On the Činwad Bridge and the Souls of the Departed

Abstract

Chapter 30 deals with the destiny and the judgment of the individual soul after death. The chapter describes the three stages in the soul’s journey to the next world: first, three days of torment and pain while the soul sits next to the body; then encounters with a series of apparitions; and, finally, passage across the Činwad Bridge. The chapter also provides details about the three otherworldly realms: Paradise (literally, “the best,” wahišt), the highest station of which is called garōdmān (House of Song); Hell (dušox); and an intermediary state (hammistagān).