Observations placeholder
Fargard of Yima, the - gamshêd part 2
Identifier
006714
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth – Henry Corbin [translated by Nancy Pearson] 1977
It was Eran-Vej that the comely Yima, ‘Yima of shining beauty, the best of mortals’ received the order to build the enclosure Var, where were gathered together the elect from among all beings, the fairest, the most gracious, that they might be preserved from the mortal winter unleashed by the demonic powers and some day repopulate a transfigured world. Indeed the Var of Yima is, as it were, a city, including houses, storehouses and ramparts. It has luminescent doors and windows that themselves secrete the light within, for it is illuminated both by uncreated and created lights. But once a year, the stars, the moon and the sun are seen to set and rise; that is why a year seems but a day. Every forty years, each human couple gives birth to another couple, masculine and feminine. And this perhaps suggests the androgynous condition of those beings who live the most beautiful of lives within the unchanging Var of Yima.
Is it by meditation or by a campaign of archeological excavation that we can hope to discover the traces of this Paradise of archetypes, of this celestial Earth in the centre of the world that preserves the seed of the resurrection bodies? Yima’s paradise cannot be marked on the surface of our maps, subject to a system of coordinates. What is called for here is not topographical research, but to achieve the transparency which allows the archetype image to appear.
A description of the experience
The FARGARD of Yima (gamshêd) – part 2
21 (42) The Maker, Ahura Mazda, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya , called together a meeting of the celestial gods.
The fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya, called together a meeting of the excellent mortals.
To that meeting came Ahura Mazda, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the celestial gods.
To that meeting came, the fair Yima, the good shepherd, of high renown in the Airyana Vaêgô, by the good river Dâitya; he came together with the excellent mortals.
22 (46). And Ahura Mazda spake unto Yima, saying:
'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî deep on the highest tops of mountains.
23 (52). And all the three sorts of beasts shall perish, those that live in the wilderness, and those that live on the tops of the mountains, and those that live in the bosom of the dale, under the shelter of stables.
24 (57). Before that winter, those fields would bear plenty of grass for cattle: now with floods that stream, with snows that melt, it will seem a happy land in the world, the land wherein footprints even of sheep may still be seen.
25 (61). Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, and thither bring the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires.
Therefore make thee a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long. as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks.
26 (65). There thou shalt make waters flow in a bed a hâthra long; there thou shalt settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shalt establish dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
27 (70). Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth.
28 (74). Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of tree, of the greatest, best, and finest kinds on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the fullest of food and sweetest of odour. All those seeds shalt thou bring, two of every, kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
29 (80). There shall be no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no poverty, no lying; no meanness, no jealousy; no decayed tooth, no leprous to be confined, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
30 (87). In the largest part of the place thou shalt make nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part thou shalt bring a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara thou shalt seal up with the golden ring, and thou shalt make a door, and a window self-shining within.
31 (93). Then Yima said within himself: 'How shall I manage to make that Vara which Ahura Mazda has commanded me to make?'
And Ahura Mazda said unto Yima: 'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Crush the earth with a stamp of thy heel, and then knead it with thy hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter's clay.'
32. And Yima did as Ahura Mazda wished; he crushed the earth with a stamp of his heel, he kneaded it with his hands, as the potter does when kneading the potter's clay .
33 (97). And Yima made a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square.
There he brought the seeds of sheep and oxen, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red blazing fires. He made a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, for oxen and sheep.
34. There he made waters flow in a bed a hathra long; there he settled birds, on the green that never fades, with food that never fails. There he established dwelling-places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery.
35. There he brought the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest on this earth.
36. There he brought the seeds of every kind of tree, of the highest of size and sweetest of odour on this earth; there he brought the seeds of every kind of fruit, the best of savour and sweetest of odour. All those seeds he brought, two of every kind, to be kept inexhaustible there, so long as those men shall stay in the Vara.
37. And there were no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no one malicious, no liar; no one spiteful, none jealous; no one with decayed tooth, no leprous to be pent up, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainyu stamps the bodies of mortals.
38. In the largest part of the place he made nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest. To the streets of the largest part he brought a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred. That Vara he sealed up with the golden ring, and he made a door, and a window self-shining within.
39. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What are the lights that give light in the Vara which Yima made?
40. Ahura Mazda answered: 'There are uncreated lights and created lights29. The one thing missed there is the sight of the stars, the moon, and the sun30, and a year seems only as a day31.
41. 'Every fortieth year, to every couple two are born, a male and a female32. And thus it is for every sort of cattle. And the men in the Vara which Yima made live the happiest life33.'
42. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is he who brought the Religion of Mazda into the Vara which Yima made? Ahura Mazda answered: 'It was the bird Karshipta34, O holy Zarathushtra!'
43. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who are the Lord and the Master there? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Urvatat-nara35, O Zarathushtra! and thyself, Zarathushtra.'