XVIII. Sakâ<I>d</I>ûm Nask

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

XVIII. SAKADÛM NASK ¹.

Dk. VIII, Chap. XXXVIII, 1, 2, refer to passages, one of which may possibly have contained the statement thus quoted in Sls. XII, 2:—'It says in the Sakâdûm that no one of them, that is an inattentive man who has no high-priest, attains to the best existence, not though his recitation should be so much that it has made his duty and good works as much as the verdure of the plants when it shoots forth in spring, the verdure which is given abundantly by Aûharmazd.'

Dk. VIII, Chap. XXXVIII, 3, refers to a passage which is thus quoted in Sls. X, 25:—'When an action or an opinion comes forward, and one does not know whether it be a sin or a good work, when possible it is to be abandoned and not carried out by him, as it says in the Sakâdûm that Zaratûst has not provided about anything whatever as regards everything, but three times it has been done by Zaratûst about this duty, that is, so that the Avesta

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and Zand, when made quite easy by any one, are for recitation, but are not to be mumbled, for, in mumbling, the portions of the Ahunavair are more chattering.'

Dk. VIII, Chap. XXXVIII, 6, refers to the passage thus mentioned in Sls. XII, 12:—'Where a child is born, during three days, for protection from demons, wizards, and witches, a fire is to be made at night until daylight, and is to be maintained there by day, and pure incense is to be put upon it, as is revealed in the thirtieth ¹ of the Sakâdûm.'

Dk. VIII, Chaps. XXXVIII, 13, XLI, 19, refer to passages which seem both to be partially quoted in Farh. Oîm, p. 38, ll. 4-10, thus:—'The period is eagerly proclaimed in another place, as it says in the Sakâdûm thus:—"Thripithwô zi asti âtars Ahurahê Mazdau hama, bipithwô aiwi-gâmê, atha narô ashavanô:—For thrice-supplied is the fire of Aûharmazd in summer ², twice in winter; so is the righteous man. (Whoever has become a depriver of food (atapdâd) four times, which are successive, should be in doubtfulness as to unrestricted (aband) maintenance vîkithremkid: without any publicity; as much as it is possible to see being the original minimum of any other)."'

Dk. VIII, Chap. XXXV III, 33, refers to the passage which contained the statements thus quoted in Ep. I, viii, 1, 7:—'It is declared in the Sakâdûm, that the consecrated bull's urine, when it becomes

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fetid, is to be stirred up ¹, and they should not carry it forth so to the fire, so that the stench extends to the fire; because, if that stench extends to the fire, on account of the moisture and through carrying bodily refuse over and forth to the fire, it overwhelms it. And that which the Sakâdûm has declared is, specially, that one of the high-priests has individually said: "That stench is mentioned with reference to the occasion when a stench reaches it of a different kind from that which exists naturally in it."'

Dk. VIII, Chap. XLIII, 33, refers to the passage which contained the statements thus mentioned in Sls. XII, 10, XIII, 30:—'In the twenty-two ² sections of the Sakâdûm grievous things are shown about those who do not make offerings unto the sacred beings.' And, again, 'while those nineteen (stanzas of Yas. XLVI) are our offering, which it says in the Sakâdûm should be my own, the strength and power of the sacred beings shall become more considerable, and the destroyer more perishable.'

Footnotes

479:1 The very long account of this Nask, in Dk. VIII, contains 4,129 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 53,000 Avesta and 476,600 Pahlavi words.

480:1 That is, in one of the first thirty sections (see Dk. VIII, Chap. XXXVIII, i).

480:2 Both K20 and MH6 have amat, 'though,' instead of pavan hamîn. This first sentence corresponds with part of Chap. XLI, 19, and the following sentence with part of Chap. XXXVIII, 13.

481:1 This statement is again mentioned in § 6.

481:2 The last twenty-two (see Dk. VIII, Chap. XLI, 1).