Reconsidering a Paragraph of the Pahlavi Vidēvdād and Its Translation

Abstract

This study offers a detailed re-examination of a passage from the second fargard of the Pahlavi Vidēvdād (Vd. 2.6), which recounts the episode of Yima receiving two mysterious implements from Ahura Mazda. The paper analyses the Avestan and Middle Persian terminology (suβrā-, aštrā-, sūrāgōmand, aštar), the interpretative challenges they pose, and their various renderings in past scholarship. It argues that the aforementioned passage of the Vīdēvdād has been frequently misinterpreted due to insufficient attention to the Middle Persian zand and—in one case—to the heterographic structure of the Pahlavi text. The study identifies the term mtl’k as an overlooked aramaeogram corresponding to pēsīdag (‘gilt, adorned’), thus clarifying the phrase pēsīdag dastag (‘with a gilt handle’). Drawing on philological, textual, and comparative evidence, the article concludes that the two objects in question should be interpreted not as weapons or musical instruments but as pastoral tools—specifically, a goad and a whip—fitting Yima’s function as a herdsman-king. The analysis also situates the narrative within broader Iranian ritual and mythological traditions, including parallels with Herodotus’ account of Xerxes’ ritual acts at the Hellespont.