Vendidad — Chapter 8
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Source: Avesta.org. The Vendidad, Chapter 8, translation: L.H. Mills / J. Darmesteter (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887), Avesta.org. License: Public domain (translation predates 1928).
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AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Chapter 8: Funerals and purification, unlawful sex

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AVESTA: Vendidad: FARGARD 8. Funerals and purification, unlawful sex

This digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson, 1995.

Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the
East, American Edition, 1898.)

Compare this chapter with the ancient description given of it in
the Denkard, Book 8, Chapter 44.42ff

I (1-3). Purification of the house where a man has died.

II (4-13). Funerals.

III (14-22). Purification of the ways along which the corpse has
been carried.

IV (23-25). No clothes to be thrown on a corpse.

V (26-32). Unlawful lusts.

VI (33-34). A corpse when dried up does not contaminate.

VII (35-72). Purification of the man defiled by the dead.

VIII (73-80). Purification of the fire defiled by the dead.

IX (81-96). The Warharan fire.

X (97-107). Purification in the wilderness.

This chapter, putting aside section V, may be entitled; Funerals
and Purification. Logical order may easily be introduced into
it, by arranging the sections as follows: I, IV, II, III, VI, VII,
X, VIII, IX.

FARGARD 8. Funerals and purification, unlawful sex

I

Notes:

1. If a dog or a man die under a hut of wood or a hut of felt1
what shall the worshippers of Mazda do2?

1. A movable shelter, by contradistinction to a fixed abode, something
like the oba of the Tartars, one of those huts made of boards
or felt and called th&acirc;ruma by the Arabs, which served as pavilions
for princes as well as tents for nomads.

2. That sort of abode, having only one room, can have no chamber
for the dead (Vd5.10).

2. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall search for a Dakhma, they
shall look for a Dakhma all around3. If they find it easier to
remove the dead, they shall take out the dead, they shall let
the house stand, and shall perfume it with Urvasna or Vohu-gaona,
or Vohu-kereti, or Hadha-naepata, or any other sweet-smelling
plant4.

3. If there is a Dakhma In the proximity, they remove the corpse
at once. If there is no Dakhma or the season prevents its access,
they purify the hut first.

4. 'So, when a dog or a man dies, the first thing to do is to take
the corpse out (from the house), and to purify the house, inside
and outside, with perfumes burnt on the fire' (Comm.)
See Vd11.4. Urv&acirc;sna
is the r&acirc;san plant, a sort of garlic; Voh&ucirc;-gaona, Voh&ucirc;-kereti,
and Hadh&acircl;-na&ecirc;pata are respectively (according to Fr&acirc;mj&icirc;)
benzoin, aloe, and pomegranate.

3. 'If they find it easier to remove the house, they shall take
away the house, they shall let the dead lie on the spot, and shall
perfume the house with Urvasna, or Vohu-gaona, or Vohu-kereti,
or Hadha-naepata, or any other sweet-smelling plant.'

II

4. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If in the house
of a worshipper of Mazda a dog or a man happens to die, and it
is raining5, or snowing, or blowing6, or
it is dark, or the day is at its end, when flocks and men lose
their way, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do6?

5. 'No corpse must be taken to the Dakhma when rain is falling,
or threatening. If one is overtaken by rain on the way, if there
be a place to lay it down, they shall lay it down; if there be
none, they must go on and take it to the Dakhma, they must not
retrace their steps.... When arrived at the Dakhma, if they
find it full of water, they may nevertheless lay down the corpse'
(Comm.)

6. If it is the season of rain or snow.
See Vd5.10 seq.

5. Ahura Mazda answered: 'The place in that house whereof the
ground is the cleanest and the driest, and the least passed through
by flocks and herds, by the fire of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated
bundles of Baresma, and by the faithful;'-
6.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from
the fire? How far from the water? How far from the consecrated
bundles of Baresma? How far from the faithful?
7.
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Thirty paces from the fire; thirty
paces from the water; thirty paces from the consecrated bundles
of Baresma; three paces from the faithful;-

8. 'On that place they shall dig a grave7, half a foot deep if
the earth be hard, half the height of a man if it be soft8; [they
shall cover the surface of the grave with ashes or cowdung]9; they
shall cover the surface of it with dust of bricks, of stones,
or of dry earth10.

7. This is the case when the house is too small for containing
a special chamber for the dead (as prescribed Vd5.10).
Nowadays they dispense even with that grave: the corpse is laid on the
floor, on a slab of marble, by which it is sufficiently isolated
from the ground to prevent its being defiled.

8. Soft earth, being not impervious to liquids, lets contagion
through more easily.

9. Vendidad Sada.

10. Substances more impervious.

911. 'And they shall let the lifeless body lie there, for two nights,
or three nights, or a month long, until the birds begin to fly,
the plants to grow, the hidden floods to flow, and the wind to
dry up the earth.

11. §§ 9-10; see Vd5.12-13.

10. 'And when the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the
hidden floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth, then
the worshippers of Mazda shall make a breach in the wall of the
house12, and two men, strong and skillful13,
having stripped their clothes off14, shall take up the body from the
clay or the stones, or from the plastered house15,
and they shall lay it down on a place where they
know there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating
birds.

12. 'The master and mistress of the house are carried away through
a breach (made in the wall of the house); others through the door'
(Comm.) -- 'The more scrupulous parties have it [the body] removed
by a side, in preference to the usual general entrance' (H. G.
Briggs, The Parsis, 1852, p. 50).

13. The corpse-bearers or nasu-kasha (Kh&acirc;ndyas). 'The corpse
must be carried by two persons (see Vd3.13 seq.),
no matter who they are; they may be a man and a woman, or two women' (Comm.)

14. 'As they are exchanged for the special clothes in which they
carry corpses (Comm.), the so-called j&acirc;ma-i dakhma, 'the
Dakhma clothes.'

15. The Dahhma (see Vd6.50 seq.)

11. 'Afterwards the corpse-bearers shall sit down, three paces
from the dead, and the holy Ratu16 shall proclaim to the worshippers
of Mazda thus: "Worshippers of Mazda, let the urine be brought
here wherewith the corpse-bearers there shall wash their hair
and their bodies!"'

16. The priest who directs the funerals, 'the chief of the Nasu-kashas'
(Comm.), the so-called Nas&acirc;-s&acirc;l&acirc;r.

12. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the
urine wherewith the corpse-bearers shall wash their hair and their
bodies? Is it of sheep or of oxen? Is it of man or of woman?

13. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is of sheep or of oxen; not of man
nor of woman, except a man or a woman who has married the next-of-kin17:
these shall therefore procure the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers
shall wash their hair and their bodies18.'

17. The next-of-kin marriage or Hvaetvadatha (kwetodas) is
one of the good works that Ahriman dreads most
(Shayest-na shayast 18;
West, Pahlavi Texts, I, 389). 'Ahriman and the demons are
less predominant in the body of him who practises khwetodas' (West,
II, 422). Therefore their ma&ecirc;sma is as powerful as the gomez.

18. 'When back in the village they perform the regular Barashnum
with consecrated gomez' (Comm.)

III

14. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the way,
whereon the carcasses of dogs or corpses of men have been carried,
be passed through again by flocks and herds, by men and women,
by the fire of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of Baresma,
and by the faithful?

15. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It cannot be passed through again by
flocks and herds, nor by men and women, nor by the fire of Ahura
Mazda, nor by the consecrated bundles of Baresma, nor by the faithful19.

19. The way by which the corpse has passed is haunted by the Druj
Nasu: the Drug is expelled from it by the same proceeding as it
was expelled from the dead, by the Sag-did. The Sag-did for the
purification of the way seems to have fallen into desuetude.

16. 'They shall therefore cause a yellow dog with four eyes20, or
a white dog with yellow ears, to go three times through that way21.
When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with
yellow ears, is brought there, then the Druj Nasu flies 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 Khrafstras22.]

20. A dog with two spots above the eyes.

21. 'Afrag says, the dog goes straight along the length of the
way; Maidyo-mah says, he goes across it from side to side' (Comm.)

22. See Vd7.3.

17. 'If the dog goes unwillingly, O Spitama Zarathushtra, they
shall cause the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with
yellow ears, to go six times23 through that way. When either the
yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears,
is brought there, then the Druj Nasu flies 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.]

23. 'Three times suffice if the dog goes of his, own accord; if
he goes by force, it counts as nothing; if he goes but with reluctance,
that shall suffice' (Comm. ad § 18).

18. 'If the dog goes unwillingly, they shall cause the yellow
dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, to go nine
times through that way. When either the yellow dog with four eyes,
or the white dog with yellow ears, has been brought there, then
the Druj Nasu flies 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.]

19. 'An Athravan shall first go along the way and shall say aloud
these victorious words: "Yatha aha vairyo24: - The will of
the Lord is the law of righteousness.

'"The gifts of Vohu-mano25 to the deeds done in this world
for Mazda.

'"He who relieves the poor makes Ahura king.

24. A prayer in frequent use, and considered of great efficacy,
generally known as the Ahuna Vairya or Ahunwar. It was by reciting
it that Ohrmazd in his first conflict with Ahriman drove him back
to hell (Bund. I).

25. Of Paradise, as Vohu-mano (Good Thought) is the doorkeeper of
heaven (see Vd19.31).

20. '"Kem-na mazda26:
- What protector hast thou given unto
me, O Mazda! while the hate of the wicked encompasses me? Whom
but thy Atar and Vohu-mano27, through whose work I keep on the world
of righteousness? Reveal therefore to me thy Religion as thy rule28!

'"Ke verethrem-ja29: - Who is the victorious who will protect
thy teaching? Make it clear that I am the guide for both worlds.
May Sraosha come with Vohu-mano and help whomsoever thou pleasest,
O Mazda!

26. Yasna 46.7.

27. I have no protection to expect but from my virtue (Vohu-mano,
'Good Thought') and from thy fire, which in the fire ordeal (Var
Nirang) will show my innocence.

28. That is to say, one must take Religion as one's rule.

29. Yasna 44.16.
This stanza, which in the original Gatha refers
to the human incarnation of Sraosha, that is to say, to king Vishtaspa,
the victorious, protector of the Prophet and his, Religion, is
applied here to the god Sraosha, as a protector of the soul in
its passage from this world to the other (Vd7.52).

21. '"Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Armaiti Spenta!
Perish, O fiendish Druj! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish,
O creation of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish
away, O Druj! Rush away, O Druj! Perish away, O Druj! Perish away
to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the
living world of Righteousness!"

22. 'Then the worshippers of Mazda may at their will bring by
those ways sheep and oxen, men and women, and Fire, the son of
Ahura Mazda, the consecrated bundles of Baresma, and the faithful.

'The worshippers of Mazda may afterwards30 prepare meals with meat
and wine in that house; it shall be clean, and there will be no
sin, as before.'

30. On the fourth day. For three days and nights after the death
it is forbidden to cook meat in the house (Comm.)

IV

23. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall
throw clothes, either of skin or woven, upon a dead body31, enough
to cover the feet, what is the penalty that he shall pay32? Ahura
Mazda answered: 'Four hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, four
hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'

31. The dead must be stripped of his clothes, and is exposed on
the heights 'clothed with the light of heaven'
(Vd6.51). -- The
modern use is to have him wrapped in a shroud as old and as much
worn out as possible (Vd5.61).

32. See Vd5.60; Vd7.20.

24. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall
throw clothes, either of skin or woven, upon a dead body, enough
to cover both legs, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura
Mazda answered: 'Six hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, six
hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'

25. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall
throw clothes, either of skin or woven, upon a dead body, enough
to cover the whole body, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'A thousand stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
a thousand stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'

V

26.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man, by
force, commits the unnatural sin [sodomy], what is the penalty that he
shall pay?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
eight hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'

27. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man voluntarily
commits the unnatural sin, what is the penalty for it? What is
the atonement for it? What is the cleansing from it?

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.'

2833. When is it so?

'It is so if the sinner be a professor of the 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.

33. See Vd3.38-42, text and notes.

29. 'The Religion of Mazda indeed, O Spitama Zarathushtra! 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.
30.
In the same way the Religion of Mazda, O Spitama Zarathushtra!
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 Zarathushtra!
a full atonement for his sin is effected by means of the Religion
of Mazda.'

31. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the man
that is a Daeva? Who is he that is a worshipper of the Daevas?
that is a male paramour of the Daevas? that is a female paramour
of the Daevas? that is a wife to the Daeva34? that is as bad as
a Daeva: that is in his whole being a Daeva? Who is he that is
a Daeva before he dies, and becomes one of the unseen Daevas after
death35?

34. 'As a wife is obedient to her husband, so is he to the Daevas'
(Comm.)

35. Demons are often the restless souls of the wicked, excluded from
heaven. The Persian sect of the Mahabadians, believed that the
soul that had not spoken and done good became an Ahriman or jinn
(Dabestan).

32. Ahura Mazda answered: 'The man that lies with mankind as man
lies with womankind, or as woman lies with mankind, is the man
that is a Daeva; this one is the man that is a worshipper of the
Daevas, that is a male paramour of the Daevas, that is a female
paramour of the Daevas, that is a wife to the Daeva; this is the
man that is as bad as a Daeva, that is in his whole being a Daeva;
this is the man that is a Daeva before he dies, and becomes one
of the unseen Daevas after death: so is he, whether he has lain
with mankind as mankind, or as womankind36.'

36. [i.e. the recipient is equally guilty. -JHP]
The guilty may be killed by any one, without an order from
the Dastur (see § 74 n.), and by this execution an ordinary capital
crime may be redeemed (Comm. ad Vd7.52).

VI

33. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Shall the man
be clean who has touched a corpse that has been dried up and dead
more than a year37?

37. The corpse, dried up, contains no longer any of the solid and
liquid elements that generate corruption and infection
(see above, Vd6.50, note 16).

34. Ahura Mazda answered: 'He shall. The dry mingles not with
the dry38. Should the dry mingle with the dry, how soon all this
material world of mine would be only one Peshotanu, 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 earth39.'

38. 'This principle still prevails even with Moslem Persians:
'Pour encourir leur immondicit&eacute; dans l'attouchement des Chr&eacute;tiens
et autres idolatres, il est n&eacute;cessaire que s'ils les touchent,
leurs v&ecirc;tements soient mouill&eacute;s. C'est &agrave; cause,
disent-ils, qu'&eacute;tans secs l'immondicit&eacute; ne
s'attache pas; . . . . ce qui est cause que dans
les villes o&ugrave; leurs Mullas et Docteurs ont plus d'autorit&eacute;, ils font
parfois d&eacute;fendre par leurs Kans que lorsqu'il pleut, les Chr&eacute;tiens
ne sortent pas de leurs maisons, de crainte que par accident, venans
&agrave; les heurter, ils, ne soient rendus immondes' (G. da Chinon, p. 88
seq.; cf. Chardin). Still nowadays, in Persia, the Jews are not
allowed to go out of their house on a rainy day, lest the religious
impurity, conducted through the rain, should pass from the Jew
to the Moslem.

39. See Vd5.4.

VII

35.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the man
be made clean that has touched the corpse of a dog or the corpse
of a man?

36. Ahura Mazda answered: 'He can, O holy Zarathushtra!'

How so?

'If the Nasu has already been expelled by the corpse-eating dogs,
or by the corpse-eating birds, he shall cleanse his body with
gomez and water, and he shall be clean40.

40. If the Sag-did has been performed, a simple ghosel is enough.
See Vd7.29, notes 27 and 31.

37. 'If the Nasu has not yet been expelled by the corpse-eating
dogs, or by the corpse-eating birds41, then the worshippers of Mazda
shall dig three holes in the ground42, and he shall thereupon wash
his body with gomez, not with water. They shall then lift and
bring my dog43, they shall bring him (thus shall it be done and
not otherwise) in front [of the man]44.

41. If the Sag-did has not been performed, the Barashnum is necessary.

42. The first three holes, which contain gomez. For the disposition
of the holes, see the following Fargard.

43. Three times; every time that the unclean one passes from one hole
to another (Comm. ad IX, 32).

44. To look at him, or, rather, at the Nasu in him, whilst the priest
sings the spells that drive the Nasu.

38. 'The worshippers of Mazda shall dig three other holes45 in the
ground, and he shall thereupon wash his body with gomez, not with
water. They shall then lift and bring my dog, they shall bring
him (thus shall it be done and not otherwise) in front [of the
man]. Then shall they wait until he is dried46 even to the last
hair on the top of his head.

45. Containing gomez too.

46. He rubs himself dry with handfuls of dust
(see Vd9.29 seq.)

39. 'They shall dig three more holes47 in the ground, three paces
away from the preceding, and he shall thereupon wash his body
with water48, not with gomez.

47. Containing water.

48. As a master does not take away the dunghill from his house with
his own hands, but has it taken away by his servants, so the water,
being of higher dignity than the gomez, has the worst of the impurity
taken by the gomez, and intervenes only when there is nothing
left that can attain it (Abalish, tr. Barthelemy, ch. V and note
29).

40. 'He shall first wash his hands; if his hands be not first
washed, he makes the whole of his body unclean. When he has washed
his hands three times, after his hands have been washed, thou
shalt sprinkle with water49 the forepart of his skull50.'

49. The water is shed from a spoon, tied to a long stick, 'the stick
with nine knots' (Vd9.14).

50. Bareshnum; from which word the whole of the operation has taken
its name.

41. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the forepart of the skull, whereon does the Druj
Nasu rush51?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'In front, between the brows, the Druj Nasu
rushes.'

51. The Nasu is expelled symmetrically, from limb to limb, from the
right side of the body to the left, from the forepart to the back
parts, and she flies, thus pursued, downwards from the top of
the head to the tips of the toes. The retreating order of the
Nasu is just the reverse of the order in which she invaded the
different members of the first man: she entered Gayomard by the
little toe of the left foot, then went up to the heart, then to
the shoulder, at last to the summit of the head (Gr. Bund.) Death
still seizes the foot first.

42. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach in front, between the brows, whereon does the Druj
Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'On the back part of the skull the Druj
Nasu rushes.'
43.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the back part of the skull, whereon does the Druj
Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'In front, on the jaws, the Druj Nasu rushes.'
44.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach in front, on the jaws, whereon does the Druj Nasu
rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right ear the Druj Nasu rushes.'
45.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right ear, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left ear the Druj Nasu rushes.'
46.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left ear, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right shoulder the Druj Nasu rushes.'
47.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right shoulder, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left shoulder the Druj Nasu rushes.'
48.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left shoulder, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right arm-pit the Druj Nasu rushes.'
49.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right arm-pit, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left arm-pit the Druj Nasu rushes.'
50.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left arm-pit, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'In front, upon the chest, the Druj Nasu
rushes.'
51.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the chest in front, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the back the Druj Nasu rushes.'
52.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the back, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right nipple the Druj Nasu rushes.'
53.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right nipple, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left nipple the Druj Nasu rushes.'
54.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left nipple, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right rib the Druj Nasu rushes.'
55.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right rib, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left rib the Druj Nasu rushes.'
56.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left rib, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right hip the Druj Nasu rushes.'
57.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right hip, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left hip the Druj Nasu rushes.'
58.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left hip, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the sexual parts the Druj Nasu rushes.
If the unclean one be a man, thou shalt sprinkle him first behind,
then before; if the unclean one be a woman, thou shalt sprinkle
her first before, then behind.'
59.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the sexual parts, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right thigh the Druj Nasu rushes.'
60.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right thigh, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left thigh the Druj Nasu rushes.'
61.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left thigh, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right knee the Druj Nasu rushes.'
62.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right knee, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left knee the Druj Nasu rushes.'
63.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left knee, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right leg the Druj Nasu rushes.'
64.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right leg, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left leg the Druj Nasu rushes.'
65.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left leg, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right ankle the Druj Nasu rushes.'
66.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right ankle, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left ankle the Druj Nasu rushes.'
67.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left ankle, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the right instep the Druj Nasu rushes.'
68.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the right instep, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'Upon the left instep the Druj Nasu rushes.'
69.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When the good
waters reach the left instep, whereon does the Druj Nasu rush?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'She turns round under the sole of the foot;
it looks like the wing of a fly.
70.
'He shall press his toes upon the ground, and shall raise
up his heels; thou shalt sprinkle his right sole with water; then
the Druj Nasu rushes upon the left sole. Thou shalt sprinkle the
left sole with water; then the Druj Nasu turns round under the
toes; it looks like the wing of a fly.
71.
'He shall press his heels upon the ground, and shall raise
up his toes; thou shalt sprinkle his right toe with water; then
the Druj Nasu rushes upon the left toe. Thou shalt sprinkle the
left toe with water; then the Druj Nasu flies 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.

[72. 'And thou shalt say aloud these victorious, most healing words:

'"The will of the Lord is the law of holiness," etc.

[(Exorcism:)]

'"What protector hast thou given unto me, O Mazda! while
the hate of the wicked encompasses me?" &c.

'"Who is the victorious who will protect thy teaching?"
&c.52

'"Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Armaiti Spenta!

Perish, O fiendish Druj! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish,

O creation of the fiend! Perish O world of the fiend! Perish away,
O Druj! Rush away, O Druj! Perish away, O Druj! Perish away to
the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living
world of Righteousness53!"']

52. As in §§ 19, 20.

53. From the Vendidad Sada; cf. § 21.

VIII

73. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers
of Mazda, walking, or running, or riding, or driving, come upon
a Nasu-burning fire, whereon Nasu is being burnt or cooked54, what
shall they do?

54. For food. See Vd7.23-24. [Cannibalism -JHP]

74. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall kill the man that cooks
the Nasu; surely they shall kill him55. They shall take off the
cauldron, they shall take off the tripod.

55. 'He who burns Nasu (dead matter) must be killed. Burning or
cooking Nasu from the dead is a capital crime. . . . Four men
can be put to death by any one without an order from the Dastur:
the Nasu-burner, the highwayman, the Sodomite, and the criminal
taken in the deed' (Comm.)

75. 'Then they shall kindle wood from that fire; either wood of
those trees that have the seed of fire in them, or bundles of
the very wood that was prepared for that fire; then they shall
take it farther and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner56.

56. A new fire is kindled from the Nasu-burning fire: this new
fire is disposed in such a way that it should die out soon: before
it has died out, they kindle a new fire from it and so on for
nine times: the ninth fire, derived from the one impure,
through seven intermediate fires, more and more distant from the
original impurity, will represent the fire in its native purity
and can enter into the composition of a Warharan fire. -- On the
modern process, see Dosabhoy Framji, History of the Parsis, II, 113.

76. 'Thus they shall lay a first bundle on the ground57, a Vitasti58
away from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther
and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

57. In a hole dug for that purpose; such is at least the custom
nowadays. The ceremony is thus made an imitation of the barashnom.
The unclean fire, represented by the nine bundles, passes through
the nine holes, as the unclean man does (see above, § 37 seq.
and Vd9.12 seq.), and leaves at each of
them some of the uncleanness it has contracted.

58. A span of twelve fingers.

77. 'They shall lay down a second bundle on the ground, a Vitasti
away from the Nasu-burning fire: then they shall take it farther
and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

'They shall lay down a third bundle on the ground, a Vitasti away
from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther and
disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

'They shall lay down a fourth bundle on the ground, a Vitasti
away from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther
and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

'They shall lay down a fifth bundle on the ground, a Vitasti away
from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther and
disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

'They shall lay down a sixth bundle on the ground, a Vitasti away
from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther and
disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

'They shall lay down a seventh bundle on the ground, a Vitasti
away from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther
and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

They shall lay down an eighth bundle on the ground, a Vitasti
away from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther
and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.
78.
'They shall lay down a ninth bundle on the ground, a Vitasti
away from the Nasu-burning fire; then they shall take it farther
and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.
79.
'If a man shall then piously bring unto the fire, O Spitama
Zarathushtra! wood of Urvasna, or Vohu-gaona, or Vohu-kereti,
or Hadha-naepata, or any other sweet-smelling wood;

80. 'Wheresoever the wind shall bring the perfume of the fire,
thereunto the fire of Ahura Mazda shall go and kill thousands
of unseen Daevas, thousands of fiends, the brood of darkness,
thousands of couples of Yatus and Pairikas58.'

58. It will have all the power of the Warharan fire.

IX

81. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
a Nasu-burning fire to the Daityo-gatu59, what shall be his reward
when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought ten thousand fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

59. 'The proper abode,' the Warharan fire. The Warharan fire is
composed of a thousand and one fires belonging to sixteen different
classes (ninety-one corpse-burning fires,' eighty dyers' fires,
&c.) As the earthly representative of the heavenly fire,
it is the sacred centre to which every earthly fire longs to return,
in order to be united again, as much as possible, with its native
abode. The more it has been defiled by worldly uses, the greater is the
merit acquired by freeing it from defilement.

82. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire wherein impure liquid has been burnt60,
what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought a thousand fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.

60. The h&ecirc;hr, that is to say all sort of impurity that comes from
the body.

83. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire wherein dung has been burnt61, what
shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought five hundred fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

61. 'The fire of a bath,' according to Framji; the use of the bath
was prohibited; according to Josuah the Stylite (ch. XX, tr. Martin),
king Balash (484-488) was overthrown by the Magi for having built
bath houses. The reason of this prohibition was probably that
it entailed the defilement of the fire, as they were warmed with
cow dung.

84. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from the kiln of a potter, what shall
be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought four hundred fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

85. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from a glazier's kiln, what shall
be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought to the Daityo-gatu as many fire-brands as
there were glasses [brought to that fire]62.'

62. Doubtful.

86. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from the aonya paro-berejya, what
shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought to the Daityo-gatu as many fire-brands as
there were plants63.'

63. Meaning unknown. Perhaps a fire for burning weeds.

87. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from under the puncheon of a goldsmith,
what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought a hundred fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'
88.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from under the puncheon of a silversmith,
what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought ninety fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'
89.
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from under the puncheon of a blacksmith,
what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought eighty fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

90. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! It a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from under the puncheon of a worker
in steel, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with
his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought seventy fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

91. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire of an oven64, what shall be his reward
when his soul has parted from his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought sixty fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

64. A baker's fire.

92. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from under a cauldron65, what shall
be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as it he had,
here below, brought fifty fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

65. The kitchen-fire.

93. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire from an aonya takhairya66, what shall
be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought forty fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

66. Meaning unknown.

94. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
a herdsman's fire to the Daityo-gatu, what shall be his reward
when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought thirty fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

[9567. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire of the field68, what shall be his reward
when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought twenty fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.']

67. From the Vendidad Sada.

68. The hunter's fire, an encampment's fire.

96. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man bring
to the Daityo-gatu the fire of his own hearth69, what shall be his
reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'His reward shall be the same as if he had,
here below, brought ten fire-brands to the Daityo-gatu.'

69. By which one warms one's self; the fire least exposed to uncleanness.

X

97. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can a man be
made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! who has touched a corpse in a
distant place in the wilderness70?

70. Where the regular process or purification cannot be performed.
-- The Pahlavi Commentary to this chapter will be found in West,
Pahlavi Texts, II, p. 455.

98. Ahura Mazda answered: 'He can, O holy Zarathushtra.'

How so?

'If the Nasu has already been expelled by the corpse-eating dogs
or the corpse-eating birds, he shall wash his body with gomez;
he shall wash it thirty times, he shall rub it dry with the hand
thirty times, beginning every time with the head71.

71. Perhaps better: 'this is as good as the chief purification' (that
is to say as a regular Barashnom). -- If the Sag-did has been 'performed,
the S&icirc;-sh&ucirc; (thirty-fold washing) is enough. Cf. above,
§§ 35, 36.

99. 'If the Nasu has not yet been expelled by the corpse-eating
dogs or the corpse-eating birds, he shall wash his body with gomez;
he shall wash it fifteen times, he shall rub it dry with the hand
fifteen times72.

72. If the Sag-did has not been performed, he cleanses himself in
a summary way till he comes to a place where the Barashnom can
be performed.

100. 'Then he shall run a distance of a Hathra72. He shall run until
he meets some man on his way, and he shall cry out aloud: "Here
am I, one who has touched the corpse of a man, and who is powerless
in mind, powerless in tongue, powerless in hand73. Do make me clean."
Thus shall he run until he overtakes the man. If the man will
not cleanse him, he remits him the third of his trespass74.

72. See Bund. 26, note 1.

73. On account of my uncleanness, I am arm&ecirc;sht, excluded from active
life and unfit for any work.

74. As he takes it upon his own head.

101. 'Then he shall run another Hathra, he shall run off again
until he overtakes a man; if the man will not cleanse him, he
remits him the half of his trespass75.

75. The half of the remnant, that is the second third.

102. 'Then he shall run a third Hathra, he shall run off a third
time until he overtakes a man; if the man will not cleanse him,
he remits him the whole of his trespass.

103. 'Thus shall he run forwards until he comes near a house, a
borough, a town, an inhabited district, and he shall cry out with
a loud voice: "Here am I, one who has touched the corpse
of a man, and who is powerless in mind, powerless in tongue, powerless
in hand. Do make me clean." If they will not cleanse him,
he shall cleanse his body with gomez and water; thus shall he
be clean76.'

76. 'He may then attend to his business; he may work and fill; some
say he must abstain from sacrifice (till he has undergone the
Barashnom)' (Comm.)

104. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If he find water
on his way and the water make him subject to a penalty77, what is
the penalty that he shall pay?

77. As he defiled it by crossing it.

105. Ahura Mazda answered: 'Four hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
four hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'

106. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If he find trees78
on his way and the fire make him subject to a penalty, what is
the penalty that he shall pay?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Four hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
four hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.

78. 'Trees fit for the fire' (Comm.) If he touches those trees,
the fire to which they are brought becomes unclean by his fault.

107. 'This is the penalty, this is the atonement which saves the
faithful man who submits to it, not him who does not submit to
it.

Such a one shall surely be an inhabitant in the mansion of the
Druj79.'

79. Hell. Imitated from Yasna 49.11d.
See Vd14.18.

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-- Vendidad — Chapter 8 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))