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M53

TH E

EXTANT PAHLAYI CODICES

OF THE

NIRANGISTAN.
A PAPER READ BEFORE THE BOMBAY BRANCff OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY,
(24th

NOVEMBER
BY

1893)

DARAB DASTUR PESHOTAH SAHJJHA,

B.A.

Under

the

kind Patronage of the Trustees of the

Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhar Translation Fund,

^

if^-'

UiNTI;:i)

AT THIO KDUCATIOX

S( M

'

ll'l'

V's

S'1'1:A.M

I'liKSS.

lS9-i.

/^^^/^y
THE

EXTANT PAHLAYI CODICES

OF THE

NIRANGISTAN.
A PAPER READ BEFORE THE BOMBAY BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY,
(24th

NOVEMBER
BY

1893)

DARAB DASTDR PESHOTAN SAKJASA,

B.A.

Under

Patronage of the Trustees of the Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhai Translation Fund,

the kind

PRINTED AT THE EDUCATION SOCIETY'S STEAM PRESS.

1894.

IDAN STACK

/-

THE EXTANT CODICES OF THE PAHLAYI

KIRAKGISTAN.

Paper read before the B. B. Royal Asiatic Society.

(24M Novemher

1893.)

The
times,

Palilavi literature that has survived to

is

moderu

far

more extensive than the

extant.
It

sacred Avesta

fragments
heads:

now

may be

classed under three

11.

I.

The Pahlavi

versions of the Avesta.

The
and

texts treating of subjects

III.

closely relating to religion.

to

The

texts relating

history,

mythology

tradition.

The Avesta-Pahlavi
first

text of the

NirangUtdn

belongs to the

category,

wherein are included

the existing fragments of the sacred Avesta Nashs

which are translated and commented upon in Pahlavi.

These
comprise
the Zand-l- Avista of
Airpatastdn,
the

Yasna,

Vendidddj

Visparadj

Nirangistdn,

Yishtdsp-YasM,

Vazarlcard-I-Dhii,

Hdddkht-Nash^
Farhang-i-

Aogamadatchd,

Chide-Avistd'i-Gdsdni,

Oim-Aeuak, Shuze ; Auharmazd, Ameshaspand, Srosh

{Edd6kht)y Behrdm, Khurshed and

Mdh
;

Yashts

the

JSfydyesh-l-Khurshidy Avdn, and Atash

the Afringdn-t-

-Dahmdn, Gdthd and Qdhamhdr. The existing Avesta fragments, therefore, form only one-fifth of the original Scripture. Of these the largest and most important books are the Yasna,
the Yendidad, and the

Nirangistan.

The Pahlavi

text, properly speaking, the Zand-i-

Avista text, of the manuscripts

now

extant in India

and Europe, contain two

easily

different

books instead of the

It

one commonly known as the Nirangistan.

may be

proved from the contents of the Avesta Nasks

747

given in the Eightli Book of tte Dinkard, tLat oneeighth of the fragments or folios 1-27 of the

MS.

belonging to Shams-ul-Ulama

Dastur Dr. Hoshangji

Jamaspji of Poona, contain the Airpatastdn section of

the

Husparam Nask.
mentioned
is

It

can also be shown from the

that

contents

above,

the text

of

the

Airpatastan
as at

incomplete at the beginning as well

the

end.

The
final

first

two
to

folios

and a large
lost.

number

of the

ones

have

been

The

fragments now extant seem

the original work.

be about one-fifth of

The
oldest

text of the Nirangistan opens at folio 27 of the

Bombay MS., belonging

to Dastur

Hoshangji
Committee.
of

of Poona, w4iich is photozincographed

for publication

by the Victoria
It

Jubilee Pahlavi Text

appears

as

though

the

first

folios

the

Airpatastan

and the old MS,

of the Nirangistan

had

been combined by an ignorant owner or copyist.

two MSS. have been copied

as a single

The work without

dislocation.

any regard

to

want

of

connection

or

Hence the present error of entitling the two ZandAvesta works by one ordinary name 'Nirangistan.' The text of the Nirangistan as is given in the MSS., is
also incomplete at the end. It contains the first

two
the

fargards and a portion of the third.

Originally,

Nirangistan section of the

Husparam Nask contained

to
its

more than three fargards according

given in the Dinkard.
It

contents

contained five fargards acof

cording to the statement

the

Dadastan-i-Dini,

Chapter LXVI,

1.

(Cf. S.B.E., Pahl. Texts, Pt. IV.)

The known MSS. of the Nirangistan

existing in

India and Europe, excepting the Iranian copy belong-

ing to Eryad Tehmuras Dinshaii Anklesaria, are copies

of one and the same original MS.

in A. D.

wi^iiicli

was

first

brought by Dastur Jamasp Vilayati from Iran to India

1

720.

Probably
in

it

was the MS. <Jopy written by

840.,
all

Shahpuhr iamasp

A.Y.

as

stated

in

the

colophon at the beginning of

copies of the text

made
found
the

in India.

Iran by

The Iranian copy brought from Dastur Jamasp Vilayati, is no more

but
its

in India,

probably direct descendant

MS^ copy in the

private library of Dastur Hoshangji

Jamaspji
derived

is

t<lie

principal

source

from

wliich

are

theMSS.

of the

work

in Indian

and European

public libraries, ad likewise the copies in the private

libraries

shotanji

owned by Shams-ul-Ulma Dastur Dr. PeBehramji Sanjaua of Bombay and other

Parsee scholars.

Only four MSS. of the Nirangistan are known

-exist in

to

Europe. One

is

No. 41 of the Pahlavi Codices,

in the University Library at

Copenhagen, taken from

It is

Bombay by

the Idte Prof. Westergaard in 1843.

a copy of the usual

Bombay

text, written

by Mobad

Minochehrji Jamaspji Fredunji Jamshedji, and dated

the day of Tir in the month of Amerddd A. Y. 1205
{

= 10th

February 1836).

This copy was presented to

Dr. Westergaard by Dastur Peshotanji, through the

late Dr,

John Wilson.
in

Another MS.
State

is

No. 8 of the

Haug

Collection

the

Library at Munich,

taken from
in 1866.

Bombay by
is

the late Dr. Martin

of the usual

Haug
text,

This

a copy

Bombay

written by

Mobed Shapur, son

of

of Fredun,
in the

son of
of

Manak, and dated the day

Dm,

month

Amn

A.Y. 1177 (=2Sth

May
is

1808), according to the

likely to

Persian colophon which

most

be correct,
third

the Pahlavi colophon has A. Y.

is

1167.

MS;

in the possession of Dr. E.

W. West, and

a fourth

MS.

is in

the library, of Prof. J,

Darmesteter,

both

are recent copies of Indian

MSS,
original

Consequently,

the

two

MSS.

of

the

Nirangistan are

the independent copies

Dastur. Hoshangji of

owned by Poona and Ervad Tehmuras of

Bombay.

It

would be interesting to describe the

present condition of these two

MSS.

in detail.

The Iranian
in his
shall call

text of

Ervad Tehmuras, which has been

perfect at the beginning

possession for the last 20 years, and which I

TD.,

is

much more

than that contained in the Dastur's MS., and supplies

several passages which arc wanting in this

Poona

text,

hereafter

named HJ.

The

last

one-seventh of the
it.

text of the Nirangistan surviving in HJ., is lost in

TD.

is

of great importance to a student of Pahlavi,

supplying,
defects

as

it

does,

many
first

omissions in
five

H.J.

which make the

folios oi

Dastur

Hoshangji's

MS.

almost unintelligible.

The Iranian

copy contains 224 octavo pages, each having 16 to 17

lines.

The budget of Pahlavi folios in the possession of Mr. Tehmuras begins with an Iranian copy of his
complete

Bundahesh, which runs over 206 pages.

in

Then commences
fan, thus
:

page 207 the text of the Atrpatas-

))w3e)

3^-^^e)

J^'ioc**^

Jie)

-K)^

ik^'^

TD. being more incomplete than HJ., breaks

at page 468, with the words
:

off

W
Though TD.
which are wanting

^ -0^ -^1^005
folio,
11.

3^?^_)LJ^
or passages

occurring in the 168ch

15

19.
I

supplies very
in

many words
still

HJ.,

observe that

in this older text vacant spaces are left

between words,

which indicate omissions or damage of some words in

the original from which

TD.

is

descended.

But

this

regrettable fact does not take away very

its

much from
obscure

share of usefulness,

for,

as I have already pointed

out

above,

HJ,

would

have

been

quite

at the beginning
this

had

it

not been for the existence of

Iranian copy.

undoubtedly help

to correct

The two copies TD. and HJ. and complete each other.
to the

A
at

copy of TD. belongs

Mulla Firuz Library

copy and
is

Bombay.
(

It is a neatly written

dated

A. Y. 1251
1.

= A.
in all

D.

8R1

)^^^^^_^^^^__^_^^_^^
'^'

The

-Is

MSS.,

is pF9j]^<3>i]^-^n e^;(or.'

SEP PUNCH

f>

2.

c,;..p.....o>.iorlfl^Hs^.TH^^

6
The

MS. HJ. needs no

J.

description,

as

it

i9=

pliotozincographedby the V.

PahlaviText Committeer
its

The various omissions, damage, or words wanting in

original, will

be clear from the passages a/nd expression*

supplied

which
student

are

from

T'D.

under

Collation s.

The only

fact I

have to draw the attention of the

important omission in HJ. of about
j-Cyiff -**15

to,

is thie

three folios after the words

^^

^^''

11th line of the 6th

the words
folio

folio,

and of about one

folio after

jO^i^Q^SiiXI^ ^^asju*^

in line

30 of

153; also to the inadvertence of the copyist of

in giving in the

HJ.

48th

folio

a duplicate transcript

of the 47th folio beginning from line 5,

^)))^ )))^^ )f

is^**

5)

.....

It
is

may be remarked

from- the Collations that

not free from blunders, such as

the former seems to

latter.

me

to

TD. we find in HJ., bu*t be more correct than the

two MSS.. descended
lines of
.pther_,.

As

in all other cases of

oi'iginal

from one distant

copies,

through different

the two
is

MSS.

mutually correct each

though neither

wholly correct in itselL

It is gene-

rally believed that

TD. and HJ.

are-

both copies of two-

independent MSS. descended from- very old fragments

of the two sections of the
evidently

Husparam Nask, which were

at

dislocated and incomplete

'*

both endsr

Hence
the

Dr. West remarks

text
is

that the task of editing

to

Pahlavi

likely

be one of no small
it is

difficulty

and uncertainty whenever

undertaken. .''

Kegarding the
colophon given

ag^e of

HJ.,

it

is

evident from- the

in folio

195, that this

MS. was

copied
in

by Mar/tipat Jdmdsp Asd^ inhabitant of Nausari,

the year A. Y. 1097
(

:= A. D. 1727), less thnn seven

Vilayati, first

years after Dastar Jam^sp, surnamed

brought the Nirangistan

Firuz,

to

India,

Dastur

Mulla

alluding to

him

in his Avtjeh Dhi, states that

left

Dastur Jamasp Vilayati

Iran for India about the

the-

end

of

A. D. 1720,

Probably
Iran

Nirangistan

MS,

that he brought from

may haye been

the one

written by Shahpubr Jamasp in A. Y. 840

(= A. D,
all

1470) as stated in the colophon at the beginning of

copies of

HJ.

According

to the Ravayat,

Shahpuhr
brought

Jamasp Shehryar was the writer of the

letter

from Iran to India by Nariman Hoshang in A.Y. 847,

which was signed by his father Jamasp Shehryar

three others.

a,nd

As

to the older

MS. TD., which

folios are

is

incomiplete,

it is

difficult to fix its

date in the absence of any colophon or

introduction.

Its 112

complete

Iranian

Bundabesh,
fact of its

though

bound up with the written by

to
fiiX

another hand.

The

having been copied

an exact
to con-

by another hand, does not allow us

date for TD.

However, there are good reasons

first

clude from the

colophon to the Bundahesh

later than A.
J).

that

TD. may not have been written

Consequently,
it is

170O.

the

oldest

MS. extant

of

the

Airpatastan and the Nirangistan sections of the sacred

Husparam Nask,
I have mentioned at the outset that the Airpatastan

and the Nirangistan texts of the Avesta of the Husparam Nask, form an important part of the Avesta Scripture. The first 27 folios of HJ. from the begin-


8
ning, comprehend the text of the Airpatastan, which
is dislocated at
is

-^X^^^^ -^

in liue 19, folio27.

It

very incomplete in HJ. and TD., also defective at

the beginning.

There appears

to

be every probability that one or

of

two
the

folios of the

commencement
Its text

the Nirangistan,
in the

too, are

wanting.
line

begins
folio

middle of

19th

of the

27th

of

HJ. with the

Avesta:

"Jo^"^?*^^2)

-x^>^**/

d^"^^

.^i^i^ii/

.-ii?^

From

this passage

down

to

the end

of

HJ. the
of the
ot:

text agrees

very closely with the

contents of the

Nirangistan described in the

Eighth
with

Book

Dinkard.
the

I have been able to identify the

whole

work,

and

to

conclude
at

certainty

that

nearly the last half or

original text
is still

least

one-third of the
sixty-sixth section

missing.
tells

The
us

of

the

Dadastan-i-Dini
five

that

the

original

work contained

fargards

of the

Avesta.

An
its

identification of the Pahlavi

with the sketch of

substance given in the Dinkard, proves that the extant

text ends at the subject of
**

gathering and tying the

text, relating to the
is,

sacred haresma.*'

The remaining
that

purport

of the contents

follow,

therefore,

evidently lost.

By
istan I

critical

examination and digest of the Avesta

passages contained in the Airpatastfm and the Nirang-

am

led to believe that in spite of the fact that

is filled

three-fourths of the Pahlavi

glosses

with explanatory

by the translators or
is

commentators,

most of

the Avesta, after deducting untranslated citations or

quotations,
as
is

a continuous Avesta text

as continuous
Wester-

afargard of the Vendidad or a hd of the Yasna.

Nirangistan

We

can easily trace from the

gaard's fragments VI. and VII. (Cf. Darmesteter,

Le

Zend Avesta, vol. Ill, Paris.) At the present stage of Iranian

difficult to ascertain

research,

it is

very

the exact period or epoch of time

wherein the Nasks had been committed to paper.

speculative

The
field

scholar runs

through the arduous

without attaining to any satisfactory result.

It has

been believed by scholars

who

profess

to

be

its

adherents that the Parsee Scripture must have been in

existence
ii:

when

the

Indian
to its

Vedas

were composed,

not very older.

As

Pahlavi version and gloss

its

we have enough

materials to trace

beginning during

the Arsacian monarchy, in the reign of Narsih or

Valgash of the Dinkard,

according to Greek writers

Vologeses

I.

and

its

completion in the illustrious

sovereignty of Khusro Noshirwan, the son of Kobad.

As

to the age of our present text this

may

be easily

traced back to the same

time as that of the Tasna

and the Vendidad.

tors

It

mentions the same commenta-

as

the

Pahlavi

Vendidad does.

Besides

the

names of Afarg, Gogoshasp, Soshyans, Medyo-mah, Dad-Auharmazd, Dad-far ukh, Kiishtan-bujid, Mahgoshasp,

Nishahpuhr,

Parik,

Roshan,

which

are

noticed in both of them,

we

discover some more in

the Nirangistan, which are not alluded to in the Ven-

10
didad.

These

commentators
Fariakh,

are

Pisliaksar,

Atar-

Auharrmazd, Narsih, A tar-pat, son of Dad-farukh, Baro-

shau-i-Auharmazd,

Mard-bud and Veh-dost.

Manushchihr, the
in
tiie
it

According to the Pahlavi

epistle of

author of the Dadastan-i-Dini,

of

was

reign

Anoshirawan the Just, that

all

ike books and com-

mentaries referring to the Avesta were collected and

revised after the downfall of Mazdak.

This may have

been the
for

last revision, at all events,

the kst great one,

later*
'^

small emendations

Alluding to this point,

may have been made Dr. West observes that

Ep.
I.,

the
as

mention
the

of Nishahpuhar in
officiating

iv

15,

17,

supreme

priest

and

councillor

of

king Khusro
:appai'ently in

Noshirwan (A. D. 531-579),

in the Pahlavi

engaged

writing commentaries on the Avesta,''

versions of the
infer that

and as a commentator
these

endidad and the Nirangistan, leads us to

works

must have

been

revised

since

the

middle of the sixth century.

At

all

events the

Husparam Nask which

-"' in

corre-

spouds to the seventeenth word

the

Aliuna

Vairya stanza, or the different sections pertaining to

it,

were very familiar

to the

famous Pahlavi commenta-

tors on the Vendidad, as is evinced

by two

references in

the

glosses attached to Fargard IV. 10

and V. 25.

In the last the writer manifestly points to a passage

in the Nirangistan.

Besiddes

the

Pahlavi version of the Vendidad, the

Dadastani-Dini,

Dinkard, the

and the
III.

Epistles

of
in

ManAshchihr, references to our text

the

are found
29) and

Bahman Yasht

(II.

37,

in the

Shayast-la-Shayast (XII.

1, 31).

11
It lias

been already noted

manuscript,
is

tlie

the

first

edition

of

the HJ.

which

contains
'*

two

Pahlavi

books, and

inadvertently called the

Nirangistan/'
discovery
already

would reveal
of
existing. It

to the student o Pahlavi the

the codex of a
is

new Zand- A vesta work

It
is

copied and bound with the fragments

the codex

of the Nirangistan at the beginning.

of the Airpatastan section of the Huspfiram Nask.

BOMBAY

PRINTED AT THE EDUCATION SOCIETY'S STEAM PRESS.