11 (37). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How large shall be those houses for the dead?
Ahura Mazda answered: * Large enough not to strike the skull, or the feet, or the hands of the man, if he 8 should stand erect, and hold out his feet, and stretch out his hands: such shall be, according to the law, the houses for the dead.
12 (41). ‘And they shall let the lifeless body lie there, for two nights, or for three nights, or a month long, until the birds begin to fly4, the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth 6.
13 (44). ‘And as soon as the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth, then the worshippers of Mazda shall lay down the dead (on the Dakhma) his eyes towards the sun.
14 (46). ‘ If the worshippers of Mazda have not, within a year, laid down the dead (on the Dakhma), cult or impossible to take the corpse to the Dakhma, which usually stands far from inhabited places. The same case is treated more clearly and fully in Farg.VIII, 4 seq.
1 In every isolated house, in every group of houses.
* Thence is derived the modern usage of the Z&d-marg, a small mud house where the corpse is laid, to lie there till it can be taken to the Dakhma (Anquetil, Zend-Avesta II, 583). The object of that provision is to remove the uncleanness of the dead from the place of the living. An older form of the same provision is found in Farg.VIII, 8.
* ‘ Being in life ’ (Comm.) 4 To come back.
6 'Until the winter is past’ (Comm.)
his eyes towards the sun, thou shalt prescribe for that trespass the same penalty as for the murder of one of the faithful. [And there shall it lie] until the corpse has been rained on, until the Dakhma has been rained on, until the unclean remains have been rained on, until the birds have eaten up the corpse.’
IV.
15 (49). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Is it true that thou, Ahura Mazda, sendest the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha 1 down with the wind and with the clouds?
16 (51). That thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow down to the corpses2 3 * * * * *? that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow down to the Dakhmas? that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow down to the unclean remains? that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow down to the bones? and that then thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back unseen? that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back to the sea Pilitika a?
1 7 (53). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It is even so 1 The sea above, the clouds. Sec Introd. IV, n.
2 Zoroaster seems to wonder that Ormazd fears so little to infringe his own laws by defiling waters with the dead. In a Ravact, he asks him blurftly why he forbids men to take corpses to the water, while he himself sends rain to the Dakhmas (Gr. Rav. 125).
3 The sea where waters are purified before going back to their heavenly seat, the sea Vouru-kasha (see § 19). Pftitika, ‘the clean/ is very likely to have been originally a name or epithet of the sea Vouru-kasha. When the mythic geography of Mazdeism was reduced into a system, the epithet took a separate existence, as it gave a ready answer to that question, which, it may be, was raised first by the name itself: ‘ Where are the waters cleansed which have been defiled here below, and which we see falling again to us pure and clean? 9 as thou hast said, O righteous Zarathustra! I, Ahura Mazda, send the waters from the sea Vourukasha down with the wind and with the clouds.
18 (55). ‘ I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the corpses; I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the Dakhmas; I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the unclean remains; I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the bones; then I, Ahura Mazda, make them flow back unseen; I, Ahura Mazda, make them flow back to the sea Phitika b 19 (56). ‘The waters stand there boiling, boiling up in the heart of the sea PAitika, and, when cleansed there, they run back again from the sea Pititika to the sea Vouru-kasha, towards the wellwatered tree z, whereon grow the seeds of my plants of every kind [by hundreds, by thousands, by hundreds of thousands].
20(60). ‘Those plants, I, Ahura Mazda, rain down upon the earth 2, to bring food to the faithful, and fodder to the beneficent cow; to bring food to my people that they may live on it, and fodder to the beneficent cow’.’
1 In later mythology, the sea Vouru-kasha and the sea Puitika were assimilated to the Arabian sea and to the gulf of Oman: the moving to and fro of the waters from heaven to earth and from the earth to heaven was interpreted as the coming and going of the tide (Bund. XIII).
2 The tree of all seeds (Harvisptokhm), which grows in the middle of the sea Vouru-kasha; the seeds of all plants are on it. There is a godlike bird, the Sinamru, sitting on that tree; whenever he flies off the tree, there grow out of it a thousand boughs; whenever he alights on it, there break a thousand boughs, the seeds of which are scattered about, and rained down on the earth by Tutar (Tirlrya), the rain-god (Yt. XII, 17; Minokhired LXII, 37 seq.; Bundahir XXVII; cf. Farg. XX, 4 seq.)
V.
21 (63). ‘This1 is the best of all things, this is the fairest of all things, even as thou hast said, O righteous Zarathustra! ’ With these words the holy Ahura Mazda rejoiced the holy Zarathiutra 2: ‘ Purity is for man, next to life, the greatest good 3 * 5, that purity that is procured by the law of Mazda to him who cleanses his own self with good thoughts, words, and deeds V 22 (68). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! This law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathiutra, by what greatness, goodness, and fairness is it great, good, and fair above all other utterances?
2 3 (69)- Ahura Mazda answered: ‘As much above all other floods as is the sea Vouru-kasha, so much above all other utterances in greatness, goodness, and fairness is this law, this fienddestroying law of Zaratluutra.
24 (71). ‘As much as a great stream flows swifter than a slender rivulet, so much above all other utterances in greatness, goodness, and fairness is this law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathurtra.
‘As high as the great treer’ stands above the small plants it overshadows, so high above all other 1 The cleansing, the purification.
2 ‘ When Zoroaster saw that man is able to escape sin by performing good works, he was filled with joy ’ (Comm.)
3 As uncleanness is nothing less than a form of death (see Introd. V, 3).
1 That is to say, ‘Who performs the rites of cleansing according to the prescriptions of the law.’
5 ‘ The royal cypress above small herbs ’ (Comm.)
utterances in greatness, goodness, and fairness is this law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathiutra.
25, 26 (73-81). ‘As high as heaven is above the earth that it compasses around, so high above all other utterances is this law, this fiend-destroying law of Mazda.
‘ [Therefore], when the Ratu has been applied to \ when the Sraosha-varez has been applied to 2; whether for a draona-service3 that has been undertaken 4, or for one that has not been undertaken fl; whether for a draona that has been offered up, or for one that has not been offered up; whether for a draona that has been shared, or for one that has not been shared 8; the Ratu has power to remit him 1 ‘ To take the rule ' (Comm.), which probably means, ‘ to know what sort of penance he must undergo;' as, when a man has sinned with the tongue or with the hand, the Dastur (or Ratu) must prescribe for him the expiation that the sin requires. The Ratu is the chief priest, the spiritual head of the community.
2 ‘ To weep for his crime' (Comm.), which may mean, ‘ to recite to him the Patet, or, to receive at his hand the proper number of stripes.' It is difficult to say exactly what were the functions of the Sraosha-varez, which seem to have been twofold. The cock is compared to him, as being ‘ the one who sets the world in motion,' and wakes men for prayer (Farg. XVIII, 14, text and note), which would make him a sort of Zoroastrian Muezzin; at the same time he is the priest of penance. His name may refer to either of his functions, according as it is translated, ‘ the one who causes hearing,' or ‘the executor of punishment;' in the first case he would be the priest who pronounces the favete linguis, the jrausha/; in the other case he would be the priest who wields the Sraosho-^arana (see Introd. V, 19).
3 A service in honour of any of the angels, or of deceased persons, in which small cakes, called draona, are consecrated in their names, and then given to those present to eat.
4 When it ought not to be.
When it ought to be.
6 The meaning of the sentence is not certain; it alludes to one-third of the penalty he had to pay1: if he has committed any other evil deed, it is remitted by his repentance; if he has committed no other evil deed, he is absolved by his repentance for ever and ever2.’
VI.
27 (82). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be a number of men resting in the same place, on adjoining carpets, on adjoining pillows, be there two men near one another, or five, or fifty, or a hundred, close by one another; and of those people one happens to die; how many of them does the Drutf Nasu envelope with infection, pollution, and unclcanness 3?
28(86). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If the dead one be a priest, the Druf Nasu rushes forth4, O Spitama Zarathiutra! she falls on the eleventh and defiles the ten s.
religious customs which arc not well known. The Commentary interprets it as amounting to, 1 Whether he has thought what he ought not to have thought, or has not thought what he ought to have thought; whether he has said what he ought not to have said, or has not said what he ought to have said; whether he has done what he ought not to have done, or has not done what he ought to have done.’
1 When the Ratu remits one-third of the sin, God remits the whole of it (Saddar 29).
2 Cf. Farg. Ill, 2i. 3 Sec Introd. V, 3.
1 In opposition to the case when the dead one is an Ashcmaogha (§ 35), as no Nasu issues then.
8 Literally, ‘ If she falls on the eleventh, she defiles the tenth.’ The word if refers to the supposition that there are eleven persons at least, and the words ‘ she defiles the tenth’ must lie understood to mean ‘ she defiles to the tenth.’ In the Ravaets, the Avesta distinctions are lost, and the defiling power of the Nasu is the same, whatever may have been the rank of the dead: ‘ If there be a 5» ‘ If the dead one be a warrior, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the tenth and defiles the nine.
‘ If the dead one be a husbandman, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the ninth and defiles the eight.
29(92). ‘If it be a shepherd’s dog, the Drug- Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the eighth and defiles the seven.
‘If it be a house dog, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the seventh and defiles the six.
30(96). ‘If it be a Vohunazga dog1, the Drug" Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the sixth and defiles the five.
‘ If it be a young dog 2, the Dru^- Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the fifth and defiles the four.
31 (100). ‘If it be a Sukuruna dog3, the Dru^- Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! she falls on the fourth and defiles the three.
‘ If it be a Ga.su dog 4, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathmtra! • she falls on the third and defiles the two.
32(104). ‘If it be an Aiwizu dog, the Dru^ number of people, sleeping in the same place, and if one of them happen to die, all those around him, in any direction, as far as the eleventh, become unclean if they have been in contact with one another ' (Gr. Rav. 470).
1 A dog without a master (see Farg. XIII, 19).
2 A dog not more than four months old.
8 According to Aspendiarji, a siyd-gosh, or ‘black-eared* lynx, the messenger of the lion.
4 This name and the two following, Aiwizu and VIzu, are left untranslated, not being clear, in the Pahlavi translation.
FAUGARD V.
Nasu rushes forth, 0 Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the second and defiles the next.
‘ If it be a Vlzu dog, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the next, she defiles the next.’
33 (108). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If it be an Urupi dog1 *, how many of the creatures of the good spirit does it directly defile, how many does it indirectly defile in dying?
34(110). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘An Urupi dog does neither directly nor indirectly defile any of the creatures of the good spirit, but him who smites and kills it; to him the uncleanness clings for ever and ever V 35 (ri3)- O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If the dead one be a wicked, twofooted ruffian, an ungodly Ashemaogha 3, how many of the creatures of the good spirit does he directly defile, how many does he indirectly defile in dying?
36(115). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘No more than a frog does whose venom is dried up, and that has been dead more than a year4. Whilst alive, indeed, O Spitama Zarathuitra! that wicked, two- 1 A weasel. The weasel is one of the creatures of Ahura, for ‘it has been created to fight against the serpent garza and the other khrafstras that live-in holes’ (Bund. 47, 8).
* Not that the unclean one cannot be cleansed, but that his uncleanness does not pass from him to another.
3 See Introd. IV, xo; V, 11.
4 The frog is a creature of Ahriman’s, and one of the most hateful; for, in the sea Vouru-kasha, it goes swimming around the white Horn, the tree of everlasting life, and would gnaw it down, but for the godlike fish Kar-mahi, that keeps watch and guards the tree wherever the frog would slip in (Bund. XVIII; cf. Orm.
6o legged ruffian, that ungodly Ashemaogha, directly defiles the creatures of the good spirit, and indirectly defiles them.
37(119). ‘Whilst alive he smites the water1 2 3; whilst alive he blows out the fire 9; whilst alive he carries off the cow 9; whilst alive he smites the faithful man with a deadly blow, that parts the soul from the body4 *; not so will he do when dead.
38 ( 1 20). ‘ Whilst alive, indeed, O Spitama Zarathiutra! that wicked, two-legged ruffian, that ungodly Ashemaogha, never ceases depriving the faithful man of his food, of his clothing, of his house, of his bed, of his vessels6; not so will he do when dead.’
VII.
39 (122). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When into our houses here below we have brought the fire, the baresma, the cups, the Haoma, and the mortar *, O holy Ahura Mazda! if it come to pass that either a dog or a man dies there, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
40(125). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Out of the house, O Spitama Zarathmtra! shall they take the fire, the baresma, the cups, the Haoma, and the mortar; they shall take the dead one out to the proper place7 whereto, according to the law, corpses must be brought, to be devoured there.’
41 (128). O Maker of the material world, thou 1 By defiling it (a capital crime; see Introd. V, 8, and Farg.
2 He extinguishes the Bahr&m fire (a capital crime; Introd. V, 8).
3 As a cattle-lifter. 4 As an assassin.
6 By defiling or by stealing them.
6 In order to perform a sacrifice. 1 The Dakhma.
Holy One! When shall they bring back the fire into the house wherein the man has died?
42 (129). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They shall wait for nine nights in winter, for a month in summer, and then they shall bring back the fire to the house wherein the man has died.’
43(131). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! And if they shall bring back the fire to the house wherein the man has died, within the nine nights, or within the month, what penalty shall they pay?
44 (134). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They shall be Peshotanus: two hundred stripes with the Aspaheastra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosho-X’arana.’
45 (135) 0 Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If in the house of a worshipper of Mazda there be a woman with child, and if being a month gone, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six, or seven, or eight, or nine, or ten months gone, she bring forth a still-born child, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
4^ (I39)* Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The place in that Mazdean house whereof the ground is the cleanest and the driest, and the least passed through by flocks and herds, by Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of baresma, and by the faithful;’ — 47 (143). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from the fire? How far from the water? How far from the consecrated bundles of baresma? How far from the faithful?
48 (144). Ahura Mazda answered:* ‘Thirty paces from the fire; thirty paces from the water; thirty paces from the consecrated bundles of baresma; three paces from the faithful; — 49 (145). ‘ On that placd shall the worshippers of Mazda erect an enclosure \ and therein shall they establish her with food, therein shall they establish her with clothes.’
50 (147). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the food that the woman shall first take?
51(148). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘She shall drink gAmez I 2 mixed with ashes, three cups of it, or six, or nine, to wash over the grave within her womb.
52 (151). ‘Afterwards she may drink boiling3 milk of mares, cows, sheep, or goats, with pap or without pap4; she may take cooked meat without water, bread without water, and wine without water 53 (154)- O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long shall she remain so? How long shall she live only on that sort of meat, bread, and wine?
54(155). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Three nights I The Armert-gdh (cf. Farg. Ill, ig seq., and Introd. V, 15).
* Urine of the ox: it destroys the Nasu in her womb (Introd. V, 5). The ashes work to the same end, as they are taken from the Bahram fire (Comm.), the earthly representative of the fire of lightning, and the most powerful destroyer of fiends (see Introd. V, 8, and Farg. VIII, 80 seq.) ‘Three cups, or six, or nine, according to her strength ’ (Asp.)
3 Doubtful. * Doubtful.
II See Introd. V, 13. ‘The water would be defiled;’ cf. Farg. VII, 70 seq.
long shall she remain so; three nights long shall she live on that sort of meat, bread, and wine. Then, when three nights have passed, she shall wash her body, she shall wash her clothes, with g6m£z and water, by the nine holes1, and thus shall she be clean.’
55 (157). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long shall she remain so? How long, after the three nights have gone, shall she sit confined, and live separated from the rest of the worshippers of Mazda, as to her seat, her food, and her clothing?
56 (158). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Nine nights long shall she remain so: nine nights long, after the three nights have gone, shall she sit confined, and live separated from the rest of the worshippers of Mazda, as to her seat, her food, and her clothing. Then, when the nine nights have gone, she shall wash her body, and cleanse her clothes with gomez and water2.’
57 (160)3. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can those clothes, when once washed and cleansed, ever be used either by a Zaotar, or by a Hdvanan, or by an Atare-vakhsha, or by a Frabaretar, or by an Abereaf, or by an Asndtar, or by a 1 She shall perform the nine nights' Barashnfim, for the details of which see Farg. IX.
4 The modern custom is somewhat different: ‘If a woman brings forth a still-born child, after a pregnancy of one month to ten months, the first food she shall take is nirang (=gdmez)...fire and ashes; and she is not allowed until the fourth day to take water or salt, or any food that is cooked with water or salt: on the fourth day they give her nirang, that she may cleanse herself and wash her clothes with it, and she is not allowed to wash herself and her clothes with water until the forty-first day’ (Gr. Rav. 568).
vendJdAd.
Rathwiskar, or by a Sraoshd-varez \ or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman 2?
58(162). Ahura Mazda answered: 'Never can those clothes, even when washed and cleansed, be used either by a Zaotar, or by a Havanan, or by an Atare-vakhsha, or by a Frabaretar, or by an Aberer/, or by an Asndtar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraosha-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman.
59 (164). 1 But if there be in a Mazdean house a woman who is in her sickness, or a man who has become unfit for work3, and who must sit in the place of infirmity4, those clothes shall serve for their coverings and for their sheets 5, until they can withdraw and move their hands 6.
1 These are the names of the different priests who were engaged in the sacrifices. The Havanan strains the Haoma; the Atarevakhsha kindles the fire; the Frabaretar brings all that is necessary for the sacrifice (Anquetil); the Aberc d brings the water (Anquetil and Zand-Pahlavi Glossary, 21); the Asnatar cleanses the vessels. Those are the priests who are entrusted with the preparatory or accessory proceedings; the essential duties are performed by the Zaotar and the Rathwukar, the former chanting the hymns and saying the prayers, the latter performing the various operations during the sacrifice. Nowadays there are only two priests, the Zaotar (Zfiti) and the Ralhwijkar (Raspi), the latter performing all the accessory services formerly performed by several priests. As to the Sraosha-varez, see above, § 25, note 2.
2 In short, by any of the faithful, when in state of purity.
3 An ArmeJt; literally, ‘an infirm person/ that is to say, one who is unclean, during the time of his uncleanness (Farg. IX, 33 seq.), when all work is forbidden to him (cf. Introd.V, 15).
B The clothing defiled by the dead can only serve for Dasht&n women, even after it has been washed and exposed for six months to the light of the sun and of the moon (Saddar 91; cf. Farg. VII, 6 Until they are clean. The unclean must have their hands 60(168). ‘Ahura Mazda, indeed, does not allow us to waste anything of value that we may have, not even so much as an Asperena’s1 weight of thread, not even so much as a maid lets fall in spinning.
61 (171). ‘Whosoever throws any clothing on a dead body2, even so much as a maid lets fall in spinning, is not a pious man whilst alive, nor shall he, when dead, have a place in the happy realm:i.
62 (174). ‘ He shall go away into the world of the fiends, into that dark world4, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness 6. To that world, to the wrapped in an old piece of linen, lest they should touch and defile anything clean.
1 See Farg. IV, 48, note 4.
2 Cf. Farg. VIII, 23 scq. It appears from ihosc passages that the dead must lie on the mountain naked, or * clothed only with the light of heaven’ (Farg. VI, 31). The modern custom is to clothe them with old clothing (l)adabhai Naoroji, Manners and Customs of the Parsis, p. 15). ‘ When a man dies and receives the order (to depart), the older the shroud they make for him, the better. It must be old, worn out, but well washed: they must not lay anything new on the dead. For it is said in the Zend Vcndidad, I f they put on the dead even so much as a thread from the distaff more than is necessary, every thread shall become in the other world a black snake clinging to the heart of him who made that shroud, and even the dead shall rise against him and seize him by the skirt, and say, That shroud which thou madcst for me has become food for worms and vermin ' (Saddar 1 2). The Greeks entertained quite different ideas, and dressed the dead in their gayest attire, as if for a feast. Yet the difference is only in appearance; for, after the fourth day, when the soul is in heaven, then ' rich garments arc offered up to it, which it will wear in its celestial life (Saddar 87, Hyde 64).
8 The Behesht or paradise.
4 ‘ Where darkness can be seized with the hand * (Comm.; cf. Aogemaid6 28); something more than the ‘visible darkness/ 6 The Commentary has, ‘the place of those who impregnate dismal realm, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own souls, O sinners! ’ 1 (1-9). How long the earth remains unclean, when defiled by the dead.
II (10-25). Penalties for defiling- the ground with dead matter.
III (26-41). Purification of the different sorts of water, when defiled by the dead.
IV (42-43). Purification of the ITaoma.
V (44-51). The place for corpses; the Dakhmas.
1.
1. How long shall the ground lie fallow whereon dogs or men have died?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ A year long shall the ground lie fallow whereon dogs or men have died, O holy Zarathuitra!
2 (3). ‘ A year long shall no worshipper of Mazda sow or water that part of the ground whereon dogs or men have died; he may sow as he likes the rest of the ground; he may water it as he likes '.
3 (5). ‘ If within the year they shall sow or water the ground whereon dogs or men have died, the sin is the same as if they had brought dead matter to the water, to the earth, and to the plants V 4 (7). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers of Mazda shall sow or water, darkness, for the Dru^ who conceives seed from the sinner comes from that place’ (cf. Farg. XVIII, 30 seq.)
1 Cf. Farg. VII, 45 seq.
a ‘To the water which they pour out, to the earth which they plough, to the plants which they sow ’ (Comm.)
within the year, the ground whereon dogs or men have died, what is the penalty that they shall pay?
5 (9). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ They are Peshotanus: two hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosho-Z’arana V 6 (10). O Maker of the material worid, thou Holy One! If worshippers of Mazda want to make the ground fit to be tilled again 2, that they may water it, sow it, and plough it, what shall they do?
7 (12). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They shall look on the ground for any bones, hair, flesh, dung, or blood that may be there.’
8 (13). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If they shall not look on the ground for any bones, hair, flesh, dung, or blood that may be there, what is the penalty that they shall pay?
9 (15). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They are Peshdtanus: two hundred stripes with the Aspahe-a^tra, two hundred stripes with the S r aosho-zDar ana. ’ II.
10 (16). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One 1 If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as the top joint of the little finger, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
11 (18). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Thirty stripes with the Aspahe-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraosho-ztarana.’
1 ‘If they plough and sow it, one tanfifuhr (see Introd. V, 19); if they pour water on it, one tanafuhr; if they plough, sow, and water it, two tanafuhrs ’ (Comm.)
2 Even when a year’s space is past, the ground is not free ipso facto.
12 (20). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as the top joint of the fore-finger, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
13 (24). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Fifty stripes with the Aspahe-artra, fifty stripes with the Sraosho-Z’arana.’
14 (25). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as the top joint of the middle finger, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
15(29). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Seventy stripes with the Aspahe-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraosho-^arana.’
16 (30). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as a finger or as a rib, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
17 (34). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Ninety stripes with the Aspahe-astra, ninety stripes with the Sraosho-^arana.’
18 (35). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as two fingers or as two ribs, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
19 (39)’ Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He is a Pesh6tanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahe-artra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshd-ziarana.’
20 (40). 0 Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as an arm-bone or as a thigh-bone, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
2 1 (44). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Four hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, four hundred stripes with the Sraosho-^arana.’
22 (45). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as large as a man’s skull, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
23(49). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Six hundred stripes with the Aspahe-aJtra, six hundred stripes with the Sraosho-^arana.’
24 (50). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall throw on the ground the whole body of a dead dog, or of a dead man, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?
25 (53). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘A thousand stripes with the Aspahe-artra, a thousand stripes with the Sraosho-^arana.’
III.
26 (54). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a worshipper of Mazda, walking, or running, or riding, or driving, come upon a corpse in a stream of running water, what shall he do?
27(56). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Taking off his shoes, putting off his clothes, boldly, O Zarathiutra! he shall enter the river, and take the dead out of the water; he shall go down into the water ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, or a man’s full depth, till he can reach the dead body V 28 (61). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If, however, the body be already falling to pieces and rotting, what shall the worshipper of Mazda do?
29 (63). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He shall draw out of the water as much of the corpse as he can grasp with both hands, and he shall lay it down on the dry ground; no sin attaches to him for any bone, hair, grease, flesh, dung, or blood that may drop back into the water.’
30 (65). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of the water in a pond does the Druf Nasu defile with infection, pollution, and uncleanness?
3 [ (66). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Six steps on each of the four sides. As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the pond, and lay it down on the dry ground.
32 (69). ‘And of the water they shall draw off the half, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth part, according as they are* able; and after the corpse has been taken out and the water has been drawn off, the rest of the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.’
33 (72). O Maker of the material world, thou * ‘ If he is able to draw out the corpse and does so, it is a pious deed worth a taqSfflhr (that is, one by which a tanafOhr sin can be cancelled); if he is able to draw it out and does not do so, it is a tantfflhr sin. GftgSrasp says, It is a margarzan sin (a capital crime),’ (Comm.)
Holy One! What part of the water in a well does the Driyf Nasu defile with infection, pollution, and uncleanness?
34 (73). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water ', so long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the well, and lay it down on the dry ground.
35 (73)- ‘And of the water in the well they shall draw off the half, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth part, according as they arc able; and after the corpse has been taken out and the water has been drawn off, the rest of the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.’
36 (74). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of a sheet of snow or hail does the Driif Nasu defile with infection, pollution, and uncleanness?
37(75). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Three steps on each of the four sides. As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the water, and lay it down on the dry ground.
38(78). ‘After the corpse has been taken out, and the snow or the hail has melted, the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.’
39 (79)- O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of the water of a running 1 All the water in the well is unclean, c as the well has the length and breadth of a man’s stature’ (Brouillons d’Anquetil, Vended, vendJdAd.
stream does the Druf Nasu defile with infection, pollution, and uncleanness?
40 (80). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Three steps down the stream, nine steps up the stream, six steps across. As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall the water be unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the water, and lay it down on the dry ground.
41 (83). ‘After the corpse has been taken out and the stream has flowed three times1, the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.’
IV.
42 (84). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the Haoma that has been touched by the corpse of a dead dog, or the corpse of a dead man, be made clean again?
43(85). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathuytra! If it has been strained for the sacrifice, no corpse that has been brought unto it, makes corruption or death enter it 2. If it has not been strained for the sacrifice, the stem is defiled the length of four fingers. That length of stem shall be buried in the ground, in the middle of the house, for a year long. When the year is passed, the faithful may drink of its juice at their pleasure, as before.’
V.
44 (92). O Maker of the material world, thou 1 When three waves have passed.
2 Because the Haoma is the plant of life; when strained for the sacrifice, it is the king of healing plants (Bund. XXIV); the dead shall become immortal by tasting of the white Haoma (ib.XXXI).
Holy One! Whither shall we bring, where shall we lay the bodies of the dead, O Ahura Mazda?
45 (93). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ On the highest summits \ where they know there arc always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds, O holy Zarathujtra!
46 (95). ‘ There shall the worshippers of Mazda fasten the corpse, by the feet and by the hair, with brass, stones, or lead, lest the corpse-eating dogs and the corpse-eating birds shall go and carry the bones to the water and to the trees.