1 This is an exceptional case, when not more than two men are available; the usual custom (see Chap. X, 10) is to employ four men and two dogs (double the usual number) in disposing of the corpse of a pregnant woman, on account of the double risk of contamination, owing to the Nasfis, or fiend of corruption, having seized upon two corpses at once. In consequence of the exceptional nature of the case, the mode of purification is also exceptional,
2 A long purification ceremony lasting nine nights, and described in Vend. IX, 1-145. Its name, according to Dastir Hoshangji, is derived from the first word of the instructions for sprinkling the unclean person, which commence (Vend. IX, 48) as follows: Bare- shnim hé vaghdhanem paourum paiti-hinAdis, ‘sprinkle in front on the top of his head.’ As it is usual to quote chapters by their initial words, the initial word of these instructions for the cere- mony became a name for the ceremony itself.
* The building in which the dead are finally deposited; here called by its Huzvaris name, khazin. The Dakhmas used by the Parsis in India are like low circular towers in external appearance, and consist of a high wall enclosing a larger or smaller circular space which is open to the sky. The only opening in the wall is a small doorway, closed with an iron door. In the centre of the circular area is a circular well a few feet in depth, and the space around it is paved so as to slope gently downwards from the enclosing wall to the brink of the well. This paved annular area is divided (by shallow gutters grooved into its surface) into spaces, each large enough for one corpse to be laid upon it, with the head towards the wall and the feet towards the well. These spaces are arranged in two or more concentric rings around the well, and the gutters (which isolate each space on all four sides) drain into the
248 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
a I
(padvishak)! two are not to be carried at one time,
and two by one person are not proper; one dog and
one person are proper* 8. Every one who under-
stands the care of a corpse is proper; two boys of
eight years old, who understand the care, are proper ;
a woman free from menstruation, or free from dead
well. After a sufficient time has elapsed the dry bones are said to be thrown into the well, and when the well is full the Dakhma ought to be finally closed, and another one brought into use. These Dakhmas are erected upon some dry and barren spot, remote from habitations and water; upon the summit of a hill, if possible, as prescribed in Vend. VI, 93, and usually more than a mile from the town. In Bombay the town has gradually approached the Dakhmas, and to some extent surrounded them, but has been kept away from their immediate vicinity by the judicious measures of influential Parsis, who have acquired all the neighbouring land, and refrain from building on it. The reason for thus exposing their dead to the sun and carnivorous birds is that the Parsis consider fire, water, and earth too sacred to be defiled by corp es; and they have less consideration for the air. Next to burning, the Parsi mode of disposing of the dead is the most rapid and effectual, as it avoids most of the concentrated evils which must accumulate in crowded cemeteries in the course of time, and which require ages to dissipate. As it is, most of the offensive effluvium in the immediate vicinity of a Dakhma arises not from direct contamination of the air, but indirectly through the ground, which becomes polluted, in the course of time, by impure filtrations.
' Dastir Jamaspji prefers reading patéshak, and thinks it means ‘necessity,’ as in cases where two deaths occur nearly simultaneously in the same house, when both corpses cannot be removed the same day, Such a meaning might suit this passage, but the word occurs again, in § 33 and Chap. IX, 7, where it can refer only to ‘contamination,’ and the etymology of padvishak (Av. paiti+ vish) is plain enough.
* ‘That is, when two persons cannot be found to carry a corpse, one can do it alone, provided he holds a dog by a string. This course is adopted, Dastfir Jamaspji says, when a person happens to die in a place where only one Parsi is available.
Chapter Ii, 8-11. 249
matter ', or a man, with a woman or a child of eight years old, is proper.
g. It is not to be carried all covered up’, for
that is burying the corpse; to carry 7¢ in the rain
is worthy of death*. 10. When clouds have been
around‘, it is allowable to carry 7¢ away from the
house; and when rain sets in upon the road it is not
allowable to carry 2¢ back to the house; é#¢ when it
is before a veranda (dahliz) ove should put 7¢ down
there; that is allowable when he who owns the
veranda is apprehensive, azd when he does not
allow z¢ inside; and, afterwards, it is to be carried
away to its place, and when the water stands the
height of a javelin (nizak) inside ®, ove puts 7¢ down
and brings 74 away yet again. 11. Méddk-mah*
says that there should be a shelter (var)’ ove should
mn rr re mm mr mnt a te Se em ee ee
1 In the terms avi-dashtand and avi-nasai the compound az is written in an obsolete manner, both in M6 and K2o. The meaning of the text is that either or both of the corpse-carriers may be any Parsi man, woman, or child who understands the proper precautions. Compare Pahl. Vend. VIII, 28.
* K2o has ‘ when curved it is not to be carried.’
* That is, it is a mortal sin to allow rain to fall upon a corpse before it is deposited in the Dakhma.
* Or ‘withheld,’ or ‘continuous,’ according as we compare hamtin with Pers. dmfin (Aman), aman, or haman.
® Inside the Dakhma apparently. The meaning seems to be, that when the Dakhma is flooded the corpse is to be laid down in some dry place in its vicinity until the flood has abated. But according to Pahl. Vend. VIII, 17, it is allowable to throw the corpse in when the Dakhma is full of water.
° See Chaps. I, 3, II, 1. Here, again, the quotation must be from his complete commentary, as it is not extant in the present Pahlavi Vendidad.
7 From Av. var, ‘to cover, to shelter ;’ compare Pers. gullah, ‘a bower or shed.’ Nowadays the Parsis have a permanent shelter near the Dakhma. Pahl. Vend. VIII, 17 says, ‘to carry
250 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
fasten above that place, azd it would make z¢ dry
below!; one should place the corpse under that
shelter, and they may take the shelter avd bring 2¢
away.
12. From the fifth fargard of the Vendidad of
Médék-mah* they state thus, that at the place
where one’s life goes forth, when he shall die upon
a cloth, and a hair or a limb remains upon the bed-
place and the ground, the ground conveys the pollu-
tion, even not originating with z/se/f (ahambdniz&),
in like manner down unto the water*. 13. And when
he ts on a bedstead, and z¢s legs are not connected
with the ground, when a hair or a limb remains
behind on the bedstead, it does not convey ¢he pol-
lutcon down. 14. When he shall die on a plastered
floor the plaster is polluted, and when they dig up
that plaster and spread z¢ again afterwards, it is
clean. 15. When he shall die on a stone, and the
stone is connected with the ground, the stone will
become clean, adong with the ground, in the length
of a year; and when they dig up the place, the
stone deg polluted is to be washed at the time.
16. When a stone is connected with the ground, or
is separated, and ove shall die upon it, so much space
of the stone as the corpse occupied is polluted °;
an umbrella (avargash) from behind, or to hold up a shelter, is of no use.’
* Or, ‘it would make 7/ very dry,’ if we read avtr, ‘very,’ instead of agir, ‘below;’ these two words being written alike in Pahlavi.
* Quoting again from his lost commentary.
* Or, perhaps, ‘ floor.’
* This translation is somewhat doubtful, but the text seems to imply that the ground is polluted as deep as it contains no water.
* K2o has had, ‘ the stone is all polluted, avd will become clean at the time when they dig 7¢ up, the stone is all polluted, in so
CHAPTER Il, 12-19. 251
when they shall leave it, in the length of a year it
will become clean a/ong with the ground; and when
they dig z¢ up, the stone is all polluted, avd is to be
washed at the time; when the stone is not made
even with the ground, above the ground the stone is
all polluted, azd is to be washed at the time.
17. Dung-fuel azd ashes, when the limbs of a
menstruous woman come upon them, are both pol-
luted ; and the salt and lime for washing Aer shift
(kartak-shdi) are fo de treated just like stone’.
18. If ove shall die on a terrace roof (ban)*, when
one of his limbs, or a hair, remains behind at the
edge of the roof, the roof is polluted for the size of
the body as far as the water; and they should carry
down all the sacred twigs (baresém) * in the house,
from the place where the pollution is, until there are
thirty steps of three feet‘ to the sacred twigs, so
that the sacred twigs may not be polluted; and
when his hair or limb has not come to the eaves
(parakan) the roof is polluted to the bottom (tdhik).
19. And when ove shall die on a rita® z¢ is polluted
much space as the corpse occupied #/ ¢s polluted ;’ but the addi- tional matter seems to be struck out. Something analogous to the details in this paragraph will be found in Pahl. Vend. VI, 9.
* This section would be more appropriate in Chap. II.
? Or ‘an upper floor;’ Pahl. Vend. VI, 9 has, ‘when he shall die on an upper floor, when nothing of him remains behind at the partitions (pardak4n), the floor is polluted as far as the balcony (askaip) and the balcony alone is clean; when anything of him remains behind at the partitions, the floor is polluted as far as the balcony, the ground is polluted as far as the water, adou/ the balcony alone it is not clear.’
$ See note on Chap. III, 32.
* The g4m, ‘step,’ being 2 feet 74 inches (see note on Bund. XXVI, 3) these thirty steps are about 79 English feet.
5 Meaning uncertain; the word looks like Huzvaris, but it is possible to read rid-aé instead of rfita-r.
252 sHAyAST LA-SHAYAST.
for the size of the body as far as the water; zz the
length of a year it will become clean a/ong with the
ground, 20. A built bridge is Madde just like a
terrace roof. 21. When ove shall die on the terrace
roof of a trellised apartment (varam), that is also
liable just like a terrace roof. 22. When he shall
die in a trellised apartment, when one of his limbs,
or a hair, does not remain on the borders (parakan),
it does not convey the pollution down, but when azy
of him remains behind it conveys 7¢ down; it is
allowable when they dig z¢ up’, and oe also spreads
7¢ again afterwards, and 7¢ is clean.
23. When owe shall die by strangulation and a
rope in a crowd, when ¢here is no fear of his falling
down they should not carry 427 down; and when
there is a fear of his falling down, when that fear is
' That is, the floor of the apartment; which would probably be formed of earth beaten down, which, in India, is nearly always overspread with diluted cow-dung to hinder cracks in the smooth surface. A better class of floor is spread with lime plaster on a stony surface.
* The object of these rules is evidently to avoid disturbing the corpse more than is absolutely necessary, provided there be no fear of its polluting more of the ground by falling upon it.
Chafter Ii, 20—32. 253
should not carry 4m down; and when //ere is fear
of it, they should carry down the whole of the body
(tant masdi), 26. And when the bark of the tree
is withered, when //ere is fear of it and when /here is
no fear of it, they should carry 7¢ down. 27. When
he shall die on a branch of a tree which is green,
when ¢Aere is no fear of his falling off they should
not carry Aim down. 28. And when /Kere is fear of
it, or 24 zs a branch of a withered tree, when also, a
hair originating with him, or a limb, remains behind
on the particular tree, they should carry down the
whole of the body'. 29. And when it does not re-
main behind him on the particular tree, but when
there is fear of its falling off, they should not carry it
below (vad fréd)?*.
30. When a corpse (nasai-1)°, from outside of it,
remains behind on a jar (khdmb6) in which ‘here
may be wine, the jar is polluted, avd the wine is
clean. 31. And when owe shall die inside, in the
wine in the jar, if not even a hair or a curl originat-
ing with him remains behind on the jar, the wine is
polluted and the jar not polluted*. 32. When 7 zs
