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2 EXTENT OF THE ORIGINAL ZOROASTRIAN SCRIPTURES.
Zoroaster, we find that all these Nasks cannot be covered merely by the
Gathas. The summary of the 21 Nasks as given in the Pahlavi Dinkard
clearly shows that the extant Gathas form only a fraction of the
"Vastarem” Nask known in Pahlavi by the name of “Satud Yasht”.
Hence the Gathas make up even less than 1/21 of the entire Zoroastrian
Scriptures.
It will not be out of place to give here a portion of the summary of
the 21 Nasks as given in the Pahlavi Dinkard, for the entire book of
Zoroastrian Theology is based on the brittle, reed-like, speculative belief
that only some of the Gathas belong to Zoroaster himself and that the
rest of the Avesta was written by later priests. It is owing to this belief
that the writer of the book excludes everything out of the fold of
Zoroastrianism that he is unable to see in the Gathas; e.g., rituals, most
of the Yazads, state of the soul after death, and many more things which
are not of course to be found in the Gathas. And this belief has played
havoc in the field of research into Zoroastrian doctrines, to such an
extent that the advocates of this belief have proved themselves to be
destructivists. Consequently the summary given below of the 21 Nasks
will enable one to make out the extent of the original Zoroastrian
Scriptures, to compare that extent with the very insignificant fraction at
present in our possession, and to assign the exact value to the book
under review written entirely on this unwarranted speculative belief. The
analysis here given is taken from the Introduction to the Pahlavi Version
of the Avesta Vendidad by Shams-ul-Ulma Dastoor Darab Peshotan
Sanjana, B.A.: -
The learned Dastoor before giving the Analysis says: -
" We learn from the Sassanian tomes that the original Parsi
Scriptures comprised twenty-one (21) Nasks or sacred
books……………..From the analysis- of these 21 Nasks given in
the Eighth book of the Pahlavi Dinkard, which is deciphered and
made- intelligible to