1. The sage asked the spirit of wisdom (2) thus: ‘What is the business of the priests, warriors, and husbandmen [1], each separately?’
3. The spirit of wisdom answered (4) thus: 'The business of the priests is to maintain the religion properly; (5) and to perform the ceremonial and invocation of the sacred beings well and with attention, [ p. 68 ] (6) and [2] the decrees, decisions [3], custom, and control [4], as revealed by the pure, good religion of the Mazda-worshippers. 7. To make people aware of the goodness of good works [5]; (8) and to show the way to heaven, and the danger and avoidance of hell.
9. 'The business of the warriors is to defeat the enemy; (10) and to keep their own country and land (bûm) [6] unalarmed and tranquil.
11. ‘And the business of the husbandmen is to perform tillage and cultivation; (12) and, to the extent of their ability, to keep the world invigorated and populous.’
(67:5) The three classes which are often mentioned in the Avesta as constituting the Mazda-worshipping community. For their vices, see Chap. LIX. ↩︎
(68:1) L19 inserts ‘to keep true.’ ↩︎
(68:2) K43 has dâd dâdistân, ‘decisions of the law;’ but the repetition of the syllable dâd is probably a clerical blunder. ↩︎
(68:3) L19 omits va band, ‘and control.’ ↩︎
(68:4) L19 has ‘aware of good works and sin.’ ↩︎
(68:5) L19 has vîmand, ‘frontier.’ ↩︎