Selections from Zoroastrianism’s Vendidad: Fargard 2, Part 2 of 2

“And Ahura Mazda spoke unto Yima, saying: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! Upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall bring the fierce, foul frost; upon the material world the fatal winters are going to fall, that shall make snow-flakes fall thick, even an aredvî deep on the highest tops of mountains. And all the three sorts of creatures shall perish, those 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, under the shelter of stables.

Before that winter, those fields would bear plenty of grass for cattle: now with floods that stream, with snows that melt, it will seem a happy land in the world, the land wherein footprints even of sheep may still be seen. […]

Therefore make thee a Vara [an enclosure], long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be an abode for men; a Vara [an enclosure], long as a riding-ground on every side of the square, to be a fold for flocks. There thou shall make waters flow in a bed a hâthra [approximately 1.6 km or 1 mile] long; there thou shall settle birds, by the ever-green banks that bear never-failing food. There thou shall establish dwelling places, consisting of a house with a balcony, a courtyard, and a gallery. […]’

Then Yima said within himself: ‘How shall I manage to make that Vara [an enclosure] which Ahura Mazda has commanded me to make?’ And Ahura Mazda said unto Yima: ‘O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat! 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.’ 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. […]”

“O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! What lights are there to give light in the Vara [the enclosure] which Yima made? Ahura Mazda answered: ‘There are uncreated lights and created lights. There the stars, the moon, and the Sun are only once (a year) seen to rise and set, and a year seems only as a day. […]”