Zend Avesta, Fargard 2.21-43
before 500 BCE
trans. James Darmesteter
1880
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NOTE |
In the Avesta, there is a strange story that many compare to the Mesopotamian or Noachian flood myth. Ahura Mazda, taking the role of Ea or Yahweh, informs Yima the Good Shepherd of the coming destruction. Although the flood has been replaced with winter, it is still quite obviously derivative of the Near Eastern flood myth, similar in many respects to the Atrahasis and Gilgamesh flood story, down to the peculiar use of the “seed” of every plant and animal; and, in the original language, it resembles the Genesis account in the use of the Hebrew word for rain to represent the fatal winter. However, here the Ark with six stories and nine partitions has become a walled compound of “nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest,” though it retains “a door, and a window” like the “air hole” of the Mesopotamian Ark and the “window [Noah] had made in the ark” (Gen. 8:6) in the Hebrew account—however silly the idea of a city with one window might be. The Persian story was recorded around 500 BCE, give or take, but must draw on earlier originals. This translation comes from The Sacred Books of the East with a footnote from the Pahlavi commentary on the Avesta, composed in medieval times.
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II.
21. The Maker, Ahura Mazda, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya, called together a meeting of the celestial gods.
The fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya, called together a meeting of the excellent mortals.
To that meeting came Ahura Mazda, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the celestial gods.
To that meeting came, the fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the excellent mortals.
22. And Ahura Mazda spake unto Yima, saying:
‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Upon the material world the fatal winters [1] are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî deep on the highest tops of mountains.
23. And all the three sorts of beasts shall perish, those that live in the wilderness, and those that live on the tops of the mountains, and those that live in the bosom of the dale, under the shelter of stables.
24. Before that winter, those fields would bear plenty of grass for cattle: now with floods that stream, with snows that melt, it will seem a happy land in the world, the land wherein footprints even of sheep may still be seen.
25. Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, and thither bring the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires.
Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long. as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
26. There thou shalt make waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there thou shalt settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shalt establish dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
27. Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
28. Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds shalt thou bring, two of ever), kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
29. There shall be no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
30. In the largest part of the place thou shalt make nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part thou shalt bring a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara thou shalt seal up with the golden ring, and thou shalt make a door, and a window self-shining within.’
31. Then Yima said within himself: ‘How shall I manage to make that Vara which Ahura Mazda has commanded me to make?’
And Ahura Mazda said unto Yima: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Crush the earth with a stamp of thy heel, and then knead it with thy hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter’s clay.’
32. And Yima did as Ahura Mazda wished; he crushed the earth with a stamp of his heel, he kneaded it with his hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter’s clay.
33. And Yima made a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square. There he brought the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires. He made Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
34. There he made waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there he settled birds, by the evergreen banks that bear never-failing food. There he established dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
35. There he brought the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
36. There he brought the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds he brought, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
37. And there were no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
38. In the largest part of the place he made nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part he brought a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara he sealed up with the golden ring, and he made a door, and a window self-shining within.
39. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What lights are there to give light in the Vara which Yima made?
40. Ahura Mazda answered: ‘There are uncreated lights and created lights. There the stars, the moon, and the sun are only once (a year) seen to rise and set, and a year seems only as a day.
41. ‘Every fortieth year, to every couple two are born, a male and a female. And thus it is for every sort of cattle. And the men in the Vara which Yima made live the happiest life.’
42. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is he who brought the law of Mazda into the Vara which Yima made?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It was the bird Karshipta, O holy Zarathustra!’
43. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the lord and ruler there?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Urvatad-nara, O Zarathustra! and thyself, Zarathustra.’
The fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya, called together a meeting of the excellent mortals.
To that meeting came Ahura Mazda, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the celestial gods.
To that meeting came, the fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the excellent mortals.
22. And Ahura Mazda spake unto Yima, saying:
‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Upon the material world the fatal winters [1] are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî deep on the highest tops of mountains.
23. And all the three sorts of beasts shall perish, those that live in the wilderness, and those that live on the tops of the mountains, and those that live in the bosom of the dale, under the shelter of stables.
24. Before that winter, those fields would bear plenty of grass for cattle: now with floods that stream, with snows that melt, it will seem a happy land in the world, the land wherein footprints even of sheep may still be seen.
25. Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, and thither bring the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires.
Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long. as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
26. There thou shalt make waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there thou shalt settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shalt establish dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
27. Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
28. Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds shalt thou bring, two of ever), kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
29. There shall be no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
30. In the largest part of the place thou shalt make nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part thou shalt bring a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara thou shalt seal up with the golden ring, and thou shalt make a door, and a window self-shining within.’
31. Then Yima said within himself: ‘How shall I manage to make that Vara which Ahura Mazda has commanded me to make?’
And Ahura Mazda said unto Yima: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Crush the earth with a stamp of thy heel, and then knead it with thy hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter’s clay.’
32. And Yima did as Ahura Mazda wished; he crushed the earth with a stamp of his heel, he kneaded it with his hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter’s clay.
33. And Yima made a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square. There he brought the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires. He made Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
34. There he made waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there he settled birds, by the evergreen banks that bear never-failing food. There he established dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
35. There he brought the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
36. There he brought the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds he brought, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
37. And there were no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
38. In the largest part of the place he made nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part he brought a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara he sealed up with the golden ring, and he made a door, and a window self-shining within.
39. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What lights are there to give light in the Vara which Yima made?
40. Ahura Mazda answered: ‘There are uncreated lights and created lights. There the stars, the moon, and the sun are only once (a year) seen to rise and set, and a year seems only as a day.
41. ‘Every fortieth year, to every couple two are born, a male and a female. And thus it is for every sort of cattle. And the men in the Vara which Yima made live the happiest life.’
42. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is he who brought the law of Mazda into the Vara which Yima made?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It was the bird Karshipta, O holy Zarathustra!’
43. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the lord and ruler there?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Urvatad-nara, O Zarathustra! and thyself, Zarathustra.’
From the Pahlavi Commentary on the Avesta
[1] Malkôsân, which is the plural of the Hebrew Malkôs, ‘rain;’ this seems to be an attempt to identify the Iranian legend with the biblical tradition of the deluge. The attempt was both a success and a failure; Malkôs entered the Iranian mythology and became naturalised there, but it was mistaken for a proper noun, and became the name of a demon, who by witchcraft will let loose a furious winter on the earth to destroy it (Saddar 9). What may be called the diluvial version of the myth is thus summed up in the Mainyô-i-khard: ‘By him (Gamshîd) the enclosure of Jam-kard was made; when there is that rain of Malakosãn, as it is declared in the religion, that mankind and the remaining creatures and creations of Hôrmezd, the lord, will mostly perish; then they will open the gate of that enclosure of Jam-kard, and men and cattle and the remaining creatures and creation of the creator Hôrmezd will come from that enclosure and arrange the world again’ (XXVII, 27 seq.; edited and translated by E. West).
F. Max Müller (ed.), The Sacred Books of the East Translated by Various Oriental Scholars, vol. 4 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1880), 15-21.
