CHAPTER V.
The Barashnom and the Riman.
Barashnom, the third form of purification.
The subject of the Barashnom is very large and intricate. Its description varies a little in the different parts of the Vendidad.
I will treat the subject of the Barashnom under the following heads:—
1. What is the Barashnom? Its meaning. Its original and present object.
2. A Description of the Barashnom, as given in the Vendidad.
3. Barashnomgah, or the place of the Barashnom. The ancient Barashnomgah
and the modern Barashnomgah. 4. The Process of giving the Barashnom.
We will treat this third part under two heads:—
(a) The preliminary preparation, and (b) The process proper.
5. The Retreat of nine full days after the Barashnom purification.
1. The Barashnom. Its meaning and object.
What is Barashnom. Meaning of the word.
Firstly we will speak of: What is Barashnom? How it differs from the first two forms of purification? What is its meaning? What was the originai object? What is its modern tendency?
Barashnom is the highest form of purification. It differs from the first two forms in several respects:— (a) While the Padyab is a work of one or two minutes, and the Nahn, of about half an hour, the Barashnom, which originally had the object both of purification and segregation, lasted nine days. So, it is, at times, referred to in Parsi books as the Barashnom-i-Noh Shab, i.e., the Barashnom of nine nights, (b) While the Padyab requires no help of a priest, and while the Nahn requires the help of one priest, the Barashnom requires the services of [103] two priests, (c) While the first two can be performed in any ordinary house or in a temple, the Barashnom purification must be gone through in a particular open-air place. Such a place is called Barashnomgah, i.e., the place of tho Barashnom. We will describe this place later on.
This form of purification has taken its name from the word
bareshnu which means, 'top, head,' from Av. barez,
Sans. 'to be pre-eminent.' In the description of the process of the
particular form of sacred bath gone through in this ceremony,
as given in the Vendidad (Chap. VIII, 40), it is enjoined,
that the purification of the different parts of the body must
begin from the head or the top (Barashnom). The water is
first required to be poured over the head from which the
impurity passes down step by step. Hence the name. We will
speak of these different parts of the body later on.
The original and the modern objects of the Barashnom purification.
The original object of the Barashnom, as referred to in the
Vendidad, seems to be to purify those who
had come into contact with a worse form
of impurity — impurity which, from the
sanitary point of view, may be deemed
dangerous or infectious. For example, a man, who became
unclean by coming into close contact with the dead or,
through, what Dr. West calls "any other serious defilement,"1
was, in ancient Iran, required to go through this purification.
Some deaths occurred from infectious diseases, and so, the
"contacts," i.e., the persons who had come into long close
contact with such dead, were likely to spread contagion. They
were, therefore, required not only to go through purification,
but through segregation for nine days. Thus, it was a
joint form of purification and segregation. The original object
seems to have been latterly widened, perhaps from a point of
view of greater caution. At times, it is difficult for medical
men to determine, whether the disease of which a man dies
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is infectious or not. If it is difficult for an expert medical
man to determine that, it must be more so for the ordinary
class of people. So, for the sake of caution or safety, it seems
to have been enjoined that the living, a short time after death,
must keep themselves at a distance from all the dead, whether
they died of infectious or of non-infectious diseases. Those,
who had, for some purpose or another, to remain in a very long
contact with the dead, had to go through the long form of
Barashnom purification and segregation.
Darmesteter's view.
While considering the subject of the Barashnom or the
great purification, in order to have a clear
grasp of the purification as originally
intended, we must bear in mind what Prof. Darmesteter says
on the subject of the ceremonies about the disposal of the dead
among the Parsis:2 "The principle which governs the
ceremonies of the first order is the fear of contagion, or, as
the Avesta says, of the Druj Nasu, the Druj of Carrion. Death,
that has once come, rests. The visible proof of it is given by
the corruption which at once goes on in the body and spreads
infection round about. It is represented in the form of a horrible
fly, the fly which hovers over the corpses. All the ceremonies of
this order can be summed up in two words, which are the same as
sum up to-day all the prophylactic measures in the case of an
epidemic:— (1) to cut off the communications
of the living with the centre of infection, real or supposed;
(2) to destroy the centre itself."
"Lawful impurity has always physiological causes. Above
all, the corpse is an impure object . . . But he who speaks of
impurity speaks of contagion: because the corpse engenders
putridity and pestilence..... The purification has for its
object the expulsion of this contagion which passes from the
dead to the living, and from one living person to another; and
the theory of impurity and of purification reduces itself in fact
to a theory of hygiene."3
Further on, Prof. Darmesteter says: "During the purification,
the impure remains isolated from the faithful (i.e., from
other Zoroastrians), whom he would (otherwise) defile, in a
sort of lazaret. . . . One sees, that they (i.e., the funeral
ceremonies) are summed up in two words—two words of
hygiene: (viz.,) to isolate the centre of infection, (and) to
destroy that centre. What distinguishes the Zoroastrian conception
from the European conception is this, that we busy
ourselves in isolating and destroying the dead element only
in case of diseases said to be infectious; (but) in Zoroastrianism
death is always infectious and contagious."4
The present object.
Latterly, the original object of the Barashnom purification was still further widened. At times, it was enjoined for the physical purification [106] originally intended, and, at times, it was intended to serve as a symbol for mental purification. It served as a kind of purification, both physical and mental, which qualified one for some higher religious (eremonies. Now-a-days, the persons who go through this Barashnom ceremony are the professional corpse-bearers, who go through it, both before joining the profession and on leaving it. They come into contact daily with dead bodies of men, some of whom may have died of infectious diseases. Of course, after the removal of every corpse to the Towers, they are required to bathe, but, when they leave for good, or at least for a long time, their daily line of business, it is thought to be good and safe that they may go through this higher form of purification, before they mix freely with others. So, one can understand the object of a corpse-bearer gang through the purification and segregation on retiring from his professional work. Looking to the original object of the purification as referred to in the Vendidad, it is not easy to understand why he has to go through this purification before he joins his profession. But, it order that he may be prepared for his business which requires extreme caution so as not to spread infection, or that he may be given an idea of the form of purification necessary in case of those who come into direct contac, with the dead. It may be with a 'protective' view. In the matter of the purificatory ceremonies of various nations anthropologists occasionally speak of "the purificatary ceremony" as the protective theory. This may be an instance of the latter.
As to the priests, the Barashnom is necessary, both for a
person who wishes to be initiated for the priestly profession,
and for a full-fledged priest, when he wants to officiate in,
what may be called, the inner circle of higher ceremonies. In these
cases, there is not the origin idea of purification from
impurities caught by having come into contact with dead
bodies, but the idea of a sentimental and symbolic point of
[107]
view or a protective point of view. Another reason, which
may have, at first, led to the custom, may be this: It was
one of the functions of a priest to purify those who had come
into contact with the impurities of a corpse. He was, therefore,
also known as an Yaozdâthragar, i.e., purifier. That being the
case, it was held advisable that he himself should have at first
gone through this purification. Thus, latterly, the original
object of the Barashnom as enjoined by the Vendidad, viz.,
purification from the highest form of impurities like those arising
from coming into long and close contact with the dead, especially
the dead who died of infectious diseases, assumed also a symbolic
signification. Thus, purification became a priestly function and
was thought to be necessary for those priests who wanted to officiate
within the inner circle of the Fire-temple and at some of the higher
forms of ritual. The original object, latterly, in process of time, took another form.
For example, a priest takes a Barashnom, and while doing
so, declares that he does so for the "tan pâk" (purification
of the body) of A, B, or C, who may be living or dead, i.e., he
goes through the ceremony, so that the physical or the spiritual
body of that person, who is named in the ritual, may have the
efficacy of the purification.5 All this seems to be a later
diversion from, or degeneration of, the original sanitary object
of the Vendidad.
2. Description of the Barashnom as given in the Vendidad.
Three references to it.
We find references to the Barashnom in three chapters of the
Vendidad:— (a) The first and principal
reference is in the 9th Chapter (§§ 1-57),6
where it is treated at some length. To
have a clearer grasp, this chapter must be read with its
Pahlavi rendering and commentary.7 (b) The second reference
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is in the 8th Chapter (§§ 35-72).8 (c) The third
reference is in the 19th Chapter (§§ 20-25).9
7. S. B. E. XVIII, pp. 431-454.
8. S. B. E. IV, pp. 103-110.
9. S. B. E. IV, pp. 209-11.
These three references seem to refer to three different forms of pollution, i.e., to three different forms of greater or lesser contact — direct or indirect — with corpses, which, when going through decomposition, are centres of disease and infection. Of course, all persons have to come into some contact with the corpses of their dead relatives or friends for some time after death. But then, they must observe some rules or laws of health, so as not to endanger their own lives, and through themselves, the lives of others. If they do not observe these, there is a likelihood that they may, by some close contact with the dead bodies, catch some germs of disease or infection and transfer them to others. In case they fail to observe those rules by accident or for some unavoidable purpose, in order to avoid any danger, they must go through some purification which may lessen the chance of their infecting others and spreading the disease.
The first reference (Vend. IX) seems to be an account of the
purification of an extreme case of contact with a corpse — so
extreme, that it requires to be carefully purified and isolated
for ten10 days, so that the least chance for the spread of
infection may be avoided.
The first reference (IX, 1-57) in the Vendidad
The following is an outline of the account:— When a person has become polluted or defiled by coming into contact with a dead body, he must seek a purifier who must be (a) righteous, (b) speaker of truth, (c) versed in the manthras or holy scriptures, [109] and (d) who has learnt from experienced persons how to purify others. The righteous man with these qualifications must find out a sanitary piece of ground. He must cut off the trees, if there be any, on that ground. The ground chosen must be dry, clean, without vegetation and the least frequented by cattle and men.
On the ground thus selected, nine magas or pits may be dug.
Then these nine pits must be marked out by 13 karshas or
furrows which have to be drawn by a sharp metallic instrument.
Of these 13 karshas, the first must be drawn equidistant from
the line of the pits. Then three karshas must be drawn round
the first three pits. Then other three karshas round these first
three and second three pits, i.e., round the first six pits.
Then, other three, round the nine pits together; lastly, the remaining
three karshas round the central three pits. Then,
the ground thus selected and marked out, or symbolically
enclosed, must be covered over with sand or some such kind
of drying or disinfecting earth.
Now follows an account of the purification. The purifier is to stand out of the karshas drawn as above, and is to ask the infected person or the candidate for purification to advance to the pits. When the candidate has advanced to the first pit, the purifying priest is to say the words
"Nemaschâ yâ ârmaitish izâchâ"11and is to ask the candidate to repeat them. Each repetition of these words is said to weaken the influence of the infection. The purifying priest has to hold a naogar or a nine-knotted stick in his hand and to fasten an iron or leaden receptacle or spoon at its end. He is then to get, at first, the two hands of the candidate washed thrice by means of gomez or the consecrated urine poured on his hands by means of the above spoon. If that is not done carefully, the purification that may follow will not be effective or complete. The hands with which the candidate is to clean his whole body must be at first [110] thoroughly cleaned and purified. Then the whole body may be cleaned and purified in a particular way, beginning with the head and gradually coming down to the feet. By this purification from head to foot, the evil power of pollution or infection, is said to run away from one part of the body to another, lower down, and, at last, it leaves the body through the lowest parts of the body, viz., the toes of the feet, in the form of a stinking fly. Then, when this is done, the purifying priest is to recite the Ahunwar and then the Kem na Mazda prayers up to the words "Astvaitish ashahê." The recital of these formulae of prayers is said to be very efficacious and is said to have its good effect on the health of the body.
The above process of purification and the recital of prayers are to be repeated at each of the first six pits, to each of which the candidate is to advance step by step, and at each of which the evil power of pollution decreases step by step and the candidate gets purer. Having gone through this process of purification at each of the first six pits, the candidate is to advance towards the seventh pit, and is to sit at a distance of about 3 1/5 in. from it. The purification here is with sand or some sand-like substance. He is to rub his body with it 15 times. He is to wait there till the moisture — if any — of the application of the consecrated urine dries off. The sand is supposed to be a purifying substance and it serves to dry the moisture as well. Then he is to go to the seventh pit where he has to purify his body once with water. Then he is to advance to the eighth pit and purify his body twice with water. Then he is to advance to the ninth pit and there purify his body thrice with water. Then his body is to be fumigated with the smoke of the fuel of the wood Urvasna, Vohu-gaona, Vohu-kereti, and Hadhanaepata which were species of fragrant wood whose smoke was believed to have the quality of killing germs.
This finishes the purification proper. The candidate is now to put on his clothes and to retire to a house where he is not to come into physical contact with other persons He is to remain [111] aloof and away from fire, water, cultivated land, trees, cattle, men and women, He is to pass three days and nights in such isolation. On the fourth day, he is to wash his body at first with urine and then with water Then, he is to continue in the retreat, as said above, for three nights more. On the seventh day he goes through a bath again as on the fourth day. He then again remains aloof for three nights more, and then, on the tenth day, has again a bath. Thus, for nine days and nine nights after the first Barashnom purification, he is to remain in a kind of isolation and retreat. After the final bath on the tenth day, he is deemed to be perfectly purified and can then mix with all men and women.
The person who purifies must be properly paid by the person who goes through the purification. His fee depends upon the position of the candidate. The purifying pereon on his part is required to be proficient in his work. If he is not, he is guilty of doing harm to others and is liable to great punishment.
The second reference in the Vendidad VIII, 35-72.
The second reference to Barashnom in the 8th Chapter of the
Vendidad applies to cases, not so serious as
in the first reference. While in the 9th
Chapter, the case is that of a person who
is already supposed to have been defiled by a long contact
with the dead (hâm nasûm paiti-iristem), here, in the 8th
Chapter, the case refers only to one who has accidentally come
into slight contact with (yâ, nasâum ava-bereta) a dead body.
So, in this second case, the purification is not so irksome as in
the first case, both, in point of length of time and in the number
of baths or purifications. The process enjoined in this case is
as follows:— If the flesh of the dead body has been devoured
off by a flesh-eating bird or animal before the person touches it,
i.e., if the body is a mere carcase of bones without the flesh on
it, then, the most harmful parts of the body being done away with, there
is less risk of catching any germs of disease from the corpse. So, in
this case, he is simply to wash his body with gomez and water. A simple
bath of this kind is sufficient to
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purify him. But, if the flesh of the corpse is not eaten off and
the body is there with all its decomposing parts on it, then, the
chances of risk being somewhat greater, the process of purification
is as follows:— Three magas, i.e., pits must be dug, and the
person is to purify his body with gomez on each of them. Then
a dog is to be taken near him. This process is to be repeated at
a second set of three pits. He is then to wait for some time till
the moisture of the urine, applied to his body and head, especially
that on the head, dries up. Then, the person is to advance to a third
set of three pits. He is to purify his body there, with water. The
water must be poured over the different parts of his body from head to foot
in a particular way which is the same as that described in the case of the
great Barashnom purification. Then, finally, he is to recite one
Ahunwar and the Kemna Mazda prayer upto the words
"Astvaitish ashahê."
The person then puts on his clothes and the Kusti or the sacred thread,
reciting its allotted prayer. This finishes the purification.
The third reference (Vend. XIX, 19-25).
There is a third reference to a higher form of purification, but
it cannot strictly be called Barashnom,
because, therein, it is not enjoined that the
bath should begin from the 'bareshnu'
(head) which word has given the purification its name. It says
that if a person has come into contact with a dead body,12
or if a person has come into contact with a 'contact'13 he is
to go through a process of purification. No pits are mentioned
in this purification. He is to wash his body four times with
gomez and twice with consecrated water. He is to recite 200
Ashem Vohus and 200 Ahunwars. He is to pray for nine nights.
13. In the language of plague operations, a person who came into contact with a 'contact' was known as an 'evict,' and he also was asked to leave his house and to go to camp.
The difference in the ritual. Its cause.
We find that there is a difference in the ritual, described in
the three parts of the Vendidad. The tendency
is to reduce the rigour and intricacy
and to make the ritual simple. The
difference may be due to various causes. It may be due (a) to
the different views of different priestly writers (b) or to the
changed times, when it was found permissible to reduce the
rigour, (c) or to the change in places, the priests of one part
of the country thinking it advisable to reduce the rigour.
When we find that in a limited Parsi population of India,
there are differences in ritual in places so close as Bombay,
Udvara and Naosari, Surat and Broach, we must be prepared
to find them in a large population like that of Iran. As a
matter of fact, the Pahlavi Epistles of Manushchiher do point
to such differences in later times, in the matter of the Barashnom.
Zadspram, the high priest of Sukan in the South of
Kirman, was found fault with by his brother Manuschihr,
the high-priest of the western country, for having made some
changes in the ritual of the Barashnom.14
I have spoken above of a karsha15 or a furrow, of a padan,
and of a naogar or nine-knotted stick, and shall have to speak of
them frequently later on. So, I will describe them here.
A karsha or kasha
A karsha (Sanskrit karsha) from the root, 'karesh' (Per. kashidan, to draw) means 'a trench or a furrow.' The word has a technical meaning in Zoroastrian rituals. At times, sacred or consecrated things or materials are to be kept, for the time being, within a limited space or enclosure, so that persons other than the officiating priests may not come into contact with them. The person in charge of the things, placing the things on the ground, draws [114] round it a temporary circle, trench, or furrow. Suppose, it is the consecrated urine or water that he carries, and, in travelling, he has to place these things aside for a time. Then, he places them on the ground and immediately draws, with a nail, a circle or furrow or trench round it. It need not be very deep. This process, viz., placing the things within the circle so formed, indicates, that it is free from the contact of other undesirable persons or things. If somebody else steps within the circle — or touches it even from without the circle, in which oase also the line of isolation is broken — the thing is said to have lost its efficacy of consecration. This karsha (or kasha as it is ordinarily spoken now) or circle of limit, has a double efficacy. Just as, when you shut a door of a room, you stop a person within from getting out and a person without from getting in, so when you draw a 'karsha' or the sacred circle, you not only stop — anyhow symbolically — the pollution from without affecting the purity of the consecrated substance within, but, in case the substance itself is undergoing decomposition and is impure, you stop the impurity from going out of the circle and spreading round about. For example, in the Barashnomgah, karshas having these two different significations are drawn, (a) The officiating priests take into the Barashnomgah 'nirang,' i.e., the consecrated urine, 'âv,' i.e., the eonsecrated water, and 'bhasam,' i.e., the consecrated ash of the Fire-temple. The priest who takes these there, first makes a circle on the ground with a nail or even at times with his forefinger, and then places the consecrated things within the ground thus enclosed. Now, in this case, the circle is believed to protect the consecrated things from the pollution outside or to preserve the efficacy of the consecrated things from being lost. (b) Then take the case of the karshas round the pits or holes, where the person to be purified is to go through the different washings and the final bath.
In this case, the karshas are meant to limit the circle of
pollution. Here, a person who is considered to have been
polluted or, to speak correctly, supposed to have been infected
with an infectious disease, goes through his washings and baths,
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and the circles were originally intended to keep the infection
confined within the limit, so that it may not spread. The
furrows are supposed to be trenches which would prevent the
polluted water from his infected body to run beyond that
certain limit. The karsha that a corpse-bearer draws round
about the corpse in the house before removing the body to
the Towers16 is of a similar kind.
Pavi
Most of these karshas are of a temporary kind, but in the Fire-temples, they are of a permanent kind. In the Yazashna-gah, where the Yasna, Vendidad, and Baj ceremonies are performed, such karshas are necessary. So, there, they are of a permanent kind. There, the stone slabs, which form the pavement, have furrows, about two inches deep and two inches wide, cut in the stones. In the chamber of the Sacred Fire also, there are such permanent furrows cut in the stones of the pavement. These furrows are of the first kind, i.e., they are intended to preserve the efficacy of the consecrated fire or articles and of the sacred ceremonies within them.
A karsha of this kind is generally known as a "pâvi."
Pav17 means sacred. So a Pavi means a furrow
which preserves the sacredness of the consecrated things
or of the sacred ceremonies. When the efficacy of the
consecrated things is encroached upon by somebody else going
within the circle or within the limit pointed out by the pavi,
then the thing is said to be avâ, (apâv) i.e.,
desecrated. In the phraseology of the ritual, the words "pâvi karvi"
are at times used to signify the preparation of temporary furrows
or the performance of religious ceremonies.
Paiti-dâna or Padan.
The word padân is Avesta paiti-dâna, lit., that
which is kept over (the mouth). It is padân Pahlavi,
panãm or penûm in Pazend, padân in Persian.
It is a piece of white cloth of cotton with two strings at the top
to be fastened over the nose. It is a kind of mouth-veil put on at
different times with different purposes. The priests put it on, when
saying prayers before fire and the myazd or sacred things, so that
their breath or saliva may not defile the sacred things before them.
In this case, it resembles the covering which the ancient Flamines,
the Roman fire-priests, were required to put on. At other times, it is
put on, as it were, for a contrary purpose, i.e., to prevent
the outside defilement from coming to the person who puts it on.18
For example, the priest put it on, in the Barashnomgah, to prevent the
defilement of the infected person, whom he purified, coming towards him.
Some put it on even over the face of a corpse. Here also the object seems
to be to prevent the defilement from the nose and mouth of the corpse
spreading out. The Pahlavi Vendidad (XVIII, 1) says that it may be
prepared of any material (kolâ mandavami). It may be two
fingers (angusht) broad and should be of two layers of cloth.
Naôgar, the nine-knotted stick.
Naogar, or to speak more correctly, Naô-gireh is the technical
name of a nine-knotted stick (graom nava-pikhem, Vendidad IX, 14). The use of
such a stick in the purifying ceremony as a symbol, seems to have been suggested by
a passage of the Vendidad (XIX, 4). Zoroaster advances against Ahriman holding
an instrument in
[117]
his hand (asâno19 zasta drajimnô). In the
portraits of Zoroaster, drawn from some sculptures on the rocks in Persia supposed
to be those of Zoroaster, he is represented as having a stick in his hand. This
is perhaps in reference to the above passage of the Vendidad. Some translators of
the above passage of the Vendidad speak of this instrument as a nine-knotted stick.
Another instrument, with which Zoroaster is said to have advanced against Ahriman, is Ahunwar, i.e., the short prayer of Yathâ Ahu Vairyô.
That prayer is the spiritual weapon with which the prophet fights against the
Evil Spirit, and the stick is the material symbol of it. In all religions,
priests or bishops are made to hold some weapons, mostly the sword. These
weapons are symbols of religious authority. Now Zoroaster's fight against the
Evil Spirit is a kind of spiritual or mental purification. He fights to free or
purify the world from his evil influences. So, the weapon also came to be used
as a symbol in the Barashnom ceremony of purification, wherein also the
purifier fights against the pollution brought upon by the Evil Spirit.
Now, as to the number nine, it was a sacred number among
the ancients. It was supposed to be a symbol of a kind of
perfection, because when multiplied by any number, the addition
of the digits of the product always gives nine as the product. So,
it was held sacred even amongst the ancient Zoroastrians. In the
Barashnomgah, the pits are, as we said, nine. The karshas or
the furrows round the nine pits are nine. The isolation or the retreat
after the Barashnom lasts for nine nights, So, the number nine also
plays its part in the stick used in the purifying ceremony. The priest
gives the consecrated articles to the candidate for purification by
means of a spoon attached to such a nine-knotted stick. Perhaps, it
was thought, that, in case the
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infection escaped from the infected person who is a candidate
for purification, it might not reach the purifying priest and
might be stopped at every knot of the stick. It might pass
through the fibres of the stick but might be stopped at each
of the knots. All this is symbolic, however we may try to
understand it.
3. Barashnom-gâh or the place for the Barashnom.
The locality for the Barashnomgah as enjoined in the Vendidad and the sanitary condition of the ground.
Having spoken at some length on what is Barashnom and
on its description in the Vendidad, I will
now speak of the Bareshnom-gâh. The
Barashnom being a form of purification for
a person who came into close contact with
a dead body — perhaps the dead body of a
person who died of an infectious disease — it is natural that
the place for this purification should be enjoined to be away
from thickly populated parts of a town. It ought to be in a
sequestered or the less frequented part of the town. The
Vendidad (IX, 1-11) enjoins, that it ought to be at a place,
less frequented by cattle, beasts of burden and men. Again, it
must be at the distance of at least 30 steps (gâya) from fire,
30 steps from the barsom20 and 3 steps from the holy man. What is
meant is, that it must be in a less frequented place and in a
place away from religious places which are frequented by people.
Let us determine the distance mentioned here. It is required
to be at the distance of at least 30 gâya from a religious place
where liturgical services are performed. Now, according to the
ancient Parsi books, each gâya, i.e., step, is made up of 3
pâdha, (Sans. pâdha Lat. ped-s or pés,
Fr. pied, Germ. fuss, Pers. pâi, foot)
i.e., feet. Now each pâdha or foot is equal to 14
êrê&zu, i.e., fingers. Each êrêzu
or finger is about 4/5 of an inch.21 So each
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pâdha (foot) comes to about ll 1/5 in., and each gâya
(step) comes to about 2 ft. 9 3/5 in. Thus, when it is said that the
Barashnomgah must be at least 30 gâya from a place where
religious services are performed, it means, in modern measures,
that it must be at least (30 by 2 ft. 9 3/5 in.=) 84 feet. In other
words, there must be no place of worship near the Barashnomgah for
about 84 feet. Holy men are required to keep themselves away from it
by three steps, i.e., by 8 ft. 4 4/5 in.
The above figures from the Vendidad speak about the distance
of the nearest frequented place. The Rivayats follow the spirit
of the Vendidad, but increase the distance, and say, that it
must be about 300 gâyas (steps), (Bareshnûmgâh dûr
az sheher si-sad gâm shâyad)22 i.e., at the
distance of about 280 yards from the city.
Again it is further enjoined, that, after having chosen a distant
or less frequented locality, one must select there a piece of
ground "where there is least water and where there are fewest
trees, the part which is the cleanest and driest" (Vendidad IX, 3).23
In short, the driest and the cleanest place is enjoined
for the purification, so that the impurities or germs of infection
from the infected person may not increase and develop, and thus
be a source of danger. In case, a place free of trees is not near
at hand, the trees on the ground must be cut off to meet the
requirement. The ground round about the Barashnomgah must
also be cleared of its trees, for a distance of about nine vibâzu. As
each vibâzu is spoken of as containing 8 vitashtis and
as each vitashti is about 10 in.,24 the ground so cleared
off must be about 9 x 8 x 10=720 in., i.e., about 60 feet from all sides.
24. Vide my Kadîm Iranians, p. 94.
Laying out of the Barashnomgah.
Having chosen the locality at a safe distance from the city, and at the distance of at least about 84 feet from the nearest inhabited or frequented place, and having made the place dry and devoid of trees [120] the next business is to lay out or arrange the Barashnomgah. It should be laid out in the centre of the above-mentioned area of 60 feet. The arrangement consists of 3 kinds of work:—
- Digging magas or pits at fixed distances from one another.
- Drawing out the karshas or the furrows round the pits.
- Covering the Barashnomgah with sand or earth.
(a) At first nine magas, i.e., pits or holes are to be dug in
the centre of the ground beginning from the West and ending in the East. Each of
these pits was to be two fingers (êrêzu), i.e., about
1 3/5 in. deep, if the time of the purification was
summer, but 4 fingers, i.e., about 3 1/5 inches deep, if it was winter.
At first, six such pits are to be dug at the distance of one step,
i.e., about 2 ft. 9 3/5 in. from one another. Then, at the other
end of this set of 6 pits, a space of 3 steps, i.e., about 8 ft. 4 4/5 in. is
to be left undug. Then follows another set of 3 pits of the same
depth and at the same distance from each other as those of the
first set of six. The breadth of each of the nine pits is
not given in the Vendidad; but the depth being, as said above,
1 3/5 in. in summer and 3 1/5 in. in winter, let us suppose that the
width also is the same, viz., in summer 1 3/5 in., and in winter
3 1/5 in. The reason, why different sizes were enjoined in the
different seasons, seems to be, that in summer, the heat being
great, the ground, moistened by the water in the purification
process, dries up earlier than in winter.
(b) The next important work in the preparation of the Barashnomgah is that of drawing the karshas or furrows round the pits, to mark out the ground, beyond which the pollution or infection may not pass. The infected person is to have his baths in such a way that the water running from his infected body may not run further from the place and not polluto further ground. So, the ground must be marked out and proper channels or furrows for the water must be made. These [121] channels may serve as limits for confining the pollution or infection in a particular place.
At first, one large karsha is to be drawn round the whole
limit of the Barashnomgah with a sharp metallic instrument.
(Vendidad IX, 10). It must be at the distance of 3 steps
(gaya), i.e., about 8 ft. 4 4/5 in. from the long row of pits.
Then, 12 karshas must be drawn round the pits themselves in the following
order: Firstly, 3 karshas round the first three pits; secondly,
3 karshas round the first six pits; thirdly, 3 karshas round
all the nine pits. Then, lastly, 3 karshas round the inner,
i.e., central three pits.
(c) Having prepared the pits, on each of which the candidate
has to purify his body, and having enclosed the ground, the Barashnomgah
must be covered with some earth or sand. The candidate for purification
has to go through the purifying process on each of the pits. Going
through that, he has to cross that pit and go to the other or the purer
side of the pit, leaving behind, in the pit just crossed, any pollution
that had passed away from his body. So, he must have purer and cleaner
ground to stand upon, after crossing the pit. This was secured by having
the ground covered with sand or such other moisture-absorbing clay or
earth.25
Taking the distances as given in the Vendidad and as described above, the figures for the length and breadth of the Barashnomgah and for the space occupied by the pits, the intervening spaces, and the furrows come to these:—
The breadth of each pit is 3 1/5 in. in winter and 1 3/5 in. in
summer. We take the largest breadth of winter months in our
calculations. As there are altogether 9 pits, they occupy altogether
(9 X 3 1/5 in.=) 28 4/5 in. = 2 ft. 4 4/5 in. Then, the distance
between each pit being 2 ft. 9 3/5 in., as there are 7 intervals or
distances between these 9 pits, they occupy in all (7 X 2 ft. 9 3/5 in.=)
235 1/5 in.= 19 ft. 7 1/5 in. Then, the distance between the first set of
[122]
6 pits and the second set of 3 pits being 8 ft. 4 4/5 in., the length
of the ground occupied by the whole set of pits comes to (2 ft.
4 4/5 in. + 19 ft. 7 1/5 in. + 8 ft. 4/5 in.=) 30 ft. 4 4/5 in. Then, the
first and the most distant karsha or furrow being 8 ft. 4 4/5 in.
from all sides of the pits, allowing the space of 8 ft. 4 4/5 in. from
the space (30 ft. 4 4/5 in.) between the first and the ninth or the
last pit, i.e., on the East and on the West, the whole length of
the ground from East to West comes to (30 ft. 4 4/5 in. + 8 ft.
4 4/5 in. + 8 ft. 4 4/5 in.=) 47 ft. 2 2/5 in. Coming to the breadth,
(north and south), as the first and most distant karsha or
furrow is to be 8 ft. 4 4/5 in. on both sides from any one of the pits,
taking the pit to be a square and therefore its length to be the same
as its breadth, i.e., 3f in., we have the breadth of
(8 ft. 4 4/5 in. + 8 ft. 4 4/5 in.+ 3 1/5 in.=) 17 ft. 4/5 in.
A modern Barashnomgah.
Fromi all these calculations, we learn that the Barashnomgah,
as enjoined by the Vendidad, must have the surrounding
ground of the distance of about 60 ft. from all its sides, cleared
off of its trees, and that the space in it to be occupied for the
purpose of the purification ceremony itself should be 33 ft. 2 2/5 in.
in length from East to West, and 17 ft. 4/5 in. in breadth from
North to South. The accompanying plan presents a plan of the
Barashnomgah, enjoined as above by the Vendidad.
Plan of the Barashnomgah as enjoined in the Vendidad.
A modern Barashnomgah.
Now, as the modern Barashnom purification has changed
somewhat from the original one of the
Vendidad times, in its object and in the
matter of the persons who should take the
Barashnom, so has the modern Barashnomgah changed from the
original Barashnomgah of the Vendidad times. Again, even at
present, some of the rigid injunctions are more honoured in
their breach than in their observance. We will here examine
the changes, which are especially in the following points:
(a) Its locality. (b) Its area. (c) The form
of its magas or pits. (d) The distance between the pits.
(a) Firstly, as to locality, the present Barashnomgahs are not always away from the city. It is only at Naosari, the old [123] head-quarters of the Parsi priesthood, that tho old injunction of the Vendidad is followed and the Barashnomgah is situated at some distance from the closely inhabited part of the town. Even at Naosari, the ground round about, of the distance of about 60 ft., is not cleared off of its trees. Now-a-days, the Barashnomgahs are attached to many Fire-temples, because the original purpose of the Barashnom, viz., that of purifying only the infected, has lost much of its importance, and the Barashnom is looked at, as a form of purification necessary for the performance of liturgical servioes and ceremonies in the Fire-temple. It is mostly the priests that now-a-days take the Barashnom. So, the original requirement of the infected person being kept apart from frequented quartets of the town no longer exists. Thus, the Barashnom being a more frequent form of purification, and being the requirement for a priest, the Barashnomgahs are now attached to the Fire-temples.
(b) The area of the modern Barashnomgah also is much smaller than that described in the Vendidad. It varies in different towns. According to the Vendidad, the row of pits was in the centre of the area. In the modern one, it is nearer to the northern boundary.
(c) As to the form of the magas, we have no pits at all. They are replaced by sets of small stones. Each set consists of 5 stones. The space between each set of pits as enjoined by the Vendidad was 9| in. That space is now replaced by sets of 3 stones each.
(d) The magas or the pits having been done away, the
distances, mentioned in the Vendidad, between each of the pits,
viz., 9 3/5 in., and between the first set of six pits and the second
set of three pits, viz., 8 ft. 4 4/5 in., are not observed. The omission
of the small distances between each of the pits or their
modern substitutes, viz., the sets of stones, is not noticeable;
but the omission to observe the greater distance between
the first six; and the second three pits is easily marked. In
[124]
the modern Barashnomgah, all these sets of stones — both
those representing the original pits, viz., sets of 5 stones, and
those representing the original empty spaces between the pits,
viz., sets of 3 stones — are only about 6 in. apart.
Sets of small stones in the modern Barashnomgah
Taking the replacement of the Vendidad magas by sets of stones at present, there must be nine sets of stones, each of 5 stones, to represent the 9 pits of the older Barashnomgah, and nine sets of stones, each of 3 stones, to represent the intervening spaces between the pits — in all, 18 sets of stones. But instead of these 18, we have 21 sets in the modern Barashnomgah. The extra three are made up of two sets, each of 3 stones, and one of 5. The first extra set of 3 stones is in the front of the long row of stones, i.e., in the west end of the row, and it is on this set, that the purifying priest places his nine-knotted stick, and commences the process of preparing the Barashnomgah or drawing the karshas. The second extra set of 5 stones is at the other end of the long row on the east, and it is on this set that the candidate takes his final bath. These 5 stones are generally replaced by a broad large stone, so that the person can conveniently stand or sit on it and have his bath. The third or the final set of three stones forms the furthest end of the row on the east. It is provided for the bather to stand upon, after his final bath on the large stone, to dry his feet before putting on his shoes.
It seems, that, according to the Vendidad, in ancient times,
at each time that there was a case of a person who had become
infected by coming into contact with a dead person in a prohibited
way or in a way other than the proper or prescribed way, a Barashnomgah
was laid out. A piece of ground was selected, pits were dug, and
the karshas or furrows were drawn. It appears, that the
cases were rare, and so, the necessity of preparing the Barashnomgah
arose rarely. But latterly, when the original object of the purification
was changed, and its use and object were extended, a permanent thing was
wanted. Now-a-days, the Barashnom purification is a rare and uncommon thing
[125]
for the laymen, but common with the priests, who want to
qualify themselves for performing religious ceremonies in the
inner circle of the temples. So, in the modern Barashnomgah,
much of the arrangement enjoined in the Vendidad is given
a permanent form. As said above, they have done away with
the digging of the nine magas or pits and replaced them by
9 sets of stones; and the intervening spaces between the pits
are permanently replaced by sets of stones. It is only the
karshas or the furrows that are newly made on each occasion
of the Barashnom, and that part of the process only is now-a-days
technically known as "preparing the Barashnomgah."
Again, in the modern ritual, there is no fumigation.
Plan of the Barashnomgah.
Plans of the Barashnomgah are given by Anquetil du Perron,26 Harlez,27 Spiegel,28 Darmesteter,29 and West.30 But they all are faulty in one respect. They point the arrangement of the pits in the direction North to South, thus indicating, that the candidate for purification comes in from the North and advances to the South. But as a matter of fact, the direction is from West to East. The candidate enters from the West and advances to the East. Again, the plans of Prof. Darmesteter and Dr. West are further faulty, in this, that they point out the last 3 karshas to be round the last set of pits. But this is not so. These last three karshas are round the central set of the three pits.
The plans given by all these scholars do not give clear
separate ideas of (a) what a modern permanent Barashnomgah
is, and (b) what it appears to be when prepared at the time
of giving a Barashnom to a candidate. I give a plan which
gives a view of both, and I will illustrate the process of
giving the Barashnom by references to it.
27. Avesta, Introduction, p. CLXXVI.
28. Avesta, Erster Band, Vendidad, p. 295.
29. Le Zend Avesta: Deuxième volume, p. 162.
30. S. B. E., Vol. XVIII, p. 435.
4. The process of giving the Barashnom.
Now we come to the subject of the process of giving the Barashnom. I will at first speak (A) of some requisite preliminary preparations and then (B) of the process itself.
(A.) Preliminary Preparations.
The preliminary preparations consist of the following:— (a) Preparing or consecrating the requisites for the purification. (b) Preparation on the part of the particular priest who gives the purification. (c) Preparation of the Barashnomgah. (d) Preparation of the candidate.
(a) Preparing necessary requisites for the Barashnom.
At first, two Barashnomwalla31 priests who have previously
performed the great Khub32 ceremony, carry
to the Barashnomgah, the following consecrated
articles required for the Barashnom:—
(a) The Nirangdin, i.e., the consecrated urine of the cow.
(b) The Âv, i.e., the consecrated water,
(c) The Bhasam,33 i.e.,
the consecrated ash of the Sacred Fire of the Atash Beharam [Bahram].
Besides these consecrated things, the following utensils and
articles are required in the Barashnomgah:— (a) Two pots-ful
of water. (e) Two metallic cups. (f) The leaf of a
pomegranate tree, {g) Two Naogars, i.e., sticks having nine
knots. One of these two sticks has a metallic spoon at one
end tied with a kusti or sacred thread. Another stick has a
metallic nail similarly tied at one end. The first three
consecrated things are placed within a pavi.34 This pâvi is
on the south side of the Barashnomgah (place marked Z in the plan).
32. The khub ceremony requires the recital o£ the Yasna and the observance of certain ceremonies.
33. [Sanskrit] is said to be a special purification ceremony among the Hindus. [Skt.] is one of the several names of Shiva, because he sprinkled ashes over his body. [Skt.] is their sacred ash (Calcutta Review of Jany. 1905).
34. Vide above, p. 115.
The purification of the utensils and of the water.
Having placed the above consecrated articles and other
necessary things into the Barashnomgah,
the two priests perform the kusti-padyab, of the water.
and put on the padan. Then one of them
first makes pâv,35 i.e., cleans ceremonially the two small metallic
cups. In one of the cups, he pours the consecrated urine and
throws into it a pinoh of the Bhasam or the consecrated ash.
Then he makes the two water-pots pâv and pours into them a
few drops of consecrated water. A few drops of consecrated
water consecrate all the water in the pots.
(b) Preparation on the part of the particular priest who gives the purification-bath.
After preparing the requisite things as said above, the priest
himself takes a bath in the Barashnomgah.
He purifies himself with consecrated water
before purifying the candidate. One of the
above two pots of water is for his use and
the other for the subsequent use of the candidate. He goes to
an adjoining place enclosed by a pâvi (marked C on the plan),
recites the formula of Khsnaothra Ahurahê Mazdâo Ashem Vohû,
and then unclothes himself. He places his clothes at a
little distance from himself on a set of three stones. In doing
so, he removes his turban with the padân hanging over it.
Then, sitting on a big stone, he bathes with the consecrated
water contained in one of the two pots placed before him by
the other priest on a set of three stones. The other priest
sprinkles a few drops of the âv or the consecrated water on the
clothes of the priest. Thus, he symbolically purifies with the
consecrated water his clothes also. On finishing his bath, he
puts on his clothes and in so doing, he puts on his turban with
the padân hanging over it. Then throwing his kusti on his
shoulders, he recites the Kemna Mazda prayer and then puts
on the kusti, reciting the Nirang-i-Kusti.
(c) The preparation of the Barashnomgah.
Having bathed with the consecrated water, the priest now
proceeds to "prepare the Barashnomgah."
As said above, in the modern Barashnomgah,
the place is all ready with the
[128]
9 pits, now-a-days replaced by 9 sets of 5 stones each and with
the intervening sets of 3 stones each. What is left undone is the
drawing of the karshas or the furrows which is technically
known as "preparing the Barashnomgah." He proceeds to
draw the karshas as follows: He takes the two Naogars or
the nine-knotted sticks, in his hands, the one with the metallic nail
at the end in his right hand, and the other with the spoon in his
left hand. Then, going to the place where the sets of
stones commence, he places the nailed end of the first stick on the
first set of 3 stones — the first extra set marked D in
the plan — and stands facing the East. He then recites what is
technically called the Dasturi, i.e., he declares, that he performs
the ceremony as enjoined by the Dasturs. In this recital,
he first recites Khshnaôthra Ahurahê Mazdâo, one
Ashem Vohu and five Ahunwars, and then recites in Baj, i.e., in a
suppressed tone, the Dasturi formula.36 Then he recites loudly
three Ashem vohus, and takes the Baj of Sraosh upto the words
"Vidhvao mraotu." Then saying the word Ashem, once loudly,
and for the second time in a suppressed tone, he goes to the north-west corner
of the limit of the Barashnomgah (marked E in the plan) and draws one karsha
with the nailed end of the nine-knotted stick round the whole boundary, beginning
with the northern side. Some draw this karsha within the permanent
pâvi which shows the inner boundary of the Barashnomgah and
others draw it out of the pâvi on the inside of the boundary.
He slowly proceeds from West to East (E to F in the plan), reciting four Ahunwars
during the process. Then he continues on the eastern side (F to G),
then on the southern side (G to H), and lastly, on the western side (H to E),
reciting three Ahunwars each time. Thus, completing the quadrangle, he draws
the first large karsha referred to, as said above, in the Vendidad.
Then, he goes back to the row of stones and draws 12 karshas round
about them. At first, he draws three karshas round the first set of the three pits
[129]
(I J K L), each represented in the modern Barashnomgah by
three sets of 5 stones and shown in the plan by 5 dots. Then, he
draws 3 karshas round the first six pits, as marked M N O P in
the plan; then, thirdly, round all the nine pits as marked
Q R S T in the plan. Lastly, he draws three other karshas round
the middle set, as marked U V W X. When these 13 karshas are drawn,
the Barashnomgah is technically said to have become taiyâr
i.e., ready for the purification ceremony of the
candidate. The priest, who thus prepares it, finishes the
Baj of Sraosh, the first portion of which he had recited at the
commencement of the work of preparing the Barashnomgah.
(d) Preparation of the candidate.
The candidate for purification first takes his ordinary bath in
the morning with the necessary ritual, either
at his house or at the Fire-temple. At Naosari,
he takes this preliminary bath at his
own house, and then goes to the Barashnomgah. As it is a small
town, and there are quarters which are strictly Parsi quarters,
and the distances to the Barashnomgah and the Fire-temples are
not great, one can easily walk from his house to the Barashnomgah,
and from there to the Temple, where he has to pass nine days
in a kind of retreat. But Bombay being a large city, it is not
quite possible to go from one's house to the Barashnomgah in a
Temple without running the chance of coming into contact with
non-Zoroastrians, from whom he is to keep aloof. So, in Bombay and
in other large centres of population, the candidate — and when
one speaks of a candidate, he is almost always a priest who goes
through the ceremony to qualify himself for the performance of
certain religious ceremonies — takes the preliminary bath at the
Temple. He puts on a newly washed set of clothes. Then, he goes to the
Barashoumgah. If a long interval has passed since his preliminary bath,
he performs the Kusti-Padyab; if not, he need not perform that.
Then he takes his seat on a piece of clean cloth on the ground
within an enclosed pâvi (A in the plan) outside the Barashnomgah
proper. Then, he is made to say the Baj, or prayer of grace,
[130]
and is given a pomegranate leaf to chew, and a little consecrated
urine to drink in one of the two small metallic cups referred to above.
He then finishes the Baj and recites the Patet. The process is the same
as that in the Nan ceremony or in the second form of purification. So,
I need not describe it in detail here.37 He goes through this
preliminary preparation before the technical "preparation of the Barashnomgah."
(B) The process proper of the Barashnom.
Now, we come to the subject proper of the process of the
Barashnom ceremony. Two priests are
required for the purpose.38 As said above,
one of the priests, the purifier, has himself
gone through a purification with consecrated water. He has
'prepared' the Barashnomgah for the purification. The candidate
himself is now ready. The second priest now goes in a
pâvi (Y) outside the Barashnomgah proper, and holds a dog by
a chain in his hand. The candidate is now about to enter into the
Barashnomgah; but before he does so, the priest who is to purify him retires
into the pâvi (Z) wherein the consecrated
articles are kept. An infected person is supposed to step into the
Barashnomgah; so, not only should the consecrated things, but also
the priests who are to purify him and to give him a bath of purification
are supposed to keep themselves out of the chances of infection and pollution.
The pâvi, which is prepared by drawing a karsha or a
furrow round about, protects them.
The candidate now rises from his seat on the ground, leaves the pâvi
wherein he ate and drank the consecrated things, and steps into another pâvi (B).
Coming in there, he takes the Baj. He recites Khshnaothra Ahurahe Mazdao, Ashem Vohu.39
Then he recites in baj, i.e., in a suppressed or
[131]
muttering tone, "Humata, hukhta, hvarshta, hu-manashnê hu-gavashnê,
hu-kunashnê ........40 ........tan pâk," i.e., "(I go
through this ceremony) with good thoughts, with good words and good deeds,41
and I do this with the intention that the good of this may result to the body of
(such and such a person)."
40. Here, he names the person, for whote naiyat or intention he takes the Barashnom. If it is for himself, he says so. Vide above p. 107, n. 5.
41. The words are here repeated in their Pazand form.
This is a later change, development, or rather, degeneration. The original object of the purification, viz., purification from a kind of pollution or infection, was lost, and the ceremony became a kind of qualification for the performance of some ceremonies. The priests go through this, and are paid for that and for the subsequent ceremonies, Yasna, &c. At first, they recited the name of the person who had asked them to perform the ceremonies in certain formula recited in the prayers. But, latterly, they began to recite his or her name in the purification ceremony itself.
The candidate then unclothes himself. He is not to speak anything now. If he has to say anything, he must speak in Baj, i.e., in a suppressed tone. Having unclothed himself, he seats himself on the first set of 5 stones (a in the plan) which represent the first maga or pit of the original Barashnomgah of the Vendidad. While proceeding to the seat, he covers his head with his right hand, because a Zoroastrian is enjoined not to walk bear-headed. With another hand, he tries for decency to cover his private part.
The candidate for purification having taken his seat in the
pâvi or enclosure formed by the karshas or furrows,
the cause of infection is, as it were, confined within that space. As the
infection is not expected to spread, the purifying priest now comes out of
the pâvi, where he had taken his refuge for the sake of
safety. He goes to the candidate to purify him, but always takes care
to stand out of the pâvi formed by the
[132]
furrows in which the candidate is seated. He holds the nine-knotted
stick with the spoon in his right hand, and the
second stick with the metallic nail in his left hand. Then, the
candidate places his right hand on his head. The reason
why he now puts his right hand on his head is that a Zoroastrian
is asked not to speak with an uncovered head.42 When
he has to say anything with an uncovered head, for example,
during the bath, he places his right hand over his head, and
then says what he has to say. Now, as the candidate has
to speak something, as we will see later on, he has to cover
his head temporarily with his hand.
While saying prayers or performing religious ceremonies, a decent head-dress was unavoidably necessary. Herodotus says: "When any one wishes to offer sacrifice ...... he invokes the god, usually having his tiara decked with myrtle." (Bk. I, 132, Ibid, p. 60.)
The priest who has advanced to purify him now places the
spoon-end of the nine-knotted stick on his hand which covers
the head. The candidate then places his left hand over the
spoon. Care must be taken that the hands of the candidate
only touch the spoon, i.e., the metallic part of the stick, and
not the wooden part, which, being porous, is likely to catch
[133]
germs of infection from him. The priest then recites three
Ashem Vohus and the Baj of Sraosh up to "Vidhvao Mraotu,"
and with the word Ashem, (i.e., Purity), removes
from the head the spooned stiok. Then going to the
pâvi where the âlât or the consecrated things are placed, and
taking, in one of the small metallic cups above referred to,
a little of the Nirang, goes to the candidate again, pours a
little of it in the spoon,43 and drops it in the hand of the candidate
who applies it to his whole body. He repeats this three times.
The Vendidad (IX, 15-26) enjoins that the application must not be haphazard, but in a particular way beginning from the top of the head to the tip of the toe. It says, that, at first, both the hands must be cleaned or purified with the Nirang, so that, with those clean hands, he may clean all the other parts of the body. It says (IX, 15): "At first, both his hands must be washed. If both his hands are not washed at first, he makes his whole body unclean." The Nirang after its application to the hand, must be applied to the other parts of the body in the following order: The head, the front part of the face between the brows, the back part of the head, the cheeks, the right ear, the left ear, the right shoulder, the left shoulder, the right arm-pit, the left arm-pit, the chest, the back, the right nipple, the left nipple, the right rib, the left rib, the right hip, the left hip, the sexual parts, (if the candidate for purification is a male, the application must first be on the hind part and then on the front part; but if a female, it must begin on the front and then on the hind part), the right thigh, the left thigh, the right knee, the left knee, the right shin of the leg, the left shin of the leg, the right ankle, the left ankle, the right instep, the left instep, the right sole of the foot, the left sole of the foot, the right toe, the left toe.
The Vendidad adds, that, with such an application, the Druj-i-Nasu, i.e., the Evil of infection or — to speak in modern [134] scientific language — the microbe of infection leaves the particular part of the body thus cleaned and runs down to the next named part, and, at last, leaves the infected person at the foot, making good his escape in the northern direction.
Now-a-days, the application is not so systematic and not in the same successive order as enjoined in the Vendidad. It differs in several points:—
(a) Firstly, it is a hasty application or rubbing of the Nirang
from head to foot, (b) Secondly, the Vendidad enjoins the priest
who purifies the candidate to throw or sprinkle the Nirang gradually
upon the different parts of the body, one after another.
That process would require a very large quantity. But in
practice now, the priest gives at once a little quantity, about
a tea-spoonful the most, in the hollow of the hand of the
candidate who applies that quantity over all the parts of
the body, (c) Thirdly, in modern practice, the priest drops
the Nirang in the hands of the candidate three times at each
pit. This triple process of dropping it is, perhaps, to replace,
and to make up for, the abandonment of the very long and
intricate process of the application as enjoined in the Vendidad.
(d) Fourthly, it is enjoined, that the words "nemaschâ, yâ
Ârmaitish izhâchâ" {i.e., praise and commendation to Annaiti,
i.e., to the Purity of thought) are to be recited by the priest
and repeated by the candidate before the first application or
washing, but, in practice, they are recited after the first triple
application.
Then, to proceed in our description of the process of the Barashnom,
the priest, after dropping the nirang into his hands, retires
again into his pâvi or enclosure where the âlât or the consecrated
articles are placed. The candidate is isolated within the karshas
or the furrows. The isolation is shortly to be broken or
dissolved by the other priest who is to present a dog before the
candidate.44 If that is done, the purifier himself, coming within
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the circle of pollution or infection, is likely to catch infection.
So, he retires within his enclosure (Z) of isolation for safety.
The other priest then advances with a dog held by a metallic
chain, and keeping himself at a distance beyond the pâvi, —
in this case the first and distant karsha or furrow, — presents the
dog before the candidate who then touches with his left hand
the left ear of the dog.
44. The isolation of the pâvis is said to be broken or dissolved when a
contact is made between a person or persons or a thing or things
within the pâvi and between a person or persons, or a thing or things
outside the pâvi. For example, suppose the adjoining A
figure represents a space enclosed in a pâvi. The
lines AB, BC, CD, DA represent the four furrows of
the pâvi on the four sides. Now suppose a stick or
a handkerchief falls on one of the pâvis in the way
shown at E. Then, the pâvi is said tp be connected D
and so the isolation is said to be dissolved or broken.
The Dog in the Barashnom ceremony.
I will say a few words here on the use of the dog in this
purification ceremony. In the 9th chapter
of the Vendidad, where a lengthy description
of the Barashnom purification is given,
we find no reference to the dog. But it is in its Pahlavi
commentary that we find it. There, on the authority of
the later commentators, it is said, that "when they (the
candidates for purification) pass from one pit to another,
the dog may be held before them once."45 The 8th chapter of
the Vendidad (§, 37-38) also enjoins the presentation of a dog
before the candidate. The description of the 8th chapter,
though it refers to the Barashnom purification, refers specially
to the case of an inferior kind of pollution or infection. It is the
case of a person who has merely "touched the corpse of a dog
or of a man." But the case in the 9th chapter is rather a more
serious case — the case of a person who has not simply touched
the body but is actually "defiled by the dead." In this latter
case, he is supposed to have come into greater contact with the
corpse and to have disregarded the observances and restrictions
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enjoined by the then sanitary authorities in the matter of isolation.
So, when in the first case (Vendidad, VIII), viz., that of
merely touching the body either accidentally or for some purpose
under proper observances, he is to go through mere purifications
and baths, in the latter case (Vendidad IX) of an actual defilement,
he is not only to go through the purification, but also through an
isolation for 9 days and nights. He was to remain aloof, as we will
see later on, for a period of full 9 days and 9 nights, i.e.,
about 10 days.
Now, the question is: why was it enjoined that a dog should
be presented before the candidate for purification? One cannot
speak with authority or certainty, but can advance a probable
reason by analogy or inference. The reason seems to be the
following:— Of the several means or ways to be adopted to
do away with the spread of disease or infection, one was the
speedy consumption of the body that was the centre of disease
or infection. Consumption by the flesh-devouring animals was
one of such ancient prevalent ways. In the Vendidad, we find
a reference to the old primitive way when corpses were exposed
on tops of mountains, so that flesh-eating birds and animals,
like vultures and dogs, who served as scavengers of Nature may
devour the flesh. The dog was a domestic animal useful to the
ancient Iranian in many ways. He served as a policeman to guard
his house, to guard his fields, to guard his flock. Not only that,
but it served him, as said above, as a scavenger of Nature in
eating away the flesh of the corpse of a deceased person which
otherwise would have gone on decomposing, and then endangering
the health of his town. So the dog was, in the eyes of an ancient
Iranian, a very dear and useful animal. What is very dear and useful
whether that be a man, an animal, or a thing is, as it were, in one
sense, sacred. The dog therefore became a useful and sacred animal
in the eyes of an Iranian. His great and important services were
those of stopping decomposition and of stopping the spread of
disease and infection. Such being the case, one of the several
objects, why on the death of a person, the dog was brought before the
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corpse for sagdid, was, that the dog may see, that a person was
dead and that a prey was ready for him. He may, by instinct,
know, what was waiting for him. The second object, which
arose from the first object and from all the above considerations,
was rather more symbolic. The dog, being the scavenger
of Nature, and as such, as said above, one of the means for the
prevention of the spread of disease and infection, one of the
means for keeping pure the earth, air, and ground of God, was the
symbol and type of purification. Other thoughts and ideas seem
latterly to have been associated with the dog, on
account of his other characteristics as a faithful domestic
animal. So, from all these considerations, he was brought
before a corpse and made to see the corpse. His very eyesight was,
as it were, a means of purification. So much for his presence
before the corpse.
From the view of his presence before a corpse which was a
great centre of putrefaction, infection and disease, the view
of his presence before a person who was polluted and infected
and who was therefore another, though lesser, centre of infection
and disease, was only one step. The dog was a means, a channel, an
instrument for purification, for keeping the air, earth and water
of God pure. Here, in the Barashnomgah, there is a candidate, who
coming into contact with a corpse, seeks purification, so that,
being purified, he may not continue to be a source of danger to
those round about him. So, the dog's presence there was thought
necessary to emphasize the original object of purification. The
dog was one of the instruments of Nature in keeping its products
pure. Here is a person, who to avoid any chance of infection, lest
his infected condition may be a source of danger, goes through a
form of purification. Thus, the presence of the dog before the
person, who very likely was as infectious as a corpse, was symbolic
and significant.46
Now there does not seem to be any particular significance in the candidate touching the left ear of the dog with his left hand. As we said above, the candidate had now and then to keep his head covered with his right hand. Again, the dog had to be presented to him from beyond the furrows on his left. So it is only his left hand that was conveniently available. It is perhaps to preserve harmony or uniformity, that he touches the left ear of the dog. Perhaps, it is convenient also on account of the position of the dog. As we said above, the west is the side from which they enter the Barashnomgah, and the candidate proceeds to the east. The priest who fetches the dog also comes in from the west. So, the dog, when it is made to stand on the left side of the candidate, with its face towards him, has his left ear conveniently near. There seems to be no other particular signification for this. As to the reason, why the candidate touches the ear, it seems to be only to draw its attention to himself. In the East, they generally twist the ear of a person to make him look a little sharp if he is careless or indolent. The ear of a child is twisted by a parent or teacher to make it look a little sharp.
The candidate is not to let his left hand touch his body. His hands were
cleaned in the above process of the first purification by the nirang.
Having come into contact with something else,
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which, in its turn has not been washed, a part of the purity of the
hand is said to have been lost by a touch to the dog. So, he must not
apply it to his body before purifying it. This he does at the early
stage of the next or second stage of purification at the second set
of 5 stones which represent the next maga or pit.
Repetition of the application of nirang, &c.
On the dog being removed from near the candidate, the isolation
of the candidate within the furrows is
secured and the priest gets out of his pâvi or
enclosure with the spooned nine-knotted stick
in his hand, and recites the Kem na Mazda prayer upto the word Ashahê.
Then while reciting the next word 'nemaschâ yâ Ârmaitish izâchâ'
points with his above stick to the second set of 5 stones (marked b, in the plan)
which represent the second maga or pit referred to in the Vendidad.
That means an intimation that he should now advance further. The candidate
thereupon repeats the words 'nemaschâ yâ Ârmaitish izâchâ,'
and advances, towards that set. On his taking his seat there, the priest
repeats thrice the above described process of handing some nirang
for fresh application. The candidate applies it to the whole of his body
as described above. The priest again retires to his pâvi (Z).
The second priest again advances towards the candidate with the dog.
The candidate again touches the left ear of the dog. The priest with
the dog retires and the first priest again gets out of his pâvi,
advances towards the candidate, recites the abovesaid Kem nâ Mazd&aacirc;
prayer as described above, asks the candidate to advance to
the third set of 5 stones and gives him the nirang for application.
Then the priest with the dog again advances. Thus the same process, with the
above details and particulars, is gone through altogether for six times
on the first six sets of pits which are represented in the modern Barashnomgah
by the first six sets of 5 stones (a, b, c, d, e, f in the plan).
Application of sand
On coming to the seventh maga or pit (g) or the seventh set of 5 stones, the application to the body is not that of the nirang, but that of mere [140] sand (khâk).47 The details of the process are the same as those described above