Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1I. 1. Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When a man dies, at what moment does the Drug Nasu rush upon him ?’ 2 (3). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Directly after death, as soon as the soul has left the body, O Spitama Zarathustra! the Drug Nasu comes and rushes upon him, from the regions of the north}, in 1 Hell lies in the north; cf. I, ro n.; III, 7 n.; XIX, 1 Yt. XXII, 25; Bundahis XV, 19. FARGARD VII. 77 the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras 1. [3. ‘On him she stays until the dog has seen the corpse ? or eaten it up, or until the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it®. When the dog has seen it or eaten it up, or when the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it, then the Drug Nasu rushes away to the regions of the north in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.’] 4 (5). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If the man has been killed by a dog, or by a wolf, or by witchcraft, or by the artifices of hatred 4, or by falling down a precipice, or by the law‘, or by calumny *, or by the noose’, how long after death does the Drug Nasu come and rush upon the dead ? 5 (6). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘At the next watch after death*, the Drug Nasu comes and ’ Khrafstra is a general denomination for noxious animals. * Until the Sag-dfd has been performed (see VIII, 16 seq.) * The Sag-did may be performed by birds of prey as well as by dogs. The dog smites the Nasu when it brings its muzzle near to the dead, the bird (mountain hawk, sparrow (?), or eagle) when its shadow passes over the body (Comm. ad § 2; cf.§ 29). § 3 is from the Vendidad SAda. ‘ «By poison’ (Comm.) ® Literally, ‘by men;’ that is to say, put to death by the community according to law (Comm.) * If he has been condemned unjustly. 7 Tf he has strangled himself. * The day is divided into five watches or ratu. If the man dies a natural death, the Drug comes directly; if the death be violent and unlooked for, the Drug comes later (as the corruption does not set in so quickly). 78 VEND{DAD. rushes upon the dead, from the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.’ IT}, 6 (7). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be a number of men resting in the same place, on the same carpet, on the same pillows, be there two men near one another, or five, or fifty, or a hundred, close by one another; and of those people one happens to die; how many of them does the Drug Nasu envelope with corruption, infection, and pollution ? 7 (11). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If the dead one be a priest, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathu- Stra! she goes as far as the eleventh and defiles the ten.
27 (11). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If the dead one be a priest, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathu- Stra! she goes as far as the eleventh and defiles the ten. ‘If the dead one be a warrior, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the tenth and defiles the nine. ‘If the dead one be a husbandman, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the ninth and defiles the eight. 8 (17). ‘If it be a shepherd’s dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the eighth and defiles the seven. ‘If it be a house dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the seventh and defiles the six. 9 (21). ‘If it be a Vohunazga dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth,O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the sixth and defiles the five. ‘If it be a Tauruna dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the fifth and defiles the four ®,’ 1 §§ 6-9 = Farg. V, 27-30. * This enumeration is less complete than that in the fifth Fargard, as it comprises only the first four sorts of dogs; the rest is to be supplied as in Farg. V, 31-38. FARGARD VII 79 . - - ‘Those clothes shall serve for their coverings and for their sheets?.’. . . Ill. 10 (26). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of his bedding? and pillow does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, infection, and pollution ? 11 (27). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The Drug Nasu defiles with corruption, infection, and pollution the upper sheet and the inner garment 3,’ 12 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can that garment be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! that has been touched by the carcase of a dog or the corpse of a man? 13 (29). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathustra !’ How so? ‘If there be on the garment seed, or blood, or dirt, or vomit, the worshippers of Mazda shall rend it to pieces, and bury it under the ground ‘. 14 (33). ‘But if there be no seed [on the garment], nor blood, nor dirt, nor vomit, then the worshippers of Mazda shall wash it with géméz. 15 (35). ‘If it be leather, they shall wash it with géméz three times, they shall rub it with earth three 1 This phrase, which forms part of § 19, is wrongly inserted here. * The bedding on which he has died. * The upper sheet of the bed and the inner garment of the body, that is to say, only those clothes which have been in direct contact with the dead. * According to the Commentary only that part which has been defiled is rent off ; the rest may still be used. 80 VEND{DAD. times, they shall wash it with water three times, and afterwards they shall expose it to the air for three months at the window of the house. ‘If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with géméz six times}, 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.
3‘If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with géméz six times}, 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. 16 (37). ‘The spring named Ardvt Stra, O Spitama Zarathustra! that spring of mine, purifies the seed of males, the womb of females, the milk of females ®.’ 17° (41). 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 Frabaretar, or by an Abered, or by an AsnAtar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraosh4-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman ? 18 (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 Abered, or by an Asnatar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraosha-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman. 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 withdraw their hands for prayer. 20 (49). ‘Ahura Mazda, indeed, does not allow us to waste anything of value that we may have, not even so 1 See Farg. XIX, ar. * This clause is a quotation from Yasna LXV, 5, intended to illustrate the cleansing power of water. Ardvf Sfira is the goddess of the waters, Cf. Farg. XXI, 6 notes. * §§ 17-22 = Farg. V, 57-62. FARGARD VII. 81 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 Paradise. 22 (55). ‘He makes himself a viaticum unto the world of the wicked, into that world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness, which is Darkness’ self. To that world, to the world of Hell, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own religion, O 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 corpse of a man! ? 24 (60). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! His burrow ? shall be dug out, his heart shall be torn out, his bright eyes shall be put out; the Drug Nasu falls upon him, takes hold of him even to the end of the nails, and he is unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever®’ 1 The carcase-eater lodges the Nasu in himself; he becomes a Nasu, and therefore must be destroyed ; cf. below, § 76 seq. * His house, as he is assimilated to a devouring Khrafstra; cf. Farg. III, 7.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1I. 1. Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When a man dies, at what moment does the Drug Nasu rush upon him ?’ 2 (3). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Directly after death, as soon as the soul has left the body, O Spitama Zarathustra! the Drug Nasu comes and rushes upon him, from the regions of the north}, in 1 Hell lies in the north; cf. I, ro n.; III, 7 n.; XIX, 1 Yt. XXII, 25; Bundahis XV, 19. FARGARD VII. 77 the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras 1. [3. ‘On him she stays until the dog has seen the corpse ? or eaten it up, or until the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it®. When the dog has seen it or eaten it up, or when the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it, then the Drug Nasu rushes away to the regions of the north in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.’] 4 (5). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If the man has been killed by a dog, or by a wolf, or by witchcraft, or by the artifices of hatred 4, or by falling down a precipice, or by the law‘, or by calumny *, or by the noose’, how long after death does the Drug Nasu come and rush upon the dead ? 5 (6). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘At the next watch after death*, the Drug Nasu comes and ’ Khrafstra is a general denomination for noxious animals. * Until the Sag-dfd has been performed (see VIII, 16 seq.) * The Sag-did may be performed by birds of prey as well as by dogs. The dog smites the Nasu when it brings its muzzle near to the dead, the bird (mountain hawk, sparrow (?), or eagle) when its shadow passes over the body (Comm. ad § 2; cf.§ 29). § 3 is from the Vendidad SAda. ‘ «By poison’ (Comm.) ® Literally, ‘by men;’ that is to say, put to death by the community according to law (Comm.) * If he has been condemned unjustly. 7 Tf he has strangled himself. * The day is divided into five watches or ratu. If the man dies a natural death, the Drug comes directly; if the death be violent and unlooked for, the Drug comes later (as the corruption does not set in so quickly). 78 VEND{DAD. rushes upon the dead, from the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.’ IT}, 6 (7). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be a number of men resting in the same place, on the same carpet, on the same pillows, be there two men near one another, or five, or fifty, or a hundred, close by one another; and of those people one happens to die; how many of them does the Drug Nasu envelope with corruption, infection, and pollution ? 7 (11). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If the dead one be a priest, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathu- Stra! she goes as far as the eleventh and defiles the ten.
27 (11). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If the dead one be a priest, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathu- Stra! she goes as far as the eleventh and defiles the ten. ‘If the dead one be a warrior, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the tenth and defiles the nine. ‘If the dead one be a husbandman, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the ninth and defiles the eight. 8 (17). ‘If it be a shepherd’s dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the eighth and defiles the seven. ‘If it be a house dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the seventh and defiles the six. 9 (21). ‘If it be a Vohunazga dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth,O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the sixth and defiles the five. ‘If it be a Tauruna dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she goes as far as the fifth and defiles the four ®,’ 1 §§ 6-9 = Farg. V, 27-30. * This enumeration is less complete than that in the fifth Fargard, as it comprises only the first four sorts of dogs; the rest is to be supplied as in Farg. V, 31-38. FARGARD VII 79 . - - ‘Those clothes shall serve for their coverings and for their sheets?.’. . . Ill. 10 (26). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of his bedding? and pillow does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, infection, and pollution ? 11 (27). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The Drug Nasu defiles with corruption, infection, and pollution the upper sheet and the inner garment 3,’ 12 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can that garment be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! that has been touched by the carcase of a dog or the corpse of a man? 13 (29). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathustra !’ How so? ‘If there be on the garment seed, or blood, or dirt, or vomit, the worshippers of Mazda shall rend it to pieces, and bury it under the ground ‘. 14 (33). ‘But if there be no seed [on the garment], nor blood, nor dirt, nor vomit, then the worshippers of Mazda shall wash it with géméz. 15 (35). ‘If it be leather, they shall wash it with géméz three times, they shall rub it with earth three 1 This phrase, which forms part of § 19, is wrongly inserted here. * The bedding on which he has died. * The upper sheet of the bed and the inner garment of the body, that is to say, only those clothes which have been in direct contact with the dead. * According to the Commentary only that part which has been defiled is rent off ; the rest may still be used. 80 VEND{DAD. times, they shall wash it with water three times, and afterwards they shall expose it to the air for three months at the window of the house. ‘If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with géméz six times}, 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.
3‘If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with géméz six times}, 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. 16 (37). ‘The spring named Ardvt Stra, O Spitama Zarathustra! that spring of mine, purifies the seed of males, the womb of females, the milk of females ®.’ 17° (41). 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 Frabaretar, or by an Abered, or by an AsnAtar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraosh4-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman ? 18 (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 Abered, or by an Asnatar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraosha-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman. 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 withdraw their hands for prayer. 20 (49). ‘Ahura Mazda, indeed, does not allow us to waste anything of value that we may have, not even so 1 See Farg. XIX, ar. * This clause is a quotation from Yasna LXV, 5, intended to illustrate the cleansing power of water. Ardvf Sfira is the goddess of the waters, Cf. Farg. XXI, 6 notes. * §§ 17-22 = Farg. V, 57-62. FARGARD VII. 81 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 Paradise. 22 (55). ‘He makes himself a viaticum unto the world of the wicked, into that world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness, which is Darkness’ self. To that world, to the world of Hell, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own religion, O 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 corpse of a man! ? 24 (60). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! His burrow ? shall be dug out, his heart shall be torn out, his bright eyes shall be put out; the Drug Nasu falls upon him, takes hold of him even to the end of the nails, and he is unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever®’ 1 The carcase-eater lodges the Nasu in himself; he becomes a Nasu, and therefore must be destroyed ; cf. below, § 76 seq. * His house, as he is assimilated to a devouring Khrafstra; cf. Farg. III, 7.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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