1 * When one trusts him with something, he eats it’ (Comm.)
* According to Asp.
8 He is fearful. * Doubtful.
8 ‘ But for the dog not a single head of cattle would remain in existence’ (Saddar 31; Hyde 35).
Holy One! When a dog dies, with marrow and seed 1 dried up, whereto does his ghost go?
51 (167). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It passes to the spring of the waters 2, O Spitama Zarathustra! and there out of every thousand dogs and every thousand she-dogs, two water dogs are formed, a water dog and a water she-dog3.
52 (170). ‘ He who kills a water dog brings about a drought that dries up pastures. Before that time, 0 Spitama Zaratlnutra! sweetness and fatness would flow out from that land and from those fields, with health and healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass.’
53 (171). 0 Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When are sweetness and fatness to come back again to that land and to those fields, with health and healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass?
54, 55 (r 72). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Sweetness and fatness will never come back again to that land and to those fields, with health and healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass, until the murderer of the water dog has been smitten to death and the holy soul of the dog has been offered up a sacrifice, for three days 1 Marrow is the scat of life, the spine is ‘ the column and the spring of life' (Yt. X, 71); the sperm comes from it (Bundahw XVI). The same theory prevailed in India, where the sperm is called ma^a-samudbhava, ‘what is bom from marrow;' it was followed by Plato (Timaeus 74, 91; cf. Plut. De Plac. Philos. V, 3, 4), Jind disproved by Aristotle (De Part. Anim. Ill, 7).
2 To the spring of Ardvt SCira, the goddess of waters.
8 There is therefore in a single ws.ter dog as much life fed holiness as in a thousand dogs. This accounts for the following.
and three nights with fire blazing, with baresma tied up, and with Haoma uplifted \ 56 (1 74). [‘ Then sweetness and fatness will come back again to that land and to those fields, with health and healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass V] This Fargard is nothing more than an appendix to the last clauses in the preceding Fargard (§ 50 seq.) IIow the murder of a water dog may be atoned for is described in it at full length. As the water dog is the holiest of all dogs and, as it were, a link between the dog and God, the process of atonement must he one of an extraordinary character. It is this chapter, more than any other, which may make it doubtful whether the legislation of the Vcndidad has ever existed as real and living law. See, however, Introduction V, 20.
1. Zarathiutra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! He who smites one of those water dogs that are born one from a thousand dogs and a thousand she-dogs1 2 3 4 5, so that he gives up the ghost and the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay?’
2 (4). Ahura Mazda answered: 'He shall pay ten thousand stripes with the Aspahe-astra, ten thousand stripes with the Sraosho-^arana ® 1 The zanda ravan, the same sacrifice as is offered up for three days and three nights after the death of a man for the salvation of 3 See preceding page; cf. Introd. IV, 35, and Orm. Ahr. § 230.
4 See preceding Fargard, §*51.
5 He shall pay 50 tanafuhrs (=15000 istirs = 60000 dirhems; ‘ He shall godly and piously bring unto the fire of Ahura Mazda 1 ten thousand loads of hard, well dried, well examined 2 wood, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog).
3 (6). ‘He shall godly and piously bring unto the fire of Ahura Mazda ten thousand loads of soft wood, of Urvisna, Vohu-gaona, Vohu-kereti, Hadhanaepata 3, or any sweet-scented plant, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog).
4 (7). ‘ He shall godly and piously tie and consecrate ten thousand bundles of baresma; he shall offer up to the good waters ten thousand Zaothra libations with the Haoma and the sacred meat4, cleanly prepared and well strained, cleanly prepared and well strained by a pious man r’, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog).
5 (9). ‘He shall kill ten thousand snakes of those that go upon the belly; he shall kill ten thousand sec Introd. V, 21). ‘If he can afford it, he will atone in the manner slated in the Avcsta; if he cannot afford it, it will be sufficient to perform a complete Iza.me (sacrifice)/ (Comm.)
1 To the altar of the RahrSm fire.
2 * It is forbidden to take any ill-smelling thing to the fire and to kindle it on it; it is forbidden to kindle green wood, and even though the wood were hard and dry, one must examine it three times, lest there may be any hair or any unclean matter upon if (Gr. Rav.) Although the pious An/a Viraf had always taken the utmost care never to put on the fire any wood but such as was seven years old, yet, when he entered paradise, Atar, the genius of fire, shewed him reproachfully a large tank full of the water which that wood had exuded (see An/a Viraf X).
4 Possibly, milk.
B A Mobcd called sardar, ‘chief/ who prepares, cleanses, and disposes everything for the performance of the Yasna (Comm, and Anquetil, Brouillons ad Farg. XVIII, 72).
snakes of those that have the shape of a dog1-; he shall kill ten thousand tortoises; he shall kill ten thousand land frogs 3; he shall kill ten thousand water frogs; he shall kill ten thousand corn-carrying ants 3; he shall kill ten thousand ants of those that bite and dig holes and work mischief4.
6 (16). ‘He shall kill ten thousand earth worms; he shall kill ten thousand horrid flies fl.
‘ He shall fill up ten thousand holes for the unclean 6.
1 ‘ Mar banak snakes: they are dog-like, because they sit on their hindparts' (Comm.) The cat seems to be the animal intended by this name. In a paraphrase of this passage in a Parsi Ravaet, the cat is numbered amongst the Khrafstras which it is enjoined to kill to redeem a sin (India Office Library, VIII, 13); cf. G. du Chinon, p. 462: ‘Les animaux que les Gaures ont en horreur sont les serpents, les couleuvres, les lezars, et autres de ccttc espece, les crapaux, les grenoui'lles, les ^crcvisses, les rats ct souris, et sur tout le chat/ 2 ‘ Those that can go out of water and live on the dry ground ' (Comm.) ‘ Pour les grenoui’lles ct crapaux, ils disent que ce sont ceux (eux?) qui sont cause de ce que les homines meurent, gatans les eaus oh ils habitent continuellement, et que d’autant plus qu’il y en a dans le pais, dautant plus les eaus causent-elles des maladies et enfin la mort/ G. du Chinon, p. 465.
3 ‘ Un jour que j’&ois surpris de la guerre qu’ils font aux fourmis, ils me dirent que ces animaux ne faisaient que voler par des amas des grains plus qu'il n’dtoit ndeessaire pour leur nourriture/ G. du Chinon, p. 464. Firdusi protested against the proscription: ‘ Do no harm to the corn-carrying ant; a living thing it is, and its life is dear to it/ The celebrated high-priest of the Parsis, the late Moola Firooz, entered those lines into his Pand Namah, which may betoken better days for this wise and careful creature.
4 Doubtful. The Commentary has, ‘that is, darak ants (wood ants; termites?)/ B Corpse flies.
* ‘The holes at which the^unclean are washed’ (Comm.; cf. Farg. IX, 6 scq.)
vend}dad.
‘ He shall godly and piously give to godly men twice seven sets of implements for the fire, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog), namely: 7 (20). ‘ Two (loads of the) proper materials for fire 1; a broom 2; a pair of tongs; a pair of round bellows 8 extended at the bottom, contracted at the top; an adze with a sharp edge and a sharp-pointed handle 4, a saw with sharp teeth and a sharp-pointed handle, by means of which the worshippers of Mazda procure wood for the fire of Ahura Mazda.
8 (26). ‘ He shall godly and piously give to godly men a set of the priestly instruments of which the priests make use, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog), namely: The Astra °, the meatvessel ®, the Paitidana \ the Khrafstraghna 8, the 1 Doubtful: the intended materials would be two loads of wood, and two loads of incense to burn upon the wood (Asp.)
2 To cleanse the Atash-dftn or fire-vessel (Yasna IX, i).
3 Or, a fan.
6 Possibly, the milk-vessel.
7 As everything that goes out of man is unclean, his breath defiles all that it touches; priests, therefore, while on duty, and even laymen, while praying or eating, must wear a mouth-veil, the Paitidana (Parsi Penom), consisting ‘of two pieces of white cotton cloth, hanging loosely from the bridge of the nose to, at least, two inches below the mouth, and tied with two strings at the back of the head' (Haug, Kssays, 2nd ed. p. 243, n. 1; cf. Comm, ad Farg. XVIII, 1, and Anquctil II, 530). This principle appears not to have been peculiar to the Zoroastrian Aryans, for the Slavonian priest in Arkona was enjoined to go out of the temple, whenever he wanted to draw breath, ‘lest the presence of the god should be defiled by contact with mortal breath ' (ne dei presentia mortalis spiritus contagio pollueretur, Saxo Grammaticus, ap. Klek, Einleitung in die Slavische Literatur, p. 105). Cf. Introd. V, 8.
8 The ‘ Khrafstra-killer; ’ an instrument for killing snakes, &c.
Sraosho-^arana *, the cup for the Myazda 2, the cups for the juice3, the mortar made according to the rules, the Haoma cups4, and the baresma.
9 (32). ‘He shall godly and piously give to godly men a set of all the war implements of which the warriors make use a, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog); the first being a javelin the second a knife 7, the third a club, the fourth a bow 8, the fifth a quiver with shoulder-belt and thirty brass-headed arrows10, the sixth a sling with armstring and with thirty sling stones, the seventh a cuirass 11, the eighth a hauberk la, the ninth a tunic I3, the tenth a helmet, the eleventh a girdle, the twelfth a pair of greaves14.
2 Doubtful.
The cup in which the juice of the hom and of the ur varan (the twigs of hadha-naepata which are pounded together with the hom) is received from the mortar (Comm.)
4 The cup on which twigs of Ilaoma are laid before being pounded, the so-called tashtah (Anquetil II, 533); ‘some say, the hom-straincr' [a saucer with nine holes], Comm.
h The armament detailed in the text agrees partly with that of the Persians and Medians described by Hcrodotos (VII, 61, 62). It would be desirable for archaeologists to ascertain to what time and, if possible, to what province this description refers, as such information might throw some light upon the age of this part of the Avesta at least.
7 *Ky irapa top bejjib v prjpbp irapaioi>ptvp.eva ck rrjs £d>vrjs, 8 T 6£a be peydXa.
9 Doubtful. *Y7 to be (fiaperpeapes (Kpepauro, u 1 Going from the helm to the cuirass ' (Comm.)
13 ‘Under the cuirass ' (Comm.); 1 repl be to au>pa kiO&vus xHPim 14 JJepl be ra ciceXea dva£vplbas.
10(41). ‘He shall godly and piously give to godly men a set of all the implements of which the husbandmen make use, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog), namely: A plough with share and yoke ', an ox whip a mortar of stone, a hand-mill for grinding corn, 1 1 (48). ‘ A spade for digging and tilling; one measure of silver and one measure of gold.’
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How much silver?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The price of a stallion/ 0 Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How much gold?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ The price of a camel.
12 (54). ‘He shall godly and piously procure a rill of running water for godly husbandmen, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog)/ O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How large is the rill?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ The depth of a dog, and the breadth of a dog:i.
1 3 (57). ‘He shall godly and piously give a piece of arable land to godly men, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog)/ O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How large is the piece of land?.
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ As much as can be watered with such a rill on both sides4.
14 (60). ‘ He shall godly and piously procure for godly men a house with ox-stalls, with nine 1 Doubtful. * Doubtful.
9 Which is estimated ‘ a foot deep, a foot broad ’ (Comm.) 4 Doubtful.
h&thras and nine nematas1 *, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog) V O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How large is the house?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Twelve Vltaras3 in the largest part of the house, nine Vit&ras in the middle part, six Vitaras in the smallest part.
‘ He shall godly and piously give to godly men goodly beds with cushions, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog).
15 (64). ‘He shall godly and piously give to a godly man a virgin maid, whom no man has known, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog).’
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What maid?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ A sister or a daughter of his, at the age of puberty, with ear-rings in her ears, and past her fifteenth year.
16 (67). ‘ He shall godly and piously give to holy men twice seven head of small cattle, as an atonement unto the soul (of the water dog).
‘ He shall bring up twice seven whelps.
‘ He shall throw twice seven bridges over canals.
1 7 (70). ‘He shall put into repair twice nine stables that are out of repair.
‘ He shall cleanse twice nine dogs from skin humours, hair wax, vermin4, and all the diseases that are produced on the body of a dog.
1 Meaning unknown.
* lie shall build a caravansary, which is considered a pious work (Mainyo-i-khard IV, 6; XXXVII, 36).
3 A word of unknown meaning; probably a measure, but possibly ‘ a passage or alley.’ * 4 Those three words are doubtful.
‘ He shall treat twice nine godly men to their fill of meat, bread, strong drink, and wine.
18 (73). ‘This is the atonement, this is the penalty that he shall undergo to atone for the deed that he has done.
‘ If he shall undergo it, he shall enter the world of the holy ones: if he shall not undergo it, he shall fall down into the world of the wicked, into that dark world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness V 1 (r-8). On five sins the commission of which makes the sinner a Peshotanu.
II (9-1 9). On unlawful unions and attempts to procure miscarriage.
III (20-45). On the treatment of a bitcli big with young.
IV (46-51). O11 the breeding of dogs.
I.
r. How many are the sins that men commit and that, being committed and not confessed, nor atoned for, make their committer a Peshotanu1 2?
2 (4). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ There are five such sins, O holy Zara thus tra! It is the first of these sins that men commit when a man teaches one of the faithful a foreign, wrong creed3, a foreign, wrong law, and he does so with a full knowledge and conscience of the sin: this is a sin that makes him a Peshotanu.
3 Literally, ‘another wrong creed;* the Commentary has, ‘that is, a creed that is not ours.' See Introd. Ill, 10.
3(9). ‘It is the second of these sins that men commit when a man gives too hard bones or too hot food to a shepherd’s dog or to a house dog; 4 (11). ‘If the bones stick in the dog’s teeth or stop in his throat, or if the hot food burn his mouth or his tongue, so that mischief follows therefrom, and the dog dies, this is a sin that makes the man a Peshotanu *.
5 (16). ‘It is the third of these sins that men commit when a man smites a bitch big with young or affrights her by running after her, with shouting or with clapping of hands -; 6 (18). ‘ If the bitch fall into a hole, or a well, or a precipice, or a river, or a canal, so that mischief follows therefrom, and she dies, this is a sin that makes the man a Peshotanu -*.
7 (22). ‘ It is the fourth of these sins that men commit when a man has intercourse with a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period: this is a sin that makes him a Peshotanu1 * * 4 5.
8 (25). ‘ It is the fifth of these sins that men commit when a man has intercourse with a woman quick with child r', whether the milk has already 1 He who gives too hot food to a clog so as to burn his throat is margarzan (guilty of death); he who gives bones to a dog so as to tear his throat is margarzan (Gr. Rav. 639).
s Or, ‘with stamping on the ground ’ (? Saddar 31).
' If a bitch is big with young and a man shouts or throws stones at her, so that the whelps come to mischief and die, he is margarzan (Gr. Rav. 639).
4 See Farg. XVI, 14 seq.
5 When she has been pregnant for four months and ten days, as it is then that the child is fotmed and a soul is added to its body (Anquetil II, 563).
come to her breasts or has not yet come': if mischief follow therefrom, and she die, this is a sin that makes the man a Peshotanu \ II.
9 (30). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered2, and she conceives by him, let her not, from dread of the people, produce in herself the menses, against the course of nature, by means of water and plants 3.
10(34). ‘And if the damsel, from dread of the people, shall produce in herself the menses against the course of nature, by means of water and plants, there is a sin upon her head 4.
1 1 (36). ‘ If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or.not delivered, and she conceives by him, let her not, 1 Or better, * if the child die/ c If a man come to his wife [during her pregnancy] so that she is injured and bring forth a still-born child, he is margarzan’ (Old Rav. 115 b).
2 ‘ Whether she has a husband in the house of her own parents or has none; whether she has entered from the house of her own parents into the house of a husband [depending on another chief of family] or has not’ (Comm.)
3 By means of drugs.
4 ‘It is a tanafdhr sin for her: it is sin on sin* (the first sin being to have allowed herself to be seduced), Comm. 1 If there has been no sin in her (if she has been forced), and if a man, knowing her shame, wants to take it off her, he shall call together her father, mother, sisters, brothers, husband, the servants, the menials, and the master and the mistress of the house, and he shall say, “ This woman is with child by me, and I rejoice in it;” and they shall answer, “ We know it, and we are glad that her shame is taken off her;” and he shall support her as a husband does' (Comm.)
from dread of the people, destroy the fruit in her womb.
12 (38). ‘And if the damsel, from dread of the people, shall destroy the fruit in her womb, the sin is on both the father and herself, the murder is on both the father and herself; both the father and herself shall pay the penalty for wilful murder1.
13 (40). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered, and she conceives by him, and she says, “ I have conceived by thee;” and he replies, “ Go then to the old woman 2 and apply to her that she may procure thee miscarriage; ” 14 (43). ‘And the damsel goes to the old woman and applies to her that she may procure her miscarriage; and the old woman brings her some Banga, or Shaeta, or Ghnana, or Frasp&ta3, or some other of the drugs that produce miscarriage and [the man says], “Cause thy fruit to perish! ” and she causes her fruit to perish; the sin is on the head of all three, the man, the damsel, and the old woman.
III.
15(49). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not 2 The nurse (Asp.)
2 Banga is bang or mang, a narcotic made from hempseed; shaeta means literally gold, and must have been some yellow plant or liquor; ghn£na is ‘that which kills [the fruit in the womb];’ fraspata is ‘that which expels [the fruit] so that it perishes’ (Comm.)
delivered, and she conceives by him, so long shall he support her, until the child is born.
16 (51). ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the child comes to mischief1, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
17 (54). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If she be near her time and be lying on the high road, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
18 (56). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered, and she conceives by him, so long shall he support her, until the child is born 2.
19(58). ‘ If he shall not support her 3...‘ It lies with the faithful to look in the same way after every pregnant female, either two-footed or four-footed, either woman or bitch.’
20(61). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If (a bitch4) be near her time and be lying on the high road, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
21 (63). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He whose house stands nearest, the care of supporting her is 8 The sentence is left unfinished: Aspendiarji fills it with the words in § 16, ‘ so that the child,’ &c. It seems as if §§ 17, 18 were no part of the original text, and as if § 17 were a mere repetition of § 20, which being wrongly interpreted as referring to a woman would have brought about the repetition of § 15 as an answer.
* The subject is wanting in the:text: it is supplied from the Commentary as the sense requires it.
his 1 2; so long shall he support her until the whelps are born.
22 (65). ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
23 (68). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in a camel-stall, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
24 (70). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He who built the camel-stall or who holds it*, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
25 (76)- ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
26 (77)- O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in a horse-stall, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
27 (78). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He who built the horse-stall or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
28 (81). ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
29 (84). O Maker of the material world, thou 1 ‘ The bitch is lying on the high road: the man whose house has its door nearest shall take care of her. If she dies, he shall carry her off [to dispose of the body according to the law]. One must support her for at least three nights: if one cannot support her any longer, one intrusts hef to a richer man’ (Comm, and Asp.)
2 ‘In pledge or for rent’ (Asp.; cf. Comm, ad § 42).
vend} DAD.
Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in an ox-stall, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
30 (86). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He who built the ox-stall or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
31 (89). ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
32 (92). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in a sheep-fold, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
33 (94). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He who built the sheep-fold or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
34 (97)* ‘If he shall not support her so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
35 (100). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying on the earth-wall1, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
36(102). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who erected the wall or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
37 (105). ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to • mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
1 The wall around the house, 38 (108). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in the moat1, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
39 (no). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He who dug the moat or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
40 (1 1 2). ‘ If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.’
41 (113). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time -and be lying in the middle of a pasture-field, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
42 ( 1 1 5). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who sowed the pasture-field or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his.
43 (t 17)- ‘He shall with kind charity2 take her to rest upon a litter of any foliage fit for a litter; so long shall he support her, until the young dogs are capable of self-defence and self-subsistence.’
44(122). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When are the dogs capable of selfdefence and self-subsistence?
45(123). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘When they are able to run about in a circuit of twice seven houses around3. Then they may be let loose, whether it be winter or summer.
‘ Young dogs ought to be supported for six months, children for seven years.
1 The moat before the earth-wall.
* Doubtful. * * Probably the distance of one yu^y&rti; cf. Farg. XIII, 17.
i8o vendIdAd.
‘ Atar1, the son of Ahura Mazda, watches as well (over a pregnant bitch) as he does over a woman.'
IV.
46(127). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers of Mazda want to have a bitch so covered that the offspring shall be one of a strong nature, what shall they do?
47(129). Ahura Mazda, answered: ‘They shall dig a hole in the earth, in the middle of the fold, half a foot deep if the earth be hard, half the height of a man if the earth be soft.
48 (13 1). ‘They shall first tie up the bitch there, far from children and from the Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda2, and they shall watch by her until a dog comes there from anywhere. They shall afterwards let another dog come near her, and then a third besides3, each being kept apart from the former, lest they should assail one another.
49 (134)4. ‘ The bitch being thus covered by three dogs, grows big with young, and the milk comes to her teats and she brings forth a young one that is born from (three) dogs.’
50(135). He who smites a bitch who has been covered by three dogs, and who has already milk, and who shall bring forth a young one born from (three) dogs, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
1 The fire: when a woman is in labour, one lights up a great fire in order to protect her and her child from the fiends (Introd. V, 1 3).
2 ‘ From children, lest she shall bite them; from the fire, lest it shall hurt her’ (Comm.)
2 Cf. Justinus III, 4: maturiorem futuram conceptionem rati, si earn singulae per plures viros experirentur.
* The text of this and the following clause is corrupt, and the meaning doubtful.
FARGARD XVI. l8l 51 (137). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraosho-X’arana.’
Fargard XVI.
I (1-11). On the uncleanness of women during their sickness.
II (11-12). How it can be removed.
III (13-18). Sundry laws relating to the same matter. See Introd. V, 12.
I.
i. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
2 (3). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ They shall clear the way1 of the wood there, both in growing trees and in logs -; they shall strew dry dust on the ground11; and they shall erect a building there4, higher than the house by a half, or a third, or a fourth, or a fifth part, lest her look should fall upon the fire "’/ 3 (9). O Maker of the material \yorld, 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?
4 (10). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Fifteen paces from the fire, fifteen paces from the water, fifteen 1 The way to the Dashtanistan (see Introd. V, 12).
a Lest the wood shall be touched and defiled by the woman on her way to the Dashtanistan.
3 Lest the earth shall be touched and defiled by her. Cf. Farg.
4 The DashtanistSn. 5 See Introd. V, 12.
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paces from the consecrated bundles of baresma, three paces from the faithful.’
5 (n). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from her shall he stay, who brings food to a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period?
6(12). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Three paces1 * from her shall he stay, who brings food to a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period.’
In what kind of vessels shall he bring the food? In what kind of vessels shall he bring the bread?
‘ In vessels of brass, or of lead, or of any common metal V 7(15). How much food shall he bring to her? How much bread shall he bring?
‘(Only) two danares3 of long bread, and one danare of milk pap, lest she should gather strength 4 5.
‘ If a child has just touched her, they shall first wash his hands and then his body 8 (21). ‘If she still see blood after three nights 1 The food is held out to her from a distance in a metal spoon.
Earthen vessels, when defiled, cannot be made clean; but metal vessels can (see Farg. VII, 73 seq.)
3 A danare is, according to Anquetil, as much as four tolas; a tola is from 105 to 175 grains.
4 1 Soshyos says: For three nights cooked meat is not allowed to lier, lest the issue shall grow stronger.’ As the fiend is in her, any strength she may gain accrues to Ahriman.
5 A child whom she suckles. The meaning is, Even a child, if he has touched her, must undergo the rites of cleansing. The general rule is given in the Commentary: ‘ Whoever has touched a Dashtan woman must wash his body and his clothes with gomez and water.’ The ceremony in question is the simple Ghosel, not the Barashnfim, since the woman herself performs the former only (vide infra, § u seq.; cf. Introd.V, 16).
FARGARD XVI. 183 have passed, she shall sit in the place of infirmity until four nights have passed.
‘ If she still see blood after four nights have passed, she shall sit in the place of infirmity until five nights have passed.
9. ‘ If she still see blood after five nights have passed, she shall sit in the place of infirmity until six nights have passed.
‘ If she still see blood after six nights have passed, she shall sit in the place of infirmity until seven nights have passed.
10. ‘ If she still see blood after seven nights have passed, she shall sit in the place of infirmity until eight nights have passed.
‘ If she still see blood after eight nights have passed, she shall sit in the place of infirmity until nine nights have passed.
11. ‘If she still sec blood after nine nights have passed, this is a work of the Daevas which they have performed for the worship and glorification of the Daevas ‘.
II.
‘The worshippers of Mazda shall clear the way1 2 of the wood there, both in growing trees and in logs; 12 (26). ‘They shall dig three holes in the earth, and they shall wash the woman with gome/, by two of those holes and with water by the third.
‘ They shall kill Khrafstras, to wit: two hundred corn-carrying ants, if it be summer; two hundred of 2 The way to the Baraahnftm-gah, where the cleansing takes place.
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any other sort of the Khrafstras made by Angra Mainyu, if it be winter1.’
III.
13(30). If a worshipper of Mazda shall suppress the issue of a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He is a Peshotanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahe-a^tra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosho-^arana.’
14 (33). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall again and again wilfully touch the body of a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, so that the ordinary issue turns to the dye of the unusual one, or the unusual issue to the dye of the ordinary one, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
15 (36). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ For the first time he comes near unto her, for the first time he lies by her, thirty stripes with the Aspahe-a.rtra, thirty stripes with the Sraosho -Parana; for the second time he comes near unto her, for the second time he lies by her, fifty stripes with the Aspaheastra, fifty stripes with the Sraosho-^arana; for the third time he comes near unto her, for the third time he lies by her, seventy stripes with the Aspahe-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshd-/■arana.’
16. For the fourth time he comes near unto her,, for the fourth time he lies by her, if he shall press the body under her clothes, if he shall press the 1 See Introd. IV, 3^.
FARGARD XVII. 1 85 unclean thigh, but without sexual intercourse, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Ninety stripes with the Aspahe-astra, ninety stripes with the Sraosho--fcarana.
1 7 (39)" ‘Whosoever shall lie in sexual intercourse with a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, does no better deed than if he should burn the corpse of his own son, born of his own body and dead of naeza1, and drop its fat into the fire 2 3.
18(41). ‘All suph sinners, embodiments of the Dru^, are scorners of the law: all scorners of the law are rebels against the Lord: all rebels against the Lord are ungodly men; and any ungodly man shall pay for it with his life V Fargard XVII.
Hair and Nails.
Anything that has been separated from the body of man is considered dead matter (Inlrod. V, 12), and is accordingly supposed to fall into the possession of the demon and to become the abode of death and uncleanness. Therefore, hair and nails, as soon as cut off, are at once the property of Ahriman, and the demon has to be driven away from them by spells, in the same way as he is from the bodies of the dead. They are withdrawn from his power by 1 A disease (Farg. VII, 58). There is another word naeza, ‘a spear/ so that one may translate also ‘ killed by the spear ’ (Asp.)
2 ‘ Not that the two deeds are equal, but neither is good ' (Comm.) The sin in question is a simple tanafuhr (Farg. XV, 7), and therefore can be atoned for by punishment and repentance, whereas the burning of a corpse is a crime for which there is no atonement (Farg. I, 17; VIII, 73 seq.; Inlrod. V, 8).
3 Literally, ‘is a Peshotanu;' ‘he is a tanaffihr sinner, that is to say, margarzan (worthy of death)/ Comm.
the recital of certain prayers, and by being deposited in the earth inside consecrated circles, which are drawn around them as an intrenchment against the fiend (see above, p. 122, n. 1).