Kd azil bhira dakia
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In Mandaeism, kḏ azil bhira dakia (Classical Mandaic: ࡗ ࡀࡆࡉࡋ ࡁࡄࡉࡓࡀ ࡃࡀࡊࡉࡀ, lit. 'when the chosen, pure one went') is a group of 25 Mandaean prayers in the Qulasta.[1] The prayers are commonly recited during Mandaean priest initiation ceremonies,[2] wedding ceremonies,[3] and other religious functions.
Opening line
The prayers all begin with the opening line, "When/where the chosen pure one went" (kḏ azil bhira dakia) "to the place where the Perfected Ones dwell" (l-atra ḏ-iatbia tušlimia).[1] Each word of kḏ azil bhira dakia can be translated as follows.
- kḏ 'when' or 'where'
- azil 'went'
- bhira 'chosen (one[s])'
- dakia 'pure (one[s])'
The 'chosen' or 'pure' one refers to a Mandaean priest or Nasoraean as he joins his fellow uthras (i.e., other Mandaean priests, who are considered to be uthras on earth) in the World of Light.[2]
Refrain
Except for prayers 244, 247, 254, and 255, all of the kḏ azil bhira dakia prayers contain the following refrain in the middle.[3]
| Mandaic transliteration[3] | English translation[4] |
|---|---|
|
|
Published versions
In E. S. Drower's Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (1959) (henceforth abbreviated CP), they are numbered as prayer numbers 205 and 233–256, with prayers 233–256 also duplicated as prayers 261–284. In Drower (1959), prayers 233–256 make up a total of 24 prayers (excluding duplicates); together with prayer 205, they make up a total of 25 prayers.[4] A revised English translation of the prayers can be found in the Qulasta (2025) by Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts.[1]
The kḏ azil bhira dakia prayers are also duplicated in Part 3 of The Wedding of the Great Shishlam (MS DC 38, published in Drower 1950). Drower (1950) provides a full transliteration and English translation of the entire text.[3]
Part 3 of the Oxford Collection in Mark Lidzbarski's Mandäische Liturgien (1920) contains selected portions of the kḏ azil bhira dakia prayers, which are organized into 19 separate prayers.[5] They correspond to various parts (typically the middle and/or bottom portions) of CP 233–240, 243–246, 250–251, 253, and 255–256 in Drower (1959), but not CP 241–242, 247–249, 252, and 254.
All of the kḏ azil bhira dakia prayers have been published using typesetted Mandaic by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in Ktaba ḏ-Qabin (Book of Marriage), which makes up Part 2 in Volume 2 of Al-Mubaraki's Qulasta set (initially published in 1999 and subsequently revised in 2010).[6]
Corresponding prayers
Corresponding prayers between Lidzbarski (1920)[5] and Drower (1959)[4] are as follows.
| Oxford[5] | CP[4] | CP duplicate[4] |
|---|---|---|
| 2.32 | 205 (middle part) | – |
| 2.33 | 205 (bottom part) | – |
| 3.1 | 233 (bottom part) | 261 |
| 3.2 | 234 (bottom part) | 262 |
| 3.3 | 235 (bottom part) | 263 |
| 3.4 | 236 (bottom part) | 264 |
| 3.5 | 237 (middle part) | 265 |
| 3.6 | 237 (bottom part) | 265 |
| 3.7 | 238 (bottom part) | 266 |
| 3.8 | 239 (bottom part) | 267 |
| 3.9 | 240 (middle part) | 268 |
| 3.10 | 243 (middle part) | 271 |
| 3.11 | 244 (middle part) | 272 |
| 3.12 | 244 (bottom part) | 272 |
| 3.13 | 245 (bottom part) | 273 |
| 3.14 | 246 (middle part) | 274 |
| 3.15 | 250 (middle part) | 278 |
| 3.16 | 251 (middle part) | 279 |
| 3.17 | 253 (middle part) | 281 |
| 3.18 | 253 (bottom part) | 281 |
| 3.19 | 255, 256 (bottom parts) | 283, 284 |
See also
References
- ^ a b c Gelbert, Carlos; Lofts, Mark J. (2025). The Qulasta. Edensor Park, NSW: Living Water Books. ISBN 978-0-6487954-3-8.
- ^ a b Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
- ^ a b c d Drower, E. S. 1950. Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba (D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam. Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico. (text transliterated and translated)
- ^ a b c d e Drower, E. S. (1959). The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
- ^ a b c Lidzbarski, Mark. 1920. Mandäische Liturgien. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, NF 17.1. Berlin.
- ^ Al-Mubaraki, Majid Fandi; Mubaraki, Brian (2010). Qulasta - 'niania & Qabina / Mandaean Liturgical Prayer Book (Responses & Marriage) (volume 2). Luddenham, New South Wales: Mandaean Research Centre. ISBN 9781876888152.