ČAGĀD Ī DĀITĪ

 

ČAGĀD Ī DĀITĪ (or Dāityā), lit. “summit of the law” (cf. Av. dāitiia- “lawful”), a peak of the mythical mountain Harburz (Pers. Alborz, q.v.), located in Ērānwēǰ (q.v.) in the middle of the world (Bundahišn , TD2, pp. 77.13-14, 199.3f., tr. Anklesaria, pp. 94-95, 256-57; Pahlavi Rivayat, ed. Dhabhar, p. 166.8; Dādi­stān ī dēnīg, pt. 1.21.2; Persian Rivayats, ed. Unvala, II, p. 17). The various spellings of Dāitī (dʾyty[y], -ydy, -yk, or -) suggest an Avestan loanword (for final -k as an indicator of vowel length in words borrowed from Avestan, see Bailey, Zoroastrian Problems, p. 183). Čagād ī Dāitī was characterized as “good” (Zand ī Wahman yašt 7.20) and said to be the height of a hundred men (Bundahišn). The ancient concept of the great central mountain of Harborz apparently gave birth to the idea that Dāitī was the fulcrum of the spiritual balance (tarāzūg) belonging to Rašn, god of justice; one pan was said to rest on the northern end of Harburz, the other on the southern end (Bundahišn, TD2, p. 199.3f.). It was apparently for this reason that the peak was called “lawful.” In another version the Činwad bridge, on which stood the throne of Ohrmazd in paradise (Persian Rivayats II, pp. 59.13, 444.16), was supposed to rest on Čagād ī Dāitī (Bundahišn; Dādistān ī dēnīg); rather, one end of the bridge (apparently the southern end) was said to rest on Čagād ī Dāitī and the other on Harburz (Pahlavi Vidēvdād 19.30; cf. Dādistān ī dēnīg), obviously at the northern end of the range, where the gate of hell was to be found (Dēnkard, ed. Madan, p. 809.3f.; ed. Dresden, p. 60). This version seems to accord with the developed concept of Harburz as the great mountain range encircling the earth. It was from Čagād ī Dāityā that the two gods (yazads) Nēryōsang and Srōš were to go to Kangdiz, after the end of the world, to awaken Pišyōtan, son of Guštāsp and one of the Zoroastrian immortals, and persuade him to restore the religion (Zand ī Wahman yašt 7.20).

 

Bibliography:

Pahlavi Vidēvdād, ed. H. Jamasp, Vendidād. Avesta Text with Pahlavi Translation and Commentary and Glossarial Index, Bombay, 1907.

Zand ī Wahman Yašt, ed. B. T. Anklesaria, Zand-î Vohûman Yasn and Two Pahlavi Fragments, Bombay, 1957.

(Ah¡mad TafazÎʷzÎʷolī)

(Aḥmad Tafażżolī)

Originally Published: December 15, 1990

Last Updated: December 15, 1990

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Vol. IV, Fasc. 6, pp. 612-123