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Pahlavi Texts, Part V: Marvels of Zoroastrianism (SBE47), E.W. West, tr. [1897], at sacred-texts.com


CHAPTER XV.

1. About the brothers who were a band of opponents of Zaratûst. 2. The Karaps and Aûsikhshes 3 were brothers’ sons, and have become the devastation (gâstâragîh) of the Irânians; the devastators of the Irânians (Êrânân) were from Kôkharêd 4, and Kôkharêd was born from Aêshm and Mânûsak, the sister of Mânûskîhar 5. 3. At the place where Zaratûst was born, five brothers have been, whose names were Brâd-rûkhsh, Brâd-rôyisn, Brâd-rêsh the Tûr, Hazân, and Vadast 6. 4. Their

p. 144

brotherhood of five—of which the middle one was Brâd-rêsh the Tûr, who became more of an adversary of Zaratûst—was a semblance of the brother-hood of five who were sons of Pôrûshaspô, of whom the middle one was Zaratûst.

5. Of the four brothers of Zaratûst, the names of the two before Zaratûst were Ratûstar and Rangûstar, and of the two after him Nodarîgâ and Nîvêdis 1. 6. The middle position of Zaratûst is for the reason that he is so produced at that time, as an inter-medium of the early narrators and the later narrators, that three millenniums came before him and three after. 7. So that he has prescribed to the creatures in what manner he would teach the ancients as to what had occurred, and in what manner it is also to be done as regards what will occur; as is stated in the Gâthas 2 thus: 'Both those I ask of thee, O Aûharmazd! even whatever has happened till now, and whatever shall happen henceforth?'


Footnotes

143:3 Av. 'Karapâ Usikhsh-kâ' of Yas. XLIV, 20 c; the Kavâ, a third class of pre-Zoroastrian priests, is also mentioned ibid. 20 d. Compare Dk. VII, ii, 9 n.

143:4 Av. Kahvaredha, Yas. LX, 6, 7 (Sp.) where it is translated by kâstâr, 'diminisher, devastator,' of whom it is here said to be the father; see also Yt. III, 9, 12, 16.

143:5 Compare the legend of the descent of the ape and bear from a demon and Yimak, sister of Yim, in Bd. XXIII, 1.

143:6 As these names do not occur in the Avesta, their pronunciation p. 144 has to be guessed so as to give a probable meaning to the Pahlavi spelling. The writing of the last name is complicated; it is written and in the two MS. authorities, which forms can be most obviously read Vasam and Saman, but Saman can also be read as the Zvâris yadâ = dast, 'a hand;' this leads to the conclusion that the original name underlies the form Vadast, and this is confirmed by the name of the Karap Vaêdvôist written at full length in Dk. VII, iv, 21-24. See ibid. ii, 9 n.

144:1 These brothers seem unmentioned elsewhere, and the existence of the elder two would imply another mother. The pronunciation of the names is guessed.

144:2 Pahl. Yas. XXXI, 14 a.


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