Policies for Funeral Pyres

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73 (229). O Holy One! If worshippers of Mazda, walking, or running, or riding, or driving, come upon a corpse-burning fire, whereon a corpse is being cooked or roasted, what shall they do?

74(233). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They shall kill the man that burns the corpse; surely they shall kill him 1. They shall take off the cauldron, they shall take off the tripod.

75 (237). ‘Then they shall kindle wood from that fire; either wood of those trees that have the seed of fire in them, or bundles of the very wood that was prepared for that fire; and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

76 (242). ‘Thus they shall lay a first bundle on the ground 2, a Vîtasti 3 away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

77 (245). ‘They shall lay down, a second bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

‘They shall lay down a third bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

‘They shall lay down a fourth bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

‘They shall lay down a fifth bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

‘They shall lay down a sixth bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

‘They shall lay down a seventh bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

‘They shall lay down an eighth bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

78 (245). ‘They shall lay down a ninth bundle on the ground, a Vîtasti away from the corpse-burning fire, and they shall separate and disperse it, that it may die out the sooner.

79, 80 (246). ‘If a man shall then piously bring unto the fire, O Spitama Zarathustra! wood of Urvâsna, or Vohu-gaona, or Vohu-kereti, or Hadhâ-naêpata, or any other sweet-smelling wood, wheresoever the wind shall bring the perfume of the fire, thereunto Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, shall go and kill thousands of unseen Daêvas, thousands of fiends, the brood of darkness, thousands of couples of Yâtus and Pairikas 1.’

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81 (251) O Holy One! If a man bring a corpse-burning fire to the Dâityô-gâtu 1, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought ten thousand fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

82 (254). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire wherein excrement has been burnt 2, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought a thousand fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

83 (257). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire wherein cowdung has been burnt 3, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought five hundred fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

84 (258). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire from the kiln of a brick-maker 4, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought four hundred fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu’

85 (259). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire from a potter’s kiln, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought to the Dâityô-gâtu as many fire-brands as there were pots baked in that fire 1.’

86 (260). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of the reapers 1, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought to the Dâityô-gâtu as many fire-brands as there were plants in the crop 1.’

87 (261). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of a goldsmith, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought a hundred fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

88 (262). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of a silversmith, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought ninety fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

89 (263). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of a worker in brass, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought eighty fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

90 (264). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of a blacksmith, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought seventy fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

91 (265). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of an oven 1, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted from his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought sixty fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

92 (266). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire from under a cauldron 2, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought fifty fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

93 (267). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire from an encampment 1, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought forty fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

94 (268). O Holy One! If a man bring a herdsman’s fire to the Dâityô-gâtu, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as it he had, here below, brought thirty fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

95 (269) 2. O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of the field 3, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought twenty fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

96 (270). O Holy One! If a man bring to the Dâityô-gâtu the fire of his own hearth, what shall be his reward when his soul has parted with his body?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘His reward shall be the same as if he had, here below, brought ten fire-brands to the Dâityô-gâtu.’

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97 (271) O Holy One! Can a man be made clean, O holy Ahura Mazda! who has touched a corpse in a distant place in the fields 1?

98 (272). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He can, O holy Zarathustra.’

How so?

‘If the Nasu has already been smitten by the corpse-eating dogs or the corpse-eating birds, he shall wash his body with gômêz; he shall wash it thirty times, he shall rub it dry with the hand thirty times, beginning every time with the head 2.

99 (278). ‘If the Nasu has not yet been smitten by the corpse-eating dogs or the corpse-eating birds, he shall wash his body with gômêz; he shall wash it fifteen times, he shall rub it dry with the hand fifteen times 3.

100 (280). ‘Then he shall run a distance of a Hâthra 4. He shall run until he meets some man on his way, then he shall cry out aloud: “Here am I, one who has touched the corpse of a man, without any wilful sin of mind, tongue, or hand, and who wishes to be made clean.” Thus shall he run until he overtakes the man. If the man will not cleanse him, he takes upon his own head the third of his trespass.

101 (287). ‘Then he shall run another Hâthra, he shall run off again until he overtakes a man; if the man will not cleanse him, he takes upon his own head the half of his trespass.

102 (291). ‘Then he shall run a third Hâthra, he shall run off a third time until he overtakes a man; if the man will not cleanse him, he takes upon his own head the whole of his trespass.

103 (294). ‘Thus shall he run forwards until he comes near a house, a borough, a town, an inhabited district, and he shall cry out with a loud voice: “Here am I, one who has touched the corpse of a man, without any wilful sin of mind, tongue, or hand, and who wishes to be made clean.” If they will not cleanse him, he shall cleanse his body with gômêz and water; thus shall he be clean 1.’

104 (300). O Holy One! If he found water on his way, the water requires an atonement 2; what is the penalty that he shall pay?

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

106 (304). O Holy One! If he found trees 3 on his way, the fire requires an atonement; what is the penalty he shall pay?

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

107 (308). ‘This is the penalty, this is the atonement, which saves him who submits to it; he who does not submit to it, shall surely be an inhabitant in the mansion of the Drug 1.’