VENDÎDÂD.

The Zend Avesta, Part I (SBE04), James Darmesteter, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com

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THIS chapter is an enumeration of sixteen lands created by Ahura Mazda, and of as many plagues created in opposition by Angra Mainyu.

Many attempts have been made, not only to identify these sixteen lands, but also to draw historical conclusions from their order of succession, as representing the actual order of the migrations and settlements of the old Iranian tribes ¹. But there is nothing in the text that would authorise us to look to it even for legendary records, much less for real history. We have here nothing more than a geographical description of Iran, such as might be expected in a religious work like the Vendîdâd, that is to say, one that contains mythical lands as well as real countries. It is not easy to decide with perfect certainty, in every case, whether we have to do with a land of the former or of the latter kind, owing partly to our deficient knowledge of the geography of ancient Iran, partly to the fact that names, originally belonging to mythical lands, are often in later times attached to real ones.

Of these sixteen lands there are certainly nine which have really existed, and of which we know the geographical position, as we are able to follow their names from the records of the Achæmenian kings or the works of classical writers down to the map of modern Iran. They are the following:--

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[paragraph continues] The real existence of Nisâya (5) is certain, although its position cannot be exactly determined (see the note to § 8).

For the other lands we are confined for information to the Pahlavi Commentary. Kakhra (13) is only transliterated, whether the name was then too much known to require any further explanation or too little to allow of any. Urva (8) is described as being Masân ('the land of Masân' or 'the land of the Great'), a name which applied, in the Sassanian ages, to the land around Ispahân (Firdausi, ed. Mohl, V, 270).

For 'Varena, the four-cornered' (14), the Commentary hesitates between the Padashkhvârgar mountains (the Elborz) and Kirmân, a hesitation easily accounted for by the fact that Varena is the seat of the struggle between Azis Dahâka and Thraêtaona, between the storm serpent and the storm god, and was formerly 'the four-sided Heaven' (see Introd. IV, 12, 23). Modern tradition decides in favour of Padashkhvârgar, probably because the serpent was at last bound to Demavand, the highest peak in that chain. The claims of Kirmân were probably founded on the popular etymology of its name, 'the land of snakes.'

'Vaêkereta, of the evil shadows' (8), is identified with Kapul (Cabul); whether rightly or wrongly, we are unable to decide; yet, as it is spoken of only as the seat of the adventures of Keresâspa (see Introd. IV, 21), it may be suspected that this assimilation rests merely on the fact that, in later tradition, the legend of Keresâspa was localised in the table-land of Peshyansâi, in Kabulistan (Bund. XXX).

In the enumeration there is no apparent order whatever, and Ormazd, in his creations, seems to travel all over the map, forward and backward, without the slightest regard to the cardinal points. Yet, the starting point and the final point have not been arbitrarily chosen: the first land created was 'the Airyana Vaêgô by the Vanguhi Dâitya,' and the last was the land by the Rangha. Now,

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the Vanguhi and the Rangha were originally the celestial rivers that came down from heaven (as two heavenly Gaṅgâs) to surround the earth, the one in the east, the other in the west (Bund. XX); this is why the creation begins with a land by the Vanguhi and ends with a land by the Rangha.

In the Sassanian ages, when the Tigris was definitively the border of Iran in the west, the Rangha was identified with it, and the sixteenth land is accordingly described in the Commentary as being Arvastân-i-Rûm, or Roman Mesopotamia. But all the Avesta passages in which the Rangha is cited refer to its mythical nature, as the river in the far-off horizon, as the surrounding Okeanos, and, now and then, still resembling its Vedic homonym, the Rasâ, as the river that divides the gods from the fiends.

The first land, the Airyana Vaêgô by the Vanguhi Dâitya, remained to the last a mythical region. It was originally the abode of Yima and of the righteous, that is to say, a particular form of paradise (see Introd. IV, 38, and Farg. II). Later on, it was looked for in the countries north of Adarbaijan, probably in order that it should be as near as possible to the seat of the Zoroastrian religion, yet without losing its supernatural character by the counter-evidence of facts. This brought about the division of the Vanguhi Dâitya into two rivers: as the Airyana Vaêgô was localised in the country north of Adarbaijan, the river in it must become identified with the Araxes (Aras); but, at the same time, it continued to surround the world eastward under the name of Veh (Vanguhi), which was the Sassanian name of the Oxus--Indus ¹. It seems that in the time of Herodotus, the Araxes and the Oxus were considered one and the same river ², as the Oxus and the Indus were later on; this would account for his strange statement that the Araxes, which is confessedly with him the Oxus or Yaxartes, springs from the land of the Matianians, like the Gyndes, and flows eastwards (I, 202; IV, 40; cf. III, 36; IV, 11); and, at the same time, this would account both for how the Airyana Vaêgô could be localised in the basin of the Araxes and how the Oxus could flow eastwards to fall into the Arabian sea ³.

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It follows hence that no historical conclusions can be drawn from this description: it was necessary that it should begin with the Vanguhi and end with the Rangha. To look to it for an account of geographical migrations, is converting cosmology into history.

Of the counter-creations of Angra Mainyu there is little to be said: they are different vices and plagues, which are generally unconnected with the country to the creation of which they answer. Some of them are expressed by ἅπαξ λεγόμενα, the meaning of which is doubtful or unknown.

If we assume that only lands belonging to the Iranian world were admitted into the list, the mention of the Seven Rivers would indicate that the first Fargard was not composed earlier than the time when the basin of the Indus became a part of Iran, that is, not earlier than the reign of Darius the First.

1. Ahura Mazda ¹ spake unto Spitama ² Zarathustra ³, saying:

2. I have made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it ⁴: had I not made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it, then the whole living world would have invaded the Airyana Vaêgô ⁵.

3 (5). The first of the good lands and countries

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which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Airyana Vaêgô ¹, by the good river Dâitya ².

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the serpent in the river ³ and winter, a work of the Daêvas ⁴.

4 (9). There are ten winter months there, two summer months ⁵; and those are cold for the waters ⁶, cold for the earth, cold for the trees ⁷. Winter falls there, with the worst of its plagues.

5 (13). The second of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the plains ⁸ in Sughdha ⁹.

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Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the fly Skaitya ¹, which brings death to the cattle.

6 (17). The third of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the strong, holy Môuru ².

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft sinful lusts ³.

7 (21). The fourth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the beautiful Bâkhdhi ⁴ with high-lifted banners.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the Bravara ⁵.

8 (25). The fifth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Nisâya ⁶, that lies between Môuru and Bâkhdhi.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the sin of unbelief ⁷.

9 (29). The sixth of the good lands and countries

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which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Harôyu ¹ with its lake ².

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the stained mosquito ³.

10 (33). The seventh of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Vaêkereta ⁴, of the evil shadows.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the Pairika Knãthaiti, who clave unto Keresâspa ⁵.

11 (37). The eighth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Urva of the rich pastures ⁶.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the sin of pride ⁷.

12 (41). The ninth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda) created, was Khnenta in Vehrkâna ⁸.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft a sin for which there is no atonement, the unnatural sin ⁹.

13 (45). The tenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda created, was the beautiful Harahvaiti ¹⁰.

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Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft a sin for which there is no atonement, the burying of the dead ¹.

14 (49). The eleventh of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the bright, glorious Haêtumant ².

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the evil witchcraft of the Yâtus ³.

15 (53). And this is how the Yâtu's nature shows itself: it shows itself by the look ⁴; and then, whenever the wizard goes and howls forth his spells ⁵, most deadly works of witchcraft go forth ⁶.

16 (59). The twelfth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Ragha of the three races ⁷.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft the sin of utter unbelief ⁸.

17 (63). The thirteenth of the good lands and

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countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the strong, holy Kakhra ¹.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft a sin for which there is no atonement, the burning of corpses ².

18 (67). The fourteenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the four-cornered Varena ³, for which was born Thraêtaona, who smote Azis Dahâka.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft abnormal issues in women ⁴ and the oppression of foreign rulers ⁵.

19 (72). The fifteenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Seven Rivers ⁶.

Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft abnormal issues in women and excessive heat.

20 (76). The sixteenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the land by the floods of the Rangha ⁷, where people live without a head ⁸.

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Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft winter, a work of the Daêvas ¹.

21 (81). There are still other lands and countries, beautiful and deep, desirable and bright, and thriving.

Footnotes

1:1 Rhode, Die heilige Sage des Zendvolks, p. 61; Heeren, Ideen zur Geschichte, I, p. 498; Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde I, p. 526; Haug in Bunsen's work, Aegypten's Stellung, V, 2nd part, p. 104; Kiepert, Monatsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 1856, p. 621.--New light was thrown on this record by M. Bréal in his paper 'De la géographie de l’Avesta' (in the Mêlanges de mythologie et de linguistique, p. 187 seq.)

3:1 The Oxus and the Indus were believed to be one and the same river (Bund. l.c.; see Garrez, journal Asiatique, 1869, II, 195 seq.)

3:2 Running under the Caspian sea, as Arethusa runs under the Sicilian sea and the Rangha itself under the Persian gulf (Bund. XX; cf. Garrez 1.c.)

3:3 Whether in the time when this Fargard was written, the Airyana p. 4 Vaêgô was still believed to be in the far-off lands of the rising sun, or already on the banks of the Aras, we leave undecided.

4:1 See Introd. IV, 4.

4:2 Literally 'the most beneficent,' an epithet of Zarathustra, which was later mistaken for a family name, 'the Spitamide.'

4:3 See Introd. IV, 40.

4:4 'Every one fancies that the land where he is born and has been brought up is the best and fairest land that I have created.' (Comm.)

4:5 See following clause. Clause 2 belongs to the Commentary; it is composed of quotations that illustrate the alternative process of the creation: 'First, Ahura Mazda would create a land of such kind that its dwellers might like it, and there could be nothing more delightful. Then he who is all death would bring against it a counter-creation.'

5:1 See the Introd. to the Fargard.

5:2 'The good Dâitya.' 'The Dâitîk (Dâitya) comes from Irân Vêg (Airyana Vaêgô), it flows through the mountains of Gorgistân (Georgia,' Bund. p. 51, 19). It was therefore, in the time of the Sassanides, a name of the Araxes.

5:3 'There are many Khrafstras in the Dâitîk, as it is said, The Dâitîk full of Khrafstras' (Bund. p. 51, 20). The serpent in the river was originally the mythical Serpent, Azis, who overthrew and killed the king of Irân Vêg, Yima (see Introd. IV, 18); then it was identified, as appears from the Bundahis, with the snakes that abound on the banks of the Araxes (Morier, A Second Journey, p. 250).

5:4 As Irân Vêg is a place of refuge for mankind and all life from the winter that is to destroy the world (see Farg. II, 21 seq.), winter was thought, by a mythical misunderstanding, to be the counter-creation of Irân Vêg: hence the glacial description of that strange paradise (see the following clause).

5:5 Vendîdâd Sâdah: 'It is known that in the ordinary course of nature there are seven months of summer and five of winter' (see Bund. XXV).

5:6 Some say: 'Even those two months of summer are cold for the waters . . .' (Comm.; cf. Mainyô-i-khard XLIV, 20, and above, n. ⁴).

5:7 Vend. Sâdah: 'There reigns the core and heart of winter.'

5:8 Doubtful: possibly the name of a river (the Zarafshand).

5:9 Suguda; Sogdiana.

6:1 A word unknown: possibly 'the cattle fly.' It is a fly that hides itself among the corn and the fodder, and, thence stings with a venomous sting the ox that eats of it (Comm. and Asp.)

6:2 Margu; Margiana; Merv.

6:3 Translated according to the Comm. and Asp.

6:4 Bâkhtri; Bactra; Balkh.

6:5 'The corn-carrying ants' (Asp.; cf. Farg. XIV, 5).

6:6 There were several towns of this name, but none between Môuru and Bâkhdhi. But the sentence may be translated also: 'Nisâya between which and Bâkhdhi Môuru lies,' which would point to Νισαία, the capital of Parthia (Παρθαύνισα Isid. of Charax 12); cf. Pliny 6, 25 (29).

6:7 'One must believe in the law, and have no doubt whatever about it in the heart, and firmly believe that the good and right law that Ormazd sent to the world is the same law that was brought to us by Zardust' (Saddar 1).

7:1 Haraiva; Areia; the basin of the Hari river, or Herat.

7:2 Doubtful.

7:3 Doubtful.

7:4 'Kapul' (Comm.; see the Introd. to the Fargard).

7:5 See Introd. IV, 21.

7:6 According to Asp. Tus (in Khorasan); more probably the land around Ispahan. See the Introd. to the Fargard.

7:7 Or better, tyranny: 'the great are proud there' (Comm.)

7:8 Varkâna; Hyrcania. 'Khnenta is a river in Vehrkâna' (Comm.); consequently the river Gorgân.

7:9 See Farg. VIII, 31.

7:10 Harauvati; Ἀράχωτος; Harût.

8:1 See Farg. III, 36 seq.

8:2 The basin of the Ἐτύμανδρος or Erymanthus; now Helmend. Cf. Farg. XIX, 39.

8:3 The wizards; see Introd. IV, 20.

8:4 The evil eye.

8:5 As a Γόης. Witchcraft is exercised either by the eye or by the voice (Asp.)

8:6 Vendîdâd Sâdah: 'Then they come forth to kill and to strike to the heart! A gloss cites, as productions of the wizard, I snow and hail' (cf. Hippocrates, De Morbo Sacro 1, and Pausanias 2, 34, 4). To that gloss seems to belong the corrupt Zend sentence that follows, and that may mean 'they increase the plague of locusts' (cf. Farg. VII, 26).

8:7 Raï. See Introd. III. 15.

8:8 'They doubt themselves and cause other people to doubt' (Comm.)

9:1 A land unknown. Asp.: China, which is certainly wrong. There was a town of that name in Khorasan (Karkh).

9:2 See Farg. VIII, 73.

9:3 See the Introd. to the Farg.

9:4 Farg. XVI, 11 seq.

9:5 Possibly an allusion to Azis Dahâka (Zohâk), who, as a king, represents the foreign conqueror (in later tradition the Tâzî or Arab; possibly in older tradition the Assyrian).

9:6 The basin of the affluents of the Indus, the modern Pañgâb (= the Five Rivers).

9:7 'Arvastân-i-Rûm (Roman Mesopotamia),' (Comm.; see the Introd. to the Farg.)

9:8 It is interpreted in a figurative sense as meaning 'people who p. 10 do not hold the chief for a chief' (Comm.), which is the translation for asraosha (Comm. ad XVI, 18), 'rebel against the law,' and would well apply in the Sassanian ages to the non-Mazdean people of Arvastân-i-Rûm. I think we must adopt the literal meaning, and recognise in this passage the source, or at least the oldest form, of those tales about people without a head, with eyes on their shoulders, which Pliny received from the half-Persian Ctesias (Hist. N. VII, 2; V, 8; cf. Aul. Gell. IX, 4; Sanct. August. De Civit. Dei, XVI, 8). Persian geographers mention such people, they place them in the Oriental islands near China, whence they sent ambassadors to the Khan of the Tatars (Ouseley, Catalogue). The mythical origin of those tales may be traced in Indian and Greek mythology (Orm. Ahr. § 222; cf. Pausanias IX, 20).

10:1 Vendîdâd Sâdah: 'And the oppression of the land that comes from taoza (?).'