JOY AND SORROW - THE ZEND AVESTA

JOY AND SORROW

Zend Avesta

FARGARD 3 - THE EARTH [I:1-II:11]

3:I(1-6) The five places where the earth feels most joy.

3:II(7-11) The five places where the earth feels most sorrow.

I.

1. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first place where the Earth feels most happy?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place whereon one of the faithful steps forward, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the holy wood in his hand 1, the baresma 2 in his hand, the holy meat in his hand,

the holy mortar 1 in his hand, fulfilling the law with love, and beseeching aloud Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, and Râma Hvâstra 2.'

2, 3 (6-10). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth feels most happy?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place whereon one of the faithful erects a house with a priest within, with cattle, with a wife, with children, and good herds within; and wherein afterwards the cattle go on thriving, holiness is thriving 3, fodder is thriving, the dog is thriving, the wife is thriving, the child is thriving, the fire is thriving, and every blessing of life is thriving.'

4 (11). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the Earth feels most happy?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place where one of the faithful cultivates most corn, grass, and fruit, O Spitama Zarathustra! where he waters ground that is dry, or dries ground that is too wet.'

5 (15). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth feels most happy?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place where there is most increase of flocks and herds.'

6 (18). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels most happy?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place where flocks and herds yield most dung.'

II.

7 (21). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first place where the Earth feels sorest grief?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the neck of Arezûra 1, whereon the hosts of fiends rush forth from the burrow of the Drug 2.'

8 (25). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth feels sorest grief?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place wherein most corpses of dogs and of men lie buried 3.'

9 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the Earth feels sorest grief?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place whereon stand most of those Dakhmas on which corpses of men are deposited 4.'

10. (31). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth feels sorest grief?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place wherein are most burrows of the creatures of Angra Mainyu 1.'

11 (34). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels sorest grief?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place whereon the wife and children of one of the faithful 2, O Spitama Zarathustra! are driven along the way of captivity, the dry, the dusty way, and lift up a voice of wailing.'

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The things that rejoice or grieve the earth are those that produce fertility and life or sterility and death, either in it or on it. Whereas the invisible spirit (soul) is conscious and the visible material (matter) unconscious, though they both cannot exist without the other. The forces are from within and exerted upon; of preservation and destruction. Things that bring joy are in association with those faithful and of a spiritual nature, pleasing to God. That which brings grief can tend to gratify the senses in being pleasurable, although more harmful than beneficial and basically of an impure nature.