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266. SOME ANCIENT AND EXTINCT FAITHS that has a part to play in this sacred drama of Lise, but neither is our knowledge so meagre as not to warrant our tracing the general outline of the plot with confidence and certainty,
Ahura Mazda is Life in its aspect of Dharma, i, e., the Law or 'Path. The term ahura is equivalent to the Sanskrit asura, wbich means deily or lord ; and Masda corresponds to medhas which signifies science in Sanskrit, Hence Ahura Mazda is the embodi. ment of the Divine Dharma-jnâna, that is the Science of Life Eternal. Ormmazd, the Parsi from of the Pahlavi Aubar Mazd, popularly known as Ahura Mazda, dwells in 'eternal and endless light,' inasmuch as Dharma can only exist in the being of pure Spirit which is Endless Light Eternal.
The enemy is Evil, that is darkness, so thick that you can grasp it by the band (ERE. ix, 567). This is fully characteristic of matter in which evil bas its abode.
The being of a corrupter of souls is proved by the author of the Shikand-Gumanik Vijar in the following manner (SBE. vol. xxiv. 1671:
......from the necessity of preserving the soul are manifested the defilement and delusion of the soul, and from the defilement and delusion of the soal is manifested a deliler and delader of the thougts, words and deeds of maukind. On the whole a corrupter of the souls is
manifest.” The writer might well have added that the corrupter must be a substantive agent to be able to corrupt a
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