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The Zend, or commentary, is written in the Pahlavi language. On the question whether or not the Achaemenian kings of Persia, Cyrus I., and so forth, were Zarathustrians, see "Century Bible," Ezra Nehemiah Esther. There are seventy-two chapters in the Yasnas, though they contain a good number of repetitions.
Thou teachest men the true religion that of Ahura-Mazda. These five gathas include yasnas 28-34, 43-46, 47-50, and 51-53. In metre, vocabulary, and matter, the gathas prove themselves to be the oldest part of the Avesta. The doctrines taught are likewise purer and more rational. To the supreme good spirit are ascribed six attributes which are often personified.
These existed, in a more or less incomplete state, down to the ninth century of our era, to which century the Pahlavi work "Dindard" belongs. The Avesta which exists to-day may be divided thus: I. The strictly canonical parts, including the following, which will be more fully described in connection with the summaries. Yasnas, including the Gathas. 2. Vispereds. 3. Vendidads.
There is general agreement that the one author to whom at least the great bulk of the Gathas is due is Zarathustra himself. Roth, L.H. Mills, and other scholars date the Gathas as they would the Vedas, somewhere between B.C. 1200 and 1500, and they therefore fix upon the same date for the work of Zarathustra himself. GATHA I, Yasnas 28-34, 29, which is earlier than 28.
O ye crowds of men, when will ye call evil, evil, and good, good, instead of the contrary? Have the Daevas ever supplied good rulers? It consists almost entirely of extracts from other parts of the Avesta, especially from the Yasnas. The existing Vendidads agree almost exactly with Nask of the original Avesta, the only part of the Avesta in which one of the Nasks has been completely preserved.
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