his father Vivasvant in the Veda, by means of which he sends men to the realm of the dead.^^ Other luminous gods, like Apollo, show the same features, and it seems not improb- able that these arrows are the rays of the sun.
The brilliancy of Yima was so deeply rooted in tradition that Firdausi is still more definite about it. As we have al- ready seen, Jamshid sits like the sun in mid air, his fortune and his throne are resplendent, and the royal Glory shines brightly from him. That this dates back to ancient sources is proved by the fact that Firdausi has a very curious sentence about Yima which is not at all in keeping with the nature of Jamshid as a worldly king; he puts in the monarch's mouth the words, " I will make for souls a path toward the light." This is taken from the passage already quoted from the Vendlddd in which Yima goes toward the path of the sun to open earth for men, and it shows that this typical action of Yima may originally have been meant for the dead: Yima used to lead the de- parted toward the sun, on the way of the sun that is the path of Yima.
LEGENDS OF YIMA 315
The end of Yima is also very characteristic. When his brilliancy quits him, the world turns black to him and he vanishes. When he appears again, it is in the distant east, where the sun rises.
A solar year-myth seems likewise to have been involved in the story, for Yima is the founder of the feast of Nauriiz, the New Year's Day that with the Persians occurs in March at the beginning of the radiant spring. Yima's vernal kingdom is destroyed by the demon of cold and frost (Mahrkiasha), yet the sun and life do not disappear forever from the world, but are kept in reserve for the next spring, like the beings in Yima's vara. As we have seen, the legend of Yima as told in the Vendiddd expressly says that in the vara one year is one day. The disappearance of the sun in winter is thus assimilated to its daily departure to the remote recess in the world of dark- ness, and the story of Yima's century of concealment until he reappears in the East is very much in the same spirit.
The connexion of Yima with a tree reminds us of Yama's abode in a high tree, and in the Atharvaveda an arboreal dwell- ing-place is the home of the gods in the third heaven. ^^
No doubt other stories have come to be mixed up with the solar myths of the departed souls. Thus the legend of Yima's defeat by a storm-cloud monster, Azhi Dahaka, is probably borrowed from the very prolific storm-myth of which we have heard so many times. The abduction of Yima's two fair sis- ters and their release by the storm-god Thraetaona is a mere variation of the release of the imprisoned cows by this god,^° although the sisters are at the same time, possibly, a reminis- cence of Yama's two brilliant steeds.
The description of the monster's victory over Yima in Fir- dausi has many features of a storm-myth:
"The king of dragon-visage came like wind
And having seized the throne of Shah Jamshid Slipped on the world as 't were a finger-ring." ^^
3i6 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
The palace of the dragon, which is called kvirinta, is compared to a bird with large wings. ^^
Finally, the story of Yima and Yama is closely related to that of the twins Yama-YamI or Yima-Yimak, who after much hesitation agree to have intercourse with one another and become the parents of mankind. In Iran the tradition is a doublet of the legend of Mashya and Mashyol, in which similar hesitations occur. It seems clear enough that such a story has been invented to account for the propagation of human beings from one single pair.
Since the word "Yama" means "twin," it is fairly probable that this story belongs originally to Yama, although it is also possible, as several scholars admit, that YamI has been in- vented later and that Yama was primarily the twin of an- other being, perhaps Agni (fire of earth and fire on high), or that he was the soul of the departed considered as the alter ego of the living man.^ It might seem preferable, however, to abide by the most natural explanation and admit that Yama is the male twin of Yami. Now the twin pair had to come from some pre-existent being, as was the case with Mashya and Mashyoi, who sprang from Gaya Maretan's seed. In the legend of Yima, some traces are left of a story that made the first pair arise from the violent division of one being. Yima is sawn asunder — a curious feature which is much in the spirit of mythical stories among people of fairly elementary culture. Among the Indo-Europeans we know of the Indian first man Purusa, who differentiated himself into two beings, husband and wife. On the other hand, the Slavonic people tell the story that the moon, the wife of the sun, separated herself from him and fell in love with the morning star, whereupon she was cut in two by the sword of Perkunas. Comparing this myth with the Iranian legend that the seed of the primeval ox was preserved in the moon, one wonders if there are no traces of that Indo-European tradition in the story of Yima. At all events it is clear that Yima's legend combines several concep-
LEGENDS OF YIMA 317
tions concerning the first man and the dead. The old myth of the pair issued from the first giant became mixed with a more poetic conception which made the setting sun the first departed, the father of the fathers, as well as with a myth of winter, and possibly with a moon-myth accounting for the division of the moon into quarters and a storm-myth in its classical tenure. The idea of Yima's sin is so very Zoroastrian in its form that it can scarcely be regarded as belonging to the original story. In the primitive myth Yima obviously fell a victim in a struggle with a dragon of darkness (cloud or night). There was, however, perhaps a tradition of a fault committed by the first men, accounting for the evils reigning on earth, a conception which is, as a matter of fact, very widely spread, quite independently of any Semitic or Christian influence.
Before relating the stories concerning other legendary kings of Iran, we should point to the large development which Yima's story received in later times. All kinds of great deeds were attributed to King Jamshid, especially his institution of castes, his medical knowledge, and his works as a constructor.
"Then to the joy of all he founded castes For every craft; it took him fifty years. Distinguishing one caste as sacerdotal To be employed in sacred offices. He separated it from other folk And made its place of service on the mountains That God might be adored in quietude. Arrayed for battle on the other hand Were those who formed the military caste; They were the lion-men inured to war — The Lights of armies and of provinces — Whose office was to guard the royal throne And vindicate the nation's name for valour. The third caste was the agricultural, All independent tillers of the soil. The sowers and the reapers — men whom none Upbraideth when they eat. The fourth caste was the artizans. They live By doing handiwork — a turbulent crew." '*''
3i8 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
This tradition of Yima's activity is probably fairly ancient. He was Indeed the material organizer of mankind, and the castes were already in existence in the days of Zoroaster, for the Gdthds know of a caste of priests, of nobles or warriors, and of farmers. The location of priests on the mountains curiously recalls the fact that the heroes of ancient times are represented in the Avesta as offering their sacrifices on the mountain-tops, and Herodotus reports the same thing concerning the Persians in his day: " It is their wont to perform sacrifices to Zeus, going up to the most lofty of the mountains; and the whole circle of the heavens they call Zeus." ^^
Regarding the farmers Firdausi says, in the passage from which we have just quoted, that,
"Though clothed in rags, The wearers are not slaves, and sounds of chiding Reach not their ears. They are free men and labour Upon the soil safe from dispute and contest. What said the noble man and eloquent? ' 'T is idleness that maketh freemen slaves.'"
This high appreciation of the agricultural caste is also very much in the spirit of Zoroastrianism.
As regards his medical skill, Jamshid is said to have known
"Next leechcraft and the healing of the sick, The means of health, the course of maladies." ^^
Moreover he made use of his marvellous power to search among the rocks for precious stones, he knew the arts of naviga- tion, and his wisdom brought to light the properties of all things. It is doubtful, however, whether his functions as a healer were primitive, for the medical art is more properly ascribed to Faridun (Thraetaona) or to Irman (Airyaman).
Yima's works as a constructor were better known, and many an old ruin today is still ascribed to him by the Persians. This fame is, Firdausi continues, a result of his subjugation of the demons, whom he Instructed how to
462
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:36:24 PM »
300 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
lambs" ^^ while seated "on a golden throne, on a golden cushion, on a golden carpet, with haresman ^° outspread, with hands overflowing," ^^ and he obtained the favour that the awful kingly Glory, the Khvarenanh, clave to him
"For a time of long duration, So that he ruled over the earth sevenfold,
Over men and over demons,
Over sorcerers and witches.
Rulers, bards, and priests of evil, Who slew two-thirds
Of the demon hordes Mazainyan
And the lying fiends of Varena." ^^
Making them bow in fear, they fled down to darkness,^' and on account of his exploits his Fravashi ("Genius") is invoked to withstand the evil done by the daevas.^^
The Persian writings have nothing but praise to tell of Ho- shang, who was a just and upright sovereign, civilizing the world and filling the surface of the earth with justice, so that during his reign men reposed "in the gardens of content and quiet, in the bowers of undisturbed security; Prosperity drew the bloom of happiness from the vicinity of his imperial pavilion; and Victory borrowed brilliancy of complexion from the violet surface of his well-tempered sword." ^^
Whereas early tradition said that he had oflFered a sacrifice on the top of an iron mountain, FirdausI tells us that he won the iron from the rock by craft and was the first to deal with minerals, besides inventing blacksmithing and making axes, saws, and mattocks. His civilizing activity extended even fur- ther, for he taught the human race how to dig canals to irrigate a dry country, so that men turned to sowing, reaping, and planting. Moreover he trained greyhounds for the chase and showed how to make garments from the skins of sables or foxes, instead of taking leaves for that purpose. Like all heroes, he was a smiter of daevas — tradition had already attributed to him the slaying of two-thirds of the demons — and, as usual, that kind of exploit took place on a mountain.
THE PRIMEVAL HEROES 301
"One day he reached a mountain with his men And saw afar a long swift dusky form With eyes like pools of blood and jaws whose smoke Bedimmed the world. Hushang the wary seized A stone, advanced and hurled it royally. The world-consuming worm escaped, the stone Struck on a larger, and they both were shivered. Sparks issued and the centres flashed. The fire Came from its stony hiding-place again When iron knocked. The worldlord offered praise For such a radiant gift. He made of fire A cynosure. 'This lustre is divine,' He said, 'and thou if wise must worship it.'" ^s
In this story it is not difficult to recognize a storm-myth thinly disguised: a hero on a mountain ( = cloud) smites a large dragon bedlmming the earth; he sends a stone (= thun- derbolt); he causes fire ( = lightning) to appear and Illuminate the world; and, finally, he takes fire from Its hiding-place and gives It to men. The mythical nature of the legend Is the more evident In that It Is an explanation to account for the feast of Sadah because
"That night he made a mighty blaze, he stood Around it with his men and held the feast Called Sada."
Hoshang Is also said to have been the first to domesticate oxen, asses, and sheep, and to train dogs for guarding the flocks.
"'Pair them,' he said, 'use them for toil, enjoy
Their produce, and provide therewith your taxes.'" ^
On the other hand, he Issued orders for the destruction of beasts of prey. After forty years he left the throne to his heir Tahmurath, the Takhma Urupl of the Avesta, whom he had brought up In the principles of justice and righteousness.
The Avestic tradition gives Takhma Urupl as the successor of Haoshyangha, but does not make him a son of the latter, as FIrdausI does; In the early texts he Is held to be a son of
302 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
Vivanghvant and a brother of Yima, and is almost a doublet of Haoshyangha. He also has made a sacrifice to Vayu ("Wind") and has been empowered to conquer all daevas and men, all sorcerers and witches, etc., although he has not been able to secure a permanent mastery over them, as his predecessor did. After having reigned thirty years and subdued Angra Mainyu so as to ride him, turned into a horse, all around the earth from one end to the other, he was betrayed by his wife, who revealed to the Evil Spirit the secret of her husband's power. The demon, we are told, could attempt nothing against him so long as he betrayed no alarm, and accordingly Angra Mainyu instigated the wife of his conqueror to ask Takhma Urupi if he never was afraid to mount his swift black horse. Thereupon Tahmurath confessed that he had no fear either on the summits or in the valleys, but that on Hara Berezaiti he was deeply alarmed when the horse rushed with lowered head, so that he used to raise his heavy noose, shouting aloud and giving the beast a blow on the head to make it pass hastily the dangerous spot. Having been promised incomparable presents by Angra, the woman re- vealed this secret to him, and when the horse was on the fatal mountain the following day, he opened his huge mouth and swallowed his rider.
Fortunately Yima managed to recover his brother's corpse from the body of Angra Mainyu, thereby rescuing the arts and civilization which had disappeared along with Takhma Urupi.^^ During that operation he had his hands defiled, but he was able to cleanse them by an infusion of the all-purifying gomez ("bull's urine ")."^ This story also is scarcely unlike a storm- myth, and Darmesteter ^° compares it with the Scandinavian legend in which Odhin is swallowed by the wolf Fenrir, the demoniacal cloud-wolf "whose eyes and nostrils vomit fire, whose immense mouth reaches the sky with one jaw and the earth with the other." It should be noted that the scene of all those contests is Mount Hara Berezaiti.
Another story connected with Takhma Urupi is reported in
PLATE XXXVIII
Tahmurath Combats the Demons
The hero, mounted on his charger and swinging his mace (a characteristic Persian weapon), struggles with four demons, whose forms are a combination of human and animal shapes. A touch of Chinese influence is discernible in the two human figures. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1605—08 A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
'I ^
;
ruL.,.
.;y
ASTOR.
,
TILDE.N' 1 . . .
. ? .o'
R
THE PRIMEVAL HEROES 303
the Bundahish.^^ "In the reign of Takhmorup, when men con- tinually passed, on the back of the ox Sarsaok [a curious parallel with the king's horse], from Khvaniras to the other regions, one night amid the sea the wind rushed upon the fireplace — the fireplace in which the fire was, such as was provided in three places on the back of the ox — which the wind dropped with the fire into the sea; and all those three fires, like three breathing souls, continually shot up in the place and position of the fire on the back of the ox, so that it becomes quite light, and the men pass again through the sea." The meaning of this myth is not altogether clear, although Darmesteter thinks that the ox is another incarnation of the cloud. ^^
In later narratives Takhma Urupi is represented as having a reign similar to that of his predecessor. He also teaches men how to clothe themselves, but instead of skins he gives them garments made by spinning the wool of sheep. As a rider of the devilish horse he was predestined to be the tamer of swift quadrupeds and to make them feed on barley, grass, and hay; moreover he taught the jackal to obey him and began to tame the hawk and the falcon.
Firdausi tells us further that when Tahmurath had conquered the daevas, binding most of them by charms and quelling the others with his massive mace, the captives, fettered and stricken, begged for their lives.
"'Destroy us not,' they said, 'and we will teach thee A new and useful art.' He gave them quarter To learn their secret. When they were released They had to serve him, lit his mind with knowledge And taught him how to write some thirty scripts." ^*
This is evidently a later addition to the legend which makes Takhma Urupi fetter the daevas, and the exploits of Tahmurath have been further amplified by the historians of the Arab period, particularly as they have identified him with the Biblical Nimrod.
CHAPTER IV LEGENDS OF YIMA
IN Iranian tradition the short reigns of Gayomart, Hoshang, and Tahmiirath were followed, FIrdausi says, by a period of seven hundred years during which Jamshid ruled the Iranian world. Jamshid Is the Persian form of YIma Khshaeta (" YIma the Brilliant"), the name of a very ancient hero of the Indo- Iranlans, and his epithet of "brilliant," which is also applied to the sun, corresponds not only to the early but also to the later conception of this monarch. FIrdausi says that he ''wore In kingly wise the crown of gold" and that on his jewelled throne he
"sat sunlike in mid air. The world assembled round his throne in wonder At his resplendent fortune." ^
In the Avesta YIma is the son of VIvanghvant, who first of- fered the haoma to Ahura Mazda. Continuing, the poet de- scribes him as
"Brilliant, and with herds full goodly, Of all men most rich In Glory, Of mankind like to the sunlight, So that in his kingdom made he Beasts and men to be undying. Plants and waters never drying, Food invincible bestowing. In the reign of valiant YIma Neither cold nor heat was present. Neither age nor death was present, Neither envy, demon-founded. Fifteen years of age in figure Son and father walked together All the days Vivanghvant's offspring, YIma, ruled, with herds full goodly." ^
LEGENDS OF YIMA 305
Thanks to the Glory which long accompanied him, Yima subjugated the daevas and all their imps, taking from them riches and advantage, prosperity and herds, contentment and renown; ^ and Firdausi has faithfully preserved this tradition, declaring that for three hundred years of Yima's reign
"Men never looked on death; They wotted not of travail or of ill, And divs like slaves were girt to do them service; Men hearkened to Jamshid with both their ears, Sweet voices filled the world with melody." *
The golden age of Yima is an essential element of Zoroas- trian chronology. The period between Angra Mainyu's in- vasion and Zarathushtra's religious reform is divided into three millenniums. The first was the reign of Yima, during which the good creation prevailed, and then came the dominion of Azhi Dahaka (Dahhak), when demons ruled over the world, this being followed by a period of struggle up to Zarathushtra, whose birth Iranian tradition places in 660 b.c.^
Firdausi is obviously wrong in making Jamshid reign seven hundred years only, for it is quite clear that the reigns of Jam- shid and Dahhak are in complete parallelism and must last a thousand years each.^ For the Zoroastrians, who conceived illness, death, cold, etc., as the direct products of the Evil Spirit, it was quite natural to admit the existence at the be- ginning of the world of a period in which the good creation had not yet felt Angra Mainyu's deleterious influence; and the Iranian climate, moreover, was likely to lead to such a con- ception, since after a glorious and luxuriant spring it offers the drought of summer and the cold of winter.^
In the Shdhndmah Jamshid says that he is both king and archimage,^ and this seems to have been the old tradition. Yima had been both the material and the spiritual educator of mankind, but the Zoroastrians wished to emphasize that the religious teacher of the Iranians was Zarathushtra, and so they made Yima say to Ahura Mazda:
3o6 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
"I was neither made nor tutored To receive the faith and spread it";
whereupon Ahura Mazda replies :
"If thou, Yima, art not ready To receive the faith and spread it, then further my creatures, then increase my creatures, then show thyself ready to be both the protector and the guardian and the watcher of my creatures." ^
Accordingly Yima introduces men into their earthly abode like a king of settlers opening new countries to his people each time they fall short of ground to cultivate. He receives from Ahura Mazda a golden arrow and a scourge inlaid with gold, and he undertakes to secure to his subjects a delightful abode with neither cold nor wind, full of flocks and herds, men, dogs, and birds. Three fires protected that beautiful land, the Frobak on the mountain In Khvarizm, the fire Giishasp on Mount Asnavand, and the fire BOrzhin MItro on Mount Revand,^° but under such favourable conditions flocks and men Increased so much that after three hundred years had passed away, there was no longer room for them. Then Ahura Mazda warned Yima:
"'YIm, VIvanghvant's beauteous offspring,
Earth in sooth is overflowing
Both with small beasts and with great beasts,
Men, and dogs, and flying creatures, ^^
And with ruddy fires red blazing.
Nor indeed can they find places, small beasts and great beasts and men.'
Then at noon Yima went forsv^ard to the light, in the direction of the path of the sun,
And earth's surface he abraded
With the arrow, made all golden.
With the scourge he stroked it over, thus speaking:
'O thou holy, dear Armalti,^^
Go thou forward, stretch thyself out to bear small beasts and great beasts and men.'
LEGENDS OF YIMA 307
Then Yima made this earth stretch itself apart a third larger than it was before. There small beasts and great beasts and men roved
Just as was their will and pleasure,
Howsoever was his pleasure." ''
But a time came when the earth was even thus too small, so that Yima had once more to perform the same rite; and he did this yet again, making the earth increase in size by one third on each occasion, so that after nine hundred years the surface of the world became double what it had been at first.
"Then Ahura Mazda, the Creator, convened an assembly with the spiritual Yazatas ^^ in the famous Airyana Vaejah, at the goodly Daitya.^^ Then Yima the Brilliant, with goodly flocks, convened an assembly with the best men in the famous Airyana Vaejah, at the goodly Daitya. Then Ahura Mazda spake to Yima: 'O beauteous Yima, son of Vivanghvant! On the evil material world the winters are about to fall, wherefore there shall be strong, destructive winter; on the evil material world the winters are about to fall, wherefore straightway the clouds shall snow down snow from the loftiest mountains into the depths of Ardvi [Sura Anahita].^^ Only one-third of the cattle, Yima, will escape of those who live in the most terrible of places, ^^ of those who live on the tops of mountains, of those who live in the valleys of the rivers in permanent abodes. ^^
Till the coming of that winter
Shall the land be clad in verdure,
But the waters soon shall flood it
When the snow hath once been melted,
and, Yima, it will be impassable in the material world where now the footprints of the sheep are visible. Therefore make an enclosure {vara) long as a riding-ground (caretu) on every side of the square; gather together the seed of small cattle and of great cattle, of men and dogs and birds and red, blazing fires. Then make the enclosure long as a riding-ground on every
3o8 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
side of the square to be an abode for men, long as a rldlng- ground on every side of the square as a stall for cattle.
In their course make thou the waters
There flow forth, in width a hathra;
And there shalt thou place the meadows where unceasingly the golden-coloured, where unceasingly the invincible food is eaten.
And there shalt thou place the mansions with cellars and vestibules, with bastions and ramparts.
"'Gather together the seed of all men and women that are the greatest and the best and the finest on this earth; gather together the seed of all kinds of cattle that are the greatest and the best and the finest on this earth; gather together the seed of all plants that are the tallest and the sweetest on this earth; gather together the seed of all fruits that are the most edible and the sweetest on this earth. Bring these by pairs to be Inexhaustible so long as these men shall stay In the enclosure. There will be no admittance there for humpback or chicken- breast, for apdvaya,^^ lunacy, birth-mark, daiwish,^^ kasvish,^^ mis-shapenness, men with deformed teeth or with leprosy that compels seclusion, nor any of the other marks which are the mark of Angra Malnyu laid upon men. In the largest part of the place thou shalt make nine streets, In the middle six, and In the smallest three. In the streets of the largest part gather a thousand seeds of men and women, In those of the middle part six hundred. In those of the smallest part three hundred. With thy golden arrow thou shalt mark thine enclosure.
And bring thou to the enclosure a shining door, on its Inner side shining by its own light.' "^^
At this YIma was much at a loss and wondered how he could ever make such an enclosure. Ahura Mazda, however, told him to stamp the earth with his heels and to knead it with his hands, as people do when now they knead potter's clay; and
LEGENDS OF YIMA 309
"then Yima made exactly what Ahura Mazda had commanded. When all was ready, Ahura Mazda provided the vara with spe- cial lights, because only once a year can they who dwell there see sun, moon, and stars rising and setting, so that they think that a year is but one day. Every fortieth year a male and female are born to each human pair, and thus it is for every sort of animal. These men live a happy life in the enclosure of Yima, but since Zarathushtra, the prophet, had no access to it, the religion was brought thither by the bird Karshiptar.-^
The Avesta does not give any precise indication as to the time of the coming of the winter predicted by Mazda, and though it looks as if that scourge afflicted mankind in ancient times, later books show that this was not the case. The fatal and destructive winter is to occur in the last period of the world. Three hundred years before the birth of Ukhshyat-nemah (one of the sons of Zarathushtra who are to be born in the last millennium of the world) the demon Mahrkusha will destroy mankind by snow and frost within the space of three years, after which Yima's enclosure will be opened and the earth will again be populated. The name of this demon Mahrkusha means "Destroyer, Devastator," and is of Iranian formation, but in later times it was confused with the Aramaic word malqos, "autumnal rain," so that in more recent texts the idea of the fatal freezing winter was abandoned for that of the deluging rain of Malqos.^^
A tradition which dates from very ancient days represents Yima as diverging at a certain moment from the path of jus- tice. He commits a fault, and from that instant he loses his Glory and his kingdom and finally is put to death, while a devilish being named Dahhak (the old Avestic dragon Azhi Dahaka) extends his power over the world of the Aryans.
463
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:35:27 PM »
PLATE XXXVII
The Simurgh
The Simurgh, flying from its mountain home, re- stores the infant Zal to his father Sam, who had caused the child to be abandoned because it had been born with white hair. In his hand the prince carries the ox-headed mace as a symbol of royalty. The painting shows marked Perso-Mongolian influence. From a Persian manuscript of the Shahnamah^ dated 1587—88 A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. See also pp. 330-31.
#^
J w^ ^ <v»-
'-' « .? '. .." :^ .J oJm: j^* ** 'AJ^*
^c)'"''^0!^JB*^-<''Ji"^f^'JJ ?''''^-'^^.>*
MinrHS OF CREATION 291
parings have had no spell uttered over them, the demons and wizards use them as arrows against the bird Asho-zushta and kill him. Therefore, when the nails have had a charm spoken over them, the bird takes them and eats them, that the fiends may do no harm by their means. ^ Asho-zushta is probably the theological name of the owl.^
The part played by birds as transmitters of revelation leads in later literature to the identification of the Simurgh with Supreme Wisdom.^ As we have said more than once, the con- ception of mythical birds dates back to Indo-Iranian — even Indo-European — times, and often those birds are incarnations of the thunderbolt, the sun, the fire, the cloud, etc. In the Ilgveda the process is seen in operation. The soma is often compared with or called a bird; the fire {agni) is described as a bird or as an eagle in the sky; and the sun is at times a bird, whence it is called garutmant ("winged"). The most promi- nent bird in the Veda, however, is the eagle, which carries the soma to Indra and which appears to represent lightning.'*^ So in Eddie mythology the god Odhin, transforming himself into an eagle, flies with the mead to the realm of the gods. Besides these mythical birds there are one hundred and ten species of winged kind, such as the eagle, the vulture, the crow, and the crane, to say nothing of the bat, which has milk in its teat and suckles its young, and is created of three races, bird, dog, and musk-rat, for it flies like a bird, has many teeth like a dog, and dwells in holes like a musk-rat.
Other beasts and birds were formed in opposition to noxious creatures: the white falcon kills the serpent with its wings; the magpie destroys the locust; the vulture, dwelling in decay, is created to devour dead matter, as do the crow — the most precious of birds — and the mountain kite.*^ So it is also with the quadrupeds, for the mountain ox, the mountain goat, the deer, the wild ass, and other beasts devour snakes. Dogs are created in opposition to wolves and to secure the protection of sheep ; the fox is the foe of the demon Khava ; the ichneumon
292 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
destroys the venomous snake and other noxious creatures In burrows; and the great musk-animal was formed to counter- act ravenous intestinal worms. The hedgehog eats the ant which carries off grain; when the grain-carrying ant travels over the earth, it produces a hollow path; but when the hedgehog passes over it, the track becomes level. The beaver is in opposition to the demon which is in the water.
The cock, in co-operation with the dog, averts demons and wizards at night and helps Sraosha in that task, and the shepherd's dog and the watch-dog of the house are also indis- pensable creatures and destroyers of fiends. The dog likewise annihilates covetousness and disobedience, and when it barks it destroys pain, while its flesh and fat are remedies for avert- ing decay and anguish from man. Ahura Mazda created nothing useless whatever; all these animals have been formed for the well-being of mankind and in order that the fiends may continually be destroyed. ^^
CHAPTER III THE PRIMEVAL HEROES
THE culmination of Iranian cosmogony was the creation of the human race. For the Mazdeans the first man was Gaya A'laretan ("Human Life"),
"Who first of Ahura Mazda Heard the mind and heard the teachings, From whom, too, Ahura Mazda Formed the Aryan countries' household And the seed of Aryan countries." ^
He was the first man, as Saoshyant will be the last,^ and his bones will rise up first of all at the resurrection.^ His spirit lived three thousand years with the spirit of the ox during the period when creation was merely spiritual, and then Ahura Mazda formed him corporeally. He was produced brilliant and white, radiant and tall, under the form of a youth of fifteen years, and this from the sweat of Ahura Mazda. ^ In the meantime, however, the demons had done their work, and when Gaya Maretan issued from the sweat he saw the world dark as night and the earth as though not a needle's point remained free from noxious creatures; the celestial sphere was revolving, and the sun and moon remained in motion, and the creatures of evil were fighting with the stars. The Evil Spirit sent a thou- sand demons to Gaya Maretan, but the appointed day had not yet come, for Gaya was to live thirty years and was able to repel the fiends and to kill the dreadful demon ArezOra.^ When at length the time had come for his immolation, Jahi induced Angra Mainyu to pour poison on the body of Gaya, whom he further burdened with need, sufi"ering, hunger, dis-
294 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
ease, and the plagues of the wicked Bushyasta (the demon of sloth), of Asto-Vidhotu, and of other destroying beings. Gaya died, and his body became molten brass, ^ while other minerals arose from his members: gold, silver. Iron, tin, lead, quick- silver, and adamant. Gold was Gaya's seed, which was entrusted to the earth and carefully preserved by Spenta Armaiti, the guardian of earth. After forty years it brought forth the first human pair, Mashya and Mashyoi, under the appearance of a rivds-p\a.nt {Rheum ribes) with one stem and fifteen leaves, because the human couple were intimately united and were born at the age of fifteen years. ^
The parallelism between this myth accounting for the pro- duction of human beings and the ox-story explaining how ani- mals were created Is very striking and is intentional, and In the Avesta the primeval man and the primeval ox are Invoked together.^ The same parallelism, curiously enough, exists in the cosmogony of the Scandinavians, in which it Is reported that the cow Audhubla was produced at the same time as the giant Ymlr.^ The primeval giant Is an Indo-European con- ception. We find it also In India In a form more similar to the Iranian version, for in primordial times Purusa ("Male") was alone In the world, but differentiated himself Into two beings, husband and wife.
Besides this myth, the Indians knew of another explanation for the origin of the human race. The first man is Manu, son of VIvasvant, or Yama, son of Vivasvant. Yama and his sister Yami were twins, and after the latter had overcome the scruples of the former, they produced mankind, ^° a similar story being told of Mashya and Mashyoi In Iran, as will be set forth later on. Moreover, Yama and Yami exist in Persia under the names of YIma and Yimaka (Pahlavi YIm and Yimak), though they have been changed into a king and a queen of legendary but no longer primeval times. In Iran YIma Is the son of Vivanghvant, the same being as the Indian Vivasvant, and both are mythical priests who offered the
THE PRIMEVAL HEROES 295
Soma sacrifice. They are heavenly beings In connexion with the Asvlns (the evening and the morning star) and have been taken by several scholars for the bright morning sky or the rising sun. Although this is uncertain, the latter myth seems to ascribe to man a heavenly origin, so that Darmesteter wonders whether the youth of fifteen who Is the first man is not Identical with the hero who In the contest on high slays the demon AzhI or other storm-dragons. The question is, of course, hardly answerable In our present state of knowledge, but it seems at least probable that a certain contamination between the storm-myth and the story of the first man has taken place. We may observe that the first man is said to be white and brilliant, that he slays a demon before being over- come by the powers of darkness, and that he Is born from sweat, etc.
A Manlchean narrative of the creation and life of the prime- val man ^^ Is still more like a storm-myth: "The first man was created by the Lord of Paradise to fight against darkness. He had five divine weapons: warm breeze, strong wind, light, water, and fire. He dressed himself with the warm breeze, put light above it, and then water, wrapped himself in the frightfulness of winds, took fire as a spear, and rushed forward to the battle. The demon was assisted by smoke, flame, burn- ing fire, darkness, and clouds. He went to meet the first man, and after fighting for twenty years he proved victorious, stripped his adversary of his light, and wrapped him in his elements."
As to Mashya and Mashyoi, who grew up under the form of a tree, they give an Illustration of another myth of man's origin, the equivalents of which are found In many national traditions. In Greece the Korybantes were born as trees, and other legends speak of the birth of Attis from an almond-tree and of Adonis from a myrtle, while Vergil mentions a similar story of Italic origin. ^^
Coming back to the Iranian myth, we must narrate the
296 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
deeds of Mashya and Mashyol. In their rivds-plant they were united in such a manner that their arms rested behind on their shoulders, while the waists of both of them were brought close and so connected that it was impossible to distinguish what belonged to one and what to the other, although after a time they changed from the shape of a plant into that of human beings and received a soul. Meanwhile the tree had grown up and brought forth fruit that were the ten varieties of man. Now Ahura Mazda spoke to Mashya and Mashyoi thus: "You are man, you are the ancestry of the world, and you are created perfect in devotion by me; perform devotedly the duty of the law, think good thoughts, speak good words, do good deeds, and worship no demons !" Then they thought that since they were human beings, both of them, they must please one another and they went together into the world. ^^ The first words that they exchanged were that Mazda had created water and earth, plants and animals, stars, moon, and sun, and all the good things which manifest His bounty and His justice.
Then, however, letting the Spirit of Deceit penetrate Into their Intellects, they said that it was Angra Malnyu who had formed water, earth, etc.; and this lie gave much enjoyment to the Druj ("Deceit, Lie") because they had become wicked, and they are his prey until the renovation of the world.
For thirty days they had gone without food, covered with clothing of herbage. After thirty days they went forth into the wilderness, and coming to a white-haired goat, they milked the milk from the udder with their mouths. Then Mashya said, "I was happy before I had drunk that milk, but my pleas- ure is much greater now that I have enjoyed Its savour." This, however, was an impious word,^^ and as a punishment they were deprived of the taste of the food, "so that out of a hun- dred parts one part remained."
Thirty days later they came to a sheep, fat and white-jawed, which they slaughtered. Extracting fire from the wood of a lote-plum (a kind of jujube) and a box-tree, they stimulated
THE PRIMEVAL HEROES 297
the flame with their breath and took as fuel dry grass, lotus, date-palm leaves, and myrtle. Making a roast of the sheep, they dropped three handfuls of the meat into the fire, saying, "This is the share of the fire"; and one piece of the remainder they tossed to the sky, saying, "This is the share of the Yazatas," whereupon a vulture advanced and carried some of it away as a dog eats the first meat.
At first Mashya and Mashy5i had covered themselves with skins, but afterward they made garments from a cloth woven in the wilderness. They also dug a pit in the earth and found iron, which they beat out with a stone. Thus, though they had no forge, they were able to make an edged tool, with which they cut wood and prepared a shelter from the sun.
All those violations of the respect which they had to enter- tain for the creatures of Ahura Mazda made them more com- pletely the prey of the impure demons so that they began to quarrel with each other, gave each other blows, and tore one another's hair and cheeks. Then the fiends shouted to them from the darkness, "You men, worship Angra Mainyu, so that he may give you some respite!" Thereupon Mashya went forth, milked a cow, and poured the milk toward the northern part of the sky, for the powers of evil dwell in the north; and this made them the slaves of the demon to such an extent that during fifty winters they were so ill that they had no mind to have any intercourse with one another. After this, however, desire arose in Mashya and then in Mashyol, and they satisfied their impulses and reflected that they had neg- lected their duty for fifty years. Thus after nine months a pair of children were born to them, but such was their tender- ness for their infants that the mother devoured one and the father one; wherefore Ahura Mazda, seeing this, took tender- ness for ofi"spring from them.^^ They then had seven other pairs, male and female, from every one of whom children were born in fifty years, while the parents themselves died at the age of a hundred. ^^ The story of the first human pair seems to have been
298 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
influenced by theological conceptions and probably also by the traditions of Semitic people, perhaps even by the Jews, since we have only a late redaction of the myth.
Of these seven pairs one was Siyakmak and Nashak, who had as children another pair, Fravak and Fravakain. From them fifteen pairs were born who produced the seven races of men, and since then there has been a constant continuance of the generations in the world. Nine races, owing to the in- crease of population, proceeded on the back of the ox Sarsaok through the sea Vourukasha and settled in the regions on the other side of the water, while six races remained in Khvaniras, among them being the pair Tazh and Tazhak who went to the plain of Arabia, whence the Persians call the Arabs Tazls. The Iranians are the descendants of Haoshyangha (Pahlavl Hoshang) and of Giizhak.
Besides the fifteen races issued from the lineage of Fravak, son of Siyakmak, there are ten varieties of mythical men, grown on the tree from which Mashya and Mashy5i were detached, these being "such as those of the earth, of the water, the breast-eared, the breast-eyed, the one-legged, those also who have wings like a bat, those of the forest, with tails, and who have hair on the body."
In the Persian epic Gaya Maretan has become the first king of the Iranians, and Siyamak is his son, but some old features are preserved in the very much adulterated legend. Thus Gayomart ( = Gaya Maretan) is said to have dwelt at first on a mountain whence his throne and fortune arose, a detail which may date back to the period when, according to Darmesteter's supposition, the first man was said to have been born in the mountains of the clouds. His subjects wore leopards' skins, just as Mashya and Mashyoi were first clad in the fells of ani- mals. Gayomart reigned thirty years over the world, while Gaya Maretan was supposed to have lived on earth the same length of time; and just as Gaya Maretan was "white and brilliant," Gayomart was "on his throne like a sun or a full
THE PRIMEVAL HEROES 299
moon over a lofty cypress " — another feature which supports Darmesteter's hypothesis.
The account of the struggle between Angra Malnyu and the first man is reduced in Firdausl's narrative to a war between Siyamak, son of Gayomart, and the wicked king Ahriman ( = Angra Mainyu), in which the superb youth was killed.
"When Gaiumart heard this the world turned black To him, he left his throne, he wailed aloud And tore his face and body with his nails; His cheeks were smirched with blood, his heart was broken, And life grew sombre." ^^
The victory of darkness has thus become the overcoming of Gayomart by a moral gloom. Siyamak, however, had left a son Hoshang — who in the older legend is his grandson — and he attacked the devilish foe, cut off his monstrous head, and trampled him in scorn.
In the traditions of the Iranians the story of Gaya Maretan is immediately followed by that of H5shang, who is the old Iranian hero Haoshyangha, mentioned several times in the Avesta and referred to in the Bundahish as the son of Fravak, son of Slyakmak. The name of this mythical ruler seems to mean "King of Good Settlements,"^^ and he often receives the epithet paradhdta (Pahlavi peshddt), or "first law-giver." He is the Numa of the Iranians, the first organizer of the Ira- nian nation, and is, moreover, supposed to have introduced the use of fire and metals.
The old tradition concerning him simply says that he was a man who was brave {takhma) and lived according to justice {ashavan). Thanks to the sacrifice which he offered on the top of Hara Berezaiti, the great iron mountain celebrated in all Iranian myths, he obtained divine protection; he invoked Ardvi Sura Anahita, the goddess who, as already stated, lets her beneficent waters flow down from this height; and he also addressed a prayer to Vayu, the god of wind. "He sacrificed a hundred stallions, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand
464
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:34:03 PM »
Full of insight, full of wisdom, Granteth husbands and protectors." ^'
The terrestrial haoma is said to grow on the summits of the mountains, especially on Albijrz (Kara Berezaiti), to which divine birds brought it down from heaven. It is collected in a box, which is placed in an iron vase, and after the priest has taken five or seven pieces of the plant from the box and washed them in the cup, the stalk of haoma is pounded in a mortar and filtered through the vara^ the juice being then mixed with other sacred fluids and ritual prayers being recited.
The Haoma sacrifice is supposed to date back to primeval times, its first priests being Vivanghvant, Athwya, Thrita, and Pourushaspa, the heroes of ancient ages. The offering of it is
MYTHS OF CREATION 283
an Indo-Iranian rite, and the same legends are found in the Veda, where amrta soma ("immortal soma" [= haoma]) has been brought from heaven to a high mountain by an eagle. Swift as thought, the bird flew to the iron castle of the sky and brought the sweet stalks back.^'* It is actually an Indo-European myth closely associated with the lire-myths, for the fire of the sky (the lightning) is said to have been brought to earth either by a bird or by a daring human being (Prometheus), while exactly the same story is told of the earthly fire-drink, the honey-mead, the draught of immortality {a/x/Spoa-ia). ' Curi- ously enough, the Babylonian epic also knows of a marvellous plant that grows on the mountains, the plant "of birth" be- longing to Shamash, the sun-god. When the wife of the hero Etana is in distress because she is unable to bring into the world a child which she has conceived, Etana prays Shamash to show him the "plant of birth": "O Lord, let thy mouth com- mand, and give me the plant of birth. Reveal to me the plant of birth, bring forth the fruit, grant me offspring"; and an eagle then helps Etana to obtain the plant.^^ The Etana-myth is also related to the story of Rustam's birth, as will be narrated in a subsequent chapter.
When Angra Mainyu, the destroyer, came to the plants, he found them with neither thorn nor bark about them; but he coated them with bark and thorns and mixed their sap with poison, so that when men eat certain plants, they die.^'' There was also a beautiful tree with a single root. Its height was several feet, and it was without branches and without bark, juicy and sweet; but when the Evil Spirit approached it, it became quite withered. ^^
In Iranian mythology the creation of fire constitutes, to all intents, a subdivision of the creation of the vegetable world, the close connexion between fire and plants in Indo-Iranian conceptions being due to the fact that it was the custom of those peoples to obtain flame by taking a stick of hard wood, boring it into a plank or board of softer wood (that of a lime-
284 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
tree, for instance), and turning it round and round till fire was produced hy the friction. ^^ For this reason the Veda declares that Fire (Agni) is born in wood, is the embryo of plants, and is distributed in plants. But fire has likewise a heavenly origin, for it is the son of the sky-god (Dyaus) and was born in the highest heavens, whence it was brought to earth, as already narrated, though it is also described as having its origin in the aerial waters. Owing to his divine births, Agni in India is often regarded as possessing a triple character and is trisadha- stha ("having three stations or dwellings"), his abodes being heaven, earth, and the waters. The fire of the hearth has been held in very great veneration among all Indo-Europeans. It was adored as Hestia in Greece and as Vesta in Rome, while in India the domestic Agni is called Grhapati (" Lord of the House"). It is also the guest (atithi) in human abodes, for it is an immortal who has taken up his home among mortals; it is Vis'pati ("Lord of the Settlers"), their leader, their protector. It is the friend, the brother, the nearest kinsman of man; ^^ it is the great averter of evil beings, just as it keeps off wild ani- mals in the forest at night.
The second aspect under which fire is subservient to human- ity is the part that it plays as the messenger who brings to the gods the offerings of men. It is the sacrificial fire, and as such it is called Narasarhsa ("Praise of Men") in India. -°
As is well known, fire enjoys quite a special veneration in Iran, and under its first guise, as a representative of divine essence on earth, it dwells in the home of each of the faithful. Particular reverence is given to the sacred flame which is main- tained with wood and perfumes in the so-called fire temples, two kinds of which are distinguished : the great temple for the Bahram fire and the small shrine, or ddardn. The Bahram fire, whose preparation lasts an entire year, is constituted out of sixteen different kinds of fire and concentrates in itself the essence and the soul of all fires. -^ It is maintained by means of six logs of sandal-wood and is placed in the sacred room,
PLATE XXXV
Ancient Fire Temple near Isfahan
The structure, originally domed, is built of unburnt bricks. Its height is about fourteen feet, and its diameter about fifteen; octagonal in plan, its eight doors face the eight points of the compass ; the inner sanctuary is circular. It apparently dates at least from the Sassanian period, and its shape may be compared with what seems to be a fire temple as pictured on Parthian coins (see Plate XXXIV, No. 5). For the history of the shrine, so far as known, see Jackson, Persia Past and Present^ pp. 256—61. After a pho- tograph by Professor A. V. Williams Jackson.
1«t-;V
n
V "'i^ YORK
L
MYTHS OF CREATION 285
vaulted like a dome, on a vase. Five times a day a mobedy or priest, enters the room. The lower part of his face is covered with a veil (A vesta paitiddna), preventing his breath from polluting the sacred fire, and his hands are gloved. He lays down a log of sandal-wood and recites three times the words dushmata, duzhukhta, duzhvarshta to repel "evil thoughts, evil words, evil deeds."
As in India, so in Iran several kinds of fire are distinguished : Berezisavanh ("Very Useful") is the general name of the Bahram fire, the sacred one which shoots up before Ahura Mazda and is kept in the fire temples; Vohu Fryana ("Good Friend") is the fire which burns in the bodies of men and ani- mals, keeping them warm; Urvazishta ("Most Delightful") burns in the plants and can produce flames by friction; Vazishta ("Best-Carrying") is the aerial fire, the lightning that purifies the sky and slays the demon Spenjaghrya; Spenishta ("Most Holy") burns in paradise in the presence of Ahura Mazda.
Of these five fires, one drinks and eats, that which is in the bodies of men; one drinks and does not eat, that which is in plants, which live and grow through water; two eat and do not drink, these being the fire which is ordinarily used in the world, and likewise the fire of Bahram (= Berezisavanh); one con- sumes neither water nor food, and this is the fire Vaishta.^^
This classification enjoyed a very great success among the Talmudists, who took it from the Mazdeans in the second century a.d.^^ Besides these five fires, the Avesta knows of Nairyosangha, who is of royal lineage and whose name reminds us of nardsamsa, the epithet of Agni ("the Fire") in India. Like Narasarhsa Agni, Nairyosangha is the messenger between men and gods and he dwells with kings, inasmuch as they are endowed with a divine majesty. The emanation of divine es- sence in kings, however, is more often called khvarenanh (Old Persian /arn^A), which is a glory that attaches itself to mon- archs as long as they are worthy representatives of divine power, as will be seen later in the story of Yima.
286 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
The fire was all light and brilliancy, but Angra Mainyu came up to It, as to all beings of the good creation, and marred It with darkness and smoke. ^^
The fifth creation was the animal realm. Just as there was a tree Gaokerena which had within Itself all seeds of plants and trees, so Iranian mythology knows of a primeval ox in which were contained the germs of the animal species and even of a certain number of useful plants.
This ox, the sole-created animate being, was a splendid, strong animal which, though sometimes said to be a female,-^ Is usually described as a bull. When the Evil Spirit came to the ox, Ahura Mazda ground up a healing fruit, called bindk, so that the noxious effects of Angra Mainyu might be minimized; but when, despite this, "It became at the same time lean and 111, as Its breath went forth and It passed away, the ox also spoke thus: 'The cattle are to be created, their work, labour, and care are to be appointed.' " When Geush Urvan (" the Soul of the Ox") came forth from the body, It stood up and cried thus to Ahura Mazda, as loudly as a thousand men when they raise a cry at one time: "With whom is the guardianship of the creatures left by thee, now that ruin has broken into the earth, and vegetation Is withered, and water Is troubled.^ Where Is the man of whom It was said by thee thus: 'I will produce him, so that he may preach carefulness ? ' " Ahura Mazda answered : "You are made 111, O Goshurvan! you have the Illness which the evil spirit brought on; if It were proper to produce that man in this earth at this time, the evil spirit would not have been oppressive In it." Geush Urvan was not satisfied, however, but walked to the vault of the stars and cried in the same way, and his voice came to the moon and to the sun till the Fravashi^^ of Zoroaster was exhibited to It, and Ahura Mazda promised to send the prophet who would preach carefulness for the animals, whereupon the soul of the ox was contented and agreed to nourish the creatures and to protect the animal world.
From every limb of the ox fifty-five species of grain and
MYTHS OF CREATION 287
twelve kinds of medicinal plants grew forth, their splendour and strength coming from the seminal energy of the ox. De- livered to the moon, that seed was thoroughly purified by the light of the moon and fully prepared in every way, and then two oxen arose, one male and one female, after which two hundred and eighty-two pairs of every single species of animal appeared upon the earth. The quadrupeds were to live on the earth, the birds had their dwelling in the air, and the fish were in the midst of the water.
Another myth ascribes the killing of the primeval ox to the god Mithra.
The legend concerning the birth and the first exploits of Mithra runs thus.^^ He was born of a rock on the banks of a river under the shade of a sacred fig-tree, coming forth armed with a knife and carrying a torch that had illumined the sombre depths. When he had clothed himself with the leaves of the fig-tree, detaching the fruit and stripping the tree of its leaves by means of his knife, he undertook to subjugate the beings already created in the world. First he measured his strength with the sun, with whom he concluded a treaty of friendship — an act quite in agreement with his nature as a god of contracts — and since then the two allies have supported each other in every event.
Then he attacked the primeval ox. The redoubtable animal was grazing in a pasture on a mountain, but Mithra boldly seized it by the horns and succeeded in mounting it. The ox, infuriated, broke into a gallop, seeking to free itself from its rider, who relaxed his hold and suffered himself to be dragged along till the animal, exhausted by its efforts, was forced to surrender. The god then dragged it into a cave, but the ox succeeded in escaping and roamed again over the mountain pastures, whereupon the sun sent his messenger, the raven, to help his ally slay the beast. Mithra resumed his pursuit of the ox and succeeded in overtaking it just at the moment when it was seeking refuge in the cavern which it had quitted. He
288 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
seized it by the nostrils with one hand and with the other he plunged his hunting-knife deep into its flank. Then the prodigy related above took place. From the limbs and the blood of the ox sprang all useful herbs and all species of animals, and "the Soul of the Ox" (Geush Urvan) went to heaven to be the guardian of animals.
The myths relating to the primeval ox contain traces of several older Indo-European myths. First, the conception of the production of various beings out of the body of a prime- val gigantic creature is a cosmogonic story, fairly common in the mythology of many nations and reproduced in the Eddie myth of the giant Ymir, who was born from the icy chaos and from whose arm sprang both a man and a woman. He was then slain by Odhin and his companions, and of the flesh of Ymir was formed the earth, of his blood the sea and the waters, of his bones the mountains, of his teeth the rocks and stones, and of his hair all manner of plants. ^^
Many features recall to us, on the other hand, the contests
on high between a light-god and some monster who detains the
rain which is the source of life for terrestrial beings and which
is often personified under the shape of a cow. The kine are
t concealed in caves or on mountains, or the monster is hidden
Lin a mountain cavern and escapes, as is the case with Vereth- raghna and Azhi in the Armenian myth. In the birth of Mithra traces of solar myths may also be detected. The raven is the messenger of the sun because, like the bird Vareghna,
"Forth he flies with ruffling feathers When the dawn begins to glimmer." ^^
Here, then, we are dealing with a secondary myth.
As regards the various species of animals produced from the ox, the Mazdean books speak first of mythical beings, such as the three-legged ass that has been described above, the lizard created by Angra Mainyu to destroy the tree Gaokerena, and the kar-f[shes that defend it. They know, moreover, of an ox-
hnpH
PLATE XXXVI
I MiTHRA Born from the Rock
The deity, bearing a dagger in one hand and a lighted torch in the other, rises from the rock. From a bas-relief found in the Mithraeum which once occu- pied the site of the church of San Clemente at Rome. After Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra^ Fig. 30.
2
Mithra Born from the Rock
The divinity, lifting a cluster of grapes in his right hand, emerges from the roclc, on which he rests his left hand. On the rock are sculptured a quiver, arrow, bow, and dagger. On either side of Mithra stand the two torch-bearers, Caut and Cautopat (whose names, in the opinion of the Editor, mean "the Burner" and «He Who Lets His Burned [Torch] Fall"), doubt- less symbolizing the rising and the setting sun, as Mithra is the sun at noonday. From a white marble formerly in the Villa Giustiniani, Rome, but now lost. After Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra^ Fig. 31.
HOCMIHI LIDI 'o' 4 DON DLDir J
irri'i II ~ iwdffiamiii n ?
Ti!i- NEW YORK
PUDLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX ANB
TILDBN POL'NDA'nONS
B L
MYTHS OF CREATION 289
fish that exists in all seas; when it utters a cry, all fishes become pregnant, and all noxious water creatures cast their young. There is also an ox, called Hadhayosh or Sarsaok in Pahlavi, on whose back men in primeval times passed from region to region across the sea Vourukasha. Many mythical birds are known in the Mazdean mythology, i We have already seen the raven as an incarnation of Verethraghna ("Victory") and as a messenger of the sun to Mithra. The most celebrated bird, however, is Saena, the Simurgh of the Persians, whose open wings are like a wide cloud and full of water crowning the mountains.^" He rests on the tree of the eagle, the Gaokerena, in the midst of the sea Vourukasha, the tree with good rem- edies, in which are the seeds of all plants. When he rises aloft, so violently is the tree shaken that a thousand twigs shoot forth from it; when he alights, he breaks off a thousand twigs, whose seeds are shed in all directions.
Near this powerful bird sits Camrosh, who would be king of birds, were it not for Saena. His work is to collect the seed which is shed from the tree and to convey it to the place where Tishtrya seizes the water, so that the latter may take the water containing the seed of all kinds and may rain it on the world. ^^ When the Turanians invade the Iranian districts for booty and effect devastation, Camrdsh, sent by the spirit Bcrejya, flies from the loftiest of the lofty mountains and picks up all the non-Iranians as a bird does corn.^^
The bird Varegan, Varengan, or Vareghna (sometimes trans- lated " raven ") is the swiftest of all and is as quick as an arrow. We have already seen ^^ that he is one of Verethraghna's incarna- tions, and under his shape the kingly Glory (Khvamianh) of Yima left the guilty hero and flew up to heaven.^^ He is essen- tially a magic bird with mysterious power. Thus Zoroaster is represented as asking Ahura Mazda what would be the remedy "should I be cursed in word or thought." Ahura Mazda an- swers: "Thou shouldst take a feather of the wide-feathered bird Varengan, O Spitama Zarathushtra. With that feather
290 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
thou shouldst stroke thy body, with that feather thou shouldst conjure thy foe. Either the bones of the sturdy bird or the feathers of the sturdy bird carry boons.
Neither can a man of brilliance Slay or rout him in confusion. It first doth bring him reverence, it first doth bring him glory. Help to him the feather giveth Of the bird of birds, Varengan." ^^
The same thing is recorded of Saena (the Simurgh) in the
Shdhndmah. When Zal leaves the nest of the Simurgh, who
has brought him up, his foster-father gives him one of his
feathers so that he may always remain under the shadow of
his power.
"Bear this plume of mine About with thee and so abide beneath The shadow of my Grace. Henceforth if men Shall hurt or, right or wrong, exclaim against thee, Then bum the feather and behold my might." ^^
When the side of Riidabah, Rustam's mother, is opened to allow the child to be brought into the world, Zal heals the wound by rubbing it with a feather of the Simurgh, and when Rustam is wounded to death by Isfandyar, he is cured in the same way.^^
The bird Karshiptar has a more intellectual part to play, for he spread Mazda's religion in the enclosure in which the prime- val king Yima had assembled mankind,^^ as will be narrated below. There men recited the Avesta in the language of birds.^^
The bird Asho-zushta also has the Avesta on his tongue, and when he recites the words the demons are frightened. ^° When the nails of a Zoroastrian are cut, the faithful must say: "O Asho-zushta bird! these nails I present to thee and consecrate to thee. May they be for thee so many spears and knives, so many bows and eagle-winged arrows, so many sling-stones against the Mazainyan demons." ^^ If one recites this formula, the fiends tremble and do not take up the nails, but if the
465
« on: July 08, 2019, 07:32:56 PM »
This goddess is evidently modelled on the Greek Tyche ("For- tune ") and has been held to be the divinity Ashi. The name, as given on the coin, seems to mean "Augmenting Righteousness," and in view of the reference to Haurvatat and Ameretat as "the companions who augment righteousness" {ashaokhshayantao saredyayao^ 3^^j-«/2, xxxiii. 8-9), the Editor suggests that Ardokhsho may be one of these Amesha Spentas, probably Ameretat, the deity of vegetation. From a coin of the Indo-Scythian king Huviska. After Stein, Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins^ No. XVI. See pp. 260, 281.
4. AsHA Vahishta
In every respect except the name this deity is represented precisely like Mithra. From a coin of the Indo-Scythian king Huviska. After Stein, Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins^ No. XVII. See p. 260.
5. Ahura Mazda
The conventional representation of Ahura Mazda floats above what appears to be a fire temple, rather than an altar, from which rise the sacred flames. From a Parthian coin. After Drouin, in Revue arch'eolo- gique^ 1884, Plate V, No. 2.
6. Fire Altar
The altar here appears in its simplest form. From a Sassanian coin in the collection of the Editor.
7. Fire Altar
The altar is here much more elaborate in form. From a Sassanian coin in the collection of the Editor.
8. Fravashi Of interest as showing the appearance of a Fravashi ("Genius") in the flame, and as representing the king as one of the guardians of the fire, although strictly only the priests are permitted to enter Atar's presence. From a Sassanian coin. After Dorn, Collection de monnaies sassanides de . . . J. de Bartholomaei^ Plate VI, No. I. See pp. 261, 342.
PUJ>LIC LlBllARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDBN POCNUAliONS
B
L
WARS OF GODS AND DEMONS 273
knows whether it is from the head or from the tail. . . . He gives the eyesight of the golden-collared vulture, which from as far as the ninth district can perceive a piece of flesh no thicker than the fist, giving just as much light as a shining needle gives, as the point of a needle gives." ^^
Yet even this is not ail, for we are also told that
"Be they men or be they demons, Verethraghna, Ahura's creature,
Breaketh battle-hosts in pieces, Cutteth battle-hosts asunder, Presseth battle-hosts full sorely, Shaketh battle-hosts with terror.
Then, when Verethraghna, Ahura's creature,
Bindeth fast the hands behind them,
Teareth out the eyeballs from them,
Maketh dull the ears with deafness Of the close battle-hosts of the confederated countries, Of the men false to Mithra [or, belying their pledges].
They cannot maintain their footing.
They cannot oppose resistance." ^-
The poetic Inspiration of this hymn has made it interesting to quote it at some length, especially as it shows the con- centration in the person of the genius of victory of many fea- tures belonging to the old myths of contests on high.
This story was apt to have many replicas. Beyond those mentioned here Persian mythology possessed several more, such as the story of Keresaspa, who smote the horny dragon or the golden-heeled Gandarewa,^^ and whose exploits have been made the subject of an extensive narrative In the Shah- ndmah, as will be set forth later on.
Iranian mythology, being essentially duallstic, contains numerous other contests, such as the overpowering of Yima, the king of the golden age, by AzhI Dahaka, the killing of the primeval bull by Mithra, the battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Malnyu In the first times of creation, the war waged by Zarathushtra, the prophet, against the tenets of the
274 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
demons, and the same struggle at the end of the world by the future prophet Saoshyant.
All this will be considered in subsequent chapters, and all this, according to certain mythologists like James Darmesteter, is the perpetual repetition (with some modifications) of the struggle in the storm-cloud between the light and the darkness. That conclusion is obviously exaggerated, although it is very likely, and very natural also, that features borrowed from the famous myth have penetrated into those other battles which are, each of them, incidents of the great dualistic war between the two creations. It is this conflict that we are now going to follow from the time of creation to the renovation of the world at the end of this period of strife.
CHAPTER II MYTHS OF CREATION
THE Iranian legend of creation is as follows.^ Ahura Mazda lives eternally in the region of infinite light, but Angra Mainyu, on the contrary, has his abode in the abyss of endless darkness, between them, being empty space, the air. After Ahura Mazda had produced his creatures, which were to remain three thousand years in a spiritual state, so that they were unthinking and unmoving, with intangible bodies," the Evil Spirit, having arisen from the abyss, came into the light of Ahura Mazda. Because of his malicious nature, he rushed in to destroy it, but seeing the Good Spirit was more powerful than himself, he fled back to the gloomy darkness, where he formed many demons and fiends to help him.
Then Ahura Alazda saw the creatures of the Evil Spirit, terrible, corrupt, and bad as they were, and having the knowl- edge of what the end of the matter would be, he went to meet Angra Mainyu and proposed peace to him: "Evil spirit! bring assistance unto my creatures, and ofl"er praise! so that, in reward for it, thou and thy creatures may become immortal and undecaying." But Angra Mainyu howled thus: "I will not depart, I will not provide assistance for thy creatures, I will not offer praise among thy creatures, and I am not of the same opinion with thee as to good things. I will destroy thy crea- tures for ever and everlasting; moreover, I will force all thy creatures into disaffection to thee and affection for myself." Ahura Mazda, however, said to the Evil Spirit, "Appoint a period! so that the intermingling of the conflict may be for nine thousand years"; for he knew that by setting that time
276 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
the Evil Spirit would be undone. The latter, unobservant and ignorant, was content with the agreement, and the nine thou- sand years were divided so that during three thousand years the will of Mazda was to be done, then for three thousand years there is an intermingling of the wills of Mazda and Angra Mainyu, and in the last third the Evil Spirit will be disabled.
Afterward Ahura Mazda recited the powerful prayer Yathd ahu vairyd' and, by so doing, exhibited to the Evil Spirit his own triumph in the end and the impotence of his adversary. Perceiving this, Angra Mainyu became confounded and fell back into the gloomy darkness, where he stayed in confusion for three thousand years. During this period the creatures of Mazda remained unharmed, but existed only in a spiritual or potential state; and not until this triple millennium had come to an end did the actual creation begin.
As the first step in the cosmogonic process Ahura Mazda produced Vohu Manah ("Good Mind"), whereupon Angra Mainyu immediately created Aka Manah ("Evil Mind"); and in like manner when Ahura Mazda formed the other Amesha Spentas, his adversary shaped their counterparts. After all this was completed, the creation of the world took place in due order — sky, water, earth, plants, animals, mankind.
In shaping the sky and the heavenly bodies Ahura Mazda produced first the celestial sphere and the constellations, es- pecially the zodiacal signs. The stars are a warlike army des- tined for battle against the evil spirits. There are six million four hundred and eighty thousand small stars, and to the many which are unnumbered places are assigned in the four quarters of the sky. Over the stars four leaders preside, Tishtrya (Sirius) being the chieftain of the east, Hapt5k Ring (Ursa Major) of the north, Sataves of the west, and Vanand of the south. Then he created the moon and afterward the sun.
In the meanwhile, however, the impure female demon Jahi had undertaken to rouse Angra Mainyu from his long sleep
M\THS OF CREATION 277
— "Rise up, we will cause a conflict in the world," — but this did not please him because, through fear of Ahura Mazda, he was not able to lift up his head. Then she shouted again, "Rise up, thou father of us! for I will cause that conflict in the world wherefrom the distress and injury of Aiiharmazd and the archangels will arise. ... I will make the whole creation of Aiiharmazd vexed."
When she had shouted thrice, Angra Mainyn was delighted and started up from his confusion, and he kissed Jahi upon the head and howled, "What is thy wish.^ so that I may give it thee.''" And she shouted, "A man is the wish, so give it to me." Now the form of the Evil Spirit was a log like a lizard's body, but he made himself into a young man of fifteen years,^ and this brought the thought of Jahi unto him.
Then Angra Mainyu with his confederate demons went toward the luminaries that had just been created, and he saw the sky and sprang into it like a snake,^ so that the heavens were as shattered and frightened by him as a sheep by a wolf. Just like a fly he rushed out upon the whole creation and he made the world as tarnished and black at midday as though it were in dark night. He created the planets in opposition to the chieftains of the constellations, and they dashed against the celestial sphere and threw the constellations into confu- sion,'^ and the entire creation was as disfigured as though fire had burned it and smoke had arisen.
For ninety days and nights the Amesha Spentas and Yazatas contended with the confederate demons and hurled them con- founded back into the darkness. The rampart of the sky was now built in such a manner that the fiends would no more be able to penetrate into it; and when the Evil Spirit no longer found an entrance, he was compelled to rush back to the nether darkness, beholding the annihilation of the demons and his own impotence.
Then as the second step in the cosmogonic process Ahura Mazda created the waters.^ These converge into the sea
278 IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
Vourukasha ("Wide-Gulfed"), which occupies one third of this earth in the direction of the southern limit of Mount AlbGrz and is so wide that it contains the water of a thousand lakes. Every lake is of a particular kind; some are great, and some are small, while others are so vast that a man with a horse could not compass them around in less than forty days.
All waters continually flow from the source Ardvl Sura Anahita ("the Wet, Strong, and Spotless One"). There are a hundred thousand golden channels, and the water, warm and clear, goes through them toward Mount Hugar, the lofty. On the summit of that mountain is Lake Urvis, into which the water flows, and becoming quite purified, returns through a different golden channel. At the height of a thousand men an open golden branch from that affluent is connected with Mount Auslndom and the sea Vourukasha, whence one part flows forth to the ocean for the purification of the sea, while another por- tion drizzles in moisture upon the whole of this earth. All the creatures of Mazda acquire health from it, and it dispels the dryness of the atmosphere.
There are, moreover, three large salt seas and twenty-three small. Of the three, the Puitika (Persian Gulf) is the greatest, and the control of it is connected with moon and wind; It comes and goes in increase and decrease because of her revolv- ing. From the presence of the moon two winds continually blow; one is called the down-draught, and one the up-draught, and they produce flow and ebb.
The spring Ardvl Sura Anahita, which we have just men- tioned, and from which all rivers flow down to the earth, is worshipped as a goddess. She is celebrated in the fifth Yasht of the Avesta as the life-increasing, the herd-increasing, the fold-increasing, who makes prosperity for all countries. She runs powerfully down to the sea Vourukasha, and all its shores are boiling over when she plunges foaming down., she, Ardvi SiJra, who has a thousand gulfs and a thousand outlets.
Not only does Anahita bring fertility to the fields by her
MYTHS OF CREATION 279
waters, but she makes the seed of all males pure and sound, purifies the wombs of all females, causes them to bring forth in safety, and puts milk in their breastsJ She gave strength to all heroes of primeval times so that they were able to overcome their foes, whether the demons, the serpent Azhi, or the golden- heeled Gandarewa.
She is personified under the appearance of a handsome and stately woman. ^
"Yea in truth her arms are lovely, White of hue, more strong than horses; Fair-adorned is she and charming;
With a lovely maiden's body, Very strong, of goodly figure. Girded high and standing upright, Nobly born, of brilliant lineage; Ankle-high she weareth foot-gear Golden-latcheted and shining.
She is clad in costly raiment. Richly pleated and all golden,
For adornment she hath ear-rings With four corners and all golden. On her lovely throat a necklace She doth wear, the maid full noble, Ardvi Sura Anahita. Round her waist she draws a girdle That fair-formed may be her bosom, That well-pleasing be her bosom. On her brow a crown she placeth, Ardvi Sura Anahita, Eight its parts, its jewels a hundred, Fair-formed, like a chariot-body, Golden, ribbon-decked, and lovely, Swelling forth with curve harmonious. She is clad in beaver garments, Ardvi Sura Anahita, Of the beaver tribe three hundred."
This precise description points to the existence of represen- tations of the goddess, a thing unusual in Persia in ancient
VI — 19
28o IRANIAN MYTHOLOGY
times. But Anahita, as Herodotus tells us, was at that period identified with the Semitic Ishtar, a divinity of fertility and fecundity, and a powerful deity invoked in battle and in war, both these functions being attributed to Anahita in the hymn quoted above. Ishtar seems to have absorbed in Babylonia many of the attributes of Ea's consort Nin Ella, the "Great Lady of the Waters," the "Pure Lady" of birth, whose name is the exact equivalent of Ardvi Siira Anahita; and it was Nin Ella, more probably than Ishtar, who was the prototype of the Iranian goddess.
The Evil Spirit, however, also came to the water and sent Apaosha, the demon of drought, to fight against Tishtrya (Sirius), who bestows water upon the earth during the sum- mer; the result of their encounter being the conflict that has been narrated above.
The third of the processes of creation was the shaping of the world. After the rain of Tishtrya had flooded the earth and purified it from the venom of the noxious creatures, and when the waters had retired, the thirty-three kinds of land were formed. These are distributed into seven portions: one is in the middle, and the others are the six regions (keshvars) of the earth.
To counteract the work of Ahura Mazda, Angra Mainyu came and pierced the earth, entering straight into its midmost part; and when the earth shook, the mountains arose. First, Mount Alburz (Hara Berezaiti) was created, and then the other ranges of mountains came into being; for as Alburz grew forth all the mountains remained in motion, for they have all grown forth from the root of Albiirz. At that time they came up from the earth, like a tree which has grown up to the clouds and its root to the bottom." The mountains stand in a row about Albiirz, which is the knot of lands and is the highest peak of all, lifting its head even to the sky. On one of its summits, named Taera, the sun, the moon, and the stars rise, and from another of its heights, Hukairya, the water of
MYTHS OF CREATION 281
Ardvl Sura Anahita flows down, while on it the haoma, the plant of life, is set. What plant this haoma was we do not know, but its intoxicating qualities produced an exaltation which naturally caused it to be regarded as divine.
Next came the creation of the vegetable kingdom when Ameretat, the Amesha Spenta who has plants under her guar- dianship, pounded them small and mixed them v/ith the water which Tishtrya had seized. Then the dog-star made that water rain down over all the earth, on which plants sprang up like hair upon the heads of men. Ten thousand of them grew forth, these being provided in order to keep away the ten thousand diseases which the evil spirit produced for the creatures. From those ten thousand have sprung the hundred thousand species of plants that are now in the world.
From these germs the "Tree of All Seeds" was given out and grew up in the middle of the sea Vourukasha, where it causes every species of plant to increase. Near to that "Tree of All Seeds" the Gaokerena ("Ox-Horn") tree was produced to avert decrepitude. This is necessary to bring about the renova- tion of the universe and the immortality that will follow; every one who eats it becomes immortal, and it is the chief of plants.^
The Evil Spirit formed a lizard in the deep water of Vouru- kasha that it might injure the Gaokerena; ^° but to keep away that lizard Ahura Mazda created ten kar-fish, which at all times continually circle around the Gaokerena, so that the head of one of them never ceases to be turned toward the lizard. Together with the lizard those fish are spiritually fed, and till the renovation of the universe they will remain In the sea and struggle with one another.
The Gaokerena tree is also called "White Haoma." It is one of the manifestations of the famous haoma-plant, which has been mentioned many times, while Its terrestrial form, the yellow haoma. Is the plant of the Indo-Iranlan sacrifice and the one which gives strength to men and gods. It Is with this thought In mind that the sacrificer Invokes "Golden Haoma":
282 IRANIAN iMYTHOLOGY
"Thee I pray for might and conquest, Thee for health and thee for healing, Thee for progress and for increase, Thee for strength of all my body, Thee for wisdom all-adorned.
Thee I pray that I may conquer, .
Conquer all the haters' hatred,
Be they men or be they demons.
Be they sorcerers or witches,
Rulers, bards, or priests of evil.
Treacherous things that walk on two feet.
Heretics that walk on two feet.
Wolves that go about on four feet.
Or invading hordes deceitful
With their fronts spread wide for battle." ^
Above all, however, Haoma Is expected to drive death afar, to give long llfe,^^ and to grant children to women and hus- bands to girls.
"Unto women that would bring forth Haoma giveth brilliant children, Haoma giveth righteous offspring.
Unto maidens long unwedded Haoma, quickly as they ask him.
|