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

THE TEMPTATION*

Thus Zarathustra answered Angro Mainyus (the Evil Spirit): “O evil-doer, Angro Mainyus! I will smite the creation of the Daêva; I will smite the Nasu, a creature of the Daêva. . . .”

Again to him said the guileful one, . . . . Angro Mainyus: “Do not destroy my creatures, O holy Zarathustra! . . . Renounce the good law of the worshippers of Mazda, and thou shalt gain such a boon as Zohâk,† the murderer, gained, the ruler of the nations.”

Thus in answer to him said Spitama Zarathustra: “No! never will I renounce the good law of the worshippers of Mazda, though my body, my life, my soul should burst!”

Again to him said the guileful one . . . Angro Mainyus: “By whose word wilt thou strike, by whose word wilt thou repel, by whose weapon will the good creatures strike and repel my creation?” . . .

“. . . The words taught by Mazda, these are my . . . best weapons! By this word will I strike, by this word will I repel . . . O evil-doer, Angro Mainyus! To me Spenta Mainyus (Good Spirit) gave it; he gave it to me in the boundless time; to me the Ameshaspentas (Archangels), the all-ruling, the all-beneficent, gave it.”

Zarathustra chanted aloud the (prayer of) Ahuna Vairya.

“The will of the Lord is the law of holiness. The riches of Vohumanô (Good Mind) shall be given to him who works in this world for Mazda, and wields according to the will of Ahura the power he gave to him to relieve the poor.” . . . . . . They run away, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas; they run away, casting the evil eye, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas.

“ ‘Let us gather together at the head of Arezûra (the Gate of Hell). For he is . . . born, the holy Zarathustra, in the house of Pourushaspa. How can we procure his death? He is the stroke that fells the fiends.’ . . .

“Down are the Daêva-worshippers, the Nasu made by the Daêva, the false-speaking lie! They run away, they rush away, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas, into the depths of the dark, horrid world of hell.”

[* ]Max Müller’s “Sacred Books of the East.”

[† ]See Notes.