Page:Next-of-kin Marriages in Old Iran.djvu/89

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
74
NEXT-OF-KIN MARRIAGES.

to in the later Pahlavi writings, they do not imply any commendation of such unions among ordinary men, but only among the first human beings to whom they were naturally confined, to produce an uniform and pure race of mankind without any promiscuous blending with irrational creatures or animals. What are called the Khvêtûk-dasih between the father and the daughter, the son and the mother, the brother and the sister, are, therefore, expressly the supernatural association between Ahura Mazda and Spendârmat, between Gayômard and Spendârmat, and the union between Mashih and Mashyâni.

Now, as to the signification of the word Khrétûk-das, the transition from meaning the gift of communion with the Almighty and with the supernatural powers, to meaning the gift of moral union between the human sexes or among mankind generally, is an easy and a natural step. Such an idea of a bond of union in a tribe, race, or family, is suggested by the writer of this 80th Chapter in question. Notwithstanding, it is in

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.