Vendidad - Contents

Contents

The Vendidad's different parts vary widely in character and in age. Although some portions are relatively recent in origin, the subject matter of the greater part is very old. In 1877, Karl Friedrich Geldner identified the texts as being linguistically distinct from both the Old Avestan language texts as well as from the Yashts of the younger Avesta. Today, there is controversy over historical development of the Vendidad. The Vendidad is classified by some as an artificial, young Avestan text. Its language resembles Old Avestan. The Vendidad is thought to be a Magi (Magi-influenced) composition. It has also been suggested that the Vendidad belongs to a particular school, but "no linguistic or textual argument allows us to attain any degree of certainty in these matters."

The Vendidad consists of 22 fargards containing fragments of discussions between Ahura Mazda and Zoroaster. The arrangement does not suggest it was composed by the prophet's contemporaries.

However, some consider the Vendidad a link to ancient early oral traditions, later written as a book of laws for the Zoroastrian community. The writing of the Vendidad began - perhaps substantially - before the formation of the Median and Persian Empires, before the 8th century B.C.E..

In addition, as with the Yashts, the date of composition of the final version does not exclude the possibility that some parts of the Vendidad may consist of very old material. Even in this modern age, Zoroastrians are continually rewriting old spiritual material.

The first chapter is dualistic creation myth, followed by the description of a destructive winter comparable with the great floods of various other mythologies. The second chapter recounts the legend of Yima (Jamshid). Chapter 19 relates the temptation of Zoroaster, who, when urged by Angra Mainyu to turn from the good religion, turns instead towards Ahura Mazda. The remaining chapters cover diverse rules and regulations, through the adherence of which evil spirits may be confounded. Broken down by subject, these fargards deal with the following topics (chapters where a topic is covered are in brackets):

• hygiene (in particular care of the dead) and cleansing ;
• disease, its origin, and spells against it ;
• mourning for the dead, the Towers of Silence, and the remuneration of deeds after death ;
• the sanctity of, and invocations to, Atar (fire), Zam (earth), Apas (water) and the light of the stars ;
• the dignity of wealth and charity, of marriage and of physical effort
• statutes on unacceptable social behaviour such as breach of contract and assault ;
• on the worthiness of priests ;
• praise and care of the bull, the dog, the otter, the Sraosha bird, and the Haoma tree .

There is a degree of moral relativism apparent in the Vendidad, and the diverse rules and regulations are not always expressed as being mystical, absolute, universal or mandatory. The Vendidad is mainly about social laws, mores, customs and culture. In some instances, the description of prescribed behaviour is accompanied by a description of the penances that have to be made to atone for violations thereof. Such penances include:

• payment in cash or kind to the aggrieved;
• corporal punishment such as whipping;
• repeated recitations of certain parts of the liturgy such as the Ahuna Vairya invocation.