Sasanian Avesta

The most important source on the Sasanian Avesta is the Denkard, a 9th-10th century compendium of Zoroastrianism.^[7] The 8th and 9th book of the Denkard give an overview of the Avesta as it was available at the time. Whereas the 8th book lists the content, the 9th book provides a lengthy summary on a number of its nasks^[8] In addition, the Rivayats, a series of epistles from the 15th - 17th century, also list its content but do not provide further summaries. In general, the information provided by the Denkard is considered to be more reliable than the Rivayats.^[9]

The Sasanian Avesta is never called Avesta in the sources. Instead, it is called the "collection of the Den".^[10] Its modern name was coined due to its connection to the extant Avesta. To distinguish both, authors have used terms like Sasanian Avesta^[11] or Great Avesta.^[12][13]

The Sasanian Avesta was organized into 21 nasks, i.e., volumes,^[4] 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).^[14] This threefold division of the 21 nasks was modelled after the three lines and 21 words of the Ahuna vairya manthra, the most important Zoroastrian prayer.^[15]

The Gathic nasks contain commentaries on the Gathas of Zarathustra and are consequently named after them. The Denkard also associates the Gathic nasks with the menogic world, i.e., the ideal and invisible aspect of existence.^[16] Not all content can be identified with certainty, but some of the nasks seem to have contained additional material on Zarathustra's life.^[11]

Although the Stōd-yasn is placed as the first nask of the Gathic group, book 8 of the Denkard places it last in the list of all the 21 nasks of the Sasanian Avesta. It has been speculated that this may have been to convey the cyclical and interconnected nature of the texts within the Sasanian Avesta.^[16] The Waštag nask is not described in any of the sources, indicating that it was already lost in its entirety by the 9th century.^[21]

The ritual nasks, called Hada mānsrīg, form the second division of the Sasanian Avesta.^[14] They are placed between the Gathic nasks, dealing with the menogic world of thought, and the legal nasks, dealing with the getic world of action. Their purpose has, therefore, been interpreted as connecting both these worlds by virtue of the ritual.^[16]

None of these ritual nasks have survived in its entirety and most are considered lost or highly fragmentary. In addition, the Denkard does only provide short summaries for most of the nasks, which makes a reconstruction of their original content difficult. The Denkard, furthermore, states that no Zand exists for the Nāxtar nask, indicating that by the 9th century it had already been lost.^[24]

The legal nasks, called Dād, form the third division of the Sasanian Avesta.^[14] The Denkard associates the legal nasks with the getig world, i.e., the tangible and visible aspect of existence. This division, therefore, forms the complement to the menogic world covered in the Gathic nasks.^[16]

This division contains five actually legal (dādīg) nasks (Nikātum, Duzd-sar-nizad, Huspāram, Sakātum, and the Juddēvdād) as well as two miscellaneous nasks (Čihrdād and Bagān Yašt). The Čihrdād nask contains a mythical history of Iran, which makes it particularly stand out from the others. Its inclusion may have been due to a misinterpretation of the second element of its name as dād (law), whereas a derivation from *čiθrō.dāti (the establishment of the origins) is considered more likely.^[25]

According to the listing in the Denkard, the 12th chapter of the Juddēwdād was already lost at the time. Despite this, it is the only nask that has remained intact since then. This survival may be due to its use in the corresponding ceremony.^[32] The other two longer texts that survive are the Nīrangestān and the Hērbedestān from the Huspāram nask.^[33]