THE BOOK OF ARDA VIRAF

From Horne's Introduction: "Of its author we know nothing except what his book tells. He has sometimes been connected with a religious scholar who wrote commentaries on the Avesta during the Sasanian Empire. His book narrates a vision of heaven and hell which Viraf saw in an inspired dream or vision. Most of the brief book is given here, except where the details of hell become too bestial, too coarsely sordid for modern taste. The entire vision is truly Dantesque; and while we do not know its age, we can say confidently that it is several centuries older than the work of Dante. So profound, even to this day, is the Parsis' faith in the reality of Viraf's vision, that when the work is read in their religious assemblies, the men weep and the women cry out in horror over its pictures of the damned.

It has certainly a powerful influence in restraining the Parsis from sin." It should be noted that hell is not an eternal punishment according to the Zoroastrian religion, but only until the renovation of the world (frashegird.) Passages in [] (such as chapter and section headings) supplied by JHP. These are primarily intended to facilitate electronic searches. I have also supplied the portions censured by Horne from the following edition: Title: The book of Arda Viraf : the Pahlavi text prepared by Destur Hoshangji Jamaspji Asa / rev. and collated with further mss., with an English translation and introd., and an appendic containing the texts and translations of the Gosht-i Fryano, and Hadokht-nask, by Martin Haug, assisted by E.

W. West. Library University of Chicago Uniform Title: Arda-Viraf-Namak. English & Pahlavi. Published: Bombay : Govt. Central Book Depot, 1872. Description: v, lxxxvii, 316 p. ; 24 cm. Subjects: Pahlavi literature Pahlavi literature -- Translations into English. English literature -- Translations from Pahlavi. Hell -- Hinduism [sic Zoroastrianism] Contributors: Hoshangji Jamaspji Asa, Haug, Martin, 1827-1876. West, Edward William, 1824-1905 Other Titles: Yosht-i Fryano. English & Pahlavi. 1872. Avesta. Hadokht nask. English, Pahlavi & Avesta. 1872. Notes: Text in Pahlavi characters and Roman transcription. Holdings Library: University of Chicago Location: Joseph Regenstein Library Shelving Location: Regenstein Stacks Call No: PK6197.A67