Contracts and Outrages

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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.

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.’

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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.’ . . .

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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!’

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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.’

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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.’

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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.’