Book of Wars Against Jehovih Chapter 43, Chapter 44
Chapter 43
1. Sudga, after assuming a heaven unto himself, moved it over the Nua Mountains and
called it Hridat, in which place he had eight thousand million angel slaves, after the same
manner as Te-in’s. Sudga’s capital city, Sowachissa, his highest heavenly seat, was
modeled after the fashion of Sanc-tu, De’yus’heavenly place in Hored, at the time of its
greatest magnificence.
2. The capital house of Sudga was made of precious stones and gems, the work of
thousands of millions of angels for many years. And when Hored was pillaged, prior to
De’yus’being cast into hell, millions of its most precious ornaments were stolen and
brought to Hridat. The streets of Hridat were paved with precious stones; and an arena
surrounded the palace on every side, set with crystals of every shade and color, and of
every conceivable manner of workmanship. On the borders of the arena stood five
hundred million sentinels, arrayed in gorgeousness such as only Gods had looked upon.
Inside the line of sentinels were one million pillars of fire, kept brilliant day and night, by
the toil of five hundred million slaves. Inside the line of the pillars of fire were one
million marshals, so arrayed in splendor one could scarce look upon them. These were
watch and watch, with two other groups of one million each, and they stood watch eight
hours each.
3. None but the vice-Gods and the high marshals could cross the arena to the palace,
walking, but must crawl on their bellies; and for every length crawled, they must kiss the
pavement and recite an anthem of praise to Sudga, who now took both names, Sudga and
Dyaus. Neither must any one repeat the same anthem twice, but it must be a new anthem
for each and every length of the person. For a tall person, a thousand lengths were
required, from the line of marshals to the palace, a thousand anthems. So that only the
few, as compared to the millions, ever laid eyes on the throne of Sudga. And after they so
beheld him on the throne, for they were only permitted to gaze but once on him, and that
at a great distance, and amidst such a sea of fire they scarce could see him, then they must
re-crawl back again to the place of beginning, again reciting another thousand anthems.
4. Which made Sudga almost inaccessible, and permitted only such as were favored to
even look upon him, which with the ignorant is a great power.
5. When Ahura came to the capital and sent word to Sudga who he was, praying
audience, Sudga gave orders to admit him, commanding Ahura to walk upright into his
presence, along with the vice-Gods. Accordingly, in this manner Ahura came before
Sudga, and saluted in LOVE AND ESTEEM, answered by Sudga in FRIENDSHIP OF OLD. The
latter at once commanded privacy, and so all others withdrew, and Ahura and Sudga went
up and sat on the throne.
6. Sudga said: Because thou hast come to see me I am overflowing with joy. Because
I know thou hast come to admonish me for my philosophy and the manner of
my dominions, I respect thee. Because thou didst once try to found a kingdom of
thine own, and failed, I sympathize with thee; but because thou wentest back on
thyself and accepted Jehovih, and so was rescued from thy peril, I commiserate thee.
7. Ahura said: To hear thy gifted tongue once more is my great joy. To know that no
misfortune was in store for thee and thy kingdom would give me great delight. Because I
love thee, and the people of thy mighty, heavenly kingdom, I have come to admonish thee
and plead for Jehovih’s sake. As for myself, I have found that to cast all my cares on Him,
and then turn in and work hard for others, these two things give me the greatest
happiness.
8. Sudga said: Can a brave man justly cast his cares upon another? Was not thyself given
to thyself for thyself? If so, thou desirest none to work for thee? If so, how hast thou a
right to work for others? If thou prevent them working out their own destiny, wrongest
not thou them? Moreover, thou sayest: To cast thy cares on Jehovih, and to work hard for
others, these two give thee the greatest happiness: Wherefore, art thou not selfish to work
for thine own happiness? For is not this what I am doing for myself in mine own way.
9. Ahura said: Grant all thy arguments, O Sudga, where shall we find the measure of
righteous works but in the sum of great results? For you or I to be happy, that is little; for
a million angels to be happy, that is little. But when we put two kingdoms alongside, and
they be the same size, and have the same number of inhabitants, is it not just that we
weigh them in their whole measure to find which of the two kingdoms hath the greatest
number of happy souls? Would not this be a better method of arriving at the highest
philosophy?
10. Sudga said: Yea, that would be higher than logic, higher than reason. That would be
the foundation of a sound theory.
11. Ahura said: And have we not found, both in heaven and earth, that all kingdoms that
are overthrown have the cause of their fall in the unhappiness and disaffection of the
ignorant. As soon as the masses begin to be in unrest, the rulers apply vigorous measures
to repress them, but it is only adding fuel to the fire; it deadeneth it awhile, but only to
have it burst forth more violently afterward.
12. Sudga said: Thou reasonest well, O Ahura; go on. Ahura said: How, then, shall we
determine the happiness of two kingdoms, in order to determine which hath the greater
happiness? Are not revolts evidence of unhappiness? Hear me, then, O Sudga; where, in
all the Jehovihian heavens, hath there ever been a revolt? And on the earth, where have
the Jehovihians, the Faithists, rebelled against their rulers? Behold, in the far-off etherean
heavens, the Nirvanian fields, hath never been any God or Chief environed in tortures. As
for my own kingdom, my people will not rebel against me, nor need I fortify myself
against disaster.
13. Sudga said: Thou art wise, O Ahura. The only way to judge a kingdom’s happiness is
by the peace and contentment and civility of its people toward one another, and by
the confidence betwixt the ruler and the ruled. He who hath to guard himself liveth on
the eve of destruction of his kingdom and himself. And yet, O Ahura, remember this:
the Jehovihians of heaven and earth are high raised ere they become such; any one can
be a ruler for them, for they know righteousness. But I have to deal with druks and
drujas. How, then, canst thou compare my kingdoms with the Nirvanian kingdoms?
14. Ahura said: Alas, O Sudga, I fear my arguments are void before thee. Thou showest
me that the line betwixt selfishness and unselfishness is finer than a spider’s web. Even
Gods cannot distinguish it. And yet, behold, there was a time when I said: I will be a
mighty God, and bow not to the Unknown that brought me into being. For this I labored
long and hard; the responsibility of my kingdom finally encroached upon my happiness.
Long after that I put away all responsibility, and made myself a servant to Jehovih. Then a
new happiness came upon me, even when I had nothing that was mine in heaven and
earth. This is also unknowable to me; it is within my members as a new tree of delight.
This it is that I would tell thee of, but I cannot find it. It flieth not away; it baffleth words,
even as a description of the Great Spirit is void because of His wondrous majesty. Such is
the joy of His service that even Gods and angels cannot describe it. With its growth we
look famine in the face and weep not; we see falling ji’ay and fear not; with the ebb and
flow of the tide of Jehovih’s works we float as one with Him, with a comprehensive joy.
15. Sudga said: To hear thy voice is joy to me; to not hear thee is great sorrow. Behold, I
will consider thy words of wisdom. In thy far-off place I will come in remembrance and
love to thee.
16. Thus ended the interview, and Sudga signaled his vice-Gods and high marshal to
come; whereat he saluted Ahura in the sign of CRAFT, and Ahura answered him in the
sign, TIME.
17. And then Ahura, betwixt the vice-Gods, led by the high marshal, departed, passed
beyond the arena, where the vice-Gods and high marshal gave him into the charge of the
marshal hosts, who conducted him beyond the line of sentinels, where Ahura joined his
own attendants and went with them into his otevan, and set sail for Agho’aden,
Osiris’heavenly place, which had been over Parsi’e, but was now moved over Arabin’ya.
Chapter 44
1. At this time Osiris’heavenly kingdom numbered thirteen thousand million angels, good
and bad. And it was the largest heavenly kingdom ever established on the earth.
2. It was built after the manner of Sudga’s; that is to say, modeled after Sanc-tu, in Hored,
but more magnificent than Sudga’s kingdom, and far larger. The arena-way was five
thousand lengths of a man across; so that approaching visitors to the throne must crawl
two thousand lengths in order to approach the throne. And they also had to repeat an
anthem of praise, or a prayer, for every length crawled, going and coming. And they were,
like at Sudga’s, permitted to approach only to within a long distance from Osiris; whilst
the array of lights around him were so dazzling that scarcely any could look upon him.
And they that thus approached were so reverential that their minds magnified Osiris’
glorious appearance so much, they verily believed they had looked into the Creator’s face,
and saw, of a truth, man was of his image and likeness. And thousands, and even
millions, that thus crawled to look upon him, afterward went about in heaven preaching
Osiris as the veritable All Highest Creator of heaven and earth.
3. Osiris made his Godhead to consist of three persons: first, himself, as THE FOUNTAIN OF
THE UNIVERSE, whose name was UNSPEAKABLE; second, BAAL, HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, into
whose keeping he had assigned the earth and all mortals thereon; and, third, ASHTAROTH,
HIS VIRGIN DAUGHTER, into whose keeping he had assigned life and death, or rather the
power of begetting and the power to cause death with mortals.
4. Osiris was the most cunning of all the self-Gods; for thus he appropriated the triangle
of the Faithists; thus appropriated the names and powers of the Lord God, the false (now
in hell), for only through Baal and Ashtaroth could any mortal or spirit ever attain to
approach the arena of the throne in Agho’aden. And here again, they had to pass the high
sentinel, Egupt, before they were entitled to the right to crawl on their bellies over the
sacred pavement, the way to the heavenly palace.
5. Only the vice-Gods of Osiris and his chief marshal could walk upright to the capital
palace, and they with heads bowed low. And when Osiris was informed of Ahura’s
coming he sent word that he should come upright, with head erect, but veiled from head
to foot. To this Ahura gladly consented; and, being thus veiled by Egupt and handed over
to the vice-Gods and the chief marshal, he walked upright till he came to the high arch of
the palace; here they halted, and Ahura saluted on the sign OLD TIME LOVE, and Osiris
answered in the sign JOY IN HEAVEN. Whereupon Ahura left the vice-Gods and walked
near the throne, and Osiris came down, and they embraced in each other’s arms, not
having seen each other for more than a thousand years.
6. Osiris signaled the vice-Gods and chief marshal to fall back, and they did so, and they
ascended the throne and sat thereon, privately.
7. Osiris said: This is a great joy! To meet one’s loves, is not this greater, after all, than
all the pomp and glory of the Gods? Ahura said: True; but who is wise enough to live
to enjoy so cheap a glory? We run afar off; we build up mighty kingdoms, and our
places are replete with great magnificence; in search after what? Whilst that which
doth cost nothing, love, the greatest good of all in heaven and earth, we leave out in
the cold. More delight have I to again look upon thy buoyant face, and hear the music
of thy voice, than I ever had in my heavenly kingdom of seven thousand million angels.
8. Osiris said: Is it not so with all Gods, and with mortal kings and queens? They boast of
the extent and power of their countless millions; and yet they have not more to love them
than would match in numbers their fingers’ends, whom they can take into their arms
in the fullness of reciprocity. What, then, are pomp and glory? Are not kings and queens
of earth but watch-dogs, to guard the stinking flesh and bones of other mortals? And
are not the Gods equally base in their dirty trade of ruling over foul-smelling drujas?
9. Ahura said: It is so. But whence is this great desire to rule over others; to lead them; to
be applauded; and to revel in the toil of millions? Would it not be wise for the Gods who
understand this, to resign their mighty kingdoms and go along with their loves to feast in
the great expanse of the universe.
10. Osiris said: True, O Ahura. But who hath power to do this? Certainly not the Gods.
And is it not so with mortals? For thousands of years, have they not been told: Except ye
give up your earthly kingdoms, and give up your riches, ye cannot rise in heaven. But,
behold, the rich man cannot give up his riches; the king cannot give up his kingdom.
They are weak indeed! As well expect an unhatched bird to fly, as for such souls to be but
slaves in our dominions. This do I perceive also, of mine own kingdom, I cannot give it
up; because, forsooth, I cannot get the desire to give it up, although my judgment saith it
would be the highest, best thing for me.
11. Ahura said: Are not great possessions like unto dissipation? I have seen mortals
who admit THE HIGHEST, BEST THING TO DO IS TO LIVE THE HIGHEST, BEST ONE KNOWETH, and
straightway go off and pollute the body by eating flesh and drinking wine. They also
know the right way, but to attain to the desire to put in practice what one knoweth to be
the highest, they have not reached.
12. Osiris said: Yea, all this is dissipation. And if a man give away what he hath, is not
that also dissipation? Can it be true, O Ahura, that even as we manipulate mortals, to
drive them to war or to make them play peace, to make them destroy their kingdoms and
build up others by our angel armies, which they know not of, that we ourselves are ruled
over by the Gods in the etherean heavens?
13. Ahura said: It seemeth to me thus, Osiris, that is to say: That the etherean Gods above
us rule us, but not in the same way, but by their absence from us when we do unjustly,
and by their presence when we do righteously. We rule over mortals by direct action
upon them, shaping their destinies by our heavenly wills, and they are often cognizant
of our angel servants being with them. But when we cannot appropriate a mortal to
do our wills, we withdraw our angels and suffer him to fall into the hands of drujas.
14. Ahura continued: Not that the Gods above us, O Osiris, send evils upon us; but that
we foster evils within our own kingdoms which take root, like thorns and nettles in a
neglected field, and they grow and environ us. Even this I have seen in thy heavens in the
far future. It will come upon thee, O Osiris, and with all thy wisdom and strength thou
wilt meet the same fate as De’yus, and be cast into hell.
15. Osiris said: Were I to judge by all the self-Gods who have been before me, I should
assent unto thy wise judgment. But hear thou me, O Ahura, for mine is not like any other
heavenly kingdom, nor formed for mine own glory only. This, then, is that that I will
accomplish:
16. I will cast out sin from amongst mortals, and all manner of wickedness; and I
will give them a heavenly kingdom on earth. They shall war no more, nor deal
unjustly with one another; nor have suffering, nor immature deaths, nor famines,
nor sickness, but peace and love, and righteousness, and good works and nobleness.
17. For I will go down to them in person in time to come; and I will take with me angels
high raised, and appoint them unto mortals, and give them corporeal bodies for their
pleasure, and they shall be the teachers of man on the earth. And man shall put away all
selfishness and deceit, and lust, and lying; and the races of man shall be taught how to
beget offspring in purity and wisdom.
18. And in that day I will take back the drujas of heaven and engraft them on mortals and
re-raise them up with understanding. Wherefore, O Ahura, though I fortify myself in all
this, am I not laboring in the right way?
19. Ahura said: It seemeth to me a dangerous proceeding. I would compare thy plan to
that of a teacher who took his pupil into a place of vice to teach him virtue. How can a
heavenly kingdom exist amongst mortals, save with celibates? And they cannot people
the world. Is there any other way but by the delight of the lowest passion that man can be
born into life? What belongeth to the flesh is of the flesh; the spirit repudiateth the earth.
20. Osiris said: It hath been so said; but I will cast the higher love down into the lower.
21. Ahura said: Why, so thou canst; but, alas, will it remain down, and forever grovel on
the earth? I have seen a sweet maiden wed to a vicious husband, and she lifted him not
up, but he pulled her down. Will not it be so with the higher love, when thou weddest it to
the passions? Behold the manner of the oracles! We appoint high-raised angels to answer
the questions of mortals, to lead them to virtue and wisdom; but, alas, mortals come not
to the oracles to learn these things, but to learn wickedness, and war, and earthly gain.
Will it not be so with thy kingdom founded on earth? Instead of helping mortals up,
mortals will pull down the angels to answer them in their most sinful desires and
curiosity.
22. Osiris said: Thou hast great reason on thy side, and facts withal to sustain thee. Yet
forget not, O Ahura, I shall have a temple built of stone on the earth, and a chamber
where I can come and command the kingdom through the mortal king.
23. Ahura said: Behold, my mission is fruitless. I have now visited my three loves,
Te-in, and Sudga, and thee. And I cannot turn one, even a jot or tittle. In this I have
great sorrow; for I fear the time may come when great darkness will be upon you all.
24. Osiris said: I will consider thy wise words, O Ahura. And though thou now goest
from me, my love will follow thee.
25. Hereupon Osiris signaled the chief marshal and the vice-Gods, and they came.
Then Osiris and Ahura embraced each other and parted, both saluting in the sign,
LOVE FOREVER. Ahura retired even as he came, but backward, the vice-Gods on either
side and the marshal leading the way. After they crossed the arena, Ahura
was delivered to Egupt, and the chief marshal and the vice-Gods returned to Osiris.
26. Egupt passed Ahura on to his own attendants, who conducted him to his fireship wherein they embarked and set sail for his own heavenly place, Vara-pishanaha.