Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/375

AVESTA. directly from the founder of the faith, but was composed by his apostles and later followers. The Parsis, however, generally regard the whole work as coming directly from Zoroaster; this is a claim that even the Avesta itself hardly makes. The Gāthās, however, undoubtedly came directly from the Prophet; the Avesta itself always speaks of them as 'holy,' and especially calls them the 'five Gāthās of Zoroaster.' We may fairly regard many other portions of the Avesta as direct elaborations of the great teacher's doctrines, just as the Evangelists have elaborated for us portions of the teachings of Christ.

In regard to the locality in which we are to seek the source of the Avesta and the cradle of the religion, opinions have been divided. Some scholars would place it in the west, in Media; others would still maintain that we are to look to the east of Iran, to Bactria, as its source; or again to Afghanistan or Khorassan for the home of the Avestan language. Each of these different views probably has some right on its side, and we shall perhaps not go far astray if we regard the Avesta as coming partly from the East and partly from the West. We know that a number of its scenes may be placed in the east or southeast of Iran; but other scenes are best ascribed to the west, where Zoroaster first appeared. On the question of his original home, see the article. The language itself of the texts, as used in the church, became a religious language, precisely as did Latin, and, therefore, was not confined to any place or time. We may regard the Avesta as having been worked upon from Zoroaster's day down to the time of the Sassanian redaction.

The Pahlavi Version of the Avesta. — To the period of the Sassanian editing of the texts be- longs the Pahlavi translation and interpretation of the Avesta. At the date when the texts were compiled and edited, the general knowledge of the language of the Avesta and the understand- ing of the sacred texts was far from perfect. The preparation of a translation or version became necessary. Accordingly, the great body of the texts was rendered into Pahlavi, the language used by Persia at the time of the Parthian Arsa- cidæ and the Sassanidæ (q.v.). The Pahlavi ver- sion and interpretation of the Yasna, Vīspered, and Vendīdād, each entire, with some portions of the other texts, has been preserved. We have not yet so thorough an understanding of the Pahlavi version of the old texts as might be wished; but as our knowledge of this translation increases, we shall .see move and more its importance. Owing to the somewhat imperfect knowledge of the Avestan texts at the time when the version was made, and owing to the unskillful and peculiar method in which the Pahlavi translation is made, it abounds in numerous errors and inaccuracies. It is often, however, of the greatest value in in- terpreting allusions, and particularly in giving hints for the meanings of obscure words, and in such matters is our best and only guide. When more fully understood and used in connection with the 'comparative method,' referring to the Sanskrit, in interpreting the sacred texts, the 'traditional method' or native explanation is destined to win great results. The 'traditional' and the 'comparative' methods must go hand in hand.

Manuscripts of the Avesta. — The oldest manuscript that we possess of the Avesta dates from the middle of the Thirteenth Century. From that date onward we have a considerable number of codices still extant. They come to us from India and from Yezd and Kerman, in Persia. The Parsi priests, especially the Dasturs, Dr. Jamaspji Minocheherji, and Peshotan Behramji, and their friends have shown princely generosity in aiding Western scholars in editing texts by putting valuable MSS. in their possession. It is thus that it was possible for the new edition of the Avesta texts, by Professor Geldner, of Berlin, to be presented in so critical a manner.

The importance of the Avesta lies not alone in the field of philology, ethnology, and early literature, but also in the investigation of comparative religion. Resemblances to Christianity in its teachings become significant when we consider the close contact between the Jews and the Persians during the Babylonian Captivity.

Language of the Avesta. — The language in which the Avesta is written may be best termed Avestan, or simply Avesta. The designation Avesta for the language, as well as the book, is in keeping with the Pahlavi Avistāk, which is used both of the tongue and of the scriptures. The term Avestan, both for the language and as an adjective, is to be in some respects preferred, in order to distinguish the speech from the work itself. The term Zend for the language, as noted above, is a misnomer. The designation Old Bactrian, sometimes used for this tongue, has little to recommend it. The language of the Avesta belongs to the Iranian group. With the ancient Persian inscriptions it makes up the Old Iranian division. The later Iranian languages, New Persian, Kurdish, Afghan, Ossetish, Baluchi, Pamir, and other dialects, complete the younger division. The intervening Pahlavi with its Pāzand, and Parsi, does not quite complete the link between the divisions. (See .)

The alphabet in which the Avesta is written is far younger than the language it presents. The characters are derived from the Sassanian Pahlavi, which was used to write down the oral tradition when the texts were collected and edited under the dynasty of the Sassanidte. The writing is read from right to left. What the original Avestan script was we do not know.

Two dialects may be recognized in the Avesta; one, the 'Gāthā dialect,' or the language of the oldest parts of the Gāthās, or metrical sermons of Zoroaster; the other, 'younger Avestan,' or the 'classical dialect.' This latter is the language of the great body of the Avesta. The Gāthā dialect is more archaic, standing in the relation of the Vedic to the classical Sanskrit, or the Homeric Greek to the Attic. Possibly the Gāthā language may also owe some of its peculiarities noticed below to an original difference of locality. The Gāthā dialect was the speech of Zoroaster and his followers. Its grammatical structure is archaic and remarkably pure. The younger Avesta, in its very latest compositions, owing to decay, shows many corruptions and confusions in its inflections. All that is written in metre, however, is old and is generally correct and accurate. Inaccuracies that have crept in we must generally attribute to the carelessness of the scribes. In its forms, as a rule, the Avesta is extremely antique: in general it stands on the same plane as the Vedic Sanskrit, and oc-