Ahūra Mazda answered: “When the man is dead, when his time is over, then the hellish evil-doing Daevas assail him; and when the third night is gone—when the dawn appears and brightens up, and makes Mithra, the god with the beautiful weapons, reach the all-happy mountains, and the sun is rising. Then the fiend carries off in bonds[199] the souls of the wicked, who live in sin. The soul enters the way made by Time, and open both to the wicked and the righteous. At the head of the Chinvat bridge, the holy bridge made by Mazda, they ask for the reward for the goods which they have given away here below. Then comes the well-shapen, strong and noble maiden, with the dogs (that keep the Chinvat bridge) at her side—she is graceful and of high understanding. “She makes the soul of the righteous one to go up above the Hara- berezaita; above the Chinvat bridge she places it in the presence of the heavenly gods themselves; Vohu-manō from his golden seat exclaims, ‘How hast thou come to us, thou holy one, from that decaying world into this undecaying one? Gladly pass the souls of the righteous to the golden seat of Ahūra Mazda—to the abode of all the other holy beings.”[200] THE VISPARAD. The word Visparad means “all the chiefs,” referring to “the lords of the ritual,” therefore the various chapters are merely used in the course of the sacrifice. The following extracts will give the reader a definite idea concerning the literary merit of this portion of the Zend-Avesta: In this Zaothra, with this Baresman, I desire to approach the lords of the ritual Which are spiritual with my praise; And I desire to approach the earthly lords as well. And I desire to approach the lords of the water with my praise And the lords of the land; And I desire to approach with my praise, Those chiefs which strike the wing, And those that wander wild at large, And those of the cloven hoof, who are chiefs of the ritual. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman, I desire to approach thee, Zarathuśtra Spitama,... I desire to approach the man who recites the ritual rites Who is maintaining thus the thought, well thought, And the word well spoken, and the deed well done. I desire to approach the seasons with my praise The holy lords of the ritual order,.... And I desire to approach those mountains with my praise, * * * * * * * * * * Which shine with holiness, abundantly glorious, And Mithra of the wide pastures, And I desire to approach the question, Asked of Ahūra, and the lore of the lord— And the farm-house of the man possessed of pastures, And the pasture produced for the kine of blessed gift, And the holy cattle-breeding man.