Sûdkar Nask.
1. The nineteenth fargard, Kad-môi-urvâ [1], is about where the souls, when they come together, extol the soul of him who was a virtuous high-priest, a friend of the soul, because he did not injure it, and guarded it from hell.
2. About the darkness, the intensity (bûr’zvŏ-hômandîh) and far-reaching bottomlessness of the blackness, and the absence of goodness in hell; and the proximity to stenches, close concealment [2], sleet-pelted clambering (pîsnakŏ-bâlînîh), frozen advancing, [ p. 210 ] painful condition, distressed state, and awful fear of those in hell. 3. This, too, that is thrown open (lakhvâr ramîtund) over it, from the Dâîtî peak [3], which is in Aîrân-vêg, to Albûr’z [4], and below the middle of which is the gate of hell, is the Kînvad bridge [5] which is the route (vidâr) of every one, righteous or wicked; the width across the route of the righteous is a breadth of nine spears, each one the length of three reeds, but the route for the wicked becomes like the edge of a razor.
4. ‘Thus say I [6] unto thee, O Spîtâmân! that the man of truth steps forward over the Kînvad pass, even the far-famed happy bridge; for Âstâd [7], the good promoter of the world, and Mitrô [8] of the vast cattle-pastures save only the man possessing truth from that distress, as though they were a regiment (sipâh) a thousand strong. 5. So I say unto thee, O Spîtâmân! that thou shouldst not become a liar unto Mitrô, neither when thou wouldst converse with the wicked, nor when thou wouldst with those of thine own religion who are righteous; for both of those are promises, both with the wicked and the righteous; there is a promise, O Zaratûst! even of a wolf with young animals, but that which is a [ p. 211 ] lascivious (gêhîk) promise is more awful, O Spîtâmân! 6. So I say unto thee, O Spîtâmân! that thou shouldst not seize a wanton (gêhîk) for use—that is, do not make her thy wife—and with compulsion (ûpayamisnîh) of her [9]—that is, do not let thyself lie with her. 7. And if thou shouldst seize a courtezan for use, and with compulsion of her, thou mayst not dismiss her afterwards, neither in adversity, nor in prosperity, neither on account of fondness for self, nor for life; because he who seizes a courtezan for use, and with compulsion, and shall dismiss her on account of fondness for self, or for life, becomes thereby a breaker of promises to the house, village, community, or province, that gives her life (valman zîvînêdŏ), and to the soul that animates her [10].’
8. So breaking the promise comes upon the children that are theirs, through evil teaching; and he who is wicked is lying down without children at the bottom of hell. 9. That is, there is nothing whatever of [11] happiness for the wicked, that happiness which is produced abundantly by him who is Aûharmazd.
10. Perfect righteousness is excellence.
(209:2) The first three words of the fourth, and last, hâ of the third Gâtha (Yas. L, 1), here written kad-môk-ravakŏ in Pahlavi. ↩︎
(209:3) Compare AV. LIV, 5-8:—‘As close as (tang-ik) from the ear to the eye, and as many as the hairs a horse has in his mane, so many in number the souls of the wicked stand, but they do not see, nor do they hear a sound, one from the other, and every one, therefore, thinks that he is alone.’ For a description of hell see also Dd. XXVII. ↩︎
(210:1) Or Kakâd-î Dâîtî (see Pahl. Vend. XIX, 101; Bd. XII, 7). ↩︎
(210:2) Av. hara berezaiti, the range of lofty mountains supposed to surround the world (see Bd. V, 3-5). ↩︎
(210:3) Here called Kînakŏ-pûhal, and Kîs-vidarg in § 4; for a fuller description of it see Dd. XXI, 2-7. Allusion is made to it in Yas. L, 7. ↩︎
(210:4) Aûharmazd, speaking to Zaratûst. The whole of this paragraph appears to be quoted verbatim from the original Pahlavi text of the Nask. ↩︎
(210:5) See Chap. IX, 6. ↩︎
(210:6) See Bk. VIII, Chap. XLIV, 16. ↩︎
(211:1) Or, perhaps, ‘with approach to her’ (see Chap. XIX, 3 n). If ûpadamisnîh were read, it might mean ‘aspiration, or attachment’ for her. ↩︎
(211:2) This implies that the woman, being a notorious sinner, cannot reasonably complain of bodily injury on being dismissed; but her soul and the community are grievously injured by her being thus driven into further sin, and for this injury the man’s soul will be made responsible. ↩︎
(211:3) K has ‘none even of this.’ ↩︎