Nungali Posted March 27, 2018 It takes 1000 male dogs and 1000 female dogs to make one water-dog ( when dogs die, they go to a 'water goddess' and she transforms each 1000 'souls' of dogs to one water -dog ) " Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: 'O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! He who smites one of those water-dogs that are born one from a thousand dogs and a thousand she-dogs1, so that he gives up the ghost and the soul parts from the body, what is the penalty that he shall pay?' Well, I assume the water-dog must have been highly valued .... look at the penalties ! : " 2. Ahura Mazda answered: 'He shall pay ten thousand stripes with the Aspahe-astra, ten thousand stripes with the Sraosho-charana2. 'He shall godly and piously bring unto the fire of Ahura Mazda3 ten thousand loads of hard, well dried, well examined4 wood, to redeem his own soul. .... ten thousand loads of soft wood, of Urvasna, Vohu-gaona, Vohu-kereti, Hadha-naepata5, or any sweet-scented plant, .... 'He shall offer up to the Good Waters ten thousand Zaothra libations with the Haoma and the milk, cleanly prepared and well strained, cleanly prepared and well strained by a pious man, and mixed with the roots of the tree known as Hadha-naepata, .... 'He shall kill ten thousand snakes of those that go upon the belly. He shall kill ten thousand Kahrpus, who are snakes with the shape of a dog6. He shall hill ten thousand tortoises7. He shall kill ten thousand land-frogs8; he shall kill ten thousand water-frogs. He shall kill ten thousand corn-carrying ants9; he shall kill ten thousand ants of the small, venomous mischievous kind10. .... 'He shall kill ten thousand worms of those that live on dirt; he shall kill ten thousand raging flies ... " Thus reads the laws for the worlds first religion that had 'ecological considerations ' .... anywayz , to get away from all that environmental destruction ; .... He shall godly and piously give to godly men13 twice the set of seven implements for the fire .... a broom16; a pair of tongs; a pair of round bellows extended at the bottom, contracted at the top; a sharp-edged sharp-pointed17 adze; a sharp-toothed sharp-pointed saw ..... a set of the priestly instruments of which the priests make use, to redeem his own soul, namely: The Astra18; the meat-vessel; the Paitidana19; the Khrafstraghna20; the Sraosho-charana21; the cup for the Myazda22; the cups for mixing and dividing23; the regular mortar24; the Haoma cups25; and the Baresma. ... a set of all the war implements of which the warriors make use, to redeem his own soul; 'The first being a javelin, the second a sword, the third a club, the fourth a bow, the fifth a saddle with a quiver and thirty iron25b-headed arrows, the sixth a sling with arm-string and with thirty sling stones .. .. The seventh a cuirass, the eighth a hauberk27, the ninth a tunic28, the tenth a helmet, the eleventh a girdle, the twelfth a pair of greaves. ..... A plough with yoke and ...29; a goad for ox; a mortar of stone; a round-headed hand-mill for grinding corn; ... A spade for digging and tilling; one measure of silver and one measure of gold.' " So whatever you do ... do not kill a water-dog ! Spoiler ( You should see the laws about regular dogs ! They even had laws for the dogs , that protected them, but also punished them for breaking a law .) Cats ? Nope ; " He shall kill ten thousand Kahrpus, who are snakes with the shape of a dog6 - 6. 'Mâr bânak snakes: they are dog-like, because they sit on their hindparts' (Comm.) The cat (gurba = Kahrpu) seems to be the animal intended. In a paraphrase of this passage in a Parsi Rivayat, the cat is numbered amongst the Khrafstras which it is enjoined to kill to redeem a sin (India Office Library, VIII, 13); cf. G. du Chinozi, p. 462: 'Les animaux que les Gaures ont en horreur sont les serpents, les couleuvres, les lezars, et autres de cette espece, les crapaux, lea grenouilles, lea écrevisses, les rats et souris, et sur tout le chat.' A snake with the shape of a dog .... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted March 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Nungali said: A snake with the shape of a dog .... Maybe talking about lizards? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted March 28, 2018 ummmmm ..... again ; " ..... the cat is numbered amongst the Khrafstras which it is enjoined to kill to redeem a sin " No doubt lizards were unpopular . They had whole lists of 'noxious' animals , some fish you could eat, others were considered 'noxious' . Also, some animals copped it because of their role in mythological stories . They seemed to have really disliked tortoises ... ? Perhaps this is the result of overt dualism ? Everything that benefited their lifestyle and culture as 'good' , anything that made life difficult or uncomfortable was bad and should be killed . As if a; the 'bad' things were eliminated and only the 'good' things ( to them ) survived, all would be good . . . . until they killed all the snakes and cats and a rat plague ate all their grain . A non- dualist approach might consider all animals, including humans, were part of a whole network and essential . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) fully integrated systems... networks of completely interrelating sub-systems that comingle in the myriad forms and patterns of the ten thousand. as opposed to: the old cartesian mechanistic model of individual, separate parts, separate machines, operating completely independent of each other which seems a true impossibility. that said... don't kill a water dog! I'm reminding me of a great film, one of my all time favorites, that deals with just this interplay. Mindwalk A conversation in an old Irish Castle, between a poet, a politician and a physicist... about the difference between the old cartesian model of the universe, with the then emerging 'systems theory' of the interconnectedness of life. Edited March 29, 2018 by silent thunder Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
