Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/389

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
356
ORMAZD

Man shall not serve him because he fears him, but because he loves him. The devout shall not remember him in need, and forget him in plenty; nor shall he pay homage to Ormazd in the temple, and bend his knees to Ahriman outside.

The Holy Spirit. Spena Menu is the Pahlavi equivalent of the Avestan Spenta Mainyu, or the Holy Spirit, and occurs especially in the great Pahlavi work Dinkart as the divine attribute of Ormazd. Instances may, however, be cited in which the Holy Spirit, here as in the Gathas, seems to have been regarded as being separate from Ormazd.[1] Like the Younger Avestan texts, the Dinkart speaks of the creation of the Holy Spirit.[2] He is the source of all virtue, as his rival Gana Menu or Ahriman is the originator of vice.[3] The good qualities of man that make him righteous are derived from him.[4] To know Spena Menu, is to reach him,[5] and the devout person who is in spiritual communion with the Holy Spirit prospers in this world.[6] When a man is possessed of the power of Spena Menu, he is able to rout the Evil Spirit,[7] but when he sinfully puts out the Holy Spirit from his person, he exposes himself to the danger of being overpowered by the arch-fiend.[8] Spena Menu warns man of the temptations of the Evil Spirit, and inspires him with pious thoughts.[9]

Vohuman, the genius of wisdom, and also the innate wisdom, are the products of Spena Menu,[10] and it is the Holy Spirit that bestows the gift of divine wisdom upon man.[11] In fact the Mazdayasnian religion itself is the innate intelligence of Spena Menu.[12]

Spena Menu will ultimately triumph over the wicked Gana Menu,[13] and banish evil from the world.[14]

  1. ↑ Dk., vol. 2, p. 120; vol. 4, p. 194; vol. 5, p. 297, 328.
  2. ↑ Vol. 5, p. 325; vol. 8, p. 442.
  3. ↑ Dk., vol. 5, p. 348.
  4. ↑ Dk., vol. 5, p. 341.
  5. ↑ Dk., vol. 8, p. 442.
  6. ↑ Dk., vol. 5, p. 328, 340; vol. 8, p. 441, 442.
  7. ↑ Dk., vol. 4, p. 208, 209.
  8. ↑ Dk., vol. 2, p. 108.
  9. ↑ Dk., vol. 4, p. 250–252.
  10. ↑ Dk., vol. 3, p. 158.
  11. ↑ Dk., vol. 8, p. 477.
  12. ↑ Dk., vol. 8, p. 474.
  13. ↑ Dk., vol. 4, p. 252, 253; vol. 7, p. 462; vol 8, p. 441.
  14. ↑ Dk., vol. 5, p. 326.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.