ment of sinners and what is allowable or proper and

what is not so.

18. Sakadum, fifty-two chapters. It treated of the ways of exercising authority; of sagacity, and

resurrection.

19. Videvadada or Vendidad. Of all the twentyone "nusks" or books this is the only one that has come down to us entire. We will therefore speak of it at some length with the other books of the Avesta

now extant.

20. Hadokht, thirty chapters. It treated of good actions and prayers and of the final fate or results of good and evil actions. Fragments of this book (about three chapters) have been preserved and are still in existence.

21. Stud Yasht (prayer of praise), thirty-three chapters. It treated of the praises of Ahura Mazda and His Ameshaspends and of thanksgivings to them.

Of all these twenty-one volumes which we have now described, the nineteenth, i.e. the Vendidad, is the only book that has come down to us intact. Together with the Yasna and Visparad, this book forms what is known as the Vendidad Sade. A few fragments. only of the Hadokht and Vishtasp "nusks" exist.

ment of sinners and what is allowable or proper and what is not so.

18. Sakadum, fifty-two chapters. It treated of the ways of exercising authority; of sagacity, and

resurrection.

19. Videvadada or Vendidad. Of all the twentyone "nusks" or books this is the only one that has come down to us entire. We will therefore speak of it at some length with the other books of the Avesta

now extant.

20. Hadokht, thirty chapters. It treated of good actions and prayers and of the final fate or results of good and evil actions. Fragments of this book (about three chapters) have been preserved and are still in existence.

21. Stud Yasht (prayer of praise), thirty-three chapters. It treated of the praises of Ahura Mazda and His Ameshaspends and of thanksgivings to them.

Of all these twenty-one volumes which we have now described, the nineteenth, i.e. the Vendidad, is the only book that has come down to us intact. Together with the Yasna and Visparad, this book forms what is known as the Vendidad Sade. A few fragments only of the Hadokht and Vishtasp "nusks" exist.

CHAPTER IV.

THE PARSI CREED.

A book of prayers-The Vendidad-The Yasna-The Visparad-The KhordehAvesta―The five Gahs-The Nyaishes-The Yashts-Their importance— The Afringans-The Patets-Prayers of repentance-An exhaustive list of sins-The Afrins-The Prophet's own prayer-The oldest copies of the Parsi books-Professor Westergaard's texts-The Pehlevi languageConjectural meanings-Connected with Parthia-List of Pehlevi worksSome of the more important-The Pazand language-What is the Parsi religion?-Zoroaster's mission-Monotheism-Ahura Mazda-The One God-Zoroaster's theology-The account of Herodotus-Of Dr. HaugZoroaster's philosophy-The resurrection of the body-Zoroaster's moral teaching-Ardeshir Babekan calls an assembly-The vision of Arda Viraf-Two foreign critics on the Parsis-Expression of regret at the decay of the old Parsi religion.

BESIDES the religious works named in the last chapter, a book of prayers, called the Khordeh-Avesta, is still in existence. We may therefore proceed to take a brief survey of the books of the Vendidad Sade and the Khordeh-Avesta, which form the bulk of the Parsi Scriptures remaining to the present day. It is not certain whether these three, not mentioned in our list of the twenty-one volumes, viz. the Yasna, Visparad, and Khordeh-Avesta, existed as different books. The probability is, perhaps, that they formed a part of some of those twenty-one volumes.

We will first speak of the books which form the Vendidad Sade, viz. the Vendidad, Yasna, and Visparad.

1. The Vendidad (i.e. what is given to guard against the demons, which signifies against evil influences) is, in the words of Dr. Haug, “the code of the religious civil and criminal laws of the ancient Iranians." It is made up of twenty-two "pargarads" or sections. Dr. Haug divides these sections as to their contents into three parts. The first (chaps. i. to iii.) contains an enumeration of the sixteen countries then known in which the Zoroastrian religion had been propagated, an account of the legend of King Yama, and lastly the recommendation of agriculture as a pursuit of men. The second (chaps. iv. to xvii.) dwells upon the Zoroastrian law, ceremonies, and observances. The third (chaps. xviii. to xxii.) treats of miscellaneous matters, such as the attempts of the devil to counteract the influence of Zoroaster's good actions, the fate of the soul after death, the ways of curing diseases by various means, and other similar subjects.

2. The Yasna is, as its root implies, a composition which includes prayers that are to be offered with certain rites and ceremonies. It is nowadays recited by two priests, known as the Zaoti and the Rathvi, before a sacred fire. The articles required during the recital are consecrated water (zaothra), consecrated bread (draona) with "ghi" or butter spread over it, goat's milk, twigs of the homa plant and of the pome