The aim of the author in this new approach to the study of the extant Pahlavi versions of the ancient Zoroastrian liturgy in Avestan is twofold. The first is to provide an edition of the Pahlavi translation of the Avestan Yasna Haptaŋhāiti (YH); the second is to treat it as a work of scholastic exegesis with stratified layers of glosses and commentaries. Within this framework he treats the Pahlavi version of the Yasna Haptaŋhāiti (PYH) as a text in its own right with the glosses integrated into the text. Seen in this light it appears as a text in which priestly circles in post-Sasanian Iran comment on issues typical of Late Antiquity. The resulting study is a fascinating multifaceted work.
The work begins with a presentation of previous research on the Pahlavi translations of the Avesta which have hitherto almost exclusively been seen as auxiliary to Avestan studies. This is followed by a competent account of the manuscripts and the technical aspects of the text edition. Zeini justifies his choice of the later Iranian MS Pt4 as his base manuscript rather than the usual Indian MSS J2 and K5. At the same time he provides a comprehensive apparatus which includes the variations found in the other MSS.
In chapter 3 Zeini presents the theoretical framework into which he fits the Pahlavi translation texts. This is the theory of decontextualized scholasticism launched by J.E. Cabezón in Buddhism and Language (Albany, 1994) based on religions with sacred texts with a long tradition of commentary. Christianity and Buddhism have served as models for the development of the theory due to the large volume of exegetical texts. In comparison there are relatively few Pahlavi texts and Zeini has wisely incorporated much of the Zoroastrian Pahlavi literature to form a larger exegetical corpus. While many of the characteristics typical of such scholastic texts, such as love of tradition, excellence of one's own religion, correlative thought, etc., are descriptive of Zoroastrian scholastic exegesis or Zand, it seems to me that there is not much material available to illustrate how they are the product of layers of continual exegetical writing.
Chapter 4 is devoted to the centrality of fire in the liturgy. It shows how the notion of fire appears to have gradually evolved from the ritual/heavenly fire in Old Avestan to fire, son of Ohrmazd, and mention of five fires in Young Avestan (Y 17.11), while the much later Zand and other Pahlavi texts describe in detail the functions and dwelling places of the five fires. This chapter is very well put together and touches on something essential in the spirituality of Zoroastrianism. However, I think that because of the lack of material from the period between Old and Young Avestan, and the long timespan between the latter and the Pahlavi Zand, caution should be maintained in attributing the proliferation of the number of sacred fires to centuries of priestly exegesis.
In chapter 5 Zeini provides a summary of the PYH in which the translation and the glosses are treated as one integral text. The author rightly points out the central importance of the concept dēn “religion” in the Pahlavi version, noting that daēna- “belief” occurs five times in the original YH and 14 times in the PYH where it is identified with ahlāyīh “piety”, wehīh “goodness”, ān ī ašmā “that which is yours”, etc. Worshippers are admonished to act with good thought, good speech and good deeds in order to acquire the dēn, fire is said to be “knowledgeable in Ohrmazd's dēn”, Ohrmazd's dēn is the mižda- “prize” which is requested of the fire which acts as mediator between the worshippers and Ohrmazd. Further issues include a request for priests and disciples to teach and spread the dēn in their situation, which is seen as leading up to the final eschatological struggle.
The core of the book is devoted to the edition of the Pahlavi rendering of the YH with a translation into English. Zeini shows a fine sensitivity and a firm hand in presenting the English translation of this particularly complicated text. In several places he improves our understanding of the Pahlavi text. Thus, for example, he interprets PYH 35.1 ān ī mard ō mard bē abespārdār “that which a man consigns to a man” as referring to the transferral of merits between priests and their disciples (pp. 190–3). Occasionally the English rendering is very literal as in PYH 40.2 and 41.2, 6 hamē tā ō visp “always until all”, even though his comments (pp. 118–21) make it clear that the expression means “until the end of this existence”.
The text is followed by an extensive set of comments in which Zeini brings together all available material to deepen our understanding of the PYH. He uses a methodical step-by-step analysis of how words are used in the broader Pahlavi literature to grasp how for example key concepts such as ahlāyīh “righteousness” and frārōnīh “goodness” relate to each other in the scholarly exegesis of the text. He clarifies the relevance of terms like bar ud bun “yield and capital” in a liturgical text. This section touches on many areas and should inspire much further discussion.
This work represents a big step forward in the study of the Pahlavi versions of the Avesta and will hopefully lead to an increased appreciation of these difficult texts. Zeini has presented a plausible method for studying them that can unlock the store of information which they contain concerning the beliefs and situation of the Zoroastrians after the fall of the Sasanian Empire in 651 ce. Even with the large amount of material presented in this work the PYH still has more to give and Zeini has done an admirable job of making the text accessible to broader circles of research.
