Bundahisn
Journal Data
| Type | SOURCE_BOOK |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, Incorporated |
| ISBN-13 | 9780190879044 |
| Open Library | OL20749475W |
| Total publications | 39 |
| Coverage period | 2020 - 2020 |
| Language | EN |
| Cited by | 11 |
| Impact factor | 0.077 |
| h-index | 1 |
| i10-index | 1 |
The Bundahišn , meaning primal or foundational creation, is the central Zoroastrian account of creation, cosmology, and eschatology and one of the most important of the surviving testaments to Zoroastrian literature and pre-Islamic Iranian culture. Touching on geography, cosmogony, anthropology, zoology, astronomy, medicine, legend, and myth, the Bundahišn can be considered a concise compendium of Zoroastrian knowledge. The Bundahišn is well known in the field as an essential primary source for the study of ancient Iranian history, religions, literature, and languages. It is one of the most important texts composed in Zoroastrian Middle Persian, also known as Zoroastrian Book Pahlavi, in the centuries after the fall of the Sasanian Empire to the invading Arab and Islamic forces in the mid seventh century. The Bundahišn provides scholars with a particularly profitable window on Zoroastrianism’s intellectual and religious history at a crucial transitional moment: centuries after the composition of the Avesta , the Zoroastrian sacred scriptures, and before the transformation of Zoroastrianism into a minority religion within Iran and adherents’ dispersion throughout Central and South Asia. However, the Bundahišn is not only a scholarly tract. It is also a great work of literature in its own right and ranks alongside the creation myths of other ancient traditions: Genesis, the Babylonian Emunah Elish , Hesiod’s Theogony , and others. Informed by the latest research in Iranian Studies, this translation aims to bring to the fore the aesthetic quality, literary style, and complexity of this important work
On the Opposition of the Two Spirits
Chapters 5 is divided into three parts. The first section includes a list of the good spirits and their respective antagonists. This section also discusses the demonic nature of the planets and their struggle with seven good constellations. The second section presents the world horoscope and the astral positions at the time of creation. The final section outlines an archaic terrestrial geography: with seven continents at the center of which is th…
On the Nature of the Birth of All Species
Chapter 15 presents a theory of conception in human beings and in various animal species that seems to be based on different Greek and Hellenistic ideas. Strikingly, the chapter considers menstruation to be a biological process that is a necessary part of the reproductive cycle, and not, as is the case in Zoroastrian ritual law, a sign of impurity. The accompanying chapter 15A concerns the gender of various creations.
On the Chronology of the Arabs of Twelve Thousand Years
Chapter 36 provides a brief chronology of the history of the world from the first human couple to the Arab conquest; this chronology differs in important respects from the apocalyptic history found in chapter 33. The chapter closes with two dates that mark the composition of the chapter, and perhaps of the Bundahišn as a whole.
On the Nature of the Five Forms of Animals
Chapter 13 focuses on zoology and the taxonomy of animals. The chapter organizes animals into three kingdoms: grazing animals, mountain animals, and burrowing and aquatic animals. The chapter also describes the various species of plants that grew out of the body of the primordial cow and the 282 species of animals created from the cow’s seed, which was entrusted to the moon for safekeeping. The remainder of the chapter concerns important natural …
On the Nature of Vermin
Chapter 22 is devoted to xrafstar , the evil animals created by Ahriman in dualistic opposition to Ohrmazd’s animal creation. Like the discussion of Ohrmazd’s animal creation in chapter 13, this chapter, too, classifies Ahrimanic vermin. Reptiles—in particular serpents—insects, and mythological animals are divided into aquatic, terrestrial, and flying categories. Wolves, a separate category of evil animals, are discussed in chapter 23.
On Resurrection and the Final Body
Chapter 34 describes the resurrection of the dead ( ristāxēz ) in their final physical form, known as the Final Body ( tan ī pāsēn ), and the Restoration of the earth to its original state of peace and symmetry ( frašgird ). The eschatological events include a final universal purgation in a river of molten metal and a final battle between good and evil during which the molten river pours into Hell to destroy it. The chapter describes Ahriman’s re…
Prologue
0 Praise to the Creator Ohrmazd! Majestic, glorious, omniscient, wise, mighty, the greatest in good thoughts, words, and deeds in thinking, speech, and action, and to all the spiritual and material deities. 1 With good fortune and with a happy omen I would wish to write—secondly...
On Ahriman and the Demons’ Evil Deeds
The catalogue of demons in chapter 27 mirrors the structure of the list of deities elsewhere in the Bundahišn . The first part of the chapter is devoted to a description of the nature of Ahriman, followed by a list of the six archdemons, the major demons, and finally other minor fiends. The chapter’s concluding digression on Hell seems to be an interpolation.
On Material Creation
Chapters 1 and 1A describe the myth of primordial creation. The chapters detail Ohrmazd’s spiritual and later material creation of finite time, the earth, the Amahraspands (Beneficent Immortals), and other creations, including the sky, water, earth, and the primordial plant, cow, and man. The chapters also describe Ahriman’s evil and nonmaterial countercreation, and the state of Mixture ( gumezišn ) that follows the onslaught of evil. Chapter 1A …
On the Family and Lineage of the Kayanids
Chapters 35 and 35A provide genealogies of the epic and the religious heroes of the Iranian tradition, as well as the priestly families of the mowbed s. The second part of the chapter deals with the genealogy of the prophet Zoroaster. It describes the prophet’s ancestry, as well as the names of his historical sons and daughters.
On the Nature of the Seas
Chapter 10 presents a list of seas. This list partly derives from the mythic geography of the Avesta and partly is based on historical bodies of water, including the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman.
On Various Things
Chapter 24 discusses the mythical creatures that play a role in the earthly battle against evil animals and in Zoroastrian eschatology. Among others, the chapter devotes a lengthy discussion to the three-legged donkey and its function in rainmaking. However, in this and other cases, though the donkey and other creatures are mentioned already in the Zoroastrian sacred scripture, the Avesta , their mythic function remains obscure. The second part o…
On the Stages of the Battle of Material Creation against the Evil Spirit
This chapter describes the response of the good creations to the onslaught of evil. Particularly interesting are the myth describing the role of the star Sirius in ensuring rainfall and the horoscope of the first man, Gayōmard, which provides an astrological explanation of his life and death.
On the Nature of the Rivers
Chapter 11 lists the principal rivers of the world. The chapter focuses on several rivers bearing mythic significance, in particular the Arang and Dāitī, where Gayōmard and the primordial cow were both created. The chapter also discusses the ritual pollution of water and its purification and includes a list of the different kinds of liquids in the world.
On Songs
Chapter 20 is one of the Bundahišn ’s most enigmatic chapters. The chapter’s central term, the word wang , can be translated as “sound,” “voice,” “cry,” or “song.” The chapter describes the songs or sounds made by various elements in the natural world as well as the song of the recitation of the Avesta and the sound of appeals for justice by righteous individuals.
On the Nature of Lakes
Chapters 12 lists the principal lakes of the known world; this list overlaps in part with the list of seas in chapter 10. Some of lakes mentioned can be tentatively identified with modern bodies of water, including Lake Urumieh, Lake Sōwar, Čašma-yi Sabz in Afghanistan, Aral Sea, and Gaud-i Zira in the Sistan region.
On the Nature of Plants
Chapter 16 presents a detailed taxonomical classification of plants and fruit. Plants are divided into fifteen kinds based on their growing season (perennial or annual), edibility, fragrance, and use. The chapter also explains the myth of the seasonal pollination of the earth, connected to the astronomical myth of Sirius, and refers to the sacred plant Hōm . The accompanying chapter 16A is dedicated to flowers and their association with the deiti…
On How the Adversary Burrowed Through to Creation
Chapter 4 describes the beginning of the cosmic battle between good and evil. The chapter emphasizes the role of the primordial prostitute (Jeh) in planning the onslaught against the material creation of Ohrmazd. The account of the evil contamination of Ohrmazd’s creation is given in detail. This chapter also includes an etiological myth of the origin of menstruation. Section 4B retells the Avestan story of the primordial cow’s complaint to Ohrma…
On the Fashioning of the Lights
Chapter 2 focuses on astronomy and exemplifies the relation between Iranian and Mesopotamian, Indian, and Hellenistic ideas of the cosmos. The chapter describes Ohrmazd’s creation of the celestial lights, that is, the “fixed” and wandering stars, then the moon, and lastly the sun. The chapter also discusses the twelve constellations, which are Ohrmazd’s allies in the cosmic battle, and names the four stars who act as generals of the four quadrant…
On the Likenesses of the Creatures
Chapter 7 describes how, following Ahriman’s attack on creation, Ohrmazd consigned the forms of the primordial cow and the first man, Gayōmard, to the stars, moon, and sun. The positive role assigned to the sun and moon here contradicts their negative nature, along with that of the five planets, described in chapter 2. The chapter also mentions the compositions of different types of stars, made up of water, earth, and plant essence.
On the Nature of Mankind
Chapter 14 provides an account of the creation of the first human couple, Mašyā and Mašyāne. The chapter also provides a genealogy of their offspring, the progenitors of the races of mankind as well as of monstrous and mythical peoples. Two additional sections focus on “others”: women and monkeys and bears.
On the Great Deeds of the Spiritual Deities
The longest chapter in the Bundahišn , chapter 26 comprises a detailed catalogue of Zoroastrian deities ( yazdān ) and their roles and functions. The chapter describes how each deity has distinct powers and attributes, including in the protection of the world and in the war against the forces of Ahriman. The chapter draws from and comments on the hymns to various divine beings found in the Avestan yašt s.
On the Mastery of Men, Animals, and Everything
Chapter 17 presents a long list of the different creations and the archetypical “spiritual master” ( rad ) of each.
On the Činwad Bridge and the Souls of the Departed
Chapter 30 deals with the destiny and the judgment of the individual soul after death. The chapter describes the three stages in the soul’s journey to the next world: first, three days of torment and pain while the soul sits next to the body; then encounters with a series of apparitions; and, finally, passage across the Činwad Bridge. The chapter also provides details about the three otherworldly realms: Paradise (literally, “the best,” wahišt ),…
On How and Why Creation Went to Battle
Chapter 3 describes Ohrmazd’s final preparations before Ahriman’s onslaught on the material world. It enumerates the different roles of the Amahraspands in the defense of creation. The chapter also contains interesting material on human psychology, namely the division of the human being into the body and four spiritual parts. The chapter also discusses the frawahr , a spiritual concept unique to the Zoroastrian tradition, and the nature of the id…
The Bundahišn
The Bundahišn , meaning primal or foundational creation, is the central Zoroastrian account of creation, cosmology, and eschatology and one of the most important of the surviving testaments to Zoroastrian literature and pre-Islamic Iranian culture. Touching on geography, cosmogony, anthropology, zoology, astronomy, medicine, legend, and myth, the Bundahišn can be considered a concise compendium of Zoroastrian knowledge. The Bundahišn is well know…
On the Opposition of the Two Spirits
Chapters 5 is divided into three parts. The first section includes a list of the good spirits and their respective antagonists. This section also discusses the demonic nature of the planets and their struggle with seven good constellations. The second section presents the world horoscope and the astral positions at the time of creation. The final section outlines an archaic terrestrial geography: with seven continents at the center of which is th…
On the Nature of the Birth of All Species
Chapter 15 presents a theory of conception in human beings and in various animal species that seems to be based on different Greek and Hellenistic ideas. Strikingly, the chapter considers menstruation to be a biological process that is a necessary part of the reproductive cycle, and not, as is the case in Zoroastrian ritual law, a sign of impurity. The accompanying chapter 15A concerns the gender of various creations.
On the Chronology of the Arabs of Twelve Thousand Years
Chapter 36 provides a brief chronology of the history of the world from the first human couple to the Arab conquest; this chronology differs in important respects from the apocalyptic history found in chapter 33. The chapter closes with two dates that mark the composition of the chapter, and perhaps of the Bundahišn as a whole.
On the Nature of the Five Forms of Animals
Chapter 13 focuses on zoology and the taxonomy of animals. The chapter organizes animals into three kingdoms: grazing animals, mountain animals, and burrowing and aquatic animals. The chapter also describes the various species of plants that grew out of the body of the primordial cow and the 282 species of animals created from the cow’s seed, which was entrusted to the moon for safekeeping. The remainder of the chapter concerns important natural …
On the Nature of Vermin
Chapter 22 is devoted to xrafstar , the evil animals created by Ahriman in dualistic opposition to Ohrmazd’s animal creation. Like the discussion of Ohrmazd’s animal creation in chapter 13, this chapter, too, classifies Ahrimanic vermin. Reptiles—in particular serpents—insects, and mythological animals are divided into aquatic, terrestrial, and flying categories. Wolves, a separate category of evil animals, are discussed in chapter 23.
On Resurrection and the Final Body
Chapter 34 describes the resurrection of the dead ( ristāxēz ) in their final physical form, known as the Final Body ( tan ī pāsēn ), and the Restoration of the earth to its original state of peace and symmetry ( frašgird ). The eschatological events include a final universal purgation in a river of molten metal and a final battle between good and evil during which the molten river pours into Hell to destroy it. The chapter describes Ahriman’s re…
Prologue
0 Praise to the Creator Ohrmazd! Majestic, glorious, omniscient, wise, mighty, the greatest in good thoughts, words, and deeds in thinking, speech, and action, and to all the spiritual and material deities. 1 With good fortune and with a happy omen I would wish to write—secondly...
On Ahriman and the Demons’ Evil Deeds
The catalogue of demons in chapter 27 mirrors the structure of the list of deities elsewhere in the Bundahišn . The first part of the chapter is devoted to a description of the nature of Ahriman, followed by a list of the six archdemons, the major demons, and finally other minor fiends. The chapter’s concluding digression on Hell seems to be an interpolation.
On Material Creation
Chapters 1 and 1A describe the myth of primordial creation. The chapters detail Ohrmazd’s spiritual and later material creation of finite time, the earth, the Amahraspands (Beneficent Immortals), and other creations, including the sky, water, earth, and the primordial plant, cow, and man. The chapters also describe Ahriman’s evil and nonmaterial countercreation, and the state of Mixture ( gumezišn ) that follows the onslaught of evil. Chapter 1A …
On the Family and Lineage of the Kayanids
Chapters 35 and 35A provide genealogies of the epic and the religious heroes of the Iranian tradition, as well as the priestly families of the mowbed s. The second part of the chapter deals with the genealogy of the prophet Zoroaster. It describes the prophet’s ancestry, as well as the names of his historical sons and daughters.
On the Nature of the Seas
Chapter 10 presents a list of seas. This list partly derives from the mythic geography of the Avesta and partly is based on historical bodies of water, including the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman.
On Various Things
Chapter 24 discusses the mythical creatures that play a role in the earthly battle against evil animals and in Zoroastrian eschatology. Among others, the chapter devotes a lengthy discussion to the three-legged donkey and its function in rainmaking. However, in this and other cases, though the donkey and other creatures are mentioned already in the Zoroastrian sacred scripture, the Avesta , their mythic function remains obscure. The second part o…
On the Stages of the Battle of Material Creation against the Evil Spirit
This chapter describes the response of the good creations to the onslaught of evil. Particularly interesting are the myth describing the role of the star Sirius in ensuring rainfall and the horoscope of the first man, Gayōmard, which provides an astrological explanation of his life and death.
On the Nature of the Rivers
Chapter 11 lists the principal rivers of the world. The chapter focuses on several rivers bearing mythic significance, in particular the Arang and Dāitī, where Gayōmard and the primordial cow were both created. The chapter also discusses the ritual pollution of water and its purification and includes a list of the different kinds of liquids in the world.
On Songs
Chapter 20 is one of the Bundahišn ’s most enigmatic chapters. The chapter’s central term, the word wang , can be translated as “sound,” “voice,” “cry,” or “song.” The chapter describes the songs or sounds made by various elements in the natural world as well as the song of the recitation of the Avesta and the sound of appeals for justice by righteous individuals.
On the Nature of Lakes
Chapters 12 lists the principal lakes of the known world; this list overlaps in part with the list of seas in chapter 10. Some of lakes mentioned can be tentatively identified with modern bodies of water, including Lake Urumieh, Lake Sōwar, Čašma-yi Sabz in Afghanistan, Aral Sea, and Gaud-i Zira in the Sistan region.
On the Nature of Plants
Chapter 16 presents a detailed taxonomical classification of plants and fruit. Plants are divided into fifteen kinds based on their growing season (perennial or annual), edibility, fragrance, and use. The chapter also explains the myth of the seasonal pollination of the earth, connected to the astronomical myth of Sirius, and refers to the sacred plant Hōm . The accompanying chapter 16A is dedicated to flowers and their association with the deiti…
On How the Adversary Burrowed Through to Creation
Chapter 4 describes the beginning of the cosmic battle between good and evil. The chapter emphasizes the role of the primordial prostitute (Jeh) in planning the onslaught against the material creation of Ohrmazd. The account of the evil contamination of Ohrmazd’s creation is given in detail. This chapter also includes an etiological myth of the origin of menstruation. Section 4B retells the Avestan story of the primordial cow’s complaint to Ohrma…
On the Fashioning of the Lights
Chapter 2 focuses on astronomy and exemplifies the relation between Iranian and Mesopotamian, Indian, and Hellenistic ideas of the cosmos. The chapter describes Ohrmazd’s creation of the celestial lights, that is, the “fixed” and wandering stars, then the moon, and lastly the sun. The chapter also discusses the twelve constellations, which are Ohrmazd’s allies in the cosmic battle, and names the four stars who act as generals of the four quadrant…
On the Likenesses of the Creatures
Chapter 7 describes how, following Ahriman’s attack on creation, Ohrmazd consigned the forms of the primordial cow and the first man, Gayōmard, to the stars, moon, and sun. The positive role assigned to the sun and moon here contradicts their negative nature, along with that of the five planets, described in chapter 2. The chapter also mentions the compositions of different types of stars, made up of water, earth, and plant essence.
On the Nature of Mankind
Chapter 14 provides an account of the creation of the first human couple, Mašyā and Mašyāne. The chapter also provides a genealogy of their offspring, the progenitors of the races of mankind as well as of monstrous and mythical peoples. Two additional sections focus on “others”: women and monkeys and bears.
On the Great Deeds of the Spiritual Deities
The longest chapter in the Bundahišn , chapter 26 comprises a detailed catalogue of Zoroastrian deities ( yazdān ) and their roles and functions. The chapter describes how each deity has distinct powers and attributes, including in the protection of the world and in the war against the forces of Ahriman. The chapter draws from and comments on the hymns to various divine beings found in the Avestan yašt s.
On the Mastery of Men, Animals, and Everything
Chapter 17 presents a long list of the different creations and the archetypical “spiritual master” ( rad ) of each.
On the Činwad Bridge and the Souls of the Departed
Chapter 30 deals with the destiny and the judgment of the individual soul after death. The chapter describes the three stages in the soul’s journey to the next world: first, three days of torment and pain while the soul sits next to the body; then encounters with a series of apparitions; and, finally, passage across the Činwad Bridge. The chapter also provides details about the three otherworldly realms: Paradise (literally, “the best,” wahišt ),…
On How and Why Creation Went to Battle
Chapter 3 describes Ohrmazd’s final preparations before Ahriman’s onslaught on the material world. It enumerates the different roles of the Amahraspands in the defense of creation. The chapter also contains interesting material on human psychology, namely the division of the human being into the body and four spiritual parts. The chapter also discusses the frawahr , a spiritual concept unique to the Zoroastrian tradition, and the nature of the id…