šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār: The Doubt-removing book of Mardānfarrokh, Introduced, translated, and edited by Raham Asha, Paris, Alain Mole, 2004; Mumbai, K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, 2014; Paris, Alain Mole, 2015, ISBN 978-2-9549938-1-2 , EAN 9782954993812.
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Introduction
The ŠGV is a treatise in which the author intends to present the arguments to refute in detail the alien schools and sects, establish the teaching of the two principles, and lead us to believe the veracity of the Religion, Daēnā Māzdayasni, and that of the teachings of the old Aryan guides, the Paoiryō.t̰kaēša. The complete original Pārsīg text is irretrievably lost, and we only possess its transcription into Pāzand (the vernacular Pārsī language written in Dēn-dibīrīh) and its translation into Sanskrit, made by the Pārsī high-priest Neryōsang Dhaval.[1]
The name of the author of the treatise is Mardānfarrox son of Ohrmazddād. He makes him known as a suitor and researcher of truth who does not like to follow a religion by inheritance, but he seeks that which is more reliable and acceptable before the philosophy and logic. Although he crosses many lands and seas, he only mentions the name of India (hindūgān būm). In his quest, he meets many different sects, examines other doctrines, and reads other scriptures. But in this period of self-doubt, he falls into the depths of the gloom and ill-solvable doubtfulness, and it seems that the doctrine of Mani seduces him more, until a time when, owing to the books and memoranda of the wise Magi, he escapes from much doubtfulness, error and deceit of doctrines. In Spāhān, he meets a certain Mihrayyār who asks him a few questions about the two independent coeternal principles, the assault of evil, the cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil, and the finite and infinite times. He first writes a small pamphlet (fragments 2-4) which consists of answers to questions posed, in a friendly manner, by Mihrayyār who was skeptical, but when he saw the answer, was apparently convinced. Then Mardānfarrox decides to insert it into a larger treatise the aim of which is to answer the doubts and queries of the Mazdayasnian neophytes concerning the cosmic dualism, in contrast with its opponents.
The title of this treatise is: šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār ‘doubt-removing’. Notice that Neryōsang has erroneously transliterated this name into Pāzand and Sanskrit[2], and now the treatise is known among the “scholars” by its mis-spelt title.[3] The words šak and gumān(īh) are synonymous meaning ‘doubt’. The word šak comes from Arabic شکّ /šakk/ ‘doubt; mistrust; suspicion’, although its root is not certain.[4] And the word gumān comes from the old Perso-Aryan * u̯i–man-(ah-)[5]. In Persian literature šak and gumān(īh) occur frequently together. For example, in the manuscript MU 29, 83 we read thus: 
/šak ud gumān/. In the Pārsī manuscripts it is not unusual to see شک و گمان /šak u gumān/.[6] In Persian, the use of شک و گمانی /šak ud gumānī/ is also common.[7] The last word of the title, °vizār, is used in a number of the compounds.[8] The idea of removing doubts is a familiar one in the teaching of the Magi, and the Pārsīg expression for “removing-doubt” is used without the loan-word šak: gumān-vizār.[9] This reminds us the epithet of the Jina (‘victor’, a designation for a Buddha) in the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā: vimati-cchedaka ‘doubt-dispelling, removing perplexity’ (Skt. vimati is cognate with Pers. gumān).[10] In the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra, 69, the mantra of all buddhas (or, bodhisattvas) is thus: Namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ, sarvathā vimativikiraṇa dharmadhātunirjāta saṃ saṃ ha svāhā ‘Homage to all Buddhas! O you who dispel doubt in every way! you who are born of the Dharma realm! saṃ saṃ ha! svāhā!’[11] As for Mardānfarrox, his text incarnates the gumānvizār who dispels the doubts of the Mazdayasnian neophytes to show the path of truth and measure (Av. aṣa). The path of Aṣa is only one, while the non-path of druj is multiple; it takes many forms and engenders different sects and schisms. He deals with two types of opponents: One, gnostic dualism, viz. Manichaeism and Neoplatonism – unfortunately the book breaks off abruptly at 16.111 before the critical portion of his discussion of the tenets of the Manichaeans is completed. Two, Monism, either atheistic, i. e., the schools of the Dahrī, the sophists and the atheists, and theistic, i. e., the monotheistic orthodoxies of Christianity, rabbinic Judaism and Islam. Notice that the Magi consider Christianity as “second Judaism” (didīgar jehūdīh) and Islam as “third Judaism” (sidīgar jehūdīh).[12]
Mardānfarrox gives himself as a man in search of the knowledge of the truth, a student of the wise Magi, and his book effectively popularizes the teaching of his masters, especially a certain Ādarpādyāvandān[13], whose name is not mentioned in any existing Pārsīg literature. He acknowledges to have derived his knowledge from the Dēnkird of Ādarfarrōbay son of Farroxzād and the Rōšn-nibēg of Rōšn. The Dēnkird which is in our hands today is its final compilation, by Ādarbād son of Emēd, after the calamity that befell Zardušt son of Ādarfarrōbay. Mardānfarrox refers to the Dēnkird of a thousand chapters prepared by Ādarfarrōbay, and moreover he inserts two chapters of that book which are not found in the portion of the Dēnkird known to be extant: one, probably from the first two books (12); and the other, from the third book (9). Mardānfarrox quotes some sayings from the book of Rōšn, the elder son of Ādarfarrōbay, the Rōšn-nibēg ‘the book of Rōšn’ (a word play on rōšn: ‘light’ and Rōšn). The title of this book occurs in the Fihrist[14], and it seems that Rayḥānī had rendered the book of Rōšn in Arabic.[15]
Mardānfarrox writes his treatise in a tumultuous period, in the middle of the 9th century A. D., that is some time after the calamity (ألم ‘pain, suffering’, i.e., murder) which befell Zardušt who had succeeded his father Ādarfarrōbay as hudēnān pēšobāy ‘the leader of those of the good religion’, and the library of the Magi was destroyed in Baγdād and the pages of the Dēnkird were scattered or simply disappeared. When, in the 10th century, Ādarbād ī Emēdān tried to bring together the scattered fragments of the copy of the Dēnkird, he no longer had access to the two chapters quoted by Mardānfarrox –only the title of one chapter (9) is found in the extant Dēnkird.[16]
The extant treatise consists of some words introducing the subject and the author and thirteen chapters.
Prelude (1)
Mardānfarrox gives a résumé of the religion: the world of thought (mēnōg) and the world of life (gētīg); the five-part pattern of the religion (dēn) and the five-part structure of the Aryan society and the five-part pattern of the microcosm (gēhān ī kōdak, mardōm).
Response to some questions: First chapter (2-4)
The first chapter is in the form of replies to some questions that had been put to Mardānfarrox by a certain Mihrayyār of Spāhān. It is divided in three segments:
One (2). Mardānfarrox first responds to this question: As Aṇgra Mainyu who is not of the same substance as the world of light how could he attack and harm the Light? This segment resembles the second chapter of the Jāmāspīg.
Two (3). The question to which this segment answers is as follows: Why did Ahura Mazdā not prevent Aṇgra Mainyu from doing and wanting evil, when He is able to do so? Mardānfarrox explains that the omnipotence of Ahura Mazdā is limited to all that which is possible.
Three (4).[17] Mihrayyār puts forward this question: How is it possible to reconcile the astrological doctrine of the determination of earthly events by the celestial sphere, stars and planets, and the religious cosmogony based on dualism? Who created the celestial sphere, Aŋra Mainyu, or Ahura Mazdā, or both? Mardān farrox gives the five-part pattern of the lords of the fixed stars and their opponents thus:
Peg-on-High Saturn
Haftōring Jupiter
Vanand Mars
Sadvēs Venus
Tištar Mercury
Mihrayyār puts another question as regards the unlimitedness and limitedness (of time and place). Mardānfarrox leaves the answer to this question for another chapter.
Atheism: Second chapter (5-6)
The second chapter begins with some definitional ground to expose the existence of the Holy Spirit and His adversary. Then he refutes the arguments of the “alien” atheists, those who are called σοφιστής ‘sophist’ and also dahrī. This chapter is contained in the fifth and sixth fragments of the book. R. P. Karkaria resumes the first fragment (5) thus:
Mardānfarrox points out (5.1-9) the necessity of understanding the nature of the sacred being as well as of admitting his existence. He then details (5.10-45) in a general manner the various modes of acquiring such knowledge, and these modes are (5.46-91) applied to prove the existence of a wise and benevolent Creator, from the evident existence of design in creatures, and their various organs and appliances. In the sixth fragment, the argument from design is continued with a special rebuke at its close to the Sophists who argue that there can be no certainty about spiritual matters because our knowledge of them is merely subjective illusion.
Then Karakaria points out that this chapter presents a very close resemblance to the argument of M. Lucillius Balbus, the spokesman of the Stoics in the famous dialogue of Cicero, called the De Natura Deorum:
In the first book the representative of the Epicureans, C. Velleius, gives their views; he believes in the existence of the gods, but denies the government of the world by them. C. Aurelius Cotta, on behalf of the Academics, says, that it is impossible to arrive at any certainty with regards to the divine natures. The second book is entirely taken up with the Stoic argument of Balbus. He gives, (1) proof of the divine existence, (2) of the divine nature, (3) of the providential government of the universe, and (4) of the providential care for man. Providential government is inferred from the consideration of the Universe itself, as embodying an intelligent principle first imported into it by a creative energy. A detailed review is given of the wonders of Nature, viz., the earth, the sun, moon, stars and planets; also wonders of vegetable and animal life. Then the hand of Providence is shown to be most plainly visible in man, in the provision made for supporting his life by food and air; in the fragment of his body and his erect position; in the organs of sense; in the gift of reason; in the gift of speech through the wondrous mechanism of the vocal organs; in the capacity for action through the mechanism of the hand; and finally in the capacity for the meditation and worship. This entire section of Cicero presents a resemblance to the two fragments of the second chapter; and this can be clearly seen by reading the two side by side. Karakaria gives one instance: Both Cicero and Mardānfarrox take the instance of the human eye to show the adaptation of means to ends in the human body as well as the Universe.[18]
Then he succinctly reviews (6.5-34) the doctrine of the Dahrī, that is, the principle of infinite time, the denial of heaven and hell, and materialism, and he ends (6.35-45) by saying a few words about sophists.
Adversary: Third chapter (7-8)
There exists, in the world of thought as well as in the world of life, an adversary (Av. paityāra), the evil spirit, as a different principle and essence, competing with the Holy Spirit. Mardānfarrox divides this chapter into two fragments:
One (7). About the existence of the contrary of different substance.
Two (8). About the existence of the contrary of different principle. “God is good: that is the first Zoroastrian dogma, and to this Mardānfarrokh returns again and again. In the chapter (8) …, he develops three main lines of thought. First the existence of good and evil is empirically verifiable and this dichotomy is traceable to first causes. Secondly since God is by definition a rational (and omniscient) being his creation must have a rational motive. Thirdly, if it is admitted that God is good, then it necessarily follows that evil cannot proceed from Him, however indirectly. … Mardānfarrokh then goes on to argue that since good and evil are demonstrable facts in the material world and since the latter derives from a spiritual or unseen prototype, it follows that there is a dichotomy in that world too, ˗a dichotomy that leads inevitably to two first causes which are mutually antagonistic and irreconcileable.”[19] « La position mazdéenne telle qu’elle s’exprime dans les chapitres qui suivent a ceci d’original qu’elle s’efforce d’intégrer le mal, conçu comme de l’être dans une métaphysique qui entend respecter à la fois le principe de contradiction et le principe de la finalité. »[20]
Proof of the existence of the adversary of the creatures, and the precedence of the adversary in comparison with the creatures: Fourth chapter (9)
The whole chapter 5 (fragment 9) is a quotation from the third book of the Dēnkird, only the title of which is found in the extant Dēnkird (iii, M 262). It is about the existence of the contrary of the creatures, and the precedence of the contrary in comparison with the creatures.
Monism versus dualism: Fifth chapter (10)
This chapter is about the theoretic system of the monists (monotheists) in which Mardānfarrox presents a new proof of dualism. The opportunity is taken to speak of his personal quest, his travels, how he escaped from doubtfulness especially from Manichaeism, and those who inspired him, viz. Ādarpādyāvandān, Ādarfarrōbay and Rōšn. He also gives a brief summary of the history of the Religion, daēnā māzdayasni, viz. the coming of the religion, the conversion of Vīštāspa and the wise of his court, the conversion of Spəṇtōδāta and Zairi.vari and other governors, the ordeal of Ādarbād and the defeat of his hypocrite adversaries, colloquies with the “Roman” Atheists and the prevalence of the wise of Ērānšahr (Persia). It ends with a prelude to next chapter on Islam (10.78-80)
Islam: Sixth and seventh chapters (11-12)
The sixth and seventh chapters are devoted to Islam. Neither the name of Muḥammad is mentioned nor the name of his sect, Islam. Mardānfarrox gives numerous texts from the Qurʾān, called Nibēg. He only mentions one of the numerous sects of Islam, the Muʿtazilites.
I. N° 11 (sixth chapter)[21]
About the inconsistency of the discourses of the monotheists: Four virtues are requisite for godhead, viz., omniscience, omnipotence, goodness, and mercifulness. Monotheism, and especially Islam, traces both good and evil to a divinity whose attributes are incompatible with the latter. Allah fails to be a divinity worthy of worship.
II. N° 12 (seventh chapter)
From the Dēnkird
This is the only chapter of the first two books of the Dēnkird that has been preserved. Mardānfarrox has cited it by way of authority after the chapter on Islam. It is about the inconsistent discourses of the Muslim doctrines as regards God, and concludes that Islam is incompatible with a measured religion. It then compares the god of the (Muslim) monotheists with the god of the (Mazdayasnian) dualists.
Zoroastrian dualism “absolves God from any breath of evil and explains how it could be that creation was actually necessary. It stands wholly opposed to Islam which was to supersede it and there could not really be any modus vivendi between the two, since Zoroastrianism stands squarely on the goodness of God and cares not at all for his unity whereas Islam asserts above all things the absolute unity and the unicity of God, his absolute transcendence and total incomprehensibility; and since the Moslem god is as capable of leading astray as he is of guidance, it is no accident that among his ninety-nine names that of ‘good’ is absent. The Zoroastrian God is reasonable as well as good; there is nothing ‘numinous’ about him. Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazdā) and Allāh are not compatible, and inevitably the good God of reason was forcibly ejected by the mysterium tremendum imported by the Semites.”[22]
Judaism: Eighth and ninth chapters (13-14)
Mardānfarrox proceeds to a polemical critique of Judaism in two chapters. After the edition of the text by Jamasp-Asana and its translation by E. West the critique of Judaism aroused the curiosity of some scholars of the Semitic world. James Darmesteter first wrote about it (with a French translation of the text).[23] According to him, this critique is much older than any old Christian refutation of the middle Ages. At the same time, it is different in spirit and in character. The Christians in their polemic against Judaism are on the defensive, because they admit that which is admitted by the Jew; they only admit more, and this is their sole raison d’être. A Christian polemicist, when he attacks, he indeed defends his belief and tries to justify it. The position of a Pārsī is quite different. He has nothing in common with the Jew and he judges his belief according to his own knowledge and principles.[24] Then Darmesteter puts this question that transcends the problem of the use of Hebrew Scriptures by Mardānfarrox. Louis Gray[25], Jean de Menasce (in his Introduction to Chapters thirteen and fourtheen), Jacob Neusner[26], Shaul Shaked[27], etc.[28] have tried to resolve this problem.
I. Introduction 1-4
The first part essentially contains an epitome of stories of creation and the fall of Adam as described in the Genesis. 5-47
Objections 48-149
II. Introduction 1-3
The second part is about the qualities of Adonai as described in a series of Scriptures and Agadot: He is vengeful, raging, heavy-hearted, wrathful, deceitful even of those who serve him best, warlike and cruel, capricious and mean to men; he does not even tolerate the protestation of the angels; he dismisses his own angels to a fiery river in hell; he engages in bloody battles against men; in the end, he comes to regret his creation. 4-86
Christianity: Tenth, eleventh and twelfth chapters (15)
Three chapters of the Šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār are devoted to the critique of Christianity. Mardānfarrox speaks of three Christian groups, that is, the Nestorians, the Melkites, and the Jacobites; the origin of all three is, according to him, Judaism. This corroborates the thesis of the Dēnkird that ranks Christianity as the “second Judaism”.
I. Introduction 1-3
This chapter treats of a set of the dogmas of the Christian church: Incarnation, Trinity, Crucifixion and Redemption.
The homeland of the Christian creed: Jerusalem. The Immaculate Conception and the Annunciation to a Jewish woman: The announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin woman that she is impregnated by the Pure Wind (Holy Spirit), and she would conceive Messiah. 4-8
About the testimony of the Virgin woman 9-17
About the Pure Wind (Holy Spirit) 18-23
About Messiah as Son of God 25-30
About Messiah as God and his Incarnation 31-39
About the crucifixion of Messiah 40-45
The doctrine of the Trinity: Father and Son and Pure Wind 46-62
Salvation 63-70
II. Introduction 71
This chapter cites a number of sayings from the “Canonical Scriptures” of the Christians. The central concept in this chapter is the Freedom of Will. 72-90
III. Introduction 91-92
This chapter cites a number of sayings from Paul and other authorities. The central point of the critique is the “duality” of the Christian discourses. Mardānfarrox argues that the New Testament really confirms the existence of two Principles, Good and Evil; and he concludes that: Although Jesus claimed that he had not come to abolish the Laws of Moses, his sayings and commands really dissipate these laws. 93-155
Manichaeism: Thirteenth chapter (16)
The final chapter of Mardānfarrox’s treatise, is devoted to Manichaeism. Since the editio princeps of the Pāzand version and Neryōsag’s Sanskrit rendering by JāmāspAsānā and the English translation by West (1885) this chapter has attracted the attention of Western scholars, and they have translated the whole chapter or various passages of it[29], and or discussed some of technical terms in it.[30] J. de Menasce in his revised French edition gives a detailed introduction to this chapter, with giving most of the passages which refer to Mani in Pārsīg literature. However, in spite of revised translations and revisions the technical terms that have been wrongly transcribed in Neryosang’s Pāzand version are not yet correctly deciphered.
The head of the chapter 1-3
Expository portion:
Mani’s doctrine of the three times 4-7
Initial: The infinity of the principles 4
Middle: Mixture 5
The world is the corporeal body of Aŋra Mainyu 8-9
The production of Macrocosm from the bodies of the flayed giant demons 10-20
Neryōsag read kunī də̄β in Pāzand and kūnīdeva in Sanskrit. In the Dēnkird iii M 217 this thesis is attributed to Mani:
fragān +post ī 
druz ī-š bunēštag.‘The foundation is the skin of the devil which is the principle (of the world).’
For West (244) who translates it ‘the demon Kunī’ “there is little doubt that he is the (Avesta) demon Kuṇda or Kuṇdi.” However there is no parallel between the dismembered demon and the Avesta demon Kuṇda.[31] The construction of the sky and earth as the dismembering of a Giant (or Giants) recalls the story of the flayed Archonts, the sons of Darkness. See for example the account by Theodorus:
“Then the Living Spirit ordered three of his sons that one should kill, and the other flay the Archonts, sons of darkness, and that they deliver them over to the Mother of the Living (Pers. mādar ī zīndagān); the Mother of the Living overspread the sky with their skin, and she made eleven (corr. ten) heavens, and they threw their bodies to the earth of darkness. They made eight earths.”[32]
Recall, moreover, the account by Ephraim:
“[Mani says thus:] When the Primal Man hunted the Sons of Darkness he flayed them, and made this sky from their skins, and out of their excrement he compacted the Earth, and some of their bones, too, he melted, and raised and piled up the mountains.” [33]
“But if, as some of them say, just as a serpent has a Sheath-skin, so out of the Sheath-skins of the Sons of Darkness the sky and the earth and the rest of created things were made…”[34]
The Syriac words ܢܫܛ ‘to flay, skin’ and ܫܠܚ Pa. ‘to strip’ correspond to Pers. kan-: kand; and the Syriac word for flayed, ܫܠܝܚܐ , to Pers. kandag (pōst ī kandag ≈ ܫܠܚܬܐ) which is written: 
This is not the name of a demon, but an adjective for the giant demons (dēv māzandar) or devils (druz) who are the same as the Archonts (Syr. ܐܪ̈ܟܘܢܛܐ from Gr. ἄρχοντος). Then we should reconstruct Paz. kunī dēβ thus: kandag dēv ‘flayed demon(s)’.
Sun and moon and the process of purification 21-22
Reaction of Ahrmen: the production of microcosm in the likeness of macrocosm 23-27
Final: Separation 6
Seduction of the Archonts 28-37
It is said that twelve maidens appear before the giant demons so that these demons release the light they contain through their sperm. Neryōsang renders the twelve maidens thus: Paz. dvāzdahą xvarīgą duxtarą i zurvą: Skt. dvādaśarāśīḥ duhitaraḥ kālasya ‘the twelve signs of the zodiac, (i.e.) the daughters of Time’. Pers. dvāzdahān means ‘twelve’ and also ‘twelve signs of the Zodiac’. Neryōsang who was not familiar with the technical language of the Manichaean literature chose the second meaning. But Mani’s doctrine associates the zodiacal signs with the dark realm. “They are all enemies and rivals to each other.”[35] The dvāzdahān duxtarān are to be associated with the Twelve Divine Virgins in Sogdian fragments[36], and the Twelve Auspicious Hours of the Third Messenger in Uyγur fragments.[37] They match with the “Twelve Virgins” (ܬܪ̈ܬܥܣܪܐ ܒ̈ܬܘܠܬܐ) of the Liber Scholiorum which the Third Messenger evoked in his greatness:
“The (Third) Messenger called (= created) the Twelve Virgins with their clothes, crowns and custom(s): The first (virgin) was Kingdom; the second Wisdom; the third Victory; the fourth Persuasion; the fifth Chastity; the sixth Truth; the seventh Faith(fullness); the eighth Patience ; the ninth Uprightness; the tenth Goodness; the eleventh Justice; and the twelfth Light.”[38]
As we see these Virgins are to be connected to the Twelve Dominions (of Light), enumerated in the Parthian fragment M 14 (and also in the Chinese Hymnscroll):
“Twelve Dominions: Dominion, Wisdom, Salvation, Contentment, Zeal, Truth, Belief, Patience, Righteousness, Goodness, Harmony, and Light.”[39]
The series of Light Dominions are paralleled by an inverse series of dark realms:
“The twelve dark dominions are: first evil knowledge, second lust, third vanity, fourth turmoil, fifth anger, sixth defilement, seventh destruction, eighth annihilation, ninth death, tenth deception, eleventh rebellion, and twelfth darkness.”[40]
If it is certain that the ‘twelve xvarīgą Daughters of Time’ are personified deities associated with twelve virtues, the reading xvarīgą is not certain. West translates it by ‘glorious’, that is it is derived from Pers. xvarrah ‘glory, fortune’. Jackson and de Menasce follow him. However, xvar(r)īg cannot be the adjectival form of xvarrah (read xvarǝhe by Neryōsang). Sundermann proposes another derivation: xvarīg ‘solar; sun-like’ from xvar ‘sun’.[41] We do not find this word anywhere else in the Persian or Parthian Manichaean texts. It is possible that in the original ŠGV the word was written thus:
/naxvrēg/ or /noxrēg/ ‘first-born’; and Neryōsang read 
The word naxvrēg is a technical term that is found in Turfan Pārsīg fragments.[42] Then we can translate dvāzdahān naxvrēgān duxtarān ī zurvān by ‘Twelve First-born Daughters of Zurvān (Time)’.
Soul-Light is bound and imprisoned within the body. 38-39
It ought not to procreate and propagate lineage, nor even to cultivate plants and grain. 40-41
It ought not to kill any creature whatsoever. 42-45
Victory of God and end of the world 46-50
The doctrine of the two primeval principles 51-52
For Mani, there are two principles, both infinite, that coexist along a common border; they are not separate by an intermediary space, read by Neryōsang nišāmī u vašādaī: āsanatvaṁ viśleṣataṁca.
According to the old (Aryan) teaching 
between the two principles there was open space (Pers. višādagīh) or void (Pers. tuhīgīh); its Avesta name was vayu. It was the place of mixture, or material creation (Pers. dahišn).
The word read by Neryōsang nišāmīh seems to be a “ghost” word.[43] Neryōsang himself interpreted it as nišēmīh and translated it by āsanatva– ‘resting-place’. Others have emended it to nišānīh, niyām, višāmīh, etc.[44] However, if we consult the Mazdean and Manichaean texts, the convenient word would be 
/vēhmīh/ ‘breadth; expanse, area’ (Pers. vēhm ‘broad’ < 
For example: VZ 2.11 vēhmīh ī andarvāy ‘the expanse of the atmosphere’; Gōišn abar pahrēzišn rōzān (Boyce, y 30): ka xvarxšēd andar ōy vēhmīh ī hāmkišvar ped asmānān bārist ‘When the sun is in that area of the cosmos in the highest of the skies …’. Then we have to read:
u-šān nē būd ēc vēhmīh ud višādagīh meyān ‘And between them there was not any breadth (/expanse) and width (/ open space).’
Critical portion:
Mardānfarrox criticizes Mani’s conception of the infinite 53-
The most complete Mss. (JJ and JE) break off abruptly at §111, without concluding the chapter.
Neryōsang Dhaval brought with him to India a copy of the Šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār.[45] He translated it into Sanskrit, and moreover transcribed it into the Avesta writing (dēndibīrīh), for the use of the Pārsī priests of India. It seems that Neryōsang translated it into Sanskrit, not from his own Pāzand version, but from the original pārsīg text.[46]
The first attempts to make known the treatise were sterile[47] until the edition of its Pāzand version (and its “Pahlavi” text) that was prepared by Hōšang Jāmāspji Jāmāsp-Āsānā in 1860, and arrangements were made for the publication of Pāzand and “Pahlavi” texts, with the Sanskrit version.[48] Šeriārji Dadabhai Bharucha prepared a new edition of the Sanskrit text and subjoined to it two Gujarati versions for the collection of the “Sanskrit writings of the Parsis”.[49] An English translation of the book by E. W. West was published in the series of the “Sacred Books of the East”.[50] Sadegh Hedayat who studied the text with Behrāmgore Tahmuras Anklesaria published a partial Persian transcription and translation of it.[51] A French translation of the whole book was provided by Pierre Jean de Menasce.[52] In 2004 I presented a new edition of the Pārsīg text with a translation in English. I hope that this new edition will be of interest and importance to those Parsis interested mainly in their own religion.
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For notes see: šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār: The Doubt-removing book of Mardānfarrokh, pp 3-29.
***
नाम्ना सर्व्वांगशक्त्याच साहाय्येनच स्वामिनो अहुरमज्दस्य महाज्ञानिनः सिद्धिः शुभा भुयात् प्रवृत्तिः प्रसिद्धिश्च उत्तमदीनेर्माज्दईअस्न्या वपुषिच पाटवं दीर्घं जीवितंच सर्व्वेषां उत्तमानां उत्तममनसां ॥
इदं स्कंदगुमानीगुजारनाम पुस्तकं मया नयरिओसंघेन धवलसुतेन पहिलवीभाषायाः संस्कृतभाषायामवतारितं विषमपारसीकाक्षरेभ्यश्च अविस्ताक्षरैलिखितं सुखप्रबोधाय उत्तमानां शिक्षाश्रोतृणां सत्यचितसां ॥
प्रनामः उत्तमेभ्यः शुद्धमतेभ्यः स्तयजिव्हेभ्यः सत्यसमाचारेभ्यः ॥ ॥
‘In the name and through the omnipotence and by the favour of the Lord Ahura Mazdā, may there be success, prosperity and fame of the Good Mazdayasnian Religion, health and long life of all the good (and) benevolent. This book, called +Šak-ud-Gumānīh-vizār, is translated by me, Nairyōsang son of Dhaval, from the Pahlavi language into the Sanskrit language, and transcribed from the hard [to decipher] Pārsī writing into the Avesta writing, for the easy understanding of the good hearers of the teaching, the right-minded.
Salutation to the good, the pure-thinking, the true-speaking, the just-acting!’
***
First edition:
The Doubt-expelling Book of Mardānfarrox:
Šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār
A ninth-century Mazdean book, written in Pārsīg (“Pahlavi”). It only survives in a Pazand version, with Sanskrit translation made by Neryosang Dhaval, retranscribed into its original Pārsīg,
by Raham Asha
This book was first published in India under the auspices of Mazdayasnie Monasterie (Summer Solstice, 2004)
Mustafa Building, 2nd Floor
Sir P. M. Road, Fort
Mumbai, 400 001, India
Mumbai, 2004
