Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/234

Rh of the twenty-one Nasks which make up the complete Holy Writ of the Zoroastrians. It is the quintessence of the entire scriptures. In reply to the prophet's inquiry about the origin of this sacred formula, Ahura Mazda says that before the heavens, before the waters, before the earth, before the animals, before the trees, before the fire, before men, before the archangels, before the demons, and before the entire material existence, Ahuna Vairya was. Ahura Mazda pronounced it when the world was not. One correct recitation of it without any omission is worth the chanting of a hundred Gathas, and will enable the devout to reach paradise. Of all the sacred formulas that have ever been pronounced or are now recited, or which will be recited hereafter, this word that the Lord God has announced to the holy prophet is the best. It gives courage and victory to the soul and conscience of man. Humanity would redeem itself from the death by embracing it in the fulness of faith.

Zarathushtra chants aloud this Word when the demon Buiti seeks his death, and he puts the fiend to flight by the mere recital of it. With the same word does the prophet repel the Evil Spirit himself, when he comes to tempt him.

The value of the recitation and the intonation of the formula is greatly impaired when it is inattentively chanted with errors and omissions. Ahura Mazda prevents the careless soul that makes such mistakes from entering paradise.

The number of times that the spells are recited. The tenth Fargard, or chapter, of the Vendidad gives a list of the Gathic stanzas which are to be repeated twice, three times, and four times at the beginning of the spells to repel evil. The Airyaman Ishya prayer is generally repeated four times. The most frequently occurring formulas that are repeated in various numbers, as the occasion demands, are the Ashem Vohu and the Ahuna Vairya. They are generally used at the opening or at the close of all prayers. The number of times which they are recited varies from one to a hundred thousand, or, to be precise, the following specific numbers are found among the references to the