Following the tragic fall of the bronze-bodied Esfandiyar, Rostam ordered the construction of a heavy, solid coffin of pure iron. The interior was coated with fragrant pitch, musk, and ambergris, and laid with rich Chinese silk. Clothed in a gold-embroidered shroud and crowned with a turquoise diadem, Esfandiyar's body was sealed firmly inside. A procession of forty camels, draped in Chinese brocade, was prepared, with two carrying the solemn weight of the prince's coffin. Leading the mourners, Peshotan led Esfandiyar's legendary black warhorse—its mane and tail shorn, its saddle inverted, with his heavy mace and helmet hanging dolefully down.
In Zabulistan, young Bahman remained, shedding tears of blood, but Rostam embraced the prince like his own soul, promising to rear and protect him in his own palace. Meanwhile, as the funerary cortege reached the royal court of Iran, word reached King Goshtasp. The monarch tore his garments and cast dust upon his royal crown, as wailing filled the palace corridors. Yet the nobles and elders of Iran were consumed with bitter outrage. They turned their backs on Goshtasp, denouncing him as a tyrant who had sacrificed his own heroic son to preserve his throne, abandoning his royal hall in disgust.
Queen Katayoun and her daughters, Homa and Behafarid, rushed out barefoot and disheveled into the dust. Surrounding Peshotan and the black steed, the weeping women begged for one last look at the fallen prince. Moved to despair, Peshotan summoned blacksmiths with sharp rasps to break open the sealed iron lid. At the sight of Esfandiyar's serene face and musk-scented beard, fresh lamentations echoed to the heavens as Katayoun cast earth upon her head.
Peshotan then marched directly into the throne room, eschewing royal homage, and confronted King Goshtasp directly. He declared that the King had lost his Royal Glory and wisdom, shedding his own son's blood for worldly power, and warned of divine vengeance. Peshotan also roundly condemned Jamasp, the malevolent astrologer, whose dark counsel had sowed discord and steered the crown toward ruin. Listening to Peshotan's unvarnished truth and Esfandiyar's final testament, Goshtasp was plunged into overwhelming regret.