The Warshtmansr nask or Varshtmansr nask is the second ''nask'' (volume) of the

Sasanian Avesta The Sasanian Avesta or Great Avesta refers to the anthology of Zoroastrian literature produced during the Sasanian period. Most of this work is now lost, but its content and structure can be reconstructed from references found in a number of t ...

. Like most other nasks, it is no longer extant, but its content can be reconstructed from references in later Pahlavi writings and the parts still contained in the extant

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

Sources

The 8th book of the

Denkard The ''Dēnkard'' or ''Dēnkart'' (Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭩𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫𐭲 "Acts of Religion") is a 10th-century compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs during the time. The ''Denkard'' has been called an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" an ...

, a 9th-10th century compendium of Zoroastrianism, as well as a number of Rivayats, a series of epistles from the 15th - 17th century, list the content of the nask. In addition the 9th book of the Denkard provides a lengthy description its content.

Name

In the Persian Rivayats, the Warshtmansr nask is called ''Wahišta-mānsar'', meaning the best manthra. Modern scholarship agrees with the derivation of

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

''Mānsar'' from

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

''manthra'', but regards the derivation of ''Warsht'' from ''vahištah'' (best) as erroneous. For instance,

Edward William West Edward William West (1824-1905), usually styled E. W. West, was a scholarly English engineer, orientalist, and translator of Zoroastrian texts. He was educated at King's College London. He prepared five volumes of Pahlavi texts (the ''Marvels of ...

translates it as "used as spells, or employed as liturgy". On the other hand, Vevaina derives ''Warsht'' from ''varz-'' (working/composing), which would lead to a translation of "working a manthra".

In the Sasanian Avesta

The

was organized into 21 nasks, i.e., volumes, with each nask being in turn divided into several chapters. These 21 nasks are grouped into 3 divisions; the Gāhānīg (Gathic nasks), Hada Mānsrīg ( manthras connected with the ritual), and Dādīg (legal nasks). Like the Sudgar and the Bag nask, the Warshtmansr nask was divided into 22 fragards (chapters), with all three providing commentary on the Staota Yenya, in particular the

Gathas The Gathas () are 17 hymns in the Avestan language from the Zoroastrian oral tradition of the Avesta. The oldest surviving text fragment dates from 1323 CE, but they are believed by scholars to have been composed before 1000 BCE and passed dow ...

. Accordingly, it was placed into the first division of the nasks, i.e., the Gāhānīg group.

estimates, that the Warshtmansr nask consisted of ca. 8.300 words of

text accompanied by ca. 18.500 words of commentaryin Pahlavi.

Content

The first fragard seems to have contained material on the life of

Zarathustra Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. Variously descr ...

. The last fragard, called Ērmān fragard (commenting on the Airyaman ishya manthra), seems to be preserved in form of Fragment Westergaard 4.1-3. Although the Warshtmansr nask belongs to the Gathic group, it seems to have contained material from the epic

Yashts A Yasht (, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts, although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta ...

, in particular material related to

Gayomard Keyumars or Kiomars () was the name of the first king (shah) of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to the ''Shahnameh''. The name appears in Avestan in the form of , or in medieval Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian texts as ''Gayōmard'' or ...

and

Vishtaspa Vishtaspa ( ; ; ; ) is the Avestan-language name of a figure appearing in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early follower of Zoroaster, and his patron, and instrumental in the diffusion of the prophet's message. Although V ...

. Likewise, fragard 21 may have contained material about Axtya, a sorcerer and prominent, early opponent of the Zarathustra. The Warshtmansr nask provided a number of important discussions of Zoroastrian topics. In one passage (Denkard 9.30.4-5), a discussion of the twin spirits, mentioned in

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
''

Zurvanite Zurvanism is a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zu ...

, interpretation of

Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...

and

Angra Mainyu Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...

being brothers was rejected. In another passage (Denkard 9.43.7), a unique interpretation of Yasna 50.1-11 is found. Therein, the three steps taken by the priest during the

Ab-Zohr The Ab-Zohr (; ; ) is the culminating rite of the greater '' Yasna'' service, the principal Zoroastrian act of worship that accompanies the recitation of the ''Yasna'' liturgy. As described in the liturgy that accompanies the procedure, the rite ...

are interpreted as corresponding to the Zoroastrian concept of ''good thoughts, good words, good deeds''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Short summary of the Warshtmansr nask according to Book 8 of the Denkard
{{Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian texts Lost documents