AvestaZoroastrianismAccepted ScriptureAvestanShareVendidad Fargard 7Darmesteter and Mills / Sacred Books of the East - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableDarmesteter and Mills / Sacred Books of the EastLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Vendidad Fargard 1Vendidad Fargard 2Vendidad Fargard 3Vendidad Fargard 4Vendidad Fargard 5Vendidad Fargard 6Vendidad Fargard 7Vendidad Fargard 8Vendidad Fargard 9Vendidad Fargard 10Vendidad Fargard 11Vendidad Fargard 12Vendidad Fargard 13Vendidad Fargard 14Vendidad Fargard 15Vendidad Fargard 16Vendidad Fargard 17Vendidad Fargard 18Vendidad Fargard 19Vendidad Fargard 20Vendidad Fargard 21Vendidad Fargard 22Sirozah Sirozah 1Yashts KhorshedSirozah Sirozah 2Yashts Ormazd YashtYashts ArdibehioT 1 YashtYashts Khordad YashtYashts Aban YashtYashts Khorshed YashtYashts Mah YashtYashts Tlr YashtYashts G oS YashtYashts Mihir / Mithra YashtYashts Sraosha Yasht HadhoKhtYashts Rashn YashtYashts Bahram YashtYashts Ram YashtYashts Ashi YashtYashts Aytad YashtYashts Zamyad YashtYashts Van Ant YashtYashts Yasht FragmentYashts Vtetasp YashtNyayis Khorshed? NyayiyNyayis Mihir / Mithra NyayiyNyayis Aban NyayiyNyayis Atay NyayisYasna Yasna 28Yasna Yasna 34Yasna Yasna 30Yasna Yasna 31Yasna Yasna 32Yasna Yasna 33Yasna Yasna 43Yasna Yasna 44Yasna Yasna 11Yasna Yasna 45Yasna Yasna 46Yasna Yasna 47Yasna Yasna 48Yasna Yasna 49Yasna Yasna 50Yasna Yasna 51Yasna Yasna 60Yasna Yasna 53Yasna Yasna 1Yasna Yasna 2Yasna Yasna 3Yasna Yasna 4Yasna Yasna 5Yasna Yasna 6Yasna Yasna 7Yasna Yasna 8Yasna Yasna 9Yasna Yasna 10Yasna Yasna 12Yasna Yasna 13Yasna Yasna 22Yasna Yasna 14Yasna Yasna 15Yasna Yasna 16Yasna Yasna 17Yasna Yasna 19Yasna Yasna 18Yasna Yasna 20Yasna Yasna 21Yasna Yasna 29Yasna Yasna 23Yasna Yasna 24Yasna Yasna 25Yasna Yasna 26Yasna Yasna 27Yasna Yasna 35Yasna Yasna 36Yasna Yasna 37Yasna Yasna 38Yasna Yasna 39Yasna Yasna 40Yasna Yasna 41Yasna Yasna 42Yasna Yasna 52Yasna Yasna 54Yasna Yasna 55Yasna Yasna 56Yasna Yasna 57Yasna Yasna 58Yasna Yasna 59Yasna Yasna 61Yasna Yasna 62Yasna Yasna 65Yasna Yasna 66Yasna Yasna 68Yasna Yasna 70Yasna Yasna 71Yasna Yasna 72Visparad Visparad 1Visparad Visparad 2Visparad Visparad 11Visparad Visparad 3Visparad Visparad 4Visparad Visparad 5Visparad Visparad 7Visparad Visparad 8Visparad Visparad 9Visparad Visparad 10Visparad Visparad 12Visparad Visparad 13Visparad Visparad 14Visparad Visparad 15Visparad Visparad 16Visparad Visparad 18Visparad Visparad 19Visparad Visparad 20Visparad Visparad 21Visparad Visparad 23Afrinagan AfrinaganGahs Gah 1Gahs Gah 2Gahs Gah 3Gahs Gah 4Gahs Gah 5Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 1Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 2Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 3Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 4Miscellaneous Fragments Fragment 5Miscellaneous Fragments Miscellaneous FragmentsMiscellaneous Fragments Fragment 9›Vendidad: Fargard 7Vendidad Fargard 7ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1How long after death the Nasu falls upon the dead. II (6-9). How far the defiling power of the Nasu extends. III (10-22). Cleansing of clothes defiled by the dead. IY (23-24). Eating of corpses an abomination. 5Bringing corpses to fire or water an abomination. VI (28-35). Cleansing of wood and corn defiled by the dead. VII a (36-40). Physicians; their probation. VII b (40-44). Their fees. VIII (45-59). Purification of the earth, of the Dakhmas. The Dakhmas and the Dafivas. IX (60-72). Treatment of a woman who has brought forth a still-born child. 1Cleansing of vessels defiled by the dead. XI (76). Cleansing of the cow. XII (77). Unclean libations. This chapter would offer tolerable unity, but for a digression on medicine, which would be better placed as an introduction to the last three chapters. Sections II and IX, parts of which have already been found in Fargard V, are more suitably placed here. This chapter, as a whole, deals with the action of the Drug- Nasu, from the moment she takes hold of the corpse, and shows how and when the several objects she has defiled become clean, namely, clothes, wood, corn, earth, women, vessels, and cows. 1Zarathmtra asked Ahura Mazda: ‘O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material but is brought out through trenches dug for that purpose (cf. Introd. V, 10). world, thou Holy One! When a man dies, at what moment does the Dmf Nasu rush upon him 1? ’ 2Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ Directly after death, as soon as the soul has left the body, O Spitama Zarathustra! the Dru^ Nasu comes and rushes upon him, from the regions of the north 2, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras 3. [3. ‘On him she stays until the dog has seen the corpse 4 or eaten it up, or until the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it5. When the dog has seen it or eaten it up, or when the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it, then the T)mg Nasu rushes 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/] 4O 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 6, or by falling down a precipice, or by the law 7, or by a murderer, or by the noose 8, how long after death does the Drug Nasu come and rush upon the dead? by dogs (see Introd. V, 4). 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 Sadah. 5Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ At the next watch after death.1, the Druj’" Nasu comes and rushes upon the dead, from 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.’ 6O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be a number of men resting in the same place, on adjoining carpets, on adjoining 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 infection, pollution, and uncleanness? 7(11). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If the dead one be a priest, the Dru^" Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathu-rtra! she falls on the eleventh and defiles the ten. ‘ If the dead one be a warrior, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathostra! she falls on the tenth and defiles the nine. ‘ If the dead one be a husbandman, the Drof Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the ninth and defiles the eight. 8(17). ‘If it be a shepherd’s dog, the Druj>- Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathiutra! she falls on the eighth and defiles the seven. ‘If it be a house dog, the Druf Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarath astral she falls on the seventh and defiles the six. 9(21). ‘If it be a Vohunazga dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathostra! she falls on the sixth and defiles the five. ‘ If it be a young dog, the Dru^ Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathastra! she falls on the fifth and defiles the four V... 6.2‘ those clothes shall serve for their coverings and for their sheets1 2.’... xo (26). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of his bedding 3 4 and pillow does the Drug Nasu defile with infection, unclean¬ ness, and pollution? 11Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The Drug Nasu defiles with infection, uncleanness, and pollu¬ tion the upper sheet and the inner garment V 12O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can that garment be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda I that has been touched by the carcase of a dog or the corpse of a man? 13Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathastra! ’ How so? VENd!dAD. ‘ If, indeed, the garment has been defiled with seed, or sweat, or dirt, or vomit, the worshippers of Mazda shall rend it to pieces, and bury it under the ground \ ‘If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with gbmez six times 2, 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‘The spring named Ardvi Shra, O Spitama Zarathastra! that spring of mine, purifies the seed in man, the fruit in a woman’s womb, the milk in a woman’s breast 3.’ 19‘ 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 with¬ draw and move their hands. 20‘ Ahura Mazda, indeed, does not allow us to waste anything of value that we may have, not even so much as an Asperena’s weight of thread, not even so much as a maid lets fall in spinning. 21‘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 the happy realm. 22‘He shall go away into the world of the fiends, into that dark world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness. To that world, to the dismal realm, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own souls, O sinners! ’ 8o 24Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! His burrow1 shall be dug out, his life shall be torn out, his bright eyes shall be put out; the Drutf Nasu falls upon him, takes hold of him even to the end of the nails, and he is unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever V 25O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can he be clean again, O holy Ahura Mazda! who has brought a corpse with filth into the waters, or unto the fire, and made either unclean? 26Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! Those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus3, that most increase gnats and locusts 4; those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus, that most increase the grass-destroying drought. a Till the resurrection. ‘It is prescribed in theVendidad that if a man shall eat of a carcase, his house and family shall be destroyed, his heart shall be torn out of his body, his eyes shall be put out, and his soul shall abide in hell till the resurrection ’ (Saddar 71, Hyde 79). ‘He who eats of a carcase with sinful intent is both unclean and margarzan; Barashnum and Nireng are of no avail for him, he must die. If there has been no sinful intent, he may wash himself; one may give him the ashes and the g6m8z (Comm.); he is unclean, he is not margarz&n’ (Old Rav. 1 15 b). 8l fierce, mischievous winter1. Upon them comes and rushes the Drug Nasu, she takes hold of them even to the end of the nails, and they are unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever 2.’ 28O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the wood be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! whereunto dead matter has been brought from a dead dog, or from a dead man? 29Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathartra!’ How so? ‘ If the Nasu has not yet been smitten3 by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse-eating birds 4, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the wood on the length of a Vitasti 5 all around the dead matter, if the wood be dry; on the length of a Frarithni 6 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean 7. 30‘ But if the Nasu has already been smitten1 by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse¬ eating birds, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the wood on the length of a Frirathni all around the dead matter, if the wood be dry; on the length of a Frib&zu 2 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean. 31‘This is the quantity of wood around the dead matter, that they shall lay down, apart on the ground, according as the wood is dry or wet; according as it is hard or soft; they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.’ 32O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the corn or the fodder be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! whereunto dead mat¬ ter has been brought from a dead dog, or from a dead man? 33Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It can, O holy Zarathustra!’ How so? ‘ If the Nasu has not yet been smitten by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse-eating birds, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the corn on the length of a Frardthni all around the dead matter, if the corn be dry; on the length of aF rabazu all seem. around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean. 34‘ But if the Nasu has already been smitten1 by the corpse-eating dogs, or by the corpse¬ eating birds, they shall lay down, apart on the ground, the corn on the length of aF rabazu all around the dead matter, if the corn be dry; on the length of aV Ibazu 2 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean. 35‘ This is the quantity of corn around the dead matter, that they shall lay down, apart on the ground, according as the corn is dry or wet; accord¬ ing as it is sown or not sown; according as it is reaped or not reaped; according as it is ground or not ground 3; according as it is (kneaded) 4 or not kneaded; they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.’ Vila. 36O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a worshipper of Mazda want to practice the art of healing, on whom shall he first prove his skill? on worshippers of Mazda or on worshippers of the Daevas? 37Ahura Mazda answered: ‘On worship¬ pers of the Daevas shall he first prove himself, rather than on worshippers of Mazda. If he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daevas and he die; if he treat with the knife a second worshipper of the Daevas and he die; if he treat with the knife for the third time a worshipper of the Daevas and he die, he is unfit to practise the art of healing for ever and ever. 38‘ Let him therefore never attend any worshipper of Mazda; let him never treat with the knife any worshipper of Mazda, nor wound him with the knife. If he shall ever attend any worshipper of Mazda, if he shall ever treat with the knife any worshipper of Mazda, and wound him with the knife, he shall pay for it the same penalty as is paid for wilful murder1. 39‘ If he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Dadvas and he recover; if he treat with the knife a second worshipper of the Dadvas and he recover; if for the third time he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daevas and he recover; then he is fit to practise the art of healing for ever and ever 2. 40‘ He may henceforth at his will attend worshippers of Mazda; he may at his will treat with the knife worshippers of Mazda, and heal them with the knife. VII b. 41‘A healer shall heal a priest for a holy blessing 1; he shall heal the master of a house for the value of an ox of low value; he shall heal the lord of a borough 2 for the value of an ox of average value; he shall heal the lord of a town for the value of an ox of high value; he shall heal the lord of a province for the value of a chariot and four 3. 42‘ He shall heal the wife of the master of a house for the value of a she-ass; he shall heal the wife of the lord of a borough for the value of a cow; he shall heal the wife of the lord of a town for the value of a mare; he shall heal the wife of the lord of a province for the value of a she-camel. 43‘He shall heal the son of the lord of a borough for the value of an ox of high value; he shall heal an ox of high value for the value of an ox of average value; he shall heal an ox of average value for that of an ox of low value; he shall heal an ox of low value for the value of a sheep; he shall heal a sheep for the value of a meal of meat 4. 44‘If several healers offer themselves to¬ gether, O Spitama Zarathustra! namely, one who heals with the knife, one who heals with herbs, and one who heals with the holy word 5, it is this one who will best drive away sickness from the body of the faithful V 45O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long after the corpse of a dead man has been laid down on the ground, clothed with the light of heaven and beholding the sun, is the ground itself again1 2? 46(123). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘When the corpse of a dead man has lain on the ground for a year, clothed with the light of heaven, and beholding the sun, then the ground is itself again, O holy Zarathustra 3! ’ 47O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long after the corpse of a dead man has been buried in the earth, is the earth itself again? 48(125). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘When the corpse of a dead man has lain buried in the earth for fifty years, O Spitama Zarathu-rtra! then the earth is itself again4.’ 49O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long after the corpse of a dead man has been laid down on a Dakhma, is the ground, whereon the Dakhma stands, itself again? 50Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Not until the dust of the corpse, O Spitama Zarathustra! has mingled with the dust of the earth1. Urge every one in the material world, O Spitama Zarathu-stra! to pull down Dakhmas 2. 51‘ He who should pull down Dakhmas, even so much thereof as the size of his own body, his sins in thought, word, and deed are remitted as they would be by a Patet; his sins in thought, word, and deed are atoned for3. 52‘ Not for his soul shall the two spirits wage war with one another 4; and when he enters the blissful world, the stars, the moon, and the sun shall rejoice in him; and I, Ahura Mazda, shall rejoice in him, saying: “ Hail, O man! thou who hast just passed from the decaying world into the undecaying one! ” ’ Holy One! Where are the fiends? Where are the worshippers of the fiends? What is the place whereon the troops of fiends rush together? What is the place whereon the troops of fiends come rushing along? What is the place whereon they rush together to kill their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads? 56Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Those Dakhmas that are built upon the face of the earth, O Spitama Zarathostra! and whereon are laid the corpses of dead men, that is the place where the fiends are, that is the place whereon the troops of fiends rush together, that is the place whereon the troops of fiends come rushing along, that is the place whereon they rush together to kill their fifties and their hundreds, their hundreds and their thousands, their thousands and their tens of thousands, their tens of thousands and their myriads of myriads. 57‘On those Dakhmas, O Spitama Zarathustra! those fiends take food and void filth, (eating up corpses) in the same way as you, men, in the material world, eat cooked meal and cooked meat. It is, as it were, the smell of their feeding that you smell there, O men! 58‘Thus the fiends revel on there, until that stench is rooted in the Dakhmas. Thus from the Dakhmas arise the infection of diseases, itch, hot fever, humours ', cold fever, rickets, and hair untimely white. There death has most power on man, from the hour when the sun is down. 59‘ And if there be people of evil spirit who do not seek for better spirit, the £?ainis 1 make those diseases grow stronger by a third 2, on their thighs, on their hands, on their plaited hair 3 4.’ 61Ahura Mazda answered: * The place in that Mazdean 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 — 62O 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? 63Ahura 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; — 64‘On that place shall the worshippers of Mazda erect an enclosure, and therein shall they establish her with food, therein shall they establish her with clothes.’ 65O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the food that the woman shall first take? 66(163). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘She shall drink g6mez mixed with ashes, three cups of it, or six, or nine, to wash over the grave in her womb. 67(166). ‘Afterwards she may drink boiling milk of mares, cows, sheep, or goats, with pap or without pap; she may take cooked meat without water, bread without water, and wine without water.’ 68O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How long shall she remain so? How long shall she live only on that sort of meat, bread, and wine? 69(170). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Three nights long shall she remain so; three nights long shall she live on that sort of meat, bread, and wine. Then, when three nights have passed, she shall wash her body, she shall wash her clothes, with gom6z and water, by the nine holes, and thus shall she be clean.’ 70O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! But if fever befall her unclean body, if that twofold plague, hunger and thirst, befall her, may she be allowed to drink water? 71Ahura Mazda answered: ‘She may; the first thing for her is to have her life saved. Having been allowed by one of the holy men, by a holy faithful man, who knows the holy knowledge1, she shall drink of the strength-giving water. But you, worshippers of Mazda, fix ye the penalty for it. The Ratu being applied to, the Sraoshavarez being applied to 2, shall prescribe the penalty to be paid 3.’ 72What is the penalty to be paid? Ahura Mazda answered: ‘ The deed is that of a Peshdtanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspaheartra, two hundred stripes with the Sraosho-iarana V 73O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the eating vessels be made clean that have been touched by the carcase of a dog, or by the corpse of a man? 74(184). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They can, O holy Zarathiutra! ’ How so? ‘ If they be of gold, you shall wash them once with gdmez, you shall rub them once with earth, you shall wash them once with water, and they shall be clean. ‘ If they be of silver, you shall wash them twice with gdmdz, you shall rub them twice with earth, you shall wash them twice with water, and they shall be clean. [75. ‘ If they be of brass, you shall wash them thrice with gdmez, you shall rub them thrice with earth, you shall wash them thrice with water, and they shall be clean. ‘ If they be of steel, you shall wash them four times with gomez, you shall rub them four times with earth, you shall wash them four times with water, and they shall be clean. ‘ If they be of stone, you shall wash them six times with g6m£z, you shall rub them six times with earth, you shall wash them six times with water, and they shall be clean b] ‘ If they be of earth, of wood, or of clay, they are unclean for ever and ever 2.’ 76O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the cow be made clean that has eaten of the carcase of a dog, or of the corpse of a man? 77Ahura Mazda answered: ‘She can, O holy Zarathustra! The priest shall not, within a year, take from her to the baresma neither the milk and cheese that accompany the libation, nor the meat that accompanies the libation 3. When a year has passed, then the faithful may eat of her as before V 78Who is he, O holy Ahura Mazda! who, with a godly intent, with a godly wish, goes astray from the ways of God? Who is he who, with a godly intent, falls into the ways of the Drug'1? 79(194). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The one who, with a godly intent, with a godly wish, goes astray from the ways of God; the one who with a godly intent falls into the ways of the Druf, is he who offers up for libation water defiled by the dead; or who offers up libations in the dead of the night V ‹Previous chapterVendidad Fargard 6Next chapterVendidad Fargard 8›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public-domain 1880/1883/1887 English translation