‘ The sentence is obscure, but this seems to be the meaning; that is, when a corpse or any dead matter is thrown into a pond or tank, the pollution extends sixteen feet from it in all directions ; and that quantity of water ought to be drawn off, in order to purify the tank (see Vend. VI, 65-71). As the corpse, in nearly all cases, must be either at the bottom or on the surface, the quan- tity of polluted water to be drawn off must be a hemispherical mass sixteen feet in radius, or about forty-eight tons of water.
* See Pahl. Vend. VI, 64, where it states that bringing it out is a good work of one Tanapfihar, and leaving it is a sin of the same amount,
* Reading amat, ‘when,’ instead of mfin, ‘which’ (see Bund.
5 See Chap. I, 1, 2. ® See Chap. I, 4, note.
™ See Chap. I, 3. * See Pahl. Vend. VI, 64.
Chapter Ii, 79-87. 267
polluted, and whatever Ae is first able and best able
lo bring is to be brought out by him. 84. When, too,
he is able to bring z¢ out through the breadth of the
water, then also it is to be brought out so'; and
when he is not able, it is to be brought out through
the length of the water; and showing ¢¢ 40 a dog
and the two men are not to be waited for *.
85. And it is to be carried by him so much away
from the neighbourhood of the water that, when he
puts z2¢ down, the water which comes out dropping
from the corpse does not reach back to the water ;
for when the water which comes out from the corpse
reaches continuously back to the water 4e is worthy
of death; and after that (min zak frag) it is to be
shown /o a dog, and it is to be carried away by two
men. 86. And when he wishes to throw ¢ out from
the water, Mard-bid® said it is allowable to throw 2
out thus, so that the water of the dripping corpse
does not reach continuously back to the water;
Roshan said it would be allowable to throw 7¢ out
far.
87. To drag z¢ over the water is allowable, to
grasp and relinquish z¢ is not allowable *; and when
it is possible to act so that he may convey 7 from
a great water to a small water, when the water is
' So that less water may be polluted by the corpse taking the shortest route through it; but if that be impossible it must come out quickly, at any rate.
* That is, the otherwise indispensable dog’s gaze and two bearers must be dispensed with, if not at hand, in order to save time, until the corpse is out of the water (see § 85).
> It might be, ‘ there was a man wo said,’ but Mard-bdd occurs in the Nirangistan as the name of a commentator (see Chap. I, 4,
note). * See Pahl. Vend. VI, 64 for this prohibition.
268 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
connected 7¢ is allowable, and when separated z¢ is
not allowable. 88. Afarg? said it is allowable to
drag 7¢ below through the water, but to drag z¢ over
is not allowable, for this has come oz the water asa
danger ?, and that has not come on 2z¢ as a danger.
89. Méddk-mah! said it is allowable to drag 2¢
above, éu¢ to drag zt below is not allowable, for the
danger has gone out across the water, and the
danger is not now to be brought upon it; and on
that which is below, oz which the danger has not
come, the danger will at last arrive.
90. When he goes into the water he is to go into
it with this idea, that ‘should there be many below,
then I will even bring all;’ for whoever goes in not
with this idea, and shall disturb any other one which
lies there, will become polluted*. g1. And if the
corpse be heavy azd it is not possible to bring ¢¢ out
by one person, azd he goes out with this idea, that
‘I wzd/ go and prepare means, and bring this corpse
out of the water ;’ and when through sinfulness* he
does not go back his body is polluted azd worthy of
? See Chap. I, 3.
* Or ‘fear.’ The difference of opinion between the two com- mentators on this question in casuistry, appears to have arisen from Afarg regarding the water merely as the representative of a spirit, who might be endangered or frightened by the source of impurity becoming more visible when above the water, while Méd6k-m4h considered the water in its material aspect; and wished to save it from the further pollution consequent upon drawing the corpse through more of it.
* See Pahl. Vend. VI, 64.
* These rules generally distinguish clearly between offences committed ‘through sinfulness,’ that is, wilfully, and those arising from accidental inability ; more stress being laid upon the inten- tion than upon the action,
Chapter Ii, 88-95. 269
death, and when he is unable to go back he is not polluted.
94. And when rain is falling the corpse lies in the
water; to take z/ from the water to deposit 7 in the
rain is not ® allowable.
95. Clothing which is useless *, this is that in which
they should carry a corpse, and that even when very
much or altogether useless; of that on which they
shall decompose’ (bara vishdipénd), and of that on
which the excretions (hikhar) of the dead come, so
much space is to be cut away, and the rest is to be
' See Pahl. Vend. VI, 64 for §§ 92, 93.
2 Or ‘ twisted off;’ the Huz. neskhfintand must be traced to Chald. "D2 ‘to pluck out, to tear away,’ and seems to have a similar meaning in Pahlavi; its Paz. equivalent vikhtand (Av. vig) ought to be compared rather with Pers. kikhtan, ‘to bruise or break,’ than with békhtan or pékhtan, ‘to twist.’
3 This negative is omitted in M6 by mistake.
* Compare Pahl. Vend. VII, 32.
5 Or ‘go to pieces ;’ that this is the meaning of vishiipénd appears clearly from Pahl. Vend. VII, 123, but a Persian gloss in the modern MS. Mg explains it as ‘deposit fragments from the beak of a bird,’ meaning, of course, fragments of dead matter dropped by a carrion bird.
° As useless, being incapable of purification; such cuttings are to be buried, according to the Avesta of Vend. VI, 32, though the Pahlavi commentary explains that they are to be thrown away.
270 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
thoroughly washed for the six-months’ ferzod}. 96.
That which a menstruous woman has in wear (mah-
manih)? is to be discarded in like fashion.
97. The clothing which is to be washed for the
six-months’ feviod is such as is declared in the
Avesta*®, 98. If the clothing be leathern it is to
be thoroughly washed three times with bull’s urine
(gdméz), every time to be made quite dry with dust,
and to be thoroughly washed three times with water,
and to be laid out three months in a place to be
viewed by the sun‘; and then it is proper for an
unclean person (armést)* who has not performed
1 Khshvas-m4ig6k is merely a corruption of the Av. khshvas maunghé, ‘six months,’ of Vend. VII, 36, where this form of cleansing is thus described: ‘If (the clothing) be woven, they
should wash 7/ out six times with bull’s urine, they should scour _7¢ six times with earth, they should wash 7/ out six times with water, they should fumigate 7/ six months at the window of the house.’
? See Pahl. Vend. VII, 32.
* That is, woven clothing, as declared in Vend. VII, 36 (quoted above in note 1).
* See Vend. VII, 35.
° A Persian gloss defines armést as ‘a woman who has brought forth a dead child,’ and this is the general opinion ; but that seems to be only a particular example of an unclean person who would be included under the general term armést, for according to Pahl. Vend. IX, 133, 137, 141 a man when only partially purified must remain apart in the place for the armést (Av. airima, compare Sans. il or ri) for a certain time. Nérydsang, in his Sanskrit translation of Mkh, (XXXVI, 36, XXXIX, 4o, LI, 7), explains armést as ‘lame, crippled, immobility ;’ it also means ‘stagnant,’ when applied to water; and its primitive signification was, probably, ‘most stationary,’ an appropriate term for such unclean persons as are required to remain in a particular place apart from all others, as well as for helpless cripples, and insane persons under restraint (see Chap. VI, 1). The meaning ‘most polluted’ would hardly apply to tank water.
CHAPTER II, 96-104. 271
worship, or it is proper for a menstruous woman. 99.
Other clothing, when hair is on 2¢', is /‘aé/e just like
woven cloth (tadak); all the washing of wool, floss
silk, silk, hair, and camel’s hair is just like ¢Aat of
woven ¢/oth; and woven clothing is to be washed
six times®,
100. Wool which is connected together, when one
part is twisted over another, and a corpse rests *
upon it, is all polluted on account of the connection ;
and when fleece (mésh) rests upon fleece, then so
much space as the corpse rests upon is polluted.
101. When ome shall die upon a rich carpet (bap)
when the carpet is on a coarse rug (namad) and
is made connected, the rug and carpet are both pol-
luted, and when separated the rug is clean. 102.
When several cushions are heaped (ni#id) one
upon the other, and are not made connected, and
dead matter comes upon them, they have been
unanimous that only that one is polluted on which
the dead matter came. 103. A cushion /ogether
with wool‘ is “aéé just like a carpet with a rug.
104. Of several cushions which are tied down to-
gether, when dead matter comes to the tie, both are
polluted, the cord avd the cushions; and when the
dead matter comes to a cushion, and does not come
to the tie, the cushions are all polluted on account
of the connection, and the tie is clean °,
1 Pahl. Vend. VII, 35 says ‘ when a single hair is on it.’
2 As mentioned in a note on § g5.
$ Literally, ‘impinges.’ Here, as in many other places, ‘ dead matter’ may be read instead of ‘corpse,’ as nasai means both or either of them.
* That is, laid upon wool.
& See § 101.
6 See Pahl. Vend. VII, 27.
272 SHAYAST LA-SHAYAST.
105. A pregnant woman who devours dead matter
through sinfulness is polluted azd worthy of death,
and there is no washing for her!; and as for the
child, when it Zas become acquainted with duties
(pisak-shinds), ashes? and bull’s urine are for its
eating and for its washing. 106. As for a child who
is born of solitary carriers of the dead *, although its
father and mother may both have devoured dead
matter through sinfulness, that which is born is
clean on the spot, for it does not become polluted
éy birth.
107. Réshan* said that every one, who, through
sinfulness, has become polluted by means of dead
matter, is worthy of death, and his polluted body
never becomes clean; for this ove is more wretched
than the fox which oze throws into the water living,
and in the water it will die. 108. Oxe worthy of
death never becomes clean; avd a solitary carrier of
the dead is to be kept at thirty steps from ceremonial
ablution (padiyavih).
109. Whichsoever of the animal species has eaten
their dead matter’, its milk, dung, hair, avd wool are
polluted the length of a year; and z/ pregnant when
it has eaten z/, the young one has also eaten 2/, and
the young one is clean after the length of a year
from being born of the mother. 110. When a male
which has eaten 74 mounts a female, the female is
not polluted. 111. When dead matter is eaten by it,
' That is, she cannot be purified.
* Reading var (see note on § 49).
* Carrying a corpse by a single person being prohibited (see §§ 7, 8); but why he is supposed to devour it is not clear.
* See Chap. I, 4, note.
* Compare Pahl. Vend. VII, 192.
Chapter Ii, 105-116. 273
and even while it is not digested it shall die, it is
Hable just like a leathern bag (anbAn) in which is
dead matter.
1 The purification here detailed is prescribed for golden vessels in Vend. VII, 186.
