SAD DAR.

Pahlavi Texts, Part III (SBE24), E.W. West, tr. [1885], at sacred-texts.com

p. 255

INTRODUCTION.

1. In the name of Hôrmazd, the lord, the greatest and wise ¹, the all-ruling, all knowing, and almighty.

2. This is a book (kitâb), about the proper and improper, which is extracted from the good and pure ² religion of the Mazda-worshippers. 3. What is expedient (vâgib) is this, for every one to know and keep this in practice. 4. And it is not desirable that he become independent (‘hâlî) of this for a single hour (sâ’hat). 5. Because, when one becomes independent, the sin for each one may become abundant; and when it is brought into practice the reward becomes abundant.

6. On this occasion (vaqt) I, a servant of the religion—like the môbad Erân-shâh ³, son (bin) of

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[paragraph continues] Yazad-yâr, son of Tîstar-yâr, son of Âdar-bâd, son of Mâraspend ¹—have sent a reward to their souls, unto every one who reads and is bound by duty ². 7. Thus much (în qadar), which has come written, is a good work they know, whosoever are superior; but it is not possible for every one inferior to know of this. 8. If it were more (ziyâdat) it is proper, but if (imṃâ) less than this it is not proper to know ³; while, in gratitude for the benefits (sukr-i ni’hmat) of the sacred being, they become increasing in action, and the sacred being, the most high (ta’hâlâi) ⁴, makes benefits occur on the spot on that account.

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9. And, secondly, the kindness (lutf) and generosity (karm) of the sacred being, the most high ¹, are manifest from this, that he created us with each member (âlat) complete (tamâm), and did not keep anything from the maternal nature. 10. And whatever was necessary for use he gave us. 11. At the head, likewise, he appointed a master, which is ² the wisdom for the purpose that they may keep these members in action.

12. May the peace of the sacred being, the most high, be on the souls of those acquainted with the religion of the pure Zaratust, the Spitamân, and of those who are pure and virtuous. 13. For the souls of those persons it is desirable that every duty they perform they shall perform through the authority (dastûrî) of the wisdom of the high-priests ³.

Footnotes

255:1 It is possible to translate the original (which is the same as in Sg. I, 1) as follows:—'The name of Hôrmazd is "the lord, the greatest wise one,"' as though these epithets were the meaning of Hôrmazd, which is not far from the truth; but this would not be a probable form for an invocation. Lp and B29 have a different invocation.

255:2 Lp, B29, J15 omit 'and pure.'

255:3 This is the name of the writer who composed the Sad Dar Nathm, or metrical Sad Dar, in A.D. 1495. He calls himself, however, a son of Malik-shâh in the introduction to his verses (see Hyde's Historia Religionis Veterum Persarum, Oxon, 1700, p. 433); and in his postscript he mentions Mard-shah as his own name, which Dastûr Jâmâspji understands to mean Shah-mard, in the introduction to his Gugarâti translation of the Sad Dar-i Ba‘hr-i Tavîl, or long-metre Sad Dar (2nd ed., Bombay, 1881). The date p. 256 of composition of this long-metre Sad Dar is A.D. 1531, according to Dastûr Jâmâspji, and its authors state that they compiled it from the Sad Dar NaTHr, or prose Sad Dar, which was composed by three celebrated Dastûrs near the time of the Arab conquest. The names in our text are found here only in La, which is either the original, or an early copy, of a version of the prose Sad Dar compiled by Râma, son of Kanhaksha, in which the Persian is written in Avesta letters, and alternates with an old Gugarâti translation composed by his son Padama. This version was prepared A.D. 1575, and the occurrence of the name of Erin-shah, who lived only eighty years earlier, indicates that this part of the introduction was probably written by the editor Râma, and not copied from the original prose Sad Dar. In Lp 'the môbad Erân-shâh, son of Yazad-yâr,' is mentioned at the end of the work.

256:1 The last two names are introduced merely to show that Erân-shâh traced his ancestry back either to the celebrated Âtûr-pâd Mâraspend, prime minister of Shâpûr II (A.D. 309-379), or to another priest of the same name who lived about A.D. 900 (see Bd. XXXIII, 11); but very many intermediate names have been omitted in this genealogy.

256:2 J15 omits the whole of § 6, and Lp, B29 have merely 'and a reward is sent to their souls, &c.,' to be read in connection with § 5.

256:3 Lp, B29, J15 have 'so that no hesitation arises' instead of 'to know.'

256:4 Lp, B29, J15 omit this epithet.

257:1 Lp, B29, J15 omit this epithet.

257:2 J15 has 'who possessed.'

257:3 For §§ 12, 13 Lp, B29, J15 have merely the following:—'And peace is possible for that person who does every duty that he performs, through the authority of the high-priests.'