Book Title: Sacred Laws of Aryas
Author(s): Gorge Buhler
Publisher: Oxford


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Page 1073
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98
BUNDAHIS.
CHAPTER XXVI.
1. A Hâsar1 on the ground is a Parasang of one thousand steps of the two feet. 2. A Parasang' is a measure as much as a far-seeing man may look out, see a beast of burden, and make known that it is black or white. 3. And the measure of a man is eight medium spans 3.
equinox is to be looked for in the same quarter as the new moon nearest the vernal equinox, the moon's declination being nearly the same in both cases.
1 Av. hâthra of Vend. II, 65, VIII, 280, 287, 291, Tîstar Yt. 23, 29. The statements regarding the length of a Hâsar are rather perplexing, for we are told that it is like a Parasang' (Chap. XIV, 4), that 'the length of a Hâsar is one-fourth of a Parasang' (Chap. XVI, 7), and that a medium Hâsar on the ground, which they also call a Parasang, is a thousand steps of the two feet when walking with propriety' (Farhang-i Oîm-khadûk, ed. Hosh. p. 42). To reconcile these statements we must conclude that the Hâsar is like a Parasang merely in the sense of being a long measure of distance, that it is really the mille passus or mile of the Romans, and that it is a quarter of the actual Parasang. At the same time, as it was usual to call a Hâsar by the name of a Parasang, we are often left in doubt whether a mile or a league is meant, when a Hâsar or Parasang is mentioned. The Farhang-i Oîm-khadûk (p. 41) also mentions other measures of distance, such as the takar (Av. takara) of two Hâsars, the asvâst (or aêast) of four Hâsars, the dashmêst (Av. dakhshmaiti) of eight Hâsars, and the yôgêst (Av. yigaiasti or yugaiasti) of sixteen Hâsars.
A Parasang is usually from 3 to 4 English miles, but perhaps a Hâsar is meant here.
Reading vitast-i miyânak instead of vitast damânak. The Farhang-i Oîm-khadûk (p. 41) mentions three kinds of spans, the Av. vitasti (Vend. VIII, 243, 245, XVII, 13) of twelve fingerbreadths (angust), or about 9 inches, which is a full span between the thumb and little finger (the one mentioned in the text); the Av. disti (Vend. XVII, 13) of ten finger-breadths, or about 7 inches, which is a span between the thumb and middle finger; and the
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