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164
DÂDISTÂN-I DÎNÍK.
bright fire on the clean fire-stand (âtist) is increased by the dry firewood delivered to it puri' fied, and one is to put upon it at appropriate times the wholesome perfumes of various kinds of plants; and the water of purification, which is ritualistically produced by reciting the words of revelation, is in the clean metal cups. 16. The well-grown Hôms through which the world is possessed of creatures*, the Hôm through which the production of Zaratast occurred", is a symbol of the white Gôkerânô e as
1 A small stone platform on which the fire vase is placed, now usually called a dôst.
Reading nirangikihà dâd instead of the unintelligible nîrang ashâyâd of K35, which is very similarly written in Pahlavi; M14 has which one is to keep pure by the ritual of words of revelation.'
"A plant said to grow among the mountains in southern Persia, which has not yet been botanically identified, but Anquetil Duperron was told that it resembled a vine without fruit. Twigs of this plant are brought to India by traders and are, therefore, considered impure until they have been purified, laid aside for a year, and again purified' (see Haug's Essays, p. 399). A few fragments of these twigs are pounded and mixed with water in the Hôm-mortar, and the juice is tasted by the priest who performs the ceremony. The Avesta Hôm and the Sanskrit Soma must have been originally the same plant, but both Parsis and Hindus now use plants which are no doubt mere substitutes for that original. In southern and western India the Soma plant now used by the Brahmans is the Sarcostemma Brevistigma, a leafless bush of green succulent branches, growing upwards, with flowers like those of an onion; when not in flower it can hardly be distinguished from the Euphorbia Tirucalli, or thornless milk-bush, commonly used for hedges in many parts of India.
• Reading dâm-hômand; or it may be sem-hômand, renowned.'
6 Zaratůst is said to have been begotten in consequence of his parents drinking Hôm-juice and cow's milk infused, respectively, with his guardian spirit and glory (see Zs. XI, 10 n). K35 has hôman, and M14 has hômand, instead of hôm, in this clause.
• Av. gaokerena, sometimes called gokard in Pahlavi, the
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