375 The Farohars have existed long before the world came into being—They volunteer to descend to earth and stand by men to the end of their lives—In the Pahlavi period their influence is less prominent—It is for the welfare of the living that the Farohars solicit sacrifices—The line of distinction between the souls and the Farohars of the dead is gradually obliterated in the Pahlavi texts.
379 Pazend prayers—Supplicatory prayers—Thanksgiving prayers—Benedictory prayers—Confessional prayers—Penitential prayers—Intercessory prayers and rituals—The Nirangs.
384 Independent origin of evil—Tracing both good and evil to God deprives him of his divinity—The goodness of Ormazd demands that he could on no account be the author of evil—The all-wise God would not create his own adversary—Omnipotent Ormazd has not created evil—Ormazd, the sovereign ruler, would not harass his earthly subjects by the creation of evil—Unmerited harm could not emanate from a just God—God, the embodiment of mercy, could not inflict evil upon his own creatures—It is deemed futile to attempt to resolve Ahriman into a symbolic personification of man's evil nature—Ahriman—The primeval source of evil—Ahriman is a spirit—Ahriman has backward knowledge—As the arch-enemy of Ormazd Ahriman swears vengeance upon the good creation—Ahriman lures man to destruction by deceit—Ahriman produces seductive demons to pervert mankind—Ahriman introduces disease and death into the world—Ahriman infests the earth with noxious creatures—Ahriman disfigures Ormazd's creation—The end of Ahriman—The final disappearance of evil from the world—Divs—The emissaries of Ahriman—Their work—Akoman—Ahriman's premier—His attempt to enter the mind of the prophet Zaratusht when a child to pervert it is frustrated by Vohuman—Evil thoughts in man come from Akoman—Druj—The change wrought in the conception of her work—Druj's work—What puts her to flight—Indar—Transformation of a great Indian divinity into an execrated demon in Persia—Sovar—Enemy of the Divine Kingdom of Righteousness—Taromat—The demon that dries up the spring of devotion in man—Naonghas—Taromat's confederate—Tairev—The opponent of the archangel of perfection—Zairich—Tairev's comrade—Astovidad—This demon of death casts his deadly noose around all—Vizarsh—Astovidad's collaborator—Eshm—An impetuous assailant of man—Aposh—Tishtar's antagonist—Jeh—A powerful demoness—Other demons.
407
Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/14
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CONTENTS
xv
CHAPTER
PAGE
Death is the completion of life—Srosh's help indispensable for the disembodied souls—The souls visualize the good or bad deeds of the lives they have just completed—The souls escorted by the genii of their own deeds to the other world—The heavenly judges—Location of the Bridge of Judgment—The
