The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31
so,Lr INV BOoKa
Ths zoronstrisn Scriptures.

vans Y JfhnblhtlOn OF tH0 LtVV- hOuHNs W N
DARMEsrETER. IL II interesting TO learn that
the proof sheets OF this version Of the vendidad
had boon revised by the author before his
death, and that he had also completed his man.
uscript Of tho introduction and fragments. In
ohis introduction 10 summed up all that we az
yet know regarding the discovery. formation.
and Interpretation OF the Zend-Avesta, and We
are also indebted 70 Mr.. Darmesteter for an
estimate Of the age Of the original documents
and for an analysis Of the Ach@menian. jewish.
Brahmanical, Buddhist. Greek, and Parthian
elements. which found their way into the
Avesta.
Before. with the book before us. We undertake
20 explain what Zoroastrianism was. let us re-
view as briefly as possible the conditions under
which the existence OF the religion became
known TO US. We do not need 70 point out that
the ~Zend-Avesta Ia tho sacred book Of the Par
gis. that ia TO say Of the few remaining follow
ors OF that religion which prevailed in Peraia
at the time when the second successor OF Mo-
manned overthrow the sAssanian dynasty
C642 A.. d.. and has been called Dualism.
or Mazdaism. or MaRtsm. or Zoroastrian-
Ism. or nre-worship. according a. ita main
tenet, or It's supreme God, or It's priests,
or its supposed founder. or its apparent
object Of worship has been most kept
In view. In less than q century after their
defeat most Of the conquered people were
brought over to Islam. the faith OF
their new rulers. either BY force or by policy. or
By the attractive power Of . simpler creed. Not
0few, however. OF those who clung to the faith
OF their fathers went abroad in search Of a new
home where they might worship their WI
God, say their own prayers. and perform their
own rites. That homo they ultimately found
among the tolerant Hindus on the western
coast Of India and In the peninsula Of Guzerat,
Within the last two centuries tho bulk OF the
Parsi people have settled In Bombay. where
they thrive. while the ranks Of their .ooreli-
gionists In Persia are daily .dwindlinE away.
As the Parsis are the ruins Of q people. so
are their sacred books the ruins Of q reli-
Hion. There has never been an impress
nive and widely held belief that has left
such meagre Of its past i'm
portance. Great. nevertheless. 10 the value
which the little book known as the Avesta and
the lingering faith Of the Parsis have In the
eyes Of the historian and theologian for the
reason that they present to us the last reflex of
the ideas which prevailed in Iran during the
i've centuries which preceded and the seven
which followed the birth Of Christ-a period
which gave to the world the Gospel. the Tai
mud and the Koran. 1t 10 we'll known that Per-
sia had much influence upon the movements
which produced or proceeded from the three
last-named books; she lent much TO the first
Horesiarchs. much to the Rabbits. much to Mo-
BANNED. By the help of the Parsi religion and
the Avesta we are enabled to GO back to tho
very heart OF the momentous period: to the
period which witnessed the blending Of the
Aryan mind with the Semitic. and thus opened
che second stage OF Aryan thought.
1.
The first outsido inquiries into the religion OF
Persia were made by the Greeks. Aristotle
and many others wrote OF It In books OF which
nothing more than . few fragments or merely
the titles have como down to us. There 10
much valuable Information concerning It scat
tered in the accounts Of historians and travel
lers extending over ten centuries from the
lime OF Herodotus to that OF Procopius. The
clearest and most faithful description OF the
Dualist doctrine Is found in the treatise on Isis
and Osiris ascribed to Plutarch. Never vas
Zoroastrianism more eagerly Investigated
than in the first centuries of the Christian era.
Religious and philosophio scots in search Of
new doRmas eagerly received whatever came
to them bearing the name OF Zoroaster. which
had become the very emblem OF wis
dom. Zoroaster and Plato were treated
as IL they had been philosophers OF the
same school. Prodicus. the Gnostic. pro-
fsssed to own secret books. Of Zoroaster. and
upon the whole it may be said that In the first
centuries OF Christianity the relieion'of Persia
va AAoAS oid 1000 ILkuAh ~
had ever been before. The real object then
aimed at in studying the old religion was to
construct a new one. Throughout the middle
ages nothing was known OF Mazdaism but the
name of its founder. who. at first regarded asa
Maeus, was eventually converted into q ma
GiciRn and master OF the hidden sciences. .
It was not until the Renaissance that inquiry
was resumed. The first step then taken was
20 collect all the information that could be
- -nn Hro,, HraaIr aHI nNpnAa --.ik~..
nearer approach to the original source was
made by italian, French and English travel
lers in Asia who found ZoroasterS last follow
ers in Persia and in India, and made known
their existence. their manners and customs.
and the main features of their beliefto Europe.
One of these travellers. Gabriel du Chinon,
gota sight OF their sacred books, and recog-
nized that they were not all writ
ten In the same language. tho original
holy script being no longer understood except
by means Of translRtions and commentaries In
another tongue. In the year 100 an Oxford
professor. Thomas Hyde. the greatest Oriental
list OF his time in Europe. rnade the first sys-
tematic attempt to arrive at the history Of the
old Persian religion by combining the accounts
given by Mohammedan writer's with "the true
and genuine of ancient Persia"
Unfortunately the so-called monuments Of
ancient Persia" to which Hyde referred
were nothing moro than recent Persian COM
pilations. Notwithstanding this defect. Hyde's
book was the first true and complete picture of
modern Parsiism. Eighteen years laterone Of
Hyde's countrymen. Lord Boucher. received
from the parsis In Surat . copy Of the Vendi-
dad. which was brought to England in 1923.
The old manuscript. however. was O sealed
book. and the most that could then be made Of
1t was to hang it by an iron chain to the wall Of
the Bodleian Library as a curiosity to be shown