# Vendidad — Chapter 18

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> Source: Avesta.org. The Vendidad, Chapter 18, 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 18.
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> AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 18.
> 
> This digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson, 1995; updated Jun 14, 2001.
> 
> Translated by James Darmesteter, from Sacred Books of the
> East, American edition, volume 3, New York, 1898.
> 
> I (1-13). On the unworthy priest and enticers to heresy.
> 
> II (14-29). The holiness of the cock, the bird of Sraosha, who
> awakes the world for prayer and for the protection of Atar.
> 
> III (30-59). On the four sins, that make the Druj pregnant with
> a brood of fiends.
> 
> IV (60-65). On the evil caused by the Jahi (the prostitute).
> 
> V (66-76). How intercourse with a Dashtân woman is to be
> atoned for.
> 
> FARGARD 18.
> 
> I.
> 
> Notes:
> 
> 1. 'There is many a one, O holy Zarathushtra!' said Ahura Mazda,
> 'Who wears a wrong Paitidana1, and who has not girded his loins
> with the Religion2; When such a man says, "I am an Athravan,"
> he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathushtra!' thus
> said Ahura Mazda.
> 
> 1. See above, Vd14.8, note 19.
> 
> 2. The word translated girded is the word used of the Kusti, the sacred
> girdle which the Parsi must never part with (see § 54); the full
> meaning, therefore, is, 'girded with the law as with a Kusti'
> (cf. Yasna 9.26 [81]), that is to say,
> 'never forsaking the law,' or, as the Commentary expresses it,
> 'one whose thought is all on the law' (cf. § 5).
> 
> 2. 'He holds a wrong Khrafstraghna3 in his hand and he has not
> girded his loins with the Religion; when he says, "I am an
> Athravan," he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathushtra!
> thus said Ahura Mazda.
> 
> 3. See above, Vd14.8, note 20.
> 
> 3. 'He holds a wrong twig4 in his hand and he has not girded his
> loins with the Religion; when he says, "I am an Athravan,"
> he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathushtra!' thus
> said Ahura Mazda.
> 
> 4. The bundles of Baresma [barsom -JHP] or the urvaram
> (see Vd3.1, note 3 and
> Vd14.8, note 23).
> 
> 4. 'He wields a wrong Ashtra mairya5 and he has not girded his
> loins with the Religion; when he says, "I am an Athravan,"
> he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathushtra!' thus
> said Ahura Mazda.
> 
> 5. The ashtra (Aspahe-ashtra) with which the priest, as a Sraosho-varez,
> chastises the guilty.
> 
> 5. 'He who sleeps on throughout the night, neither performing
> the Yasna nor chanting the hymns, worshipping neither by word
> nor by deed, neither learning nor teaching, with a longing for
> (everlasting) life, he lies when he says, "I am an Athravan,"
> do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathushtra!' thus said Ahura
> Mazda.
> 
> 6. 'Him thou shalt call an Athravan, O holy Zarathushtra! who
> throughout the night sits up and demands of the holy Wisdom6, which
> makes man free from anxiety, and wide of heart, and easy of conscience
> at the head of the Chinwad bridge7, and which makes him reach that
> world, that holy world, that excellent world of Paradise.
> 
> 6. That is to say, studies the law and learns from those who know
> it.
> 
> 7. See Vd19.30. 'It gives him a stout
> heart, when standing before the Chinwad bridge' (Comm.)
> 
> 7. '(Therefore) demand of me, thou upright one! of me, who am
> the Maker, the most beneficent of all beings, the best knowing,
> the most pleased in answering what is asked of me; demand of me,
> that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.'
> 
> 8. Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Maker of the material world,
> thou Holy One! What is it that brings in the unseen power of Death?'
> 
> 9. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the man that teaches a wrong
> Religion8; it is the man who continues for three springs9
> without wearing the sacred girdle10, without chanting
> the Gathas, without worshipping the Good Waters.
> 
> 8. [akha daêna, lit. 'bad religion' -JHP]
> 'The deceiver Ashemaogha' (Comm.); the heretic.
> See Vd15.2
> 
> 9. 'For three years' (Comm.)
> 
> 10. The Kusti, which must he worn by every Parsi, man or woman,
> from their fifteenth year of age (see below, § 54 seq); it
> is the badge of the faithful, the girdle by which he is united
> both with Ohrmazd and with his fellow-believers. He who does not
> wear it must be refused water and bread by the members of the
> community; he who wears it becomes a participator in the merit
> of all the good deeds performed all over the Zarathustrian world
> (Saddar 10 and
> Saddar 46).
> The Kusti consists 'of seventy-two interwoven
> filaments, and should three times circumvent the waist. ... Each
> of the threads is equal in value to one of the seventy-two Has
> of the Yasna; each of the
> twelve threads in the six lesser cords is equal in value to the
> dawazdih hamaist...; each of the lesser cords is equal in value
> to one of the six Gahambars; each of the three circumventions
> of the loins is equal in value to humat, good thought,
> hukht, good speech, huaresta, good work; the
> binding of each of the four knots upon it confers pleasure
> on each of the four elements, fire, air, water, and the earth'
> (Edal Daru, apud Wilson, The Parsi Religion Unfolded, p. 163).
> 
> Another piece of clothing which every Parsi is enjoined to wear
> is the Sudre, or sacred shirt, a muslin shirt with short sleeves,
> that does not reach lower than the hips, with a small pocket at
> the opening in front of the shirt, the so-called giriban or kissai
> karfa, 'the pocket for good deeds.' The faithful man must, while
> putting on his Sudre, look at the giriban and ask himself
> whether it is full of good deeds.
> 
> 10. 'And he who should set that man at liberty, when bound in
> prison11, does no better deed than if he should cut a man's head
> off his neck12.
> 
> 11. See Introd. III, 10. Cf. § 12.
> 
> 12. Doubtful. The Commentary seems to understand the sentence as
> follows: 'He who should free him from hell would thus perform no
> less a feat than if he should cut off the head of a man
> and then make him alive again.'
> 
> 11. 'For the blessing uttered by a wicked, ungodly Ashemaogha
> does not go past the mouth (of the blesser); the blessing of two
> Ashemaoghas13 does not go past the tongue; the blessing of three13
> is nothing; the blessing of four13 turns to self-cursing.
> 
> 13. Perhaps better: 'The second ..., the third ..., the fourth blessing
> of an Ashemaogha.'
> 
> 12. 'Whosoever should give to a wicked, ungodly Ashemaogha either
> some Haoma prepared, or some Myazda consecrated with blessings,
> does no better deed than if he should lead a thousand horse against
> the boroughs of the worshippers of Mazda, and should slaughter
> the men thereof, and drive off the cattle as plunder.
> 
> 13. 'Demand of me, thou upright one! of me, who am the Maker,
> the most beneficent of all beings, the best knowing, the most
> pleased in answering what is asked of me; demand of me, that thou
> mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.'
> 
> II.
> 
> 14. Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: 'Who is the Sraosha-varez14
> of Sraosha? the holy, strong Sraosha, who is Obedience incarnate,
> a Sovereign with an astounding weapon15.'
> 
> 14. 'Who is he who sets the world in motion?' (Comm.)
> 
> 15. Sraosha, Srosh, the Genius of Active Piety. He first tied
> the Baresma [barsom], sacrificed to Ahura, and sang the Gathas.
> Thrice in each day and night he descends upon the earth to smite
> Angra Mainyu and his crew of demons. With his club uplifted he
> protects the world from the demons of the night, and the dead
> from the terrors of death and from the assaults of Angra Mainyu
> and Asto-vidotu [Astwihad]. It is through a sacrifice performed by Ohrmazd,
> as a Zoti, and Srosh, as a Raspi, that at the end of time Ahriman
> will be forever vanquished and brought to nought
> (Yasna 57,
> Yt11, etc.)
> 
> 15. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the bird named Parodarsh16, which
> ill-speaking people call Kahrkatas17, O holy Zarathushtra! the bird
> that lifts up his voice against the mighty Ushah18:
> 
> 16. 'He who foreshows the coming dawn; the cock.'
> 
> 17. 'When he is not called so, he is powerful' (Comm.)
> See Vd13.2, 6.
> 
> 18. Ushah, the second half of the night, from midnight to the dawn. [Ushahin -JHP]
> 
> 16. '"Arise, O men! recite the Ashem yad
> vahistem that smites down the Daevas19.
> Lo! here is Bushyasta, the long-handed20,
> coming upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world,
> as soon as it has awoke: 'Sleep!' [she says,] 'O poor man! the
> time21 is not yet come.'"
> 
> 19. The cock is 'the drum of the world.' As crowing in the dawn that
> dazzles away the fiends, he crows away the demons: 'The cock was
> created to fight against the fiends and wizards; ... he is with
> the dog an ally of Srosh against demons'
> (Bundahishn 19). 'No demon
> can enter a house in which there is a cock; and, above all, should
> this bird come to the residence of a demon, and move his tongue
> to chant the praises of the glorious and exalted Creator, that
> instant the evil spirit takes to flight' (Mirkhond, History of
> the Early Kings of Persia, translated by Shea, p. 57; see
> Saddar 32, and J. Ovington,
> A Voyage to Suratt, 1696, p.371).
> 
> 20. The demon of sleep, laziness, procrastination. She lulls back
> to sleep the world as soon as awaked, and makes the faithful forget
> in slumber the hour of prayer.
> 
> 21. 'To perform thy religious duties' (Comm.)
> 
> 17. '"On the three excellent things be never intent, namely,
> good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; on the three abominable
> things be ever intent, namely, bad thoughts, bad words, and bad
> deeds."
> 
> 18. 'On the first part of the night, Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda,
> calls the master of the house for help, saying:
> 
> 19. '"Up! arise, thou master of the house! put on thy girdle [[kusti]]
> on thy clothes, wash thy hands, take wood, bring it unto me, and
> let me burn bright with the clean wood, carried by thy well-washed
> hands22. Here comes Azi23, made by the Daevas, who consumes me and
> wants to put me out of the world."
> 
> 22. The Parsi, as soon as he has risen, must put on the kusti, wash
> his hands, and put wood on the fire.
> 
> 23. Âzi, the demon of avidity; he extinguishes the fire, while he
> devours the wood.
> 
> 20. 'On the second part of the night, Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda,
> calls the husbandman for help, saying;
> 
> 21. '"Up! arise, thou husbandman! Put on thy girdle [[kusti]] on thy
> clothes, wash thy hands, take wood, bring it unto me, and let
> me burn bright with the clean wood, carried by thy well-washed
> hands. Here comes Azi, made by the Daevas, who consumes me and
> wants to put me out of the world."
> 
> 22. 'On the third part of the night, Atar, the son of Ahura Mazda,
> calls the holy Sraosha for help, saying: "Come thou, holy,
> well-formed Sraosha, [then he brings unto me some clean wood with
> his well-washed hands24.] Here comes Azi, made by the Daevas, who
> consumes me and wants to put me out of the world."
> 
> 24. The text seems to be corrupt: it must probably be emended into
> 'bring into me...'
> 
> 23. 'And then the holy Sraosha wakes up the bird named Parodarsh,
> which ill-speaking people call Kahrkatas, and the bird lifts up
> his voice against the mighty Ushah:
> 
> 24. '"Arise, O men! recite the Ashem yad vahistem
> [Ashem Vohu] and the Naismi daevo25.
> Lo! here is Bushyasta, the long-handed,
> coming upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world
> as soon as it has awoke: 'Sleep!' [she says,] 'O poor man! the time
> is not yet come.'"
> 
> 25. The prayer 'Righteousness is the best of all good...' (the Ashem
> Vohu), and the profession of faith [creed]: 'I scorn the Daevas...'
> (Yasna 12.1).
> 
> 25. '"On the three excellent things be never intent, namely,
> good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; on the three abominable
> things be ever intent, namely, bad thoughts, bad words, and bad
> deeds."
> 
> 26. 'And then bed-fellows address one another: "Rise up,
> here is the cock calling me up." Whichever of the two first
> gets up shall first enter Paradise: whichever of the two shall
> first, with well-washed hands, bring clean wood unto Atar, the
> son of Ahura Mazda, Atar, well pleased with him and not angry,
> and fed as it required, will thus bless him:
> 
> 27. '"May herds of oxen and sons accrue to thee: may thy
> mind be master of its vow, may thy soul be master of its vow,
> and mayst thou live on in the joy of thy soul all the nights of
> thy life."
> 
> 'This is the blessing which Atar speaks unto him who brings him
> dry wood, well examined by the light of the day, well cleansed
> with godly intent.
> 
> 28. 'And whosoever will kindly and piously present one of the
> faithful with a pair of these my Parodarsh birds, a male and a
> female, O Spitama Zarathushtra! it is as though he had given26 a
> house with a hundred columns, a thousand beams, ten thousand large
> windows, ten thousand small windows.
> 
> 26. 'In the day of recompense' (Comm.); he shall he rewarded as
> though he had given a house, &c.... he shall receive such a house
> in Paradise.
> 
> 29. 'And whosoever shall give meat to one of the faithful, as
> much of it as the body of this Parodarsh bird of mine, I, Ahura
> Mazda, need not interrogate him twice; he shall directly go to
> Paradise.'
> 
> III.
> 
> 30. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! Thou then, alone in the
> material world, dost bear offspring without any male coming unto
> thee?'
> 
> 31. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! It
> is not so, nor do I, alone in the material world, bear offspring
> without any male coming unto me.
> 
> 32. 'For there are four males of mine; and they make me conceive
> progeny as other males make their females conceive by their seed27.'
> 
> 27. Sin makes the Druj mother of a spontaneous progeny, as the sinner
> is 'the brood of the Druj' (Yasna 61.10).
> 
> 33. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! Who is the first of those
> males of thine?'
> 
> 34. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! He
> is the first of my males who, being entreated by one of the faithful,
> does not give him anything, be it ever so little, of the riches
> he has treasured up28.
> 
> 28. See Vd3.34.
> 
> 35. 'That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their
> females conceive by their seed.'
> 
> 36. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! What is the thing that
> can undo that?'
> 
> 37. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! This
> is the thing that undoes it, namely, when a man unasked, kindly
> and piously, gives to one of the faithful something, be it ever
> so little, of the riches he has treasured up.
> 
> 38. 'He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb
> as a four-footed wolf does, who tears the child out of a mother's
> womb.'
> 
> 39. The holy Sraosha, letting down his club upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! Who is the second of those
> males of thine?'
> 
> 40. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! He
> is the second of my males who, making water, lets it fall along
> the upper forepart of his foot.
> 
> 41. 'That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make
> their females conceive by their seed.'
> 
> 42. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked
> the Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! What is the thing
> that can undo that?'
> 
> 43. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, wall-formed Sraosha! This
> is the thing that undoes it, namely, when the man rising up29 and
> stepping three steps further off, shall say three
> Ahuna-Vairya30,
> two humatanam31, three hukhshathrotemam32,
> and then chant the Ahuna-Vairya33
> and offer up one Yenhe hatam34.
> 
> 29. 'Nec stando mingens ... facile visitur Persa' (Amm. Marc.
> XXIII, 6); Arda Viraf 24;
> Menog i Khrad 2.39;
> Saddar 56.
> Cf. Manu IV, 47 seq., and Polack, Persien I, 67: 'Von einem in
> Paris weilenden Perser hinterbrachte man dem König, um seine
> Emancipation und Abtrünnigkeit vom Gesetz za beweisen, dass
> er Schweinefleisch esse und stehend die Function verrichte.'
> 
> 30. See Vd8.19.
> 
> 31. Yasna 35.2: one of the Bish-amruta
> (Vd10.4).
> 
> 32. Yasna 35.5: one of the
> Thrish-amruta (Vd10.8).
> 
> 33. Making four Ahunwars in all; see Vd10.12.
> 
> 34. See Yasna 21.
> 
> 44. 'He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb
> as a four-footed wolf does, 'who tears the child out of a mother's
> womb.'
> 
> 45. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! Who is the third of those
> males of thine?'
> 
> 46. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! He
> is the third of my males who during his sleep emits seed.
> 
> 47. 'That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their
> females conceive progeny by their seed.'
> 
> 48. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! What is the thing that
> can undo that?'
> 
> 49. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! this
> is the thing that undoes it, namely, if the man, when he has risen
> from sleep, shall say three Ahuna-Vairya, two humatanam, three
> hukhshathrotemam, and then chant the Ahuna-Vairya and offer up
> one Yenhe hatam.35
> 
> 35. See § 43 and notes.
> 
> 50. 'He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb
> as a four-footed wolf does who tears the child out of a mother's
> womb.'
> 
> 51. Then he shall speak unto Spenta Armaiti36, saying: 'O Spenta
> Armaiti, this man do I deliver unto thee37; this man deliver thou
> back unto me, against the happy day of resurrection; deliver him
> back as one who knows the Gathas, who knows the Yasna38, and the
> revealed Law39, a wise and clever man, who is Obedience incarnate.
> 
> 36. The Genius of the Earth (see Vd2.10).
> 
> 37. In the same way as she received the seed of the dying Gayomard,
> from which she let grow, in the shape of a plant, the first human
> couple, Mashye and Mashyane (Bund. 15.1-2).
> 
> 38. The Yasna Haptanhaiti.
> 
> 37. Literally, 'the answers made to the questions (of Zarathushtra).'
> 
> 52. 'Then thou shalt call his name "Fire-creature, Fire-seed,
> Fire-offspring, Fire-land," or any name wherein is the word
> Fire38.'
> 
> 38. Atar, the Fire, is the ideal father of the son to be born, as
> Spenta Armaiti, the Earth, is his ideal mother. The fire is considered
> male (Denkard, apud West, Pahlavi Texts, II, 410) and (as Apam
> Napat) has made and shaped man (Yt19.52).
> 
> 53. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj! Who is the fourth of those
> males of thine?'
> 
> 54. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha!
> This one is my fourth male who, either man or woman, being more
> than fifteen years of age, walks without wearing the sacred girdle
> and the sacred shirt39.
> 
> 39. The kusti and the sudre; see above, § 9, note 10. It is the
> sin known as kushâd duvârishnî
> (Menog i Khrad 2.35;
> Arda Viraf 25.6).
> 
> 55. 'At the fourth step40 we Daevas, at once, wither him even to
> the tongue and the marrow, and he goes thenceforth with power
> to destroy the world of Righteousness, and he destroys it like
> the Yatus and the Zandas41.'
> 
> 40. 'Going three steps without kusti is only a three Sraosho-charana
> sin; from the fourth step, it is a tanapuhr sin' (Comm.)
> 
> 41. The Yatu is a sorcerer; the Zanda is an apostle of Ahriman.
> [i.e. zandiks (heretics) -JHP]
> 
> 56. The holy Sraosha, letting his club down upon her, asked the
> Druj: 'O thou wretched, worthless Druj, what is the thing that
> can undo that?'
> 
> 57. The Druj demon answered: 'O holy, well-formed Sraosha! There
> is no means of undoing it;
> 58.
> 'When a man or a woman, being more than fifteen years of age,
> walks without wearing the sacred girdle or the sacred shirt [[kusti and sudre]].
> 59.
> 'At the fourth step we Daevas, at once, wither him even to
> the tongue and the marrow, and he goes thenceforth with power
> to destroy the world of Righteousness, and he destroys it like
> the Yatus and the Zandas.'
> 
> IV.
> 
> 60.
> Demand of me, thou upright one! of me who am the Maker, the
> most beneficent of all beings, the best knowing, the most pleased
> in answering what is asked of me; demand of me that thou mayst
> be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.
> 61.
> Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: 'Who grieves thee with the
> sorest grief? Who pains thee with the sorest pain?'
> 
> 62. Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the Jahi42, O Spitama
> Zarathushtra! who mixes in her the seed of the faithful and the
> unfaithful, of the worshippers of Mazda and the worshippers of
> the Daevas, of the wicked and the righteous43.
> 
> 42. The courtesan, as an incarnation of the female demon Jahi.
> [i.e. prostitute. Pahlavi equivalent is "jeh"
> (see Bundahishn 1
> and Denkard Book 9, chapter 11)
> Kanga, in his Avestan Dictionary says that a Jahi is
> a rake, a libertine, one who leads a licentious life (p. 191) -JHP].
> 
> 43. '[Whether she gives up her body to the faithful or to the unfaithful],
> there is no difference; when she has been with three men, she
> is guilty of death' (Comm.)
> 
> 63. 'Her look dries up one-third of the mighty floods that run
> from the mountains, O Zarathushtra; her look withers one-third
> of the beautiful, golden-hued, growing plants, O Zarathushtra;
> 
> 64. 'Her look withers one-third of the strength of Spenta Armaiti44;
> and her touch withers in the faithful one-third of his good thoughts,
> of his good words, of his good deeds, one-third of his strength,
> of his victorious power, and of his holiness45.
> 
> 44. The earth.
> 
> 45. 'If a Jahi (courtesan) look at running waters, they fall; if
> at trees, they are stunted; if she converse with a pious man,
> his intelligence and his holiness are withered by it'
> (Saddar 67). Cf. Manu IV, 40 seq.
> 
> 65. 'Verily I say unto thee, O Spitama Zarathushtra! such creatures
> ought to be killed even more than gliding snakes46, than howling
> wolves, than the wild she-wolf that falls upon the fold, or than
> the she-frog that falls upon the waters with her thousandfold
> brood.'
> 
> 46. It is written in the law (the Avesta): 'O Zartosht Spitaman!
> with regard to woman, I say to thee that any woman that has
> given up her body to two men in one day is sooner to he killed
> than a wolf, a lion, or a snake: any one who kills such a woman
> will gain as much merit by it as if he had provided with wood
> a thousand fire-temples, or destroyed the dens of adders, scorpions,
> lions, wolves, or snakes' (Old Riv. 59 b).
> 
> V.
> 
> 66.
> Demand of me, thou upright one! of me who am the Maker, the
> most beneficent of all beings, the best knowing, the most pleased
> in answering what is asked of me; demand of me that thou mayst
> be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.
> 
> 67-68. Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: 'If a man shall come unto
> a woman who has the whites or sees blood, and he does so wittingly
> and knowingly47, and she allows it willfully, wittingly, and knowingly,
> what is the atonement for it, what is the penalty that he shall
> pay to atone for the deed they have done?'
> 
> 47. [i.e. while menstruating -JHP]
> 'Knowing her state and knowing that it is a sin' (Comm.)
> 
> 69. Ahura Mazda answered: 'If a man shall come unto a woman who
> has the whites or sees blood, and he does so wittingly and knowingly,
> and she allows it willfully, wittingly, and knowingly;
> 
> 70. 'He shall slay a thousand head of small cattle; he shall godly
> and piously offer up to the fire48 the entrails49 thereof together
> with Zaothra-libations50; he shall bring the shoulder bones to the
> Good Waters51.
> 
> 48. To the Warharan fire.
> 
> 49. The omentum (afsman) or epipleon. Catullus, describing
> the sacrifice of the Magi, has: '... Accepto veneretur carmine divos /
> Omentum in flamma pingue liquefaciens'
> (LXXXIX [i.e. Carmen 90].
> Strabo XV, 13: tou epiplou ti mikron tiqeasi,
> wV legousi tineV, epi to pur.
> 'Ascending six steps they showed me in a Room adjoining to
> the temple, their Fire which they fed with Wood, and sometimes
> Burn on it the Fat of the Sheep's Tail.' A Voyage Round the World,
> Dr. J. F. Gemelli, 1698.
> 
> 50. The ceremony here described is nearly fallen into desuetude:
> it is the so-called Zohr-atash (zaothra for the fire), which is
> for the fire what the Zohr-ab is for the waters.
> 
> 51. This is the Zohr-ab. According to the
> Shayest (11.4), when an animal
> is immolated, the heart is offered to the fire and the
> shoulder is offered to the waters.
> 
> 71. 'He shall godly and piously bring unto the fire a thousand
> loads of soft wood, of Urvasna, Vohu-gaona, Vohu-kereti, Hadha-naepata,
> or of any sweet-scented plant52.
> 
> 52. See Vd14.3 seq.
> 
> 72. 'He shall tie and consecrate a thousand bundles of Baresma;
> he shall godly and piously offer up to the Good Waters a thousand
> Zaothra-libations, together with the Haoma and the milk, cleanly
> prepared and well strained, — cleanly prepared and well strained
> by a pious man, and mixed with the roots of the tree known as
> Hadha-naepata53.
> 
> 53. See Vd14.4, and
> Vd14.8, n. 23.
> 
> 73. 'He shall kill a thousand snakes of those that go upon the
> belly, two thousand of the other kind; he shall kill a thousand
> land-frogs and two thousand water-frogs; he shall kill a thousand
> corn-carrying ants and two thousand of the other kind54.
> 
> 54. See Vd14.5.
> 
> 74. 'He shall throw thirty bridges over canals; he shall undergo
> a thousand stripes with the Aspahe-astra, a thousand stripes with
> the Sraosho-charana55.
> 
> 55. Five tanapuhrs, that is six thousand dirhems.
> 
> 75. 'This is the atonement, this is the penalty that he shall
> pay to atone for the deed that he has done.
> 
> 76. 'If he shall pay it, he makes himself a viaticum into the
> world of the holy ones; if he shall not pay it, he makes himself
> a viaticum into the world of the wicked, into that world, made
> of darkness, the offspring of darkness, which is Darkness' self56.'
> 
> 56. See Vd5.62.
> 
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> — *Vendidad — Chapter 18 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))*