The Online Library of Liberty

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• Editorial Note
• Author’s Preface
• Introduction
• Extracts
• Purity *
• Prayer of Ashem-vohu † From Khordah-avesta
• The Law of Ahura-mazda *
• Commandments For the Body and the Soul †
• The Soul’s Destination *
• The Soul’s Rendering of Account *
• Gatha Hymn *
• Confession of Faith
• The Creed *
• Prayer of Kem NÂ Mazda *
• Prayer of Ke Verethrem Ga †
• Prayer of Ormuzd Yast ‡ ( In Praise of God )
• God As the King, the Life, the Rewarder *
• The Creation of the World By Ahura-mazda and Corresponding Evils By Angro Mainyus *
• God’s Warning to Yima of Winter and Deluge *
• Blessings of Cultivating the Soil *
• Happiness of the Earth *
• Grief of the Earth †
• Cultivation of Land Where a Corpse Is Found *
• Purification of Water Defiled By a Corpse †
• Religious Education †
• Reward For the Pious *
• Forgiveness of Sin ‡
• The Temptation *
• Banishment of Angro Mainyus *
• On Loan *
• On Waste †
• Temperance ‡
• Souls’ Visit to the Earth †
• The Mazdayasnian Confession *
• Patet Erani *
• Marriage Service †
• The Vision of ArdÂ-vÎrÂf †
• Sanctity *
• Prayer For Safety *
• Notes

GOD’S WARNING TO YIMA OF WINTER AND DELUGE*

And Ahura-Mazda spake unto Yima, saying:

“O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; . . . that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî, deep on the highest tops of mountains.

“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.

“Therefore make thee a vara,† long as a ridingground on every side of the square, and thither bring . . . sheep and oxen . . . men . . . dogs . . . birds and . . . red blazing fires.

“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.

“Thither thou shalt bring . . . men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring . . . every kind of cattle, 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 . . . shalt thou bring, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the vara.

“There shall be no hump-backed, 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 Angro Mainyus stamps the bodies of mortals.”

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: “. . . Crush the earth with a stamp of thy heel, and then knead it with thy hands . . .”

[* ]Sacred Books of the East.

[† ]An enclosure.

[* ]About an English mile.