Fargard XV
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The Zend Avesta, Part I (SBE04), James Darmesteter, tr. [1880], at sacred-texts.com
I (1-8). On five sins the commission of which makes the sinner a Peshôtanu.
II (9-19). On unlawful unions and attempts to procure miscarriage.
III (20-45). On the treatment of a bitch big with young.
IV (46-51). On the breeding of dogs.
I.
1. How many are the sins that men commit and that, being committed and not confessed, nor atoned for, make their committer a Peshôtanu 2?
2 (4). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘There are five such sins, O holy Zarathustra! It is the first of these sins that men commit when a man teaches one of the faithful a foreign, wrong creed 3, a foreign wrong law, and he does so with a full knowledge and conscience of the sin: this is a sin that makes him a Peshôtanu.
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3 (9). ‘It is the second of these sins that men commit when a man gives too hard bones or too hot food to a shepherd's dog or to a house dog;
4 (11). ‘If the bones stick in the dog's teeth or stop in his throat, or if the hot food burn his mouth or his tongue, so that mischief follows therefrom, and the dog dies, this is a sin that makes the man a Peshôtanu 1.
5 (16). ‘It is the third of these sins that men commit when a man smites a bitch big with young or affrights her by running after her, with shouting or with clapping of hands 2;
6 (18). ‘If the bitch fall into a hole, or a well, or a precipice, or a river, or a canal, so that mischief follows therefrom, and she dies, this is a sin that makes the man a Peshôtanu 3.
7 (22). ‘It is the fourth of these sins that men commit when a man has intercourse with a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period: this is a sin that makes him a Peshôtanu 4.
8 (25). ‘It is the fifth of these sins that men commit when a man has intercourse with a woman quick with child 5, whether the milk has already
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come to her breasts or has not yet come: if mischief follow therefrom, and she die, this is a sin that makes the man a Peshôtanu 1.
II.
9 (30). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered 2, and she conceives by him, let her not, from dread of the people, produce in herself the menses, against the course of nature, by means of water and plants 3.
10 (34). ‘And if the damsel, from dread of the people, shall produce in herself the menses against the course of nature, by means of water and plants, there is a sin upon her head 4.
11 (36). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered, and she conceives by him, let her not,
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from dread of the people, destroy the fruit in her womb.
12 (38). ‘And if the damsel, from dread of the people, shall destroy the fruit in her womb, the sin is on both the father and herself, the murder is on both the father and herself; both the father and herself shall pay the penalty for wilful murder 1.
13 (40). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered, and she conceives by him, and she says, "I have conceived by thee;" and he replies, "Go then to the old woman 2 and apply to her that she may procure thee miscarriage;"
14 (43). ‘And the damsel goes to the old woman and applies to her that she may procure her miscarriage; and the old woman brings her some Banga, or Shaêta, or Ghnâna, or Fraspâta 3, or some other of the drugs that produce miscarriage and the man says, "Cause thy fruit to perish!" and she causes her fruit to perish; the sin is on the head of all three, the man, the damsel, and the old woman.
III.
15 (49). ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not
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delivered, and she conceives by him, so long shall he support her, until the child is born.
16 (54). 'If he shall not support her, so that the child comes to mischief 1, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
17 (54). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If she be near her time and be lying on the high road, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
18 (56). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered unto a husband or not delivered, and she conceives by him, so long shall he support her, until the child is born 2.
19 (58). ‘If he shall not support her 3 . . . .
'It lies with the faithful to look in the same way after every pregnant female, either two-footed or four-footed, either woman or bitch.'
20 (61). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If (a bitch 4) be near her time and be lying on the high road, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
21 (63). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He whose house stands-nearest, the care of supporting her is
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his 1; so long shall he support her until the whelps are born.
22 (65). 'If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
23 (68). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in a camel-stall, which is the worshipper of Mazda. that shall support her?
24 (70) Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who built the camel-stall or who holds it 2, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
25 (76). 'If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
26 (77). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in a horse-stall, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
27 (78). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who built the horse-stall or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
28 (81). 'If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
29 (84). O Maker of the material world, thou
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[paragraph continues] Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in an ox-stall, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
30 (86). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who built the ox-stall or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
31 (89). 'If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
32 (92). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in a sheep-fold, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
33 (94). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who built the sheep-fold or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
34 (97). 'If he shall not support her so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
35 (100). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying on the earth-wall 1, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
36 (102). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who erected the wall or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
37 (105). 'If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
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38 (108). O Maker of the Material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in the moat 1, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
39 (110). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who dug the moat or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his; so long shall he support her, until the whelps are born.
40 (112). 'If he shall not support her, so that the whelps come to mischief, for want of proper support, he shall pay the penalty for wilful murder.'
41 (113). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a bitch be near her time and be lying in the middle of a pasture-field, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
42 (115). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘He who sowed the pasture-field or who holds it, the care of supporting her is his.
413 (117). 'He shall with kind charity 2 take her to rest upon a litter of any foliage fit for a litter; so long shall he support her, until the young dogs are capable of self-defence and self-subsistence.'
44 (122). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When are the dogs capable of self-defence and self-subsistence?
45 (123). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘When they are able to run about in a circuit of twice seven houses around 3. Then they may be let loose, whether it be winter or summer.
‘Young dogs ought to be supported for six months, children for seven years.
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'Âtar 1, the son of Ahura Mazda, watches as well (over a pregnant bitch) as he does over a woman.'
IV.
46 (127). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers of Mazda want to have a bitch so covered that the offspring shall be one of a strong nature, what shall they do?
47 (129). Ahura Mazda answered: ‘They shall dig a hole in the earth, in the middle of the fold, half a foot deep if the earth be hard, half the height of a man if the earth be soft.
48 (131). ‘They shall first tie up the bitch there, far from children and from the Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda 2, and they shall watch by her until a dog comes there from anywhere. They shall afterwards let another dog come near her, and then a third besides 3, each being kept apart from the former, lest they should assail one another.
49 (134) 4. 'The bitch being thus covered by three dogs, grows big with young, and the milk comes to her teats and she brings forth a young one that is born from (three) dogs.'
50 (135). He who smites a bitch who has been covered by three dogs, and who has already milk, and who shall bring forth a young one born from (three) dogs, what is the penalty that he shall pay?
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51 (137). Ahura Mazda answered: 'Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.'
Footnotes
172:3 Literally, 'another wrong creed;' the Commentary has, 'that is, a creed that is not ours.' See Introd. III, 10.'
173:1 He who gives too hot food to a dog, so as to burn his throat is margarzân (guilty of death); he who gives bones to a dog so as to tear his throat is margarzân (Gr. Rav. 639).
173:2 Or, 'with stamping on the ground' (? Saddar 31).
173:3 If a bitch is big with young and a man shouts or throws stones at her, so that the whelps come to mischief and die, he is margarzân (Gr. Rav. 639).
173:5 When she has been pregnant for four months and ten days, as it is then that the child is formed and a soul is added to its body (Anquetil II, 563).
174:1 Or better, 'if the child die.' 'If a man come to his wife during her pregnancy so that she is injured and bring forth a still-born child, he is margarzân' (Old Rav. 115 b).
174:2 'Whether she has a husband in the house of her own parents or has none; whether she has entered from the house of her own parents into the house of a husband depending on another chief of family or has not' (Comm.)
174:4 'It is a tanâfûhr sin for her: it is sin on sin' (the first sin being to have allowed herself to be seduced), Comm. 'If there has been no sin in her (if she has been forced), and if a man, knowing her shame, wants to take it off her; he shall call together her father, mother, sisters, brothers, husband, the servants, the menials, and the master and the mistress of the house, and he shall say, "This woman is with child by me, and I rejoice in it;" and they shall answer, "We know it, and we are glad that her shame is taken off her;" and he shall support her as a husband does' (Comm.)
175:1 For baodhô-varsta; see above, p. 84, § 38, and n. 1.
175:3 Banga is bang or mang, a narcotic made from hempseed; shaêta means literally gold, and must have been some yellow plant or liquor; ghnâna is 'that which kills the fruit in the womb;' fraspâta is 'that which expels the fruit so that it perishes' (Comm.)
176:3 The sentence is left unfinished: Aspendiârji fills it with the words in § 16, 'so that the child,' &c. It seems as if §§ 17, 18 were no part of the original text, and as if § 17 were a mere repetition of § 20, which being wrongly interpreted as referring to a woman would have brought about the repetition of § 15 as an answer. See § 20.
176:4 The subject is wanting in the text: it is supplied from the Commentary as the sense requires it.
177:1 'The bitch is lying on the high road: the man whose house has its door nearest shall take care of her. If she dies, be shall carry her off to dispose of the body according to the law. One must support her for at least three nights: if one cannot support her any longer, one intrusts her to a richer man' (Comm. and Asp.)
177:2 'In pledge or for rent' (Asp.; cf. Comm. ad § 42).
178:1 The wall around the house.
179:1 The moat before the earth-wall.
179:3 Probably the distance of one yugyêsti; cf. Farg. XIII, 17.
180:1 The fire: when a woman is in labour, one lights up a great fire in order to protect her and her child from the fiends (Introd.. V, 13).
180:2 'From children, lest she shall bite them; from the fire, lest it shall hurt her' (Comm.)
180:3 Cf. Justinus III, 4: maturiorem futuram conceptionem rati, si eam singulae per plures viros experirentur.
180:4 The text of this and the following clause is corrupt, and the meaning doubtful.
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