Dadestan-i Denig ('Religious Decisions')

Translated by E. W. West, from Sacred Books of the East, volume 24, Oxford University Press, 1880.

CHAPTER 17.

1.

The sixteenth question is that which you ask thus: What is the purpose of giving up a corpse to the birds?

2.

The reply is this, that the construction of the body of those passed away is so wonderful that two co-existences have come together for it, one which is to occasion endurance (der padayinidano) and one which is to cause conflict (nipordinidano), and their natures are these, for watching the angels and averting the demons. 3. After appertaining to it the life -- so long as it is in the locality of the place of the body -- and the demons of dull intellects, who are frightened by the body, are just like a sheep startled by wolves when they shall further frighten it by a wolf. 4. The spirit of the body, on account of being the spiritual life (huko) for the heart in the body, is indestructible; so is the will which resided therein, even when they shall release it from its abode.

5.

In the same way the body of those who are passed away is so much the more innocently worthy of the rights (sano) of one properly passed away, and what it is therein provided with, as it has uttered thanksgivings. 6. For those guardian spirits who keep watch over the body of Keresasp the Saman are also such praises from the life and body, for that reason, moreover, when they unite.

7.

The injury of the destroyer to the body of those passed away is contaminating; the Nasush ('corruption') rushes on it and, owing to its violence when it becomes triumphant over the life of the righteous man, and frightens it from the place of the catastrophe (hankardikih), and puts itself into the place of the body, that body is then, for that reason, called Nasai ('dead matter'). 8. And, on account of the coexistence of rapid changing and the mode of attacking of the same Nasush, even when it is necessary for the disintegration of the body, this is also then to lie and change sanatorily.

9.

Hence, as the body of men is formed out of hard bone and soft fat, that which is established is the expulsion of the bone from the fat. 10. For the bone through its hardness, when no damp fat is with it, and it does not become a holder of its damp, is itself essentially dry; and it becomes unconsumable and attaining durability, through dryness, out of the dead matter even for perpetuity. 11. And the sun is provided to make rotten, dispersed, and useless the fat that is around the bone, which on the decay of the animating life is to become increasingly damp, and, after the departure of life through terror and disgust (adostih), it comes to rottenness and stench; and the noxious creatures in it alike afflict it and the hard part such as bone.

12.

As regards the shrinking away of those who are sinners, the nearer way to a remedy is the gnawer away from men; the fat becomes separate from the bone, and is seized and digested, as by the separation of the fat from the dead matter for digestion, moreover, the permanent matter (asarih) and bone attain more fully unto their own nature (sano), and the body (kalpudo) to emptiness. 13. Because there is no other way to consume that fat of men, since it is most grievous to them (the sinners), and the pollution and contamination are made a blessing unto it (the gnawer). 14. The dispersers (astardo-garan) completely disperse from it; they are appointed and produced, a production not worthy, for its defilement of those purified and animals is contaminating, through contact again with men. 15. The crow (galag) and such-like, through scorching away by the fire of the luminaries, become worthy; moreover, the affliction of that which is completely pure fire arises therefrom, as it is not able itself to come unto the scorched one, for then the defilement (darvakh) of the scorcher by the most grievous gnawer would be possible.

16.

But it is not proper to recount (angastano) the devouring of the noxious creatures, for the spirit of the body is troubled when it observes the alarmed (vazid) spirituality which was in the body of those destroyed, the noxious creatures upon the goodly forms, and the mode and strangeness of their disintegration and spoliation. 17. And so it then becomes the more remedial way when, as it is ordered in revelation, the body fraught with corruption is placed on the ground of a clear mountain spur (kof vakhsh); and, in order not to convey it to the water, plants, and men of the plain, it is fastened in the customary manner, so that the corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds, which are not subject to the hand (dasto-amuko) of men, and are likewise not entertained as food, shall yet not drag any of it away for man's eating of dead matter.

18.

For streams and waters go themselves and consume that fat, and are digested by the vital fire [vohu-fryan fire] which is in the life of the creatures of Ohrmazd; and from fat the corpses and dead matter are reduced unto dregs of clay and permanent matter, even with the dust they are mingled and become scattered about. 19. Likewise to those dogs, flying creatures, and birds they themselves (the waters) have given the corpse-eating quality and habit, and on account of dull intellect they (the creatures) are not overwhelmed even by that sin.

20.

From that fat which is mingled with the living body of a creature of Ohrmazd then arises also the assault of the demons, as is shown in the chapter on the reason for showing a dog to a dead person, so that the body of those passed away, when the gnawers away are mingled with the living body of a creature of Ohrmazd, exhibits a partial resurrection and the tokens of it, and thereby the demons keep in it (the living body), and give pain by the will of the sacred being.

CHAPTER 18.

1.

The seventeenth question is that you ask thus: Is it better when they give it to the birds, or what mode is better?

2.

The reply is this, that after showing the dog [sag did] -- the reason of which is as declared in its own chapter -- they shall carry the corpse at once to the hills and rising ground (vakhsh bum); and, for the reason that the dogs and birds should not bring that dead matter away to a watered, cultivated, or inhabited place, one is to fasten it in the manner of a thief. 3. When the corpse-eating birds have eaten the fat, that fat which, when it is not possible to eat it, becomes rotten, offensive, and fraught with noxious creatures, then men shall properly convey the bones away to the bone-receptacle (astodano), which one is to elevate so from the ground, and over which a roof (ashkupo) so stands, that in no way does the rain fall upon the dead matter, nor the water reach up to it therein, nor the damp make up to it therein, nor are the dog and fox able to go to it, and for the sake of light coming to it a hole is made therein.

4.

More authoritatively (dastobariha) it is said that bone-receptacle is a vault (kadako) of solid stone, and its covering (nihumbako) one is to construct also of a single stone which is cut perforated (sulak-homand), and around it one is to fill in with stone and mortar.

CHAPTER 19.

1.

The eighteenth question is that which you ask thus: When the souls of the righteous and the souls of the wicked go out to the spirits, will it then be possible for them to see Ohrmazd and Ahriman, or not?

2.

The reply is this, that concerning Ahriman it is said that his is no material existence (stish); and Ohrmazd, as a spirit among the spirits, is to be heard by those who are material and those also who are spiritual, but his form (kerpo) is not completely visible except through wisdom. 3. And a semblance of his power is seen, as was told unto Zartosht the Spitaman when he saw the result (zah) of his handiwork, and he (Ohrmazd) spoke thus: 'Grasp the hand of a righteous man! for the kindly operation of my religion through thee thyself is as much as he shall grasp, and thou mayst see him whose reception (mahmanih) of my wisdom and glory is the most.'

4.

And about the souls of the righteous and wicked, in the spiritual places they see the throne (gas), which they deem a sight of Ohrmazd. 5. And so also those who are domiciled with (ham-neman) Ahriman, through that wisdom with reference to whose creator they shall suffer, will understand minutely as regards Ohrmazd and the nature of Ahriman (Ahrimanih). 6. And he who is of the righteous is delighted at escaping from Ahriman and coming to the existence pertaining to Ohrmazd; and they shall offer homage to the glory of Ohrmazd. 7. And he who is wicked, through being deceived by Ahriman, and turning from the direction (pelag) of Ohrmazd, becomes more vexed and more penitent; the hope (zahishno) and forgiveness which he possesses, and the retribution and manacling which are his among the fiends and spirits through his own handiwork, are by the permission which comes from the most persistent of the persistent at the period of the resurrection.

CHAPTER 20.

1.

The nineteenth question is that you ask thus: To what place do the righteous and wicked go?

2.

The reply is this, that it is thus said that the souls of those passed away and of the dead are three nights on earth; and the first night satisfaction comes to them from their good thoughts and vexation from their evil thoughts, the second night come pleasure from their good words and discomfort and punishment from their evil words, and the third night come exaltation from their good deeds and punishment from their evil deeds. 3. And that third night, in the dawn, they go to the place of account on Alburz; the account being rendered they proceed to the bridge, and he who is righteous passes over the bridge on the ascent (lalaih), and if belonging to the ever-stationary (hamistagan) [purgatory] he goes thither where their place is, if along with an excess of good works his habits are correct (frarun-dad) he goes even unto heaven (vahishto), and if along with an excess of good works and correct habits he has chanted the sacred hymns (gasano) he goes even unto the supreme heaven (garothman). 4. He who is of the wicked falls from the lower end (tih) of the bridge, or from the middle of the bridge; he falls head-foremost to hell, and is precipitated (nikuni-aito) unto that grade which is suitable for his wickedness.

CHAPTER 21.

1.

The twentieth question is that which you ask thus: How are the Chinwad bridge, the Daitih peak (chakad), and the path of the righteous and wicked; how are they when one is righteous, and how when one is wicked?

2.

The reply is this, that thus the high-priests have said, that the Daitih peak is in Airan-vej [Eranwej], in the middle of the world; reaching unto the vicinity of that peak is that beam-shaped (dar-kerpo) spirit, the Chinwad bridge, which is thrown across from the Alburz enclosure (var) back to the Daitih peak. 3. As it were that bridge is like a beam of many sides, of whose edges (posto) there are some which are broad, and there are some which are thin and sharp; its broad sides (sukiha) are so large that its width is twenty-seven reeds (nai), and its sharp sides are so contracted (tang) that in thinness it is just like the edge of a razor. 4. And when the souls of the righteous and wicked arrive it turns to that side which is suitable to their necessities, through the great glory of the creator and the command of him who takes the just account.

5.

Moreover, the bridge becomes a broad bridge for the righteous, as much as the height of nine spears (nizhako) -- and the length of those which they carry is each separately three reeds--; and it becomes a narrow bridge for the wicked, even unto a resemblance to the edge of a razor. 6. And he who is of the righteous passes over the bridge, and a worldly similitude of the pleasantness of his path upon it is when thou shalt eagerly and unweariedly walk in the golden-colored spring, and with the gallant (hu-chir) body and sweet-scented blossom in the pleasant skin of that maiden spirit, the price of goodness. 7. He who is of the wicked, as he places a footstep on to the bridge, on account of affliction (siparih) and its sharpness, falls from the middle of the bridge, and rolls over head-foremost. 8. And the unpleasantness of his path to hell is in similitude such as the worldly one in the midst of that stinking and dying existence (hastan), there where numbers of the sharp-pointed darts (tezo muk dujo) are planted out inverted and point upwards, and they come unwillingly running; they shall not allow them to stay behind, or to make delay. 9. So much greater than the worldly similitude is that pleasantness and unpleasantness unto the souls, as such as is fit for the spirit is greater than that fit for the world.

CHAPTER 22.

1.

The twenty-first question is that which you ask thus: When he who is righteous passes away, who has performed much worship of the sacred beings, and many duties and good works, do the spirit of creation, the spirit of the sacred ceremony (yazishno) and religion of the Mazda-worshippers, the water, earth, plants, and animals, make complaint unto Ohrmazd, owing to the passing away of him who is righteous, and is it distressing to them when he goes out from the world, or how is it?

2.

The reply is this, that as to him who is of the righteous, in his transit of worldly pain in passing away, and also after passing away to the passage onwards which is his limit (shtar) still in the perplexing account, and, after the account, in his own joy, and in what occurs when his gossips (ham-vachan) in the world -- by whom the spiritual beings are also not unrecognized, nor his position unknown -- are in worldly demeanor downcast and grieving, on all these occasions his thoughts, procuring forgiveness, are about the sacred beings. 3. And the spirit of creation, and the good spirit of the religion of the Mazda-worshippers, which are in the worldly existence -- of which also, in the world, that righteous one is a praiser, an employer, a manager, a protection, and a forbearing friend -- shall make an outcry to the creator about him who is righteous, who is away from worldly protection, also for the granting of a promoter of forbearance, and for a restorer (avordar) of what is extorted; likewise a petition about the compensatory concomitants as to his new protection and disposer.

4.

And the almighty creator responds, and allots a teacher for smiting the fiend, for the satisfaction of the righteous, and for the protection of the good creatures. 5. As it is said, that in every age a high-priest of the religion and his managing of the creatures are made manifest, in whom, in that age, the protection of the creatures and the will of the sacred beings are progressing.

CHAPTER 23.

Death and how the life departs from the body

1.

The twenty-second question is that which you ask thus: When they shall snatch forth the life from the body of man how does it depart?

2.

The reply is this, that it is said to be in resemblance such as when the redness is drawn up out of a fire; for when the inflammable material of a fire is burnt, and has remained without glowing, and when it does not obtain new inflammable material, or extinguishing matter (nizhayishnik) comes upon it, its redness and heat then depart from it; the life, too, on the departure of the breath (vado vashakih), does not stay in the body, but in like manner departs.

3.

To a like purport the high-priests of the religion have also said this, that mortals and men by listening perceive the time when the spirits shall put a noose (band) on the neck; when his time has fully come one then conducts him with a companion (pavan ham-bar), and at his falling are the place of death and cause of death; and having made lethargy (bushasp) deliver him up, and terrified his fever (tapo), death (aosh) seizes decrepitude (zarman) away from him.

4.

The strength in those intrusted with him, and the good proceedings and pursuit of means which remain behind, giving them strength, are the determination (vichir) which is their own inward physician. 5. And should it be a passing away (vidarg) which obtains no light, and on account of their disquietudes they have gone to the understanders of remedies for strength for the remedial duties, and the way is closed, he proceeds with insufficiency of means. 6. And the soul of the body, which is the master of its house (kadak khudai), along with the animating life, goes out of the impotent body to the immortal souls, as a wise master of a house goes out of a foreign (anirano) house to a residence of the good worship.

7.

It was also told to the ancient learned that life (khaya) is where there is a living spirit within the soul's body, which is connected with the soul, as much as a development (sarituntano) of the body, and is the life (zivandakih) of the soul of a body of one passed away.

CHAPTER 24.

1.

The twenty-third question is that which you ask thus: When he who is righteous passes away, where is the place the soul sits the first night, the second, and the third; and what does it do?

2.

The reply is this, that thus it is said, that the soul of man, itself the spirit of the body, after passing away, is three nights upon earth, doubtful about its own position (gas), and in fear of the account; and it experiences terror, distress (dahyako), and fear through anxiety about the Chinwad bridge; and as it sits it notices about its own good works and sin. 3. And the soul, which in a manner belongs to that same spirit of the body which is alike experiencing and alike touching it, becomes acquainted by sight with the sin which it has committed, and the good works which it has scantily done.

4.

And the first night from its own good thoughts, the second night from its good words, and the third night from its good deeds it obtains pleasure for the soul; and if also, with the righteousness, there be sin which remains in it as its origin, the first punishment in retribution for the evil deed occurs that same third night. 5. The same third night, on the fresh arrival of a dawn, the treasurer of good works, like a handsome maiden (kaniko), comes out to meet it with the store of its own good works; and, collected by witches (pariko-chind), the sin and crime unatoned for (atokhto) come on to the account and are justly accounted for.

6.

For the remaining (ketrund) sin it undergoes punishment at the [chinwad] bridge, and the evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds are atoned for; and with the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds of its own commendable and pleasing spirit it steps forward unto the supreme heaven (garothman), or to heaven (vahishto), or to the ever-stationary (hamistagan) [purgatory] of the righteous, there where there is a place for it in righteousness.

CHAPTER 25.

1.

The twenty-fourth question is that which you ask thus: When he who is wicked shall die, where is the place the soul sits the first night, the second, and the third; and what does it say and do?

2.

The reply is this, that those three nights the soul is upon earth, and notices about the thoughts, words, and deeds of its own body; it is doubtful about its own position, and experiences grievous fear of the account, great terror of the bridge, and perplexing fear on account of hell. 3. Thought is oppressive as an indicator of fear, and the soul, in a manner the spirit of the body, is a computer and acquirer of acquaintance by sight about the good works which it has not done, and the sin which it has committed.

4.

And the first night it is hastening away from its own evil thoughts? the second night from its own evil words, and the third night from its own evil deeds; but, owing to the good works which it has done in the world, the first night the spirit of its good thoughts, the second night the spirit of its good words, and the third night the spirit of its good deeds, come unto the soul, and become pleasing and commendable to it.

5.

And the third night, on the fresh arrival of a dawn, its sin, in the frightful, polluted shape of a maiden (charatik) who is an injurer, comes to meet it with the store of its sin; and a stinking northerly wind comes out to meet it, and it comes on shudderingly, quiveringly, and unwillingly running to the account. 6. And through being deceived and deceiving, heresy (avarun-dinoih), unrelenting and false accusation of constant companions, and the wide-spread sinfulness of a fiend-like existence (druj-stihih) it is ruined, falls from the bridge, and is precipitated to hell.