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This is a description of the Zoroastrian mode of disposal of the dead. It is the utter destruction of the dead body which is considered most unhygienic and polluting, both physically and spiritually, in this ancient religion of the Aryans - Mazda-Yasna, the worship of Ahura Mazda as revealed to the ancient Aryan prophet Zarathushtra about 8000 years B.C., in Iran - the ancient abode of the Aryans.
After a human being dies, according to the Vendidad (ancient scripture of the Zoroastrians) - the evil spirit of putrefaction rushes on the dead body within about three hours after death, ie. in the next GEH (division of time) immediately after the one he dies in. After this time, the dead body cannot be touched by anybody except special corpse bearers (NASSESALARS) who live apart from the rest of society. Spiritually and physically, the dead body is most unclean at this time. The body is now bathed in the urine (TARO) of a special white bull - again an ancient Indo-European or Aryan method of purification. The clothes are destroyed. A new Sudreh-Kusti are tied on the body - the Sudreh being a religious garment, the Kusti an ancient mark of the Aryan race, a religious woollen cord tied around the waist (a close parallel being the Janoi of the Indian Brahmins, who too have derived from the Aryan race.)
The body is now tied up in old Sudrehs, only the face is kept uncovered. Any person who touches the body at this time has to purify himself by taking the NAHAN (religious bath) with TARO, which he has to pour on his body as well as sip of. The abhorrence the ancient Aryans had for the dead body and its polluting influence is stressed at every step of this ancient ritual. The special corpse bearers now put the corpse on a marble stone. Fire is kept alongside burning with sandalwood, and a DIVA (lamp) is also lighted. The Dastur (Zoroastrian fire-priest) now comes and intones special prayers in the ancient Aryan language of Avestan (a sister language of Vedic Sanskrit).
By the evening or the morning of the next day, the Dasturs (priests) pray the GEH-SARNA ceremony. As per the Vendidad, the soul wanders near the body for the first three days and is as a new-born child, very susceptible to the attack of evil spirits. The GEH-SARNA ceremony strengthens the soul and helps it to proceed on its way - it is a well known fact that there have NEVER been any ghosts of Zoroastrians because of the powerful effects of the ancient Avestan Mathras (verses of prayer). In fact no pregnant woman is allowed to be present near the GEH-SARNA ceremony because of the fear that the powerful incantations may have an adverse effect on the unborn child, i.e. the soul that has recently attached to the child in the womb and is waiting to be born. Such is the power of the Aryan Avestan prayers.
The members of the household then say goodbye to the departed for the last time (without touching the body). The corpse bearers then carry away the body on a special iron bier (iron and stone cannot be polluted, wood can) from the prayer rooms and prepare for its final destruction. In the open, the body is placed on a stone slab and a Dog is brought near to gaze on the face of the dead person. The Dog posseses divine sight, and as per Aryan tradition has the power to see and chase away any evil spirits. The body is then placed by the bearers in a circular well shaped stone structure, called the DAKHMA or more recently the "Tower of Silence". Stone like iron is not polluted and so shields the good earth from the evil of putrefaction. As per the Aryan scriptures, the Sun and the Vulture then work systematically and hand-in-hand to destroy the dead body. The rain then falls and washes away the dried bones into the sea. As much as 1 year is allowed in the Aryan scriptures for this process, and this is contrasted to the burial process where the earth is polluted for at least 50 years, and lies shallow and unused for cultivation - the greatest worship of God being cultivation, as per the Aryans. Burial/burning of corpses are both considered wrong actions in the Vendidad. In an earlier Fargad (chapter), Mazda says that they were actions dreamed up by the evil one and taught to humanity to mislead them to pollute the earth and the Fire. In my religious book "Saga of the Aryans" I have explained this in some more detail in dramatic prose, when Zarathushtra receives his relevation from Ahura Mazda.
Sacred ceremonies then go on for 4 days. On the morning of the 4th day, by the rays of the rising sun, the soul of the departed person ascends and passes to the "Chinvato - Peretu", the Bridge that separates the spiritual (MINOI) world from the physical (GETI) world. There he meets his own conscience, in the form of a KAININI-KEHERPA i.e., in the astral form of a maiden. The maiden is as beautiful; or as hideous as his own works in the world. The soul is then judged by the divinity MITHRA (Meher) and either passes on to GARODMAN, the abode of songs where Ahura Mazda (God) exists or to Druju Deman, the abode of the evil one. There the soul waits until it is time for the Resurrection of all the dead and the final defeat and expulsion of evil from THIS world, when death and disease and hunger and thirst will be a thing of the past and God Himself will come down to the earth, assisted by the final Saviour (Saoshyant).
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