________________
164
had, for the disfigurement of the creatures; and he took as much as one-third of the base of the sky', in a downward direction, into a confined and captive state, so that it was all dark and apart from the light, for it was itself, at the coming of the adversary, his enemy among the struggles for creation. 2. And this is opposing the renovation of the universe, for the greatest of all the other means of the fiend, when he has come in, are of like origin and strength this day, in the sleep2 of the renovation, as on that when the enemy, who is fettered on coming in, is kept back.
APPENDIX TO THE BUNDAHIS.
"
3. Amid all this struggling were mingled the instigations of Aharman, crying thus: My victory has come completely, for the sky is split and disfigured by me with gloom and darkness, and taken by me as a stronghold; water is disfigured by me, and the earth, injured by darkness, is pierced by me; vegetation is withered by me, the ox is put to death by me, Gâyômard is made ill by me, and opposed to those revolving are the glooms and planets arranged by me; no one has remained for me to take and pervert in combat except Aûharmazd, and of the earth there is only one man, who is alone, what is he able to do?'
3
4. And he sends Astô-vidâd upon him with the thousand decrepitudes (aûzvârâno) and diseases
1 Compare Bund. III, 11. The involved style of Zâ-sparam is particularly conspicuous in this chapter.
The word seems to be khvâpisno.
3 Meaning probably the zodiacal signs, but the word is doubtful, being spelt vardisnâno instead of vardisnânŏ. A very small alteration would change it into varôîsnâno, 'believers,' but there were no earthly believers at the time alluded to.
See Bund. III, 21, and XXVIII, 35.
Digitized by Google
