________________
212
VENDÎDÂD.
7 (24). Spitama Zarathustra said in answer: 'No! never will I renounce the good Religion of the worshippers of Mazda, either for body or life, though they should tear away the breath!'
6
8 (27). Again to him said the Maker of the evil world, Angra Mainyu: By whose Word wilt thou strike, by whose Word wilt thou repel, by whose weapon will the good creatures (strike and repel) my creation, who am Angra Mainyu?'
9 (29). Spitama Zarathustra said in answer: 'The sacred mortar, the sacred cups, the Haoma, the Word taught by Mazda, these are my weapons, my best weapons! By this Word will I strike, by this Word will I repel, by this weapon will the good creatures (strike and repel thee), O evil-doer, Angra Mainyu! The Good Spirit made the creation1; he made it in the boundless Time. The Amesha-Spentas made the creation, the good, the wise Sovereigns.'
10 (35). Zarathustra chanted aloud the AhunaVairya.
The holy Zarathustra said aloud: 'This I ask thee: teach me the truth, O Lord!...'
II.
11 (37). Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent spirit, Maker of the
a thousand years' dominion of the worldly existence, as was given to the Vadakân monarch Dahâk" (West, Pahlavi Texts, III, 103).
1 The first duty of every good Mazda-worshipper is to think of Ormazd as the creator, and of Ahriman as the destroyer (Mînôkhard II, 9).
2 This verse is the beginning of the Tad thwâ peresâ Gâtha (Yasna XLIV); cf. the Introduction to the Fargard.
Digitized by
Google