Vendidad — Chapter 10
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Source: Avesta.org. The Vendidad, Chapter 10, translation: L.H. Mills / J. Darmesteter (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887), Avesta.org. License: Public domain (translation predates 1928).
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AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 10.

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AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 10. Formulas recited during the process of cleansing.

This digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson, 1995; updated Jun 15, 2001.

Translated by James Darmesteter, from Sacred Books of the East,
American Edition, (New York, The Christian Literature Company, 1898.)

Comments in [] by JHP.

Compare this chapter with the ancient description given of it in
the Denkard, Dk Book 8 chap. 44:

Nowadays, before laying the dead in the coffin, two priests recite
the Ahunavaiti Gatha (Yasna 28-34):
it is the so-called G&acirc;h s&acirc;rn&acirc; (chanting of the Gathas:
g&acirc;th&acirc;o sr&acirc;vay&ecirc;iti).
From the following Fargard
it appears that formerly all the five
Gathas and the Yasna Haptanghaiti
were recited. Certain stanzas
were recited several times and with a certain emphasis (framrava):
and they were followed with certain spells. The object of this
Fargard is to show which are those stanza; how many times each
was recited, and to give the corresponding spells.

FARGARD 10. Formulas recited during the process of cleansing

1. Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura Mazda! most beneficent
Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How shall
I fight against that Druj who from the dead rushes upon the living?
How shall I fight against that Druj who from the dead defiles
the living?'

Notes:

2. Ahura Mazda answered: 'Say aloud those words in the Gathas
that are to be said twice 1.

'Say aloud those words in the Gathas that are to be said thrice2.

'Say aloud those words in the Gathas that are to be said four
times3.'

1. The so-called Bish-&acirc;mr&ucirc;ta.

2. The Thrish-&acirc;mr&ucirc;ta.

3. The Chathrush-&acirc;mr&ucirc;ta.

3. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which are those
words in the Gathas that are to be said twice?

4. Ahura Mazda answered: 'These are the words in the Gathas that
are to be said twice, and thou shalt twice say them aloud4:-

ahya yasa ... urvanem (Y28.2).

-----

humatenam ... mahi (Y35.2),

ashahya aad saire ... ahubya (Y35.8),

yatha tu i ... ahura (Y39.4),

humaim thwa ... hudaustema (Y41.3),

thwoi staotaraska ... ahura (Y41.5).

-----

usta ahmai ... manangho (Y43.1),

spenta mainyu ... ahuro (Y47.1),

vohu khshathrem ... vareshane (Y51.1),

vahista istis ... skyaothanaka (Y53.1).

4. The Bish-&acirc;mr&ucirc;ta are the opening stanzas of the five Gathas
and five stanzas in the Yasna Haptanghaiti.

5. 'And after thou hast twice said those Bis-amrutas, thou shalt
say aloud these victorious, most healing words:-

'"I drive away Angra Mainyu5 from this house, from this borough,
from this town, from this land; from the very body of the man
defiled by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by
the dead; from the master of the house, from the lord of the borough,
from the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from the
whole of the world of Righteousness.

5. The chief demon, the Daeva of the Daevas.

6. '"I drive away the Nasu6, I drive away direct defilement,
I drive away indirect defilement, from this house, from this borough,
from this town, from this land; from the very body of the man
defiled by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by
the dead; from the master of the house, from the lord of the borough,
from the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from the
whole of the world of Righteousness."'

6. The very demon with whom one has to do in the present case.

7. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which are those
words in the Gathas that are to be said thrice?
8.
Ahura Mazda answered: 'These are the words in the Gathas that
are to be said thrice, and thou shalt thrice say them aloud:-

ashem vohu ... (Y27.14),

ye sevisto ... pait&icirc; (Y33.11),

hukhshathrotemai ... vahistai (Y35.5),

duzvarenais ... vahyo (Y53.9).

9. 'After thou hast thrice said those Thris-amrutas, thou shalt
say aloud these victorious, most healing words:-

'"I drive away Indra, I drive away Sauru, I drive away
the daeva Naunghaithya,7 from this house, from this borough, from
this town, from this land; from the very body of the man defiled
by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by the dead;
from the master of the house, from the lord of the borough, from
the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from the whole
of the world of Righteousness.

7. Indra, Sauru, Naunghaithya, Tauru, and Zairi are (with Akemmano [Akoman],
here replaced by the Nasu), the six chief demons, and stand to
the Amesha Spentas in the same relation as Angra Mainyu to Spenta
Mainyu. Indra opposes Asha Vahishta and turns men's hearts from
good works; Sauru opposes Khshathra Vairya, he presides over bad
government; Naunghaithya opposes Spenta Armaiti, he is the demon
of discontent; Tauru and Zairi oppose Haurvatat and Ameretat and
poison the waters and the plants. -- Akem-mano, Bad Thought, opposes
Vohu-mano, Good Thought.

10.
'"I drive away Tauru 7, I drive away Zairi7, from this
house, from this borough, from this town, from this land; from
the very body of the man defiled by the dead, from the very body
of the woman defiled by the dead; from the master of the house,
from the lord of the borough, from the lord of the town, from
the lord of the land; from the whole of the holy world."'

11. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which are those
words in the Gathas that are to be said four times?

12. Ahura Mazda answered: 'These are the words in the Gathas that
are to be said four times, and thou shalt four times say them
aloud:-

yatha ahu vairyo ...8 (Y27.13),

mazda ad moi ... dau ahum9 (Y34.15),

a airyama ishyo ... masata mazdau10 (Y54.1).

8. Translated in Vd8.19.

9. Translated in Vd11.14.

10. Translated in Vd20.11;
see Vd11.7.

13. 'After thou hast said those Chathrus-amrutas four times, thou
shalt say aloud these victorious, most healing words:-

'"I drive away Aeshma, the fiend of the murderous spear11,
I drive away the daeva Akatasha12, from this house, from this borough,
from this town, from this land; from the very body of the man
defiled by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by
the dead; from the master of the house, from the lord of the borough,
from the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from the
whole of the world of Righteousness.

11. Aeshma, Khishm [Eshm], the incarnation of anger: he sows quarrel and
war. 'He is the chief source of evil for the creatures of Ohrmazd,
and the Kayanian heroes mostly perished through him'
(Bund. 28.17).
[Aeshma appears as Asmoday or Asmodeus in Christian and Jewish writings in the
apocryphal Book of Tobit
3.8. -JHP]

12. The fiend who corrupts and perverts men.

14. '"I drive away the Varenya daevas13, I drive away the
wind-daeva, from this house, from this borough, from this town,
from this land; from the very body of the man defiled by the dead,
from the very body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the
master of the house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord
of the town, from the lord of the land; from the whole of the
world of Righteousness."

13. The fiendish inhabitants of Varena (Gilan). Varena, like the
neighhouring Mazana (Mazandaran), was peopled with savage, non-Aryan
natives, who were considered men-demons. See Vd1.18 and
notes.

15. 'These are the words in the Gathas that are to be said twice;
these are the words in the Gathas that are to be said thrice;
these are the words in the Gathas that are to be said four times.

16. 'These are the words that smite down Angra Mainyu; these are
the words that smite down Aeshma, the fiend of the murderous spear;
these are the words that smite down the daevas of Mazana14; these
are the words that smite down all the daevas.

14. The demoniac races of Mazandaran; Mazandaran was known in popular
tradition as a land of fiends and sorcerers.

17. 'These are the words that stand, against that Druj, against
that Nasu, who from the dead rushes upon the living, who from
the dead defiles the living.

18. 'Therefore, O Zarathushtra! thou shalt dig nine holes15 in
the part of the ground where there is least water and where there
are fewest trees; where there is nothing that may be food either
for man or beast; "for purity is for man, next to life, the,
greatest good, that purity, O Zarathushtra, that is in the Religion
of Mazda for him who cleanses his own self with good thoughts,
words, and deeds16."

15. The nine holes for the Barashnom; see above,
Vd9.6 seq.

16. See Vd5.21.

19. 'Make thy own self pure, O righteous man! any one in the world
here below can win purity for his own self, namely, when he cleanses
his own self with good thoughts, words, and deeds.

20. '"Yatha ahu vairyo: - The will of the Lord is the law
of righteousness," &c.17

'"Kem-na mazda: - What protector hast thou given unto me,
O Mazda! while the hate of the wicked encompasses me?" &c.

'"Ke verethrem-ja: - Who is the victorious who will protect
thy teaching?" &c.

'"Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Armaiti Spenta! Perish,
O fiendish Druj! ... Perish away to the regions of the north,
never more to give unto death the living world of Righteousness!"'

17. The rest as in Vd8.19-20.

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-- Vendidad — Chapter 10 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))