Book of the Arc of Bon Chapter 5, Chapter 6
Chapter 5
1. For forty days Capilya remained in Maksabi, teaching and helping the people; and
on the fortieth day he said unto them: I go now; the Father desireth me. Be ye faithful
unto Jehovih, and maintain the sacrifices (worship). The eye of Jehovih is upon you;
His ear heareth not only your spoken words; but the thoughts in your hearts. In
time after this I will come again unto you, and restore your rites and ceremonies.
2. Jehovih said unto Capilya: Even as thou hast done in Hosagoweth, so shalt thou do
in Tibethkilrath; for thither will I also bring My chosen from the Province of Yusitra.
3. So Capilya went to Tibethkilrath, where were assembled more than seven hundred
Faithists; and they feared him, saying to one another: Is this not some one sent of the king
to entrap us?
4. But when Capilya beheld they feared him, he said unto them: He who hath faith in
Ormazd feareth nothing in heaven or earth. For the Father appointeth a time unto all
peoples; nor can they make it more or less. Throtona, one of the rab’bahs, said unto
Capilya: Art thou indeed one of us? Capilya said: Because I am as I am, I cannot answer
thee. If I say I am of thy race, then will not thy people be restored to liberty; for I would
suffer death, being a teacher of thy people. If I say I am not of thy race, then thy people
will not have faith in me.
5. I say unto thee, I am but a man, even as thou art; neither am I pure and good; for there
is but One pure, the Creator. Therefore, put thy faith in Jehovih, and wherein my words
and labors are good, render unto me even as to any other man, nor more nor less. And yet,
even as thou believest in the Ever Present, so do I; as thou believest not in a man-God, so
do not I.
6. Are not all men brothers, and created by the same Spirit? Because the kings
acknowledge not this doctrine, they persecute and outlaw thy race. To restore thy people,
who are my people also, am I sent into the world. My labor is now upon me; and for that
purpose am I here with thee and thy people.
7. This land, around about, I bequeath unto the Faithists; and they shall settle here
and till the soil, and reap the harvests, and shall not be driven away. And in time to
come I will provide teachers, and the Faithists shall have the right to obtain knowledge.
8. Capilya built altars for the multitude, saying to them: First of all, thou shalt dedicate to
God all things thou puttest thy hands to, for without the rites of bestowal upon the Great
Spirit, thy people cannot be in harmony. To neglect the rites is to neglect all things. Know
ye the doctrines of the ancients?
9. None of the rab’bahs could answer Capilya, and so he said: Ormazd provided your
servant with great learning. For this am I sent to you. Know ye, then, the doctrines of the
ancients, even from the time of Zarathustra and Brahma:
10. To rise with the sun; to bathe the body once every day; to eat no flesh nor fish; to
pray to Ormazd at sunrise, at high noon, at sunset, and before laying down to sleep.
11. Certain philosophers, wise in vanity, said: To rise an hour after the sun is no sin;
to bathe one day in seven is sufficient; to eat fish-flesh, which is of cold blood, is no
sin. Now, behold, it came to pass that they laid in bed two hours; they ceased to
bathe altogether, and as to eating, they halted not with fish-flesh, but ate of all flesh.
And sin came upon them; by their behavior they cut themselves off from the Father.
12. Be ye scrupulous in following the texts; and as to him that openeth the door for
disobedience, have nothing to do with him or his philosophy.
13. Capilya asked: Why doeth one man a good act rather than a bad act? Why doeth
another man a bad act rather than a good one? The rab’bahs said: The first is the speech of
Ormazd; the second is the speech of satan; for as these dwell in men, so do they manifest.
14. Capilya said: I am pleased with the answer; for which reason I have before
commanded you to build altars and do sacrifice; for these are the expressions of
your souls, which testify ye rather would serve the Creator than the destroyer.
15. This was also of the ancient doctrines of Zarathustra; but certain other philosophers,
vain in self-knowledge, said: Can not a man worship in the soul, and without building
an altar of stone and wood? And the multitude harkened unto them; and they
afterward went further, and said: Why worship at all? So, they fell in darkness.
A soul without an outward expression of worship standeth on the brink of hell.
16. To see an altar, as we pass along, enforceth upon us the thought of worship, and of
Ormazd, the Creator; it leadeth the soul upward. To see evil, or the temptation of it, is to
lead the soul toward darkness. Therefore, let men and women be discreet of their persons;
but make the altars of sacrifice numerous.
17. Capilya asked: What is the first poison? The rab’bahs knew not how to answer,
perceiving Capilya had great learning and wisdom. Capilya said: The first poison is self.
One man saith: Rites and prayers are good for the stupid and unlearned; I need them not. I
say unto you that that man is drunk on the first poison; let not his breath breathe upon
you; for here entereth the wedge of destruction.
18. Capilya said: What is the second poison? But when he perceived none would
answer, he said: The first leadeth to the second, which is desire to lead others and
rule over them. Htah-ai, one of the rab’bahs, asked: How can we get on without leaders?
19. Capilya said: Suffer no man to lead you; good men are expressions of the All Light.
Capilya asked: What is the best and yet the most dangerous thing? Some replied as to one
thing, and some as to another. Capilya said: The best and yet most dangerous thing is
speech. To talk of good things; of delights; of love; of Ormazd and his wonderful
creations; of life and death; of everlasting happiness; these are good speech and give the
soul great happiness. To talk of evil; of dark deeds; of one’s neighbors; of disgusting
things and words; these enrich satan’s harvest.
20. Certain three men traveled through a great city, and when they returned home, and
the neighbors assembled to hear the story of their travels, one of the travelers related
all that he saw, good and bad; another one related only all the bad things he saw; and
the other one related only the good things he saw, the delights and most beautiful
things. Which, now, of the three, say ye doeth most for the Father’s kingdom?
The rab’bahs said: The last one. Capilya said: True! Be ye, then, like him even to one
another; for by this course only is speech not dangerous, but of profit unto the world.
21. Sufficient is the number of evil men to relate the evils in the world; relate ye the good,
for by constantly walking in clean ground ye shall remain clean, in word and deed.
22. Search ye both spirits and men, not for the brilliancy of speech, for oft its brilliancy
hideth its poison, or stealeth on the senses unawares; but search their words as to holy
ideas and good delights, to make man rejoice in his life. He who harpeth on deceivers and
liars and debauchees, is a fireman for satan’s hells. Reply not to him, lest your speech
become a snare to entrap yourselves.
Chapter 6
1. For three years Capilya traveled over the land of Vind’yu, east and west and north and
south, establishing the Faithists wherever he found them; and he donated to them
whatever lands laid waste and not tilled; but he touched not any land whereon other
people dwelt and tilled the soil.
2. And it came to pass, the servants in the provinces fled from their masters and went and
dwelt in the places of Jehovih, to so great an extent that the governors and sub-kings
complained against Capilya, and he was reported to Yokovrana, the king in chief,
Capilya’s foster-father. And the king sent a commission summoning his supposed son to
the capital, to answer the charges against him.
3. When Capilya was before the Royal Council, and demanded by the king why he had
come, Capilya said: The servant of the great king answereth; his words are bound words.
Whatsoever cometh out of Capilya’s mouth, Capilya holdeth as his. There be such as
maintain that man, whose tongue is moved by the spirits of the dead, is irresponsible for
his words. Capilya creepeth not through so small a hole. To be master of one’s flesh, and
desires, and passions and words, these are great gifts indeed. Capilya professeth these.
Therefore, Capilya bindeth himself in every word.
4. Know then, Most Royal Council, servants to our Great King, Yokovrana, Capilya was
summoned here by the king, to answer certain charges made by members of the Royal
Council. These charges prefer that Capilya hath founded certain colonies which have
attracted away the servants of the sub-kings and of the rich, and thereby sowed
disobedience in the remainder.
5. Capilya is come to answer these charges. Hear ye, then, Capilya’s answer: Capilya
being heir to the throne besought the king for leave to travel, and the king said unto him:
Whatsoever the soul observeth that may be good for the United Kingdoms, do thou. Said
not the king this?
6. Yokovrana said: Yea, my son. Thereupon Capilya said: When Capilya traveled near
and far, for nine years, his heart was sick because of the misery of the poor and the glory
of the rich. He beheld many forests and many plains where no man dwelt; and he said to
himself: Let the poor come hither and live. Yet he called not any poor man. Was it, then,
an evil for Capilya to say this to himself?
7. The king said: Surely not. Then Capilya went on: After a long season of idleness,
Capilya went the second time to travel, and when he came to the forests and plains,
behold, the poor were gathered together, and yet more coming. So Capilya went
amongst them to show them how to dwell together wisely. Was this an evil in Capilya?
8. The king said: Nay; of a truth it was good. Then Capilya said: In a little while they
discovered it was good for them to dwell together and to help one another; and the news
spread abroad, whereupon the servants of the governors, and the rich, ran away from
them. Is it not just to say of the king and governors and rich men that they are driving
their servants away from themselves, because of hardships which are greater than the
hardships of the Gods?
9. The king said: A good proof. But why sayest thou, the Gods? These people for the
most part believe not in the Gods. And many of them, I hear, are believers in the Great
Spirit! Capilya said: Thou sayest truly, O king. But that is their matter, and not Capilya’s.
The king said: Thou art right, my son. But how sayest thou of education? Shall not the
laws be maintained?
10. Capilya said: Art thou the king? or merely the servant of the dead? Shall Capilya call
him father who is only a servant to carry out the laws of the dead? If so, then hath Capilya
sinned against the law. But hear ye, who are of great learning; do ye obey one law of the
ancients and not another? The law of the ancients was that with the death of the king all
laws died, and whoso became king afterward must need make new laws of his own. The
law against educating the Faithists is a law of the ancients. Let Capilya’s accusers find
which they will; for if they stand by the laws of the ancients, then, indeed, have we no
laws, and no king nor sub-kings. If they repudiate the laws of the ancients, then Capilya
hath not sinned against any law.
11. Yokovrana said: Thou art acquitted, Capilya. The laws of the ancients can not bind
thy king nor the king’s kings. Touching these matters, then, the Royal Council shall make
new laws. And since Capilya hath not contravened any law, neither shall the new laws
interrupt the orders of the state as they now are.
12. Because of Capilya’s presence in the Royal Chamber, the power of Jehovih and His
angels was great in that house.
13. After this manner, that followeth, were the speeches of the sub-kings and governors:
To permit great learning to the Faithists is to overthrow Dyaus and his reigning Gods and
Lords; for by great learning will the Faithists ultimately become members of the Royal
Council; therefore, at all hazards, great learning must be prohibited. Great learning is
inimical to good servitude.
14. Jehovih said to Capilya: Be thou present when these laws are passed; for by
this means My holy angels will rule over the Royal Council for the good of all men.
15. For one hundred days the Royal Council discussed the matter, but the angels of
heaven kept them divided as to opinion and belief, so that no law was passed by them.
Now after they had thus wasted much time to no purpose, Capilya asked permission to
speak before the king and Council as to what was wisdom in the government of the
nations; and it was granted unto him. This that followeth is, then, the substance of
Capilya’s speech.