Source: http://avesta.org/fragment/nsbe.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 06:00:28+00:00

Document:
Introduction and translation by James Darmesteter, SBE V, 1889.
FIRST PART (FRAGMENT OF THE ERPATISTAN).
II. §§ 10-18. The student priest (Dk. ibid. § 3?).
I. §§ 19-27. The Zot and the Raspi (Dk. 8, ch. 29, § 1).
II. § 28. The Darun (Dk. ibid. § 2).
III. §§ 29, 30. Strong drink forbidden during the sacrifice (Dk. § 3).
IV. §§ 31-37. The recitation of the Gathas (Dk. § 4).
V. §§ 38-40. The sacrifice performed by a Zot, or a Raspi, in a state of sin (Dk. §§ 5, 6).
I. §§ 41-45. The celebration of the Gahambars (Dk. §§ 7, 8).
II. §§ 46-51. The limits of the several Gahs (§ 46, Gah Ushahin.-§§ 47, 48, Gah Hawan.-§ 49 Gah Rapithwin.-§ 50, Gah Uzerin.-§ 51, Gah Aiwisruthrem.-Dk. § 9).
III. §§ 52-64. The offerings for the Gahambars (Dk. § 10).
IV. §§ 65-71. The libations (Dk. § 11).
V. §§ 72-84. The functions and place of the Zot and Raspis at the sacrifice (Dk. §§ 13, 14).
I. §§ 85-87, 91-96. The K6~ti and Sadara (Dk. § 15).
II. §§ 88-90, 97-104. The preparation of the Baresman (Dk. § 16).
III. §§ 105-109. The firewood and the implements for the sacrifice Dk. § 17).
Of all the lost Nasks, the one of which the largest fragments have been preserved is the seventeenth one called the Husparum. It was composed of sixty-four Fargards, of which two of the first thirty were called Erpatistan, 'the Sacerdotal Code,' and Nirangistan, 'the Ritual Code;' the former dealing chiefly with clerical organization, and the latter with a portion of the ritual. Their general contents are known from the analysis of the Nasks given in the Denkard (Book 8, ch. 28, 29; West, Pahlavi Texts, IV, 92-97).
These two Avestan treatises were treated like the Vendidad, that is to say, were translated and commented on in Pahlavi, at least partially. They have not come to us in any Sada manuscript, but are to be recovered from their Pahlavi expansion, the so-called Pahlavi Nirangistan,1 which presents nearly the same aspect as the Pahlavi Vendidad, that is to say, it contains the Avestan original text with a Pahlavi translation, and a lengthy commentary, in which latter many connected questions are treated and a considerable number of Avestan quotations from other Nasks are adduced. The first thing to do is to distinguish what belongs to the principal text, which is the object of the commentary, and what are the Avestan quotations adduced from elsewhere by the commentator. The distinction of the two components is easily seen, as the principal text is always accompanied by a translation, whereas the quotations are not. They are either formulas recited during the performance of the ceremonies, or texts adduced as demonstrative or explanatory of such or such statement.2 These quotations once removed, there remains a continuous text which answers closely to the analysis in the Denkard. But a comparison with that analysis, as well as internal evidence, shows that only a part of the original text is preserved, and that the Pahlavi manuscript, as it has come to us, is the juxtaposition of portions of two independent books, the Erpatistan and the Nirangistan proper, the beginning and end of both being lost. In other terms, it contains a part in the middle of the Erpatistan3 and the greater part of the Nirangistan, the end of the latter being lost as well as a short passage at its beginning.4 All the manuscripts of the Nirangistan known to be in existence, present the same juxtaposition, as they are descended from one and the same manuscript, of which the copyist, having in his hands a fragment of the Erpatistan and a more complete Nirangistan, copied the two as one and the same book, which took the name of the larger fragment. This leaves room to hope for the further discovery of older independent manuscripts of either book.
3. §§ 1-18 belong to the Erpatistan.
4. Of the twenty-five paragraphs in the Denkart analysis, part of § 1, the whole of §§ 2-16, and part of § 17 are represented in the extant Nirangistan. But one must bear in mind that the analysis in the Denkard was not based on the Avestan Nasks, but on their Pahlavi commentaries, so that it refers occasionally to matter not treated of in the Sada text.
The interpretation of these texts is beset with no ordinary difficulties, the first being the technical character of the matter treated of, which no amount of philological ingenuity left to its own devices, can elucidate, then the corrupt state of the text. No standard translation of the Avestan can be expected till the. whole of the Pahlavi Nirangistan has been deciphered and translated. However, with the help of the Denkard analysis and of the Pahlavi Nirangistan, as far as I could make it out., I believe I have succeeded in presenting a rough partial translation, which may give a correct general idea of the whole, and may help to some extent to clear the ground and be useful even in a further exploration of the Pahlavi Nirangistan.
All known copies of the Nirangistan -- which are indeed few in number-are descended from two manuscripts. One, belonging to Dr. Hoshangji of Poona (MS. H) was copied in India, in the year 1727, from a manuscript which was brought from Iran in 1720 Dastur Jamasp Vilayati and seems to have been written in 1471. The other, belonging to Tahmuras D. Anklesaria (MS. T), was written in Iran. Its date is unknown, though it is certainly older than Dr. Hoshangji's manuscript. Both manuscripts belong to the same family, as they both present the same juxtaposition of the Erpatistan and Nirangistan. Tahmuras' copy his lost several pages at the end ; from § 91 onwards, we are dependent only on Hoshangji's copy. But Tahmuras' manuscript, besides being more complete in the rest of the text, is by far more correct ; and how far this is the case the reader may judge for himself by a glance at the translation: from § 91 onwards we have been obliged to leave most of the text untranslated as hopelessly corrupt.
5. We have already published it in our French Avesta, but that edition is too scarce and too expensive to be of general use. -- The text given represents essentially Tahmuras' copy, corrected here and there from Hoshangji's manuscript. The barbarous forma are many, and a considerable number of them might be easily corrected: however, whenever they did not make the meaning more obscure, we thought it better to let them stand as they were, because in the degenerate stage in which the Avestan language presents itself to us, there is no uniform standard from which one may view and to which one may reduce the erring forms.
I. The priest officiating out of his house.
1. Who is he in the house who shall officiate as priest  ?
By his own will or directed by the brethren.
2. The first goeth forth, the second goeth forth, the third goeth forth.
He shall pay for the damage done to the estate.
3. Shall the priest officiate as a priest or shall he see to the good management of the estate?
1. Out of the house.
4. Somebody must stay at home to take care of the common estate; be must not go and officiate abroad.
Let him see to the good management of the estate .
4. How often shall the priest officiate beyond the limits of the estate?
-- He may go three times in the year.
How far may he go to teach (the Word)?
-- So far as a three nights' journey : six nights, there and back.
If he refuse to go an teach, he is not guilty.
5 Which of the two shall officiate as priest, the mistress or the master of the house ?
And if either be fit to take charge of the estate, which shall go forth?
If the master of the house take charge of the estate, the woman shall go forth.
If the woman take charge of the estate, the master of the house shall go forth.
May the woman fulfil the holy office?
2. The Avesta counts by nights instead of days 'three nights means 'three times twenty-four hours.' Three nights' distance is valued at thirty farsakhs or parasangs (ninety miles or thirty leagues).
3. Wornen, in case of need, were allowed, like men, to perform certam ritual ceremonies (cf. § 40) and to act as Raspi (assistant-priest), and even as Zot (officiating priest) (Anquetil, Zend-Avesta II, 553).
Willing or unwilling, she shall fulfil the holy office. If the man take her with him to enjoy her body , if he do this openly , he is a highwayman; if in secret, he is a thief.
7. He who, without leave , taketh away the child of another to officiate as priest , he shall become Peshotanu for a whole year (?).
If the child obey and go gladly .
And he goeth a hathra  without singing , he shall be Peshotanu.
8. In this house, in this borough in this district, in this country, how far afield may they go ?
So that they remain in sight of the house of the borough, of the district, of the country.
-- How far away, at most, may one lead him?
So far as one can go in a morning or an afternoon.
9. How far can a man take with him a child without proper authorization?
10. The length of sixteen hathras (sixteen thousand steps; see above, p. 160) from the house or the borough, within the limits of the same district.
11. At the distance of one hathra only, if on the border of he district; otherwise they would enter a strange place where the child is not known, and the danger of his being lost or kidnapped would be greater.
He is guilty in sight of the nearest kinsman  of the sin of adhwadaitya .
11. How many years shall the student consult the aethrapaiti ?
-- Three springtides  shall he gird on Holy Wisdom .
And when he knows his text, he shall be able to say it all and miss nothing.
1. The nearest kinsman of the child.
2. The adhwadaitya or atapdat, literally 'improper journey.' is properly the sin of giving insufficient food to an animal or to a traveller. In this passage it means enforcing upon a child a journey beyond his strength.
3. The aethrapaiti, the teaching priest cf. Vd4.45.
5. As a Kusti; cf. Vd18.1, note 2. He shall study for three years.
12. Who is the aethrapaiti to whom he shall go as the highest ?
In this measure is the master guilty .
Which of the many aethrapaitis is guilty? -- He who is nearest of kin .
For all objections, for all the answers denied he is guilty.
He is not guilty for not repeating.
If he can repeat, were it only one word, for not repeating it he is guilty.
If he repeat not, he is not guilty .
5. The case is when a pupil finding the text obscure or contradictory asks for an explanation.
6. If this is the right translation, it would import that not everv aethrapaiti is bound to answer his pupil's objections; he has only to teach him the text, not to interpret it; but from a next-of-kin aethrapaiti a pupil has a right to exact an answer to his doubts. One must bear in mind that the priesthood is hcrcditary, and that most priests of a place belong to one or at least to a very few families. All the Mobeds in India are supposed to be descendants of one common ancestor (see the Guimet Zend Avesta, I, lvii).
7. The pupils repeat the text, word by word, after the teacher.
8. Because he suffers from an overwhelming cause.
If he repeat not by reason of weariness, sadness or slumber, he is guilty .
17. Shall he teach a disciple, if he be a heathen  or a sinner ?
(May teach) for a salary,but not without a salary . -- What shall be the salary? The price of what an ox ploughs .
But he gives a tongue to the wolf, who imparteth the Holy Word to the heretic .
Unless he refuse it to the laborer in his service .
Here begins the Nirangistan proper.
I. The Zot and the Raspi.
3. A Peshotanu, a Zoroastrian in a state of mortal sin.
4. He may teach a Daevayasna or a Peshotanu, buy only to gain his bread, when reduced to starvation; in no case, and on no account whatever, may he teach a heretic.
5. 'The price of a day's work' (Comm.); just enough to live on the day he teaches.
6. An Ashemaogha: cf. Tahmuras' Fragments, § 3.
7. His meed is due to the laborer, even if a heathen or a sinner.
9. Ratufriti, literally, 'the blessing of the Ratus' or the various masters of the year, is applied to the celebration of the Gahambars.
If one rouse, and the other rise not, The one who roused is accepted ..
20. How many assistants  can the Zaotar lawfully have in the recitation of the Ahuna Vairya?
As many as repeat after him in a hushed voice while he sings aloud or recites the Yasna.
And so are his assistants for all that they recite themselves .
And so is the Zaotar for all that he recites himself .
2. 'How many Raspis?'; (Comm.) -- One of the offfices of the Raspi is to make the responses to the Zot, and to answer atha ratush in the Ahuna Vairya recited as a dialogue.
3. Not for what has been recited by the Zaotar.
4. Not for what has heen recited by the Raspis.
5. The Raspi assisting the Zot in the recitation of the Gathas. For instance, at the end of each Gathic Ha, he repeats with the Zot the initial stanza.
7. The Tad soidhish Ha (Y58).
8. Sravanghem; the prose texts, what is not Gatha. He must repeat aloud the Gatha texts and follow the rest inwardly.
He is accepted for all the Gathas.
If he recite the Yasna and follow inwardly the Gathas, he is accepted only for the Yasna, he is not accepted for the Gathas.
23. If the two priests  sing together Gatha verses , both are accepted.
If they sing stanzas, both are accepted in the proportion that they recite (?).
24. If two priests  celebrate together the Yasna verse by Verse, or stanza by stanza, both are accepted.
If they hear the words of one another, they are not accepted .
What is hearing one another's words?
It is when they recite together verses or stanzas.
The one who does not listen is accepted.
Or get another of the faithful to sing them, -- he is not accepted, as he does not sing them himself.
If he can hear himself with his own ears, he is accepted.
3. Two different Zaotars perform at the same time two independent offices. The place for the office, the so-called Izishn-gah, is arranged in such a way that the celebration of several offices can take place at the same time.
4. As they disturb one another, and their attention is not undivided.
5. Without singing them himself.
6. Which drowns his voice.
He shall recite with a medium voice and will be accepted.
27. How loud at the least shall he sing the Gathas in order to be accepted?
Loud enough for the nearest of the faithful, for this one or that one, to hear him with his own ears.
28. Amongst grains, (the draeno ) made with corn is accepted .
III. Strong drink forbidden during the sacrifice .
On the first time it happens , have not to atone for it.
1. The draono, darun, is a consecrated round little cake which is tasted by the Zot at the end of the Srosh darun (Yasna 8.4): it is a sort of Zoroastrian host.
2. This sentence does not really belong to the Avestan Nirangistan; it is a quotation from some other Fargard, inserted in the Pahlavi commentary, though the analysis in the Denkard, being based upon the Pahlavi text, mentions it among the matters treated in the Nirangistan (Denkard Book 8, 29.2 'concerning the darun, &c.').
3. 'About abstaining from drinking strong wine during the sacrifice' (Denkard Book 8, 29.3).
5. The first time they did not know the consequences of their intemperance, and are not considered responsible for them.
moderation too, if he sing not the Gathas , he is not guilty.
If he eat too much and get drunk, for not singing the Gathas [he is guilty].
IV. The recitation of the Gathas .
31. If the priest sing for two assemblies, he is accepted.
If he sing for three assemblies, he is not accepted.
Which is the smallest assembly for which singing is accepted? Three (of the faithful).
For those words he is not accepted.
34. Which are the words twice to be said?
2. ' Concerning the quality (saman) of the voice in reciting the Avesta in a ceremonial, and the Avesta which is twice recited and thrice or four times recited' (West, Denkard, 1.1. § 4).
3. The first half of the stanza.
4. If he omit to recite them the due number of times.
5. The so-called Bish-amrutas, Thrish-amrutas, Chathrush-amrutas; cf Vd10.
35. Which are the words thrice to be said?
36. Which are the words four times to be said?
Yatha ahu vairyo; A airyema .
37. When is it that the Gathas which a priest sings are not accepted?
These words are not accepted.
Whether walking or running; standing, sitting, or lying; riding or driving; as long as he has his girdle [[kusti]] on , he is accepted.
V. The sacrifice performed by a Zot or a Raspi in a state of sin .
What he recites himself is accepted.
If he know not that they are in a state of sin, the whole of the Gathas is accepted.
4. See above, page 312, note 2.
5. His kusti; cf. Vd18.1 (note 2), 54.
6. Denkard, 1.1. § 5.
What they recite themselves is themselves is accepted.
If they know not that he is in a state of sin, the whole of the Gathas is accepted.
If the Zaotar be righteous and the assistants be righteous, the whole is accepted.
If the Zaotar be in a state of sin and the assistants be also in a state of sin, neither the one nor the other is accepted.
And know how to perform the acts of ritual between the chapters.
I. The celebration of the Gahambars.
41. He who does not sing the Gathas, either out of unbelief, or out of impiety, becomes a Peshotanu.
What is unbelief ? What is impiety ?
It is renouncing the Religion of Mazda.
42 . He who stays the year without singing the Gathas becomes a Peshotanu.
3. As there are certain repetitions of stanzas and certain cerermonial acts at the end of most of the Has.
6. 'On the sin of him who does not celebrate the Gahambars, and how they are to be celebrated' (Denkard, 1.1. §8).
And so on until he let a fourth part of the year go without singing the Gathas, when it becomes an aredush sin .
if he let a whole year go, his guilt is a yata .
If afterwards he miss a ratufriti , he becomes a Peshotanu.
And so on until he let a third part of the year go without singing the Gathas .... he becomes a Peshotanu.
3. Punished with thirty strokes.
4. The sin of breaking an arm: fifty strokes.
5. The sin of breaking a leg: seventy strokes.
6. One of the formulas of glorification to any of the ratus (?).
7. To be filled up as in § 42.
And for the half of the year, whether earlier or later, when he prevents (their being sung), he becomes a Peshotanu.
II. The limits of the several Gahs .
II a. The Ushahin Gah.
46. At what hour does the celebration of the Ushahina Gathas begin?
It continues from midnight to sunrise; thus in winter time.
He may, without guilt, sing the rest of the Gathas till the middle of the forenoon.
Ushahina (Ushahin), from midnight to the extinction of the stars, or Dawn.
Havani (Hawan), the morning Gah, beginning at dawn.
Rapithwina (Rapithwin), the midday Gah.
Uzayeirina (Uzerin), he afternoon Gah, from Rapithwin to the appearance of the stars.
Aiwisruthrima (Aiwisrusrem), from the appearance of the stars to midnight.
In winter there are only four Gahs, Havani and Rapithwina being united.
47. At what hour does the celebration of the Havani Gathas begin?
In winter time till the middle of the afternoon.
48. From what hour may the sacrifice to the Good Waters  be offered?
Thus both in summer time and in winter time.
Than if he should throw them downright into the jaws of a venomous snake .
II c. The Rapithwin Gah.
49. At what hour does the celebration of the Rapithwina Gathas begin?
From Rapithwa to the middle of the afternoon.
II d. The Uzirin Gah.
50. At what hour does the celebration of the Uzayeirina Gathas begin?
Thus it is in summer.
He may, without guilt, sing the rest of the Gathas after sunset.
II e. The Aiwisruthrem Gah.
51. From what hour does the celebration of the Aiwisruthnma Gathas proceed?
III. The offerings for the Gahambars.
For as far as he recites (the prayers), he has celebrated the festival .
1. A professon which brings no great income to those who exercise it.
2. 'They have bread, they have no meat,' and cannot therefore offer any meat for the Gahambar.
3. Without making any offering.
4. The rich man who provides the offerings.
5. 'He has as much merit as if he had presented pious people with a thousand goats big with kids' (Comm.), which is the reward promised for the celebration of the first Gahambar (Afrinagan of the Gathas. § 7).
He who celebrates the festival can charge them with non-celebration.
54. Whose meat-offering is accepted?
The offering of a man, of a woman, of a child.
The property seized on a criminal is accepted.
56. Sheep diseased, wounded, or lean, are not accepted.
Sheep not diseased, not wounded, and not lean-fleshed, are accepted.
57. Milk cooked or not cooked, from a fat cow or from a lean cow, is accepted.
Meat is accepted; cooked, not uncooked; from fat cattle, not from lean cattle.
1. However rich may be their offerings.
If supple, not if not supple; if from a fat animal, not from a lean one.
And all make the responses , all are accepted.
If they make not the responses, the one who has bound the Baresman and brought the offering of milk is accepted.
1. Cf. page 305, note 3.
2. Cf. § 20; in particular the atha ratush in the recitation of the Ahuna Vairya.
He shall pay the penalty they may exact.
Any other man in this world who shall do that , if he does it openly is a highwayman; if secretly, he is a thief .
64 . If two men have the same food and the same plates, they shall offer the same libation of wine and the same meat.
If they have the same food and separate plates, they shall offer separate libations of wine and the same meat.
If they have separate food and the same plates, they shall offer the same libation of wine and separate meat.
If they have separate food and separate plates, they shall offer separate libations of wine and separate meat.
1. The public religious banquet which is one of the characteristics of the Gahambar festival. It is given at the expense of the rich, and both rich and poor take part in it.
2. As he has a general right to it, though he ought not to have taken it without authority.
3. A man who does not belong to that Myazda.
4. See above, page 35, note 1.
5. The case foreseen in this obscure paragraph seems to be that of two men, members of the same Myazda, according as they each bring their separate fare or not.

References: § 3
 § 1
 § 28
 § 2
 § 3
 § 4

V. 
 § 9
 § 10
 § 11

V. 
 § 15
 § 16
 § 17
 § 1
 § 17
 § 91
 § 91
 § 40
 § 3
 § 4

V. 
 § 5
 §8
 § 42
 § 7
 § 20