Greater Bundahishn [introduction]

NOTE: Also available in PDF and EPUB formats.

A new translation is now available from OUP.

This digital edition 2002 by Joseph H. Peterson. Comments in {} added by JHP, mainly to facilitate searches. Punctuation and spelling have also been normalized to conform with other texts in this series.

"Bundahishn has been preserved in two recensions, known respectively as the Indian and the Greater or Iranian Bundahishn. As its name implies, the latter is the more complete and contains much matter that is unknown to the Indian recension. "

Note: All of the page numbers have anchor tags, so can be referenced individually, for example, http://www.avesta.org/mp/grb1.htm#p31. Likewise, the chapters can be referenced, for example, http://www.avesta.org/mp/grb1.htm#chap3. Obvious typos have been silently corrected.

Please let me know if you find any typos, or have suggestions for improving this e-text or web site. Thanks. -JHP, July 2004.

I would like to thank Dr. Jehan Bagli for sending me a copy of this rare and valuable text. -JHP

ZAND-AKASIH

IRANIAN OR GREATER BUNDAHISHN

TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH

BEHRAMGORE TEHMURAS ANKLESARIA, M. A.

Formerly Principal, Sir Jamsetji Jeejeebhoy Zarthoshti Madressa and Mulla. Feeroze Madressa, Bombay.

Published for the Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha by its Honorary Secretary Dastur Framroze A. Bode.

BOMBAY

1956.

[p1]

PREFACE

Individuals and nations are governed by destiny operating under a Divine Law; the same is equally true of the literary works of such individuals. Misfortune seemed to hover all along with the literary works of the late Mr. Behramgore Tehmuras Anklesaria, who devoted over fifty years of his precious life in the pursuit of knowledge of the Zoroastrian lore and in study and research of the Avesta, Pahlavi, Pazand, and Persian languages and literature.

In 1900 the Trustees of the Funds and Properties of the Parsi Punchayet, Bombay, entrusted the work of publication of a facsimile of the Iranian Bundahishn MS. TD₂, to Ervad Tehmuras Dinshaji Anklesaria (born at Anklesar on the 15^th July 1842) to whom this MS. belonged. On 19th October 1903 Ervad Tehmuras died carrying in his bosom untold wealth of Iranian Lore without having had opportunities to unfold it to his contemporaries. Professor Darmesteter wrote about him as under:-

"I had the good fortune to meet a guide, as learned as modest in the person of a simple Herbed, a printer by profession, who reminds me of the learned printers of the Renaissance, Ervad Tehmuras Dinshawjee Anklesaria, the person who possesses the most certain and most extensive knowledge of the Pahlavi literature."

It fell to the lot of his illustrious son Mr. Beheramgore to watch the progress of the last sheets of the facsimile, to prepare the notes on the variants of DH, and to write an Introduction. This Facsimile of Bundahishn TD Manuscript No. 2 brought from Persia by Dastur Tirandaz was published in Bombay in 1908 with an Introduction by Mr. Behramgore T. D. Anklesaria. (240 folios of text, 36 pages Introduction, 84 pages variants of DH.) [p2]

Mr. Behramgore devoted many years on the Bundahishn, also known as Zand-akasih, which is a symposium of informations from the commentaries as regards the "Original Creation" as is evident from the Mazdayasnan Religion and the "Possessions held from the Kayans,". This unique text of Zand-akasih known as Iranian Bundahishn or Greater Bundahishn together with its translation and transcription in English, with the Introduction written in 1908 have now been published by the Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha (Founded on 3rd August 1851) with the hope that this memorable work of the late Savant -- Mr. Behramgore T. Anklesaria will prove of immense value to the students and scholars of Iranian Studies.

The purpose of this Preface is to give in brief the history behind this publication and other relevant matters connected with it.

The author of this monumental work, the late Mr. B. T. Anklesaria started the work of publishing this book some thirty years before his death on 25th November 1944. He succeeded at long last to publish this entire book, after long and arduous labour and many untoward and unavoidable delays and countless cares and worries. Everything, so far as text and translation were concerned, was ready since 1935, but he intended to write an exhaustive Introduction on the subject matter of the text and even started writing this Introduction, but the cruel hand of sudden death prevented him from completing the same. Thus, this entire work was ready in the press awaiting the Introduction at the time of the author's death in 1944. Misfortunes come not singly but together. The Fort Printing Press which was founded by the late Ervad T. D. Anklesaria and originally belonged to him and in which all the important Avesta, Pahlavi texts and such other works on Iranian Studies were printed and published, suddendly caught fire during the night, on the 14th July 1945 and all the printed copies of the Bundahishn, together with [p3] all the copies of the Vichitakiha-i Zatsparam, the Zand-i-Vohuman Yasht, and the Rivayat-i-Hemit-i Ashavahishtan (these three books were also quite ready and printed, awaiting only the Introductions to them) and many of his other valuable notes, articles and books were reduced to ashes.

Luckily, with foresight the author Mr. B. T. Anklesaria and his brother Mr. Hoshang the owner of the Fort Printing Press, who also died on 23rd May 1953, had both entrusted to me one copy of the printed Bundahishn for safe custody. The present work however, is printed by photo zinco block process from the printed copy in possession of Mrs. B. T. Anklesaria. The late Mr. B. T. Anklesaria who was a life long teacher of the Avesta, Pahlavi, Pazand, and other oriental languages and in later part of his life the Principal of the two Madressas for teaching these languages, used to give printed or handwritten copies of his books and writings to his pupils and friends much before the books were finally published. Thus some of Mr. Anklesaria's works have survived the ravages of fire.

The author had already started writing a fresh and exhaustive Introduction on the materials contained in the Zand-akasih, but death laid its icy hands on him and thus we have included the Introduction written by him while publishing the facsimile of his father's Mss. in 1908. It is a strange irony of fate, that Mr. B. T. Anklesaria's work could not come out in his life time for want of an Introduction, he so keenly desired to write. Both these works -- the facsimile with the Introduction and the present one -- were destined to be posthumous publications of both the father and the son. It is very significant, nay prophetic to recount what Mr. B. T. Anklesaria wrote in his Introduction to his father's work in 1908. The words and sentiments exactly apply to him in the present context as he applied them then to his father.

"None can have greater reason than myself to regret that my father was not spared to write the Introduction to his Mss. himself. [p4] During the last six months of his life he was anxious that the Bundahishn should come out during his own lifetime; ......... but circumstances willed it otherwise. ......... He carried in his bosom untold wealth of Iranian Lore without having had opportunities to unfold it to his contemporaries. As fate would have it, the turmoils of a busy life and premature death frustrated all his noble aspirations, and he passed away leaving after him the vestiges of his noble career in his devoted pupils, like my humble self.""

This important Pahlavi book Bundahishn or Zand-akasih, which appears to be a collection of fragments relating to the progressive development of creation, cosmology, mythology, and legendary history attracttd great attention of scholars in Europe. Here we will summarise the main attempts made so far in editing the text and translating it.

It was Anquetil du Perron who first took the manuscript of Bundahishn to Europe in a codex of miscellaneous Pahlavi texts which had been copied from K₂₀ (Folio 88 rr. line 5 to Folio 129 v. line 2) at Surat in 1734 and who published a French translation in 1771. In 1820 this very old codex K₂₀ which appears to have been written by the erudite Irani scribe Mihir-Awan Kai-Khushru at Khambayet (Cambay) in the year 720 A.Y. (1351 AD) and which is about 180 years older than the oldest Iranian codex TD was itself brought to Kopenhagen from Bombay by the Danish Scholar Rask. 19 folios of another incomplete Mss. of the Bundahishn of about the same age are catalogued as K₂₀ b. A lithographed facsimile of the text in K₂₀ was edited by Westergaard in 1851.

Another old codex written in Bharuch (Broach) in 1397 was obtained at Surat by Dr. Martin Haug in 1864 and now known as MH₆ and which appears to have been copied from an older Ms. Haug translated the first three chapters into German in 1854. Spiegel in his Traditional Literature of the Parsis, published in 1860 a German translation of many passages of the Bundahishn, [p5] together with a transcript of chapters I, II, III, and XXX in Hebrew characters. In 1863 Windischmann published in his Zoroastrian Studies a complete German translation of the Bundahishn with commentary on its contents. Another German translation of the Bundahishn with a lithographed copy of the Pahlavi text, its transcription in Persian characters and a glossary, was published by Justi in 1868. It must be remembered that most of these translations were based upon Westergaard's facsimile edition of the text in K₂₀. These translators achieved the utmost that could be done on the authority of a single Ms. which is far from perfect. Other European scholars have published the results of their studies of some portions of the Bundahishn, but none of them have attempted a complete translation.

In 1880 Dr. E. W. West published his first English complete translation of the Bundahishn in the Sacred Books of the East Series Vol. V. Dr. F. C. Andreas published an old fragment of the Bundahishn appended to his facsimile of the Menog-i Khrad in 1882. The fragment contains folios 130-131 of the Kopenhagen Ms. K₄₃; presumably they are the last two folios of a codex containing the Greater Bundahishn.

It must be noted here that the very first translation of Bundahishn in Gujarati language was published by Dastur Edaljli Darabji Jamshedji Jamasp Asa in 1819, and revised edition of it was published by Peshutan Rustam in 1877 in Bombay. This first Gujarati work is a sort of a paraphrase and an interpretation rather than a literary translation. In the preface of 1877 edition it is stated that the translator made use of two Mss., one being a copy of a Ms. written in Iran in A.Y. 776 (1407 A.D.) by Rustom Meherwan Marzaban Sheheriar, and the other a Ms. written in India by Dastur Jamshedji Jamaspji in 1139 A.Y. (A.Y. 1770 A.D.). In 1901 the erudite Parsi Savant-Dr. Sir J. J. Modi for the first time published the complete Bundahishn text and its translation in Gujarati with a learned Introduction and useful [p6] notes. There are also several Pazand Mss. of the Bundahishn, written in Avesta characters, No.22 of the collection of Avesta and Pahlavi Mss., in the India office Library is old and has the date 936 A.Y. (1567 A.D.) and is perhaps one of the best of its kind. Dastur Dr. M. N. Dhalla in his article -- 'Iranian Manuscripts in the Library of India Office' -- published in the JRAS April 1912 quotes on page 396 the colophon in Pahlavi of this Ms. on folio 111 "Copied by Ashdin Kaka Dhanpal Lakhmidhar Beheram Lakhmidhar Manpat Kamdin Zartusht Mobed Hormazdyar Ramiyar in 936 A.Y. (1567 A.D.)" MH₇ dated 1178 A.Y. (1809 A.D.) on Folio 119 v. l. 7 contains the Pazand text of Bundahishn written in Persian characters by Darasah, son of Mihervanji of Surat and perhaps it is derived from MH₆. For the Pazand of the Indian recension the reader is referred to Ervad K. E. Antia, Pazand Texts pp. 1 ff. The Pazand is miserably late and corrupt.

Bundahishn has been preserved in two recensions, known respectively as the Indian and the Greater or Iranian Bundahishn. As its name implies, the latter is the more complete and contains much matter that is unknown to the Indian recension. There is another invaluable manuscript of the Bundahishn in the Bibliothèque nationale, Supp. Pers. 2043, which is a copy of the Bombay Ms. TD₂, made by Darmesteter. TD₁ has never been collated and is described by the late Ervad T. D. Anklesaria as "an almost perfect copy."

To Professor H. B. Nyberg we owe two critical editions of the First Chapter of the Greater Bundahishn -- one in the Journal Asiatique and the other in his Hilfsbuch des Pehlevi, Uppsala 1928. Third chapter has been transliterated, translated and annotated by Nyberg in Journal Asiatique Vol. CCXIV 1929, pp. 228-37, 259-310.

There is Professor H. W. Bailey's unpublished edition of the Greater Bundahishn, for which he received the degree of Dr. Phil. [p7] at the Oxford University. Professor Henning has dealt with an astronomical chapter of the Bundahishn in JRAS. October 1942. At present Professor Kaj Barr is engaged in preparing his work on Bundahishn, which will be published soon.

Recently Professor R. A. Zaehner has transcribed and translated Bundahishn Chapters I and III with notes and comments in his work Zurvan -- A Zoroastrian Dilemma (Oxford: 1955).

From the title of this book, it seems that the author himself calls it "Zand-akasih," "knowledge of the commentary," of which the Bundahishn, so called, forms only one part. Bundahishn occupies the same place in the Iranian literature as the Genesis in the Christian scriptures. The subject matter of the book is divided under three distinct heads.

The creation of Ohrmazd and the Counter creation of the Evil Spirit (Gannak Menok)
The nature of the earthly Creatures.
The Kayan dominion.

Of course there are many chapters which are difficult to be classed under any one of these three catagories. From a close study of the first chapter it would seem that the text has been prepared from a Pahlavi translation and commentary of some Avesta work, such as the Damdat Nask, which is not extant now. There are many passages which seem to have been either a translation or an epitome from an Avestan original. A comparison of the contents of Bundahishn with those of Damdad Nask as found in the Denkard Bk. VIII shows close resemblances. In Denkard, Damdad Nask is spoken of as "Dahishn-i Getidad" which is very near the meaning of Bundahishn. It seems that the Damdad Nask is the source of Bundahishn. Moreover, the Damdad Nask is twice quoted as an authority in Vichitakiha-i Zadspram; nearly same words are used as are found in Bundhishn. Dr. West has observed "Zadspram (A. D. 881) uses, in many places, precisely the same words as those employed in the Bundahishn, interspersed with much matter [p8] written in a more declamatory style; it is therefore, evident that he had the Bundahishn before him to quote from."

It is difficult to settle the exact date when this Iranian recension of the so-called Bundahishn was written. There are a few points worth considering. The author has given the names of his ancestors in which he links himself to Zartosht son of Adurbad Mahraspandan. (page 305 of this book). Thus it seems probable that the compiler of this text was a grand nephew of Manushchihar and Zadspram -- sons of Goshn-jam, nephew of Hemit-i Ashavahishtan. It is probable that he flourished in the commencement of the fourth century after Yazdegird. There is another clue, where the Vihichakik religious months Spendarmad and Tir are said to have corresponded with the vague months Frawardin and Shahrewar. This correspondence seems to have occured between A.Y. 480 to 600 (see page 145). In the last chapter there is a direct mention of Parsik Year 527 (see page 307) being current then, which is very near the supposition given above. This significant passage is missing from the text of K₂₀, which is earlier in point of date than the TD.

In chapter 35 regarding the family of the Magupats, we find the name of the original writer of the Bundahishn as "Frenbag, whom they call Datakih, son of Ashavahesht, son of Goshn-Jam etc.," who seems to have flourished in the fifth century A. Y. It is quite clear that many additions were made in later times, and there are portions written in about the eighth century A.D., after the Arab conquest of Persia, in 651 A.D., about which there are references in the text. Darmesteter taking into consideration a reference to black skinned negroes in Bundahishn chapter 23, presumes the date of Bundahishn to be 862 A.D. Damdad Nask which seems to be the source of Bundahishn had 32 Kardas, while most of the Mss. of Bundahishn have 33 chapters. In TD and DH there are 42 different headings, thus that much portion seems to have been added by later writers. Dr. West weighing all the internal [p9] evidences considers 250 A.Y. (881 A.D.) to be the date during which Bundahishn probably assumed the form we find in TD Mss.

The codex TD₁ was brought from Yazd to Bombay by the late Mobad Khudabakhsh Farud Abadan for Ervad T. D. Anklesaria in 1870 along with the Dadestan Ms. both written by Gopatsha Rustam Bundar in about A.Y. 900 (1531 A.D.) The codex TD₂ was brought from Yazd to Bombay by Dastur Tirandaz for Ervad T. D. Anklesaria in 1880. It was written in 975 A.Y. (1606 A.D.) by Faritun Marzpan Faritun Vaharom-i-Rustom Bundar Malka-martan Din-ayibar. The first 122 folios contain the Bundahishn. From the colophon it can be deduced that it is descended from the copies of Gopatsha and Marzpan, the writers of TD₁ and DH, the former of whom wrote from a copy of Kaekhusrow Siyavakhsh. Nothing is known about these originals. Folios 160 to 230 of the codex DH contain Bundahishn. It was written in 946 A.Y. (1577 A.D.) in Kerman by Marzpan Faritun the grandson of Vaharom, brother of Gopatsha the writer of TD₁ from a copy of Erdashir Vharamsha, the original of whose copy was written by a grandson of Zadspram named Spendyat. If this Zadspram is the famous brother of Manushchiha Gosh-Jaman, then this Ms. can claim its descent from an original at least 650 years older than itself.

The codices TD₁, DH, and TD₂ were written by the three descendants of the Bundar family -- Gopatsha, Marzpan, and Faritun, Gopatsha being the grand uncle of Marzpan and Faritun being the son of Marzpan. The dates of the two latter, father and son, are 948 and 975 A.Y. respectively. It may be presumed that Gopatsha wrote his Bundahishn in about 880-900 A.Y. All these three Mss. agree in the main and are derived from the same originals and are indispensable to the future editor and translator of the text. It is evident that the writer of TD₂ Faritun Marzpan was the leader of the faithful of Persia of his [p10] time and he communicated with the Dasturs, Mobads, and the faithful of Hendustan. (India.)

The text and translation published in this volume of the TD Mss. are much more extensive than any known and published so far. The codex TD₂ has got in all 3,593 lines of text while codex K₂₀ has only 1,658 lines, thus matter of about 1,935 lines is not found in K₂₀.

In his very learned Introduction the author has given all the references to the lacunae and the dislocation of the text in K₂₀. In 1880 Dr. West referred to the "fragmentary character" of the Indian recension of the text "bearing unmistakable marks of omissions and dislocations." This volume will now give to the students and scholars all the necessary available material to work upon. Whether the Iranian text is an extension by addition of homogeneous matter by later writers to the hitherto known Indian text, or the latter be considered as an abridgment of the former is a matter yet to be decided by scholars. Of course it is a known fact that the codices of the Indian text are older than the TD ones.

I have tried to give as much useful material as possible in this Preface to show the importance and the extent of this work as Dr. West rightly said "Any future translator of the Bundahishn will probably have to take the text in TD as the nearest accessible approach to the orginal work." (S.B.E. VoI. V. Int. XXXVIII). I am aware that some scholars in Europe are engaged in translating Bundahishn and it is hoped that this work will be welcomed by them.

On the death of Mr. Behramgore Tehmuras Anklesaria M.A,. a Memorial Fund was raised by the Parsi Community. This Fund was entrusted to the Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha. Out of the interest accrued from this Fund, the Sabha is now fortunate at long last, after the delay of many years to put this memorable [p11] work before the public with the fervent hope that the labours and devotion of the author be rewarded by the spread of knowledge contained therein.

We have to record here with great regret that the President of the Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha -- Mr. Pirojsha Nusserwanji Mehta who was a patron of learning and who had taken a keen interest in the publication of this work passed away on the 27th January 1956. We record our deep appreciation of his many meritorious services rendered to the Sabha.

We will close this Preface with the words of wisdom contained in a few lines of Persian poetry found in the manuscript and translated by the author on page 311 of this work.

"As the world will not remain constant to any,
It is better that his goodness remains in memory.
The world is a permanent -- memory and we are-to-go,
Nothing remains unto man save humanity."

"Gulistan,"
802A Kingsway,
Dadar, Bombay 14.
10th October 1956.

Dastur Framroze Ardeshir Bode
Honorary Secretary.

[p12]

A BRIEF LIFE-SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR

THE LATE MR. BEHRAMGORE TEHMURAS ANKLESARIA M.A.

A very brief life-sketch of the author will not be out of place here. Mr. B.T. Anklesaria was born on 10th October 1873. He was educated in Bombay, passed the Matriculation examination in 1889, passed B.A. in 1893, got the Master of Arts degree with Avesta and Pahlavi languages, and won J.N. Petit Scholarship.

Mr. Anklesaria first joined as it teacher in the Madressas teaching Avesta, Pahlavi, and oriental languages, and later in his life he was appointed the Principal of both the Madressas in Bombay, where under him a very large number of students studied the Iranian languages and literature. In 1900 he published Mihr Yasht for University students.

Mr. Behramgore wrote a masterly Introduction to the Pahlavi Texts contained in codex MK copied in 1322 A.D. by the scribe Mehr-Awan Kai-Khushru, edited by Dr. Dastur Jamaspji M. Jamasp-Asa in 1913.

Mr. Anklesaria was an active member of the Gatha Society which was founded in 1902. Under the auspices of the Gatha Society he edited Dastur Hoshang Memorial Volume in 1918. He was mainly responsible as one of the editors in publishing Dr. Sir J.J. Modi Memorial Volume and Mr. Dinshah J. Irani Memorial Volume. He revived the Gatha Society in 1931 and remained its President till his death and delivered hundreds of lectures under its auspices. He prepared word to word English translation of the Gathas with transliteration and prologues. He started writing grammatical and philological notes, but could not complete them. This work was published by the Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha in 1953. He published a Quarterly magazine in 1903 called "Zarathoshti" in joint editorship with Dr. Dastur M. N. Dhalla, which continued for 6 years. [p13]

In 1908 Mr. Behramgore wrote and published the Introduction (which is now being republished in this volume) to his father's facsimile edition of the Bundahishn. He also published complete Avesta text of all the Yashts with colations in 1925.

Mr. Anklesaria was a great student of Astronomy and Astrology and thus he took a very keen interest in tbe reform of Parsi Calendar and wrote learned essays on the subject which were published in the reports of the various Calendar Reform Committees.

In 1930 Mr. Behramgore was sent to Iran, where he presented a Casket to His Imperial Majesty Shah Reza Pahlavi from the Parsi community and delivered many lectures on Zoroastrianism. He wrote a learned thesis on "The Gathas and the Later Avesta." He edited and published in 1933 "Travels in Pahlavi Iran" in Gujarati, jointly with his wife Meherbanoo who had accompanied him to Iran.

Mr. Anklesaria presented to the K. R. Cama. Oriental Institute his transliteration and translation of the Pahlavi Vendidad on the late Mr. K. R. Cama's Birth Centenary in 1931, and this work was published in 1949 by the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute.

In 1911 along with Professor P. A. Wadia and Dr. Nanabhoy N. Katrak, Mr. Behramgore wrote a rejoinder against some of the untenable dogmas of Theosophy.

In 1932 he published in Gujarati the Zarthoshtnameh of Mobed Rustom Peshutan Hamajiar, written in 1044 A. Y. (1675 A. D.)

Mr. Anklesaria was the President of the Iranian section of the Eight All-India Oriental Conference held at Mysore in 1935 and read a learned paper on "The Iranian words introduced into Arabic words and the Arabic words taken into Sanskrit."

Mr. Behramgore was invited to Iran in 1934 to take part in the Millenary Celebration of Firdausi where he read a learned [p14] paper on "Immortal Firdausi." He published Nirang-i-Padyab in Gujarati in 1939 and the Gathas text in Gujarati in 1933 (Gatha Society publications No.14 & 7). He took very keen interest in the Society for the Promotion of Researches into Zoroastrian Religion and read many learned research papers at its meetings.

Mr. Behramgore Anklesaria took a very leading and formidable part in the Zoroastrian Conferences from 1910 to 1915 and read many illuminating papers for the amelioration of the Parsi Community and the revival of Zoroastrian Religion.

The late Ervad T. D Anklesaria had rendered yeomen service to the Parsi Community by publishing a book in Gujarati called It is enjoined to admit non-Zoroastrians into Zoroastrian Religion. His son Mr. Behramgore followed in the glorious footsteps of his revered father and staunchly upheld the ideal. He gave a most learned evidence in the Bomboy High Court in what is known as the "Juddin Case." He was one of the eleven Ulemas who declared:- "Zoroastrian Religion does not prohibit proselytization, but on the contrary enjoins conversion of non-Zoroastrians." He staunchly supported this view all throughout his life and was mainly instrumental in the publication of a memorable book on the Bansda Navjotes.

Mr. Behramgore was a staunch supporter of the Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha, under whose auspices he delivered several profound and interesting lectures and he was one of its Honorary Members. This distinction was conferred upon him for his distinguished and meritorious services to Zoroastrian Religion, Literature and Culture. He took part in all the progressive movements concerning the Parsi Community and the Zoroastrian Religion.

Mr. Behramgore was a very active member of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute and was its Honorary Secretary for many years and edited its Journal and other publications. [p15] Mr. Anklesaria was a Freemason and acquired very high degrees and distinction in the Craft. He delivered many learned discourses on spiritual mysticism of the ancient world and the influence of Zoroastrianism on various other world movements including Freemasonry.

Mr. B. T. Anklesaria was a profound scholar of the Avesta, Pahlavi, Pazand, Persian and allied Oriental languages, literature, and culture. He edited and published many Pahlavi Texts for the first time and translated them. He had read the entire Pahlavi literature over and over again, from cover to cover from the unique Mss. he possessed. Life is too short to communicate all that is in the mind and heart of such a thorough and painstaking scholar. He worked day and night on several works at the same time, only a few of which he completed and published in his lifetime and many remained incomplete and unpublished due to want of Introductions, which he yearned to write. The enormity of his labours and learning will be measured from the following works which were in his hands and which remained unpublished:-

Rivayat-i Hemit-i Ashavahishtan transliterated text and English translation was complete and was even printed, for want of Introduction the work was not published.
Revayat-i Atar Frenbag Farkhozatan and Revayat-i Fra Sarosh-i Varhran.
Zand-i Vohuman Yasna and two Pahlavi fragments were complete in print in 1919, but due to lack of Introductions they were not published.
Zand-akasih, transliteration and translation was completed before 1935 but awaited publication for want of an Introduction, which is now being published in this volume.
Vichitakiha-i Zatsparam was printed and almost complete with Introduction, but he began writing a concordance since 1943 [p16] and thus this work remained unpublished. It now seems that the translation and introduction of this work are irretrievably lost.

Mr. B. T. Anklesaria worked on the Chronology, Geneology, and History of the Parsis; on Cuneiform and Hajiabad Inscriptions; on Pahlavi Inscriptions; on the Crosses in South India; on the Age of Zarathushtra; Ethics of Ancient Iran; Zarathushtra the Founder of Monotheism; Woman and her exalted position in home and society from Avesta and Pahlavi Sources; on Asterisms in Iranian Literature; on Khaetvadath; on Ereksh, the Archer in the Sky; on Azi Dahaka's Astronomical Observatory; on Datastan-i Dinik and on many other varied Iranian subjects, all of which are not possible to mention in this short life-sketch.

It is the good fortune of only a very few scholars to be a success in the publication of oriental works. It was fortunate that there was the family press through which both the father and the son were able to publish many Avesta and Pahlavi texts, many other useful publications and a treasure of Pahlavi works. The labour and cost involved were too great for an individual to shoulder, but Mr. Anklesaria like a true missionary and a devoted servant of his Holy Prophet Zarathushtra and Zoroastrian Religion and literature bore the brunt and toiled and suffered and died in the harness on 25th November 1944. He will be remembered for his great and noble character and he will ever be enshrined in his life work, which he has left behind, some saved, some destroyed. It is our fervent wish that all the scattered works of Mr. Behramgore can be brought together and many of his unpublished works may see the light of publication soon. May his holy Fravashi rejoice in his own good deeds and may he reap reward in Garothman of his pure, noble and industrious life devoted in the Holy Cause.

10th October 1956
Bombay Dastur Framroze Ardeshir Bode
Honorary Secretary.

[i1]

INTRODUCTION

The Trustees of the Funds and Properties of the Parsi Punchayet had, at the recommendation of the Victoria Jubilee Pahlavi Text Fund, arranged for the publication of a facsimile of the Iranian Bundahishn MS. TD₂, belonging to my father, in 1900. My father could not finish the work before his death, which took place on the 19th October 1903. It thus fell to my lot to watch the progress of the last sheets of the facsimile, to prepare the notes on the variants of DH, and to write this Introduction.	NOTES:
None can have greater reason than myself to regret that my father was not spared to write the Introduction to his MSS. himself. During the last six months of his life he was anxious that the Bundahishn should come out during his own lifetime and that of the late Dr. West, for whom he had very great esteem; but circumstances willed it otherwise. As his son and pupil I sat at his feet for eleven years, reading and working with him upon, his unique Iranian MSS., and those who knew him did not exaggerate when they said that he carried in his bosom untold wealth of Iranian lore without having had opportunities to unfold it to his contemporaries. As circumstances prevent me from writing a long Introduction, I shall content myself with touching only on the salient features of the Iranian MSS. of the Bundahishn. I regret that there should have been unavoidable delay in the publication of this work, and dedicate these few pages of Introduction to the memory of my revered father and instructor to whom I owe my all. DESCRIPTION OF THE MSS. Three codices of the Iranian Bundahishn are at present extant: TD₁, DH, and TD₂. TD₁
The codex TD₁ was brought from Yazd to Bombay, about 38 years ago, by the late Mobad Khudabakhsh Farud Abadan for my father Ervad Tahmuras, along with the Dadestan MS., both written by Gopatsha Rustahm Bundar. It is a MS. 9 1/4" X 7," [i2] containing two recent folios at the commencement, -- written on European-made paper, replaced instead of the first missing folio, -- 101 original folios, numbered from 2 to 102, written on Iranian paper, and one loose folio at the end, undoubtedly written at a later date on Iranian paper. Of the first two later folios, fol. la is left blank, fols. 1b and 2a are written 15 lines to the page, and fol. 2b has only seven lines written over it, the remaining half being left blank. The original fols. 2-102 are written 17 lines to the page. The upper portions of the first 52 folios have changed their colour owing to damp, but the handwriting has not faded. The final loose folio contains the last five lines of the text written later on by Dastur Rustahm-i Gushtasp Ertashir¹, a note of five lines made by him as regards the writer of the MS. and another note of about six lines added by Dastur Jemshit Dastobar Jamatsp Dastur Hakim.² Dastur Rustahm-i Gushtasp Ertashir notes:	1. The writer of a similar note of approval on the unique Pahlavi Denkard of the Mulla firuz Kitab-khanah. 2. Son of the well-known Jamasp Hakim, better known ae Jamasp Vilayeti, who had come over to Bombay about 189 year ago, and whose advent had become instrumental in raising the Kadimi faction amongst the Parsis.
"I, servant of the Faith, Dastur Rustahm-i Gushtasp Ertashir, saw this book which is written by Gopatsha Rustahm Bundar. I liked it, I put it in order, so that any who may read it may pray for the immortality of his soul. May it be so!" Dastur Jemshit Dastobar Jamasp Dastur Hakim notes: "I, servant of the Faith, Dastur Jemshit Dastobar Jamasp Dastur Hakim, saw this book which is written by Gopatsha Rustahm Bundar. I read it, I liked it; on the day Amurdat, month Ardawahisht, year 1113 after the Emperor Yazdegird." From these two notes we find that Gopatsha Rustahm Bundar, the writer of my father's MS. of the Dadestan [i3] wrote this codex. The date of the codex cannot be ascertained, as Gopatsha's own colophon is missing; and he has not given any date in his colophon of the Second Book of Zadspram contained in my father's Dadestan MS., written on fol. 282b, ll. 16-17 and fol. 283a, ll. 1-4. The colophon runs thus:
"Completed with rejoicings and delight and gladness. I, servant of the Faith, Gopatsha Rustom Bandar Malka-martan, wrote and left it. I wrote it in the auspicious land of Germân; I wrote it for the appropriation of my child Faritun.³ May it be useful as long as religion exists! May it be according to the desire of God!"	3. Faritun is the nephew of Gopatsha, son of the latter's brother Vaharom, see below, p x, Col. II, l. 5.
As will appear from a description of the other two MSS., the codex TD_l is the oldest existing MS. of the great Bundahishn, and it is possible that it was written about A.Y. 900⁴. The writer of it seems to have been a hasty scribe, but the handwriting is clear and legible. I should consider it an almost perfect copy but for the loss of the first and the final original folios. Its edges are torn and worn out, but the text is intact.	4. See S.B.E. Series, Vol. V., Int. p. xxxiii.
DH
The codex DH is at present in the library of the late Shamsh-ul-'Ulama Dastur Dt. Hoshangji Jamaspji. It was kindly lent by him to the Trustees of the Parsi Punchayet for collation. It must have at one time belonged to Mr. Manockjee Sorabjee Ashburner, whose seal is found impressed on some of the folios of the MS.⁵ It is a MS. 9 3/8". x 7", written 21 lines to the page, of which 137 folios are found. The first 159 folios are missing. Fol. 160 to fol. 230b, 1. 12 contain the Bundahishn. Of these folios, fols. 192-199, and 202-209 in all 16 folios are missing. Fol. 230a, l. 13 to 230b, l. 12 contains the following long colophon: ⁶	5. The notes on the variants to be found in this MS. are given by me, and they are attached to the commencement of the Facsimile. 6. See Dastur Hoshangji's Vendidad, Vol. I., Int. pp. xxiv-xxxi.
[i4]	* * Written and blotted with the finger.
"Completed with rejoicings and delight and gladness on the day Dadu⁷, month Hordad, year 946, twenty years after the Emperor Yazdegird.	7. Dae or Din?
"I, servant of the Faith, Marzpan Faritun Vaharom Rutastam Bundar Malka-mart&n Din-ayibar, wrote from the copy of Erdashir Vaharamshat Rustem Vaharamsha; he wrote from the copy of Spendyat Mazdin-khvast of Zadpram, descended from a priestly family and of immortal soul; may their holy souls abide in paradise! May it be so! I wrote it and left it. May he (?) use it for a hundred and fifty years with devotion, goodness and faithfulness! May he entrust it, after a hundred and fifty years, to intelligent, faithful children. May he live on earth according to the desires of his material existence, in the spiritual world according to the desires of the soul. Of those who may read it or learn if, of him who may have taken or might take a copy of it, of the readers who might thus become ennobled and liberal-hearted, I pray that they may consider me worthy of prayer for forgiveness, after my passing away. I, who have written it, have written it for my own possession and for my children; may they use it for a hundred and fifty years just as I mentioned above. [i5] "(Avesta): 'There is one path which is of piety, all others are no paths': "There is one path of piety, all others are no paths (arâs)." "Aerpat Erdashir Vaharam-malka Rustahm Vaharom-malka completed this in the city of Kerman, which they call Patashkhvargar in the religious texts. He wrote the Nask, "Jamaspa admonished unto Vishtasp'." From this lengthy colophon we see that the codex is 320 years old; it was written in Kerman by Marzpan Faritun, the grandson of Vaharom, brother of Gopatsha the writer of TD₁, from a copy of Erdashir Vaharamsha, the original of whose copy was written by a grandson of Zadspram named Spendyat. If this Zadspram be the author of the Pahlavi Zartosht-namak and other works, who flourished two centuries and a half after Yazdegird, this MS. claims its descent from an original which is at least 650 years older than itself. Fols. 230 b, l. 13 to 241 a, l. 3 contain the Zand-i Vohuman Yasht. A facsimile of these folios was published by Nayeb-Dastur (now Sardar Dastur) Kekobad Aderbad in 1899 A. D.
Fols. 241 a, l. 4 to 241 b, l. 8 contain a short fragment as regards Ahriman's utterance to the Daevas every night. Fol. 241 b, ll. 9-13, contains the following colophon without date: "I, servant of the Faith, Marzpan Faritun Vaharam wrote this from the copy Aerpat Ardashir Vaharam-malka Rustahm Vaharamshat wrote in the land and city of Kerman. I also wrote in the city of Kerman. May it serve a good end! May it be so! May it be even the more so! May the glory of the holy and good Mazda-worshipping religion be triumphant! May it be according to the desire of God and the Archangels! "(Avesta): 'Piety is the best good.' "Piety is excellent wealth." Folios 242-249 are missing.
[i6] Fol. 250a commences in the middle of Denkard Book III, Chapter 417, with the words 'î chîhar baên gêtâ ahvân.'⁸ Ch. 418 is omitted.	8. See Dastur Peshotanji's Denkard, Vol. IX., p. 444, l. 18.
Fol. 250a, l. 6 commences with Ch. 419, which ends at Fol. 251b, l. 5.⁹	9. Ibid pp. 446-449.
It is followed by "the Explanation of the Book Denkard," which ends at fol. 252b, l. 6.¹⁰	10. Ibid pp. 450-452.
After a blank of two lines Denkard Book V commences, which ends at Fol. 268b, l. 6.¹¹	11. Ibid pp. 476-500; Denkard Vol. X edited by Shamsh-ul-`Ulama Dastur Darabji Peshotanji Sanjana, B.A., pp. 1-26.
After a blank of four lines commences Denkard Book IX, which breaks off at Fol. 320 coming to the end of Ch. 60 of the book.s¹²	12. See S.B.E., Vol. XXXVII, pp. 172-366.
TD₂ The codex TD₂, the facsimile of the first 122 folios of which, containing the Bundahishn, is photo-zincographed, was brought from Yazd to Bombay by Dastur Tirandaz for my father. In Persia it was in the possession of the late Dastur Sheheriar Namdar. It is a MS. 9 1/2" X 7 1/2", written 15 lines to the page. The first folio is missing. It was possibly left blank by the writer; so also is fol. 2a on which more recent owners have written lines of Persian poetry. Fol. 2b commences with the Bundahishn. The numbers of the first 16 folios are torn off, the upper margins being worn out. The Bundahishn ends at fol. 122a. Fol. 122a, ll. 8-14, contains this short colophon at the end of the Bundahishn:- "Completed with rejoicings and delight and gladness, on the day Ashtad and month Tir, year 975, twenty years after Yazdegird, king of kings. I, servant of the Faith, Faritun Marzpan Faritun Yaharom-i Rustom Bundar Malka-martan Din-ayibar wrote this and left it for the possession and eternal suceess of Rutastahm Farkho-zat Yezt-ayibar-i Vizan."
The last-mentioned Rutastahm may have been the nephew of Dastobar-i Vizan-i Yezt-ayibar-i Vizan, who helped Shatriyar Erteshir-i Airij, -- the writer of the Avesta-Pahlavi Vendidad¹³, and of the Denkard MS., in 855 A.Y., -- with a loan of his MS. He may also have been the nephew of Atur-goshosp Yezt-ayibar Vizan for whom the abovenamed Shatriyar copied the Avesta-Pahlavi Vendidad, -- which Marzpan Faritun [i7] copied, -- from his great-grandfather Vizan Vaharamsha Vizan's copy.¹⁴	13. See Dastur Hoshangji's Vendidad, Vol. I. Int., p. xxv. 14. See Dastur Hoshangji's Vendidad, Vol. I. Int., p. xxvii; below p. XV.
Fol. 122b contains a few lines of Persian poetry with the name of Namdar Kaekhusru, Dastur Sheheriar's father,¹⁵2 written in Sarvi characters.	15. See above p. XII, Col. I.
Fol. 123a commences with "Several Questions asked of the Saint Hemit-i Asha-vaheshtan by Atur-goshasp-i Mitr-Atash-i Aturgoshosp." There are in all 43 questions with their answers and they extend to fol. 163a, l. 10. From fol. 163a, l. 10, commences another series of questions asked of Atur-farobag-i Farkhozatan, leader of the faithful. The questions end at fol. 203a, l. 15. They are in all 147 with answers.
Fols. 203a, l. 15-206a, l. 5, contain "Five Questions asked of Farbag-Sarosh-i Vaharam,¹⁶ one of which it is not proper to write." As the heading indicates, only four questions are given with their answers. A short note of five lines gives the date of the composition: "In this manner Farbag-Sarosh-i Vaharom decided these several questions in the Parsi year 357, 20 years after Yazdegird, king of kings, descendant of Khosraw, king of kings, son of Auhrmazd."	16. See Facsimile, p. 238.
Fols. 206a, l. 10- 212a, l. 8 contain twenty-eight questions asked of the Magupatan-magupat (Farbag Sarosh-i Vaharom?) by Aerpat Spendyat-i Farkho-Burzin in the same year.
Fols. 212a, l. 9-213b, l. 4, contain a description of the system of purifying the limbs during the 'Barashnom' with a note of 3 lines stating: "This is what Aerpat Shamartan¹⁷ said, and it ought to be done in this manner, and Bakht-afrit¹⁸ and Zartosht¹⁹ of great hopefulness and Mitr-Atash-i Atur-goshosp²⁰ used to do the same; may their souls be immortal!	17. Is he Gopatsha's great-grandfather? See above p. IX, Col, I, l. 18. 18. See Dastur Jamaspji's Pahlavi-Texts, p. 81; also see below p. XIV, Col. II, l. 23. 19. Son of Aturbad Mahraspandan? 20. See above, Col. I, ll. 11-12.
Fols. 213b, l. 9-218a, contain a small text of admonitions similar to what we find in the sixth book of the Denkard. Fol. 218b, commences with the commentaries of the Fragards of Javit-sheda-dat named "Vajiriha-i Din-i shapir-i Mazdayastan," which extend to fol. 354a, l. 2. These commentaries contain most of the [i8] Avesta "Tahmuras Fragments" named after my father, given by Professor Darmesteter in Le Zend Avesta Vol. III., and in the Sacred Books of the East Series, Vol. IV. (2nd Edition). This text is followed by a long colophon of 23 lines, which runs as follows:- "I wrote these 'Decisions of the Mazda-worshipping Religion', according to the will of God, from a manuscript volume of him who serves God, who is much blessed with intelligence, a great increaser of glory, of very famous name, a I great believer in religion, my father, servant of the Faith, Marzpan Faritun-i Vaharom Rustam Bundar Sha-martan. He wrote from the copy of the Leader of the holy religion, of happy soul, Gopatsha-i Rustom Bundar; and he wrote from the copy of Kaekhusrov Siyavakhsh-iI Shatriyar-i Bakht-afrit-i Shatriyar of immortal soul and good name. They are the copyists; may their souls individually attain to the best existence, the shining Garothman of eternal happiness. "May I, Faritun Marzpan Faritun, who wrote the copy, have a good name on earth; and may I have immortality of the soul in the [i9] spiritual existence! And may the faithful believers in religion be co-sharers in my good deeds, and may I be worthy of being a co-sharer in their good deeds! With the help of Ohrmazd and the Archangels, the Farohars of the righteous and the righteous Farohars, may I be a co-sharer also in the reward of good deeds and in the righteousness of the good believers on the seven kingdoms of the earth! "I wrote it and left it on the day Frawardin, month Aban, Parsi year 978, twenty years after Yazdegird, king of kings, son of Shatriyar, descendant of Khusrob, king of kings, son of Auhrmazd. "I wrote and left it forth for the possession and eternal success of Rustom-i Farkho-zat-i Yeztyar-i Yizan; may he use it with righteousness for a hundred and fifty years! May it be according to the will of God!" From this lengthy colophon it can I be seen that this part of the codex, containing the 'Vajiriha,' supposed to be uuique, is descended from the copies of Gopatsha and Marzpan, the writers of TD₁ and DH, the former of whom wrote from a copy of Kaehusrov Siyayakhsh. As to the existence of these originals nothing is known. Fols. 354b, 1. ll - 359a, l. 2. contain the Avesta "Afrin-i Zartosht" with its Pahlavi translation. From fol. 357 to the end the margins of the MS. are torn, and someone has made attempts to restore the missing words on patches of paper applied to the margins. Fol. 359a, l. 3 commences with the Pahlavi-Pazend Glossary. Thirteen original folios 360-372 still survive, carefully patched up with paper with the missing words and lines written on them. Seven recent folios, written on the same quality of paper as that of the patches, by the scribe who has repaired the MS., are appended, possibly copied from the original MS., and thus the MS. breaks off abruptly. From the dates given in the two colophons of the MS., it can be seen that the scribe has taken more than three years to complete his copy. From the above description of the three codices TD₁, DH, and TD₂, it can be seen that they are written by three descendants of the Bundar family: Gopatsha, Marzpan and Faritun; Gopatsha being the grand-uncle of Marzpan and Faritun being [i10] Marzpan's son. The dates of the two latter, father and son, are 948 and 975-978 A.Y. It is possible, therefore, that Gopatsha wrote his Bundahishn and other texts during 880-900 A.Y. K₄₃ Dr. F. C. Andreas published an old fragment of the Bundahishn appended to his facsimile of the Mainyo-i Khard [Menog-i Khrad] in 1882. The fragment contains fols. 130-131 of the Kopenhagen MS. K₄₃, presumably the last two folios of a codex containing the great Bundahishn. The first sixteen lines contain the text of the last chapter exactly agreeing with the text of TD₁, from the words 'Sâhm baên zak' up to the end of the chapter. This is followed by a colophon of 18 lines which states: "Completed with rejoicings and delight and gladness, on the day Tir and the month Adar, and the Parsi year 936, twenty years after His Majesty Yazdegird, king of kings, son of Shatr-ayibar. I, Mitr-Awan Anushak-ruban Rustahm wrote this volume of many details, with careful observation. I have written it for my own possession, and I left it. May he use it with devotion, goodness and faithfulness for a hundred and fifty years! and may he entrust it after a hundred and fifty years to pious descendants with innate wisdom! May he live on earth according to the desires of his material existence, in the spiritual existence, according to the desires of the soul! May be who reads and learns it and makes a copy of it, pray for the good name and pious soul of myself and of Gadman-piruz (A)spandar Khur-piruz for whom I copied! Hence may they be famous on earth during their material existence and may their souls be righteous in the spiritual existence." From Mitr-Awan's colophon appended to the Menog-i Khrad, we learn that he has copied the text from the copy of Dastobar Gadman piruz Aspandar-i Gadman-piruz, who copied from Dastobar Yezt-ayibar Vizan-i Khusruisha'p copy, who again copied from the original of Mah-vindat-i Naremahan. This Mah-vindat-i Naremahan may be the same as Mah-vindat-i Naremahan-i Vaharim Mitr-Awan, who completed the Denkard MS. on the day Dae [Day], of the month Tir in 369 A. Y. The Dastobar Yezt-ayibar-i Vizan-i Khusruisha (?) may be the father of Dastobar Vizan-i Yezt-ayibar-i Vizan, who helped Shatriyar, the [i11] writer of the Denkard in 855 A. Y. He may, therefore, have flourished in the early part of the ninth century after Yazdegird. If Mitr-Awan's source of the Bundahishn be as well-descended, the loss of his MS. should be considered a great desideratum.
From the brief descriptions of TD₁, DH, TD₂, and K₄₃ given above, it can be seen that seven reputed scribes are said to have copied the Bundahishn: 1) Spendyat Mazd-khvast of Zadspram, 2) Erdashir Vaharamshat Rustem Vaharamsha, 3) Gadman-piruz Aspandar-i Gadman-piruz, 4) Gopatsha Rustahm Bundar, 5) Mitr-Awan Anushak-ruban Rustahm Shatriyar, 6) Marzpan Faritun, and 7) Faritun Marzpan. The copies of the first three scribes seem to be irretrievably lost; if Spendyat were the grandson of Zadspram-i Goshn-jam, he is a cousin of Frobag-i Datakih-i Ashavahesht-i Goshn-jam²¹, the compiler of the so-called Bundahishn, and his must be one of the earliest and most reliable copies written very near the commencement of the fourth century A.Y. We do not know from which MS. Gopatsha prepared his copy. Faritun Marzpan, too, does not mention in his colophon appended to the Bundahishn, which original he selected for his copy. But Marzpan Faritun informs us of the original he used being written by one Ertashir Vaharamshat. It would be impossible to take into account the fragment of two folios of text surviving in K₄₃.	21. See Facsimile, p. 237, l. 15 sq.
We may, therefore, make an attempt at discussing the relative values of the three copies of Gopatsha, Marzpan, and Faritun. But for slight variations here and there in the text, repetitions, and omissions by mistake, all the three agree in the main, and seem to be derived from similar originals. Gopatsha is a very hasty scribe, a neat, legible and well-informed writer. Marzpan is more painstaking and accurate and as neat and legible as his grand-uncle, but the penmanship of the youngest writer of the MS., Faritun, is fascinating and his copy supersedes both the older copies, those of his father and great-granduncle. He has not wasted his three years in vain over the preparation of his copy. All the three copies, therefore, should be indispensable to the future editor and translator of the text.
It would be interesting to note the work done by the three scribes. [i12] Gopatsha had copied the Bundahishn, and, the Dadestan codex TD, -- called TK by Dr. West²² of which fols. 71-213, 222-297 are surviving, containing a Pahlavi Rivayat, (fols. 71-84), the Dadestan (84-197), certain miscellaneous texts (197-201), the Epistles of Manuschihar (201-213, 222-236), the Selections of Zadspram and other fragmentary texts (236-297). He had,also copied the 'Vajiriha-i Din-i Mazdayastan' as Faritun Marzpan mentions in his colophon, and it is not known whether his copy exists. The entire remnant of his writings, so far as we at present know, are preserved in my father's library.	22. See S.B.E. Series, Vol. XVIII, Int., p. XVI. sq.
Marzpan's existing copies are more voluminous. Besides the texts contained in DH he wrote the codex BK²³ in 941 A.Y., containing all the texts found in the TD Dadestan codex, at present in the library of the late Dastur Jamshedji Peshutanji of Valsar , and IM, the Iranian MS. of the Vendidad belonging to the late Dastur Hoshangji Jamaspji.	23. See S.B.E. Series, Vol. XVIII, Int., p. xv. sq. There is no doubt that BK is written by Marzpan. The handwriting is the same in the MSS. IM, BK, and DH, all three of which I have carefully noticed. I cannot say who wrote K₃₅, which Dr. West supposes to have been written by Marzpan, as I have not seen the MS.
All these MSS. belonged at one time to the late Manakji Sohrabji Kavusji Ashburner to whom they seem to have been presented by a Persian Zoroastrian named Sayavakhsh Aurmazdyar Sayavakhsh Rustam Aurmazdyar in about 1853 A.D.²⁴ Marzpan's copy of "Vajiriha-i Din-i Mazdayastan" referred to by his son Faritun in his colophon, does not seem to be existing.	24. See Dastur Hoshangji's Vendidad Int. p. XXIV.
No other MSS., besides the unique codex TD₂, are up to now known to have been written by Faritun Marzpan. But some interesting statements are to be found of him in a unique MS. of the Vishtasp Yasht Sadah in the possession of Ervad Manakji Rustamji Unvala of Bombay. This MS. was at one time in the library of the late Manakji Sohrabji Kavusji Ashburner. We see from the colophon that it was written by Manushchihar Erteshir-i Vaharum Spendyat Erteshir for Faritun Marzpan, and finished on the day Vohuman, of the month Hordad in the year 996 A.Y. At the end of the colophon, there are two folios; on the first folio in mixed Pazand and Pahlavi handwriting we find the statement of the codex being sent [i13] by Faritun Marzpan to the Dasturs, Mobads, and the faithful of Hendustan, and on the second folio we find an interesting letter in Neo-Persian, written by Faritun Marzpan to the Dasturs, Mobads and leaders of the faithful in Hendustan, referring also to the advent of Bahman Asfandyar²⁵ to Persia. The whole statement is enough to prove that Faritun Marzpan was the leader of the faithful of Persia of his time.	25. See Khan Bahadur Bahmanji Behramji Patel's Parsi Prakash, p. 13.

CONTENTS OF THE GREAT BUNDAHISHN
THESE Iranian MSS. contain a text much more extensive than the Indian MSS. of the Bundahishn. Dr. West gave a rough estimate of their contents in the Sacred Books of the East Series, Vol. V²⁶, from information supplied by my father from his MS. TD₁ in December 1877 and October 1878.	26. Int. pp. xxxv-xxxvii.
The text commences with a preface, written in imperfect Pahlavi, possibly added by a later editor, which says: "0. Rejoicings unto the bright, glorious, all-knowing Creator Ohrmazd, who is wise, who is capable, who is the greatest of all invisible sacred beings and of all earthly sacred beings -- with good thought, good word, good deed, in meditation, utterance and action. "1. With a happy and very auspicious lot I shall write the manuscript of the Bundahishn, at the lucky constellation 'tanî', during the archpriestship of the friend of God, of entire wisdom, the practiser of piety, the friend of good deeds, the recogniser of God, the spiritual seer liked by the good, the archpriest of the good religion of Mazda-worshippers, Spend-dat Mahvindat Rustom Shatrihar of immortal soul. "2. From the coming of the Tajiks {Arabs} to the Iranshahr and the propagation of their heterodoxy {Islam} and ill-will, orthodoxy has vanished from the Kayans, and respect for the Kayans from the upholders of the religion; deep utterances (milayaiha-i zopr), the reasons of things, the true reason of meditation, action and utterance, these have vanished from the memory and knowledge of the multitude. "3. On account of evil times, he, too, who is of the noble family of Kayans, and the Kayan upholders of religion have turned to the mercy [i14] (Arabic 'rahm') and the path of those heterodox, and for the sake of respect, they have defiled the word, dress, worship, and practices of the faithful with blemishes. "4. He, also, whose wish was to learn this knowledge and secret, was not able to obtain it, as he should from various places, in spite of all his troubles and pains and difficulties." It can be seen that this preface is added by an editor of the post-Muhammadan period. He possibly refers in § 3 to the tradition as regards the conversion of some members of the family of Yazdegird, and that of many noble families who changed their faith in order to preserve their social distinctions. The spelling used in this preface is perfectly modern. In TD₁ it is added by a later hand on recent folios, but in DH and TD₂ it is written by the authors of the codices themselves. It could not therefore have been written later than 1500 A.D. This preface occupies twenty-one lines and a half of TD₂, immediately after which follows a summary title of the work occupying about four lines and a half, which runs thus: "The knowledge of the commentary: first, as regards the original creation of Ohrmazd and the opposition of the evil spirit; then, as regards the nature of the earthly creatures from the original creation till the end, as is manifest from the religion of Mazda-worshippers; then, as regards the possession held from the Kayans; -- with explanation, whereabouts and nature." From this title it seems that the author himself names the work 'Zand-akasih,' "Knowledge of the Commentary," of which the Bundahishn, so-called, forms only one part; and the subjects treated of are divided under three heads: the creation of Ohrmazd and the counter-creation of the evil spirit, the nature of the earthly creatures, the Kayan dominion. The work seems to have been divided into thirty-six chapters by the original author of the work, notes and appendices being added to nine of them. Of these Chapters I-VII may be classed under the first head: the creation of Ohrmazd and the counter-creation of the evil spirit; Chs. VIII-XXIV, XXVIII-XXIX treat of the subject matter of the second head: the nature of the earthly creatures; Chs. XXXI-XXXIII [i15] and XXXV can be included in the third head: the Kayan dominion. It is difficult to class the rest of the chapters under any of the three categories dealing as they do with 'the religious year' (XXV), 'the exploits of the spiritual angels' (XXVI), 'the evil doing of Ahriman and the Daevas' (XXVII), 'the Chinwad bridge' (XXX), 'Resurrection and the final material existence' (XXXIV), and 'the year computation of the Arabs' (XXXVI). It is possible that some or all of them were after-thoughts of the compiler or inserted by some persons later on in the work. Excepting the last, the other five chapters may be said to have some connection with the first head. I. The first chapter seems to contain introductory matter. It commences abruptly, without any such heading as we invariably find at the top of all other chapters of the book. On fol. 4a, l. 2, we have by way of sub-heading: 'I mention the creation of the creatures first in a spiritual state, then in a material state.' Again on fol. 10a, l. 13 there occurs another sub-heading: 'As regards the creation of the creatures in a material state.' The chapter commences from TD₂, fol. 3a, l. 11, w. 8, and extends to fol. 14b, l. 5. The following would be a rough summary of its contents. It treats of the eternal existence of Ohrmazd during infinite time, aloft in the light, the existence of Ahriman in the abysmal station in darkness, the void betwixt Ohrmazd and Ahriman, the relative finiteness and infinity of light and darkness, the knowledge of Ohrmazd as regards the existence of the evil spirit and his wicked intentions; His creation of the spiritual creatures; the ignorance of the evil spirit as regards the existence of Ohrmazd, his advent to the starry luminaries, his onset, defeat, and return to the abyss; his counter-creation; Ohrmazd's offer of peace to the evil spirit, and the evil spirit declining the offer. Ohrmazd appoints a period of contest with the evil spirit; the evil spirit conforms to it. Ohrmazd chants the ahunwar, reveals to the adversary His own final victory, the adversary's impotence, the perishability of the demons, the resurrection, the final existence, and the unopposed condition of His creatures. Seeing all this, the evil spirit reverts to the abyss where he lies for three millenniums in a stupor. In the meanwhile [i16] while Ohrmazd creates infinite time, out of infinite time finite time, out of finite time "impassability," out of impassability undisturbed progress, out of undisturbed progress intransformability, and out of intransformability the earthly creatures. He creates the earthly creatures out of His own essence, in the shape of shining white fire. He creates the body of the good wind, with whose help He creates the creatures. The evil spirit procreates his own creatures from material darkness. He produced infinite darkness out of material darkness, untruthful utterance out of infinite darkness. Ohrmazd creates truthful utterance out of material light. His own beneficence and the production of the creatures became manifest owing to truthful utterance. He created the âsrôk personale out of infinite light. Ahunwar springs out of the âsrôk personale. Out of the Ahunwar came forth the spiritual year, which is now half light, half dark owing to the intermingling of evil. Ohrmazd comes to the finite archangels when they are created. He first creates the seven archangels, the seventh is He Ohrmazd himself, eighth truthful utterance, ninth Sraosha the righteous, tenth the beneficent mansar [Manthra], eleventh Neryosang, twelfth the lofty Rat Ratwok Berzet, thirteenth Rashn the true, fourteenth Mihr of wide pastures, fifteenth the good Asishwang, sixteenth Parand, seventeenth Khveb, eighteenth Wind, nineteenth Lawfulness, twentieth beneficent Peacefulness. Of earthly creatures He creates first the sky, second the water, third the earth, fourth vegetation, fifth animals, sixth the man, and the seventh is He Ohrmazd himself. The evil spirit for opposition first creates Akoman, Andar, Saval, Nahig-has; Taromat, Tarich, Zairich and then other daevas; the seventh is he, the evil spirit himself. Ohrmazd creates the six creations during the six periods of the year -- the Gahambar. The six periods of the year explained. The five gasanik periods. The names of the thirty days. From this rough summary of the contents it will be seen that this is an introductory chapter giving as it were a faithful substance of the whole portion of the book dealing with the first category, the genesis. After a close study of the language, it appears that the text has been prepared from a Pahlavi translation with commentary [i17] of some Avesta work, such as the Damdat Nask, now missing, in the same way as the Zand-i Vohuman Yasht, and that its correct name, as given by the author himself, is "'Zand-akasih." II. The second chapter, entitled "As regards the Creation of the Luminaries" commences with fol. 14b, l. 5, w. 8, and ends at fol. 17a, l. 10, w. 6. III. "As regards the Reason of producing the Creatures for contending." Fol. 17a, l. 10, w. 7 - fol. 21b, l. 11. IV. "The Rush of the Adversary onto the Creatures." Fol. 21b, l. 12 - fol. 25a, l. 2. (A) An Appendix commencing with the word: "This, too, is said that when the sole-created 'gao' passed away, it fell towards the right hand." Fol. 25a, l. 3 - fol. 25b, l. 6, w. 2. V. "As regards the opposition of the two spirits, that is, in what manner they came spiritually for opposition, the arch-demons against the spiritual angels." Fol. 25b, l. 6, w.3, - fol. 27a, l. 15, w. 6. A. "As regards the horoscope of the world." Fol. 27a, l. 15, w. 7 - fol. 29b, l. 3, w, 5. B. An Appendix commencing with the words: "The Mount Alburz is in the middle of the world." Fol. 290, l. 3, w. 6 - fol. 32a, l. 7, w. 1. VI. "As regards the contention of the material creations against the evil spirit." Fol. 32a, l. 7, w. 2 - fol. 37b, l. 11. A. "The first battle the spirit of the sky waged with the evil spirit." Up to fol. 32b, l. 10, w. 2. B. "The second battle the water waged." Up to fol. 34b, l. 12, w. 2. C. "The third battle the earth waged." Up to fol. 35b, l. 1, w. 6. D. "The fourth battle vegetation waged." Up to fol. 35b, l, 15. E. "The fifth battle the sole-created 'gao' waged." Up to fol. 36a, l. 12. F. "The sixth battle Gayomard waged." Up to fol. 37a, l. 6, w. 3. G. "The seventh battle the fire waged." Up to fol. 37d, l. 12. w. 2. H. "The eighth battle the stars waged." Up to fol. 37b, l. 1, w. 2. I. "The ninth battle the spiritual angels waged." Up to fol. 37b, l. 4, w. 5. J. "The tenth, the stars adopted aloofness." Up to fol. 37b, l. 11. VII. "As regards the essence of [i18] those creations." Fol. 37b, l. 12 - fol. 39a, l. 9, w. 5. VIII. "As regards the whereabouts of the lands." Fol. 39a, l. 9, w. 6 - fol. 40a, l. 6, w. 3. IX. As regards the whereabouts of the mountains." Fol. 40a, l. 6, w. 4 - fol. 42b, l. 9, w. 2. X. "As regards the whereabouts of the seas." Fol. 42b, l. 9, w. 3 - fol. 44a, l. 9. XI. "As regards the whereabouts of the rivers." Fol. 44a, l. 10 - fol. 45a, l. 10, w. 1. A. "As regards the particular rivers." Fol. 45a, l. 10, w. 2 - fol. 46b, l. 11. B. "The seventeen species of water mentioned in religion." Fol. 46b, l. 12 - fol. 47a, l. 13, w. 4. C. "The discontent of the rivers Marv-rut and Het-aumand" etc. Fol. 47 a, l. 13, w. 5 - fol. 47b, l. 11. XII. "As regards the whereabouts of the lakes." Fol. 47b, l. 12 - fol. 48b, l. 7. XIII. "As regards the whereabouts of the five classes of animals." Fol. 48b, l. 8 - fol. 52a, l. 2. XIV. "As regards the whereabouts of mankind." Fol. 52a, l. 3 - fol. 55b, l. 14, w. 2. A. "As regards the whereabouts of womankind." Fol. 55b, 1. 14, w. 3 - fol. 56a l. 8, w. 5. B. An Appendix commencing with the words: "This, too, is said that Jamshed, when the glory departed from him." Fol. 56a, l. 8, w. 6 - fol. 56b, l. 3, w. 2. XV. "As regards the whereabouts of births from every species." Fol. 56b, l. 3, w. 3, - fol. 58a, l. 14, w. 8. A. An Appendix commencing with the words: "These four things too, are called male and four female." Fol. 58a, l. 14, w. 9 - fol. 59b, l. 2; w. 5. XVI. "As regards the whereabouts of the plants." Fol. 59b l. 2, w. 6 - fol. 61b, l. 5, w. 1. A. Flowers dedicated to the Archangels. Fol. 61b, l. 5, w. 2 - 62a, l. 3, w. 1. XVII. "As regards the chieftainship of men, animals and every substance." Fol. 62a, l. 3, w. 2 - fol. 63a, l. 1. A. An Appendix commencing with the utterance of Ohrmazd I did not pay consideration to entire material existence, i.e., all are equal." Fol. 63a; l. 2 - l. 15, w. 5. [i19] XVIII. "As regards the whereabouts of Fire." Fol. 63a, l. 15, w. 6 - fol. 66a, l. 11. w. 5. XIX. "As regards the nature of sleep." Fol. 66a, l, 11. w. 6 - fol. 66b, l. 11, w. 4. A. An Appendix: "It is not owing to industry that the earth, the water and the plants yield fruit, nor is it owing to sleepfulness and impotence that they do not yield fruit." Fol. 66b, l. 11, w. 5 - l. 14, w. 6. XX. [As regards the sounds.] A. "The 'Chashârak' sound (the sound of weeping of the pious)." Fol. 66b, l. 14, w. 7 - fol. 67a, l. 5, w. 5. B. "The 'Navin' sound, the, voice of the holy hymn." Fol. 67a, l. 5, w. 6 - l. 7, w. 3. C. "The 'stone' sound, i.e., the sound produced by the mill." Fol. 67a, l. 1, w. 4 - l. 13, w. 1. D. "The 'water' sound." Fol. 67a, l. 13, w. 2 - l. 15, w. 4. E. "The 'vegetable' sound." Fol. 67a, l. 15, w. 5. - fol. 67b, l. 1, w. 5. F. "The 'earth' sound." Fol. 67b, l. 1, w. 6 - l. 7. XXI. "As regards the whereabouts of (A) Wind, (B) Cloud, and (C) Rain." A. Fol. 67b, l. 8 - fol. 68b, l. 12, w.7. B. Fol. 68b, l. 12, w. 8 - fol. 69b, l. 6, w. 7. C. Fol. 69b, l. 6, w. 8 - fol. 71b, l. 5. D. A note of three lines. E. A general Appendix on the three headings A, B, C. Fol. 71b, l. 8, w. 6 - fol. 73a, l. 2; w. 2. XXII. "As regards the whereabouts of noxious creatures." Fol. 73a, l. 2, w. 3 - fol. 75b, l. 6, w. 4. XXIII. "As regards the whereabouts of the wolf-species." Fol. 75b, l. 6, w. 5 - fol. 76b, l. 8, w. 2. XXIV. "As regards various things, i.e., in what manner they are produced, and the opposition that came to them." Fol. s76b, l. 8, w. 3 - fol. 80b, l. 11. A. The Go-karan tree, the Lizard created by Ahriman in opposition to it. The two Kar fishes created by Ohrmazd in counter-opposition to the Lizard. B. The 'Vâs-i panchâsatvarân.' C. The Tree of many seeds. D. The Ass with three strides. E. The bull Hadhayash. F. The bird Chamrosh. G. The Karshipt. [i20] H. "The bird Ashok-zusht, whom they also call the bird Zor-barak Vohuman, the bird Vasho-kachak." I. A digression containing a commentary as to the utility of the ferocious animals and birds; the cunningness of birds, pecially the crow. J. The white falcon. K. The bird Kaskin. L. The vulture, the crow, the mountain kite, the mountain ox, the wild goat, the onager. M. The dogs. N. The fox. O. The weasel. P. The great musk. Q. The hog 'zozag.' R. The water-beaver. S. The eagle. T. The Arab horse. U. 'Alka.' XXV. "As regards the religious year." Fol. 80b, l. 12 - fol. 83a, l. 1, w.5. XXVI. "As regards the great exploits of the spiritual angels." Fol. 83a, l. 1, w. 6 - fol. 92b, l. 8, w. 1. XXVII. "As regards the evil-doing of Ahriman and the Daevas." Fol. 92b, l. 8, w. 2 - fol. 96b, l. 2. XXVIII. "As regards the early verisimilitude of the body of man." Fol. 96b, l. 3 - fol. 100a, l. 4, w. 6. XXIX. "As regards the chietainship of the regions." Fol. 100a, l. 5, w. 7 - fol. 101b, l. 2, w. 2. XXX. "As regards the Chinwad bridge, and the souls of the departed." Fol. 101b, l. 2, w. 3 - fol. 104b, l. 2, w. 2. XXXI. "As regards the noteworthy districts of Airan-shatr, the abode of the Kayans." Fol. 104b, l. 2, w. 3 - fol. 106b, l. 4, w. 4. XXXII. "As regards the abode which the Kayans built." Fol. 106b, l. 4, w. 5 - 107b, l. 3, w. 4. XXXIII. "As regards the calamities that overtook the Airan-shatr in each millennium." fol. 107b, l. w. 5 - fol. 112a, l. 15, w. 3. XXXIV. "As regards resurrection and the final material existence." Fol. 112a, l. 15, w. 4 - fol. 116a, l. 5, w. 6. XXXV. "As regards the origin and lineage of the Kayans." Fol. 116a, l. 5, w. 7 - fol. 120a, l. 11, w. 3. [i21] A. The family of the Magupatan. Fol. 120a, l. 12, w. 4 - fol. 121a, l. 6, w. 1. XXXVI. "As regards the years' computation of the Arabs -- twelve thousand years." Fol. 121a, l. 6, w. 2 - fol. 122a, l. 8, w. 5. Colophon.
THE LACUNAE IN K₂₀ I now give the important omissions of the text in K₂₀, the Kopenhagen Iranian MS. No. 20, folios 88-129 of which contain the Bundahishn, a facsimile of which was edited by Professor N. L. Westergaard in 1851. It is an old codex written by the erudite Irani scribe Mihir-Awan Kai-Khusru at Khambayet in the year 720 A.Y. (1350 A.D.), and is thus about 180 years older than the oldest Iranian codex TD₁. It is not my purpose to give here the minor omissions of words or single lines. The codex TD₂ has got 240 sides, written 15 lines to the page; omitting to count the last 6 lines on the last page containing the colophon, it has got in all 3,593 lines of text. The Kopenhagen codex has taken up 84 sides for the Bundahishn text, written 20 lines to the page, the first side containing only 16 and the last only 2 lines. It thus contained 1,658 lines, taking also into account the lines of its missing folio 121. Thus supposing a line of both the MSS. contained an equal number of words, matter of about 1,935 lines is missing from K₂₀. On an actual calculation of the lines contained in the lacunae, I see that about 2,068 lines of TD₂ are wanting in the Indian Text. In the details given below, I mention the original folios of TD₂ as marked by the original numberer. The first folio and the a side of the second folio being blank, the text commences with fol. 2b.
1. Fol. 2b, l. 1 - fol. 3a, l. 7, w. 4. About 21 1/2 lines of the entire preface.²⁷	27. See above, pp. xix-xx.
2. Fol. 6a, l. 2, w. 7 (Shakbahunast) - fol. 9a, l. 2. About 90 1/2 lines in the middle of the first chapter which is introductory. 3. Fol. 9a, l. 10, w. 3 (barihinit) - fol. 9b, l. 2, w. 0 (-nikih). About 7 lines of the same chapter. 4. Fol. 9b, ll. 4-7, w. 3 (awo-est). About 3 1/2 lines. 5. Fol. 9b, l. 10, w. 4 (akhar) - fol. 14b, l. 5, w. 7 (yamallunam). About 146 lines of the end of Ch. 1. 6. Fol. 15b, l. 4, w. 5 (sipah-patan) [i22] - fol. 21a, l. 10. About 170 1/2 lines, comprising 51 lines of the end of Ch. II and 119 1/2 lines from the commencement of Ch. III. 7. Fol. 22b, l. 6, w. 3 (aighash) - l. 10, w. 2 (yahabuntan) About 4 linesin the middle of Ch. IV 8. Fol. 22b, l. 12, w. 2 - l. 13, w.2 About 1 line. 9. Fol. 22b, l. 13, w. 8 (asman) - fol. 23a, l. 2, w. 1 (payak). About 3 lines and 2 words. 10. Fol. 23a, l. 11, w. 8 (asman) - fol. 23b, l. 2, w. 7 (yakvi-munet). About 6 lines in the middle of Ch. IV. 11. Fol. 25b, l. 6, w. 3 (madam) - fol. 27a, l. 1. About 41 lines from the commencement of Ch. V. 12. Fol. 27a, l. 9, w. 8 (amat) - fol. 29b, l. 3, w. 6 (hanmanat). About 69 lines comprising 6 lines of Ch. V, followed by 63 lines of Ch. V, Ap. A. 13. Fol. 30b, l. 6, w. 5 (meman) - fol. 32a, l. 7, w. 1 (kartan). About 46 lines of the end of Ch. V, Ap. B. 14. Fol. 36a, l. 11, w. 2 - fol. 39a, l. 9, w. 5. About 88 1/2 lines, comprising about 2 lines of Ch. VI, Ap. E, 44 lines of Appendices F, G, H, I, J, and 42 1/2 lines containing the whole of Ch. VII. 15. Fol. 51a, l. 14, w. 8 (awsa-hinet) - fol. 52a, l. 2. About 18 lines of the end of Ch. XIII. 16. Fol. 52a, l. 3, last letter (m) - l. 13, w. 5. About 9 1/2 lines of the commencement of Ch. XIV. 17. Fol. 55b, l. 7 - fol. 56a, l. 8, w. 5. About 16 1/2 lines, comprising 7 lines and 2 words of Ch. XIV, and about 9 lines and 3 words of the whole of Ap. A to the Chapter. 18. Fol. 56b, l. 6, w. 2 - l. 11, w. 8 (yahavunet). About 5 1/2 lines near the commencement of Ch. XV. 19. Fol. 57a, l. 10, ws. 7-11. 20. Fol. 57a. l. 11 - fol. 58a, l. 14, w. 8. About 34 lines of the end of Ch. XV. 21. Fol. 58b, l. 8, w. 6 - fol. 59b, l. 2, w 5. About 24 lines of the end of Ch. XV, Ap. A.
22.²⁸ Fol. 61b, l. 13, w. 10 (Hom) - fol. 62a, l. 3, w. 1 (yamannunet). About 4 1/2 lines of the end of Ch. XVI, A.	28. This lacuna is owing to the loss of fol. 121 of K₂₀.
23. Fol. 65a, l. 4, w. 6 - fol. 76b, l. 9. About 350 1/2 lines, comprising 37 lines of the end of Ch. [i23] XVIII, Chs. XIX-XXIII and about 2 lines of heading of Ch. XXIV. 24. Fol. 83a, l. 1, w. 6 - fol. 92b, l. 8, w. 1. About 291 1/2 lines, comprising the whole of Ch. XXVI.
25.²⁹ Fol. 92b, l. 8, w. 2 - fol. 93b, l. 7, w. 6. About 29 1/2 lines of the commencement of Ch. XXVII.	29. This lacnna is owing to the loss of fol. 121 of K₂₀.
26. Fol. 94a, l. 12, w. 4 - fol. 100a, l. 5, w. 6. About 173 1/2 lines, comprising 65 3/4 lines of the end of Ch. XXVII, and the whole of Ch. XXVIII. 27. Fol. 101b, l. 2, w. 3 - fol. 112a, l. 15, w. 3. About 328 lines, comprising Chs. XXX-XXXIII. 28. Fol, 117a, l. 12, w.9 (va-Pashang) - fol. 119a, l. 14, w. 8 (hômand). About 62 lines in the middle of Ch. XXXV. 29. Fol. 120a, l. 12, w. 4 - fol. 121a, l. 6, w. 1. About 23 1/2 lines of the whole of Ch. XXXV, Ap. A.

DISLOCATION OF THE TEXT IN K₂₀	NOTES:
In order to show the mutilation and dislocation of the text in the old codex K₂₀, I give below a summary of the contents found in it, marking the places where the important lacunae occur, the chapters quoted being those marked by me from the Iranian MSS. I shall make use of the pages assigned by Professor Westergaard to the sides of the folio in the facsimile edited by him in 1851. I shall not refer to the details of the lacunae as they have been already given above:- 1st Lacuna. P. 1-p. 5, l. 11, w. 3, (Ch. I.)
³⁰2nd Lacuna. P. 5, I.. 12, w. 3-1. 18 end (Ch. I.)	30. In order to make up for this omission, K₂₀ has 'yakvimunat. Auhrmazd pavan startih aharman dam dat.' The first word is inserted so as to complete the sentence which would be imperfect without a verb, which is 'shakbahûnast' in the Iranian codices and the last six words are meant as a summary of the whole lacuna.
³¹3rd Lacuna. P. 5, l. 19, w. 1-l. 20, w. 6 (Ch. I.)³²	31. The lacuna supplies us with the verb 'barîhînît,' which is missing In K₂₀. 32. In the Iranian codices this follows lacuna 4.
P. 5, l. 20, w. 8-p. 6, l. 2, w. 5 (Ch. I.)³³	33. K₂₀ prefixes 'Auhrmazd' as the nominative which was necessitated by the change in the order of the sentences.
[i24] 4th Lacuna. 5th Lacuna. P. 6, l. 2, w. 6-p. 7, l. 9; w. 3 (Ch. II, beginning)³⁴	34. The last sentence is imperfect without the words 'sipahpatan sipahpat' with which, lacuna 6 commences.
6th Lacuna. P. 7, l. 9, w. 4-p. 9, l. 11, w. 1, (Ch. III from the middle upto the end, and beginning of Ch. IV.)³⁵	35. It should be observed that this portion has no connection with the preceding matter in K₂₀, unless the last ten lines of lacuna 6 be taken into account, which give a description of the five periods of the day.
7th Lacuna. P. 9, l. 11, w. 2-l. 13, w. 2³⁶ (Ch. IV.) P. 9, l. 13, w. 3-l. 14 end (Ch. IV .)	36. These lines are required before p. 9; l. 9, last word.
8th Lacuna. P. 9, l. 15, ws. 1-6 (Ch. IV.) 9th Lacuna. P. 9, l. 15, w. 7-p.10, l. 4, w. 1. (Ch. IV.) 10th Lacuna. P. 10, l. 4, w. 2-p. 12, l. 17, w.5 (Ch. IV, IV A. end).
11th Lacuna. P. 12, l. 17, w. 6-p. 13, l. 4 end. (Middle of Ch. V.)³⁷	37. These lines are unintelligible without the heading which is at the commencement of lacuna 11, and without the leading words 'pavan hamestarih' occurring therein.
12th Lacuna. P. 13, l. 5-p. 14, l. 17, w. 6. (Ch. V, Ap. B.)
13th Lacuna. P. 14, l. 17, w. 7-p 20, l. 9, w. 2. (Ch. VI, Aps. A, B, C, D, E.)³⁸	38. The last sentence in K₂₀ would be incomplete without the verb 'shnâwît hômand,' witb which lacuna fourteenth commences.
14th Lacuna. P. 20, l. 9, w. 3-p. 28, l. 4, w. 7. (Chs. VIII, IX, X, and the first four lines of Ch. XI.)³⁹ P. 28, l.4, w.8-p. 33, l. 4 end. (Ch. XIII from the commencement).	39. These four lines are repeated on p. 49, ll. 9-12.
15th Lacuna. P. 33, l. 5. ws. 1-7 (Ch. XIV heading.) 16th Lacuna. P. 33, l. 5, w. 8-p. 38, l. 12, w. 1. (Ch. XIV.) 17th Lacuna. P. 38, l. 12, w. 2-l. 14, w. 6 (Ch. XV, commencement). 18th Lacuna. P. 38, l. 14, w. 7-p. 39, l. 9 end (Ch. XV). 19th Lacuna. P. 39, l. 10, ws. 1-3 (Ch. XV). 20th Lacuna. P. 39, l. 10, w. 4-l. 19, w. 7 (Ch. XV, Ap. A.) [i25] 21st Lacuna. P. 39, l. 19, w. 8-p. 42, l. 10, w. 5 (Ch. XVIII.)
23rd Lacuna. P. 42, l. 10, w. 6-p. 49, l. 9, w. 0 (-talûnêt). (The entire Ch. XXIV, Aps. A-U, without the first two lines of heading.⁴⁰) P. 49, l. 9, w.2-p. 56, l. 13, w. 3 (Chs. XI, XI Aps. A, B, C, XII.) P. 56, l. 13, w. 4-p. 57, l. 4, w. 2 (Ch. XIV, Ap. B.⁴¹) P. 57, l. 4, w. 3-p. 59, l. 11, w. 3 {vîsh). (Ch. XVII, XVII. A.) P. 59, l. 11, w. 4-p. 63, l. 5, end (Ch. XXV.)	40. The 23rd lacuna supplies us with the heading of the chapter. There are interesting discrepancies In K₂₀. An amusing attempt at inventing the heading which does not seem to have been in the manuscript from which the scribe copied is to be detected in the commencement, where we read: 'Madam chigunih gokart darakht karitund yaman-nunet pavan din aigh roz-i nakhost amat gogrv darakht karitund baen zrae Farakhankart rost'. The 'roz-i nakhost amat' is a curious corruption of 'Hom-i saplt mavan.' Only a Pehlvisant of the old school like my father could detect this. 41. As this appendix is separated from its original chapter, the scribe of K²⁰ or of the original from which he copied has made an attempt to give to this appendix the heading 'madam chîgûnîh kapîk kharas,' so as to echo forth the inverse evolution theory 500 and odd years more before Darwin.
24th Lacuna. P. 63, l. 6-p. 66, l. 20, last word 'alâlak' (Ch. XVI, XVI. Ap. A.) 22nd and 25th Lacuna. [Fol. 121 missing, not paged by Westergaard, may have contained (end of Ch. XVI. Ap. A. and commencement of Ch. XXVII.)] P.67, l. 1, w. 7-p.68, l. 2, w. 6 (middle of Ch. XXVII.) 26th Lacuna. P. 68, l. 2, w. 7-p. 70, l. 12, w. 3 (Ch. XXIX.) 27th Lacuna. P. 70, l. 12, w. 4-p. 79, l. 4, w. 7 (Chs. XXXIV, XXXV commencement.)
28th Lacuna. P. 79, l. 4, w. 8-p. 80, l. 15, w. 5 (Ch. XXXV end.)⁴² 29th Lacuna. P. 80, l. 15, w. 6-p. 82, l. 2, w. 4 (Ch. XXXVI.)⁴³	42. On account of the 28th lacuna, the scribe of K₂₀ or of the original from which he copied makes an attempt to give this matter a heading of two words: 'madam patvand.' 43. The corruption of 'mar-i tâjîkân' into 'marakash jamân' seems to be plainly due to a worn-out, tattered, and faded original.
Thus we see that out of the 36 chapters of the text found in the existing Iranian codices, twelve -- Chs. VII, XIX-XXIII, XXVI, XXVIII, XXX-XXXIII, are completely omitted in the Indian recension of the text in K₂₀; out of the 24 remaining [i26] chapters, one-Ch. V, is incomplete in the beginning, the middle, and the end, only two fragments being restored from the whole; three -- Chs. I, XV, XXXV, -- are incomplete in the middle and the end; five -- Chs. II, VI, XIII, XVIII, XXVII, -- are incomplete at the end; one -- Ch. XIV, -- is incomplete in the beginning and the middle; one -- Ch. III, -- is incomplete in the beginning; one -- Ch. XXIV -- has only lost its heading; and twelve -- Chs. IV, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XVI, XVII, XXV, XXIX, XXXIV, XXXVI, -- are well nigh complete with here and there some omissions of words and lines. The surviving fragments as they are put together in K₂₀ stand thus: Chs. I-VI, VIII-X, [Ch. XI, four lines, repeated after Ch. XXIV] XIII-XV, XVIII, XXIV, XI-XII, XIV. B, XVII, XXV, XVI, XXVII, XXIX, XXXIV-XXXVI.

THE ANTIQUITY OF THE IRANIAN TEXT. This disorderly arrangement of fragmentary chapters, mostly imperfect at the beginning, middle, or end, speaks for itself. As early as in 1880 Dr. West, in his Introduction to the Bundahishn⁴⁴, referred to the "fragmentary character" of the Indian recension of the Text, "bearing unmistakable marks both of omissions and dislocations." So also in 1896 in his Essay on the 'Pahlavi Literature' in the Grundriss der Iranischen Philologie, he declared that the "text of the Indian Bundahishn was of a very fragmentary character."⁴⁵ Instead of pre-judging the merits or demerits of the Indian text of K₂₀ and other descended MSS, or the Iranian text just then discovered by my father, he justly said: "Whether it⁴⁶ be an extension of the hitherto received text, or the received text be an abridgement of this longer one, is likely to be a matter of dispute among Pahlavi scholars until the whole of the new text has been thoroughly examined."⁴⁷	NOTES: 44. S.B.E. Series, Vol. V, Int. p. xxiv. 45. See Grundriss, Band II, Lieferang 3, §§ 42-44. 46. My father's Iranian Bundahishn. 47. S.B.E., Series, Vol. V, Int., p. xxxii. The Italics are mine.
From the lacunae we see that out of the 29 which we have marked, there are six -- 2, 3, 6, 11, 14, 23, -- which contain some one or more words without which the text in K₂₀ becomes meaningless or at least ungrammatical; four chapters in the Indian Text, Chs. V, XIV, III, XXIV, are without their headings.
[i27] A superficial study of the lacunae will show that old Pahlavi texts such as Manushchihar's Dadestan and his brother Zadspram's "Selections" contain references and corroborations to the matter contained in them. In lacuna 5 cf. Zadpram Ch. II, 5 with facsimile p. 20, ll. 8-11; Za. Sp. Ch. II, 6 with Facs. p. 20, l. 14-p. 21, l. 2; Za. Sp. Ch. II, 8 with p. 21, ll. 4-5. In lacuna 12 cf. Ch. V, Ap. A,⁴⁸ treating of the horoscope of the world with Za. Sp. Ch. IV, 7-10 and Albiruni, p. 55⁴⁹; cf. lacuna 13 with Za. Sp. Ch. IV, 6 and Albiruni P. 55. In lacuna 14 cf. Ch. VI, Ap. F. with Za. Sp. Ch. IV, 5-10; Ch. VII, with Za. Sp. Ch. II, 6; in lacuna 27 with Ch. XXX, cf. Dadestan-i Denig, Pursishn XX; with Ch. XXXI, cf. Pahlavi Vendidad, Fragard I.	48. Facsimile p. 50, l. 15 sq. 49. The Chronology of Ancient Nations, Dr. C. Edward Sachau.
If we consider the question of the different arrangements of the chapters in the Iranian and Indian recensions of the text, we see that the order of chapters as given in the Iranian codices is consistent, one chapter following another in close logical sequence. The shuffling up of these connected chapters in the Indian codex has brought about a dislocation, giving the text a fragmentary appearance.⁵⁰	50. See Grundriss der Iranischen Philologie, Band II, Lieferung 3, p. 102, ll. 32-39.
The fact of the insertion of four lines of Ch. XI, first in their proper place and the whole chapter being re-written after Ch. XXIV, furnish an important argument in favour of the Iranian text being in proper order. The scribe himself, in this instance, seems to have first adjudged the correct position of the chapter and then to have shifted it in a wrong position, owing, perhaps, to the disintegrated condition of his original copy.
I have shown above⁵¹ how new headings have been composed by the erudite scribe Mihir-Awan Kai-Khusru or his predecessor, presumably Rustam Mihir-Awan, to make consistent chapters of the dislocated integers or fractions of chapters. I have also indicated two typical cases of the text being corrupted, owing to the difficulties of deciphering a worn-out original.⁵² From all these defects in K₂₀ I have come to the conclusion that when Rustam Mihir-Awan and [i28] Mihir-Awan Kai-Khusru came to India from Persia for the express purpose of instructing their then backward brethren, the Parsi priests of India, they both or one of them must have brought an incomplete, disarranged copy of this interesting text, popularly called the Bundahishn, and that the indefatigable Mihir-Awan, -- to whom the Zoroastrians owe so much for having preserved in script their sacred writings and for bringing about a renaissance of religious learning, six centuries ago, among the then illiterate Parsi priests of India, -- restored with emendations and new headings, where necessary, as much of the original text as was possible for him to do.	51. p. XXXI, Col. I, ns. 1-2. Col. II, n. 1. 52. See p. XXXI, Col. I, n. 1, Col. II, n. 2.
If we go to the Iranian text itself to see if it is a recent extension of the hitherto received text, we see that the preface of about 21 1/2 lines in the commencement is written with incorrect spelling, in ungrammatical language. If we can one day learn the date of Spenddat Mahvin-dat Rustom Shatrihar, during whose archpriestship the scribe declares having written the work, it is possible to get a clue to the date of this preface. In the rest of the whole text there is little which can be called recent from the standpoint of language. In 1880, Dr. West said in his Introduction to the Sacred Books of the East, Vol. V: "So far as appears in the lengthy and valuable extracts with which he⁵³ has kindly favoured me, no decided difference of style can be detected between the additional matter and the text hitherto known."⁵⁴ Ch. XVII of the Iranian text does not seem to me to be misplaced. The "chieftainship of men, animals, and every substance" seems rightly to follow, in logical sequence, the description of the whereabouts of all created beings in nature detailed above.⁵⁵	53. My father Ervad Tahmuras. 54. p. xxviii. 55. See S.B.E., Vol. V, p. xxxviii.
It is possible to settle the exact date when this Iranian recension of the so-called Bundahishn was written. The author has given the names of twelve of his ancestors on the mother's side and six on the father's side.⁵⁶ He says: "The mother of whom I was born is the daughter of Freh-mah, son of Ahalubakht, son of Mah-ayibar, son of Mah-bundak, son of Mah-bukht Pusandakht, son of Martan-veh, son of Afrobag, son of [i29] Vindat; Vindat is well known as son of Vaibukht, son of Bak, son of Vaibukht." "And I am named Frobag, son of Datakih, son of Ashavahisht, son of Goshn-Jam, son of Vaharam-shat, son of Zartohsht, which Zartohsht is son of Adurbad Mahraspandan."⁵⁷ If these translations ventured be correct, the compiler of this text is perhaps, a grand-nephew of Manushchihar and Zadspram, sons of Goshn-Jam, nephew of Hemit-i Ashavahishtan, and surely the sixth in descent from the 'Magupatan-Magupat' Saint Adarbad. It is almost probable that he flourished in the commencement of the fourth century after Yazdegird, the last Sassanian Emperor.	56. See Facsimile, p. 237, l. 10 sq., p. 237, l. 15 sq. 57. But see S.B.E. Series, Vol. V, pp. 146, 147.
There is another clue to the age of the book found in the 21st lacuna on fol. 59a, ll. 13-15, where the Vihichakik months Spandarmad and Tir are said to have corresponded with the vague months Frawardin and Shahrewar. As the book considers the Vihichakik month Frawardin to be the first month of the year; coinciding with the Vernal Equinox,⁵⁸ and as the months Frawardin and Shahrewar were the 4th and 9th from the Vernal Equinox in the time of Yazdegird, Shahrewar, 480 to 600 years must have elapsed after Yazdegird, for Frawardin to have coincided with the Vihichakik Spandarmad so as to precede the Vernal Equinox, and for Shahrewar to have coincided with Tir at the Summer Solstice.	58. See Facsimile p. 158, l. 9 sq.
A third direct hint as to the final compilation of the work is to be found in the last lines of the text, which really seems to be imperfect at the end. In the last chapter 'As regards the year-reckoning of the Tajiks' the compiler states that "the 'Hunushks' of the Tajiks {Arabs} established themselves up to the Parsik year 447 and now is the Parsik year 527." If the Parsi year is, as it is supposed to be, the one counted from the year of the defeat of Yazdegird, the conjectures advanced above are very near the mark, and it is a real wonder that the significant passage is missing from the Indian recension of the text, which is earlier in point of date than the Iranian.
If these statements as to the authorship and age of the final inditement of the text be not doubted, the question of the Iranian text being a recent extension of the hitherto received Indian text is almost [i30] completely answered. There remains little doubt that the Iranian text gives us almost the original of Farobag, and the "future translator of the Bundahishn will ... have to take the text in TD as the nearest accessible approach to the original work."⁵⁹	59. S.B.E., Vol. V., Int. p. xxxviii.
THE PROPRIETY OF THE NAME BUNDAHISHN The summary of the Nasks Damdad and Chihradad as detailed in the Denkard, Book VIII, Chapter 5 and Chapter 13, compared with the contents of our book, tends to show that it is a misnomer to call our text Bundahishn. The author himself named his work 'Zand-akasih' and a study of the summaries of the two Nasks mentioned above alongside of the contents of our text would clear up the point. It is a symposium of "informations from the commentaries" as regards the 'original creation' and the 'possession held from the Kayans.' Thus far my labours begun with devotion have ended in peace. In this brief and imperfect sketch of the text which I am placing before the public exactly five years after my father's death, I have utilized many rough notes industriously made by him day after day to prepare himself for the great work, the work of publishing his unique Iranian manuscripts; but, alas! as fate would have it, the turmoils of a busy life and premature death frustrated all his noble aspirations, and he passed away leaving after him vestiges of his noble career in the devoted pupils, like my humble self, to whom he disinterestedly gave out all his knowledge, teaching them from his much-loved manuscripts, the monitions unheard of by the many, and they are all grateful to him for the instructions they received at his feet. It is at least a sad consolation that though Tahmuras was not spared to publish the Tahmuras MSS. himself, the Tahmuras MSS. have proved their indispensability to the whole civilized world engaged in Iranian studies, and the usefulness of the career of the possessor of those MSS. who spent all his life in pursuit of Iranian MSS. has begun to be recognized. Bombay, 19th October, 1908. B. T. ANKLESARIA. POSTSCRIPT. I take the opportunity to correct an error I have made on p. XVIII, of omitting to mention the Vendidad Sada MS. JP₁ still existing in the library of the late Dastur Jamshedji Peshotanji of Valsar, written by Faritun Marzapan, in 987 A.Y. See Dr. Karl F. Geldner's Avesta, Prolegomena, p. V, Col. II., ll. 20sq. and n. 1.

Greater Bundahishn [introduction]

Contents

PREFACE

A BRIEF LIFE-SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR

THE LATE MR. BEHRAMGORE TEHMURAS ANKLESARIA M.A.

INTRODUCTION

DESCRIPTION OF THE MSS.

TD1

DH

TD2

K43

CONTENTS OF THE GREAT BUNDAHISHN

THE LACUNAE IN K20

DISLOCATION OF THE TEXT IN K20

1st Lacuna.

302nd Lacuna.

313rd Lacuna.

4th Lacuna.

5th Lacuna.

6th Lacuna.

7th Lacuna.

8th Lacuna.

9th Lacuna.

10th Lacuna.

11th Lacuna.

12th Lacuna.

13th Lacuna.

14th Lacuna.

15th Lacuna.

16th Lacuna.

17th Lacuna.

18th Lacuna.

19th Lacuna.

20th Lacuna.

21st Lacuna.

23rd Lacuna.

24th Lacuna.

22nd and 25th Lacuna.

26th Lacuna.

27th Lacuna.

28th Lacuna.

29th Lacuna.

THE ANTIQUITY OF THE IRANIAN TEXT.

THE PROPRIETY OF THE NAME BUNDAHISHN

POSTSCRIPT.

TD₁

TD₂

K₄₃

THE LACUNAE IN K₂₀

DISLOCATION OF THE TEXT IN K₂₀

³⁰2nd Lacuna.

³¹3rd Lacuna.