Life-wind

When the wind is separated from the body, anything becomes dead and arid. From this it’s shown correct that life and wind are the same.

When vyāna exists the body, the other four go with it; and they cannot stay in the body without the vyāna. As they exit, the vyāna mixes with the wind, and the ahu goes to Heaven… the urvan, baoδa and fravaṣ̌i mix with each other… and they are the ones held accountable. … vyāna is like a delicate wind or fume that arises from the heart. When they all exit the body, vyāna mixes with the wind, and the body mixes with the earth.

Z: ped harv dō oxān ī astōmandān ud kē-z mēnōgān [nēkīh ī ēdar, hān-z ī ānōh].

the blessings of both worlds, the corporeal and the spiritual

May it not be that my body (lit. skeleton) and uštāna and baoδa separate.

1. yo ha vai jyeṣṭʰaṃ ca śreṣṭʰaṃ ca veda jyeṣṭʰaś ca ha vai śreṣṭʰaś ca bʰavati, prāṇo vāva jyeṣṭʰaś ca śreṣṭʰaś ca

2. yo ha vai vasiṣṭʰaṃ veda vasiṣṭʰo ha svānāṃ bʰavati, vāg vāva vasiṣṭʰaḥ

3. yo ha vai pratiṣṭʰāṃ veda prati ha tiṣṭʰaty asmiṃś ca loke amuṣmiṃś ca, cakṣur vāva pratiṣṭʰā

4. yo ha vai saṃpadaṃ veda saṃ hāsmai kāmāḥ padyante daivāś ca mānuṣāś ca, śrotraṃ vāva saṃpat

5. yo ha vā āyatanaṃ veda āyatanaṃ ha svānāṃ bʰavati, mano ha vā āyatanam

6. atʰa ha prāṇā ahaṃśreyasi vyūdire, ahaṃ śreyān asmy ahaṃ śreyān asmīti

7. te ha prāṇāḥ prajāpatiṃ pitaram etyocuḥ bʰagavan ko naḥ śreṣṭʰa iti, tān hovāca, yasmin va utkrānte śarīraṃ pāpiṣṭʰataram iva dr̥śyeta sa vaḥ śreṣṭʰa iti

8. sā ha vāg uccakrāma, sā saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca, katʰam aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti, yatʰā kalā avadantaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena paśyantaś cakṣuṣā śr̥ṇvantaḥ śrotreṇa dʰyāyanto manasaivam iti. praviveśa ha vāk

9. cakṣur hoccakrāma, tat saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca, katʰam aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti, yatʰāndʰā apaśyantaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena vadanto vācā śr̥ṇvantaḥ śrotreṇa dʰyāyanto manasaivam iti, praviveśa ha cakṣuḥ

10. śrotraṃ hoccakrāma, tat saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca katʰam aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti, yatʰā badʰirā aśr̥ṇvantaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena vadanto vācā paśyantaś cakṣuṣā dʰyāyanto manasaivam iti, praviveśa ha śrotram

11. mano hoccakrāma, tat saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca katʰam aśakata r̥te maj jīvitum iti, yatʰā bālā amanasaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena vadanto vācā paśyantaś cakṣuṣā śr̥ṇvantaḥ śrotreṇaivam iti, praviveśa ha manaḥ

12. atʰa ha prāṇa uccikramiṣan sa yatʰā suhayaḥ paḍvīśaśaṅkūn saṃkʰided evam itarān prāṇān samakʰidat, taṃ hābʰisametyocuḥ, bʰagavann edʰi, tvaṃ naḥ śreṣṭʰo ‘si, motkramīr iti

13. atʰa hainaṃ vāg uvāca, yad ahaṃ vasiṣṭʰo ‘smi tvaṃ tadvasiṣṭʰo ‘sīti, atʰa hainaṃ cakṣur uvāca, yad ahaṃ pratiṣṭʰāsmi tvaṃ tatpratiṣṭʰāsīti

14. atʰa hainaṃ śrotram uvāca, yad ahaṃ saṃpad asmi tvaṃ tatsaṃpad asīti, atʰa hainaṃ mana uvāca, yad aham āyatanam asmi tvaṃ tadāyatanam asīti

15. na vai vāco na cakṣūṃṣi na śrotrāṇi na manāṃsīty ācakṣate, prāṇā ity evācakṣate, prāṇo hy evaitāni sarvāṇi bʰavati

1. He who knows the elder and the best, himself becomes the oldest and the best. It is Life-Wind (prāṇa) which is the oldest and the best.

2. He who knows the prime, himself becomes primer among his own [relatives]. Speech (/ tongue) is prime.

3. He who knows the support, attains a support in this world and the other. The eye is the support.

4. He who knows the completion, becomes successful, humane and godly. Ears are completion.

5. He who knows the abode, becomes the abode of his own [relatives]. Mind is the abode.

6. Once, these senses began to quarrel on who is better, and each would say: “I am better.”

7. Those senses then went to the father, Lord of Creation (Prajāpati), and said: “O’ lord, which of us is better?” He told them: “The one is better among you, whom after his leave the body suffers more.”

8. Tongue left (the body); after one year he came back and asked: “How did you live without me?” (They said:) “Like muffled mutes, who inhale and exhale with the Life-Wind, see with the eye, hear with the ear, think with the mind. We did so.” Speech entered (the body.)

9. Eye left. After one year he came back and asked: “How did you live without me?” (They said:) “Like unseeing blinds, who inhale and exhale with the Life-Wind, talk with the speech, hear with the ear, think with the mind. We did so.” Sight entered (the body.)

10. Ear left. After one year he came back and asked: “How did you live without me?” (They said:) “Like unhearing deafs, who inhale and exhale with the Life-Wind, talk with the tongue, see with the eye, think with the mind. We did so.” Ear entered (the body.)

11. Mind left. After one year he came back and asked: “How did you live without me?” (They said:) “Like stupid children, who inhale and exhale with the Life-Wind, talk with the tongue, see with the eye, hear with the ear. We did so.” Mind entered (the body.)

12. As the Life-Wind was about to live, the other organs were torn, like a lively horse who is able to uproot the pegs that have bound him (with ropes). The senses came to him and said: “O’ Lord, you are better than us, be our leader.”

13. Thus tongue told him: “If I am better, then you are better.” Thus eye told him: “If I am support, then you are support.”

14. Thus ear told him: “If I am completion, then you are completion.” Thus mind told him: “If I am abode, then you are abode.”

15. These (other senses) then did not call themselves tongue or eye or ear or mind, they call themselves prāṇa, for they are all prāṇa.

1. abar mēnōgān ī andar mardōm <tan> kāregar, u-šān kār, az nigēz ī veh dēn.

2. hād. andar šāyed-sāmān, az āfurišn ud dahišn, mēnōgān andar mardōm tan kāregar māyagvar ēn-z cahār, ī ast: ruvān, gyān, fravahr, ud bōy.

3. ruvān ast ox [xvadāy] ī abar tan: cōn kadagxvadāy <xvadāy abar> kadag ud asvār <abar> asp, ud rāyēnīdār ī tan, ud gyān ud bōy ud fravahr hāmis vāxš ī pediš, ud andar-šān abzārumand ruvān.

4. gyān vād ī az fravahr-cihr uštānēnīdag ped uštānīh, uštānumand-dāštār ī ast, ī tan: cōn drust-vinārdār ī <kadag ī> kadagxvdāy, ud kārīg-dāštār ī asp <ī> asvār. ēd ī ka az tan jud baved, tan margīhed: cōn ka stūn ī kadag škīhed kadag hambahed.

5. ud fravahr-cihr dāštār ud parvardār ī tan: cōn vīrāstār ud ābādān-dāštār ī kadagxvadāy kadag, ud mādiyār ī asvār asp. ēd ī ka az tan jud baved tan šaved zōr, ud agār māned: cōn kadag ī ka az vīrāyišn hilīhed avīrānīhed.

6. ud bōy rōšn-dāštār <ī tan: cōn rōšn-dāštār> ī kadagxvadāy kadag, ud vēnāgēnīdār ī asvār asp. ud vēnāgēnidār ī kadagxvadāy andar kadag ud asvār abar asp: cōn rōšnīh ī gēhān xvaršēd, ud cirāh ī andar kadag. ud ēd ī ka az tan judāgīhed, ruvān andar tan anāgāh, ud tan andar-z zīndagīh a-mārišn baved.

7. ud ruvān, ped fravahr ud bōy ud gyān tan-abzārīh, ped xvēškārīh ī aviš frēstīd abēvahānagīh; u-š xvēškārīh kušišnīg vānīdārīh ī druz: cōn asvār, ped asp zēnabzārīh, zadārīh ud vānīdārīh ī dušmen. ud dušmen ī ruvān, cōn dušmen-z ī-š abzārān kirrēnīdag ī druz, ō marnzēnīdārīh ī dām: āz ud varan ud xēšm ud kēn ud nang ud arešk-iz ī mad ēsted ō tan, kušišn ī abāg
8. razmbed ruvān, ped avvēnīdan ud tarvēnīdan ī az razm, kū ped hān ī ōy vānīdārīh marnzānd ud agārēnānd abārīg kušišnīg dahišnān ī vehīh.

9. ox, xvadāy, ud razmbed ruvān, ka ped fravahr ud bōy ud gyān tan-abzārīh, ud amehrspend ī-š ayyār, āhang ī kušišn ī abāg druz, vigrād ud arvand ped xvēš tagīgīh druz vānīdār, ud az tan bē kirdār, druz az gēhān bē, gennāg mēnōg zad ud vānīd ud apādixšāy kird, ud xvad az druz bōxt ahlav.

10. ka-š pez škenn ī rah ī do asp az hamemāl, <ruvān> az tan vihēz baved, ped xvēš xūbgārīh ud hamnirōgīh pērōzīhā ō bun franāmīdan, ud az ōy ī xvadāy frēstīdār ī ō kušišn framān abesar ī pērāmōn madan, ud ped jāyēdān āsān pur-urvāhm gāh nišastan.

11. ka ped frēb ī az hamemāl ašgahānīg āsānīh-dōšagīhā andar kušišn starār, ud az amehrspend bē-āhang, ud ō druz frāz-āhang baved, ud durvandīhed, ud druz pediš abarvēzīhed, ud ēvtāg andar druzišn vālīhed, ud dastgravīg ō druz gyāg kašīhed ud dā fraškird gravīg zēndānīhed.

12. veh dēn pēdāgīh: hān ī-š nēk ahlavīh, gētīg husravīh nišān pediš; <hān ī-š> anāg durvandīh, gētīg dušsravīh daxšag pesazagīhā.

1. On the working spirits in the body of humans, and their function, according to the point-of-view of the Good Religion.

2. In the boundaries of possibility in the spiritual and material creations, the working spirits of the human body are generally these four: urvan, vyāna, fravaṣ̌i and baoδa.

3. Urvan is the lord (Av. ahu) [master] over the body: like a master of the household over the house, and like the one on horseback over the horse; it is the governor of the person. The vyāna, baoδa, and fravaṣ̌i-nature12 are all the spirits (vāxš) in it, and within them the pundit is the urvan.

4. Vyāna is the wind from fravaṣ̌i-nature that, animated by the animation (uštāna), maintains the body animate, like the fixator of the master’s house and the ready-maker of the horseman’s horse. Whenever the vyāna separates from the body, the body dies. Like the pillar of a house that if broken, the house crumbles.

5. Fravaṣ̌i-nature is the possessor and nurturer of the body, like the grower and builder of the master’s house and the caretaker of the horseman’s horse. Whenever the fravaṣ̌i(-nature) separates from the body, the body is rendered powerless and weak, just as the house that is ruined when caretaking of it is given up.

6. Baoδa keeps the body alight, like the one keeping the master’s house alight, and the clear-sightener of the horseman’s horse, and the horseman on the horse, and the master in the house, like the sun’s light in the world, and light of the lantern in the house. When baoδa separates from the body, the urvan is rendered ignorant in the body, and the body becomes un-sensing in life.

7. Urvan, together with the bodily functions of fravaṣ̌i(-nature), baoδa and vyāna, has come to fulfill a duty, and has no excuse (to reject it); and its duty is to attempt to overcome falsehood. Like the horseman, who through the martial function of the horse, (attacks) to kill and defeat the enemy. The enemy of urvan (i.e. falsehood), with its tools that are (mis-)creations of falsehood, (attack) to destroy the good creations: Avarice, Lust, Anger, Grudge, Defamation and Envy, comes to the body, and fight
8. with the urvan, who is in charge of war, rebuke and frustrate him from the battle, and by overcoming him, destroy and demolish other good creations.

9. The lord, master and in-charge-of-war is urvan, who with the bodily functions of fravaṣ̌i-(nature) and baoδa and vyāna, and with the help of the Holy Immortals, decides to fight Falsehood, awake and swift, with his valiance defeats the Falsehood and chases it outside the body. It expels the Falsehood from the material world and makes the Evil Spirit defeated, conquered and weak; and he himself becomes liberated from Falsehood and righteous.

10. When the two-horsed chariot (/ two legged body) is broken by the enemy (Death), the urvan leaves the soul, through its good-working and support, victoriously proceeds to the origin, and by the order of the Lord who had sent him to fight (Falsehood) he is given a victorious crown, and sits immortal in the blessed and much-merry place.

11. And if it is deceived by the Enemy, with indolence, sloth and ignorance, lazy in battle, unwilling to the Holy Immortals and willing to the Falsehood, becomes wicked and Falsehood is undefeated before him, and grows uniquely in lying, it is then bound and dragged to the abode of Falsehood, and until Renovation it is prisoner there.

12. Is manifest from the Good Religion (= an Avestan quotation):‘The sign of a good man is the righteousness (of his fravaṣ̌i) and good name in the world; the sign of a bad man, wickedness (of his fravaṣ̌i) and bad name in the world, each deservedly.”

ahūmca daēnąmca baoδasca urvānəmca fravaṣ̌īmca.

“The ahu, the daēnā, the baoδa, the urvan, the fravaṣ̌i”

cē burd ud razman ast, cvāγōn stūn ud nārvān dālōg kē kadag ud viδān bared, ud cvāγōn gyān kē tanbār bared.

‘For it is patient and upright, like the pillar and elm tree, that carries the house and tent, and like the vyāna that carries the body.’