A recitation of the Visperad requires 35 twigs, with none left over. The Vendidad requires 33 twigs in the bundle with two other placed as for the Yasna. A recitation of the Yasna liturgy is accompanied by a bundle of 21 twigs, with two others being placed by the side of another ritual implement. The number of twigs/rods depends on the ritual being performed, and the Shayast-na Shayast (14.2) unambiguously states that this number must be adhered to. The barsom that appears in Achaemenid and Sassanid art "was of impressive size, about 45 cm ( 1 + 1⁄ 2 ft) long, made up apparently of stiff straight rods." Number The Nirangstan further adds that the thickness may not be less than that of a human hair. A twig/rod was thus at most about 7 mm thick. Darmesteter translates aesha as "ploughshare" and yava as barley-corn. Yasna 57.5 mandates that each twig shall not exceed "the height of the knee," and Vendidad 19.19 (supported by the Nirangistan) requires each rod to be at most the length of an aesha and the thickness of the width of a yava. Strabo (XV.3.14) speaks of "a bundle of slender myrtle rods."īoth scripture and tradition are precise with respect to the dimensions of the twigs required. The twigs of the pomegranate tree also figure in other late sources. One indication of which plant was used comes from the 16th century, where the authors of the Rivayat epistles reprimand their Indian co-religionists for not using twigs of the tamarisk ( R. There is no indication in scripture or older tradition as to which plant was to be used, and Yasna 25.3 eulogizes the plant without being specific. The use of metal wires or rods is a relatively recent development: Until at least the 16th century, the barsom was made of twigs or stems, and there was an elaborate ritual surrounding their collection. In present-day use, the barsom is a bundle of short metal wires or rods, each about 20 cm in length and made of brass or silver. It has been suggested that the baresman may have a Zagrosian origin. The varza is a metal rod, about one centimer in thickness, often crowned with a bull's head. The baresman should also not be confused with the "mace", the varza (Avestan, MP gurz). The baresman is not related to the baresnum, which is a purification ceremony. The word barsom derives from the Avestan language baresman (trisyllabic, bar'əs'man), which is in turn a substantive of barez "to grow high." The later form – barsom – first appears in the 9th–12th-century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, and remains in use to the present day. A barsom / ˈ b ɑː r s ə m/ is a ritual implement used by Zoroastrian priests to solemnize certain sacred ceremonies.
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