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Pahlavi Texts, Part IV (SBE37), E.W. West, tr. [1892], at sacred-texts.com
Sûdkar Nask.
1. The nineteenth fargard, Kad-môi-urvâ 2, is about where the souls, when they come together, extol the soul of him who was a virtuous high-priest, a friend of the soul, because he did not injure it, and guarded it from hell.
2. About the darkness, the intensity (bûr’zvŏ-hômandîh) and far-reaching bottomlessness of the blackness, and the absence of goodness in hell; and the proximity to stenches, close concealment 3, sleet-pelted clambering (pîsnakŏ-bâlînîh), frozen advancing,
painful condition, distressed state, and awful fear of those in hell. 3. This, too, that is thrown open (lakhvâr ramîtund) over it, from the Dâîtî peak 1, which is in Aîrân-vêg, to Albûr’z 2, and below the middle of which is the gate of hell, is the Kînvad bridge 3 which is the route (vidâr) of every one, righteous or wicked; the width across the route of the righteous is a breadth of nine spears, each one the length of three reeds, but the route for the wicked becomes like the edge of a razor.
4. 'Thus say I 4 unto thee, O Spîtâmân! that the man of truth steps forward over the Kînvad pass, even the far-famed happy bridge; for Âstâd 5, the good promoter of the world, and Mitrô 6 of the vast cattle-pastures save only the man possessing truth from that distress, as though they were a regiment (sipâh) a thousand strong. 5. So I say unto thee, O Spîtâmân! that thou shouldst not become a liar unto Mitrô, neither when thou wouldst converse with the wicked, nor when thou wouldst with those of thine own religion who are righteous; for both of those are promises, both with the wicked and the righteous; there is a promise, O Zaratûst! even of a wolf with young animals, but that which is a
lascivious (gêhîk) promise is more awful, O Spîtâmân! 6. So I say unto thee, O Spîtâmân! that thou shouldst not seize a wanton (gêhîk) for use—that is, do not make her thy wife—and with compulsion (ûpayamisnîh) of her 1—that is, do not let thyself lie with her. 7. And if thou shouldst seize a courtezan for use, and with compulsion of her, thou mayst not dismiss her afterwards, neither in adversity, nor in prosperity, neither on account of fondness for self, nor for life; because he who seizes a courtezan for use, and with compulsion, and shall dismiss her on account of fondness for self, or for life, becomes thereby a breaker of promises to the house, village, community, or province, that gives her life (valman zîvînêdŏ), and to the soul that animates her 2.'
8. So breaking the promise comes upon the children that are theirs, through evil teaching; and he who is wicked is lying down without children at the bottom of hell. 9. That is, there is nothing whatever of 3 happiness for the wicked, that happiness which is produced abundantly by him who is Aûharmazd.
10. Perfect righteousness is excellence.
209:2 The first three words of the fourth, and last, hâ of the third Gâtha (Yas. L, 1), here written kad-môk-ravakŏ in Pahlavi.
209:3 Compare AV. LIV, 5-8:—'As close as (tang-ik) from the ear to the eye, and as many as the hairs a horse has in his mane, so many in number the souls of the wicked stand, but they do not see, nor do they hear a sound, one from the other, and every one, therefore, thinks that he is alone.' For a description of hell see also Dd. XXVII.
210:1 Or Kakâd-î Dâîtî (see Pahl. Vend. XIX, 101; Bd. XII, 7).
210:2 Av. hara berezaiti, the range of lofty mountains supposed to surround the world (see Bd. V, 3-5).
210:3 Here called Kînakŏ-pûhal, and Kîs-vidarg in § 4; for a fuller description of it see Dd. XXI, 2-7. Allusion is made to it in Yas. L, 7.
210:4 Aûharmazd, speaking to Zaratûst. The whole of this paragraph appears to be quoted verbatim from the original Pahlavi text of the Nask.
210:5 See Chap. IX, 6.
210:6 See Bk. VIII, Chap. XLIV, 16.
211:1 Or, perhaps, 'with approach to her' (see Chap. XIX, 3 n). If ûpadamisnîh were read, it might mean 'aspiration, or attachment' for her.
211:2 This implies that the woman, being a notorious sinner, cannot reasonably complain of bodily injury on being dismissed; but her soul and the community are grievously injured by her being thus driven into further sin, and for this injury the man's soul will be made responsible.
211:3 K has 'none even of this.'