Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133
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“This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat”. An Edition and an Annotated Translation of the Iranian Bundahišn 34
Domenico Agostini Polonsky Academy—Van Leer Jerusalem Institute [email protected]
Abstract
The chapter thirty-four is one of the most interesting and important sections of the Iranian Bundahišn. It describes the eschatological events that will occur at the end of the Zoroastrian cosmic era such as the resurrection of the body and the final judg- ment. This article provides a critical edition of the text in Middle Persian (MP) based on the codex TD1 accompanied by an annotated translation including a commentary on the most relevant mythological and religious issues.
Keywords
Zoroastrianism – Pahlavi Literature – Eschatology – Iranian Philology
Eschatological ideas are of considerable significance in the Zoroastrian belief system. Zoroastrian literature—in particular that found in Pahlavi texts— contains two different but coexisting types of eschatological beliefs. The first connects the individual with his specific fate in Paradise, Hell or the neutral Middle Abode or Section (MP hammistagān).1 The second, ‘universal’ concept connects the whole of humanity to an ultimate fate determined by the decisive
1 For a detailed description of these three abodes and their literary sources in the Zoroastrian tradition, see Gignoux (1968). On the eschatological seers and otherworldly travelers in Zoro- astrianism, see Agostini (2014).
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi 10.1163/24685631-12Downloaded340028 from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access “This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat” 117 and ultimately victorious struggle of the forces of Good against the forces of Evil.2 Chapter thirty-four of the late Pahlavi cosmological book Iranian Bundahišn (“Primal Creation”)3 contains particularly interesting and complete accounts of universal eschatological events, such as the resurrection (MP ristāxez) of the dead and the Renovation (MP frašgird; Av. frašō.kərəti “making brilliant”)4— both of which will take place at the end of twelve millennia of Iranian cos- mic history and lead to a new and undefiled world.5 Chapter thirty-four thus completes the previous chapter’s recounting of the apocalyptic events6 at the end of the tenth millennium: the deeds of Zoroaster, and of the two first Zoroastrian saviors Ušēdar (Av. Uxšiiaṯ.ərəta-; “who makes Order grow”) and Ušēdarmāh (Av. Uxšiiaṯ.nəmah-; “who makes Homage grow”) during the last two millennia, who foretell the coming of Sōšāns (Av. Saošiiaṇt; “redeemer, sacrificer”),7 the final savior and resurrector.8
2 For a general survey of the themes of individual and universal eschatology, see Pavry (1926), Colpe (1986), Shaked (1998). On the eschatology in ancient Mazdeism, see Kellens (1994). On the concept of eschatology in Sasanian times, see Shaked (1970). 3 For a general survey, see Mackenzie (1990), Cereti (2001: 86–105), Macuch (2009: 137–39). The Iranian or Greater Bundahišn, whose manuscripts originally came from Iran, contains a long version of the book composed of thirty-six chapters. A corrupted, shorter version of the book, whose manuscripts come from India, is termed the Indian Bundahišn. Chapter thirty-four of the Iranian Bundahišn corresponds to the thirtieth and last within the Indian tradition. 4 For further information, see Hintze (2001). 5 On the millennia and millennialism, see Gignoux (1990). On the scheme of millennia and the four ages in the Iranian and Indo-Iranian world, see respectively Widengren (1995), Hultgård (1995: 81–101), Lincoln (1986: 117–40), Church (1973). 6 On the Iranian apocalypse and its motifs, see Boyce (1984), Gignoux (1986, 1988), Cereti (1995a: 11–27; 2000), Agostini (2013b, 2016, forth.). 7 This character is often found in the Avesta as Astvaṯ.əreta- “who gives Order bones” (e.g., Yašt 19:92; Hintze 1994: 370–72, ed. and trans.). See also Cereti (1995a: 223). On the etymology of the Saošiiaṇt, see Kellens (1974). On the rise of the savior in the Avesta, see Hintze (1995). See also Boyce (1975: 234–35). 8 These three saviors are the posthumous sons of Zoroaster. The eleventh millennium of the cosmic history of the world is associated with the first, the twelfth with the second, whereas the time of the Sōšāns will last only fifty-seven years during which he will resurrect the dead. According to the tradition found in the IBd. 33: 36–38 the sons will be born from three vir- gin maidens made pregnant by the seed of the Prophet after bathing in the waters of Lake Kayansē (Agostini 2003: 81–82, 95–96, ed. and trans.). See also Yašt 13: 128–29 (Malandra 1971: 101, 145, ed. and trans.). For a description of the future arrival of the three saviors, see Dk 7.1: 42–54 (Molé 1967: 12–13). See also Cereti (1995a: 217–18, 220). For a discussion of the historical
Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access 118 Agostini
This work presents an edition of chapter thirty-four of the Iranian Bundahišn according to the oldest and most accurate Pahlavi manuscript (TD1), providing an annotated translation of the chapter that includes a commentary on the main characters, as well as literary and religious motifs.
Keys + words emended < > words supplied conjecturally or from other manuscripts [ ] words excluded from the text
Abbreviations DD: Dādestān ī dēnīg Dk: Dēnkard IBd: Iranian Bundahišn PRdd: Pahlavi Rivāyat accompanying the Dādestān ī dēnīg PV: Pahlavi Vendidad SBD: Saddar Bundahesh ŠnŠ: Šayest nē Šayest TD1: The Bondahesh. Being a Facsimile Edition of the Manuscript TD1 (Iranian Culture Foundation 88) Teheran 1970 WZ: Wizīdagīhā ī Zādspram
Text9
(TD1 94r.: 11–97v.: 7) abar ristāxēz ud tan ī pasēn
development of these three saviors, see Boyce (1984: 67–70). On the evolution of this myth in Zoroastrian tradition, together with a rich survey of textual sources, see Cereti (1995b). 9 The transcription of the text is based on codex TD1, the most ancient and complete manu- script and one that takes its name from the Parsi priest, Tehmuras Dinshawji Anklesaria, who first made it known. The loss of leaves—the first and particularly the last folia—have ham- pered efforts to give it a precise dating. West (1880: xxiii) proposed a date for the manuscript around 1531 CE in Kerman. I have nevertheless chosen to add relevant words or given vari- ants in transliteration from other manuscripts of the Bundahišn belonging either to the same Iranian tradition (such as DH and TD2) or to the Indian tradition (such as M51 and K20). For a description of all the manuscripts of this book, see Cereti (2001: 88–90). For a transcription of this chapter based on the collection of all the Iranian and Indian manuscripts, see Pakzad (2005: 374–88).
Annali, Sezione orientaleDownloaded from 77 Brill.com09/28/2021 (2017) 116–133 04:08:44AM via free access “This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat” 119
1) gōwēd pad dēn kū az ān čiyōn mašya ud mašyāni ka az zamīg abar rust hēnd nazdist āb pas urwar ud pas šīr ud pas gōšt xward hēnd mardōm-iz ka-šān
10 Iranian Mss. omit. Indian Mss. add. 11 See previous footnote. 12 Iranian Mss. hwršnyk. 13 TD1 omits. 14 TD1 omits. DH and TD2 add. 15 Indian Mss. add. 16 See previous footnote. 17 TDI omits. 18 Iranian Mss. omit. Indian Mss. add. 19 TD1 kirbīh. 20 TD1 plkynd. 21 TD1 mynwkk. 22 TD1 wzystˈ. DH and TD2 wcyyt. Indian Mss. wcyt. 23 Indian Mss. add. 24 TD1 MEš.
Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access 120 Agostini niger kū ka ān ī nē būd ēg-im be kard ān ī būd čim abāz nē šāyēd kardan <čē pad>25 ān hangām az mēnōg ī zamīg ast
25 TDI omits. 26 TD1 and DH omit. TD2 adds. K20 mltwm’n. M51 mltwm. 27 Iranian Mss. omit. 28 TDI omits. 29 TD2 adds. 30 TD1 YHWWNyt. 31 TD1 and M51 kwnšnyh. 32 Iranian and Indian Mss. HWEm. 33 Only TD2 adds. 34 Iranian Mss. LMYTWNyt. Indian Mss. wynyt. 35 TD1 and Indian Mss. omit. 36 Only DH has correctly OLE. 37 See previous note. 38 Only TD1 has OBYDWNyt.
Annali, Sezione orientaleDownloaded from 77 Brill.com09/28/2021 (2017) 116–133 04:08:44AM via free access “This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat” 121 ast +kē39 pid ahlaw
39 TD1 and DH has AMT. 40 TD1 also adds the pāzand word vāman. 41 Written in Avestan in TD1. 42 DH and TD2 add zmyk. 43 TD1 omits. 44 Iranian Mss. omit. 45 Indian Mss. add. 46 TD1 hm’y. All Mss. ham. 47 TD1 YHWWNyt. 48 See previous note. 49 TD1 omits. 50 TD1 AMT. 51 Only DH adds.
Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access 122 Agostini mardōm mizd ud pādāšn dahēd kunišn passazagīhā ān-iz ast ī ēdōn ahlaw [kū gōwēd] kū nayēd ō garōdmān ī ohrmazd ud čiyōn xwad52 abāyēd kirb ul stānēd tā hamē ud hamē-rawišnīh pad ān abāgīh rawēd 26) ēn-iz gōwēd kū kē yašt nē kard ēstēd
Translation60
On Resurrection and the Final Body61 (1) The dēn62 says: When Mašya and Mašyāni grew forth from the earth, they first consumed only water, but afterwards they ate plants, then milk, and finally
52 DH and TD2 NPŠE. 53 TD1 omits. All Mss. adds. 54 In the original manuscript it is written in Avestan. 55 TD1 zyt. 56 TD1 omits. 57 Iranian Mss. omit. 58 TD1 YHWWNt. 59 TD1 ’lm. TD2 ’ml. 60 This translation is based on the new translation of the Iranian Bundahišn I am currently preparing together with Samuel Thrope, with certain changes. 61 On the final eschatological body (MP tan ī pasēn), see Timuş (2004). 62 In this context it might be translated as “scriptures” or “tradition” though most of Western scholarship is inclined to translate the term as “religion”. For a general review of this word, see Shaki (1996).
Annali, Sezione orientaleDownloaded from 77 Brill.com09/28/2021 (2017) 116–133 04:08:44AM via free access “This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat” 123 meat. So too, when the time comes to die, people will first stop eating meat and milk, then bread as well. From then on, until they die, they will drink only water.63 (2) Just so, during the millennium of Ušēdarmāh, the hunger pangs64 will decrease to such an extent that people will be satisfied with one meal every three days and nights.65 (3) After that, people will stop eating meat and will consume only vegetables and sheep’s milk. They will soon give up milk too, and then vegetables as well; they will be drinkers of water.66 Ten years before Sōšāns comes, they will stop eating, but they will not die. Then Sōšāns will raise the dead. (4) It also says: Zoroaster asked Ohrmazd: “How will you restore the (physi- cal) body after the wind has wasted it and the water washed it away? What will be the resurrection?”67 (5) Ohrmazd replied: “When I created the unpil- lared heavens fastened on a spiritual68 foundation, broad and light, from the substance of shining metal; when I created the earth that bears all material
63 Mašya and Mašyāni are the first human couple who grew as a single stalk of rhubarb plant generated by the spreading of the dying Gayōmard’s seed into the earth, as found in the IBd. 14: 5–6 and in the WZ 3: 72 (respectively, Pakzad 2005: 181, and Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 52–53, ed. and trans.). Once subsequently separated, they became a human couple and started to discover their various human needs. They began to consume milk and flesh and then to discover their sexualities. As Shaked (1987: 246) correctly pointed out, this was regarded as a fall from perfection in Iran as well as in Jewish and Christian traditions. A decrease of appetite followed by abstinence from the food of men before the resurrection and the Renovation of the world is a condicio sine qua non to recover the initial innocence and purity subsequently lost to humanity after the transgressions of the first couple. Simi- larly DD 34: 3 (Jaafar-Dehaghi 1998: 106–7, ed. and trans.). On the first man and the first human couple, see Christensen (1917: 11–101). 64 Skjærvø (2011: 167) translates as “bodily needs”. 65 Similarly Dk 7.10: 2 (Molé 1967: 98–99, ed. and trans.). WZ 34: 39 says that the physical desire for food will be reduced by a quarter as the Renovation of the world approaches (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 122–23, ed. and trans.). 66 Similarly SBD 35: 36–37 (Dhabhar 1932: 529, trans.). 67 This passage likely has a scriptural origin. The conversation between Zoroaster and Ohrmazd might have occurred during a ham-pursagīh “consultation, conference”. According to Pahlavi literature, Zoroaster had seven meetings with Ohrmazd from whom he received the divine revelation, the dēn (see Hultgård 1983: 395–99; PRdd 47: 1–2; Williams 1990: I, 168–69, ed.; II, 76, trans.). 68 I have translated the Pahlavi word mēnōg. This complex concept—together with its coun- terpart gētīg—are central to the Zoroastrian dualist worldview found in Middle Persian literature. The term gētīg alludes to the material, physical, visible, and tangible aspect of the world; mēnōg refers to the aspect of the world that is essentially spiritual, mental, invisible, and intangible. The distinction between the material and spiritual worlds is not an ethical division; good and evil exists in both states of existence. At the same time, mēnōg appeared prior to gētīg in the process of creation, and every gētīg, material being,
Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access 124 Agostini existence but has no physical support; when I loosed the Sun, Moon and stars in the atmosphere moving through me as bodies of light; when I created the grain that is sown in the earth and returns growing forth, overflowing; when I gave colors to the plants after their kind, and I placed in them and others a burnless fire; when I created the child in its mother’s womb and protected him, fashioning hair and skin, nails and blood, sinews and eyes, ears, and other limbs; when I gave feet to the water to flow; when I created the spiritual clouds that bear material water and rain where they will; when I created the visible air that by the power of the wind blows above and below as it wills, and hands cannot catch it: creating each one of these was more difficult than the resur- rection. For, at the resurrection, beings’ created forms will be an aid for me that I did not have when I created them; it will be as it was. Consider this: if I could create what was not, how could it be that I not be able to recreate what was? For at that time I will ask the spirit of the earth for the bones, the water for the blood, the plants for the hair and the wind for the soul, just as they received them at the beginning.”69 (6) First, the bones of Gayōmard70 will rise up, then Mašya and Mašyāni, and finally the bones of all others will stir.71 (7) After fifty- seven years72 Sōšāns will raise the dead and raise up all men, the righteous and
has a mēnōg, spiritual, counterpart. For an insightful and definitive study on these two concepts, see Shaked (1971). 69 The previous answer of Zoroaster to Ohrmazd about the feasibility of the resurrection shows that this topic was very sensitive and troubling, if not simply embarrassing, among Zoroastrian scholars of the Sasanian and Post-Sasanian periods (see Shaked 1994: 32–33; Zaehner 1961: 316). This argument may be strengthened by the abundant treatment of this question in Pahlavi literature: cf. PRdd 52 (Williams 1990: I, 194–95, ed.; II, 90, trans.); DD 36: 1–3 (Jaafar-Dehaghi 1998: 108–11, ed. and trans.) and DD 48: 54–55 (Lincoln 1986: 128, trans.); WZ 34: 1–24 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 114–19, ed. and trans.; Zaehner 1955: 343– 45, 348–50, ed. and trans.). On this topic, see also Molé (1963: 113–20). This passage has striking similarities with the biblical book of Ezekiel 37: 1–14. Cf. also Job 19: 26. 70 Gayōmard is the first Man who is mortally wounded by Ahreman during his onslaught against the creation of Ohrmazd and he is traditionally viewed as the forefather of man- kind (Av. Gaiia- marətan- “mortal life”). For a detailed review of this character, see Yar- shater (1983: 416–20; Christensen 1931: 42, 58, 61 and 154). On the relationship between Yima and Gayōmard, see Shaked (1987). 71 Cf. WZ 34: 18–19 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 118–19, ed. and trans.) in which it is said that the yazad Ērman (see below) will bring back the bones, the blood, the hair, the light and the soul of Gayōmard, Mašya and Mašyāni, and then Ohrmazd will reassemble their bones. 72 Similarly Dk 7.11: 1 (Molé 1967: 102–3, ed. and trans.). Cf. DD 35: 5 (Jaafar-Dehaghi 1998: 106–7, ed. and trans.); WZ 34: 46 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 124–25, ed. and trans.). See Dk 7.6: 12 (Molé 1967: 68–69, ed. and trans.) in which it is said that Zoroaster succeeded in making manifest the dēn in all the seven continents after a period of fifty-seven years
Annali, Sezione orientaleDownloaded from 77 Brill.com09/28/2021 (2017) 116–133 04:08:44AM via free access “This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat” 125 the wicked;73 every person will stir again from the place when his soul left him or near the place where he fell to earth.74 (8) And when every physical being, body, and form is restored, then they will give them character and they will give half of the light of the sun to Gayōmard and half to other people.75 (9) Then people will begin to recognize each other, soul to soul and body to body. They will know: That is my father; That is my brother; That is my wife; That is my family. (10) Then the assembly of Isadwāstar will take place, where all people on the earth will meet.76 (11) In that assembly every person will see his good deeds and his evil deeds, and the righteous shall be distinguished from among the wicked as white sheep among the black.77 (12) In that assembly, if there is a righteous man who during his life had a wicked friend, that wicked man will accuse the righteous man, saying: “When we were in the physical world, why did you not make known to me the good deeds that you alone did?” If the righteous man indeed did not tell him, then he must be shamed in that assembly.78 (13) Then they will separate the righteous from the wicked. They will take the righteous men to Heaven and they will cast the wicked men back into Hell.
following the revelation. On the symbolism of the number 57, see Windischmann (1863: 241–43), Jackson (1928), Boyce (1975: 291), Vevaina (2005: 218–19), and Timuş (2015: 221–22). I must highlight an insightful and ground-breaking forthcoming work by Antonio Panaino (to whom I am very grateful for allowing me to read his final draft) in which he argues that the number 57 can be explained as a symbolic evocation of a very precise astronomical period of the moon. 73 PRdd 48: 67 (Williams 1990: I, 182–83, ed.; II, 83, trans.) tells us that all the sinners deserv- ing of death (margarzān) will be resurrected aside from those who thought and commit- ted evil acts against God and the other deities. ŠnŠ 17: 7 (Kotwal 1969: 72–73, ed. and trans.) says that all sinners will be raised up with the exception of followers of demons, pederasts and heretics. 74 PRdd 48: 56 (Williams 1990: I, 180–83, ed.; II, 84, trans.) adds that the Sōšāns will perform five yasna (rituals), resurrecting one fifth of the total number of dead each time. Cf. also AJ 17: 14–15 (Agostini 2013a: 89–91, 115, ed. and trans.). 75 Cf. WZ 35: 59 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 140–41, ed. and trans.). 76 Isadwāstar (Av. Isat.vāstra) is the eldest son of Zoroaster. He traditionally represents the priestly class in the scheme of the tripartite society as said in the IBd 35: 56 (57) (Pakzad 2005: 404–5, ed.; Skjærvø 2011: 160, trans.). Cf. PRdd 48: 97 (Williams 1990: I, 188–89, ed.; II, 87, trans.) in which, on the contrary, it is said that this assembly will take place after the ordeal of the molten metal river. Cf. also WZ 35: 28–31 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 132–35, ed. and trans.). 77 Cf. WZ 35: 32 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 134–35, ed. and trans.) in which white and black horses take the place of the sheep. Similarly Matthew 25: 32–33. 78 Similarly WZ 35: 42–43 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 136–37, ed. and trans.).
Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access 126 Agostini
For three days and nights the wicked in Hell will endure terrible punishments of body and soul, but during those same three days and nights the righteous in Heaven will enjoy all the pleasures of the soul and the body.79 (14) One says this: On the day when they divide the righteous from the wicked, every per- son’s tears will fall to his ankles when sons will be taken from the embrace of their fathers, brothers separated from brothers and friends from friends.80 (15) Every man will suffer for his own deeds. The righteous will weep for the wicked and the wicked for themselves. It may be that a father was righteous and his son wicked and it may be that one brother was righteous and the other wicked. But each one will be judged for his own deeds, just as Dahāg, Frāsyāb,81 and others of this sort deserving the harshest penalties will suffer punishments that no men have ever endured; they call this punishment of the three nights.82 (16) In the midst of the Renovation, fifteen men and fifteen maids—those righteous people about whom it was written that they are living—will arrive in order to help Sōšāns. (17) The dragon Gōčihr83 will fall through the firmament from the tip of the Moon to the earth and the earth will feel as much pain as a sheep whose fleece is torn off by a wolf. (18) Then fire and divine Ērmān84 will
79 Similarly WZ 35: 43–46 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 136–37, ed. and trans.). In contrast to the only mental and spiritual (mēnōg) rewards and punishments in the three otherworldly abodes, at this stage the nature of the rewards and punishments is also material and phys- ical (gētīg). On the interplay between gētīg and mēnōg in eschatological times, see Shaked (1970: 224–27). 80 Similarly WZ 35: 41 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 136–37, ed. and trans.). 81 (Az)dahāg (Av. Aži- dahāka-) appears many times in the Avesta as a three-headed, six- mouthed and six-eyed dragon-like monster, chief of the demonic hordes of Ahreman. In Pahlavi literature he is depicted as one of the most bitter enemies of Iranians. For a survey on this character, see Skjærvø (1989). Frāsyāb (Av. Fraŋrasyan) is quoted several times in the Avesta and in Pahlavi literature. He plays an important role in the Iranian epics as the enemy of the Kayanian dynasty and the symbol of Turān. For a survey on this character, see Yarshater (1985). 82 On this punishment, see further PV 7: 52 (see Moazami 2014: 210–11, ed. and trans.) and ŠnŠ 8:7 (see Tavadia 1930: 106, ed. and trans.). 83 On the identification and the astrological and astronomical implications of Gōčihr (Av. gaočiθra), see West (1880: 125, n. 3), Panaino (1995: 65, 81, 101–3; 2005), Raffaelli (2001: 91–92, 106–7). For the Islamic tradition, see Hartner (1983). 84 Ērmān (Av. Airyaman-) plays several different roles in Zoroastrian tradition. He is both a healer and a messenger. According to the WZ 35: 21–22 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 132–33, ed. and trans.) he is defined as kardār “efficient” because he holds in his hands a net (simi- lar to that of a fisherman) by which he takes back souls from Hell to the surface during the time of resurrection. See also WZ 35: 49 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 138–39, ed. and trans.). For a general review, see Boyce (1985).
Annali, Sezione orientaleDownloaded from 77 Brill.com09/28/2021 (2017) 116–133 04:08:44AM via free access “This Earth will be Uncrowned, without Depression, Flat” 127 melt the metal of the mountains and the hills which will form a river on the earth.85 (19) Every man will pass through that molten metal and will be pure. To a righteous man it will seem like he is walking through warm milk, while to a wicked man it will seem that he is in the material world walking through mol- ten metal.86 (20) All people will come together in that great affliction, fathers and sons, brothers and friends, and they will ask each other: “Where have you been all these years? What was the judgement of your soul? Were you righ- teous or wicked?” (21) First, souls will see their bodies and question them and the bodies will answer. People will join in one voice, loudly singing praises to Ohrmazd and the Immortal Spirits. (22) At that time, Ohrmazd will perfect the creatures; that is, he will not have to do any more work when they are resur- rected. (23) And Sōšāns, with his helpers, will perform the rite of the resurrec- tion of the dead. In that sacrifice they will kill the bovine Hadayāns87 and from its fat they will prepare white haoma, the elixir of immortality. They will give it to every man and every man will be eternal forever and ever.88 (24) It also says this: Those men who had reached their middle years will be resurrected at the age of forty. The youths who had not, will return at the age of fifteen.89 Every person will be given his wife and children and he will know his wife just as in
85 Cf. PRdd 48: 70 (Williams 1990: I, 184–85, ed.; II, 84–85, trans.) and AJ 17: 15 (Agostini 2013a: 90–91, 115, ed. and trans.) in which it is said, on the contrary, that the holy immortal Šahrewar will melt the metal. On fire as an element in the cosmic conflagration at the end of the world in Hellenism, Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, see Van der Horst (1994). 86 Similarly PRdd 48: 71–72 (Williams 1990: I, 184–85, ed.; II, 85, trans.) and DD 31: 10 (Jaafar- Dehaghi 1998: 102–3, ed. and trans.). 87 Hadayāns (also Hadayōš in Pahlavi texts), found in Pahlavi literature also as Srisōg, is the primordial bovine that originally seems to have been quite distinct from the sole-created Bull (gāw ī ēwdād) (see Boyce 1975: 89–90). See also Hintze (2005). 88 Cf. WZ 35: 15 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 130–31, ed. and trans.) in which it is told that the sacred haoma is already kept ready in the sea. WZ 35: 59 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 140–41, ed. and trans.) adds that the fat of the bovine Hadayāns will be given as food to the resur- rected men according to their deeds. 89 Cf. AJ 17:15 (Agostini 2013a: 90, 115, ed. and trans.) in which all men will resurrected only at the age of fifteen. Cf. also WZ 35: 51 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 138–39, ed. and trans.) and PRdd 48: 101 (Williams 1990: I, 188–89, ed.; II, 87, trans.) in which, on the contrary, all men will be resurrected only at the age of forty. The dead will be resurrected at the ages of perfection, that is, fifteen and forty years old. The first age is that of the navjote, the ritual of initiation to the Zoroastrian faith that can be compared to the Jewish Bar Mitzvah. The other is the age of maturity, when, according to tradition, Zoroaster performed his first conversion, that of Mēdyōmāh, to the new faith (see WZ 24: 1 and 25: 1; Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 84–87, ed. and trans.).
Annali, Sezione orientale 77 (2017) 116–133 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:08:44AM via free access 128 Agostini the material world, but no children will be born from their union.90 (25) Then, by the order of the creator, Sōšāns will dispense rewards and retribution to all men according to their deeds. He will lead the righteous man to Ohrmazd’s Heaven and he will raise up his body just as he wishes and he will walk in that company forever and ever. (26) It also says this: Whoever did not pray, did not purchase an indulgence,91 and did not act rightly and give clothes to the poor, he will stand naked there. But Ohrmazd will pray over him and the spirit of the Gathas will serve as his garment. (27) Then Ohrmazd will seize the Evil Sprit; Wahman will seize Akōman; Ardwahišt will seize Indar; Šahrewar will seize Sawul; Spandarmad will seize Tarōmad who is Nanhais; Hordād and Amurdād will seize Tairiz and Zairiz; Right Speech will seize False Speech; and righteous Srōš will seize Xēšm of the bloody club.92 (28) And then two demons will re- main: Ahreman and Greed. (29) Ohrmazd will come to the material world. He himself shall be the priest and righteous Srōš93 his officiant, and he will hold the sacred girdle94 in his hand. (30) And with the recitation of the Gathas he will strike powerfully the Evil Spirit and Greed and incapacitate them, and through that passage in the sky where they first broke in they will scurry back to darkness and gloom.95 (31) And the dragon Gōčihr will burn in the mol- ten metal. The metal will pour into Hell and the stench and filth of the earth where Hell was located will burn off in that metal and it will become pure.96
90 Similarly PRdd 48: 106 (Williams 1990: I, 190–91, ed.; II, 88, trans.). Cf. WZ 35: 52 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 138–39, ed. and trans.). 91 Gētīg-xarīd must be intended as the acquisition, during life, of a sure place in the afterlife to the ,(٤٢ :see Molé 1960: 178–82; 1961: 152–55). According to the SDB 42: 1 (Dhabhar 1909) man who has performed this ritual the Spirit of Gathas will show his place in Paradise after death. 92 Similarly WZ 35: 37 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 134–35, ed. and trans.). This paragraph opens with a description of the final battle between the forces of Good and those of Evil. The six Holy Immortals (Amahraspand, Av. Aməšaspənta-) of Ohrmazd start the fight against the six arch-demons of Ahreman. IBd 27 (Pakzad 2005: 317–28, ed.; Skjærvø 2011: 76–78, trans.) lists the main characteristics of these six arch-demons and the other minor demons. On the list of the demons, cf. Dk 5.7: 4 (Amouzgar, Tafazzoli 2000: 39–41, ed. and trans.). 93 Av. Sraoša-. A popular Zoroastrian deity and otherworldly judge. On this character, see Malandra (2014). 94 Ēbyānghan (Av. aiwyåŋhana-) is a synonim of the kustīg, that is, the holy girdle. On the symbolism of the kustīg, see Modi (1922: 178–96). 95 Similarly PRdd 48: 94–95 (Williams 1990: I, 186–89, ed.; II, 86–87, trans.). Cf. WZ 35: 35 (Gignoux, Tafazzoli 1993: 134–35, ed. and trans.) and AJ 17: 16 (Agostini 2013a: 91, 115, ed. and trans.). 96 The passage in the PRdd 48: 68 (Williams 1990: I, 182–83, ed.; II, 84, trans.) saying that the resurrected sinners deserving of death will be thrown headless back into Hell for a further
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The hole (?)97 in through which the Evil Spirit burrowed will be sealed by the metal.98 (32) The earth where Hell had been will be returned to the world, flourishing. It will be the longed-for Renovation of souls and the earth will be undying forever and ever.99 (33) It also says this: This earth will be un- crowned, without depression, flat; there will be no mountains, peaks, hollows, ascents or descents.100
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