XV. Nîkâ<I>d</I>ûm Nask

Pahlavi Texts, Part IV (SBE37), E.W. West, tr. [1892], at sacred-texts.com

XV. NÎKÂDÛM NASK ¹.

Dk. VIII, Chap. XVIII, 3, refers to the passage which, no doubt, contained the statement thus quoted

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in Farh. Oîm, pp. 6, 1. 11-7, l. 13:—'Aêdha is the skin of the head, and there is part of it which is large and part which is small, as it says in the Nihâdûm:—"Kaya henti masyanghô aêdha, which are those parts with the larger skin? Yô aparaya paiti mastraghnaya, whatever is behind the skull; (Afarg ¹ said, from the ear backwards). Kaya kasyanghô, which are those with the smaller? Yô paouruya paiti mastraghnaya, whatever is before the skull ². Vaghdhanem is the head, and one says nars vaghdhanem, &c., this is: Sinful are they who penetrate (sûmbênd) a man's head, astem aêvô mastravanãm, or one bone of the skull; vîspaka yô mastraghnãm amãsta, all those are to be smitten who have penetrated into the skull, and to be given up as outcast ³; hvarô-kithanãm ⁴ aêteê anyê kikayatô, the penalties of a Khôr ⁵ sin chastise those who hurt other parts, (such as the brain which is in the skull of the head, and the marrow of the other members that are to be mentioned, just as it mentions this:—Sinful are they who strike through the bone, or flesh, or marrow of a leg, and every one of those is to be smitten who strikes

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through the bone of one fleshy part, and he is to be given up as outcast; while the penalties of a Khôr sin ¹ chastise those who hurt other parts)."'

Dk. VIII, Chap. XX, 116, probably refers to the passage which contained the statement thus quoted in Pahl. Vend. IV, 35: 'That is, this is the account of the number of years, according to that which is in the Hûspârûm as regards the account of the number; and according to that which is in the Nihâdûm it is the account of the number of men.'

Dk. VIII, Chap. XX, 124, possibly refers to the passage which contained the statement thus quoted in Sls. X, 3:—'In the exposition of the Nihâdûm Nask it says that a man is going to commit robbery, and a wall falls in upon him, it is his destroyer; when a man strikes at him he is his adversary, and both are in sinfulness; when he is going to perform the ceremonial of the sacred beings both are in innocence towards him.'

No allusion to the following six passages, quoted from this Nask, has been noticed in Dk. VIII, Chaps. XVI-XX:—

In Sls. X, 22, XII, 15, it is said as in the last fragment of the Spend N ask, already quoted.

In Sls. X, 23, XII, 16, it is said that 'in the Nihâdûm the high-priests have taught thus:—"A man gives a hungry one bread, and it is too much, yet (or when a man gives bread to a man, even though that man has too much bread) all the good works, which he shall perform through that superabundance,

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become as much his who gave it as though they had been done by his own hand."'

In Pahl. Vend. V, 73, it is said 'like unto this earth and that (sky) which would also cover over it (ever in all places; there is some one who says this is as to dead matter, that in the Nihâdûm says it is as to decision and judgment, and that in the Hûspârûm says it is as to the ritual of the ceremonial).'

In Vig. p. 136, it is said that 'it is declared by the Avesta of the Nihâdûm thus:—"Âad yad draonô Vanantô stârô mazdadhâtô frâyazyâd, kathwârô draonô frakerententi aiwi-hvarenti, yad aêshô nâ yô yaozdâthryô:—So when he, who is that man who is a purifier, shall consecrate the sacred cake of Vanand ¹, the star produced by Aûharmazd, they cut up and shall eat up four sacred cakes."'

In Vig. pp. 180, 181, it is said that 'in the Nihâdûm it is stated:—Âad aokhta Ahurô Mazdau: "Yad aêtê yô mazdayasna aêtem srîrem vastrem stehr-paêsanghem hvãm tanûm bâdha paoirîm vanghanemka hadha varanô paitanemka, paskaiti aiwyaunghânô ava hê maidhyânem bûgyamanô." Aêtem zî srîrem vastrem mainyutâstem haka mainyavanãm dâmanãm avi mê fradadhâd Ahurô Mazdau ashava. "Yatha hê varanô paitanem asti mãnayen hvare-khshaêtahê, adhâd hadha hê vastranãm yaozdâthranãm frâyaza vâ nizbaya vâ Ahurâi Mazdâi ameshanãm spentanãm, Spitama Zarathustra!"—Thus spoke Aûharmazd: "When for him, of those who are Mazda-worshippers, there is this beneficial, star-spangled (that is, wrought) garment ², always (after seven years of age, that is,

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after seven years of age) first he covers up (that is, clothes) his own body in it, and with (that he is properly) a preserver of faith (that is, a preserver of attachment, and) he afterwards ties ¹ (that) girdle (over that starry garment) at the waist (as a waist-belt)." That, even this well-looking garment, spiritually formed by the creatures of the spirits, is really (that which) the righteous Aûharmazd granted me (who am Zaratûst). "Since it is his preserver of faith, (that is, preserver of attachment), he is like (him who is as) the sun, (a preserver of beneficial faith, an implorer of the splendid heaven, and is one who is an accepter of the religion); therefore, with that garment, which is purified (that is, pure), do thou worship, or practise invocation, as regards Aûharmazd and as regards the archangels, O Spîtâmân Zaratûst!"'

In Vig. pp. 184, 185, it is said that 'it is declared by the Avesta of the Nihâdûm thus:—Âad aêtahê panka ayara hamaspathmaidhem paiti ratûm spentayau ârmatôis mâunghô nôid frasrâvayôid:—So one does not chant forth (that is, does not invoke) the month of (the completely mindful) Spendarmad ² (that is, the Spendarmad month) in the reign of those five Hatnaspadmêdêm days ³; (for if one invokes it, owing to forgetfulness, the Avesta is not accepted).'

Footnotes

471:1 The very long account of this Nask, in Dk. VIII, contains p. 472 4,876 Pahlavi words, from which the extent of its original text may be estimated (in the same way as in the case of Nask XVII) at about 62,600 Avesta and 562,900 Pahlavi words.

472:1 One of the old commentators whose statements are frequently quoted in the Pahlavi versions of the Avesta. The reading of his name and the age in which he lived are alike uncertain, but he appears to have been one of the earliest commentators whose opinions now survive.

472:2 Perhaps the quotation ends at this point; but Dk. VIII, Chap. XVIII, 3, is equally applicable to what follows.

472:3 Tanâpûhar, see Dk. VIII, Chap. XX, 65.

472:4 So in K20.

472:5 See Dk. VIII, Chap. XXXI, 39.

473:1 MH6 has va-aêvak kerp after mazg, and both K20 and MH6 have valman barâ yehabûnisn; khôr tôgisnîhâ after tanâpûhar.

474:1 The southern leader of the stars, probably Fomalhaut. (see Bd. II, 7, V, I).

474:2 The sacred shirt.

475:1 This appears to be the reverse of the meaning of Av. bûgyamanô in Yt. I, 17, but see the first fragment of Nask XIV, quoted in Vig. pp. 160, 161.

475:2 The last month of the Parsi year, named after the archangel Spendarmad (see Dk. VIII, Chap. IX, 3).

475:3 The five intercalary days that follow the last month, in order to make the twelve months, of thirty days each, correspond with a year of 365 days. They coincide with the Hamaspadmêdêm season-festival, originally intended to celebrate the vernal equinox.