Yima and the Vara

Introduction

Yima, also known as Jamshid in later Persian mythology, was a legendary king and a central figure in Zoroastrian tradition. He is remembered for his wisdom, leadership, and the divine favor he received from Ahura Mazda, the supreme god in Zoroastrianism.

Divine Warning

The story begins with Ahura Mazda foreseeing a catastrophic winter that would devastate the world. This winter, known as the “evil winter,” would last for an extended period and bring severe cold, snow, and ice, threatening all life on earth.

Ahura Mazda, concerned about the survival of the world’s creations, chose Yima to carry out a divine mission. Ahura Mazda summoned Yima and warned him about the impending disaster. He instructed Yima to build a vara, an underground enclosure, to preserve the best of humanity, animals, and plants during the harsh winter.

Construction of the Vara

Following Ahura Mazda’s guidance, Yima set out to build the vara. The vara was to be a vast, underground shelter, meticulously designed to sustain life during the long winter. Ahura Mazda provided Yima with specific instructions on how to construct the enclosure, ensuring it would be a safe and habitable refuge.

Yima’s vara was described as a paradise-like space, with its own light source, abundant resources, and a controlled climate that would remain unaffected by the severe weather outside. It was large enough to accommodate a diverse selection of living beings, ensuring that the best representatives of each species would survive and repopulate the earth once the winter ended.

Preservation of Life

Yima, with the help of his followers, gathered the finest specimens of humanity, animals, and plants to place within the vara. This selection process was crucial, as only the best and most virtuous were chosen to ensure the future prosperity and vitality of the world.

Once the vara was completed and stocked with life, Yima and his chosen people, along with the animals and plants, retreated into the shelter. They remained there throughout the duration of the evil winter, safe from the external harsh conditions.

Renewal of the World

After the long winter had passed, Yima and the inhabitants of the vara emerged from their underground refuge. They stepped into a world that had been cleansed and renewed by the winter. The preserved life within the vara began to repopulate and rejuvenate the earth, restoring balance and vitality to the world.

The story of Yima and the creation of the vara is found in the Zoroastrian text called the Vendidad (or Videvdat), which is part of the Avesta, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism. The specific part of the Vendidad where this story is recounted is in Fargard 2 (chapters or sections of the Vendidad).

Names:

1. Ahura Mazda: The supreme god in Zoroastrianism, who warns Yima of the impending catastrophe.
2. Yima (Jamshid): The legendary king chosen by Ahura Mazda to build the vara.
3. Vara: The underground enclosure constructed by Yima to preserve life during the severe winter.
4. Fargard 2 of the Vendidad: The specific section of the Zoroastrian text where this myth is detailed.

Dates:

The Zoroastrian scriptures, including the Avesta and the Vendidad, do not have precise dates attributed to their origins as they were transmitted orally for centuries before being written down. However, the compilation of these texts in written form is generally believed to have occurred during the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE), although the oral traditions themselves are much older.

The historical figure of Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), the founder of Zoroastrianism, is traditionally dated to somewhere between 1500 BCE and 1000 BCE, though exact dates remain uncertain and scholarly estimates vary widely.

Context:

• Ahura Mazda’s Warning: Instructs Yima to prepare for the “evil winters” that will devastate the world.
• Construction of the Vara: Yima is given precise instructions on how to build the vara to ensure it can sustain life.
• Preservation of Life: Yima selects the best specimens of humanity, animals, and plants to survive in the vara.

Script

1. Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda:
   O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who was the first mortal, before myself, Zarathushtra, with whom thou, Ahura Mazda, didst converse1, whom thou didst teach the Religion of Ahura, the Religion of Zarathushtra?
2. Ahura Mazda answered: The fair Yima, the good shepherd2, O holy Zarathushtra! he was the first mortal, before thee, Zarathushtra, with whom I, Ahura Mazda, did converse, whom I taught the Religion of Ahura, the Religion of Zarathushtra.
3. Unto him, O Zarathushtra, I, Ahura Mazda, spake, saying: ‘Well, fair Yima, son of Vivanghat, be thou the preacher and the bearer of my Religion!’ And the fair Yima, O Zarathushtra, replied unto me, saying: ‘I was not born, I was not taught to be the preacher and the bearer of thy Religion.’
4. Then I, Ahura Mazda, said thus unto him, O Zarathushtra: ‘Since thou dost not consent to be the preacher and the bearer of my Religion, then make thou my world increase, make my world grow: consent thou to nourish, to rule, and to watch over my world.’
5. And the fair Yima replied unto me, O Zarathushtra, saying: ‘Yes! I will make thy world increase, I will make thy world grow. Yes! I will nourish, and rule, and watch over thy world. There shall be, while I am king, neither cold wind not hot wind, neither disease nor death.’
6. Then I, Ahura Mazda, brought two implements unto him: a golden seal and a poniard inlaid with gold. Behold, here Yima bears the royal sway!
7. [Obscure.]
8. Thus, under the sway of Yima, three hundred winters passed away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was room no more for flocks, herds, and men.
9. Then I warned the fair Yima, saying: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vivanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and there is room no more for flocks, herds, and men.’
10. Then Yima stepped forward, in light, southwards, on the way of the sun, and (afterwards) he pressed the earth with the golden seal, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus: ‘O Spenta Armaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.’
11. And Yima made the earth grow larger by one-third than it was before, and there came flocks and herds and men, at their will and wish, as many as he wished.
12. Thus, under the sway of Yima, six hundred winters passed away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was room no more for flocks, herds, and men.
13. And I warned the fair Yima, saying: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vivanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and there is room no more for flocks, herds, and men.’
14. Then Yima stepped forward, in light, southwards, on the way of the sun, and (afterwards) he pressed the earth with the golden seal, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus: ‘O Spenta Armaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.’
15. And Yima made the earth grow larger by two-thirds than it was before, and there came flocks and herds and men, at their will and wish, as many as he wished.
16. Thus, under the sway of Yima, nine hundred winters passed away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was room no more for flocks, herds, and men.
17. And I warned the fair Yima, saying: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vivanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and there is room no more for flocks, herds, and men.’
18. Then Yima stepped forward, in light, southwards, on the way of the sun, and (afterwards) he pressed the earth with the golden seal, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus: ‘O Spenta Armaiti, kindly) open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.’
19. And Yima made the earth grow larger by two-thirds than it was before, and there came flocks and herds and men, at their will and wish, as many as he wished.
20. The Maker, Ahura Mazda, called together a meeting of the celestial Yazatas in the Airyana Vaejo of high renown, by the Vanguhi Daitya. The fair Yima, the good shepherd, called together a meeting of the best of the mortals, in the Airyana Vaejo of high renown, by the Vanguhi Daitya.
21. To that meeting came Ahura Mazda, in the Airyana Vaejo of high renown, by the Vanguhi Daitya; he came together with the celestial Yazatas. To that meeting came the fair Yima, the good shepherd, in the Airyana Vaejo of high renown, by the Vanguhi Daitya; he came together with the best of the mortals.
22. And Ahura Mazda spake unto Yima, saying: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vivanghat! Upon the material world the evil winters are about to fall, that shall bring the fierce, deadly frost; upon the material world the evil winters are about to fall, that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvi deep on the highest tops of mountains.
23. ‘And the beasts 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 shall take shelter in underground abodes.
24. ‘Before that winter, the country would bear plenty of grass for cattle, before the waters had flooded it. Now after the melting of the snow, O Yima, a place wherein the footprint of a sheep may be seen will be a wonder in the world.
25. ‘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 man; a Vara, long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, for oxen and sheep.
26. ‘There thou shalt make waters flow in a bed a hathra long; there thou shalt settle birds, on the green that never fades, with food that never fails. There thou shalt establish dwelling-places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and as gallery.
27. ‘Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of men and women, of the greatest, best, and finest on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of cattle, of the greatest, best, and finest on this earth.
28. ‘Thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of tree, of the highest of size and sweetest of odour on this earth; thither thou shalt bring the seeds of every kind of fruit, the best of savour 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. ‘There shall be no humpbacked, none bulged forward there; no impotent, no lunatic; no 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.
30. ‘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 thy golden seal, and thou shalt make a door, and a window self-shining within.’
31. 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 Vivanghat! 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. 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 lights. The one thing missed there is the sight of the stars, the moon, and the sun, and a year seems only as a day.’
41. ‘Every fortieth year, to every couple two are born, a male and a female. And thus it is for every sort of cattle. And the men in the Vara which Yima made live the happiest life.’
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 Karshipta, 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-nara, O Zarathushtra! and thyself, Zarathushtra.’

Credits:
This digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson, 1995.
Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East, American Edition, 1898.)

Yima, according to Yt9.10, made immortality reign on the earth for a thousand years. The remaining century was spent in the Vara (‘for a hundred years, Jim was in the Var,’ says the Gr. Bund.) On Yima’s fall, see Yt19.34; see Yt5.25-31.