Pārsīg
Ancient Texts/ mādayān
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The verbal contest between a goat and a Babylonian date-palm
The draxt asurīg (DA) is a versified animal fable, originally composed in Parthian. The postscript to DA refers to it as a srōd ‘song, poem’ among the poems composed by an (unknown) poet; it was transmitted both orally and in writing. |
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There are a few short texts which may be classed under the general title of
handarz/ Instructions.
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handarz/ Instructions.
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handarz
II (1) ped dād ud dēn raftan. (2) ud pid ud mād nē āzārdan. (3) husāzagīh abāg brādarān ud dōstān ud xvēšān ud nazdīkān. ud peyvann kirdan, dāštār ī zan husoxan būdan. (4) ped xīr ī kirbag toxšīdār būdan. (5) ud harv rōz abāg xvēštan āmār bē kirdan kū: imrōz cē sūd ud cē zyān? cē kirbag ud cē vināh? ud cand ped rāh ī frārōn raft ham ud cand ped rāh ī abārōn? cē ēn gētīg aspanz ī ēkrōzag humānāg, jāyēdān ānōh abāyed būdan. (6) ud ped kirbag ud bazag āmār baved. (7) cē harv kē-š kirbag vēš kū vināh, ēg-iš srōš-ahlāy dast gīred, ō vahišt nayed. (8) ōy kē-š vināh vēš kū kirbag, ēg-iš vīzarš dēv dast gīred, ō dušox nayed; ka griyend nē abuxšāyend, ud ka vāng kunend nē niyūšend. (9) abdum abestām ped tō kunišn ī xvēš frazaft ped drod šādīh ud rāmišn. |
Instruction
To behave in accordance with law and religion. Not to hurt (one’s) parents. (To be) in harmony with brothers and sisters, friends, relatives and kinsmen. To marry, and to be a preserver of a woman who is well-spoken. To be diligent in doing good. To reckon every day with oneself thus: “Today what profit (have I made) and what loss (have I sustained); what good deed (have I done) and what sin (have I committed); to what length have I traversed the righteous path and to what length the unrighteous path?” Because this world is like a one-day inn, and yonder (in the world of thought) one shall be for eternity; there will be the reckoning of (one’s) good deeds and crimes. Because every one whose good deeds are more than his sins, Sraoša aşya takes hold of the hand of him and carries him to the Best (Existence); the one whose sins are more than his good deeds, Vīzarəša daēva takes hold of the hand of him and drags him to the Bad Existence (= hell) – (there) when he cries, they (= the Daēva) do not have mercy on him, and when he cries out, they do not listen to him. In the end your trust is on your own hands. Finished with health and joy and peace. |
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handarz
III (1) ped dard ast kē xrad nē dāred. (2) ranzvar ast kē zan nē dāred. (3) abēnām ast kē frazend nē dāred. (4) dušarz ast kē xvāstag nē dāred. (5) sust ast kē kas nē dāred. (6) az ēn hamāg ōy vattar kē ruvān <dōšārm> nē dāred. frazaft. |
Instruction
In trouble is he who has no wisdom. Sorrowful is he who has no wife. Disreputable is he who has no offspring. Despicable is he who has no wealth. Feeble is he who has no one (relatives or friends). Worse than all is he who has no <love for> the soul. Finished. |
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handarz
IV (1) dānāgīh rāy tāg nēst. (2) rahīgīh rāy nām nēst. (3) gētīg rāy pāyišn nēst. (4) juvānīh rāy nāzišn nēst. (5) xvāstag rāy burzišn nēst. (6) zīndagīh rāy rāmišn nēst. (7) zarvān rāy dārūg nēst. (8) margīh rāy cārag nēst. (9) zanān rāy rāz nēst. (10) xvadāy rāy hambāz nēst. (11) ud az ēn hamāg ōy vattar kē bē mīred, xvadāy az ōy hušnūd nēst. (12) ud harv kē xvadāy az ōy hušnūd nēst, ōy rāy andar vahišt bāmīg gyāg nēst. frazaft ped drod ud šādīh ud rāmišn. |
Instruction
Wisdom has no match. Infantilism has no name (or, reputation). The world has no constancy. Youth has no vaunting. Wealth (or, money) has no respect. Life has no repose (or, peace). Old age has no medicine. Death has no remedy. Women have (= keep) no +secret. The Lord has no associate. Worse than all is he who dies and the Lord is not pleased with him; and any one with whom the Lord is not pleased has no place in the Best (and) Luminous (Existence). Finished with health and happiness and peace. |
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A recipe for contentment
The dārūg ī hunsandīh is a prescription for preparing the medicine of contentment. A similar saying has been attributed in later (Persian) texts to Vazurgmihr. |
dārūg ī hunsandīh
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Precepts for school children
The following fragments, belonging to « the literature of puerile civility » are only extant in their Pāzand form. One fragment addresses the advice to the pupils of the school (or grammar- school, dibīrestān), the other to those of the religious school (hērbedestān). |
xvēškārīh ī rēdakān
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Counsel of the Wise to Mazdayasnians
This text is known under the title of handarz ī dānāgān ō mazdesnān ‘Counsel of the Wise to Mazdayasnians’. It is partially (or, wholly?) in verse. |
handarz ī vehzād ī farrox-pērōz
The Counsel of Vehzād (son of) Farrox-pērōz The Counsel of Vehzād (son of) Farrox-pērōz, a sage of the Sasanian times, contains a hymn to wisdom. |
Select Instructions of the Ancient Teachers
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cīdag handarz ī pōryōdkēšān
Select Instructions of the Ancient Teachers
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The Memorial of Vazurgmihr
The Āyādgār ī Vazurgmihr is the only text of the wise counsellor of Husrō (531-579) that, in spite of some lacunae, has survived in its original Pārsīg language. It is in the form of questions and answers, most of which are “comparative”. It has been translated into Arabaic in an almost early period, and also into Persian. An Arabic version has been put into the Book of Bilawhar and Būdāsf (8th century). Another Arabic version is found in the Jāwēδān Xraδ of Muškōya (Ibn Miskawayh, d. 1030 A.D.): the Memorial (ما اخترته من آذاب بوزرجمهر) is the first of the three collections of advice which belong to Vazurgmihr. Firdōsī translated the Memorial into Perian in verse form (پند دادن بوزرجمهر نوشيروان را), and published it as the eighth collection of advice of Vazurgmihr in the Šāhnāma. |
Āyādgār ī Vazurgmihr
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Twenty-two words
This text is a set of handarz delivered by Ādarbād son of Mahrspend, in the form of definitions he himself had learned from his teacher Mihrohrmazd, who had learned them in his turn from his teacher Ādarōg. az: RP 62 |
soxan abar stāyēnīdārīh ī ēk sūr
A Banquet Speech This is an after-meal speech in a banquet. The text dates back to the Sasanian era. “We have found only the upper limit, namely the reign of Xusrav I.” (Tavadia, 21) It is called with different headings by different scholars. |
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A Funerary inscription from Fārs (Eqlīd)
There exists an inscription on a stone (2 m/ 88 cm) called Howzche-e Dukhtar-e Gabr on a mountain called Tall-e Qalāt. |
The Praise of the Great Ones
āfrīn ī vazurgān This benediction text is used as a part of the marriage service. We have both the Pārsīg and the Pāzand versions of the Text. |
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Handarz ī husrav ī kavādān
vidārišn ō pārsī (Ardašēr Guldōst)
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| handarz_e_khosro_ghobadan.pdf |
