Avesta of particular manuscripts. A pre-Sasanian history of the Avesta, if it had one, is in the realm of legend and myth. The oldest surviving versions of these tales are found in the ninth to 11th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition (i.e. in the so-called "Pahlavi books"). The legends run as follows: The twenty-one "nask"s ("books") of the Avesta were created by Ahura Mazda and brought by Zoroaster to his patron Vishtaspa ("Denkard" 4A, 3A). Supposedly, Vishtaspa ("Dk" 3A) or another Kayanian, Daray ("Dk" 4B), then had two copies made, one of which was stored in the treasury, and the other
Invading the Sacred Courtright's sexual interpretation of Gaṇeśa." According to Das, criticism of "Freudian psychoanalysis as a surrogate religion" are as old as psycho-analusis itself, and the criticism of "Invading the Sacred" is therefor not surprising. In critique of the book, Das notes a "failure to distinguish properly between academia and public life outside this." Das further notes that Das also notes a lack of academic qualifications, and a lack of scholarly rigor, by the authors of "Invading the Sacred". He raises concerns with the author's inability to use primary materials: Das further notes that "[n]ot only sound analysis of primary sources, but