The Zend Avesta, Part I (SBE04), James Darmesteter, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com

FARGARD X.

During the process of cleansing, the voice works with the hand. The spells which must be recited while the unclean one is cleansing himself have already been mentioned in the preceding Fargard, but we find here a detailed list of spells which are to be spoken twice, or thrice, or four times. The exact time when they are to be uttered is not mentioned, and we do not know whether they are to accompany those prescribed in the last Fargard, and are, therefore, to be repeated as often as the unclean one is washed, or whether they are only intended to close the whole ceremony.

These spells, like the former ones, are taken from the hymns or Gâthas, the oldest and holiest part of the Avesta. They were not written for this particular purpose, but, as happens in all religions, advantage was taken of whatever there might be in the old sacred hymns which could be more or less easily applied to the special circumstances of the case. The recitation of these lines is followed by an exorcism, written in the ordinary language of the Avesta, which has been expressly composed for the occasion.

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

2 (3). Ahura Mazda answered: 'Say aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to be said twice 1; say

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aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to be said thrice 1; say aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to be said four times 2.'

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

4 (10). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘These are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said twice, and thou shalt twice say them aloud:--

5 (10). ‘And after thou hast twice said those words, thou shalt say aloud these fiend-smiting and most-healing words:--

‘“I drive away Angra Mainyu 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 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.

6 (12). '"I drive away the Nasu, I drive away direct defilement, I drive away indirect defilement, from this house, from this borough, from this town,

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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."'

7 (13). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which are those words in the Gâthas that are to be said thrice?

8 (16). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘These are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said thrice, and thou shalt thrice say them aloud:--

9 (16). ‘After thou hast thrice said those words, thou shalt say aloud these fiend-smiting and most-healing words:--

‘“I drive away Indra 1, I drive away Sauru 1, I drive away the daêva Naunghaithya 1, 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.

10 (18). '"I drive away Tauru 2, I drive away Zairi 2, 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

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

12 (22). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘These are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said four times, and thou shalt four times say them aloud:--

13 (22). ‘After thou hast said those words four times, thou shalt say aloud these fiend-smiting and most-healing words:--

‘“I drive away Aêshma, the fiend of the wounding spear 4, I drive away the daêva Akatasha 5, 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.

14 (24). ‘"I drive away the Varenya daêvas 6, I drive away the wind-daêva 7, from this house, from

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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."

15 (25). ‘These are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said twice; these are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said thrice; these are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said four times.

16 (26). ‘These are the words that smite down Angra Mainyu; these are the words that smite down Aêshma, the fiend of the wounding spear; these are the words that smite down the Mâzainya daêvas 1; these are the words that smite down all the daêvas.

17 (30). ‘These are the words that stand against that Drug, against that Nasu, who from the dead rushes upon the living, who from the dead defiles the living.

18 (32). ‘Therefore, O Zarathustra! thou shalt dig nine holes 2 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 that is procured

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by the law of Mazda for him who cleanses himself with good thoughts, words, and deeds.

19 (38). ‘Make thyself pure, O righteous man! any one in the world here below can win purity for himself, namely, when he cleanses himself with good thoughts, words, and deeds.

20. 'The will of the Lord is the law of holiness,' &c. 1

'Whom hast thou placed to protect me, O Mazda! while the hate of the fiend is grasping me?' &c.

'Who is he who will smite the fiend in order to maintain thy ordinances?' &c.

'Keep us from our hater, O Mazda and Ârmaiti Spenta! Perish, O fiendish Drug! . . . Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of the holy spirit!'

Footnotes

133:1 The so-called bis-âmrûta.

134:1 The thris-âmrûta.

134:2 The kathrus-âmrûta.

135:1 See Introd. IV, 41.

135:2 See Introd. IV, 34.

136:1 Translated Farg. VIII, 19.

136:2 Translated Farg. XI, 14

136:3 Translated Farg. XX, 11.

136:4 See Introd. IV, 22.

136:5 'The worker of evil,' a personification of the evil powers, it may be a mere name of Ahriman.

136:6 See Introd. IV, 23.

136:7 The demon Vâteh, who raises storms (Brouillons d‘Anquetil).

137:1 According to tradition, 'the Dîvs in Mazanderan;' Mazanderan is known, in fact, as a land of fiends and sorcerers; a reputation for which it is very likely indebted to the neighbouring mount Damâvand, to which Azis Dahâka is said to be bound. Yet one may doubt whether it gave its name to the Mâzainya daêvas, or if it took its name from them. Mâzainya was, most probably, like Varenya, an epithet of the Dîvs, which, in course of time, became the name of a class of demons.

137:2 The nine holes for the Barashnûm; see above, p. 120, § 6 seq.

138:1 The rest as in Farg. VIII, 19, 20.