‘ If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with gomez six times2, they shall rub it with earth six times, they shall wash it with water six times, and afterwards they shall expose it to the air for six months at the window of the house.
*6 (37)- ‘ The spring named Ardvl Sftra, O Spi- tania Zarathuitra! that spring of mine, purifies the seed in man, the fruit in a woman’s womb, the milk in a woman’s breast *.’
T74(4i). 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 Havanan, or by an Atare-vakhsha, or by a Fra- baretar, or by an Aberetf, or by an Asnatar, or by a Rathwii'kar, or by a Sraosha-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman?
1 According to the Commentary only that part which has been defiled is rent off; the rest may still be used.
3 This clause is a quotation from Yasna LXV, 5, intended to illustrate the- cleansing power of water. Ardvi Sura is the goddess of the waters.
FARGARD VII.
79 1 8 (43). 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 Abere</, or by an Asnatar, or by a Rathwbkar, or by a Sraoshd-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or hus- bandman.
19 (45). ‘ But if there be in a Mazdean house a woman who is in her sickness, or a man who has become unfit for work, and who must sit in the place of infirmity, those clothes shall serve for their coverings and for their sheets, until they can with- draw and move their hands.
20 (49). ‘ Ahura Mazda, indeed, does not allow us to waste anything of value that we may have, not. even so much as an Asperena’s weight of thread, not even so much as a maid lets fall in spinning.
21 (52). ‘Whosoever throws any clothing on a dead body, 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.
22 (55). ‘He shall go away into the world of the fiends, into that dark world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness. To that world, to the dismal realm, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own souls, 0 sinners! ’ IV.
23 (59). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can he be clean again who has eaten of the carcase of a dog or of the carcase of a man 1?
1 The carcase-cater lodges the Nasu in himself; he becomes a Nasu, and therefore must be destroyed; cf. infra § 76 seq.
80 VENDIDAL).
24(60). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! I lis burrow1 2 shall be dug out, his life shall be torn out, his bright eyes shall be put out; the Dr 11^ Nasu falls upon him, takes hold of him even to the end of the nails, and he is unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever V.
25 (65). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can he be clean again, O holy Ahura Mazda! who has brought a corpse with filth into the waters, or unto the fire, and made either unclean?
26 (66). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathmtra! Those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus3, that most increase gnats and locusts 4; those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus, that most increase the grass-destroying drought.
2 7 (69). ‘ Those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus, that increase most the power of the winter, produced by the fiends, the cattle- killing, thick-snowing, overflowing, the piercing, 1 His house, as he is assimilated to a devouring Khrafstra.
2 Till the resurrection. ‘It is prescribed in the Vcndtdad that if a man shall eat of a carcase, his house and family shall be destroyed, his heart shall be torn out of his body, his eyes shall be put out, and his soul shall abide in hell till the resurrection ' (Saddar 71, Hyde 79). ‘He who cats of a carcase with sinful intent is both unclean and margarzan; Barashnfim and Nireng are of no avail for him, he must die. If there has been no sinful intent, he may wash himself; one may give him the ashes and the gomfiz (Comm.); he is unclean, he is not margarz&n’ (Old 4 ‘ It is said in the A vesta that when there are many gnats and locusts it is owing to corpses having been brought to water and to fire’ (Saddar 72, Hyde Bo).
FARGARD VII.
8l fierce, mischievous winter1. Upon them comes and rushes the Druf Nasu, she takes hold of them even to the end of the nails, and they are unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever 2.‘ VI.
28 (72). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the wood be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! whereunto dead matter has been brought from a dead dog, or from a dead man?
29 (73)* Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathustra!’
How so?
4 If the Nasu has not yet been smitten3 by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse-eating birds 4 5 6, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the wood on the length of aVitasti* all around the dead matter, if the wood be dry; on the length of a Fr&r&thni 0 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean 7 *.
1 ‘ In the same way (by the bringing of corpses to water and to fire), winter grows colder, and summer grows warmer' (Saddar 72, Hyde 80).
2 Whoever shall do that deed, shall pay for it in this world and in the next; they shall flay his body in the presence of the as- sembly, they shall tear him limb from limb, and his corpse shall be thrown away to dogs and ravens,...and when his soul comes to the other world, he shall suffer tortures from the d6vs (Gr. Rav.
3 That is to say, if the Sag -did has not yet been performed.
5 Twelve fingers.
6 The Frar&thni is, as it seems, as much as one foot (fourteen fingers, Vd. II, 22, Comm.)
7 4 After a year/ according to the Commentary.
82 vendIdAd.
30 (78). ‘ But if the Nasu has already been smitten1 by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse- eating birds, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the wood on the length of a Frdrdthni all around the dead matter, if the wood be dry; on the length of a F rabazu 2 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.
31 (81). ‘This is the quantity of wood around the dead matter, that they shall lay down, apart on the ground, according as the wood is dry or wet; according as it is hard or soft; they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.’
32 (83). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the corn or the fodder be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! whereunto dead mat- ter has been brought from a dead dog, or from a dead man?
33 (84). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, 0 holy Zarathm'tra!’
How so?
* If the Nasu has not yet been smitten by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse-eating birds, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the corn on the length of a Frardthni all around the dead matter, if the corn be dry; on the length of a F rabazu all 5 It appears from the similar passages (VIII, 35, 36, and 98, 99) and from the general principles of unclcanness (see Introd.V, 16) that the words ‘If the Nasu has not yet been smitten,’ in § 29, have been misplaced there from § 30, and that the corresponding words in § 30 belong to § 29; because uncleanness spreads less far, when the Sag-did has taken place.
2 A measure of unknown extent; an arm’s length,’ it would seem.
FARGARD VII. 83 around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.
34 (89). ‘ But if the Nasu has already been smitten1 by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse- eating birds, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the corn on the length of a Frdbazu all around the dead matter, if the corn be dry; on the length of a Vib&zu2 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.
35 (92). ‘ This is the quantity of corn around the dead matter, that they shall lay down, apart on the ground, according as the corn is dry or wet; accord- ing as it is sown or not sown; according as it is reaped or not reaped; according as it is ground or not ground 3; according as it is (kneaded) 4 or not kneaded; they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.’
Vila.
36 (94). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a worshipper of Mazda want to practice the art of healing, on whom shall he first prove his skill? on worshippers of Mazda or on worshippers of the Daevas?
37 (96). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘On worship- pers of the Daevas shall he first prove himself, 1 The same observation applies to the first words of §§ 33, 34, as was observed of §§ 29, 30.
2 A measure of unknown extent; ‘ an ell,’ it would seem.
3 This clause is preceded and followed, in the Vendid&d Sadah, by clauses which seem to refer to the process of grinding being more or less advanced.
4 This word is supplied, as it appears, from the context, and from the Pahlavi translation, to be wanting.
84 vendIdAd.
rather than on worshippers of Mazda. If he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daevas and he die; if he treat with the knife a second worshipper of the Daevas and he die; if he treat with the knife for the third time a worshipper of the Daevas and he die, he is unfit to practise the art of healing for ever and ever.
38 (99). ‘ Let him therefore never attend any worshipper of Mazda; let him never treat with the knife any worshipper of Mazda, nor wound him with the knife. If he shall ever attend any worshipper of Mazda, if he shall ever treat with the knife any worshipper of Mazda, and wound him with the knife, he shall pay for it the same penalty as is paid for wilful murder1.
39 (102). ‘ If he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daevas and he recover; if he treat with the knife a second worshipper of the Daevas and he recover; if for the third time he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daevas and he recover; then he is fit to practise the art of healing for ever and ever 2.
40 (104). ‘ He may henceforth at his will attend worshippers of Mazda; he may at his will treat with the knife worshippers of Mazda,* and heal them with the knife.
VII b, 41 (105). ‘A healer shall heal a priest for a holy 1 For baodho-varsta, which word is wrongly understood by the Parsis as the designation of a penalty, consisting in the amputation of six fingers (Asp.)
2 ‘ Some say, One who has been qualified may become dis- qualified; one who has been disqualified shall never become qualified ' (Comm, ad § 43).
FARGARD VII.
«5 blessing 1; he shall heal the master of a house for the value of an ox of low value; he shall heal the lord of a borough 2 for the value of an ox of average value; he shall heal the lord of a town for the value of an ox of high value; he shall heal the lord of a province for the value of a chariot and four 3.
42 (no). ‘He shall heal the wife of the master of a house for the value of a she-ass; he shall heal the wife of the lord of a borough for the value of a cow; he shall heal the wife of the lord of a town for the value of a mare; he shall heal the wife of the lord of a province for the value of a she-camel.
43 (114). ‘He shall heal the son of the lord of a borough for the value of an ox of high value; he shall heal an ox of high value for the value of an ox of average value; he shall heal an ox of average value for that of an ox of low value; he shall heal an ox of low value for the value of a sheep; he shall heal a sheep for the value of a meal of meat 4 5.
44 (118). ‘ If several healers offer themselves to- gether, O Spitama Zarathurtra! namely, one who heals with the knife, one who heals with herbs, and one who heals with the holy word f>, it is this one 1 ‘Thus he will become holy (i.e. he will go to paradise); there is no equivalent in money. Some say, Tt is given when the priest has not 3000 stirs’ (Comm.)
2 A group of several houses; Aspendiarji and Anquelil say, ‘ a street.’
3 ‘ A value of seventy stirs ’ (Comm.)
4 Cf. the tariff of fees for the cleanser, Farg. IX, 37 seq.
5 ‘ By spells ’ (Comm.; cf. Odyssea XIX, 457). This classifi- ’cation was not unknown to Asclepios: he relieved the sick ‘ now with caressing spells, now with soothing drink or balsam, now with the knife’ (Pindaros, Pyth. Ill, 51).
86 VENdIdaD.
who will best drive away sickness from the body of the faithful V VIII.
45 (122). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long after the corpse of a dead man has been laid down on the ground, clothed with the light of heaven and beholding the sun, is the ground itself again1 2?
46(123). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘When the corpse of a dead man has lain on the ground for a year, clothed with the light of heaven, and beholding the sun, then the ground is itself again, O holy Zaratluutra 3! ’ 47 (124). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long after the corpse of a dead man has been buried in the earth, is the earth itself again?
48(125). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘When the corpse of a dead man has lain buried in the earth for fifty years, O Spitama Zarathustra! then the earth is itself again4.’
49 (126). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long after the corpse of a dead 1 ‘ It may be that he may not relieve, but he will not harm ’ (Comm.) The Vcndidad Sadah, instead of ‘it is this one,’ &c., reads as follows: ‘ Let them address themselves to the one who heals with the holy word; for he is the best healer among all healers, who heals by the holy word; this one it is who will drive away sickness from the body of the faithful.’ The treatment by the holy word seems not to consist only in the recitation of spells, but the spells must be accompanied by the ceremony of the Ba- rashnum (see Farg. XXII and Introd. V, 14).
2 Restored to the purity of its nature, and fit to till; as it* remains Nasu till that time.
3 See Farg. VI, 1 seq.
4 Cf. Farg. Ill, 36 seq.
FARGARD VII.
87 man has been laid down on a Dakhma, is the ground, whereon the Dakhma stands, itself again?
50(127). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Not until the dust of the corpse, O Spitama Zarathurtra! has mingled with the dust of the earth1. Urge every one in the material world, O Spitama Zara- thuitra! to pull down Dakhmas 2.
51 (129). ‘ He who should pull down Dakhmas, even so much thereof as the size of his own body, his sins in thought, word, and deed are remitted as they would be by a Patet; his sins in thought, word, and deed are atoned for3.
52 (132). ‘ Not for his soul shall the two spirits wage war with one another 4; and when he enters the blissful world, the stars, the moon, and the sun shall rejoice in him; and I, Ahura Mazda, shall rejoice in him, saying: “ Hail, O man! thou who hast just passed from the decaying world into the undecaying one! ” ’ 55 s (137). O Maker of the material world, thou 1 A space of time estimated at fifty years (Comm.) Cf. Farg.
2 Cf. Farg. Ill, 9, text and note, and § 13.
3 ‘ A t ana (fill r sin is remitted thereby ’ (Comm.)
4 When a man dies, hell and paradise, fiends and gods struggle for the possession of his soul: Astovidhdtur, Vizarcslia, and the bad Vayu drag the souls of the wicked to hell; Mithra, Sraosha, Rashnu, and the good Vayu take the souls of the good to paradise (sec Farg. XIX, 29 seq.; Yt. XXII; Mainyo-i-khard II). The struggle lasts for three days and three nights (the sadis), during which time the relatives of the dead offer up prayers and sacrifices to Sraosha, Rashnu, and Vayu, to assure him their protection (cf. IX, 56).
0 §§ 53) 54 belong to the Commentary; they are composed of disconnected quotations, part of which refers to the different deeds by which a tanaffthr sin may be redeemed, while the other part refers to the rules of what may be called the book-keeping of good actions and sins.
88 vendIdAd.
88 vendIdAd.
Holy One! Where are the fiends? Where are the worshippers of the fiends? What is the place whereon the troops of fiends rush together? What is the place whereon the troops of fiends come rushing along? What is the place whereon they rush together to kill their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads?
56 (138). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Those Dakh- mas that are built upon the face of the earth, O Spi- tama Zarathustra! and whereon are laid the corpses of dead men, that is the place where the fiends are, that is the place whereon the troops of fiends rush together, that is the place whereon the troops of fiends come rushing along, that is the place whereon they rush together to kill their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads.
57 (140). ‘On those Dakhmas, O Spitama Zara- thustra! those fiends take food and void filth, (eating up corpses) in the same way as you, men, in the material world, eat cooked meal and cooked meat. It is, as it were, the smell of their feeding that you smell there, O men!
58(143). ‘Thus the fiends revel on there, until that stench is rooted in the Dakhmas. Thus from the Dakhmas arise the infection of diseases, itch, hot fever, humours1, cold fever, rickets, and hair untimely white. There death has most power on man, from the hour when the sun is down.
1 Doubtful (na£za).
FARGARD VII.
89 59 (148). 1 2 * And if there be people of evil spirit who do not seek for better spirit, the Gainis 1 make those diseases grow stronger by a third on their thighs, on their hands, on their plaited hair V IX.
60 4 ( 1 5 1). O 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?
61 (155). 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 — 62 (158). 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?
63 (159). 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; — 1 ‘ The Gahi ’ (Comm.) The Gaini seems to be the Gahi as bringing sickness (cf. Farg. XXI, 2).
2 The general meaning of the sentence is that the Dakhmas are seats of infection, of which the action becomes worse and stronger when people live in impiety and vices.
8 Doubtful.
90 VENDfDAD.
64 (160). ‘On that place shall the worshippers of Mazda erect an enclosure, and therein shall they establish her with food, therein shall they establish her with clothes.’
65 (162). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the food that the woman shall first take?
66 (163). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ She shall drink gomez mixed with ashes, three cups of it, or six, or nine, to wash over the grave in her womb.
67 (166). ‘ Afterwards she may drink boiling milk of mares, cows, sheep, or goats, with pap or without pap; she may take cooked meat without water, bread without water, and wine without water.’
68 (169). 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?
69 (1 70). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Three nights 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 gomez and water, by the nine holes, and thus shall she be clean.’
70(172). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! But if fever befall her unclean body, if that twofold plague, hunger and thirst, befall her, may she be allowed to drink water?
71 (175). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘She may; the first thing for her is to have her life saved. Having been allowed by one of the holy men, by a holy faithful man, who knows the holy know- FARGARD VII.
9t ledge1, she shall drink of the strength-giving water. But you, worshippers of Mazda, fix ye the penalty >for it. The Ratu being applied to, the Sraoshd- varez being applied to 2, shall prescribe the penalty to be paid 3.’
72 (181). What is the penalty to be paid?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ The deed is that of a Peshotanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahe- a.rtra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosho-Airana V X.
73 (183). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the eating vessels be made clean that have been touched by the carcase of a dog, or by the corpse of a man?
74(184). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They can, O holy Zaratliustra! ’ How so?
‘ If they be of gold, you shall wash them once with gomez, you shall rub them once with earth, you shall wash them once with water, and they shall be clean.
‘ If they be of silver, you shall wash them twice with gomez, you shall rub them twice with earth, you shall wash them twice with water, and they shall be clean.
[75. ‘ If they be of brass, you shall wash them thrice with gomez, you shall rub them thrice with 1 The Dastur. * Sec Farg. V, 25.
3 For the water having been defiled.
1 A penalty to be undergone by the husband, at least in modern practice: ‘ If through fear of death or of serious illness she has drunk water before the appointed time, her husband shall make Patet for her fault before the Dastur ’ (Old Rav. 98 b).
92 vendIdAd.
earth, you shall wash them thrice with water, and they shall be clean.
‘ If they be of steel, you shall wash them four times with gomez, you shall rub them four times with earth, you shall wash them four times with water, and they shall be clean.
‘ If they be of stone, you shall wash them six times with gomez, you shall rub them six times with earth, you shall wash them six times with water, and they shall be clean \] * If they be of earth, of wood, or of clay, they are unclean for ever and ever XI.
76 (189). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the cow be made clean that has eaten of the carcase of a dog, or of the corpse of a man?
77(190). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘She can, O holy Zarathiutra! The priest shall not, within a year, take from her to the baresma neither the milk and cheese that accompany the libation, nor the meat that accompanies the libation a. When a year has passed, then the faithful may eat of her as before V XII.
78 (193). Who is he, O holy Ahura Mazda! who, 1 From the Vcndidad Sddah. 2 See Introd. V, 16.
The offering of the libation waters (Zaothra) is accompanied with offerings of milk, cheese, and meat, which the priest eats holding the baresma in his hand.
4 ‘ Whatever comes from her, if dropped, is clean; if taken, unclean. If she be big with young, the young is born clean, if conceived before her eating of the corpse; if conceived afterwards, it is born unclean ’ (Comm.)
FARGARD VIII.
93 with a godly intent, with a godly wish, goes astray from the ways of God? Who is he who, with a godly intent, falls into the ways of the Drii®' 1?
79(194). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The one who, with a godly intent, with a godly wish, goes astray from the ways of God; the one who with a godly intent falls into the ways of the Druf, is he who offers up for libation water defiled by the dead; or who offers up libations in the dead of the night V Fargard VIII.
I (1-3). Purification of the house where a man has died.
II (4-13). Funerals.
III (14-22). Purification of the ways along which the corpse has been carried.
IV (23-25). No clothes to be wasted on a corpse.
V (26-32). Unlawful lusts.
VI (33-34). A corpse when dried up does not contaminate.
VII (35-72). Purification of the man defiled by the dead.
VIII (73-80). Purification of the fire defiled by the dead.
IX (81-96). The Bahrain fire.
X (97-107). Purification in the wilderness.
This chapter, putting aside section V, may be entitled: Funerals and Purification. Logical order may easily be introduced into it, by arranging the sections as follows: I, IV, II, III, VI, VII, X, VIII, IX.
I.
1. If a dog or a man die under the timber-work of a house or the wattlings of a hut, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
’ Possibly, works for the Dru^.
* ‘ From what hour may the good waters be offered up? From sunrise to sunset. He who offers up the good waters after sunset, before sunrise, does no better deed than if he should shed them downright into the jaws of the venomous snake ’ (Nirangistan, in the Zand-Pahlavi Glossary, p. 76).
94 VENdIdAD.
2 (4). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ They shall look for a Dakhma, they shall look for a Dakhma all around. If they find it easier to remove the dead than to remove the house, they shall take out the dead, they shall let the house stand, and shall per- fume it with Urvasni, or Vohu-gaona, or Vohu-kereti, or Hadha-naepata, or any other sweet-smelling plant *.
3 (8). ‘ If they find it easier to remove the house than to remove the dead a, they shall take away the house, they shall let the dead lie on the spot, and shall perfume the house with Urvasni, or Vohu- gaona, or Vohu-kereti, or Hadha-naepata, or any other sweet-smelling plant.’
II.
4(11). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a dog or a man happens to die, and it is raining1 2 3, or snowing, or blowing 4, or the darkness is coming on, when flocks and men lose their way, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do 4?
1 ‘ So, when a clog or a man dies, the first thing to do is to take the corpse out (from the house), and to purify the house, inside and outside, with perfumes burnt on the fire' (Comm.) Cf. XI, 4. Urvasni is the rasan plant, a sort of garlic; Vohu-gaona, Vohu- kereti, and 1 Jadha-naepata are respectively (according to Aspen- diarji) benzoin, aloe, and pomegranate.
2 If the house is simply a hut or a tent.
a * No corpse must be taken to the Dakhma when rain is falling, or threatening. If one is overtaken by rain on the way, if there be a place to lay it down, they shall lay it down; if there be none, they must go on and take it to the Dakhma, they must not retrace their steps When arrived at the Dakhma, if they find it full of water, they may nevertheless lay down the corpse 9 (Comm.)
4 If it is the season of rain or snow. Cf. V, 10 seq.
FARGARD VIII.
95 5 (14). Ahura Mazda, answered: ‘The place in that 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 — 6 (16). 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?
7(17). 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; — 8(18). ‘On that place they shall dig a grave, half a foot deep if the earth be hard, half the height of a man if it be soft; [they shall cover the surface of the grave with ashes or cowdung] 1 2; they shall cover the surface of it with dust of bricks, of stones, or of dry earth 9 (21). ‘And they shall let the lifeless body lie there, for two nights, or three nights, or a month long, until 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.
10 (23). ‘ And when 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 wor- shippers of Mazda shall make a breach in the wall 1 Vendidad Sadah.
2 In the similar case in V, 10, it is prescribed to isolate the corpse in a permanent dead house (the Zad-marg); the rule pre- scribed here seems to be older, as it is now obsolete; it was besides less convenient.
96 VENDIDAD.
of the house1, and they shall call for two men, strong and skilful2 3, and those, having stripped their clothes off2, shall take the body to the building of clay, stones, and mortar 4, raised on a place where they know there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds.
11 (29). ‘Afterwards the corpse-bearers shall sit down, three paces from the dead; then the holy Ratu s shall proclaim to the worshippers of Mazda thus: “ Let the worshippers of Mazda here bring the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers there shall wash their hair and their bodies! ” ’ 12 (32). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers shall wash their hair and their bodies? Is it of sheep or of oxen? Is it of man or of woman?
13 (35). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ It is of sheep or of oxen; not of man nor of woman, except these two: the nearest kinsman (of the dead) or his nearest kyiswoman. The worshippers of Mazda 1 ‘ The master and mistress of the house are carried away through a breach (made in the wall of the house); others through the door ' (Comm.) In some parts of Germany the dead must not be carried away through the usual house-door, as the dead and the living must not pass through the same door.
3 The corpse-bearers or nasu- kasha. ‘The corpse must be carried by two persons (see Farg. Ill, 13 seq.), no matter who they are; they may be a man and a woman, or two women ’ (Comm.)
3 ‘ As they are exchanged for the special clothes in which they carry corpses’ (Comm.), the so-called ^amah-i dakhma, ‘the Dakhma clothes.’
4 The Dakhma (see Farg. VI, 50 seq.)
8 The priest who directs the funerals, ‘ the chief of the Nasu- kashas’ (Comm.)
FARGARD VIII.
97 shall therefore procure the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers shall wash their hair and their bodies V III.
14 (38). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the way, whereon the carcases of dogs or corpses of men have been carried, be passed through again by flocks and herds, by men and women, by Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of baresma, and by the faithful?
15 (40). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It cannot be passed through again by flocks and herds, nor by men and women, nor by Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, nor by the consecrated bundles of baresma, nor by the faithful.
16(41). ‘You shall therefore cause the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears 2, to go three times through that way 3. When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, is brought there, then the Dru^ Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras*.
17 (45). * If the dog goes unwillingly, they shall cause the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white 1 When back in the village they perform the regular Barash- nhm with consecrated gomez (Comm.)
* See Introd. V, 4.
* ‘ Afrag says, the dog goes straight along the length of the way; Maidyo-mah says, he goes across it from side to side' (Comm.)
4 Cf. Farg.VII, 3.
W II 98 vendIdAd.
dog with yellow ears, to go six times 1 through that way. When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, is brought there, then the Dru \g Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.
18 (47). ‘ If the dog goes unwillingly, they shall cause the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, to go nine times through that way. When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, has been brought there, then the Druf Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.