49 harm to the tiller's herd, to the pious husbandman's flock, who speaks no word with lying, (who abjures the Lie-demon's faith 1 )?
16.
Yea, I would ask Thee such a thing as this: How such an one as he who, with wise action, has striven to promote (Thy holy) Rule 2 over house, and region, and province, in the Righteous Order and in truth, how he may become like Thee 3 , O Great Creator, Living Lord?
And when he may so become, (this also I would ask), and in what actions living he may so be 4 ?
17.
And which of the (religions) is the greater (and the more prevailing 5 as to these questions which thus concern the soul?) Is it that which the p.
50 righteous believes, or the wicked 1 ?
(Let then our questionings cease.) Let the enlightened (alone) speak to the enlightened.
Let not the ignorant (further) deceive us, (high though he may lift his voice 2 ).
Do Thou thyself, O Ahura Mazda!
declare 3 to us (the truth) as Thy Good Mind's full revealer.
18.
(And you, ye assembled throngs!) let not a man of you lend a hearing to Mãthra, or to command of that sinner 4 (ignorant 5 as he is), for home, village, region, and province he would deliver to ruin 6 and death.
But (fly ye to arms without hearing), and hew ye them all with the halberd 7 !
p.
51 19.
Let them hear Him who conceived of the Righteous Order for the worlds, the (all)-wise One, O Ahura!
For truthful speech He rules with absolute sway over words, and ever free of tongue (to guide us in our way 1 ).
By Thy shining flame 2 (He doth guide us 3 , Thine altar's flame with its signs of decision and of grace) sent forth for the good of the strivers 4 .
20.
(But, O ye listening men!) he who renders p.
52 the saint deceived 1 , for him shall be later destruction 2 .
Long life shall be his lot in the darkness; foul shall be his food; his speech shall be of the lowest 3 .
And this, which is such a life 4 as your own, O ye vile!
your (perverted) conscience through your own deeds will bring 5 you 6 !
21.
But Ahura Mazda will give both Universal Weal and Immortality 7 in the fulness of His Righteous Order, and from himself 8 as the head 9 of Dominion (within His saints).
And He will likewise give the Good Mind's vigorous might 10 to him who in spirit and deeds is His friend 11 , (and with faith fulfils his vows 12 ) p.
53 22.
And to the wise are these things clear as to the one discerning with his mind (not blinded by the perverter 1 ).
With Thy Good Mind and Thy (holy) Kingdom he follows the Righteous Order both in his words and his actions.
And to Thee, O Ahura Mazda!
such a man shall be the most helpful and vigorous being 2 (for he serves with every power 3 )!
Themes
◆Ahura Mazda Principlecosmology
The divine ordering principle of truth and light.
The passage is a direct address to Ahura Mazda, invoking His Rule, Good Mind, and authority as the Living Lord.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The text describes final outcomes of destruction/darkness for the wicked and Immortality/Weal for the righteous.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The central question asks how a human may 'become like Thee' (Ahura Mazda) through action.