It is now well known that Avestan - the language of the Zarathushti scriptures, the Avesta; & Vedic Sanskrit – the language of the Vedas are sister dialects. The chief difference between the two lies in certain well-defined phonetic shifts rather than in basic grammar. It is, therefore, quite possible, by simple phonetic substitutions, to transliterate Gathic verses into intelligible Vedic Sanskrit.
Both words “a-ve-sta” & “ve-da” are derived from the same root: “Vid” to know, to gain knowledge.
This word “Vae-da” also appears in the Gathas (Ys28.10, Ys31.2) as knowledge.
Similarly the name Avesta of our divine scriptures is called Upastha in Vedic Sanskrit meaning collection of mantras, & therefore Knowledge crucible.
The “Avesta” is composed of Yasna (Sk. Yagna/yajna), Yasht, Visperad & the Vedidad. The Yasna is the oldest & more aligned to Rig Vedic Sanskrit. Being the compilation of Zarathushtra and his immediate followers, it is the most authoritative. The Yasna is made up of 72 chapters in conformity with the 72 attributes of Ahura Mazda (see Hormazd Yasht) & the 72 threads that make up the holy cord (Janoi), called the Kusti, worn by the Parsis. Significantly, the Visperad & the Vandidad, too were said to have had 72 chapters originally.
The Gathas being the individual composition of Zarathushtra himself are 17 chapters collected into 5 groups, & composed in a rhythmic meter very similar to that in the Rig Veda
GATHA Similarly Metered Veda
Ahunavaiti Gatha Rig: Gayatri;
Ushtavaiti Gatha Rig: Trishtumbh;
Spenta Mainyu Gatha Rig: Pankti;
Vohu Kshathra Gatha Rig: Ushnik;
Vahishta Ishti Gatha Rig: Arya
It should be noted that, the language of the Vedas is called Vedic Sanskrit, as distinguished from the later and more settled form called classical Sanskrit.
Geography & Political boundaries played a big role. By the time the Rig Veda was codified, the center of power had shifted from what is now North western India, to the lands east of the River Ganges. The river Sarasvati (Harah-vaiti) had begun to dry out & ceased to exist after 3000BC.
Classical Sanskrit therefore sprang from a fusion of vedic Sanskrit with Prakrit & other eastern Indian languages. A similar situation came up on the Persian side with the center of power shifting westward & the daughter languages of Avesta being relegated to local (central Asian) use.
As per Dr Martin Haug: “This classical Avesta language, or ancient Bactrian, which was for many centuries the spoken and written language ofBactria
Geography & Political boundaries played a big role. By the time the Rig Veda was codified, the center of power had shifted from what is now North western India, to the lands east of the River Ganges. The river Sarasvati (Harah-vaiti) had begun to dry out & ceased to exist after 3000BC.
Classical Sanskrit therefore sprang from a fusion of vedic Sanskrit with Prakrit & other eastern Indian languages. A similar situation came up on the Persian side with the center of power shifting westward & the daughter languages of Avesta being relegated to local (central Asian) use.
As per Dr Martin Haug: “This classical Avesta language, or ancient Bactrian, which was for many centuries the spoken and written language of
The language of the Gathas , Yasnas & Yashts, including those written in later Avestan are in closer proximity to Rig Vedic Sanskrit, than the classical Sanskrit of today. According to Dr. Martin Haug[i]; as per the rules of philology they can accurately be called sister dialects, not independent languages.
The Vedic language has 52 sounds 13 of which are vocalic & 39 consonantal.
The Avesta script is made up of 47 letters, including 13 vowels & 34 consonants. It is written from right to left.
Dr Haug, further states that:
“The differences between Vedic Sanskrit and the Avesta language are very little in grammar, but are chiefly of a phonetical and lexicographical nature, like the differences between German and Dutch. There are certain regular changes of sounds, and other phonetic peculiarities perceptible, knowledge of which enables the philologist to convert any Avesta word easily into a pure Sanskrit one.
Judging from these peculiarities, there seems no doubt that the dialect of the Gathas shows some traces of a higher antiquity than can be claimed for the ordinary Avesta. But the differences are not as great as that between Vedic and classical Sanskrit, or between the Greek of Homer and that of the Attic dialect, the two dialects of the Zend-Avesta being much closer to each other. They represent one and the same language, with such changes as may have been brought about within the space of one or two centuries”.
This is best illustrated by the example of Yasna 34.4 of the Gathas, also recited in Atarsh Neyash; wherein the letter “V” in Dae-vish is substituted by the letter “B”. (Dae-bish). In a similar way “Vasu” meaning wealth in western India Bengal . In the Gathas, both “Vas” & “Vah ” mean wealth.
According to Dr Arthur Macdonnel ; “In their structures, the Vedic meters come half way between the meters of the Indo Iranian period (Gathas) & that of classical Sanskrit.” This implies that at least the Gathas were composed in a time frame preceding the Rig Veda.
According to Professor Jacobi, the separation of the Indo-Iranians probably took place prior to 4500BC. This gives us a rough idea of the times of Zarathushtra, as the theme of the Gathas is almost exclusively Indo-Iranian.
We thus find primal concepts, the common theme in the Gathas (& Avesta) as well as the Vedas with the hymns in both compositions complementing each others’ concepts. Little wonder therefore that University level training of philologists considers both Avestan & Vedic Sanskrit to be indispensable to the understanding of each other.
[1] Fanatical hordes of savage arabs- faithful disciples of a prophet of a very different order from Zarathushtra swept over Persia
-Moulton, Treasure of the Magi, P67
No comments:
Post a Comment