1 "There is many a one, O holy Zarathustra," said God, "who wears a mouth-veil, but who has not girded his loins with the law; when such a man says, 'I am an Athravan,' he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathustra!" thus said God.

2 "He holds a Khrafstra-killer in his hand, but he has not girded his loins with the law; when he says, 'I am an Athravan,' he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathustra!" thus said God.

3 "He holds a twig in his hand, but he has not girded his loins with the law; when he says, 'I am an Athravan,' he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathustra!" thus said God.

4 "He wields the scourge, but he has not girded his loins with the law; when he says, 'I am an Athravan,' he lies; do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathustra!" thus said God.

5 "He who sleeps on throughout the night, who does not perform the Yasna nor chant the hymns, who does not worship by word or by deed, who does neither learn nor teach, with a longing for everlasting life, he lies when he says, 'I am an Athravan;' do not call him an Athravan, O holy Zarathustra!" thus said God.

6 "Him thou shalt call an Athravan, O holy Zarathustra, who throughout the night sits up and asks of holy wisdom, which makes man free from anxiety, with dilated heart, and cheerful at the head of the Chinvat bridge, and which makes him reach that world, that holy world, that excellent world, the world of the Garden.

7 "Therefore ask of Me, thou upright one! of Me, who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of Me; ask of Me, that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier."

8 Zarathustra asked God: "O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is it that makes the unseen power of Death increase?"

9 God answered: "It is the man that teaches a wrong law; it is the man who continues for three years without wearing the sacred girdle, without chanting the Gathas, without honouring the good waters.

10 "And he who should set that man at liberty, when bound in prison, does no better deed than if he should flay a man alive and cut off his head.

11 "The blessing uttered on a wicked, ungodly Ashemaogha does not go past the mouth of the blesser; the blessing for two Ashemaoghas does not go past his tongue; the blessing for three is no word at all; the blessing for four is a curse against himself.

12 "Whosoever should give some Haoma juice to a wicked, ungodly Ashemaogha, or some Myazda consecrated with blessings, does no better deed than if he should lead a thousand horse against the cities of the worshippers of God, and should slaughter the men thereof, and drive off the cattle as plunder.

13 "Ask of Me, thou upright one! of Me, who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of Me; ask of Me, that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier."

14 Zarathustra asked God: "Who is the helper of Sraosha? the holy, strong Sraosha, the angel who obeys the Word of God, mighty-speared and lordly."

15 God answered: "It is the bird named Parodars, which ill-speaking people call Kahrkatas, O holy Zarathustra, the bird that lifts up his voice against the mighty dawn:

16 "'Arise, O men! recite the Ashem vohu that smites down the devils. Lo! here is Bushyasta, the long-handed, coming upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world, as soon as it has awoke: "Sleep!" she says, "sleep on, O man! the time is not yet come."

17 "'For the three excellent things be never slack, namely, good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; for the three abominable things be ever slack, namely, bad thoughts, bad words, and bad deeds.'

18 "In the first part of the night, the fire, a sign of God, calls the master of the house for help, saying:

19 "'Up! arise, thou master of the house! put on thy girdle on thy clothes, wash thy hands, take wood, bring it unto me, and let me burn bright with the clean wood, carried by thy well-washed hands. Here comes Azi, sent by the devils, who is about to strive against me, and wants to put out my life.'

20 "In the second part of the night, the fire, a sign of God, calls the husbandman for help, saying:

21 "'Up! arise, thou husbandman! Put on thy girdle on thy clothes, wash thy hands, take wood, bring it unto me, and let me burn bright with the clean wood, carried by thy well-washed hands. Here comes Azi, sent by the devils, who is about to strive against me, and wants to put out my life.'

22 "In the third part of the night, the fire, a sign of God, calls the holy angel Sraosha for help, saying: 'Come thou, holy Sraosha, and bring unto me some clean wood with thy well-washed hands: here comes Azi, sent by the devils, who is about to strive against me, and wants to put out my life.'

23 "And then the holy angel Sraosha wakes up the bird named Parodars, which ill-speaking people call Kahrkatas, and the bird lifts up his voice against the mighty dawn:

24 "'Arise, O men! recite the Ashem vohu that smites down the devils. Lo! here is Bushyasta, the long-handed, coming upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world as soon as it has awoke: "Sleep!" she says, "sleep on, O man! the time is not yet come."

25 "'For the three excellent things be never slack, namely, good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; for the three abominable things be ever slack, namely, bad thoughts, bad words, and bad deeds.'

26 "And then bed-fellows address one another: 'Rise up, here is the cock calling me up.' Whichever of the two first gets up shall first enter the Garden: whichever of the two shall first, with well-washed hands, bring clean wood unto the fire, the fire, well pleased with him and not angry, and fed as it required, will thus bless him:

27 "'May herds of oxen grow for thee, and increase of sons: may thy mind be master of its vow, may thy soul be master of its vow, and mayst thou live on in the joy of the soul all the nights of thy life.'

"This is the blessing which the fire speaks unto him who brings it dry wood, well examined by the light of the day, well cleansed with godly intent.

28 "And whosoever will kindly and piously present one of the faithful with a pair of these my Parodars birds, a male and a female, it is as though he had given a house with a hundred columns, a thousand beams, ten thousand large windows, ten thousand small windows.

29 "And whosoever shall give to my Parodars bird his fill of meat, I, your Lord, need not"

interrogate him any longer; he shall directly go to the Garden."

30 The holy angel Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! Thou then, alone in the material world, dost bear offspring without any male coming unto thee?"

31 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! It is not so, nor do I, alone in the material world, bear offspring without any male coming unto me.

32 "There are four males who are mine.

"And they make me conceive progeny as other males make their females."

33 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! Who is the first of those males of thine?"

34 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! He is the first of my males who, being entreated by one of the faithful, does not give him anything, be it ever so little, of the riches he has treasured up.

35 "That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their females."

36 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! What is the thing that can counteract that?"

37 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! This is the thing that counteracts it, namely, when a man unasked, kindly and piously, gives to one of the faithful something, be it ever so little, of the riches he has treasured up.

38 "He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb as a four-footed wolf does, who tears the child out of a mother's womb."

39 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! Who is the second of those males of thine?"

40 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! He is the second of my males who, making water, lets it fall along the upper forepart of his foot.

41 "That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their females."

42 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! What is the thing that can counteract that?"

43 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! This is the thing that counteracts it, namely, when the man rising up and stepping three steps further off, shall say three Ahuna-Vairya, two Humatanam, three Hukhshathrotemam, and then chant the Ahuna-Vairya and offer up one Yenhe hatam.

44 "He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb as a four-footed wolf does, who tears the child out of a mother's womb."

45 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! Who is the third of those males of thine?"

46 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! He is the third of my males who during his sleep emits seed.

47 "That man makes me conceive progeny as other males make their females."

48 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! What is the thing that can counteract that?"

49 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! This is the thing that counteracts it, namely, if the man, when he has risen from sleep, shall say three Ahuna-Vairya, two Humatanam, three Hukhshathrotemam, and then chant the Ahuna-Vairya and offer up one Yenhe hatam.

50 "He does thereby as thoroughly destroy the fruit of my womb as a four-footed wolf does who tears the child out of a mother's womb."

51 Then he shall pray unto God, saying: "O Lord, this man do I entrust unto Thee; this man do Thou deliver back unto me, against the mighty day of resurrection; deliver him back as one who knows the Gathas, who knows the Yasna and the revealed law, a wise and clever man, who holds fast to the Word of God."

53 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend! Who is the fourth of those males of thine?"

54 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! This one is my fourth male who, either man or woman, being more than fifteen years of age, walks without wearing the sacred girdle and the sacred shirt.

55 "At the fourth step we devils, at once, wither him even to the tongue and the marrow, and he goes thenceforth with power to destroy the world of the holy spirit, and he destroys it like the sorcerers and the hobgoblins."

56 The holy Sraosha asked the fiend, with his club uplifted against her: "O thou wretched and wicked fiend, what is the thing that can counteract that?"

57 Then the fiend, the guileful one, answered: "O holy Sraosha! There is no means of counteracting it;

58 "When a man or a woman, being more than fifteen years of age, walks without wearing the sacred girdle or the sacred shirt.

59 "At the fourth step we devils, at once, wither him even to the tongue and the marrow, and he goes thenceforth with power to destroy the world of the holy spirit, and he destroys it like the sorcerers and the hobgoblins."

60 Ask of Me, thou upright one! of Me who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of Me; ask of Me that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.

61 Zarathustra asked God: "Whose deed is most hateful in Thy sight? Whose deed is most abhorrent to Thee?"

62 God answered: "It is the Gahi, O Spitama Zarathustra, who goes a-whoring after the faithful and the unfaithful, after the worshippers of God and the worshippers of the devils, after the wicked and the righteous.

63 "Her look dries up one third of the mighty floods that run from the mountains; her look withers one third of the beautiful, golden hued, growing plants;

64 "Her look withers one third of the grass wherewith the earth is clad, and her touch withers in the faithful one third of his good thoughts, of his good words, of his good deeds, one third of his strength, of his fiend-killing power, and of his holiness.

65 "Verily I say unto thee, O Spitama Zarathustra, such deeds are to be shunned even more than gliding snakes, than howling wolves, than the wild she-wolf that falls upon the fold, or than the she-frog that falls upon the waters with her thousandfold brood."

66 Ask of Me, thou upright one! of Me who am the Maker, the best of all beings, the most knowing, the most pleased in answering what is asked of Me; ask of Me that thou mayst be the better, that thou mayst be the happier.

67, 68. Zarathustra asked God: "If a man shall come unto a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, and he does so wittingly and knowingly, and she allows it wilfully, wittingly, and knowingly, what is the atonement for it, what is the penalty that he shall pay to atone for the deed they have done?"

69 God answered: "If a man shall come unto a woman who has an issue of blood, either out of the ordinary course or at the usual period, and he does so wittingly and knowingly, and she allows it wilfully, wittingly, and knowingly;

70 "He shall slay a thousand head of small cattle; he shall godly and piously offer up in God's name, at the kindled fire, the entrails thereof together with Zaothra libations; he shall bring the shoulder bones to the good waters.

71 "He shall godly and piously bring unto the fire a thousand loads of soft wood, of Urvasna, Vohu-gaona, Vohu-kereti, Hadha-naepata, or of any sweet-scented plant.

72 "He shall tie and consecrate a thousand bundles of baresma; he shall godly and piously offer up for God's sake, with the good waters, a thousand Zaothra libations, together with the Haoma and the meat, cleanly prepared and well strained by a pious man, together with the roots of the tree known as Hadha-naepata.

73 "He shall kill a thousand snakes of those that go upon the belly, two thousand of the other kind; he shall kill a thousand land frogs and two thousand water frogs; he shall kill a thousand corn-carrying ants and two thousand of the other kind.

74 "He shall throw thirty bridges over canals; he shall undergo a thousand stripes with the horse-goad, a thousand stripes with the scourge.

75 "This is the atonement, this is the penalty that he shall pay to atone for the deed that he has done.

76 "If he shall pay it, he shall enter the Garden of the righteous; if he shall not pay it, he shall fall down into the world of the wicked, into that dark world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness."