Wait here for Maitreya · A dialogue · Elias Thorn Site: Elias Thorn / Shelter Source: https://elias-thorn.com/en/rooms/records/garden-await-maitreya/ Language: en Reuse: Retain the source URL and existing author credits. The site is the distribution source, not necessarily the original author or rights holder. Scope: Public HTML text at build time. Interactive content, media and private records are not included. Wait here for Maitreya · A dialogue M42 · Parthian hymn · R I 1 — V II 26 1 [Damaged beginning; these lines have not yet been deciphered.] ⟨R I 1: [ 7-8 ](.)yyšn⟩ ⟨R I 2: [ 4-5 ](ẖ) rngs pd⟩ ⟨R I 3: [.. r](w)šnʾn brhm⟩ From amazement(?) the four regions of the world tremble. And you, beloved, endure here for the souls that [are to receive] salvation through you. 2 Love and service are plainly shown: you, god, have shown them to me again and again. But I grieve over one thing: you have ascended, and I am left an orphan. 3 Leader of warriors, youth, remember the Father—the god Ohrmizd, who rose out of darkness. He too left children in the depths for the great improvement [of their lot](?). 4 I address a request to you, loving teacher: if this time you cannot [come] soon, send many gods so that I may gain release from those who do harm. 5 I gave a command to the Great Manwahmed to send you messengers in due time. And show your long patience in the mystery of the fruitful lights(?). 6 He endured the world and sufferings(?) for me. Zarathustra descended into the lands of Persia; he showed the truth and chose my members from the seven bright regions(?). 7 When Satan learned of this descent, he sent spirits of wrath, strong beyond measure. You, beloved, were harmed by their deeds and perverted wisdom. 8 At that time suffering left me: Buddha Shakyamuni heard me. He opened the door of liberation to the fortunate souls whom he delivered among the Indians. 9 Because of the skilful means and wisdom you received from the Buddha, ⟨dybt⟩ envied you. ⟨qnyyg qlʾn⟩ [“great maiden”; whom this designation refers to has not been established.] When he entered nirvana, he commanded you: “Wait here for Maitreya.” 10 Then Jesus showed compassion a second time. He brought the four pure winds to my aid. Bound [me(?)] to three winds, cast into Jerusalem and the dwellings of wrath(?). 11 The cup of poison and death was poured upon you, youth, [in their] wickedness, by Iscariot and the children of Israel. And much more suffering took place […]. 12 [Two lines are lost; further damage follows.] […] help […] ⟨pdycyhr wyd(n)[g 6–7]⟩ […] glorious messengers […] ⟨rngs⟩. You have two armies that fight within me, innumerable(?). 13 Great is [your] power on the battlefield; [you] are like the god Ohrmizd, and your collection of treasures(?) is like a chariot of the luminous ones. And this Living Soul, which is in flesh and wood, you are able to deliver from Az. 14 All three gods helped [me] in this suffering. They sent me the saviour, Lord Mani, so that I might rise from the bondage in which I was oppressed by enemies against my will, in fear. 15 I gave you freedom, my companion, from […]. [The surviving text ends here.] Reading notes In the dialogue, a plea for deliverance gives way to reminders of earlier help. Zarathustra, Shakyamuni, Jesus and Mani are named in the hymn itself. The promised release concerns the Living Soul present in flesh and plants. Salvation here extends beyond the fate of one human being. English rendering of the Russian working translation, with the same passage boundaries and uncertainties. The underlying working translation from the ancient text’s transliteration has not received independent philological review. […] marks damage or loss; ⟨…⟩ preserves an undeciphered passage in the edition’s transliteration, including internal editorial marks. Square brackets indicate supplied or conjecturally restored words; (?) marks an uncertain interpretation. All fifteen sections, dc.1–15, and the damaged opening are included; numbering follows those sections, not manuscript lines. M42 is fragmentary and has no complete surviving ending. The speakers have not been assigned names: “Youth” and “Jesus” are conjectural. In §9, dybt is retained because its identification with Devata, Devadatta or another figure is disputed. The relationship of qnyyg qlʾn (“great maiden”) to that name or to the addressee is also unresolved; the actor’s gender is not asserted. Durkin-Meisterernst (2004), p. 149, s.v. dybt, directly cites M42 V I 8. In §13, ʾʾdg ʾyy … bwjʾd is rendered “you are able to deliver”; the same dictionary, p. 4, s.v. ʾʾdg/ʾʾdwg, cites M42 V II 16 and its use with an infinitive. Manwahmed is the Great Mind; Az personifies greed. Sources: M42 in Anthologia Manichaica Orientalia IV, pp. 124–126, and D. Durkin-Meisterernst, Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian (2004). In §12, rfynd is rendered “fight” (Durkin-Meisterernst 2004, p. 295, rf-, M42 V II8). In §13, ryẖ means “chariot” (p. 303, M42 V II13). Rngs means “small, brief” (p. 296, both M42 occurrences), but its connection with the damaged surrounding text remains unresolved. Pdycyhr admits different interpretations (p. 272); the neighbouring wyd(n)[g …] is damaged. Open source ↗ (https://www.manichaeism.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DB-Antholog.-4-Hymns.pdf#page=126) Parthian transliteration · M42 (https://www.manichaeism.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DB-Antholog.-4-Hymns.pdf#page=126)