253 
19th Nask. The Avesta-Zend in Pahlavi ( i.e . ancient Persian), 
Avistdh va zand, or “Text ancl Commentary,” consists of (1) 
The Yasna, or “ Book of Sacrifice with Prayers.” (2) The 
Visparad, or “All Heads,” a collection of prayers. (3) The 
Vendidad (Vidaeva-data), or “Law against the Devas,”* con- 
tained in twenty-two Fargards or chapters ; and (4) The Khur- 
dah-Avesta, or “ Little Avesta,” which consists of Prayers and 
Yashts , or “ Invocations.” The Yasna may be compared in 
point of priority and importance to the Rig-Veda of the Indian 
Aryans and the Pentateuch. It coysists of (1) the Five Gdthas, 
or “ Songs,” which form the most archaic portion of the Avesta; 
(2) the Yasna of Seven Has, or “ Sections,” written in the 
Gatha dialect ; and (3) the Later Yasna, which is written in 
the ordinary language of the Avesta. Haug traces the form 
avistdh “to d + vista (p.p. of vid, f to know'), with the mean- 
ing f what is known/ or f knowledge/ corresponding nearly 
with Veda.” f The text of the Avesta, as we have it, probably 
belongs to the reign of Ardashir I., who in A.D. 22(5 put an 
end to the Parthian dynasty of Askh (Arsakes) and became 
the founder of the Sassanids. This monarch made every effort 
to restore the national religion, which, although tolerated, had 
necessarily become much depressed beneath five centuries and 
a half of Greek and Parthian rule. The efforts of Ardashir were 
successful; the old sacred writings and traditions were collected, 
and although many of them have been subsequently lost, yet 
a most important residuum has been preserved to the present 
day by the Parsis, who left their country for India on the 
Muhammedan conquest of Persia A.D. 650. The great anti- 
quity of the writings collected by Ardashir is evident, as, 
amongst other reasons, in his time “ the language of the 
Avesta had long ceased to be spoken, and the contemporaries 
of Ardashir could no more have composed a chapter of the 
Vendidad than an English gentleman of this century could 
imitate the Anglo-Saxon of King Alfred. ”J As to date of 
composition, the Gdthas and the Earlier Yasna may be fairly 
placed some time prior to B.C. 1200; the greater portion of 
the Vendidad cir. B.C. 1,000; the Visparad and Later Yasna 
cir. B.C. 900-800 ; whilst the Yashts may be placed down to 
cir. B.C. 400. In addition to the foregoing archaic works, 
there is extant an extensive Pahlavi literature, using that term 
to denote the language of Persia during the Sassanian dynasty, 
A.D. 226-641. Two Pahlavi works in particular may be men- 
* Vide inf. sec. 10. t Essays , 121. 
X Bleeck, Avesta, introduction, xi. 
