ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 14 Dariush Kargar Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma Iranian Conceptions of the Other World Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in 6-1023, Geijersalen, Engelska parken, Thunbergsvägen 3, Uppsala, Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in Swedish. Abstract Kargar, D. 2009. Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma. Iranian Conceptions of the Other World. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 14. 241+79 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-554-7679-3. The present thesis consists of an edition of an Iranian literary work whose theme is a journey to the Other World, namely the Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma. The version of this work which is here edited and commented on is a prose version in the Zoroastrian Persian language. A discussion about Iranian conceptions of the Other World is also an integrated part of the thesis. The text of the Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma is edited employing a text critical method by using six manuscripts. The oldest manuscript, which has been used as the base manuscript for editing the text, was written in 896 A.Y. (Yazdgirdī)/1527 A.D. The edited text is also translated into English, and followed by a Commentary on names, unusual words and Zoroastrian terms used in the text. Other Iranian documents about journeys to the Other World are studied in this thesis as well, and all are compared to the Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma. The Zoroastrian Persian version of this work is also compared to its Parsig version. The differences between the Zoroastrian Persian and the Parsig versions indicate that they have their background in two different world views. To prove this theory, some significant elements in the Zoroastrian Persian version, which demonstrate that this is a pre-Zoroastrian epic narrative, have been compared to some elements in the Parsig version that show that this is a religious Zoroastrian account. Possible reasons for the change in Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma from apre-Zoroastrian epic narrative into a Zoroastrian- religious one are also suggested. A king named Davānūs is one of the Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma personages. In an appendix, the historical personality of Davānūs is discussed with reference to Arabic, Persian and Greek historiography. Keywords: Ardāy-Vīrāf Nāma, Vīrāf, journey to the Other World, Zoroastrian Persian, Parsig, critical edition, shamanism, Davānūs Dariush Kargar, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Asian and African Languages and Cultures, Iranian languages, Box 635, Uppsala University, SE-751 26 Uppsala, Sweden © Dariush Kargar 2009 ISSN 1100-326X ISBN 978-91-554-7679-3 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-111264 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-111264) Printed in Sweden by Edita Västra Aros, Västerås 2009. Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden www.uu.se, [email protected] In the memory of my beloved and lost: My father and brothers; To my dearest companions far away or near: My mother, sister and brother, My wife, daughter and son. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the result of my research over about five years. Of course, many peo- ple helped me in this work. In other words, without the favour of those who helped me, this research would not have been successfully completed at the present time. For this reason, I now want to thank each one of those who helped me. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors, Mrs. Carina Jahani and Mr. Bo Utas, who assisted me in all stages of this research. I am particularly grateful to Bo Utas because at the nearness of his retirement he accepted to be my supervisor, which means that I became his last Ph.D. student. Along with them, I give my sin- cere thanks to Mrs. Judith Josephson for helping me in editing and improving the translation of the text as well as for reading the final manuscript and providing use- ful comments. After my supervisors, I am thankful to my wife Giti Radji, my daughter Forogh Kargar and my son Mazdak Kargar, who were my supporters and companions in all conditions. I am very thankful to them, although I know that my appreciation is a small token in view of their great love. I greatly appreciate my friends’ efforts to provide the microfilms of the manu- scripts. I therefore thank Mr. Nasser Pakdaman, Mr. Homayoun Katouzian, Mr. Mehdi Estedadi Shad, Mr. Mehrdad Fallahzadeh, Mrs. Shernaz Cama and Mr. Rham Aša for their valuable contribution. I am also grateful to all other friends who assisted me by presenting sources, commenting on earlier versions of my manuscript etc., Mr. Rahmat Kheiri, Mr. Ataollah Montazeri, Mr. Frantz Grenet, Mr. Reza Rezvani, Miss. Batul Azizpoor, Mrs. Mana Aghaee, Mr. Bahman Forsi, Mr. Reza Shadman, Mr. Johan Heldt, Mr. Anders Widmark, Mr. Nader Motallebi Kashani, Mr. Mehrdad Fallahzadeh, Mr. Ali Muhaddis, Mr. Behrooz Barjasteh Delforooz, Mr. Farhad Shakely, Mr. Nouzad Ahmad and Mr. Zakky Sharif. I would also like to thank my host department, the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, for providing a Ph.D. position with financial support for two years, something which greatly facilitated the finalisation of the project. Sincere thanks also to Mr. John Roberts, for providing a thorough language proofreading of the English section of this dissertation. I hope that all these people and Uppsala University will accept these few words of thanks, from the bottom of my heart, although it is too little in response to their great favour. Contents English Section I. Introduction ...............................................................................................15 Previous Research ....................................................................................17 The Aim ...................................................................................................17 The Method ..............................................................................................18 The Sources..............................................................................................18 II. The background and history of a text.......................................................19 The name of Vrf ....................................................................................20 Vrf’s personality....................................................................................23 The time of Vrf......................................................................................25 The Ardy-Vrf Nma versions ..............................................................25 The illustrated manuscripts of the Ardy-Vrf Nma .............................29 III. The Other World in Other Iranian works................................................33 The Other World ......................................................................................37 A: Abstract descriptive narrations .......................................................37 General characteristics of abstract descriptive narrations ........................39 B: Travellers’ reports...........................................................................40 Jamšd’s journey.......................................................................................41 Special features of Jamšd’s journey ...................................................43 Zarathustra’s journey................................................................................43 Differences and similarities in Zarathustra’s journey descriptions......44 Wištsp’s journey.....................................................................................45 Differences and similarities, in Wištsp/Guštsp’s travel descriptions .............................................................................................................48 Kerdr’s Journey.......................................................................................49 The specific circumstances of Kerdr’s journey ..................................50 Journey of Zoroaster the Pamphylian.......................................................53 Wirkak’s journey......................................................................................56 Specific circumstances of Wirkak’s journey .......................................58 After Islam................................................................................................59 IV. Previous Research...................................................................................63 V. Manuscripts..............................................................................................71 Manuscript N............................................................................................73 Manuscript L ............................................................................................76 Presentation of manuscripts......................................................................78 Special characteristics of the texts.......................................................92 The method used in the editing of the text ...............................................94 VI. ARDY-VRF NMA [English translation]....................................105 VII. Commentary ........................................................................................135 VIII. The Zoroastrian Persian Version in Comparison with the Parsig Version........................................................................................................169 Comparison of the Introductions............................................................171 Comparison of subsequent episodes in both versions