Contracts and Outrages

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

IV (23-25). No clothes to be wasted 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 Bahrâm fire.

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

1. Purification of the house where a man has died

1. If a dog or a man die under the timber-work of a house or the wattlings of a hut, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

2 (4). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They shall look for a Dakhma, they shall look for a Dakhma all around. If they find it easier, to remove the dead than to remove the house, they shall take out the dead, they shall let the house stand, and shall perfume it with Urvâsni, or Vohu-gaona, or Vohu-kereti, or Hadhâ-naêpata, or any other sweet-smelling plant 1.

3 (8). ‘If they find it easier to remove the house than to remove the dead 2, they shall take away the house, they shall let the dead lie on the spot, and shall perfume the house with Urvâsni, or Vohu-gaona, or Vohu-kereti, or Hadhâ-naêpata, or any other sweet-smelling plant.’

2. Funerals

4 (11). 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 raining 3, or snowing, or blowing 4, or the darkness is coming on, when flocks and men lose their way, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do 4?

5 (14). 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 Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of baresma, and by the faithful;’–

6 (16). 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 (17). 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 (18). ‘On that place they shall dig a grave, half a foot deep if the earth be hard, half the height of a man if it be soft; [they shall cover the surface of the grave with ashes or cowdung] 1; they shall cover the surface of it with dust of bricks, of stones, or of dry earth 2.

9 (21). ‘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 floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth.

10 (23). ‘And when the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth, then the worshippers of Mazda shall make a breach in the wall of the house 1, and they shall call for two men, strong and skilful 2, and those, having stripped their clothes off 3, shall take the body to the building of clay, stones, and mortar 4, raised on a place where they know there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds.

11 (29). ‘Afterwards the corpse-bearers shall sit down, three paces from the dead; then the holy Ratu 5 shall proclaim to the worshippers of Mazda thus: “Let the worshippers of Mazda here bring the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers there shall wash their hair and their bodies!”’

12 (32). 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 (35). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It is of sheep or of oxen; not of man nor of woman, except these two: the nearest kinsman (of the dead) or his nearest kinswoman. The worshippers of Mazda shall therefore procure the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers shall wash their hair and their bodies 1.’

III. 14 (38). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the way, whereon the carcases of dogs or corpses of men have been carried, be passed through again by flocks and herds, by men and women, by Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of baresma, and by the faithful?

15 (40). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It cannot be passed through again by flocks and herds, nor by men and women, nor by Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, nor by the consecrated bundles of baresma, nor by the faithful.

16 (41). ‘You shall therefore cause the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears 2, to go three times through that way 3. When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, is brought there, then the Drug Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras 4.

17 (45). ‘If the dog goes unwillingly, they shall use the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears: to go six times 1 through that way. When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, is brought there, then the Drug Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.

18 (47). ‘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 Drug Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras.

19 (49). ‘An Âthravan shall first go along the way and shall say aloud these fiend-smiting words: “Yathâ ahû vairyô 2:–the will of the Lord is the law of holiness; the riches of Vohu-manô 3 shall be given to him who works in this world for Mazda, and wields according to the will of Ahura the power he gave to him to relieve the poor.

20 (52). ‘“Kem nâ mazdâ:–whom hast thou placed to protect me, O Mazda! while the hate of the fiend is grasping me? Whom but thy Âtar and Vohu-manô 1, by whose work the holy world goes on? Reveal to me the rules of thy law!

‘“Ke verethrem gâ:–who is he who will smite the fiend in order to maintain thy ordinances? Teach me clearly thy rules for this world and for the next, that Sraosha 2 may come with Vohu-manô and help whomsoever thou pleasest.

21 (60). ‘“Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Ârmaiti Spenta! Perish, O fiendish Drug! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, O Drug! Rush away, O Drug! Perish away, O Drug! Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of the holy spirit!”

22.(63). ‘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 afterwards 3 prepare meals with meat and wine in that house; it shall be clean, and there will be no sin, as before.’

IV.

23 (65). 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 feet, what is the penalty that he shall pay 1?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Four hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, four hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.’

24 (68). 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 Aspahê-astra, six hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.’

25 (71). 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 Aspahê-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.’