Praises to God: Selections From the Teachings of Zoroaster (vegetarian), Part 2 of 2

GOD’S WARNING TO YIMA OF WINTER AND DELUGE

“[…] Ahura-Mazda spoke unto Yima [the first man], saying: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; . . . that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî, deep on the highest tops of mountains. And all the three sorts of creatures shall perish, those that live in the wilderness, and those that live on the tops of the mountains, and those that live in the bosom of the dale, under the shelter of stables.

Therefore make thee a vara [an enclosure], long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, and thither bring sheep and oxen men, dogs, birds and red blazing fires. …There thou shall make waters flow in a bed a hâthra [approximately 1.6 km or 1 mile] long; there thou shall settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shall establish dwelling-places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery. Thither thou shall bring . . . men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth […]. Thither thou shall bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odor. All those shall thou bring, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the vara [an enclosure]. […]”

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

“He shall learn on during the first part of the day and the last, during the first part of the night and the last, that his mind may be increased in knowledge and wax strong in holiness: so shall he sit up, giving thanks and praying to God and His angels that he may be increased in knowledge. […] ’”

REWARD FOR THE PIOUS

“Zarathustra asked Ahura-Mazda: ‘O Thou all-knowing Ahura-Mazda, should I urge upon the godly man, should I urge upon the godly woman, should I urge upon the wicked Daêva-worshipper who lives in sin, that they have once to leave behind them the Earth made by Ahura, that they have to leave the water that runs, the corn that grows, and all the rest of their wealth?’ Ahura-Mazda answered: ‘Thou should, O holy Zarathustra.’

‘O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! where are the rewards given? Where does the rewarding take place? Where is the rewarding fulfilled? Whereto do men come to take the reward that, in their life in the material world, they have won for their souls?’

Ahura-Mazda answered: ‘When the man is dead, when his time is over, then the hellish, evil-doing Daêvas assail him; and when the third night is gone, when the dawn appears and brightens up, and makes Mithra [God of Light] reach the all-happy mountains, and the Sun is rising: Then the fiend named Vîzaresha carries off in bonds the souls of the wicked Daêva-worshippers who live in sin. The soul enters the way made by Time, and open both to the wicked and to the righteous. At the head of the Kinvad (chinvat) Bridge . . . they ask for their spirits and souls the reward for the worldly goods which they gave away here below. …”