The Open court . lf through the excellent, the pureand stirring Word, also called the creative Word which wasin the beginning, which reminds one not only of the Christianidea of the Logos, 6 Xoyos o? r)v iv oepx^, but also of the Brah-man Fdc/i, word (etymologically the same as the Latin vox), whichis glorified in the fourth hymn of the Rig Veda, as pervadingheaven and earth, existing in all the worlds and extending to theheavens. 142 THE OPEN COURT. On the rock inscription of Elvend, which had been made bythe order of King Darius, we read these Hnes^: There is one God, omnipotent Ahura Mazda,
The Open court . lf through the excellent, the pureand stirring Word, also called the creative Word which wasin the beginning, which reminds one not only of the Christianidea of the Logos, 6 Xoyos o? r)v iv oepx^, but also of the Brah-man Fdc/i, word (etymologically the same as the Latin vox), whichis glorified in the fourth hymn of the Rig Veda, as pervadingheaven and earth, existing in all the worlds and extending to theheavens. 142 THE OPEN COURT. On the rock inscription of Elvend, which had been made bythe order of King Darius, we read these Hnes^: There is one God, omnipotent Ahura Mazda,It is He who has created the earth here ;It is He who has created the heaven there ;It is He who has created mortal man. Lenormant characterises the God of Zoroaster as follows : Ahura Mazda has creaited as/ia, purity or rather the cosmic order; he hascreated both the moral and material world constitution ; he has made the universe;he has made the law ; he is, in a word, creator [datar], sovereign [ahura), omnis-. Fig. 2. Sculptures on a Royal Tomb.(Coste et Flandin, Perse Ancienne, at Persepolis, pi. 164. Lenormant, V., p. 23.) cient [mazddo), the god of order [ashavan). He corresponds exactly to Varuna, thehighest god of Vedism. This spiritual conception of the Supreme Being is absolutely pure in theAvesta, and the expressions that Ormuzd has the sun for his eye, the heaven for hisgarment, the lightning for his sons, the waters for his spouses, are unequivocallyallegorical. Creator of all things, Ormuzd is himself uncreated and eternal. Hehad no beginning and will have no end. He has accomplished his creation workby pronouncing the Word, the Ahuna-Vairyo, Honover, i. e., the word that ex-isted before everything else, reminding us of the eternal Word, the Divine Logosof the Gospel. {Histoire ancienne de VOrient, V., p. 388.) Concerning Ahriman, Lenormant says : The creation came forth from the hands of Ormuzd, pure and perfect likehimself. It was Ahriman who perverted it by hi
Size: 1953px × 1279px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
