1O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

1O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

2Does fire kill?

2Here is a man watering a corn-field.

3The water streams down the field; it streams again; it streams a third time; and the fourth time, a dog, a fox, or a wolf carries some Nasu into the bed of the stream: what is the penalty that this man shall pay?

3Ahura Mazda answered:—

4Ahura Mazda answered:—

4"Fire kills no man: Astô-vîdhôtu binds him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the fire burns up life and limb.

5When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes."

5"There is no sin upon a man for any Nasu that has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies.

6For were there sin upon a man for any Nasu that might have been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon all this material world of mine would be only one Peshôtanu, bent on the destruction of righteousness, and whose soul will cry and wail!

6O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

7so numberless are the beings that die upon the face of the earth."

7If the summer is past and the winter has come, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

8O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

8Ahura Mazda answered:—

9Does water kill?

9"In every house, in every borough, they shall raise three rooms for the dead."

10Ahura Mazda answered:—

10O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

11"Water kills no man: Astô-vîdhôtu binds him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the flood takes him up, the flood takes him down, the flood throws him ashore; then birds feed upon him.

11How large shall be those rooms for the dead?

12When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes."

12Ahura Mazda answered:—

13"Large enough not to strike the skull of the man, if he should stand erect, or his feet or his hands stretched out: such shall be, according to the law, the rooms for the dead.

14And they shall let the lifeless body lie there, for two nights, or for 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.

15And as soon as 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 lay down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes towards the sun.

16If the worshippers of Mazda have not, within a year, laid down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes towards the sun, thou shalt prescribe for that trespass the same penalty as for the murder of one of the faithful; until the corpse has been rained on, until the Dakhma has been rained on, until the unclean remains have been rained on, until the birds have eaten up the corpse."

17O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

18Is it true that thou, Ahura Mazda, seizest the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha with the wind and the clouds?

19That thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the corpses?

20that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the Dakhmas?

21that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the unclean remains?

22that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the bones?

23and that then thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back unseen?

24that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back to the sea Pûitika?

25Ahura Mazda answered:—

26"They are Peshôtanus: two hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."

27O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

28If worshippers of Mazda want to till that piece of ground again, to water it, to sow it, and to plough it, what shall they do?

29Ahura Mazda answered:—

30"They shall look on the ground for any bones, hair, dung, urine, or blood that may be there."

31O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

32If they shall not look on the ground for any bones, hair, dung, urine, or blood that may be there, what is the penalty that they shall pay?

33Ahura Mazda answered:—

34"They are Peshôtanus: two hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."

35Ahura Mazda answered:—

36"Taking off his shoes, putting off his clothes, while the others wait, O Zarathustra!

37he shall enter the river, and take the dead out of the water; he shall go down into the water ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, or a man's full depth, till he can reach the dead body."

38O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

39If, however, the body be already falling to pieces and rotting, what shall the worshipper of Mazda do?

40Ahura Mazda answered:—

41"He shall draw out of the water as much of the corpse as he can grasp with both hands, and he shall lay it down on the dry ground; no sin attaches to him for any bone, hair, grease, dung, urine, or blood, that may drop back into the water."

42O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!

43What part of the water in a pond does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, infection, and pollution?

44"The worshippers of Mazda shall make a receptacle out of the reach of the dog, of the fox, and of the wolf, and wherein rain-water cannot stay.

45They shall make it, if they can afford it, with stones, plaster, or earth; if they cannot afford it, they shall lay down the dead man on the ground, on his carpet and his pillow, clothed with the light of heaven, and beholding the sun."