Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/492
offered in the name of Farohars, or of the angel Hom, or of those of Zartusht, Gushtasp, and other sainted dead persons, could thwart the evil designs of their enemies; could rout the demons and fairies; could oppose the tyrant kings; could withstand famine and plague, retard the evil consequences of bad dreams, gain favour of kings and noblemen, and secure various advantages.
We are informed, moreover, that the reason of consecrating a set of white garments on the fourth day after death is to provide a corresponding heavenly garment to the soul in the next world; because, we are told, the soul is quite naked, when it is liberated from the body at death, and is naturally ashamed to enter the assembly of the heavenly souls who are all clad in fine raiment. The souls are awarded heavenly garments in proportion to what is consecrated to them by their kinsmen in this world. The richer the quality of the garment consecrated here, the finer the raiment bestowed upon the soul in heaven.
Bull's urine, or golden water, as it is now called, has been an indispensable article in the purificatory rites and ceremonial ablutions among the Zoroastrians from the earliest times. From the strong belief in the efficacy of its giving external bodily purification, it was but a step to the idea of attributing to it the power of purifying the internal nature of man. A most extravagant sanctity came to be attached to the drinking of it. Elaborate rituals are now performed over the liquid and the drinking of this consecrated fluid form an indissoluble part of certain Zoroastrian ceremonials. The Rivayats tell us that the drink gives divine glory, and makes man's inner nature as bright and as pure as the sun.
Bull's urine has been, since ancient times, an essential auxiliary of spells or formulas used to exorcise those possessed by evil power; but the original Avestan and Pahlavi word gaomaeza or gomez fell into disuse by the Rivayat time, and the term nirang, which originally meant spell only, now signifies both spell and bull's urine, and henceforth conveys both the meanings. Such in general is the view that we gather from the Rivayats regarding the conditions prevailing in that period.
Other works in Persian. Besides the Rivayats, several works, both in prose and in verse, have reached us. The most important of these is the Zartusht Namah or Book of Zartusht composed in verse by Zartusht Bahram Pazdu in the thirteenth