FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129  
130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   >>   >|  
slations, in which the reader will easily discover the different hues of certainty and uncertainty, of sense and mere verbiage: 1. That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, thou living God! whether your friend (Sraosha) be willing to recite his own hymn as prayer to my friend (Frashaostra or Vistaspa), thou Wise! and whether he should come to us with the good mind, to perform for us true actions of friendship. 2. That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, thou living God! How arose the best present life (this world)? By what means are the present things (the world) to be supported? That spirit, the holy (Vohu mano), O true wise spirit! is the guardian of the beings to ward off from them every evil; He is the promoter of all life. 3. That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, thou living God! Who was in the beginning the Father and Creator of truth? Who made the sun and stars? Who causes the moon to increase and wane if not Thou? This I wish to know, except what I already know. 4. That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, thou living God! Who is holding the earth and the skies above it? Who made the waters and the trees of the field? Who is in the winds and storms that they so quickly run? Who is the Creator of the good-minded beings, thou Wise? This is a short specimen of the earliest portion of the Zend-Avesta. The following is an account of one of the latest, the so-called Ormuzd Yasht: 'Zarathustra asked Ahuramazda after the most effectual spell to guard against the influence of evil spirits. He was answered by the Supreme Spirit, that the utterance of the different names of Ahuramazda protects best from evil. Thereupon Zarathustra begged Ahuramazda to communicate to him these names. He then enumerates twenty. The first is Ahmi, i. e. "I am;" the fourth, Asha-vahista, i. e. "the best purity;" the sixth, "I am wisdom;" the eighth, "I am knowledge;" the twelfth, Ahura, i. e. "living;" the twentieth, "I am who I am, Mazdao."' Ahuramazda says then further: '"If you call me at day or at night by these names, I shall come to assist and help you; the angel Serosh will then come, the genii of the waters and the trees." For the utter defeat of the evil spirits, bad men, witches, Peris, a series of other names are suggested to Zarathustra,
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129  
130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
living
 

Ahuramazda

 

Zarathustra

 
spirit
 
present
 
waters
 

Creator

 

spirits

 

beings

 

friend


effectual
 
defeat
 

suggested

 

Serosh

 

earliest

 

answered

 

influence

 

portion

 

series

 

witches


account
 

Avesta

 

latest

 
Ormuzd
 

called

 
utterance
 
Mazdao
 

specimen

 

fourth

 

vahista


twentieth

 

knowledge

 
twelfth
 
eighth
 

wisdom

 
purity
 

protects

 

assist

 

Thereupon

 

Spirit


begged

 

enumerates

 
twenty
 

communicate

 
Supreme
 
perform
 

Vistaspa

 

prayer

 
Frashaostra
 

actions