AVESTA: Vendidad

NOTE: Also available in German, PDF and EPUB of English translation, and PDF of Avestan text in transcription font.

The Vendidad is an ancient collection of Zoroastrian myths, prayers, and religious observances, intended to defend against sources of infection and evil. Particular attention is given to disposal of corpses and other "dead matter" (nasu) to avoid polluting the earth, water, etc. Its present form is thought to have become fixed around the middle of the first millennium BCE. Of the twenty-one books of the Sasanian canon of the Avesta that were detailed in the Denkard, this is the only one which has survived in its entirety. James Darmesteter translated the text in 1880, relying heavily on the Pahlavi translation. In 1898 he published a revised translation. Fritz Wolff later translated the major texts of the Avesta into German, based on Bartholomae's monumental Avestan dictionary. According to Kellens, "Darmesteter is sometimes superior in his understanding of the Vid?vd?d." His notes in particular remain invaluable.

In preparing this edition, I have replaced the spelling of Zoroastrian technical terms with more familiar forms, following Kotwal and Boyd, 1982, as much as possible.

Compare with the Sasanian description of the Vendidad given in Denkard Book 8.

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