Series I and II are a dry enumeration. The third series contains two interesting digressions, one on the funeral laws (§§ 14-21), and the other on the sanctity of husbandry (§§ 24-33).
The Fargard ends with a development forbidding the burial of the dead (§§ 36-42): it is a sort of commentary to § 8.
The subject of this chapter has become a commonplace topic with the Parsis, who have treated it more or less antithetically in the Mainy6-i-khard (chaps. V and VI) and in the Raviets (Gr. Rav. pp. 434-437)
I.
1. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first place where the Earth? feels most happy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place whereon one of the faithful steps forward, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the log in his hand 8, the Baresma ® in his hand, the milk‘ in his hand, the mortar ® in his
1 «The Genius of the Earth’ (Comm.)
® The wood for the fire altar.
* The Baresma (now called barsom) is a bundle of sacred twigs which the priest holds in his hand while reciting the prayers. (See Farg. XIX, 18 seq. and notes.)
* The so-called giv or givim, one of the elements of the Haoma sacrifice.
§’ The H4vana or mortar used in crushing the Haoma or Hém.
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hand, lifting up his voice in good accord with religion, and beseeching Mithra!, the lord of the rolling country-side, and Rama /7/v4stra?.’
2, 3 (6-10). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth feels most happy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place whereon one of the faithful erects a house with a priest within’, with cattle, with a wife, with children, and good herds within; and wherein afterwards the cattle continue to thrive, virtue to thrive‘, fodder to thrive, the dog to thrive, the wife to thrive, the child to thrive, the fire to thrive, and every blessing of life to thrive.’
4 (11). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the Earth feels most happy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place where one of the faithful sows most corn, grass, and fruit, O Spitama Zarathustra! where he waters ground that is dry, or drains ground that is too wet 5’
! Mithra, the Persian Apollo, sometimes like him identified with the Sun, is invoked here as making the earth fertile. ‘Why do not you worship the Sun? asked king Yazdgard the Christians. Is he not the god who lights up with his rays all the world, and through whose warmth the food of men and cattle grows ripe?’ (Elisaeus.)
* The god that gives food its savour: he is an acolyte to Mithra.
* With the domestic chaplain (the Panthakf).
* By the performance of worship.
® Under the Achaemanian kings countrymen who brought water to places naturally dry received the usufruct of the ground for five generations (Polybius, X, 28). But for those underground canals (called KanAts), which bring water from the mountains all through the Iranian desert, Persia would starve.
p. 24
But for those underground canals (called KanAts), which bring water from the mountains all through the Iranian desert, Persia would starve.
p. 24
5 (15). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth feels most happy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place where there is most increase of flocks and herds,’
6 (18). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels most happy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place where flocks and herds yield most dung,’
II.
7 (21). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first place where the Earth feels sorest grief?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘It is the neck of Arezira 1, whereon the hosts of fiends rush forth from the burrow of the Drug ®.’
8 (25). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth feels sorest grief?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘It is the place wherein most corpses of dogs and of men lie.buried *.’
1 The neck of Arez(ira (Arezfrahé grfva) is ‘a mount at the gate of hell, whence the demons rush forth’ (Bund. XII, 8; DAdistin XXXIII, 5); it is also called ‘the ‘head of Arezfira’ (Farg. XIX, 45), or ‘the back of Arezfra’ (Bund. XII, 2). Arezfira was a fiend, son of Ahriman, who was killed by the first man, Gayémard (Mainy6-i-khard XXVII, 15). The mount named from him lies in the North (which is the seat of the demons): it seems to belong to the Alborz chain, like the Damfvand (Bund. XII, 8), where Azi Dah4ka was bound (Farg. I, 18, notes).
* Hell, the Drug being assimilated to a burrowing Khrafstra. Cf. Farg. VII, 24.
> ‘It is declared in the good religion, that, when they conceal
p. 25
9 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the Earth feels sorest grief ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place whereon stand most of those Dakhmas on which the corpses of men are deposited '.’
10 (31). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth feels sorest grief ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place wherein are most burrows of the creatures of Angra Mainyu *.’
11 (34). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels sorest grief ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is the place whereon a corpse beneath the ground, Spend4rmad, the archangel, shudders ; it is just as severe as a serpent or scorpion would be to any one in a sleeping-garment, and it is also just like that to the ground. When thou makest a corpse beneath the ground as it were apparent, thou makest the ground liberated from that affliction’ (Saddar XXXIII, tr. by West, in the Sacred Books of the East, XXIV). Cf. Vd. VI, 51; VII, 45.
When thou makest a corpse beneath the ground as it were apparent, thou makest the ground liberated from that affliction’ (Saddar XXXIII, tr. by West, in the Sacred Books of the East, XXIV). Cf. Vd. VI, 51; VII, 45.
} With regard to Dakhmas, see Farg. VI, 45. ‘Nor is the Earth happy at that place whereon stands a Dakhma with corpses upon it; for that patch of ground will never be clean again till the day of resurrection’ (Gr. Rav. 435, 437). Although the erection of Dakhmas is enjoined by the law, yet the Dakhma in itself is as unclean as any spot on the earth can be, since it is always in contact with the dead (cf. Farg. VII, 55). The impurity which would otherwise be scattered over the whole world, is thus brought together to one and the same spot. Yet even that spot, in spite of the Ravéet, is not to lie defiled for ever, as every fifty years the Dakhmas ought to be pulled down, so that their sites may be restored to their natural purity (see Farg. VII, 49 seq. and this Farg. § 13).
3 ‘Where there are most Khrafstras’ (noxious animals).
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the wife and children of one of the faithful', O Spitama Zarathustra! are driven along the way of captivity, the dry, the dusty way, and lift up a voice of wailing.’
III.
12 (38). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the first that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is he who digs out of it most corpses of dogs and men ®*.’
13 (41). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the second that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is he who pulls down most of those Dakhmas on which the corpses of men are deposited °,’
14 (44). Let no man alone by himself* carry a corpse’. Ifa man alone by himself carry a corpse,
* Killed by an enemy.
* This joy answers the second grief of the earth (§ 8; cf. note). There is no counterpart given to the first grief (§ 7), because, as the Commentary naively expresses it, ‘it is not possible now so to dig out hell,’ which will be done at the end of the world (Bund. XXX, 32).
5 This answers the third grief (§ 9; cf. note).
“ No ceremony in general can be performed by one man alone. Two Mobeds are wanted to perform the Vendid4d service, two priests for the Barashnfim, two persons for the Sag-difd (Anquetil, II, 584 n.) It is never good that the faithful should be alone, as the fiend is always lurking about, ready to take advantage of any moment of inattention. If the faithful be alone, there is no one to make up for any negligence and to prevent mischief arising from it. Never is the danger greater than in the present case, when the fiend is close at hand, and in direct contact with the faithful.
5 A corpse from which the Nasu has not been expelled by the Sag-did ceremony (described Vd. VIII, 14-22).
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Never is the danger greater than in the present case, when the fiend is close at hand, and in direct contact with the faithful.
5 A corpse from which the Nasu has not been expelled by the Sag-did ceremony (described Vd. VIII, 14-22).
p. 27
the Nasu? rushes upon him, to defile him, from the nose of the dead, from the eye, from the tongue, from the jaws, from the sexual organs, from the hinder parts. This Drug Nasu falls upon him, {stains him] even to the end of the nails, and he is unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever.
15 (49). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What shall be the place of that man who has carried a corpse [alone]? ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It shall be the place on this earth wherein is least water and fewest plants, whereof the ground is the cleanest and the driest and the least passed through by flocks and herds, by the fire of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of Baresma, and by the faithful *,’
16 (55). 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 ?
17 (57). Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ Thirty paces ‘4 from the fire, thirty paces from the water, thirty paces from the consecrated bundles of Baresma, three paces from the faithful.
? The word Nasu has two meanings: it means either the corpse (nasi), or the corpse-demon (the Drug Nasu, that is to say the demon who takes possession of the dead body and makes his presence felt by the decomposition of the body and infection).
* He cannot purify himself like the Nas4-salar (Vd. VIII, 13). ‘He who carries a man, knowing that the man is dead and that the Sag-did has not been performed, commits a sin worthy of death (margarzfn). As the absence of Sag-did makes the infection worse, it is the same crime as if a man were to introduce a plague into the country.
% To avoid any contact of that man with pure beings.
‘ A pace (g&ma) is as much as three feet (padha; Vd. IX, 8).
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18, 19 (§8-63). ‘There, on that place, shall the worshippers of Mazda erect an enclosure’, and therein shall they establish him with food, therein shall they establish him with clothes, with the coarsest food and with the most worn-out clothes. That food he shall live on, those clothes he shall wear, and thus shall they let him live, until he has grown to the age of a Hana, or of a Zaurura, or of a Pairista-khshudra *.
That food he shall live on, those clothes he shall wear, and thus shall they let him live, until he has grown to the age of a Hana, or of a Zaurura, or of a Pairista-khshudra *.
20, 21 (64-71). ‘And when he has grown to the age of a Hana, or of a Zaurura’, or of a Pairistakhshudra, then the worshippers of Mazda shall order a man strong, vigorous, and skilful ¢, to cut the head off his neck®, in his enclosure on the top of the mountain : and they shall deliver his corpse unto the greediest of the corpse-eating creatures made by the beneficent Spirit, unto the vultures, with these words: “ The man here has repented of all his evil thoughts, words, and deeds. 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 ever.”’
2 The Armest-g4h, the place for the unclean; see Introd. V, 15.
* Hana means, literally, ‘an old man;’ Zaurura, ‘a man broken down by age;’ Pairista-khshudra, ‘one whose seed is dried up.’ These words have acquired the technical meanings of ‘fifty, sixty, and seventy years old.’ ,
* When he is near his death. The carrier alone (@vak-bar), being margarzén (see p. 27, n. 2), ought to have been put to death at once. The rigour of theory was abated in practice and delayed to the moment when the guilty man was to have paid to nature the debt due to religion.
* Perhaps : ‘to flay him alive and cut off his head.’ Cf. Farg. IX, 49, text and note.
* By the performance of the Patet.
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22 (72). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the third that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is he who fills up most burrows of the creatures of Angra Mainyu.’
23 (75). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the fourth that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is he who sows most corn, grass, and fruit, O Spitama Zarathustra! who | waters ground that is dry, or drains ground that is too wet *,
24 (79). ‘Unhappy is the land that has long lain unsown with the seed of the sower and wants a good husbandman, like a well-shapen maiden who has long gone childless and wants a good husband.
25 (84). ‘He who would till the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him will she bring forth plenty of fruit: even as it were a lover sleeping with his bride on her bed; the bride will bring forth children, the earth will bring forth plenty of fruit *.
26, 27 (87-90). ‘He who would till the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him thus says the Earth: “O thou man! who dost till me with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, here shall I ever go on bearing, bring-
1 This joy answers the fourth grief of the earth (§ 10).
with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him thus says the Earth: “O thou man! who dost till me with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, here shall I ever go on bearing, bring-
1 This joy answers the fourth grief of the earth (§ 10).
* This is identical with § 4, which is developed in the following clauses (§§ 24-34).
5 The text has: ‘she brings either a son or plenty of fruit,’ she being either the woman or the earth.
30 venptpAp.
ing forth all manner of food, bringing corn first to thee?.”
28, 29 (91-95). ‘He who does not till the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him thus says the Earth: “O thou man! who dost not till me with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, ever shalt thou stand at the door of the stranger, among those who beg for bread; the refuse and the crumbs of the bread are brought unto thee *, brought by those who have profusion of wealth.”’
30 (96). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the food that fills the Religion of Mazda? ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is sowing corn again and again, O Spitama Zarathustra !
31 (99). ‘He who sows corn, sows righteousness : he makes the Religion of Mazda walk, he suckles the Religion of Mazda; as well as he could do with a hundred man’s feet, with a thousand woman's breasts ¢, with ten thousand sacrificial formulas °.
32 (105). ‘When barley was created, the Daévas
‘ «When something good grows up, it will grow up for thee first’ (Comm.) Perhaps: ‘bringing to thee profusion of corn’ (‘some say, she will bring to thee 15 for 10;’ Comm.)
* «They take for themselves what is good and send to thee what is bad’ (Comm.)
* Literally, ‘ What is the stomach of the law?’
‘ «He makes the Religion of Mazda as fat as a child could be made by means of a hundred feet, that is to say, of fifty servants walking to rock him ; of a thousand breasts, that is, of five hundred nurses ’ (Comm.)
° With the recitation of 10,000 Yénghé hAtim, that is to say, as if one had performed for his weal as many sacrifices as contain 10,000 Yénghé hatam.
p. 31
started up’; when it grew’, then fainted the Daévas’ hearts ; when the knots came, the Daévas groaned; when the ear came, the Daévas flew away‘. In that house the Daévas stay, wherein wheat perishes 5, It is as though red hot iron were turned about in their throats, when there is plenty of corn’,
33 (111). ‘ Then let people learn by heart this holy saying: “ No one who does not eat, has strength to do heavy works of holiness’, strength to do works of husbandry, strength to beget children. By eating every material creature lives, by not eating it dies away.”’
34 (116). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is‘ the fifth that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy ?
By eating every material creature lives, by not eating it dies away.”’
34 (116). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is‘ the fifth that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘[It is he who kindly and piously gives® to one of the faithful who tills the earth,] O Spitama Zarathustra !
35 (118). ‘He who would not kindly and piously give to one of the faithful who tills the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! Spenta Armaiti® will throw him down into darkness, down into the world of woe, the world of hell, down into the deep abyss !°.’
p. 1
John Barleycorn got up again,
And sore surpris’d them all. * Doubtful. 5 Doubtful.
‘ The general meaning of the sentence is how the Dévs are broken down ‘by the growing, the increasing, and the ripening of the corn’ (Dinkard, 1. 1. § 10).
* Doubtful. * Doubtful.
7 ‘Like the performance of the dvazda hémA4st’ (the longest and most cumbersome of all Zoroastrian ceremonies).
* The Ashé-d4d or alms. The bracketed clause is from the Vendid4d Sada.
® The Genius of the Earth offended.
3° Conjectural translation, -
p. 32
IV.
36 (122). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man shall bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within half a year, what is the penalty that he shall pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Five hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra?, five hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana}.’
37 (126). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man shall bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within a year, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘A thousand stripes with the Aspahé-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraosh6-Aarana.’
38 (130). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man shall bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within the second year, what is the penalty for it? What is the atonement for it? What is the cleansing from it ?
39 (135). Ahura Mazda’ answered: ‘For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which there is no atonement, for ever and ever.’
40 (137). When is it so?
‘It is so, if the sinner be a professor of the
1 See Introduction.
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Religion of Mazda, or one who has been taught in it!
‘But if he be not a professor of the Religion of Mazda, nor one who has been taught in it?, then his sin is taken from him, if he makes confession of the Religion ‘of Mazda and resolves never to commit again such forbidden deeds *.
p. 33
Religion of Mazda, or one who has been taught in it!
‘But if he be not a professor of the Religion of Mazda, nor one who has been taught in it?, then his sin is taken from him, if he makes confession of the Religion ‘of Mazda and resolves never to commit again such forbidden deeds *.
41 (142). ‘The Religion of Mazda indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! takes away from him who makes confession of it the bonds of his sin*; it takes away (the sin of) breach of trust®; it takes away (the sin of) murdering one of the faithful®; it takes away (the sin of) burying a corpse’; it takes away (the sin of) deeds for which there is no atonement; it takes away the worst sin of usury®; it takes away any sin that may be sinned.
1 A born Zoroastrian or a catechist : in both cases, he must have known that he was committing sin.
* He did not know that he was committing sin.
* He makes Patet and says to himself, ‘I will never henceforth sin again’ (Comm.)
* If not knowingly committed ; see § 40 and the following notes.
5 Doubtful. From the Commentary it appears that draosha must have meant a different sort of robbery: ‘He knows that it is forbidden to steal, but he fancies that robbing the rich to give to the poor is a pious deed ’ (Comm.)
* Or better, ‘a Mazdean,’ but one who has committed a capital crime ; ‘he knows that it is allowed to kill the margarz4n, but he does not know that it is not allowed to do so without an order from the judge.’ Cf. VIII, 74 note.
7 *He knows that it is forbidden to bury a corpse; but he fancies that if one manages so that dogs or foxes may not take it to the fire and to the water, he behaves piously ’ (Comm.)—He fancies that the prohibition of burying the dead is meant only for the protection of the fire and the water, not of the earth herself.
* Or, possibly, ‘the sin of usury.’ ‘He knows that it is lawful
(4] D
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42 (149). ‘In the same way the Religion of Mazda, O Spitama Zarathustra! cleanses the faithful from every evil thought, word, and deed, as a swift-rushing mighty wind cleanses the plain !.
‘So let all the deeds he doeth be henceforth good, O Zarathustra! a full atonement for his sin is effected by means of the Religion of Mazda.’
FARGARD IV.
Contracts and Outrages.
This Fargard is the only one in the Vendfdad that deals strictly with legal objects.
Ia. Classification of the contracts according to the value of their object (§ 2).—A contract is cancelled by paying the amount of the contract higher by one degree (§§ 3-4).
Religious responsibility of the family for the breach of a contract by one of its members (§§ 5-10).
Punishment of the Mihir-Drug (one who breaks a contract), (§§ 11-16).
Ila. Definition of the outrages known as 4gerepta (threatening attitude), avaoirista (assault), aredus (blows), (§ 17).
Religious responsibility of the family for the breach of a contract by one of its members (§§ 5-10).
Punishment of the Mihir-Drug (one who breaks a contract), (§§ 11-16).
Ila. Definition of the outrages known as 4gerepta (threatening attitude), avaoirista (assault), aredus (blows), (§ 17).
Penalties for menaces (§§ 18-21) ; for assaults (§§ 22-25); for blows (§§ 26-29); for wounds (§§ 30-33); for wounds causing blood to flow (§§ 34-36); for broken bones (§§ 37-39); for manslaughter (§§ 40-43).
III a. Contract of charity to co-religionists (§§ 44-45).
IVa. Heinousness of false oath (§ 46).
Ill b. Dignity of wealth; of marriage; of physical weal (§§ 47-49 a).
IVb. Heinousness of false oath. Ordeal (§§ 49 b-g5).
Part of this Fargard has been made unduly obscure by the transposition of § 46, wrongly inserted between the clause on charity (§§ 44-45) and the corresponding development on the dignity of material goods. This transposition is found in all known manuscripts and belonged to the older text from which they are derived.
to take high interest, but he does not know that it is not lawful to do so from the faithful’ (Comm.) 1 «From chaff’ (Comm.)
— a
FARGARD Iv. 35
I.
1. He that does not restore a loan to the man who lent it, steals the thing and robs the man?, This he doeth every day, every night, as long as he keep in his house his neighbour’s property, as though it were his own *.
Ta.
2 (4). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How many in number are thy contracts, O Ahura Mazda ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ They are six in number, O holy Zarathustra’. The first is the wordcontract ¢; the second is the hand-contract®; the third is the contract to the amount of a sheep*; the
1 ‘He is a thief when he takes with a view not to restore; he is . a robber when, being asked to restore, he answers, I will not’ (Comm.)
* Every moment that he holds it unlawfully, he steals it anew. ‘ The basest thing with Persians is to lie; the next to it is to be in debt, for this reason among many others, that he who is so, must needs sink to lying at last’ (Herod. I, 183). The debtor in question is of course the debtor of bad faith, ‘he who says to a man, Give me this, I will restore it to thee at the proper time, and he says to himself, I will not restore it’ (Comm.)
® At first view it seems as if the classification were twofold, the contracts being defined in the first two clauses by their mode of being entered into, and in the last four by their amount. Yet it . appears from the following clauses that even the word-contract and the hand-contract are indicative of a certain amount, which, however, the commentators did not, or were unable to, determine.
* The word-contract may be a contract of which the object are words: the contract of jadang6i (ukhdhé -vaéah), by which one offers to speak and intervene for some one’s benefit, or the contract between master and pupil (for teaching the sacred texts).
* The contract for hiring labour (?).
* The word-contract may be a contract of which the object are words: the contract of jadang6i (ukhdhé -vaéah), by which one offers to speak and intervene for some one’s benefit, or the contract between master and pupil (for teaching the sacred texts).
* The contract for hiring labour (?).
* ‘Viz. to the amount of 3 istfrs [in weight], (Comm.) An istir (orarjp) is as much as 4 dirhems (8payyi).
D2
p. 26
fourth is the contract to the amount of an ox'; the fifth is the contract to the amount of a man?; the sixth is the contract to the amount of a field °,a field in good land, a fruitful one, in good bearing +.’
3 (13). The word-contract is fulfilled by words of mouth.
It is cancelled by the hand-contract ; he shall give as damages the amount of the hand-contract.
4 (16). The hand-contract is cancelled by the sheep-contract ; he shall give as damages the amount of the sheep-contract.
The sheep-contract is cancelled by the ox-contract ; he shall give as damages the amount of the ox-contract.
The ox-contract is cancelled by the man-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the mancontract.
The man-contract is cancelled by the field-contract ; he shall give as damages the amount of the field-contract.
5 (24). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the word-contract, how many are involved in his sin 5?
1 «To the amount of 12 istfrs (=48 dirhems),’ (Comm.)
*<To the amount of 500 dirhems.’ The exact translation would be rather, ‘The contract to the amount of a human being’ (promise of marriage).
5 ‘Upwards of 500 istfrs.’
“ A sort of gloss added to define more accurately the value of the object, and to indicate that it is greater than that of the preceding one.
5 Literally, how much is involved? The joint responsibility of the family was a principle in the Persian law: ‘ Leges apud eos impendio formidatae, et abominandae aliae, per quas ob noxam unius omnis propinquitas perit’ (Am. Marcellinus XXIII, 6).
p. 37
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His sin makes his Nab4nazdistas! answerable for three hundred (years) *.’ |
6 (26). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the hand-contract, how many are involved in his sin ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His sin makes his Nabdnazdistas answerable for six hundred (years) *.’
7 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the sheep-contract, how many are involved in his sin?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ His sin makes his NabAnazdistas answerable for seven hundred (years) *.’
8 (30). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the ox-contract, how many are involved in his sin ?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ His sin makes his Nabanazdistas answerable for eight hundred (years) °.’
} The next of kin to the ninth degree.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the ox-contract, how many are involved in his sin ?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ His sin makes his Nabanazdistas answerable for eight hundred (years) °.’
} The next of kin to the ninth degree.
* See § 11. This passage seems to have puzzled tradition. The Commentary says, ‘How long, how many years, has one to fear for the breach of a word-contract ?—the Nabfnazdistas have to fear for three hundred years ;’ but it does not explain farther the nature of that fear ; it only tries to reduce the circle of that liability to narrower limits: ‘only the son born after the breach is liable for it; the righteous are not liable for it; when the father dies, the son, if righteous, has nothing to fear from it.’ And finally, the Ravéets leave the kinsmen wholly aside; the penalty falling entirely upon the real offender, and the number denoting only the duration of his punishment in hell: ‘He who breaks a word-contract, his soul shall abide for three hundred years in hell’ (Gr. Rav. 94).
® See § 12. ‘His soul shall abide for six hundred years in hell’ (Gr. Rav. 1. 1.)
* See § 13. ‘His soul shall abide for seven hundred years in hell’ (Gr. Rav. 1. 1.)
_ *& See §.14. ‘His soul shall abide for eight hundred years in hell.’
p. 38
9 (32). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the man-contract, how many are involved in his sin ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ His sin makes his Nabanazdistas answerable for nine hundred (years) 1.’
10 (34). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the field-contract, how many are involved in his sin ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ His sin makes his NabAnazdistas answerable for a thousand (years) *.’
11 (36). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the word-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Three hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, three hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana °.’
12 (39). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If aman break the hand-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Six hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, six hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana *.’
13 (42). O Maker of the material’ world, thou Holy One! If a man break the sheep-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana 5,’
1 See §.15. ‘His soul shall abide for nine hundred years in hell.’
* See § 16. ‘His soul shall abide for a thousand years in hell.’
> One tanafahr and a half, that is 1800 dirhems. See Introd.
‘ Three tanéfQhrs, or 3600 dirhems.
5 Three tanAfdhrs and a half, or 4200 dirhems.
14 (45). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the ox-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay ?
p. 39
See Introd.
‘ Three tanéfQhrs, or 3600 dirhems.
5 Three tanAfdhrs and a half, or 4200 dirhems.
p. 39
14 (45). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the ox-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, eight hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana'!
15 (48). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the man-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ Nine hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, nine hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana *.’
16 (51). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man break the field-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘A thousand stripes’ with the Aspahé-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana 8,’
.
IIa.
17 (54). If a man rise up with a weapon in his hand, it is an Agerepta‘. If he brandish it, it is
* Four tanfihrs, or 4800 dirhems.
2 Four tanffihrs and a half, or 5400 dirhems.
3 Five tanffihrs, or 6000 dirhems.
‘ In this paragraph are defined the first three of the eight outrages with which the rest of the Fargard deals. Only these three are defined, because they are designated by technical terms. We subjoin the definitions of them found in a Sanskrit translation of a Patet (Paris, Bibl. Nat. f. B. 5, 154), in which their etymological meanings are better preserved than in the Zend definition itself :—
Agerepta, ‘seizing,’ is when a man seizes a weapon with a view to smite another.
Avaoirista, ‘brandishing,’ is when a man brandishes a weapon with a view to smite another.
Aredus is when a man actually smites another with a weapon,p. 40 an Avaoirista. If he actually smite a man with malicious aforethought, it is an Aredus. Upon the fifth Aredus! he becomes a Peshétanu?.
18 (58). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! He that committeth an Agerepta, what penalty shall he pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Five stripes with the Aspahé-astra, five stripes with the Sraoshé- Aarana;
‘On the second Agerepta, ten stripes with the Aspahé-astra, ten stripes with the Sraoshé- Aarana;
‘On the third, fifteen stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifteen stripes with the Sraosh6é-Aarana.
19 (63). ‘On the fourth, thirty stripes with the ‘Aspahé-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana ;
‘On the fifth, fifty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshé-arana;
‘On the sixth, sixty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, sixty stripes with the Sraoshé-arana ;
‘On the seventh, ninety stripes with the Aspahéastra, ninety stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana.’
20 (67). If a man commit an Agerepta for the eighth time, without having atoned for the preceding *, what penalty shall he pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He isa Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana.’
but without wounding him, or inflicts a wound which is healed within three days.
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He isa Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana.’
but without wounding him, or inflicts a wound which is healed within three days.
1 Viz. on the sixth commission of it, as appears from § 28.
* He shall receive two hundred stripes, or shall pay 1200 dirhems (see Introd.)
> Literally, ‘ without having undone the preceding.’
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21 (70). If a mancommit an Agerepta', and refuse to atone for it*, what penalty shall he pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana.’
22 (73). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Ifa man commit an Avaoirista, what penalty shall he pay ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Ten stripes with the Aspahé-astra, ten stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana ;
‘On the second Avaoirista, fifteen stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifteen stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana.
23 (75). ‘On the third, thirty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana ;
‘On the fourth, fifty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana ;
‘On the fifth, seventy stripes with the Aspahéastra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana ;
‘On the sixth, ninety stripes with the Aspahéastra, ninety stripes with the Sraosh6é-£arana.’
24 (76). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an Avaoirista for the seventh time, without having atoned for the preceding, what penalty shall he pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosh6é-4arana.’
25 (77). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an Avaoirista, and refuse to atone for it, what penalty shall he pay ?
1 Even though the Agerepta has been committed for the first time.
* Literally, ‘and does not undo it.’ If he does not offer himself to bear the penalty, and does not perform the Patet (see Introd.)
p. 42
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosh6-£arana.’
26 (79). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an Aredus, what penalty shall he pay?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ Fifteen stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifteen stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana.
27 (81). ‘On the second Aredus, thirty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraosh6é-4arana ;
‘On the third, fifty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana ;
‘On the fourth, seventy stripes with the Aspahéastra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana ;
‘On the fifth, ninety stripes with the Aspahéastra, ninety stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana.’
28. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an Aredus for the sixth time, without having atoned for the preceding, what penalty shall he pay?
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an Aredus for the sixth time, without having atoned for the preceding, what penalty shall he pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana.’
29 (82). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an Aredus, and refuse to atone for it, what penalty shall he pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-farana.’
30 (85). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another and hurt him sorely, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
31 (87). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Thirty stripesp. 43 with the Aspahé-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraoshé-arana ;
“The second time, fifty stripes with the Aspahéastra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana ;
‘The third time, seventy stripes with the Aspahéastra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshé-4arana ;
‘The fourth time, ninety stripes with the Aspahéastra, ninety stripes with the Sraosh6-£arana.’
32 (89). If a man commit that deed for the fifth time, without having atoned for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosh6-arana.’
33 (90). If a man commit that deed and refuse to atone for it, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura. Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosh6-éarana.’
34 (93). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that the blood come, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Fifty stripes with the Aspahé-astra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana ;
‘The second time, seventy stripes with the Aspahéastra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana ;
‘The third time, ninety stripes with the Aspahéastra, ninety stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana.’
35-(95). If he commit that deed for the fourth time, without having atoned for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshdétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosh6é-Aarana.’
p. 44
36 (96). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that the blood come, and if he refuse to atone for it, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosh6é-Aarana.’
37 (99). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that he break a bone, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Seventy stripes with the Aspahé-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshé- Aarana ; ‘
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that he break a bone, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Seventy stripes with the Aspahé-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshé- Aarana ; ‘
‘ The second time, ninety stripes with the Aspahéastra, ninety stripes with the Sraoshé-4arana.’
38 (102). If he commit that deed for the third time, without having atoned for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana.’
39 (104). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that he break a bone, and if he refuse to atone for it, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshdétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-Zarana.’
40 (106). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that he give up the ghost, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Ninety stripes with the Aspahé-astra, ninety stripes with the Sraoshé-Aarana.’
p. 45
41 (109). If he commit that deed again, without having atoned for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana.’
42 (112). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite another so that he give up the ghost, and if he refuse to atone for it, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He is a Peshétanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-éarana.’
43 (115). And they shall thenceforth in their doings walk after the way of holiness, after the word of holiness, after the ordinance of holiness.
IIIa‘.
44 (118). If men of the same faith, either friends or brothers, come to an agreement together, that one may obtain from the other, either goods’, or a wife, or knowledge‘, let him who desires goods
? We return here to contracts; the logical place of §§ 44-45 would be after § 16.
? The analysis of the Vendid4d in the Dinkard has here : ‘a proof that one professes the Religion well is to grant bountifully to the brethren in the faith any benefit they may ask for.’
3 Woman is an object of contract, like cattle or fields: she is disposed of by contracts of the fifth sort, being more valuable than cattle and less so than fields. She is sold by her father or her guardian, often from the cradle. ‘Instances are not wanting of the betrothal of a boy of three years of age to a girl of two’ (see Dosabhoy Framjee’s work on The Parsees, p. 77; cf. ‘A Bill to Define and Amend the Law relating to Succession, Inheritance, Marriage, &c.,’ Bombay, 1864).
4 On the holiness of the contract between pupil and teacher, see Yt. X, 116. Cf. above, p, 35, n. 4.
46 VENDIDAD.
77; cf. ‘A Bill to Define and Amend the Law relating to Succession, Inheritance, Marriage, &c.,’ Bombay, 1864).
4 On the holiness of the contract between pupil and teacher, see Yt. X, 116. Cf. above, p, 35, n. 4.
p. 46
have them delivered to him; let him who desires a wife receive and wed her; let him who desires knowledge be taught the holy word,
45 (123). during the first part of the day and the last, during the first part of the night and the last, that his mind may be increased in intelligence and wax strong in holiness. So shall he sit up, in devotion and prayers, that he may be increased in intelligence: he shall rest during the middle part of the day, during the middle part of the night}, and thus shall he continue until he can say all the words which former Aéthrapaitis? have said.
IVa.
46 (128). Before the boiling water publicly prepared*, O Spitama Zarathustra! let no one make bold to deny having received [from his neighbour] the ox or the garment in his possession.
IIIb.
47 (130)*. Verily I say it unto thee, O Spitama Zarathustra! the man who has a wife is far above him who lives in continence’; he who keeps a house is far above him who has none; he who has
* He sleeps ‘the third part of the day and the third part of the night’ (Yasna LXII, 5).
* A teaching priest (Parsi Hérbad).
* This clause is intended against false oaths taken in the so-called Var-ordeal (see § 54 .n.) It ought to be placed before § 49 bis, where the penalty for a false oath is given.
* §§ 47-49 are a sort of commentary to the beginning of § 44.
5 What king Yazdgard found most offensive in Christianity was ‘that the Christians praise death and despise life, set no value upon fecundity and extol sterility, so that if their disciples would listen to
p. 47
children is far above the childless man!; he who has riches is far above him who has none.
48 (134). And of two men, he who fills himself with meat receives in him Vohu Mané? much better than he who does not do so; the latter is all but dead; the former is above him by the worth of an Asperena *, by the worth of a sheep, by the worth of an ox, by the worth of a man *.
49 (137). This man can strive against the onsets of Asté-vidhétu*; he can strive against the welldarted arrow; he can strive against the winter them, they would no longer have any intercourse with women and the world would end’ (Elisaeus).
1 In Persia there are prizes given by the king to those who have most children’ (Herod. I, 136). ‘He who has no child, the bridge (of Paradise) shall be barred to him. The first question the angels there will ask him is, whether he has left in this world a substitute for himself; if the answer be, No, they will pass by and he will stay at the head of the bridge, full of grief and sorrow’ (Saddar 18; Hyde 19). The primitive meaning of this belief is explained by Brahmanical doctrine; the man without a son falls into hell, because there is nobody to pay him the family worship.
The primitive meaning of this belief is explained by Brahmanical doctrine; the man without a son falls into hell, because there is nobody to pay him the family worship.
* Vohu Mané is at the same time the god of good thoughts and the god of cattle.
3 «There are people who strive to pass a day without eating, and who abstain from any meat; we strive too and abstain, namely, from any sin in deed, thought, or word: . . . in other religions, they fast from bread; in ours, we fast from sin’ (Saddar 83).—‘ The Zoroastrians have no fasting at all. He who fasts commits a sin, and must, by way of expiation, give food to a number of poor people’ (Albfrfint, Chronology, p. 217).
‘ A dirhem.
5 Or: ‘is worth an Asperena, worth a sheep, worth an ox, worth a man,’ which means, according to the Commentary : ‘ deserves the gift of an Asperena, of a sheep’s value, an ox’s value, a man’s value.’
* Asté-vidhdtu, the demon of death (Farg. V, 8). The man who eats well has greater vitality.
p. 48
fiend, with thinnest garment on; he can strive against the wicked tyrant and smite him on the head; he can strive against the ungodly fasting Ashemaogha?,
IVb.
49 (bis). On the very first time when that deed? has been done, without waiting until it is done again,
50 (143). down there® the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should cut off the limbs from his perishable body with knives of brass, or still worse;
51 (146). down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should nail‘ his perishable body with nails of brass, or still worse ;
52 (149). down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should by force throw his perishable body headlong down a precipice a hundred times the height of a man, or still worse;
53 (152). down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should by force impale® his perishable body, or still worse.
54 (154). Down there the pain for his deed shall be as hard as any in this world: to wit, the deed of
* The Commentary has: ‘like Mazdak, son of Bamdat,’ the communistic heresiarch who flourished under Kobéd (488-531) and was put to death under Noshirvan.
* The taking of a false oath. Cf. § 46. 5 In hell.
* Doubtful. 5 Doubtful.
p. 49
a man, who, knowingly lying, confronts the brimstoned, golden’, truth-knowing water with an appeal unto Rashnu? and a lie unto Mithra *.
55 (156). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! He who, knowingly lying, confronts the brimstoned, golden, truth-knowing water with an appeal unto Rashnu and a lie unto Mithra, what is the penalty that he shall pay*?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana.’
FARGARD V.
He who, knowingly lying, confronts the brimstoned, golden, truth-knowing water with an appeal unto Rashnu and a lie unto Mithra, what is the penalty that he shall pay*?
Ahura Mazda answered : ‘Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahé-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraoshé-£arana.’
FARGARD V.
This chapter and the following ones, to the end of the twelfth, deal chiefly with uncleanness arising from the dead, and with the means of removing it from men and things.
The subjects treated in this Fargard are as follows :—
1 (1-7). If a man defile the fire or the earth with dead matter (Nasu), involuntarily or unconsciously, it is no sin.
II (8-9). Water and fire do not kill.
III (10-14). Disposal of the dead during winter when it is not possible to take them to the Dakhma.
IV (15-20). Why Ahura, while forbidding man to defile water, sends water from the heavens down to the Dakhmas, covered with corpses. How he purifies that water.
' The water before which the oath is taken contains some incense, brimstone, and one danak of molten gold (Gr. Rav. ror).
* The god of truth (Yt. XII). The formula is as follows: ‘ Before the Amshaspand Bahman, before the Amshaspand Ardibehesht, here lighted up... &c., I swear that I have nothing of what is thine, N. son of N., neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, nor clothes, nor any of the things created by Ormazd’ (1. 1. 96). Cf. above, § 46.
3 He is a Mithra-drug, ‘ one who lies to Mithra.’
* In this world.
[4] E
p. 50
V (21-26). On the excellence of purity and of the law that shows how to recover purity, when lost.
VI (27-38). On the defiling power of the Nasu being greater or less, according to the greater or less dignity of the being that dies.
VII (39-44). On the management of sacrificial implements defiled with Nasu.
VIII (45-62). On the treatment of a woman who has been delivered of a still-born child; and what is to be done with her clothes.
la.
1. There dies a man in the depths of the vale: a bird takes flight from the top of the mountain down into the depths of the vale, and it feeds on the corpse of the dead man there: then, up it flies from the depths of the vale to the top of the mountain: it flies to some one of the trees there, of the hard-wooded or the soft-wooded, and upon that tree it vomits and deposits dung.
2 (7). Now, lo! here is a man coming up from the depths of the vale to the top of the mountain ; he comes to the tree whereon the bird is sitting ; from that tree he intends to take wood for the fire. He fells the tree, he hews the tree, he ‘splits it into logs, and then he lights it in the fire, the son of Ahura Mazda. What is the penalty that he shall pay??
3 (11). Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ There is no sin upon a man for any Nasu that has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies.
4 (12). ‘For were there sin upon a man for any Nasu that might have been brought by dogs, by
What is the penalty that he shall pay??
3 (11). Ahura Mazda answered : ‘ There is no sin upon a man for any Nasu that has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies.
4 (12). ‘For were there sin upon a man for any Nasu that might have been brought by dogs, by
’ For defiling the fire by bringing dead matter into it (see Farg. VII, 25 seq.) contrarily to the rule, ‘Put ye only proper and well-examined fuel (in the fire)’ For the purification of unclean wood, see Farg. VII, 28 seq.
p. 51
birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon all this material world of mine would be only one Peshétanu!, bent on the destruction of righteousness, and whose soul will cry and wail?! so numberless are the beings that die upon the face of the earth.’
Ib.
5 (15). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Here is a man watering a corn-field. The water streams down the field; it streams again; it streams a third time; and the fourth time, a dog, a fox, or a wolf carries some Nasu into the bed of the stream: what is the penalty that the man shall pay*?
6 (19). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ There is no sin upon a man for any Nasu that has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies.
7 (20). ‘For were there sin upon a man for any Nasu that might have been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon all this material world of mine would be only one Peshétanu, bent on the destruction of righteousness, and whose soul will cry and wail! so numberless are the beings that die upon the face of the earth.’
* After their death, ‘When the soul, crying and beaten off, is driven far away from Paradise’ (Comm.) This is imitated from the GAthas (Yasna XLVI, 11; LI, 13; cf. Vd. XIII, 8-9).
* For defiling the earth and the water: ‘If a man wants to irrigate a field, he must first look after the water-channel, whether there is dead matter in it or not..... If the water, unknown to him, comes upon a corpse, there is no sin upon him. If he has not looked after the rivulet and the stream, he is unclean’ (Saddar 75).
E2
52 veND{pAD.
Ila.
8 (23). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Does water kill! ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Water kills no man: Asté-vidhétu binds him, and, thus bound’, Vayu ® carries him off; and the flood takes him up‘, the flood takes him down‘, the flood throws him ashore ; then birds feed upon him. When he goes away*, it is by the will of Fate he goes.
II b.
9 (29). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Does fire kill ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Fire kills no man: Asté-vidhétu binds him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the fire burns up life and limb. When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes.’
II b.
9 (29). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Does fire kill ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Fire kills no man: Asté-vidhétu binds him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the fire burns up life and limb. When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes.’
* Water and fire belong to the holy part of the world, and come from God: how then is it that they kill? ‘Let a Gueber light a sacred fire for a hundred years, if he once fall into it, he shall be burnt.’ Even the Mobeds, if we may trust Elisaeus, complained that the fire would burn them without regard for their piety, when to adore it they came too near (Vartan’s War, p. 211 of the French translation by l’Abbé Garabed). The answer was that it is not the fire nor the water that kills, but the demon of Death and Fate.
* Nothing whatever that I created in the world, said Ormazd, does harm to man; it is the bad Nai (read V4i) that kills the man’ (Gr. Rav. 124).
* « Asti-vahat is the bad V4i who seizes the life (of man): when his hand strokes him, it is lethargy; when he casts his shadow upon him, it is fever; when he looks in his eyes, he destroys life , and it is called Death’ (Bund. XXVIII, 35). Cf. Farg. IV, 49; XIX, 29.
5 <The bad V4i’(Comm.) V4i (Vayu) being the Genius of Destiny, good or evil.
10 (34). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If the summer is past and the winter has come, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do??
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘In every house, in every borough, they shall raise three rooms for the dead *’
11 (37). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How large shall be those rooms for the dead ?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Large enough not to strike the skull of the man, if he*® should stand erect, or his feet or his hands stretched out: such shall be, according to the law, the rooms 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 fly‘, the plants to grow, the hidden floods ® to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth®.
1 In case a man dies during the snowy season, while it is difficult or impossible to take the corpse to the Dakhma, which usually stands far from inhabited places. The same case is treated again in Farg. VIII, 4 seq.
* One for men, another for women, a third for children. As not every house is considerable or rich enough to have these three accommodations, there will be a common Z4d-marg for the village. The Z&d-marg is 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 Z&d-marg is still used in Persia, and in the Gugarati provinces (where it is called Nas4-kh4na, ‘house for corpses’). In Bombay they use the simpler and more economical method given in Farg. VIII, 8.