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Vendidad
The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/ or Videvdat or Videvdad is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual. Name The name of the texts is a contraction of the Avestan language ''Vî-Daêvô-Dāta'', "Given Against the ''Daeva''s (Demons)", and as the name suggests, the ''Vendidad'' is an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them. According to the divisions of the Avesta as described in the Denkard, a 9th-century text, the ''Vendidad'' includes all of the 19th ''nask'', which is then the only ''nask'' that has survived in its entirety. Content 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atar
Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to be the visible presence of Ahura Mazda and his Asha through the eponymous Yazata. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year. In the Avestan language, ''ātar'' is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ''ātarš'', source of Persian ''ātaš'' (fire). It was once thought to be etymologically related to the Avestan ''āθrauuan'' / ''aθaurun'' (Vedic ''atharvan''), a type of priest, but that is now considered unlikely (Boyce, 2002:16). The ultimate etymology of ''ātar'', previously unknown (Boyce, 2002:1), is now believed to be from the Indo-European *hxehxtr- 'fire'. This would make it related to Latin ''ater'' (black) and possibly a cognate of Albanian '' vatër'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacred Books Of The East
The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the .... All of the books are in the public domain in the United States, and most or all are in the public domain in many other countries. Electronic versions of all 50 volumes are widely available online. References External links {{wikisource, Sacred Books of the East, ''Sacred Books of the East''''Sacred Books of the East'' on archive.org [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avestan Geography
Avestan geography refers to the investigation of place names in the Avesta and the attempt to connect them to real-world geographical sites. It is therefore different from the cosmogony expressed in the Avesta, where place names refer to mythical events or a cosmological order. Identifying such connections is important for localizing the people of the Avesta and is therefore crucial for understanding the early history of Zoroastrianism and the Iranian peoples. Sources for such geographical references are exclusively found in the younger Avestan portion of the text, in particular in the Vendidad and several of the Yashts. The identification of these Avestan place names with real locations is often supported by comparisons with references made in later Iranian sources. A major challenge to establish these connections is the fact that the Iranian people often used the same name for different places. As a result, not all Avestan place names can be identified with certainty with presen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron
Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (7 December 173117 January 1805) was the first professional French Indologist. He conceived the institutional framework for the new profession. He inspired the founding of the École française d'Extrême-Orient a century after his death. The library of the Institut français de Pondichéry is named after him. Early life Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil was born in Paris on 7 December 1731 as the fourth of seven children of Pierre Anquetil, a spice importer. As was the custom of the time, the name of one of his father's estates, "Duperron", was added to his name to distinguish him from his brothers. Anquetil-Duperron initially distinguished himself in the study of theology at Paris and Utrecht with the intention of becoming a priest like his elder brother Louis-Pierre Anquetil. In the course of his studies, however, he acquired such an interest in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek that he chose to devote himself entirely to philology and classical studies an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yasna
Yasna (; '' Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ae, ,) is the Avestan name of 's principal act of worship. It is also the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts, recited during that ''yasna'' ceremony. Overview The function of the ''yasna'' ceremony is, very roughly described, to strengthen the orderly spiritual and material creations ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahuna Vairya
Ahuna Vairya (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬥𐬀 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀) is the first of Zoroastrianism's four Gathic Avestan formulas. The text, which appears in ''Yasna'' 27.13, is also known after its opening words yatha ahu vairyo. In Zoroastrian tradition, the formula is also known as the ''ahun(a)war''. Numerous translations and interpretations exist, but the overall meaning of the text remains obscure. The Ahuna Vairya and ''Ashem Vohu'' (the second most sacred formula at ''Yasna'' 27.14) are together "very cryptic formulas, of a pronounced magical character." The Ahunavaiti Gatha (chapters 28-34 of the ''Yasna''), is named after the Ahuna Vairya formula. In relation to the other formulas Like the other three formulas (''Ashem vohu'', ''Yenghe hatam'', ''Airyaman ishya''), the ''Ahuna Vairya'' is part of the Gathic canon, that is, part of the group of texts composed in the more archaic dialect of the Avestan language. Together with the other three formulas, the ''Ahuna V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moral Relativism
Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. An advocate of such ideas is often referred to as a relativist for short. '' Descriptive'' moral relativism holds only that people do, in fact, disagree fundamentally about what is moral, with no judgment being expressed on the desirability of this. '' Meta-ethical'' moral relativism holds that in such disagreements, nobody is objectively right or wrong. '' Normative'' moral relativism holds that because nobody is right or wrong, everyone ought to tolerate the behavior of others even when large disagreements about morality exist. Said concepts of the different intellectual movements involve considerable nuance and aren't absolute descriptions. Descriptive relativists do not necessarily adopt meta-ethical relativism. Moreover, not all met ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haoma
''Haoma'' (; Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀) is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and mythology. ''Haoma'' has its origins in Indo-Iranian religion and is the cognate of Vedic ''soma''. Etymology Both Avestan ''haoma'' and Sanskrit ''soma'' derived from proto-Indo-Iranian ''*sauma''. The linguistic root of the word ''haoma'', ''hu-'', and of ''soma'', ''su-'', suggests 'press' or 'pound'. In Old Persian cuneiform it was known as 𐏃𐎢𐎶 ''hauma'', as in the DNa inscription (c. 490 BC) which makes reference to "haoma-drinking Scythians" (''Sakā haumavargā''). The Middle Persian form of the name is 𐭧𐭥𐭬 ''hōm'', which continues to be the name in Modern Persian, and other living Iranian languages (هوم). As a plant In the Avesta The physical attributes, as described in the texts of the Avesta, include: * the plant has stems, roots and branches (''Yasna'' 10.5). * it has a plant ''asu'' (''Yasna'' 9.16). The term ''asu'' is only used in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aban
Apas (, ae, āpas) is the Avestan language term for "the waters", which, in its innumerable aggregate states, is represented by the Apas, the hypostases of the waters. ''Āb'' (plural ''Ābān'') is the Middle Persian-language form. Introduction "To this day reverence for water is deeply ingrained in Zoroastrians, and in orthodox communities offerings are regularly made to the household well or nearby stream." The '' ape zaothra'' ceremony—the culminating rite of the ''Yasna'' service (which is in turn the principal act of worship)—is literally for the "strengthening of the waters." Avestan ''apas'' (from singular ''āpō'') is grammatically feminine, and the Apas are female. The Middle Persian equivalents are ''ābān''/Ābān (alt: ''āvān''/Āvān), from which Parsi Gujarati ''āvā''/Āvā (in religious usage only) derive. The Avestan common noun ''āpas'' corresponds exactly to Vedic Sanskrit '' '', and both derive from the same proto-Indo-Iranian word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Of Silence
A ''dakhma'' ( fa, دخمه), also known as a Tower of Silence, is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the elements for decomposition), in order to avert contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the dead bodies. Carrion birds, usually vultures and other scavengers, consume the flesh. Skeletal remains are gathered into a central pit where further weathering and continued breakdown occurs. History Zoroastrian ritual exposure of the dead is first known of from the writings of the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (mid-5th century BCE), who observed the custom amongst Iranian expatriates in Asia Minor. In Herodotus' account (''Histories'' i.140), the Zoroastrian funerary rites are said to have been "secret", but were first performed after the body had been dragged around by a bird or dog. The corpse was then embalmed with wax and laid in a trench. The discovery of ossuaries in bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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