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33-498: Pazend's principal use was for writing the commentaries ( Zend ) on and/or translations of the Avesta. The word "Pazend" ultimately derives from the Avestan words paiti zainti , which can be translated as either "for commentary purposes" or "according to understanding" (phonetically). Pazend had the following characteristics, both of which are to be contrasted with Pahlavi , which is one of

66-455: A form of interpretation, was known as 'pa-zand'. "Pazand texts, transcribed phonetically, represent a late and often corrupt Middle Persian pronunciation, and so present their own problems." "The corruptions during this process are sometimes considerable." Among the transcribed texts are the prefaces ( dibacheh ) to prayers in Avestan. These prefatory prayers are invariably written in Pazend because of

99-577: A second step, the priests then translated the Avestan idiomatically. In the final step, the idiomatic translation was complemented with explanations and commentaries, often of significant length, and occasionally with different authorities being cited. Several important works in Middle Persian contain selections from the zand of Avestan texts, also of Avestan texts which have since been lost. Through comparison of selections from lost texts and from surviving texts, it has been possible to distinguish between

132-565: A variety of Middle Iranian languages , but of these Middle Iranian commentaries, the Middle Persian zand is the only one to survive fully, and is for this reason regarded as 'the' zand . With the notable exception of the Yashts , almost all surviving Avestan texts have their Middle Persian zand , which in some manuscripts appear alongside (or interleaved with) the text being glossed. The practice of including non-Avestan commentaries alongside

165-585: Is a key text for understanding Sassanid-era Zoroastrian orthodoxy. The Denkard , a 9th or 10th century text, includes extensive summaries and quotations of zand texts. The term zand is a contraction of the Avestan language word za nti ( 𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌 , meaning "commentary, explanation"). The authorship of the Zand is unknown. The dating of the Zend is considered complicated in contemporary scholarship, especially in

198-402: Is abbreviated GBd or just Bd ) is about twice as long as the lesser (abbreviated IBd ). It contains 36 chapters. The Bundahisn contains characteristics that fall under the rubric of different forms of classifications , including both as an encyclopedic text and as a text similar to midrash . The traditionally given name seems to be an adoption of the sixth word from the first sentence of

231-469: Is largely taken from Secunda 2012. Bundahishn The Bundahishn ( Middle Persian : Bun-dahišn(īh) , "Primal Creation") is an encyclopedic collection of beliefs about Zoroastrian cosmology written in the Book Pahlavi script. The original name of the work is not known. It is one of the most important extant witnesses to Zoroastrian literature in the Middle Persian language. Although

264-456: The Amesha Spentas (Bounteous Immortals), representing the primordial elements of the material world, and permeated his kingdom with Ard ( Asha ), "Truth" in order to prevent Angra Mainyu from destroying it. The Bundahishn finally recounts the creation of the primordial bovine, Ewagdad (Avestan Gavaevodata ), and Keyumars (Avestan Keyumaretan ), the primordial human. Following MacKenzie,

297-706: The Bundahishn draws on the Avesta and develops ideas alluded to in those texts, it is not itself scripture . The content reflects Zoroastrian scripture, which, in turn, reflects both ancient Zoroastrian and pre-Zoroastrian beliefs. In some cases, the text alludes to contingencies of post-7th century Islam in Iran , and in yet other cases, such as the idea that the Moon is farther than the stars . The Bundahishn survives in two recensions : an Indian and an Iranian version. The shorter version

330-509: The Sassanids , after which Zoroastrianism came to be supplanted by Islam , Pazend lost its purpose and soon ceased to be used for original composition. In the late 11th or early 12th century, Indian Zoroastrians (the Parsis ) began translating Avestan or Middle Persian texts into Sanskrit and Gujarati. Some Middle Persian texts were also transcribed into the Avestan alphabet. The latter process, being

363-408: The twenty-eight subdivisions of the astronomers, of which the names are Padevar, Pesh-Parviz, Parviz, Paha, Avesar, Beshn, Rakhvad, Taraha, Avra, Nahn, Miyan, Avdem, Mashaha, Spur, Husru, Srob, Nur, Gel, Garafsha Varant, Gau, Goi, Muru, Bunda , Kahtsar, Vaht, Miyan, Kaht. 4. And all his original creations, residing in the world, are committed to them; so that when the destroyer arrives they overcome

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396-580: The "Pahlavi" (i.e. Zoroastrian Middle Persian ) collection. The later chapters are several centuries younger than the oldest ones. The oldest existing copy dates to the mid-16th century. The two recensions derive from different manuscript traditions, and in the portions available in both sources, vary (slightly) in content. The greater recension is also the older of the two, and was dated by West to around 1540. The lesser recension dates from about 1734. Traditionally, chapter-verse pointers are in Arabic numerals for

429-667: The Authenticity of the Zend Language (Bombay, 1821), may have contributed to the confusion. Propagated by N. L. Westergaard's Zendavesta, or the religious books of the Zoroastrians (Copenhagen, 1852–54), by the early/mid 19th century, the confusion became too universal in Western scholarship to be easily reversed, and Zend-Avesta , although a misnomer, continued to be fashionable well into the 20th century. The following list of Zand texts

462-399: The Avestan language itself. These Avestan language exegeses sometimes accompany the original text being commented upon, but are more often elsewhere in the canon. An example of exegesis in the Avestan language itself includes Yasna 19–21, which is a set of three Younger Avestan commentaries on the three Gathic Avestan 'high prayers' of Yasna 27. Zand also appears to have once existed in

495-399: The Avestan language, which was considered a sacred language . The Middle Persian zand can be subdivided into two subgroups, those of the surviving Avestan texts, and those of the lost Avestan texts. A consistent exegetical procedure is evident in manuscripts in which the original Avestan and its zand coexist. The priestly scholars first translated the Avestan as literally as possible. In

528-406: The Avestan texts led to two different misinterpretations in western scholarship of the term zand ; these misunderstandings are described below . These glosses and commentaries were not intended for use as theological texts by themselves but for religious instruction of the (by then) non-Avestan-speaking public. In contrast, the Avestan language texts remained sacrosanct and continued to be recited in

561-462: The Sasanian cultural context with none belonging to the post-conquest era (and no references to Islam), as well as the use of source criticism to provide a relative dating of the text alongside other more concretely dated texts. One study has shown that all the major authorities of the Zend flourished from the late fifth to sixth centuries CE. The priests' practice of including commentaries alongside

594-447: The adversary and their own persecution, and the creatures are saved from those adversities. 5. As a specimen of a warlike army, which is destined for battle, they have ordained every single constellation of those 6480 thousand small stars as assistance; and among those constellations four chieftains , appointed on the four sides, are leaders. 6. On the recommendation of those chieftains the many unnumbered stars are specially assigned to

627-942: The constellation stars are assigned to it by him; especially these twelve whose names are Varak (the Lamb), Tora (the Bull), Do-patkar (the Two-figures or Gemini), Kalachang (the Crab), Sher (the Lion), Khushak (Virgo), Tarazhuk (the Balance), Gazdum (the Scorpion), Nimasp (the Centaur or Sagittarius), Vahik (Capricorn), Dul (the Water-pot), and Mahik (the Fish); 3. which, from their original creation, were divided into

660-409: The equally mistaken use of "Pazend" for the Avestan script as such and "Zend" for the Avestan language. Zend Zend or Zand ( Middle Persian : 𐭦𐭭𐭣 ) is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avesta n texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. Zand glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including in

693-465: The following chapter names in quotation marks reflect the original titles. Those without quotation marks are summaries of chapters that have no title. The chapter/section numbering scheme is based on that of B.T. Anklesaria for the greater recension, and that of West for the lesser recension. The chapter numbers for the greater recension are in the first column and in Roman numerals, and the chapter numbers for

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726-485: The former class of manuscripts was misunderstood to be the proper name of the texts, hence the misnomer "Zend-Avesta" for the Avesta. In priestly use, however, "Zand-i-Avesta" or "Avesta-o-Zand" merely identified manuscripts that are not suitable for ritual use since they are not "clean" ( sade ) of non-Avestan elements. The second mistaken use of the term Zend was its use as the name of a language or script. In 1759, Anquetil-Duperron reported having been told that Zend

759-489: The hegemony of the world. According to the text, in the first 3,000 years of the cosmic year, Ahura Mazda created the Fravashis and conceived the idea of his would-be creation. He used the insensible and motionless Void as a weapon against Angra Mainyu, and at the end of that period, Angra Mainyu was forced to submission and fell into a stupor for the next 3,000 years. Taking advantage of Angra Mainyu's absence, Ahura Mazda created

792-456: The lesser recension are in the second column, and are noted in Arabic numerals and in parentheses. Excerpt from Chapter 2:- On the formation of the luminaries. 1. Ohrmazd produced illumination between the sky and the earth, the constellation stars and those also not of the constellations, then the moon, and afterwards the sun, as I shall relate. 2. First he produced the celestial sphere , and

825-472: The lesser recension, and Roman numerals for the greater recension. The two series' are not synchronous since the lesser recension was analyzed (by Duperron in 1771) before the extent of the greater recension was known. The chapter order is also different. The Bundahishn is the concise view of the Zoroastrianism's creation myth, and of the first battles of the forces of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu for

858-502: The light of the orality of the text and the lack of reference to it outside of Zoroastrian literature . The earliest manuscripts of the Zend date to the fourteenth century, with colophons assuring the existence of earlier manuscripts at least up to 1000 CE. For several reasons, it has been argued that the Zend was first assembled prior to the Arab conquests. These include the presence of many stylistic and linguistic characteristics that belong to

891-459: The need for "accurate" pronunciation. This practice has led to the misconception that "Pazend" is the name of a language. Following Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron 's translation of some of the texts of the Avesta in the late 18th century, the term "Zend-Avesta" was mistakenly used to refer to the sacred texts themselves (as opposed to commentaries on them). This usage subsequently led to

924-404: The other systems used to write Middle Persian: In combination with its religious purpose, these features constituted a "sanctification" of written Middle Persian. The use of the Avestan alphabet to write Middle Persian required the addition of one symbol to the Avestan alphabet: This character, to represent the /l/ phoneme of Middle Persian, had not previously been needed. Following the fall of

957-466: The text being commented upon led to two different misunderstandings in 18th/19th century western scholarship. The first was the treatment of "Zend" and "Avesta" as synonyms and the mistaken use of "Zend-Avesta" as the name of Zoroastrian scripture. This mistake derives from a misunderstanding of the distinctions made by priests between manuscripts for scholastic use ("Avesta- with -Zand"), and manuscripts for liturgical use ("clean"). In western scholarship,

990-625: The translations of Avestan works and the commentaries on them, and thus to some degree reconstruct the content of some of the lost texts. Among those texts is the Bundahishn , which has Zand-Agahih ("Knowledge from the Zand ") as its subtitle and is crucial to the understanding of Zoroastrian cosmogony and eschatology. Another text, the Wizidagiha , "Selections (from the Zand)", by the 9th century priest Zadspram,

1023-472: The younger of the two recensions. The older of the two recensions has a different first line, and the first translation of that version adopted the name Zand-Āgāhīh , meaning " Zand -knowing", from the first two words of its first sentence. Most of the chapters of the compendium date to the 8th and 9th centuries, roughly contemporary with the oldest portions of the Denkard , which is another significant text of

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1056-590: Was found in India and contains only 30 chapters, and is thus known as the Lesser Bundahishn , or Indian Bundahishn . A copy of this version was brought to Europe by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron in 1762. A longer version was brought to India from Iran by T.D. Anklesaria around 1870, and is thus known as the Greater Bundahishn or Iranian Bundahishn or just Bundahishn . The greater recension (the name of which

1089-468: Was the name of the language of the more ancient writings. Similarly, in his third discourse, published in 1798, Sir William Jones recalls a conversation with a Hindu priest who told him that the script was called Zend , and the language Avesta . This mistake resulted from a misunderstanding of the term pazend , which actually denotes the use of the Avestan alphabet for writing certain Middle Persian texts. Rasmus Rask 's seminal work, A Dissertation on

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