declared to be inexpiable, except by the Mazdayaçna Law, which can purify the worst offenders:—
"For it (the Law) will take away these (sins) from those who praise
the Mazdayaçna Law, if they do not again commit wicked actions. For
this the Mazdayaçna Law, O holy Zarathustra, takes away the bonds of
the man who praises it. It takes away deceit. It takes away the murder
of a pure man. It takes away the burial of the dead. It takes away inexpiable
actions. It takes away accumulated guilt. It takes away all
sins which men commit" (Av., vol. i. p. 87, 88.—Vendidad, iii. 140-148).
We see from this that the power of the Law to deliver sinners
from the burden of their offenses was in no way inferior
to that of the Atonement of Christ.
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the fourth Fargard, which deals with the penalties—consisting mainly of corporal punishment—for breach of contract and other offenses. The fifth and sixth, being concerned with the regulations to be observed in case of impurity arising from the presence of dead bodies, are of little interest. A large part of the seventh is occupied with the same subjects, but its course is interrupted by certain precautions to be attended to in the graduation of students of medicine, which may be commended to the notice of other religious communities. Should a Mazdayaçna desire to become a physician, on whom, inquires Zarathustra, shall he first try his hand, the Mazdayaçna (orthodox Parsees), or the Daevayaçnas (adherents of a false creed)? Ahura-Mazda replies that the Daevayaçnas are to be his first patients. If he has performed three surgical operations on these heretics, and his three patients have died, he is to be held unfit for the medical profession, and must on no account presume to operate on the adherents of the Law. If, however, he is successful with the Daevayaçnas, he is to receive his degree, and may proceed to practice on the more valuable bodies of faithful Parsees. So careful a contrivance to ensure that none but infidels shall fall victims to the knife of the unskilful surgeon evinces no little ingenuity.
The eighth Fargard relates chiefly to the treatment of dead bodies, while the ninth proceeds to narrate the rites for the purification of those who have come in contact with them. A terri-
