Vendidad 13

The Dog

Which is the good creature among the creatures of the Good Spirit that from midnight till the sun is up goes and kills thousands of the creatures of the Evil Spirit?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'The dog with the prickly back, with the long and thin muzzle, the dog Vanghâpara, which evil-speaking people call the Duzaka; this is the good creature among the creatures of the Good Spirit that from midnight till the sun is up goes and kills thousands of the creatures of the Evil Spirit.

'And whosoever, O Zarathustra! shall kill the dog with the prickly back, with the long and thin muzzle, the dog Vanghâpara, which evil-speaking people call the Duzaka, kills his own soul for nine generations, nor shall he find a way over the Kinvad bridge, unless he has, while alive, atoned for his sin'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man kill the dog with the prickly back, with the long and thin muzzle, the dog Vanghâpara, which evil-speaking people call the Duzaka, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'A thousand stripes with the Aspahê-astra, a thousand stripes with the Sraosho-karana.'

Which is the evil creature among the creatures of the Evil Spirit that from midnight till the sun is up goes and kills thousands of the creatures of the Good Spirit?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'The daêva Zairimyangura, which evil-speaking people call the Zairimyaka, this is the evil creature among the creatures of the Evil Spirit that from midnight till the sun is up goes and kills thousands of the creatures of the Good Spirit.

And whosoever, O Zarathustra! shall kill the daêva Zairimyangura, which evil-speaking people call the Zairimyâka, his sins in thought, word, and deed are redeemed as they would be by a Patet; his sins in thought, word, and deed are atoned for.

'Whosoever shall smite either a shepherd's dog, or a house-dog, or a Vohunazga dog, or a trained dog, his soul when passing to the other world, shall fly howling louder and more sorely grieved than the sheep does in the lofty forest where the wolf ranges.

'No soul will come and meet his departing soul and help it, howling and grieved in the other world; nor will the dogs that keep the [Kinvad] bridge' help his departing soul howling and grieved in the other world.

'If a man shall smite a shepherd's dog so that it becomes unfit for work, if he shall cut off its ear or its paw, and thereupon a thief or a wolf break in and carry away [sheep] from the fold, without the dog giving any warning, the man shall pay for the loss, and he shall pay for the wound of the dog as for wilful wounding.

'If a man shall smite a house-dog so that it becomes unfit for work, if he shall cut off its ear or its paw, and thereupon a thief or a wolf break in and carry away [anything] from the house, without the dog giving any warning, the man shall pay for the loss, and he shall pay for the wound of the dog as for wilful wounding.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall smite a shepherd's dog, so that it gives up the ghost and the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, eight hundred stripes with the Sraosho-karana.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall smite a house-dog so that it gives up the ghost and the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seven hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall smite a Vohunazga dog so that it gives up the ghost and the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Six hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, six hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall smite a Tauruna dog so that it gives up the ghost and the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Five hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, five hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.'

'This is the penalty for the murder of a Gazu dog, of a Vizu dog, of a porcupine dogs, of a sharp-toothed weasel, of a swift-running fox; this is the penalty for the murder of any of the creatures of the Good Spirit belonging to the dog kind, except the water-dog.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the place of the shepherd's dog? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He comes and goes a Yugyêsti round about the fold, watching for the thief and the wolf.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the place of the house-dog? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He comes and goes a Hâthra round about the house, watching for the thief and the wolf.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the place of the Vohunazga dog? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He claims none of those talents, and only seeks for his subsistence.

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give bad food to a shepherd's dog, of what sin does he make himself guilty? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same guilt as though he should serve bad food to a master of a house of the first rank'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give bad food to a house-dog, of what sin does he make himself guilty? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same guilt as though he should serve bad food to a master of a house of middle rank.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give bad food to a Vohunazga dog, of what sin does he make himself guilty? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same guilt as though he should serve bad food to a holy man, who should come to his house in the character of a priest "."

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man give bad food to a Tauruna dog, of what sin does he make himself guilty? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He makes himself guilty of the same guilt as though he should serve bad food to a young man, born of pious parents, and who can already answer for his deeds.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall give bad food to a shepherd's dog, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.' If a

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! man shall give bad food to a house-dog, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: Ninety stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall give bad food to a Vohunazga dog, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Seventy stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall give bad food to a Tauruna dog, what is the penalty that he shall pay? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Fifty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshô-karana.

For in this material world, O Spitama Zarathustra! it is the dog, of all the creatures of the Good Spirit, that most quickly decays into age, while not eating near eating people, and watching goods none of which it receives. Bring ye unto him milk and fat with meat; this is the right food for the dog'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a mad dog that bites without barking, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall put a wooden collar around his neck, and they shall tie thereto a muzzle, an asti thick if the wood be hard, two astis thick if it be soft. To that collar they shall tie it; by the two sides of the collar they shall tie it.

If they shall not do so, and the mad dog that bites without barking, smite a sheep or wound a man, the dog shall pay for the wound of the wounded as for wilful murder.

If the dog shall smite a sheep or wound a man, they shall cut off his right ear. 'If he shall smite another sheep or wound another man, they shall cut off his left ear.

'If he shall smite a third sheep or wound a third man, they shall make a cut in his right foot. If he shall smite a fourth sheep or wound a fourth man, they shall make a cut in his left foot.

If he shall for the fifth time smite a sheep or wound a man, they shall cut off his tail. 'Therefore they shall tie a muzzle to the collar; by the two sides of the collar they shall tie it. If they shall not do so, and the mad dog that bites without barking, smite a sheep or wound a man, he shall pay for the wound of the wounded as for wilful murder.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If there be in the house of a worshipper of Mazda a mad dog, who has no scent, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do? Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall attend him to heal him, in the same manner as they would do for one of the faithful.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If they try to heal him and fail, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'They shall put a wooden collar around his neck, and they shall tie thereto a muzzle, an asti thick if the wood be hard, two astis thick if it be soft. To that collar they shall tie it; by the two sides of the collar they shall tie it.

If they shall not do so, the scentless dog may fall into a hole, or a well, or a precipice, or a river, or a canal, and come to grief: if he come to grief so, they shall be therefore Peshôtanus.

'The dog, O Spitama Zarathustra! I, Ahura Mazda, have made self-clothed and self-shod; watchful and wakeful; and sharp-toothed; born to take his food from man and to watch over man's goods. I, Ahura Mazda, have made the dog strong of body against the evil-doer, when sound of mind and watchful over your goods.

And whosoever shall awake at his voice, O Spitama Zarathustra! neither shall the thief nor the wolf carry anything from his house, without his being warned; the wolf shall be smitten and torn to pieces; he is driven away, he melts away like snow "'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which of the two wolves deserves more to be killed, the one that a he-dog begets of a she-wolf, or the one that a he-wolf begets of a she-dog? Ahura Mazda answered: 'Of these two wolves, the one that a he-dog begets of a she-wolf deserves more to be killed than the one that a he-wolf begets of a she-dog.

For the dogs born therefrom fall on the shepherd's dog, on the house-dog, on the Vohunazga dog, on the trained dog, and destroy the folds; such dogs are more murderous, more mischievous, more destructive to the folds than any other dogs.

And the wolves born therefrom fall on the shepherd's dog, on the house-dog, on the Vohunazga dog, on the trained dog, and destroy the folds; such wolves are more murderous, more Spricke mischievous, more destructive to the folds than any other wolves.

'A dog has the characters of eight sorts of people:― 'He has the character of a priest, 'He has the character of a warrior, 'He has the character of a husbandman, 'He has the character of a strolling singer, 'He has the character of a thief, 'He has the character of a disu, 'He has the character of a courtezan, 'He has the character of a child.

'He eats the refuse, like a priest; he is easily satisfied, like a priest; he is patient, like a priest; he wants only a small piece of bread, like a priest; in these things he is like unto a priest. 'He marches in front, like a warrior; he fights for the beneficent cow, like a warrior; he goes first out of the house, like a warrior; in these things he is like unto a warrior.

He is watchful and sleeps lightly, like a husbandman; he goes first out of the house, like a husbandman; he returns last into the house, like a husbandman; in these things he is like unto a husbandman. 'He is fond of singing, like a strolling singer'; he wounds him who gets too near, like a strolling singer; he is ill-trained, like a strolling singer; he is changeful, like a strolling singer; in these things he is like unto a strolling singer.

He is fond of darkness, like a thief; he prowls about in darkness, like a thief; he is a shameless eater, like a thief; he is therefore an unfaithful keeper, like a thief; in these things he is like unto a thief. 'He is fond of darkness like a disu; he prowls about in darkness, like a disu; he is a shameless eater, like a disu; he is therefore an unfaithful keeper, like a disu; in these things he is like unto a disu.

He is fond of singing, like a courtezan; he wounds him who gets too near, like a courtezan; he roams along the roads, like a courtezan; he is ill-trained, like a courtezan; he is changeful, like a courtezan; in these things he is like unto a courtezan. 'He is fond of sleep, like a child; he is tender like snow, like a child; he is full of tongue, like a child; he digs the earth with his paws, like a child; in these things he is like unto a child.

'If those two dogs of mine, the shepherd's dog and the house-dog, pass by any of my houses, let them never be kept away from it. For no house could subsist on the earth made by Ahura, but for those two dogs of mine, the shepherd's dog and the house-dog.'

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When a dog dies, with marrow and seed dried up, whereto does his ghost go?

Ahura Mazda answered: 'It passes to the spring of the waters, O Spitama Zarathustra! and there out of them two water-dogs are formed: out of every thousand dogs and every thousand she-dogs, a couple is formed, a water-dog and a water she-dog.

He who kills a water-dog brings about a drought that dries up pastures. Until then, O Spitama Zarathustra! sweetness and