Fragmentary and disjointed as are the rem nants of the Avesta, we art fortunate in pos sessing even this moiety of the Bible of Zoro aster, whose compass is about one-tenth that of our own sacred book. A grouping of the existing texts is here presented: (1) Yasna (including Gathas) • (2) Visperad; (3) Yashts; (4) Vendidad (Videvdat); (5) Minor Texts; (6) Fragments.
Even these texts no single manuscript in our time contains complete. The present col lection is made by combining various Avestan codexes. In spite of the great antiquity of the literature, all the existing manuscripts are com paratively young. None is older than fhe 13th century of our own era, while the direct history of only one or two can be followed back to about the 10th century. This mere external circum stance has of course no bearing on the actual early age of the Zoroastrian scriptures. It must be kept in mind that Zoroaster lived at least six centuries before the birth of Christ.
Among the six divisions of our present Avesta, the Yasna, Visperad and Vendidad are closely connected. They are employed in the daily ritual, and they are also accompanied by a version or interpretation in the Pahlavi lan guage, which serves at the same time as a sort of commentary. The three divisions are often found combined into a sort of prayer-book, called Vendidad-Sadah (Vendidad Pure) ; that is, Avesta text without the Pahlavi rendering. The chapters in this case are arranged with special reference to liturgical usage.
Some idea of the character of the Avesta as it now exists may be derived from the fol lowing sketch of its contents and from the illus trative selections presented: Yasna (sacrifice worship), the chief litur gical work of the sacred canon. It consists mainly of ascriptions of praise and of prayer, and corresponds nearly to our idea of a prayer book. The Yasna comprises 72 chapters; these fall into three nearly equal parts.
The greater part of the Yasna book is of a liturgic or ritualistic nature, and need not here be further described. Special mention, how ever, must be made of the middle section con sisting of Five Gathae* (hymns, psalms), a division containing the 17 sacred psalms, say ings, sermons or teachings of Zoroaster him self. These Gathas, all composed in verse that resembles the metres of the Veda, form the oldest part of the entire canon of the Avesta. In them the prophet of the new faith is speaking with the fervor of the Psalmist of the Bible. In them we feel the thrill of ardor that characterizes a new and struggling reli gious band; we are warmed by the burning zeal of the preacher of a church militant. Now, however, comes a cry of despondency, a moment of faint-heartedness at the present triumph of evil, at the success of the wicked and the misery of the righteous; but this gives way to a clarion burst of hopefulness, the trumpet note of a prophet filled with the promise of ultimate victory, the triumph of good over evil. The end of the world cannot
be far away; the final overthrow of Ahriman (Anra Mainyu) by Ormazd (Ahura Mazda) is assured; the establishment of a new order of things is certain; at the founding of this ((king dom* the resurrection of the dead. will take place and the life eternal will be entered upon.
The Isis Brad (all the masters) is a short collection of prosaic invocations and laudations of sacred things. Its 24 sections form a supple ment to the Yasna. Whatever interest this di version of the Avesta possesses lies entirely on the side of the ritual, and not in the field of literature. In this respect it differs widely from the book of the Yashts, which is next to be mentioned.
Yoshts (worship by prayers and ascriptions of praise) form a poetical book of 21 hymns, in which the angels of the religion, (the wor shipful ones* (Yacatas, leads), are glorified as are also the heroes of former days. Much of the material of the Yashts is evidently drawn from pre-Zoroastrian sagas which have been remodeled and adopted, worked over, and modified and incorporated into the canon of the new-founded religion. There is a mythological and legendary atmosphere about the Yashts, and Firdausi's 'Shah Nameh' serves to throw light on many of the events portrayed in them, or allusions that would otherwise be obscure. All the longer Yashts are in verse, and some of them have poetic merit.
Vendidad, or more correctly Vidivddt, 'Law against the Demons' is a priestly code com prising 22 chapters and somewhat resembles the Biblical Pentateuch. It consists morally of purificatory rules to be observed for removing defilement, especially the pollution incurred through coming into contact with dead matter. It contains likewise some old myths, legends and beliefs.
Minor Texts, as a section of the Avesta, form a small group of liturgical texts contain ing brief prayers, litanies and blessings to be recited daily or repeated on special occasions.
Fragments of other portions of the Avesta are preserved, like Erpotistdn, Nirangiitan and Aogemadaica, and among them is a noteworthy one from the original Hadhakht Nask describ ing the fates of the soul after death.
There are several translations of the Avesta. The best (except for the Gathas, where the translation is weak) is the French version by Darmesteter, 'Le Zend Avesta,' published in the 'Annales du Musee Guilnee (Paris 1892 93). An English rendering by Darmesteter and Mills is contained in the 'Sacred Books of the East' (Vols. IV, XXIII, XXXI). To be con sulted also is the German translation of the Gathas by Bartholomae (Strassburg 1905), forming the basis of the English version by Moulton, 'Early Zoroastrianism' (pp. 341-90, London 1913) ; likewise F. Wolff, 'Avesta fiversetzt) (Strassburg 1910) ; and an Italian translation of the Vendidad by Cannizzaro, 'II Vendidad' (Messina 1916).