# Vendidad — Chapter 13

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Avesta.org. The Vendidad, Chapter 13, translation: L.H. Mills / J. Darmesteter (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887), Avesta.org. License: Public domain (translation predates 1928).
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 13.
> 
> Home
> 
> Contents
> 
> Prev
> 
> vd13sbe
> 
> Next
> 
> Avestan
> 
> Glossary
> 
> AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 13. The dog.
> 
> This digital edition pepared by Joseph H. Peterson, 1995; updated Mar 27, 2011.
> 
> Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East,
> American Edition, 1898.)
> 
> I (1-7). The dog of Ohrmazd and the dog of Ahriman.
> 
> (a. 1-4). Holiness of the dog Vanghapara ('the hedgehog').
> 
> (b. 5-7). Hatefulness of the dog Zairimyangura ('the tortoise').
> 
> II (8-16). The several kinds of dogs. Penalties for the murder
> of a dog.
> 
> III (17-19) On the duties of the shepherd's dog and the house-dog.
> 
> IV (20-38). On the food due to the dog.
> 
> V (29-38). On the mad dog and the dog diseased; how they are to
> be kept, and cured.
> 
> VI (39-40). On the excellence of the dog.
> 
> VII (41-43). On the wolf-dog.
> 
> VIII (44-48). On the virtues and vices of the dog.
> 
> IX (49-50). Praise of the dog.
> 
> X (51-54). The water-dog.
> 
> This Fargard is the only complete fragment, still in existence,
> of a large canine literature: a whole section of the Ganba-sar-nijat
> Nask [Duwasrud Nask] was dedicated to the dog (the so-called
> Fargard Pasush-haurvastan;
> West, Denkard (Pahlavi Texts, IV), VIII, 23; 24, 5;
> 33, &c.)
> 
> FARGARD 13. The dog.
> 
> Ia.
> 
> Notes:
> 
> 1. Which is the good creature among the creatures of the Good
> Spirit that from midnight till the sun is up goes and kills
> thousands of the creatures of the Evil Spirit?
> 
> 2. Ahura Mazda answered: 'The dog with the prickly back, with
> the long and thin muzzle, the dog Vanghapara1, which
> evil-speaking people call the Duzaka2; this is the good creature
> among the creatures of the Good Spirit [Spenta Mainyu -JHP] that from midnight till
> the sun is up goes and kills thousands of the creatures of the
> Evil Spirit.
> 
> 1. The hedgehog. 'The hedgehog, according to the
> Bund. 19.28,
> is created in opposition to the ant that carries off grain,
> as it says that the hedgehog, every time that it voids urine into
> an ant's nest, will destroy a thousand ants, (Bund. 19.28;
> cf. Saddar 57).
> When the Arabs conquered Saistan, the inhabitants
> submitted on the condition that hedgehogs should not be killed
> nor hunted for, as they got rid of the vipers which swarm in that
> country. Every house had its hedgehog (Yaqout, Dictionnaire de
> la Perse, p. 303). Plutarch counts the hedgehog amongst the animals
> sacred to the Magi (Quaestiones Conviviales, IV, 5, 2)
> 
> 2. Dusaka is the popular name of the hedgehog (Pers. zuza). It is
> not without importance which name is given to a being:
> 'When called by its high name, it is powerful' (Comm.); cf. §
> 6, and Vd18.15.
> 
> 3. 'And whosoever, O Zarathushtra! shall kill the dog with the
> prickly back, with the long and thin muzzle, the dog Vanghapara,
> which evil-speaking people call the Duzaka, kills his own soul
> for nine generations, nor shall he find a way over the Chinwad
> bridge3, unless he has, while alive, atoned for his sin4.'
> 
> 3. The bridge leading to Paradise; see Vd19.30.
> 
> 4. Cf. § 54. Framji translates: 'He cannot atone for it in his life
> even by performing a sacrifice to Sraosha' (cf. Vd9.56,
> text and note).
> 
> 4. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man kill
> the dog with the prickly back, with the long and thin muzzle, the
> dog Vanghapara, which evil-speaking people call the Duzaka, what
> is the penalty that he shall pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'A thousand stripes with the
> Aspahe-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraosho-charana.
> 
> Ib.
> 
> 5. Which is the evil creature among the creatures of the Evil
> Spirit that from midnight till the sun is up goes and kills
> thousands of the creatures of the Good Spirit [Spenta Mainyu -JHP]?
> 
> 6. Ahura Mazda answered: 'The daeva Zairimyangura5, which
> evil-speaking people call the Zairimyaka6, this is the evil
> creature among the creatures of the Evil Spirit that from
> midnight till the sun is up goes and kills thousands of the
> creatures of the Good Spirit [Spenta Mainyu -JHP].
> 
> 5. The tortoise (Framji and Rivayats
> [218]).
> 
> 6. 'When not so called it is less strong' (Comm.) Zairimyâka
> is a lucky name, and means, as it seems, who lives in verdure;
> Zairimyangura seems to mean 'the verdure-devourer.'
> 
> 7. 'And whosoever, O Zarathushtra! shall kill the daeva
> Zairimyangura, which evil-speaking people call the Zairimyaka,
> his sins in thought, word, and deed are redeemed as they would be
> by a Patet; his sins in thought, word, and deed are atoned for7.
> 
> 7. See Vd14.5
> 
> II.
> 
> 8. 'Whosoever shall smite either a shepherd's dog, or a
> house-dog, or a Vohunazga dog8, or a trained dog9,
> his soul when passing to the other world, shall fly10
> howling louder and more sorely grieved than the sheep does in the
> lofty forest where the wolf ranges.
> 
> 8. See § 19, note.
> 
> 9. A hunting-dog.
> 
> 10. 'From Paradise' (Comm.)
> 
> 9. 'No soul will come and meet his departing soul and help it,
> howling and grieved in the other world; nor will the dogs that
> keep the [Chinwad] bridge11 help his departing soul howling and
> grieved in the other world.
> 
> 11. See Vd19.30.
> 
> 10. 'If a man shall smite a shepherd's dog so that it becomes
> unfit for work, if he shall cut off its ear or its paw, and
> thereupon a thief or a wolf break in and carry away [sheep] from
> the fold, without the dog giving any warning, the man shall pay
> for the loss, and he shall pay for the wound of the dog as for
> wilful wounding12.
> 
> 12. Baodhô-varshta; see Vd7.38 n.
> 
> 11. 'If a man shall smite a house-dog so that it becomes unfit
> for work, if he shall cut off its ear or its paw, and thereupon a
> thief or a wolf break in and carry away [anything] from the
> house, without the dog giving any warning, the man shall pay for
> the loss, and he shall pay for the wound of the dog as for wilful
> wounding.'
> 
> 12. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall smite a shepherd's dog, so that it gives up the ghost and
> the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall
> pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'Eight hundred stripes with the
> Aspahe-astra, eight hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'
> 
> 13. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall smite a house-dog so that it gives up the ghost and the
> soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
> Ahura Mazda answered; 'Seven hundred stripes with the
> Aspahe-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'
> 
> 14. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall smite a Vohunazga dog so that it gives up the ghost and
> the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall
> pay?
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'Six hundred stripes with the
> Aspahe-astra, six hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'
> 
> 15. O Maker of tlie material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall smite a Tauruna dog13 so that it gives up the ghost and the
> soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'Five hundred stripes with the
> Aspahe-astra, five hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'
> 
> 13. Tauruna seems to be another name of the trained or hunting-dog
> (cf. § 8 compared with §§ 12-15), though tradition translates it
> 'a dog not older than four months.'
> 
> 16. 'This is the penalty for the murder of a
> Jazhu dog, of a Vizu dog14, of a porcupine dog15,
> of a sharptoothed weasel16, of a swift-running fox; this
> is the penalty for the murder of any of the creatures
> of the Good Spirit [Spenta Mainyu] belonging to the dog kind,
> except the water-dog17.'
> 
> 14. Unknown. See Vd5.31, 32.
> 
> 15. A porcupine. See Vd5.31.
> 
> 16. A weasel. See Vd5.33.
> 
> 17. The otter. 'For the penalty in that case is most heavy' (Comm.)
> See § 52 seq. and Vd14.
> 
> III.
> 
> 17. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the
> place of the shepherd's dog?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He comes and goes a Yujyesti18 round
> about the fold, watching for the thief and the wolf.'
> 
> 18. A distance of sixteen Hathras (16,000 paces).
> 
> 18. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the
> place of the house-dog?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He comes and goes a Hathra round
> about the house, watching for the thief and the wolf.'
> 
> 19. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the
> place of the Vohunazga dog?.
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He claims none of those talents, and
> only seeks for his subsistence19.'
> 
> 19. 'He cannot do the same as the shepherd's dog and the house dog
> do, but he catches Khrafstras and smites the Nasu' (Comm.) It
> is 'the dog without a master' (gharîb), the vagrant dog; he is
> held in great esteem (§ 22), and is one or the dogs which can
> be used for the Sag-did.
> 
> IV.
> 
> 20. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give
> bad food to a shepherd's dog, of what sin does he make himself
> guilty?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same
> guilt as though he should serve bad food to a master of a house
> of the first rank.'
> 
> 21. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give
> bad food to a house-dog, of what sin does he make himself guilty?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same
> guilt as though he should serve bad food to a master of a house
> of middle rank.'
> 
> 22. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give
> bad food to a Vohunazga dog, of what sin does he make himself
> guilty?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same
> guilt as though he should serve bad food to a holy man, who
> should come to his house in the character of a priest20.'
> 
> 20. The Vohunazga dog has no domicile, therefore he is not compared
> with the master of a house, but with a wandering friar, who lives
> on charity.
> 
> 23. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give
> bad food to a Tauruna dog, of what sin does he make himself
> guilty?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same
> guilt as though he should serve bad food to a young man, born of
> pious parents, and who can already answer for his deeds21.'
> 
> 21. Probably, 'Who has performed the nu-zud [navjote -JHP], fifteen years old.'
> The young dog enters the community of the faithful at the age
> of four months, when he is fit for the Sag-did and can expel the
> Nasu.
> 
> 24. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall give bad food to a shepherd's dog, what is the penalty that
> he shall pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'He is a Peshotanu: two hundred
> stripes with the Aspahe-astra, two hundred stripes with the
> Sraosho-charana22.'
> 
> 22. 'I also saw the soul of a man, whom demons, just like dogs,
> ever tear. That man gives bread to the dogs, and they eat it not;
> but they ever devour the breast, legs, belly, and thighs of the
> man. And I asked thus: What sin was committed by this body, whose
> soul suffers so severe a punishment? Srosh the pious and Atar
> the angel said thus: This is the soul of that wicked man who,
> in the world, kept back the food of the dogs of shepherds and house-holders;
> or beat and killed them' (Arda Viraf
> 48, translated by Haug).
> 
> 25. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall give bad food to a house-dog, what is the penalty that he
> shall pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'Ninety stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
> ninety stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'
> 
> 26. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall give bad food to a Vohunazga dog, what is the penalty that
> he shall pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'Seventy stripes with the
> Aspahe-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'
> 
> 27. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
> shall give bad food to a Tauruna dog, what is the penalty that he
> shall pay?
> 
> Ahura Mazda ansvvered: 'Fifty stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
> fifty stripes with the Sraosho-charana.
> 
> 28. 'For in this material world, O Spitama Zarathushtra! it is
> the dog, of all the creatures of the Good Spirit [Spenta Mainyu], that most
> quickly decays into age, while not eating near eating people, and
> watching goods none of which it receives. Bring ye unto him milk
> and fat with meat23; this is the right food for the dog24.'
> 
> 23. The same food as recommended for the dog by Columella (Ordacea
> farina cum sero, VII, 12; cf. Virgil, Pasce sero pingui, Georg.
> III, 406).
> 
> 24. 'Whenever one eats bread one must put aside three mouthfuls and
> give them to the dog ... for among all the poor there is none
> poorer than the dog' (Saddar 31).
> 
> V.
> 
> 29. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be
> in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a mad dog that bites
> without barking, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
> 
> 30. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall put a wooden collar around
> his neck, and they shall tie thereto a muzzle, an asti25 thick if
> the wood be hard, two astis thick if it be soft. To that collar
> they shall tie it; by the two sides26 of the collar they shall tie
> it.
> 
> 25. A measure of unknown amount. Framji reads ishti, 'a brick' thick.
> 
> 26. By the left and the right side of it.
> 
> 31. 'If they shall not do so, and the mad dog that bites without
> barking, smite a sheep or wound a man, the dog shall pay for the
> wound of the wounded as for wilful murder27.
> 
> 27. According to Solon's law, the dog who had bitten a man was to
> be delivered to him tied up to a block four cubits long (Plutarchus,
> Solon 24). The Book of Deuteronomy orders the ox who has killed
> a man to be put to death.
> 
> 32. 'If the dog shall smite a sheep or wound a man, they shall
> cut off his right ear.
> 
> 'If he shall smite another sheep or wound another man, they
> shall cut off his left ear.
> 
> 33. 'If he shall smite a third sheep or wound a third man, they
> shall make a cut in his right foot28. If he shall smite a fourth
> sheep or wound a fourth man, they shall make a cut in his left
> foot.
> 
> 28. 'They only cut off a piece of flesh from the foot' (Brouillons
> d'Anquetil).
> 
> 34. 'If he shall for the fifth time smite a sheep or wound a
> man, they shall cut off his tail.
> 
> 'Therefore they shall tie a muzzle to the collar; by the two
> sides of the collar they shall tie it. If they shall not do so,
> and the mad dog that bites without barking, smite a sheep or
> wound a man, he shall pay for the wound of the wounded as for
> wilful murder.'
> 
> 35. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be
> in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a mad dog, who has no
> scent, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall attend him to heal him, in
> the same manner as they would do for one of the faithful.'
> 
> 36. O Maker oi the material world, thou Holy One! If they try
> to heal him and fail, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?
> 
> 37. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall put a wooden collar around
> his neck, and they shall tie thereto a muzzle, an asti thick if
> the wood be hard, two astis thick if it be soft. To that collar
> they shall tie it; by the two sides of the collar they shall tie
> it.
> 
> 38. 'If they shall not do so, the scentless dog may fall into a
> hole, or a well, or a precipice, or a river, or a canal, and come
> to grief: if he come to grief so, they shall be therefore
> Peshotanus.
> 
> VI.
> 
> 39. 'The dog, O Spitama Zarathushtra! I, Ahura Mazda, have made
> self-clothed and self-shod; watchful and wakeful; and
> sharp-toothed; born to take his food from man and to watch over
> man's goods. I, Ahura Mazda, have made the dog strong of body
> against the evil-doer, when sound of mind and watchful over your
> goods.
> 
> 40. 'And whosoever shall awake at his voice, O Spitama
> Zarathushtra! neither shall the thief nor the wolf carry anything
> from his house, without his being warned; the wolf shall be
> smitten and torn to pieces; he is driven away, he melts away like
> snow29.'
> 
> 29. Doubtful.
> 
> VII.
> 
> 41. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which of the
> two wolves deserves more to be killed, the one that a he-dog
> begets of a she-wolf, or the one that a he-wolf begets of a
> she-dog?
> 
> Ahura Mazda answered: 'Of these two wolves, the one that a
> he-dog begets of a she-wolf deserves more to be killed than the
> one that a he-wolf begets of a she-dog.
> 
> 42. 'For the dogs born therefrom fall on the shepherd's dog, on
> the house-dog, on the Vohu-nazga dog, on the trained dog, and
> destroy the folds; such dogs are more murderous, more
> mischievous, more destructive to the folds than any other dogs30.
> 
> 30. 'Ultroque gravis succedere tigrim
> 
> Aura canis, majore tulit de sanguine foetum.
> 
> Sed praeceps virtus ipsa venabitur aula:
> 
> Ille tibi et pecudum multo cum sanguine crescet.'
> - Gratius Faliscus, Cyneg. 165 seq.
> 
> 43. 'And the wolves born therefrom fall on the shepherd's dog,
> on the house-dog, on the Vohunazga dog, on the trained dog, and
> destroy the folds; such wolves are more murderous, more
> mischievous, more destructive to the folds than any other wolves.
> 
> VIII.
> 
> 44. 'A dog has the characters of eight sorts of people:-
> 'He has the character of a priest,
> 'He has the character of a warrior,
> 'He has the character of a husbandman,
> 'He has the character of a strolling singer,
> 'He has the character of a thief,
> 'He has the character of a disu,
> 'He has the character of a courtezan,
> 'He has the character of a child.
> 
> 45. 'He eats the refuse, like a priest31; he is easily
> satisfied32, like a priest; he is patient, like a priest; he wants
> only a small piece of bread, like a priest; in these things he is
> like unto a priest.
> 
> 'He marches in front, like a warrior; he fights for the
> beneficent cow, like a warrior33; he goes first out of the house,
> like a warrior34; in these things he is like unto a warrior.
> 
> 31. A wandering priest (see above, note 20).
> 
> 32. 'Good treatment makes him joyous' (Comm.)
> 
> 33. 'He keeps away the wolf and the thief' (Comm.)
> 
> 34. This clause is, as it seems, repeated here by mistake from § 46.
> 
> 46. 'He is watchful and sleeps lightly, like a husbandman; he
> goes first out of the house, like a husbandman35; he returns last
> into the house, like a husbandman36; in these things he is like
> unto a husbandman.
> 
> 'He is fond of singing, like a strolling singer37; he wounds
> him who gets too near38, like a strolling singer; he is
> ill-trained, like a strolling singer; he is changeful, like a
> strolling singer; in these things he is like unto a strolling
> singer.
> 
> 35. When taking the cattle out of the stables.
> 
> 36. When bringing the cattle back to the stables.
> 
> 37. The so-called Looris of nowadays.
> 
> 38. He insults or robs the passer by, like a Loori.-' The Looris
> wander in the world, seeking their life, bed-fellows and fellow-travelers
> of the dogs and the wolves, ever on the roads to rob day and night'
> (Firdausi).
> 
> 47. 'He is fond of darkness, like a thief; he prowls about in
> darkness, like a thief; he is a shameless eater, like a thief; he
> is therefore an unfaithful keeper, like a thief39; in these things
> he is like unto a thief.
> 
> 'He is fond of darkness, like a disu40; he prowls about in
> darkness, like a disu; he is a shameless eater, like a disu; he
> is therefore an unfaithful keeper, like a disu; in these things
> he is like unto a disu.
> 
> 39. 'When one trusts him with something, he eats it up' (Comm.)
> 
> 40. According to Framji, 'a wild beast.'
> 
> 48. 'He is fond of singing, like a courtezan; he wounds him who
> gets too near, like a courtezan; he roams along the roads, like a
> courtezan; he is ill-trained, like a courtezan; he is changeful,
> like a courtezan41; in these things he is like unto a courtezan.
> 
> 'He is fond of sleep, like a child; he is tender like snow42,
> like a child; he is full of tongue, like a child; he digs the
> earth with his paws42, like a child; in these things he is like
> unto a child.
> 
> 41. The description of the courtesan follows closely that of the
> singer: in the East a public songstress is generally a prostitute.
> Loori means both a singer and a prostitute.
> 
> 42. Doubtful.
> 
> IX.
> 
> 49. 'If those two dogs of mine, the shepherd's dog and the
> house-dog, pass by any of my houses, let them never be kept away
> from it.
> 
> 'For no house could subsist on the earth made by Ahura, but
> for those two dogs of mine, the shepherd's dog and the
> house-dog43.'
> 
> 43. 'But for the dog not a single head of cattle would remain in
> existence' (Saddar 31).
> 
> X.
> 
> 50. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When a dog
> dies, with marrow and seed44 dried up, whereto does his ghost go?
> 
> 44. Marrow is the seat of life, the spine is 'the column and the
> spring of life' (Yt10.71);
> the sperm comes from it
> (Bundahishn 16).
> The same theory prevailed in India, where the sperm is called
> majjâ-samudbhava, 'what is born from marrow;' it was
> followed by Plato (Timaeus 74, 91; cf. Censorinus, De die natali,
> 5), and disproved by Aristotle (De Part. Anim. III, 7).
> 
> 51. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It passes to the spring of the
> waters45, O Spitama Zarathushtra! and there out of them two
> water-dogs are formed: out of every thousand dogs and every
> thousand she-dogs, a couple is formed, a water-dog and a water
> she-dog46.
> 
> 45. To the spring of Ardvi Sura, the goddess of waters.
> 
> 46. There is therefore in a single water-dog as much life and holiness
> as in a thousand dogs. This accounts for the following. -- The water-dog
> (udra upâpa; Persian sag-îâbî) is the otter.
> 
> 52. 'He who kills a water-dog brings about a drought that dries
> up pastures.
> 
> 'Until then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! sweetness and fatness
> would flow out from that land and from those fields, with health
> and healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing
> of corn and grass.'
> 
> 53. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When are
> sweetness and fatness to come back again to that land and to
> those fields, with health and healing, with fulness and increase
> and growth, and a growing of corn and grass?
> 
> 54, 55. Ahura Mazda answered: 'Sweetness and fatness will never
> come back again to that land and to those fields, with health and
> healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing of
> corn and grass, until the murderer of the water-dog has been
> smitten to death on the spot, and the holy soul of the dog has
> been offered up a sacrifice, for three days and three nights,
> with fire blazing, with Baresma tied up, and with Haoma
> prepared47.
> 
> 47. See Vd9.55, 56, note 34.
> 
> 56. ['Then sweetness and fatness will come back again to that
> land and to those fields, with health and healing, with fulness
> and increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass48.']
> 
> 48. See Vd9.53-57.
> 
> Home
> 
> Contents
> 
> Prev
> 
> vd13sbe
> 
> Next
> 
> Avestan
> 
> Glossary
>
> — *Vendidad — Chapter 13 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))*