History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CHAP. IV.] THE SEVEN “HAS.” 195

scription of the order of Ahura Mazda to cultivate the earth, because, as expressed elsewhere in the Avesta, cultivation entails health and prosperity, and hence mental strength, which latter, in its turn, leads to purity and piety.

The third “ha” is a sermon by Zoroaster himself upon the evils of polytheism and the advantage of worshipping only one God. “The chief tendency of this speech,” says Dr. Haug, “is to induce his countrymen to forsake the worship of the devs or gods, i.e. polytheism, to bow only before Ahura Mazda, and to separate themselves entirely from the idolaters. In order to gain the object wished for he propounds the great difference which exists between the two religions, Monotheism and Polytheism, showing that whereas the former is the fountain of all prosperity, both im this and the other life, the latter is utterly ruinous to mankind.”

The fourth ‘“‘ha” shows how the good creation should be protected from the influence of the evil and the wicked.

The fifth “ha” condemns idolatry and exposes the evils which result from its practice.

The sixth “ha” speaks of cultivation as the best means of supporting piety, and depicts a conflict between the good and the evil.

The seventh and last “ha” says that all moral