Vendidad — Chapter 16
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Source: Avesta.org. The Vendidad, Chapter 16, 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 16. Purity laws regarding menstruation

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AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 16. Purity laws regarding menstruation.

This digital edition prepared by Joseph H. Peterson, 1995; updated Jun 16, 2001.

Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East,
American Edition, 1898.)

I (1-7). On the uncleanness of women during their sickness.

II (8-12). What is to be done if that state lasts too long.

III (13-18). Sundry laws relating to the same matter. See Introd.
V, 12.

FARGARD 16. Purity laws regarding menstruation

I.

Notes:

1. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be
in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a woman who has the whites
or sees blood, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

2. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall clear the way1 of the wood
there, both plants and trees2; they shall strew dry dust on the
ground3; and they shall isolate a half, or a third, or a fourth,
or a fifth part of the house4, lest her look should fall upon the
fire.'

1. The way of the Dasht&acirc;nist&acirc;n.

2. Lest the wood shall be touched and defiled by the woman on
her way to the Dashtanistan.

3. Lest the earth shall be touched and defiled by her.
Cf. Farg. 9.11.

4. Nowadays a room on the ground-floor is reserved for that use.

3. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from
the fire? How far from the water? How far from the consecrated
bundles of Baresma? How far from the faithful?

4. Ahura Mazda answered: 'Fifteen paces from the fire, fifteen
paces from the water, fifteen paces from the consecrated bundles
of Baresma, three paces from the faithful.'

5. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from
her shall he stay, who brings food to a woman who has the whites
or sees the blood?

6. Ahura Mazda answered: 'Three paces5 from her shall he stay,
who brings food to a woman who has the whites or sees the blood.'

In what kind of vessels shall he bring her bread? In what
kind of vessels shall he bring her barley-drink?

'In vessels of iron,5b or of lead, or of any common metal6.'

5. The food is held out to her from a distance in a metal spoon.

5b. Dar: brass. -JHP

6. Earthen vessels, when defiled, cannot be made clean; but metal
vessels can. See Farg. 7.73 seq.)

7. How much bread shall he bring to her? How much barley-drink
shall he bring?

'Two danares7 of dry bread, and one danare of liquor, lest
she should get too weak8.

'If a child has just touched her, they shall first wash his
hands and then his body9.

7. A danare is, according to Anquetil, as much as four tolas;
a tola is from 105 to 175 grains.

8. 'Soshyos says: For three nights cooked meat is not allowed
to her, lest the issue shall grow stronger.

9. A child whom she suckles. The meaning is, Even a child, if he has
touched her, must undergo the rites of cleansing. The general rule is
given in the Commentary: 'Whoever has touched a Dashtan woman must
wash his body and his clothes with gomez and water.' The ceremony in
question is the simple Ghosel, not the Barashnum, since the woman
herself performs the former only (see below, § 11 seq.)

II.

8. 'If she still see blood after three nights have passed, she
shall sit in the place of infirmity until four nights have
passed.

'If she still see blood after four nights have passed, she
shall sit in the place of infirmity until five nights have
passed.

9. 'If she still see blood after five nights have passed, she
shall sit in the place of infirmity until six nights have passed.

'If she still see blood after six nights have passed, she
shall sit in the place of infirmity until seven nights have
passed.

10. 'If she still see blood after seven nights have passed, she
shall sit in the place of infirmity until eight nights have
passed.

'If she still see blood after eight nights have passed, she
shall sit in the place of infirmity until nine nights have
passed.

11. 'If she still see blood after nine nights have passed, this
is a work of the Daevas which they have performed for the worship
and glorification of the Daevas10.

'The worshippers of Mazda shall clear the way11 of the wood
there, both plants and trees12;

10. Abnormal issues are a creation of Ahriman's
(Farg. 1.18).

11. The way of the Barashnum-gah, where the cleansing takes place.

12. See Farg 9.3 seq.

12. 'They shall dig three holes in the earth, and they shall
wash the woman with gomez by two of those holes and with water by
the third.

'They shall kill Khrafstras, to wit: two hundred
corn-carrying ants13, if it be summer; two hundred of any other
sort of the Khrafstras made by Angra Mainyu, if it be winter.'

13. Cf. Farg. 14.5.

III.

13. If a worshipper of Mazda shall suppress the issue of a woman
who has the whites or sees blood, 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-charana.'

14. O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man
shall again and again lasciviously touch the body of a woman who
has the whites or sees blood, so that the wlutes turn to the
blood or the blood turns to the whites, what is the penalty that
he shall pay?

15. Ahura Mazda answered: 'For the first time he comes near unto
her, for the first time he lies by her, thirty stripes with the
Aspahe-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraosho-charana.

'For the second time he comes near unto her, for the second
time he lies by her, fifty stripes with the Aspahe-astra, fifty
stripes with the Sraosho-charana.

'For the third time he comes near unto her, for the third
time he lies by her, seventy stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
seventy stripes with the Sraosho-charana.'

16. For the fourth time he comes near unto her, for the fourth
time he lies by her, if he shall press the body under her
clothes, if he shall go in between the unclean thighs, but
without sexual intercourse, what is the penalty that he shall
pay?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'Ninety stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
ninety stripes with the Sraosho-charana.

17. 'Whosover shall lie in sexual intercourse with a woman who
has the whites or sees blood does no better deed than if he
should burn the corpse of his own son, born of his own body and
dead of naeza14, and drop its fat into the fire15.

14. A disease (Vd7.58).
There is another word n&acirc;eza, 'a spear,' so that one
may translate also 'killed by the spear' (Asp.)

15. 'Not that the two deeds are equal, but neither is good' (Comm.)
The sin in question is a simple tanapuhr (Vd15.7), and
therefore can be atoned for by punishment and repentance, whereas
the burning of a corpse is a crime for which there is no atonement
(Vd1.17; Vd8.73 seq.)

18. 'All wicked, embodiments of the Druj, are scorners of the
judge: all scorners of the judge are rebels against the
Sovereign: all rebels against the Sovereign are ungodly men; and
all ungodly men are worthy of death16.'

16. Literally, 'is a Peshotanu;' 'he is a tanapuhr sinner, that
is to say, margarzan (worthy of death),' Comm.

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-- Vendidad — Chapter 16 — L.H. Mills / James Darmesteter (1880-1887) (Public domain (Sacred Books of the East, 1880-1887))