Bahman Yasht 04 - Signs and Portents
Zand-i Wahman Yasn (Bahman Yasht), Chapter 4 Translated by E.W. West (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 5, 1880)
CHAPTER IV.
1
He, Zartosht, asked: “O spiritual and beneficent Creator of the material existence! What will be the tokens f the tenth century?“
2
He, Ohrmazd, replied: “O Spitaman Zartosht! I will explain the tokens that will be at the end of thy millenium.
3
“During that basest of periods, a hundred kinds, a thousand kinds and ten thousand kinds of devs having dishevelled hair, of the seed of Eshm, will arrive. (4) Those men of the basest origin will rush from the direction of Khvarasan to Airan-sahr; they will have up-lifted banners, bear black weapons, keep the hair dishevelled on the back and will be mostly low-born basest slaves, reapers, ‘zavishes’, and labourers.
5
“O Spitaman Zartosht! the offspring of Eshm will be ill-born, their lineage will not be manifest. (6) They
[107] will rush, with sorcery, on to these Iranian villages which I, Ohrmazd, created. (7) Since they will burn and damage many things, the houses of the house-owners and the villages of the village-chiefs: prosperity, nobility, husbandry, fidelity to Religion, faith, security, joy and all the productions which I, Ohrmazd, created, this holy Religion of Mazda-worship and the Varahram fire, which is established worthily, will all come to nought; and the ‘zangs’ and vagrants will come into prominence. (8) The great country will become a town, the great town a village, the great village a family and the great family a skeleton.
9
“O Spitaman Zartosht! they will raze these Iranian villages which I, Ohrmazd, created, with harmful desires and despotism” [misgovernment]. (10) “These devs having dishevelled hair are deceivers,” [that is, they will not do what they say,] “and are of a vile religion,” [that is, they will do what they do not say.] (11) “They have no contract, faith, truth, and ordinance; they preserve no security and do not remain firm on the contract they make. (12) They will raze these Iranian villages which I, Ohrmazd, created, with deceit, avarice and misgovernment.
13
“During that period, O Spitaman Zartosht! all men will become deceivers,” [that is, they will wish ill to one another;] “and great friendship will be of a different hue. (14) And reverence, love and regard for the soul will depart from the world. (15) The affection of the father will depart from the son, and that of the brother from his brother; the son-in-law will be severed (?) from the father-in-law; and the mother will be separated from the daughter and of a different will.
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16
“When thy tenth century will be at an end, O Spitaman Zartosht! the Sun’s rays will be very level and much concealed; and the year, month and day will be shorter. (17) And the Spendarmat earth will be very narrow, and the roads will be very intricate. (18) And the crops will not yield the seed; out of ten crops of corn eight will fail and two will thrive, and that which thrives will not become ripe. (19) And the plants, trees, and shrubs will diminish; if one shall hold a hundred, ninety will diminish and ten will thrive; those which thrive will not be wholesome and tasteful. (20) And men will be born much stunted; they will have little skill and energy, and they will be very deceitful and very immoral; they will have no gratitude and reverence for bread and salt, and they will not inquire after the welfare of one another.
21
“During that most evil period, a bird will have more reverence than the Iranian religious man. (22) They will receive little wages for work; works and duties will proceed but little from their hands, and all kinds of men alien creed will be desirous of injury unto them.
23
“And all over the world, there will be burial of the dead and clothing of the dead. (24) And they will hold it lawful to bury the dead, to wash the dead, to burn the dead, to carry the dead to water and fire, and to eat the dead matter, and will not abstain from it.
25
“They will think of great works and duties and prepare wickedness and the way to the wicked existence; and they will hie towards the wicked existence on account of impiety, parsimony, and the distractions of anger and avarice.
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26
“During that perverse period, O Spitaman Zartosht!” [during the preponderance of Eshm having the infuriate spear and the devs having dishevelled hair of the seed of Eshm,] “the basest slaves will advance forward to the mastery of the Iranian villages.
27
“And the religious who shall wear the sacred thread-girdle on the waist, will not then be able to preserve their ablutions. (28) For, at that basest period, dead matter and dry impure matter will be so abundant that when a man shall lay step after step, he will be walking on dead matter. (29) Or, when he shall wash himself with the ‘barashnom’ ablution, as soon as he shall lay the foot out of the holes which are for purification, he will be walking on dead matter. (30) Or, when he shall consecrate the ‘darun’ in their dead-house, without spreading forth the sacred ‘barsom’ twigs, it will be proper. (31) Or, when, at that basest of periods, it will be proper to perform the ‘Yazishn’ ritual by means of two men, so that this religion may not attain to nothingness and weakness, when there will be only one out of a hundred, out of a thousand, out of ten thousand, who will believe this religion, and even he who believes will not act according to it, when the fire Warharan will attain to nothingness and weakness, they will preserve that one fire out of a thousand and they will not supply that, too, properly with fuel and fragrance. (32) Or, when a man, who has taken the holy orders and does not understand the ‘Nirangistan’ code of rituals, will kindle the fire with good meditativeness, it will be proper.
-
kusti
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Atash Behram fire.
33
“Wealth and respectability will all come to those of alien creed and of alien path. (34) And virtuous doers
[110] meritorious deeds, of the families of patricians and sages, will be addicted to the sin of running about uncovered. (35) The inferiors shall take the daughters of patricians, nobles, and sages to wife. (36) The patricians, nobles and sages will come to destitution and servitude; the ‘zoishes’ and the inferiors will attain to greatness and power, and the vagrants and inferiors will come to the lead and management of affairs. (37) The utterance of the religious, the seal and the judicature of the upright judge, the utterance of the truthful, and even that of the righteous will be considered to be instigation; they will consider, as true and credible, the utterances of the inferiors and slanderers, of the impious and mockers and of those of false judgments. (38) And they will take oaths with falsehood, and give false evidence thereby, and will speak falsehood and untruth about me Ohrmazd.
39
“Those who will be famed for preceptorship and pupilage will wish evil unto one another and mention the faults of and find faults with one another; Ahriman and the devs shall have carried much affliction unto them. (40) And of the sins which men shall commit, out of five sins the preceptors and pupils will commit three sins, they will be the enemies of the good,” [that is, they will thereby speak evil and mention the faults of one another;] “and they will not perform the ‘yazishn’ ceremonies they undertake, and have no fear of the wicked existence.
41
” And in that tenth century, which will be at the end of thy millenium, O Spitaman Zartosht! all men will be worshipping avarice and of the false religion. (42) And it will not be possible for a fortunate cloud and the holy wind to produce rain at the proper time and season. (43) A gloomy
[111] cloud shall benight the whole sky. (44) The hot wind and the cold wind will arrive and carry away the crops and the seeds of corn. (45) The rain, too, will not rain at the proper season; it will rain the noxious creatures more than water. (46) And the water of rivers and springs will diminish and it will have no inerease. (47) And quadrupeds, bullocks, and sheep will be born very stunted and less skilful, they will lift up less load, they will have very little hair and very slender skin, their milk will not increase and they will have little fat. (48) And the ploughing ox wilt have little strength; the swift horse will have little skil, and it will bear but little of splendour.
49
“And, in that perverse period, O Spitaman Zaratuhsy! men, who will have the sacred thread-girdle on their waist, will desire death as a boon, on account of the hurtful demands of the evil rule and many a false regulation which they have come up to, whereby their life will not be worth living. (50) And young men and children will have a fearful (?) mood; adherent sport and mirth will not proceed from their hearts.
51
“And they will perform the feasts and the institutes of the ancients, the votive offerings to God, the worship, the ritual, the season festivals [gahambars] and the ceremonies of remembering the Fravasis, in various places, and they will not believe, without doubt, in that which they do perform. (52) And they will not lawfully give the recompense; they will bestow no gifts and alms, and will bestow again even that which they once give.
53
“And even those men of the good faith, who will have professed this good Religion of Mazda-worship, will proceed
[112] to their ways and customs in disguised movements; they will not believe in their own Religion. (54) And the patrician, the noble, and the good village chief will go, in banishment, from their village and locality, from their original abode and family, and they will beg something from the inferiors and the wicked owing to want, and come to poverty and banishment. (55) Nine out of ten of these men will perish, in the direction of the North.
56
“Owing to their evil rule, everything will come to nothingness, banishment, levity, and defilement. (57) The Spandarmad earth will gape her mouth; all jewels and metals, such as gold, silver, brass, copper, and lead will come into view. (58) And dominion and sovereignty will come to the non-Iranian slaves, such as the army of the Turk, the A-tur and the Topit, such as the Audrak, the Mountaineer, the Chinese, the Kawulik, the Sughdian and the Aruman; and the white army apparelled in red (?) will have sovereignty over my Iranian villages; their mandate and will will spread over the world.
59
“The sovereignty will come unto them from those leathern-belted ones, Arabs and Arumans. (60) They will be so misgoverning that when they will kill a righteous good man or a fly, both the actions will be the same in their eyes. (61) And preservation, freshness, prosperity, territory, family, wealth and handiwork, the streams, rivers and springs of the Iranian faithful will come to those non-Iranians; the army, the land, and the standard will come to them; and they will walk over the world with the dominion of wrathful desires. (62) And their greedy eyes will not be sated with wealth; and they will accumulate the wealth of the
[113] world, and conceal it underneath the earth. (63) And through wickedness they will commit many unnatural practices and much intercourse with menstruous women, and practise many impious vices.
64
“And in that perverse period, the night will be brighter, and the year, month and day will diminish one-third; the Spandarmad earth will swell up, and suffering, death, and indigence will be very severe in the world.”
65
He, Ohrmazd, spoke to Spitaman Zartosht: “This is what I foretell. (66) That wicked ganak-minoe will be very oppressive and tyrannical, when it shall be necessary to destroy him.”
67
Thus, He, Ohrmazd spoke to Spitaman Zartosht: “Recite and learn by heart, teach by means of the commentary, the commentary-on-the-commentary and the interpretation, speak to the preceptors and the pupils and they will proclaim to the world:” [they will speak to those that will not be aware of the century] “that for the hope of the final-most material existence and for the sake of the salvation of their souls, they must bear and suffer the trouble, evil, and oppression of those alien div-worshippers.
68
“This, too, I tell thee, O Spitaman Zartosht! thatt he who, at that period, will desire the body, cannot save the soul; for, his body will be fat and the soul foul and feeble in the wicked existence; he who will desire the soul, his body will be foul and feeble, he will be destitute and poor on earth, and his soul will be fat in the Best Existence.”
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