The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• 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

GRIEF OF THE EARTH†

“It is the place wherein most corpses of dogs and of men lie buried.

“It is the place whereon the wife and children of one of the faithful . . . are driven along the way of captivity (the dry, the dusty way, and lift up a voice of wailing.

“Unhappy is the land that has long lain unsown with the seed of the sower, and wants a good husbandman, like a well-shapen maiden who has long gone childless and wants a good husband.”

[† ]Ibid.