O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  If a man shall bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within a year, what is the penalty that he shall pay?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“A thousand stripes with the Aspahe-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraosho-karana.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  If a man shall bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within the second year, what is the penalty for it?  What is the atonement for it?  What is the cleansing from it?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which there is no atonement, forever and ever.”

When is it so?

“It is so, if the sinner be a professor of the Religion of Mazda, or one who has been taught in it.  But if he be not a professor of the Religion of Mazda, nor one who has been taught in it, then his sin is taken from him, if he makes confession of the Religion of Mazda and resolves never to commit again such forbidden deeds.

“The Religion of Mazda indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! takes away from him who makes confession of it the bonds of his sin; it takes away the sin of breach of trust; it takes away the sin of murdering one of the faithful; it takes away the sin of burying a corpse; it takes away the sin of deeds for which there is no atonement; it takes away the worst sin of usury; it takes away any sin that may be sinned.  In the same way the Religion of Mazda, O Spitama Zarathustra! cleanses the faithful from every evil thought, word, and deed, as a swift-rushing mighty wind cleanses the plain.  So let all the deeds he doeth be henceforth good, O Zarathustra! a full atonement for his sin is effected by means of the Religion of Mazda.”

CONTRACTS AND OUTRAGES[11]

“He that does not restore a loan to the man who lent it, steals the thing and robs the man.  This he doeth every day, every night, as long as he keep in his house his neighbor’s property, as though it were his own.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  How many in number are thy contracts, O Ahura Mazda?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“They are six in number, O holy Zarathustra.  The first is the word-contract; the second is the hand-contract; the third is the contract to the amount of a sheep; the fourth is the contract to the amount of an ox; the fifth is the contract to the amount of a man; the sixth is the contract to the amount of a field, a field in good land, a fruitful one, in good bearing.  The word-contract is fulfilled by words of mouth.  It is cancelled by the hand-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the hand-contract.  The hand-contract is cancelled by the sheep-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the sheep-contract.  The sheep-contract is cancelled by the ox-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the ox-contract.  The ox-contract is cancelled by the man-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the man-contract.  The man-contract is cancelled by the field-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the field-contract.”