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FARGARD III.
9 (28). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the Earth feels sorest grief?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place whereon stand most of those Dakhmas on which the corpses of men are deposited'
10 (31). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth feels sorest grief?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place wherein are most burrows of the creatures of Angra Mainyu ??
11 (34). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels sorest grief?
Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the place whereon
a corpse beneath the ground, Spendärmad, the archangel, shudders; it is just as severe as a serpent or scorpion would be to any one in a sleeping-garment, and it is also just like that to the ground. When thou makest a corpse beneath the ground as it were apparent, thou makest the ground liberated from that affliction' (Saddar XXXIII, tr. by West, in the Sacred Books of the East, XXIV). Cf. VD. VI, 51 ; VII, 45.
With regard to Dakhmas, see Farg. VI, 45. Nor is the Earth happy at that place whereon stands a Dakhma with corpses upon it; for that patch of ground will never be clean again till the day of resurrection' (Gr. Rav. 435, 437). Although the erection of Dakhmas is enjoined by the law, yet the Dakhma in itself is as unclean as any spot on the earth can be, since it is always in contact with the dead (cf. Farg. VII, 55). The impurity which would otherwise be scattered over the whole world, is thus brought together to one and the same spot. Yet even that spot, in spite of the Ravâet, is not to lie defiled for ever, as every fifty years the Dakbmas ought to be pulled down, so that their sites may be restored to their natural purity (see Farg. VII, 49 seq. and this Farg. $ 13).
3.Where there are most Khrafstras' (noxious animals).
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