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Manichaean Confession
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I.1. [Sins against Zurvan]
2. The God Xormuzta (the First Man) came at the command of all the
gods and descended with the Fivefold God to fight the Devil (yak). He fought
the evildoing Simnu (the Devil) and the five kinds of devils (escorting
him). Then God and the Devil, Light and Darkness, were mixed The son of
God Xormuzta, the Fivefold God, our soul, fought for some time against
the Devil and was wounded. And, being mixed with the evil of the leader
of all devils, with the evil of the insatiable and shameless Devil of Greed,
and the evil of the 140 myriads of devils, he lost his will and became
weak. He completely forgot the land of the immortal gods in which
he himself had been created and born, and he was separated from the gods
of Light.
3. If from that time on, my God, because the evil-working Simnu
devilishly seduced our intellect and our thoughts, and because we thus
became willess and without knowledge (of ourselves), we should have sinned
and erred against the holy Light, God Azrua (Zurvan, the Father of Light)
the origin and root of all souls of Light, and should have called Him the
origin and root of Light as well as of Darkness, and of God as well as
of the Devil; if we should have said, "If anybody quickens, it is God that
quickens; if anybody slays, it is God that slays"; or if we should have
said, "God has created both the good and the evil,' or if we should have
said, "He (God, Father of Light), has created the eternal gods"; or if
we should have said, "The God Xormuzta and the Devil are brothers"; or
if we ever, My God, should have thus spoken very blasphemous words involuntarily;
lying to God, and should have committed such unpardonable sin, then, my
God, I, ...., repent now praying to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian "response"]: Forgive my sins!
[Turkish]: Blessed beginning!
11.1. Second. Sins against the God of the Sun and the Moon (Jesus
the Splendor) and against the gods enthroned in the two Palaces of Light.
2. When one goes to the Land of the gods, the origin, root and meetingplace
of all the Buddhas (messengers of Light), (the place) of the Pure Law (Teaching),
(the abode) of the beneficent souls, and (the source of) the Light of the
world, the God of the Sun and the Moon is its front door. In order to liberate
the Fivefold God and to separate Light and Darkness, they (the Sun and
the Moon) revolve in a circle and light up the four quarters of the world.
3. My God, if we should have many way sinned unwittingly against
the God of the Sun and the Moon, and the gods who are enthroned in the
two palaces of Light, and if we should have believed, "True, mighty and
powerful is the God (of the Sun and the Moon),' (but) if we (at the same
time) should in any way have uttered much evil, blasphemous speech, saying,
“The Sun and the Moon will perish,” if we should have said, "They rise
and set without (their own) power; if they have power of their own, then
may they try not to rise,' and if we should have said with regard to our
own self, We are different from the Sun and Moon,' then we pray for forgiveness
for this second involuntary sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
III. 1 Third. (Sins) against the Fivefold God, God Xormuzta's
Son.
2. (The five Gods are) first, the Zephyr God; second, the Wind God;
third, the Light God; fourth, the Water God; fifth, the Fire God. When
he (the five gods together as the Fivefold God) fought with the Devil for
some time, he was wounded and mixed with Darkness. So he could not return
to the Land of the gods and (that is why he) is on this earth. The ten-storied
heaven above and the eight-layered earth below exist only for the sake
of the Fivefold God. The Fivefold God is the blessing and happiness, the
form and appearance, the self and the soul, the power and the light, the
origin and the root of everything on earth.
3. My God, if we should ever, involuntarily, on account of evil
and wicked-ness, have broken or injured the Fivefold God, if we should
have inflicted on Him the fourteen wounds,' if we should in any way have
tortured and pained the Living Soul, (namely) the God (the divine element)
in food and drink, with (our) ten serpent headed fingers and (our) thirty-two
teeth, and if we should in any way have sinned against the dry and wet
earth, against the five kinds of living beings, against the five kinds
of plants, then, my God we now pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
IV. 1. (Sins) against the present (1iving) messengers of the gods,
the Buddha’s (the elect).
2. If we should in any way have sinned involuntarily against the
holy elect who do meritorious deeds and bring salvation, and if, in spite
of calling them "true messengers of God" and "Buddha’s,' and believing
that the holy elect are characterized by good deeds, we, in our ignorance,
should have opposed them when they preached God's Law and if we should
have obstructed them, by not spreading the Doctrine and the Law, then,
my God, we now repent and pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
V.1. Fifth. (Sins) against the five kinds of living beings.
2. (These are sins) first against two-legged beings; second, against
four-legged living beings; third, against living beings that fly fourth.
Against living beings in the water, and fifth, against living beings creeping
on the ground on their bellies.
3. If we ever, my God, should have frightened and intimidated these
five kinds of living beings in any way, from the biggest to the smallest,
and if we should have beaten or wounded them in any way, or in any way
have pained or tortured them, or if we should have killed them in any way,
then we ourselves owe life to (Those) living beings to the same degree.
(So) now, my God, we pray that we may be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
VI. 1. Sixth. Likewise, my God, if we should ever have committed
the ten kinds of sins in thought, word or deed, (namely):
2. If we should have been false in any way or have committed perjury
in any way; if we should have acted in any way as a witness for a dishonest
person; if we should have prosecuted an innocent person in any way; or
If we, by spreading rumors and by gossip, should have instigated a person
in any way and (thus) have corrupted his heart and mind; if we should have
practiced black magic in any way; if we should have killed many living
beings in any way; or if we should have cheated and deceived (others) in
any way; if we should in any way have used another person's goods (entrusted
to our care); if we should in any way have done a deed of which the God
of the Sun and the Moon would not approve; if we should have sinned and
erred in any way with the "first self' and with "this self,' after having
been reborn as men; if we should have inflicted destruction and ruin somehow
on many living beings; then, my God, we now pray to be delivered from the
ten kinds of sins.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
VII. 1. Seventh. If one should ever ask, "Who (comes) to the way
leading to the beginning of the two poisonous paths and the gate of Hell?'
(then the answer is), "First, it is he that adheres to a wrong teaching
and to a wrong law; second, likewise, it is one who worships the Devil
and addresses him as God."
2. If we, my God, should ever, without recognizing and understanding
the true God and the pure Law and without believing when the Buddhas (the
divine messengers), the pure elect, preached, allowing ourselves to be
deceived by one who wrongly maintained, "I am a man of God and a preacher"
and accepted his words; if we should have fasted falsely, should have worshipped
falsely in any way, should have given alms falsely in any way, and if we
should in any way, erring, have done false and evil deeds, saying, "We
do meritorious deeds, such as bring salvation" and if we, when addressing
the Devil and the Demon of Greed, should have worshiped them by killing
living beings, and if we, saying, "(He is) a Buddha” (a messenger) should
have honored a false doctrine and have worshipped and honored him (or it:
the false doctrine) and (thus) have sinned against God; if we should have
served the Devil, then, my God, we now repent and pray to be delivered
from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
VIII. 1.Eighth. Ever since we recognized the true God and the pure
Law we know the doctrine of the "two principles and the three periods,"
(that is) we know the Light principle, the Realm of the gods (or of God),
and the Realm of Hell And we know what existed previously, when there was
no earth or heaven, we know why God and the Devil
Fought, how light and Darkness were mixed, and who created heaven
and earth, and furthermore, we know why heaven and earth will cease to
exist; how light and Darkness will be separated, and what will then be
(at the end of time).
2. In the God Azrua (Zurvan), in the God of the Sun and the Moon,
in the powerful God (the Fivefold God) and in the Buddhas (messengers)
do we trust; we have relied on them and have become auditors (1aymen).
We have sealed our hearts with the four bright seals:22 firstly, Love,
the seal of the God Azrua; secondly, Faith, the seal of the God of the
Sun and the Moon; thirdly, Fear (of God), the seal of the Fivefold God;
fourthly, Wisdom, the seal of the Buddhas (messengers).
3 My God, if we should have let our minds and hearts stray from
these four gods, if we should have displaced them from their (rightful)
place and if God's seal should have thus been broken, then, my God, we
now pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
IX 1 Ninth. Since we started obeying the ten commandments it was
necessary to observe closely three with the mouth, three with the heart,
three with the hand and one with the whole self.
2. My God, if we should voluntarily or involuntarily, while living
in accor-dance with fleshly desires and accepting the words of a bad companion
or friend, have followed their intentions, or should have disturbed our
minds with cattle and property, or should have, in grief and distress,
broken these ten commandments, or should in any way have had (other) shortcomings
(in keeping the commandments), (then), my God, we pray to be delivered
from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
X 1. Tenth. There is a rule to direct four prayers to the God Azrua,
the God of the Sun and the Moon, the Fivefold God and the Buddhas (the
mes-sengers) with complete attention and with an earnest heart, daily.
2. And if we, being negligent and without the fear (of God), should
not have prayed correctly and wholeheartedly, or should not have directed
our hearts and minds to God while praying, or if our prayers of praise
and peti-tion should not have reached God in purity; or if somewhere there
should have been something that obstructed (our prayer), (then), my God,
we now pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
XI 1. Eleventh. There is also the rule that one should give sevenfold
alms to the holy Church. And if the angels gathering the light of the Fivefold
God and the Gods Call Xroshtag) and Answer (Padvaxtag) should let the light
of the Fivefold God, which goes up to Heaven and is liberated, come to
us, (then) there is a rule that we should prepare (the alms) carefully
and bring them to the Church (?).
2. If we should not have been able to give the sevenfold alms to
the Church in full measure, either because of want or because we were miserly
in giv-ing alms; or if the light of the Fivefold God which goes up to Heaven
and
Is liberated. Should have been bound by us to house and property
or if we should have given it to a person of bad conduct or to an evil
being, or if we should have spilled or scattered it; or if should have
brought the light of God to an evil place then my God, we now pray to be
delivered to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
XII. 1. Twelfth. There is a rule that one, (as an auditor) should
observe the Busanti (-Fast) for fifty days in a year, just as the holy
elect do. It is necessary to praise God by observing the sacred fast.
2. If we voluntarily, or involuntarily, should have broken the fast
with a view to maintaining house and property, or because we were worried
about cattle and goods, or because our needs and distress mounted, or because
of the insatiable and shameless demon of greed, or because our heart was
devoid of fear (of God), or because we were lazy and indulgent, or
if we, in fasting, should not have fasted correctly, according to the (religious)
Law and regulation, then, my God, we pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
XIII. 1. Every Monday it is necessary to request God, the Church
and the holy elect to forgive our offenses and sins.
2. And should we, voluntarily or involuntarily, have not gone to
receive forgiveness for our sins because we were lazy and negligent, or
used business or another undertaking as a pretext, then, my God, we now
pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
XIV. 1. In the fourteenth place. There is a rule that one should
Celebrate the
seven Yimki (festivals) in one year, and we are (furthermore) bound
to the commandment concerning the month of (fasting). Likewise we are obliged,
after observing the Yimki (festivals) in fasting, to request the God Buddha
(Mani), sincerely and with our whole hearts, to forgive our sins for the
(whole) year at the Bema (festival).
2. My God, if we should have not been able to celebrate the seven
Yimki
(festivals) adequately, or if we should have not been able to obey
the commandments regarding the month's (Fast) correctly, and should not,
at the Bema, have been able to celebrate the Yimki fast sincerely or correctly,
according to (the rules of) the religion and the doctrine, and should not
have prayed (at the Bema) with all our hearts for the forgiveness of our
sins in the (past) year, if we should in any way have had shortcomings
in this respect, too), then, my God, we now pray to be delivered fr-om
sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
XV. 1. In the fifteenth place. Every day we think bad thoughts, we
speak sinful words which one should not speak and we do deeds which we
not do.
2. Because of (these) evil deeds and sins we incur grief upon ourselves,
the Light of the Fivefold God (contained in food) which we have eaten in
the course of the day goes to the evil place, because we ourselves, our
souls live in love of the insatiable and shameless Demon of Greed. Therefore,
my God, we pray to be delivered from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
[Turkish]: For the sake of the divine "omen
of religion"!
3. My God, we are encumbered with faults and sins, we are greatly
in debt. We bring constant and permanent agony upon the light of the fivefold
God in the dry and wet earth, in the five kinds of living beings and the
five kinds of herbs and trees, because of the insatiable and shameless
demon of greed, (acting according to him), in thought, word and deed, looking
with his eyes, hearing with his ears, speaking with his tongue, grasping
with his hands, walking with his feet. Likewise we are encumbered with
faults and sins. In view of the ten commandments, the (obligation to give)
seven fold alms, and the three seals, we are auditors in name, but we are
unable to fulfill their duties.
Likewise, if we should have in any way so sinned and erred against
the Gods of Light, the pure Law and the men of God and preachers, the holy
elect, and if we should have not lived in accordance with the doctrine
and wisdom communicated by God, if we should have broken the hearts of
the gods and been unable to celebrate the Yimki (festival), (and observe)
the Fast, the prayer and commandments in accordance with (the rules of)
the religion and the doctrine, and if we should in any way have had shortcomings-(for)
every day, every month we sin-then we pray to the gods of Light, to Nom
Quti (the Great Nous) and to the holy elect so that we may be delivered
from sin.
[Parthian]: Forgive my sins!
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