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ORMUZD.
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conquerable, He who makes the true account that is of good works and sins), the All-Seeing, the Healer, Mazda (the All-wise).” He is represented in the gathas as not to be deceived, and as looking upon everything as a warder with eyes radiant with holiness. How high is the conception of the deity reached in the gathas may be seen from the following extract from one of them (Yasna 44) :
“That I ask of Thee, tell me the right, 0 Ahura ! Who was the father of the pure creatures at the beginning ? Who has created the way of the sun, of the stars? Who but Thou made it that the moon waxes and wanes ? This, O Mazda, and other things I long to know. Who upholds the earth and the clouds above, That they fall not? Who made the water and the plants ? Who gave their swiftness to the winds and the clouds ? Who is, O Mazda, the creator of the pious mind ? Who, working good, has made light as well as darkness? Who, working good, has made sleep and wakefulness? Who made the dawn, the mid-days, and the evenings?”
There is no doubt that Ormuzd is believed to have existed before any material thing, and to have called the world into existence by his will. He is specially mentioned as the creator of the holy mind, of religious truth, and of the prayers and offerings. Fire is also a special creation of Ormuzd, the importance of which we shall see later. Being omniscient and infallible, he rewards the good and punishes the evil both in this world and the next. Thus we read in the gathas :“ Whosoever in righteousness shows to me
The genuine good actions, to me who am Zarathushtra: Him they (the divine beings) grant as a reward the next world, Which is more desirable than all others.
That hast tlou said to me, Mazda, thou who knowest best." The impious are thus threatened: “Whoso brings about that the pious man is defrauded, his dwelling is finally for a long time in darkness, and vile food and irony shall fall to his lot. Towards this region, O ye vicious, your souls will conduct you on account of your actions."
