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The Zend Avesta, Part I (SBE04), James Darmesteter, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com
I (1-5). How 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.
IV (23-24). Eating of corpses an abomination.
V (25-27). Bringing 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 Daêvas.
IX (60-72). Treatment of a woman who has brought forth a still-born child.
X (73-75). Cleansing 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.
1. Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material
world, thou Holy One! When a man dies, at what moment does the Drug Nasu rush upon him 1?'
2 (3). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Directly after death, as soon as the soul has left the body, O Spitama Zarathustra! the Drug 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 it 5. When the dog has seen it or eaten it up, or when the flesh-eating birds have taken flight towards it, then the Drug 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.']
4 (5). O 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?
5 (6). Ahura Mazda answered: 'At the next watch after death 1, the Drug 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.'
6 (7). O 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 Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the eleventh and defiles the ten.
‘If the dead one be a warrior, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the tenth and defiles the nine.
‘If the dead one be a husbandman, the Drug 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 Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the eighth and defiles the seven.
‘If it be a house dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the seventh and defiles the six.
9 (21). ‘If it be a Vohunazga dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the sixth and defiles the five.
'If it be a young dog, the Drug Nasu rushes forth, O Spitama Zarathustra! she falls on the fifth and defiles the four 1.'
. . . 'those clothes shall serve for their coverings and for their sheets 2.' . . .
10 (26). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of his bedding 3 and pillow does the Drug Nasu defile with infection, uncleanness, and pollution?
11 (27). Ahura Mazda answered: 'The Drug Nasu defiles with infection, uncleanness, and pollution the upper sheet and the inner garment 4.'
12 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can that garment be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! that has been touched by the carcase of a dog or the corpse of a man?
13 (29). Ahura Mazda answered: 'It can, O holy Zarathustra!'
How so?
‘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 1.
14 (33). ‘But if it has not been defiled with seed, or sweat, or dirt, or vomit, then the worshippers of Mazda shall wash it with gômêz.
15 (35). ‘If it be leather, they shall wash it with gômêz three times, they shall rub it with earth three times, they shall wash it with water three times, and afterwards they shall expose it to the air for three months at the window of the house.
‘If it be woven cloth, they shall wash it with gômêz 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 (37). 'The spring named Ardvî Sûra, O Spitama Zarathustra! that spring of mine, purifies the seed in man, the fruit in a woman's womb, the milk in a woman's breast 3.'
17 4 (41). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can those clothes, when once washed and cleansed, ever be used either by a Zaotar, or by a Hâvanan, or by an Âtare-vakhsha, or by a Frabaretar, or by an Âbered, or by an Âsnâtar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraoshâ-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman?
18 (43). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Never can those clothes, even when washed and cleansed, be used either by a Zaotar, or by a Hâvanan, or by an Âtare-vakhsha, or by a Frabaretar, or by an Âbered, or by an Âsnâtar, or by a Rathwiskar, or by a Sraoshâ-varez, or by any priest, warrior, or husbandman.
19 (45). ‘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 withdraw and move their hands.
20 (49). ‘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 (52). ‘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 (55). '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!'
23 (59). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can he be clean again who has eaten of the carcase of a dog or of the carcase of a man 1?
24 (60). Ahura Mazda answered: 'He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! His burrow 1 shall be dug out, his life shall be torn out, his bright eyes shall be put out; the Drug Nasu falls upon him, takes hold of him even to the end of the nails, and he is unclean, thenceforth, for ever and ever 2.'
25 (65). O 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?
26 (66). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He cannot, O holy Zarathustra! Those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus 3, that most increase gnats and locusts 4; those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus, that most increase the grass-destroying drought.
27 (69). 'Those wicked ones it is, those men turned to Nasus, that increase most the power of the winter, produced by the fiends, the cattle-killing, thick-snowing, overflowing, the piercing,
fierce, mischievous winter 1. 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.'
28 (72). O 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?
29 (73). Ahura Mazda answered: 'It can, O holy Zarathustra!'
How so?
‘If the Nasu has not yet been smitten 3 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 Vîtasti 5 all around the dead matter, if the wood be dry; on the length of a Frârâthni 6 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean 7.
30 (78). ‘But if the Nasu has already been smitten 1 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 Frârâthni all around the dead matter, if the wood be dry; on the length of a Frâbâzu 2 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.
31 (81). '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.'
32 (83). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the corn or the fodder be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! whereunto dead matter has been brought from a dead dog, or from a dead man?
33 (84). Ahura 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 Frârâthni all around the dead matter, if the corn be dry; on the length of a Frâbâzu all
around if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.
34 (89). ‘But if the Nasu has already been smitten 1 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 Frâbâzu all around the dead matter, if the corn be dry; on the length of a Vîbâzu 2 all around, if it be wet; then they shall sprinkle it once over with water, and it shall be clean.
35 (92). '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; according 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.'
36 (94). O 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 his skill? on worshippers of Mazda or on worshippers of the Daêvas?
37 (96). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘On worshippers of the Daêvas shall he first prove himself,
rather than on worshippers of Mazda. If he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daêvas and he die; if he treat with the knife a second worshipper of the Daêvas and he die; if he treat with the knife for the third time a worshipper of the Daêvas and he die, he is unfit to practise the art of healing for ever and ever.
38 (99). ‘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 murder 1.
39 (102). ‘If he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daêvas and he recover; if he treat with the knife a second worshipper of the Daêvas and he recover; if for the third time he treat with the knife a worshipper of the Daêvas and he recover; then he is fit to practise the art of healing for ever and ever 2.
40 (104). ‘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.
41 (105). ‘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 (110). ‘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 (114) ‘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 (118). 'If several healers offer themselves together, 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 1.'
45 (122). O 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 again 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!'
47 (124). O 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 Zarathustra! then the earth is itself again 4.'
49 (126). O 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?
50 (127). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Not until the dust of the corpse, O Spitama Zarathustra! has mingled with the dust of the earth 1. Urge every one in the material world, O Spitama Zarathustra! to pull down Dakhmas 2.
51 (129). ‘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 for 3
52 (132). '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!"'
55 5 (137). O Maker of the material world, thou
[paragraph continues] 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?
56 (138). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘Those Dakhmas that are built upon the face of the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! 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 (140). ‘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 (143). ‘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 1, cold fever, rickets, and hair untimely white. There death has most power on man, from the hour when the sun is down.
59 (148). 'And if there be people of evil spirit who do not seek for better spirit, the Gainis 1 make those diseases grow stronger by a third 2, on their thighs, on their hands, on their plaited hair 3.'
60 4 (151). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If in the house of a worshipper of Mazda there be a woman with child, and if being a month gone, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six, or seven, or eight, or nine, or ten months gone, she bring forth a still-born child, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
61 (155). Ahura 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;'--
62 (158). 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?
63 (159). 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;'--
64 (160). '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.'
65 (162). O 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 gômêz 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.'
68 (169). O 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 gômêz and water, by the nine holes, and thus shall she be clean.'
70 O 72). O 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?
71 (175). Ahura 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
knowledge 1, 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 Sraoshâ-varez being applied to 2, shall prescribe the penalty to be paid 3.'
72 (181). What is the penalty to be paid?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'The deed is that of a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana 4.'
73 (183). O 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 Zarathustra!'
How so?
‘If they be of gold, you shall wash them once with gômêz, 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 gômêz, 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 gômêz, 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 gômêz, 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 gômêz, you shall rub them six times with earth, you shall wash them six times with water, and they shall be clean 1.
'If they be of earth, of wood, or of clay, they are unclean for ever and ever 2.'
76 (189). O 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?
77 (190). Ahura 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 4.'
78 (193), Who 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 Drug, is he who offers up for libation water defiled by the dead; or who offers up libations in the dead of the night 2.'
75:1 See Introd. V, 3.
75:2 Hell lies in the north; cf. XIX, 1; Yt. XXII, 25; Bundahis 36, 12.
75:3 See Introd. V, 3.
75:4 Until the Sag-dîd has been performed (see Introd. V, 4).
75:5 The Sag-dîd may be performed by birds of prey as well as 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 Vendîdâd Sâdah.
75:6 'By poison' (Comm.).
75:7 Literally, 'by men;' that is to say, put to death by the community according to law (Comm.)
75:8 If he has strangled himself. Or possibly, 'by want.'
76:1 The day is divided into five watches or ratu. If the man dies a natural death, the Drug comes directly; if the death be violent and unlocked for, the Drug is taken unawares, and it requires time for her to be warned of it and to come.
76:2 §§ 6-9 = Farg. V, 27-30.
77:1 This enumeration is less complete than that in the fifth Fargard, as it comprises only the first four sorts of dogs, viz. only those that can perform the Sag-dîd (Comm. ad § 2).
77:2 This phrase, which forms part of § 19, is wrongly inserted here.
77:3 The bedding on which he has died.
77:4 That is to say, only those clothes which have been in direct contact with the dead.
78:1 According to the Commentary only that part which has been defiled is rent off; the rest may still be used.
78:2 See Introd. V, 16.
78:3 This clause is a quotation from Yasna LXV, 5, intended to illustrate the cleansing power of water. Ardvî Sûra is the Goddess of the waters.
78:4 §§ 17-22 = Farg. V, 57-62.
79:1 The carcase-eater lodges the Nasu in himself; he becomes a Nasu, and therefore must be destroyed; cf. infra § 76 seq.
80:1 His house, as he is assimilated to a devouring Khrafstra.
80:2 Till the resurrection. 'It is prescribed in the Vendîdâd 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 7 9). 'He who eats of a carcase with sinful intent is both unclean and margarzân; Barashnûm and Nîreng 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 gômêz (Comm.); he is unclean, he is not margarzân' (Old Rav. 115 b).
80:3 Doubtful; possibly, 'those Nasu-makers.'
80:4 'It is said in the Avesta that when there are many gnats and locusts it is owing to corpses having been brought to water and to fire' (Saddar 72, Hyde 80).
81:1 'In the same way (by the bringing of corpses to water and to fire), winter grows colder, and summer grows warmer' (Saddar 72, Hyde 80).
81:2 Whoever shall do that deed, shall pay for it in this world and in the next; they shall flay his body in the presence of the assembly, they shall tear him limb from limb, and his corpse shall be thrown away to dogs and ravens, . . . and when his soul comes to the other world, he shall suffer tortures from the dêvs (Gr. Rav. p. 123).
81:3 That is to say, if the Sag-dîd has not yet been performed.
81:5 Twelve fingers.
81:6 The Frârâthni is, as it seems, as much as one foot (fourteen fingers, Vd. II, 22, Comm.)
81:7 'After a year,' according to the Commentary.
82:1 It appears from the similar passages (VIII, 35, 36, and 98, 99) and from the general principles of uncleanness (see Introd. V, 16) that the words 'If the Nasu has not yet been smitten,' in § 29, have been misplaced there from § 30, and that the corresponding words in § 30 belong to § 29; because uncleanness spreads less far, when the Sag-dîd has taken place.
82:2 A measure of unknown extent; 'an arm's length,' it would seem.
83:1 The same observation applies to the first words of §§ 33, 34, as was observed of §§ 29, 30.
83:2 A measure of unknown extent; 'an ell,' it would seem.
83:3 This clause is preceded and followed, in the Vendîdâd Sâdah, by clauses which seem to refer to the process of grinding being more or less advanced.
83:4 This word is supplied, as it appears, from the context, and from the Pahlavi translation, to be wanting.
84:1 For baodhô-varsta, which word is wrongly understood by the Parsis as the designation of a penalty, consisting in the amputation of six fingers (Asp.)
84:2 'Some say, One who has been qualified may become disqualified; one who has been disqualified shall never become qualified' (Comm. ad § 43).
85:1 'Thus he will become holy (i.e. he will go to paradise); there no equivalent in money. Some say, It is given when the priest has not 3000 stîrs' (Comm.)
85:2 A group of several houses; Aspendiârji and Anquetil say, 'a street.'
85:3 'A value of seventy stîrs' (Comm.)
85:4 Cf. the tariff of fees for the cleanser, Farg. IX, 37 seq.
85:5 'By spells' (Comm.; cf. Odyssea XIX, 457). This classification was not unknown to Asclepios: he relieved the sick 'now with caressing spells, now with soothing drink or balsam, now with the knife' (Pindaros, Pyth. III, 51).
86:1 'It may be that he may not relieve, but he will not harm' (Comm.) The Vendîdâd Sâdah, instead of 'it is this one,' &c, reads as follows: 'Let them address themselves to the one who heals with the holy word; for he is the best healer among all healers, who heals by the holy word; this one it is who will drive away sickness from the body of the faithful.' The treatment by the holy word seems not to consist only in the recitation of spells, but the spells must be accompanied by the ceremony of the Barashnûm (see Farg. XXII and Introd. V, 14).
86:2 Restored to the purity of its nature, and fit to till; as it remains Nasu till that time.
86:3 See Farg. VI, 1 seq.
86:4 Cf. Farg. III, 36 seq.
87:1 A space of time estimated at fifty years (Comm.) Cf. Farg. III, 13.
87:2 Cf. Farg. III, 9, text and note, and § 13.
87:3 'A tanâfûhr sin is remitted thereby' (Comm.)
87:4 When a man dies, hell and paradise, fiends and gods struggle for the possession of his soul: Astôvîdhôtus, Vîzaresha, and the bad Vayu drag the souls of the wicked to hell; Mithra, Sraosha, Rashnu, and the good Vayu take the souls of the good to paradise (see Farg. XIX, 29 seq.; Yt. XXII; Mainyô-i-khard II). The struggle lasts for three days and three nights (the sadis), during which time the relatives of the dead offer up prayers and sacrifices to Sraosha, Rashnu, and Vayu, to assure him their protection (cf. IX, 56).
87:5 §§ 53, 54 belong to the Commentary; they are composed of disconnected quotations, part of which refers to the different deeds by which a tanâfûhr sin may be redeemed, while the other part refers to the rules of what may be called the book-keeping of good actions and sins.
88:1 Doubtful (naêza).
89:1 'The Gahi' (Comm.) The Gaini seems to be the Gahi as bringing sickness (cf. Farg. XXI, 2).
89:2 The general meaning of the sentence is that the Dakhmas are seats of infection, of which the action becomes worse and stronger when people live in impiety and vices.
89:3 Doubtful.
89:4 §§ 60-69 = Farg. V, 45-54.
91:1 The Dastur.
91:2 See Farg. V, 25.
91:3 For the water having been defiled.
91:4 A penalty to be undergone by the husband, at least in modern practice: 'If through fear of death or of serious illness she has drunk water before the appointed time, her husband shall make Patet for her fault before the Dastur' (Old Rav. 98 b).
92:1 From the Vendîdâd Sâdah.
92:2 See Introd. V, 16.
92:3 The offering of the libation waters (Zaothra) is accompanied with offerings of milk, cheese, and meat, which the priest eats holding the baresma in his hand.
92:4 'Whatever comes from her, if dropped, is clean; if taken, unclean. If she be big with young, the young is born clean, if conceived before her eating of the corpse; if conceived afterwards, it is born unclean' (Comm.)
93:1 Possibly, works for the Drug.
93:2 'From what hour may the good waters be offered up? From sunrise to sunset. He who offers up the good waters after sunset, before sunrise, does no better deed than if he should shed them downright into the jaws of the venomous snake' (Nîrangistân, in the Zand-Pahlavi Glossary, p. 76).