O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  Does water kill?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Water kills no man:  Asto-vidhotu binds him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the flood takes him up, the flood takes him down, the flood throws him ashore; then birds feed upon him.  When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  Does fire kill?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Fire kills no man:  Asto-vidhotu binds him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the fire burns up life and limb.  When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  If the summer is past and the winter has come, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“In every house, in every borough, they shall raise three rooms for the dead.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  How large shall be those rooms for the dead?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Large enough not to strike the skull of the man, if he should stand erect, or his feet or his hands stretched out:  such shall be, according to the law, the rooms for the dead.  And they shall let the lifeless body lie there, for two nights, or for three nights, or a month long, until the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the hidden floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth.  And as soon as the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the hidden floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth, then the worshippers of Mazda shall lay down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes towards the sun.  If the worshippers of Mazda have not, within a year, laid down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes towards the sun, thou shalt prescribe for that trespass the same penalty as for the murder of one of the faithful; until the corpse has been rained on, until the Dakhma has been rained on, until the unclean remains have been rained on, until the birds have eaten up the corpse.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  Is it true that thou, Ahura Mazda, seizest the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha with the wind and the clouds?  That thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the corpses? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the Dakhmas? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the unclean remains? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the bones? and that then thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back unseen? that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back to the sea Puitika?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­