USHAO
SALVATION
Ustâ ahmâi yahmâi ustâ kahmâi-chiţ , “Salvation’s hail be his, his whosoe’er he may be!
Vasé-khshayās Mazdâo dâyât Ahurô; May the All-ruling send it, He supreme o’er strife!
Utayûiti tevishim gaţ tôi vasemi, Long lasting strength be ours; of Thee we ask it;
Ashem deredyâi taţ môi dâo Âramaitê, For the upholding Right, This holy zeal vouchsafe us:
Râyô Ashis Vańhêus gaêm Manańhô. Rich power, blest rewards, the good Mind’s life.
Aţ hvô vańhêus vahyô nâ aibi-jamyât, Yes, the Greatest Good may he gain surer,
Yê nâo erezûs savańhô pathô sishôiţ - Who hath for us straight paths of grace explored,
Ahyâ ańhêus astvatô manańhas –cha, Of this life bodily the use, of that the mental,
Haithyėńg â –stis yêng â-shaéti Ahurô, In the eternal realm where Ahura dwells
Aredrô Thwâvās huzéntushe spentô,
Mazdâ! Like Thee, noble and
august, O Mazda Lord!”
[Gatha Ushtavaiti 1.1,3:
Yasna 43.1, 3: Translation by L.H. Mills]
In this Issue:
2 PATÊT OR THE CONFESSION OF SINS By Jamshed M. Unvala, M.A. PH.D.
4 POWER OF PRAYER [QUOTES]
By Swami Chinmayananda, Alexis
Carrel, Mahatma Gandhi and Marsilio Ficino
7 PARSIS OF KURRACHEE [Chapter 5:THE PORT DEVELOPS]
By Dorab J.
Patel
9 EXPLANTION OF SRĀOSH BĀJ By Framroz Rustomjee
10 THE REAL
STORY OF FREDDIE MERCURY By
Marium Ahundova
11 THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF MAZDA YASNA –
AS TAUGHT BY PROPHET ZARATHUSHTRA
By Cyrus P.
Mehta
16 PRAY FOR PEACE, BUT
ALSO DO GOD’S WILL By Bob
Layne
“There is nothing such as
problem-free life. Don’t expect one” [Benjamin
Carson]
PATÊT OR THE CONFESSION OF SINS
By Jamshed M. Unvala, M.A.,
Ph. D.
T
HE Vendidad, the religious
law-code of the ancient Zoroastrians, treats of, besides many other subjects,
the description of sins and their atonement. The sins mentioned in the
Vendidad are mental, moral and physical, i.e. the sins against the morals taught
by the Vendidad and against the rules of hygiene prescribed in it. Some of
these sins are said to be inexpiable, somewhat like sins deserving of capital
punishment, while others are expiable, if the sinner undergoes the punishment
prescribed by the religious law, which is in some cases flogging, whereas in
others hard labor, which consists in killing a certain number of noxious
creatures, the Ahremanic broods. That a simple recitation of a confession
of sins gave the sinner absolution from sins was certainly not believed in the
time of the Avesta.
If there is at all something approaching a
confession of sins in the Avesta, it is the Frastûyê prayer (Yasna 12,
1-6 according to the edition of Spiegel). A Zoroastrian gives his promise
in this prayer to abstain henceforth from all evil thoughts, evil words and evil
deeds and stick to all good thoughts, good words and good deeds. It is a
sort of a negative confession of sins. It is therefore that this
Frastûyê prayer is called in the editions of the Khordeh Avesta
the Patê-i-Avestâ, and is incorporated in the Patêt-i-Pashêmâni at
its end, although its Pazand version with short commentaries forms its opening
section.
If we take into consideration the spirit of the
Vendidad, it seems that there existed in those old times a confession before
priestly judges for every sin committed by a Zoroastrian. Whether this
confession was voluntary or forced we cannot ascertain. We have
unfortunately no data to follow the history of the confession of sins from the
time of Vendidad to that of the Patēt, i.e. to the time of Adarbâd Mârespand,
who flourished in the time of Shahpur II (309-379 A.D.). Buddhism,
Judaism and Christianity flourished in the Persian Empire of the Sassanians,
although the Christians had to undergo sporadic outbursts of religious
fanaticism of some Zoroastrian monarchs. It is well known that Buddhism
has got a negative confession of sins, whereas the Christians have got a
positive one.
It is also well known that these three religions
influenced the mind of the Zoroastrans of the Sassanian times so much that some
of them embraced these religions. We learn this from the Sogdian texts
pertaining to Buddhism, from the Pahlavi Dênkart and Shikand Gumânik Vijâr and
from the Syriac acts of Persian martyrs for Christianity. But some of
these new converts, it seems recanted their beliefs in these religions and
wanted to embrace the Zoroastrian faith once more.
It is for them that most probably Âdarbâd
Mârespand composed the Patêt as most of the sins enumerated in it can
only be committed by a non-Zoroastrian. It is most probable that the
idea underlying the Patêt is Christian, the idea of John the Baptist,
which was adopted by Christ later on, viz. be penitent for your sins and
receive the holy baptism, which will purify you from all your former sins.
Corresponding to the baptism the Zoroastrians have the Barashnum, the
religious purification, at the commencement of which a Patêt is always
recited.
Again the Christian church authorizes duly
appointed priests to hear the individual confession of sins to give absolution
from them, a custom still followed by the Catholics. That during the
Sassanian times this individual confession was also in vogue may be gathered
from the Patêt. The sinner says therein that he confesses his sins before
the Dastûr, i.e. the high priest or before his representative in the
invisible presence of Ahura Mazda and the Yazatas, especially
Mihr, Sarosh and Rashna, and in the visible presence of the Holy
Fire, Hôm and Barsom
The Rivâyt of Dârâb Hormazdyâr, edited by Ervad
Maneckji Rustamji Unvala, Bombay 1922, Vol. I, pp. 34-35, enjoined an individual
confession of sins before the Dastûr or his representative. It says that
the 21st day Râm of the 7th month Mihr is very appropriate
and efficacious for the Patêt (p.38). Some of the devout Parsis
recite a Patêt daily after their obligatory prayers. But the custom
of reciting it in the presence of a Dastûr personally or by a proxy (cf. the
Patêt para 11 and Rivâyat pp. 36-37) on special occasions must
have been wholly discontinued very early, as except in the Rivâyats of
the latter half of the 16th and the first one of the 17th
century we never find it mentioned anywhere else. If a proxy recites the
Patêt, the Rivâyat enjoins every Zoroastrian to recite daily at
least these words: “I regret and repent for every sinful thought that I have
entertained, for every sinful word that I have spoken and for every sinful deed
that I have done.” (p 36)
This custom of the confession of sins by proxy has
most probably created the custom of reciting the Patêt for the dead in
the belief that it should give him absolution from any sins he had not confessed
before his death and should secure for his soul a joyful place in the other
world (cf. Rivâyat, pp. 36-37). It is a custom among the Parsis of
India to recite the Patêt or at least an Ashem Vohû in the ear of
the dead, immediately the life has passed away from his body (cf.
Rivâyat, pp.34-35). Still I have heard instances in which the dying
person recited slowly the whole Patêt in a moribund and unearthly voice,
after which he collapsed entirely and gave up his soul to the Almighty.
But as very often his nearest relatives pester him with the questions about his
last will especially about the name of the person he wishes to adopt if he is
without a male issue, that could he gather up even his failing strength to
recite the Patê he is not given time to do it. Then, after the dead
is washed and laid on the ground specially prepared in a room in the house, a
priest recites the obligatory prayers for the day (Gâh) and recites a
Patêt, in which at the end of the 12th section he mentions the
name of the deceased thrice. Thereupon if he has time enough he recites
other prayers. Thus, till the body is removed to the tower of silence, the
priest recites Patêt in each Gâh.
The relatives and friends of the deceased may also
recite the Patêt for him if they like. After the body is removed
from the house, till the periods of nine days during the first seven months and
of forty days during the remaining five months of the Zoroastrian calendar are
over, priests, friends and relatives of the deceased recite a Patêt for
him five times every day. Then every time the Afrîngân ceremony is
performed for him, but especially on the 4th, 10th,
30th and 365th day after his death, the officiating priest
recites a Patêt in which his name is mentioned. But some Parsis of
advanced views do not see the necessity of doing so after the dead has crossed
the Bridge of Selection (Chinvad Puhl) on the dawn of the fourth day
after death, because he reaches the place allotted to him by the spiritual
judges Mihr, Sarosh and Rashna, according to the deeds performed
by him in this world.
As regards the formulary of the confession of
sins, the Parsis have three Patêts, whereas the Zoroastrians of Persia
have two. Some Parsis also use these latter Patêts. These
five Patêts are called in the prayer books Patêt-i-Avestâ,
Patêt-i-Pashêmâni (the Patêt composed by Adarbâd
Mârespand), Patêt-i-Ravâní, Patêt-i-Irâní, and
Patêt-i-Ravâní-i-Irâni. As stated above, Spiegel’s Yasna
XII 1.6 is the Patêt-i-Avestâ; the Patêt-i-Ravâni is the same as
the Patêt-Pashêmâni, but it is interspersed with endless repetitions of
the statement that it is recited by another who intercedes before God for all
the sins committed by the deceased, whose name is mentioned therein; the
Patêt-i-Irâni is a modern Persian version of the Pazend
Patêt-i-Pashêmâni with elaborate commentaries. Lastly the
Patêt-i-Irâni-i-Ravâni is the same as Patêt-i-Irâni interspersed
with the repetitions of the statement as above.
As these last two Patêts are very long,
some Parsis have them recited for the dead in the belief that they are the most
efficacious because of their length. They are in use mostly among the
Persian Zoroastrians and among the Kadimi section of the Parsis.
■
[Source: “RĀHNUMA”
Karachi 1926-27]
POWER OF PRAYER
DAILY prayer and meditation are all wonderful therapeutic agencies in building up peace and happiness within an individual.
Swami
Chinmayananda
PRAYER is the most powerful energy one can generate. It is a force as real as terrestrial gravity. In prayer, human beings seek to augment their finite energy by addressing themselves to the Infinite source of all energy. When we pray, we link ourselves with the inexhaustible motive power that spins the universe. Whenever we address God in fervent prayer, we change both soul and body for the better. It could not happen that any man or woman could pray for a single moment without some good result.
Alexis
Carrel
A heart-felt prayer is not a recitation with the lips. It is a yearning from within which expresses itself in every word, every act, nay every thought of man. We have to cultivate illimitable patience if we will realize the efficacy of prayer.
Mahatma
Gandhi
THE entire effort of our soul is to become God. This effort is as natural to man as that of flying is to birds. For it is inherent in all men, everywhere and always; therefore it does not follow the incidental quality of some man, but the nature of the species itself… for who implanted in our souls this tendency towards God but God Himself, whom we seek?
Marsilio
Ficino
[Source: SACRED
SPACE – THE TIMES OF
INDIA]
RATU
Ali A. Jafarey
RATU, THE LEADER
T
HE Gathic term
ratu is derived from eret, meaning “to do right, to act
properly.” It means the righteous leader who guides people with his
constructive plans and programs, to peace, prosperity, happiness, and
bliss. The term has been used for six times in the Gathas. These
instances describe the position and the function of a ratu “The leader of
the living world…offers civilization, nourishment, and strength,” and “acts with
righteousness”. (Song: 2.2,2,6). “According to the Primal Principles of
Life, the leader with his actions, does full justice to the wrongful and to the
righteous, as well as to the person whose falsity is combined with his probity.”
(6.1). A leader is a life-healer who inspires one “through good mind” and
protects [him or her] with[in] the divine dominion.” (9.16). A “true
leader of the lawful is a humble intellectual” and as a settler, strengthens the
world with righteousness by his proper actions (16.5). He is chosen by a
world groaning under “fury, rapine, outrage, and aggression” to render it
rehabilitated and led to “true civilization.” (Song 2)
To sum up the Gathic concept of a leader
(ratu), he or she is a humble, yet an inspiring intellectual who justly
leads the righteous and the unrighteous as well as the intermediates to promote
the living world to peace and prosperity, and ultimately to wholeness and
immortality.
Zarathushtra, is the first
person who comes to mankind “as the leader of the [righteous and unrighteous]
parties so that all live in accordance with righteousness.” (4.5). And as
already said in “Yatha Ahu Vairyo”, “he is the chosen lord (ahu) and
leader (ratu) and one who rehabilitates (vastar) of the living
world –all three in one person, a unique
personality.
In a eulogy in honor of Zarathushtra in the
Farvardin Yasht, (Yt.13, 92) it is poetically said that the very Primal
Principals of Life he expounded in his songs wished him to be the lord and
leader (Yt. 13.92). Other parts of the Avesta acknowledge Zarathushtra as the “first
and foremost lord and leader of the material world, particularly human beings,
because it was he who conveyed, “the entire thought-provoking message, the
righteous teaching” to humanity (Yt.13.41; 90-92, 152; Ys.70.1; Vsp. 2.4: 11.21;
16.3). In fact, “Zarathushtra is the lord and
leader” of all the people whom “Ahura Mazda knows better for their veneration
done in accordance with righteousness” (Vsp. 16.3).
The later Avesta forgets that the leader is to be
“chosen” by the people and considers his leadership as an appointment by God
(Yt. 5.89; 8.44). It is a slight deviation from the Gathic concept of free
will and choice. Zarathushtra’s son
Urvatad-nara is casually mentioned as leader. (Vd.2.43).
After Zarathushtra, Avestan and
Pahlavi records do no state that any person was chosen as the Lord
(ahu). Perhaps, with the world well on its path of righteousness
and the causes of evil and disorder expounded, there was no need to have
one. As a chosen Ahu, for Zarathushtra had shown the
way to eliminate the evil.
However, the Avesta shows that the Gathic
tradition of choosing the leader was kept alive for some time and that, for
practical reasons, the office was given five grades: The ratu of
the house, ratu of the settlement, ratu of the district, ratu
of the country, and the ratu of the world. Thus, it covered all
the basic units of the Zarathushtrian assembly. The ratu was the
most competent and learned of the respective unit. The poet warranted a
love for learning, practicing and teaching religious knowledge at all levels of
the society. (Ys. 19)
Still later, we find that Athravan, the title of
the priests of pre-Zarathushtrian cult superseded the title ratu. This
was the second deviation. It gave the now thriving community its
professional priests. They introduced their own categories of eight
officiants. Now ratu was generalized to mean a priest (Nr.
82-83).
The Pahlavi rendering simply uses rad, the
Middle Persian form of the term, and the contexts in which it has been used,
shows it means “leader, chief”. In its description, it goes further than
the Avesta in assigning “leadership” of man, woman, animals, plants and certain
geological subjects. However, some Pahlavi writings sometimes use the term
of dastur and herbad to explain the position in the Zoroastrian
religious circle. The two are conveniently translated as “master” and
“judge”
The subtle meaning and the Gathic concept of the
“chosen” ratu are lost. It is not strange that we find that the
Āthravan composer of the Meher Yasht completely ignores Zarathushtra and makes Ahura
Mazda appoint Mithra, the old god of pastoral contract, as the “lord and the
leader of the material world, particularly men!” (Yt.10.92). Perhaps this
explains the later recession of ratu into a priestly officer who applies
penalties to “contract-breakers” (Mithra-druj, false-unto-Mithra) and
wrongdoers and leads the corpse-bearers to the funerary destination. (Vd.5.25,
7.71, 8.11). It is because of this role as a penalizing officer that some
scholars feel more convinced that it stands for a “judge” in the Avesta.
Whatever the semantics, the changes in the meaning of the word and the functions
of the position, one finds less and less of ratu, and more and more of
the well-installed priests as Āthrvan, magopat, mobed, dastavar, all of
which lie outside the Gathic period and therefore, outside this essay.
The Zarathushtrian Assembly has in its Gathic
restoration move, restored the term and the post, and its elected qualified
officiants whether men or women are known as ratu in precisely the Gathic
term. ■
Ushta-nō zātō Āthrava, yō
Spitāmō Zarathushtrō.
Fortunate are we that the
Teacher was born,
Spitama Zarathushtra.
[Yasht xiii. 94]
CHAPTER 5
THE PORT
DEVELOPS
NAPIER’S first step was to carry out survey of the
port and make plans for its development. However, the East India Company did not
appear to have such intentions and interest. In 1847 differences developed
between Napier and the Company to the extent that Napier had to resign and on
recommendation of the Governor General Lord Harding, Sind was merged into Bombay
Presidency. The post of the Governor was abolished and the highest office
in Sind was the post of commissioner. As a result of which Sind in general
and Karachi in particular was shamefully neglected and very little support was
given for development. Karachi was not only the nearest port in India to
the mother country; it was also the most important one on the western
coast. Construction of the mole bearing the name of Napier was the only
step taken towards advancement of the harbor so far. Before it was made,
landing or leaving was neither a pleasant nor a dignified undertaking. All
had to undergo the operation of being carried pickaback by the natives across
the mud flats to and from the boats.
Robert Pringle as the first commissioner, until
1850, succeeded Charles Napier. It was fortunate for Karachi that Pringle
was succeeded by a man of foresight, will and energy, one who despite handicaps
created at Bombay, fought and strived for progress and development of
Karachi. This was none other than thirty-five year old Sir Bartle
Frere. He was commissioner from 1851 to 1859. For one year 1856-1857
John Jacob officiated. The energy displayed by Frere was unquestionable,
but he did not possess the power of diverging from the beaten track that was
marked out by the Public Works Department of Bombay, and his efforts were
frequently hampered. The whole history of Karachi and its harbor is one of
indecisions and fickleness of purpose. All high officials in Bombay were
constantly at loggerheads and upsetting one other’s plans.
Frere’s first major step was to form a Municipal
Commission with a managing committee comprising of Capt. Preedy, the magistrate,
Mr. John McLeod, Naomal Hotchand, Capt. Marston, the police chief and some
leading citizens of Karachi. The Board of Conservancy formed by Napier was
merged into the commission. The population of Karachi, at that time was
estimated at 16,700.
From Frere’s letter of 1851 to the Government in
Bombay it appears that there were practically no roads in Sind and he asked for
funds to build some. On receiving no response he had 126 miles of roads
built at a cost of Rs.8,000/- from local resources. Next year he had
another 207 miles of roads built at a cost of Rs.28,000/-. The roads were made
of crushed stones and pressed with steamrollers running over sand and gravel,
but were not carpeted with coal tar.
Frere also started postal
system in Sind. He appointed a Post Master and issued the first postage
stamp of India in 1851. The stamp had Sinde District Dawk
written in three colors. It was withdraw from circulation in 1854. The post
department was soon declared a central issue and the administration of Sind Post
Office was handed over to the Post Master General in Bombay. Frere also
started the practice of holding trade fairs in 1851.
Dosabhai Ghadyali who came
to Karachi in1850 was the first to introduce silk trade in Karachi.
Hormasji Pestonji Shroff who migrated in 1852 started dubash business in
Karachi. In the same year arrived Edulji Bejonji Kandawala, the ancestor
of Kandawalla automobile traders. He was nine years old when he came with
his uncle.
Frere was very enthusiastic about development of
the harbor, but was always discouraged by the Government of Bombay
In 1853 an 800 ton vessel “Duke of Argyll” from England safely entered the
harbor. The voyage of this vessel was very important and the captain of
Argyll reported that the port was safe and there was space for twenty more
vessels of 800 tons to anchor. On the strength of this report Frere
requested for pilots from Bombay. The first Pilot Lt. Leeds guided a
626-ton vessel “Rubicon” into the harbor on 14th August 1853.
One must remember that all the developments in
Karachi had direct beneficial results for the Parsi community. Development
would mean more contracts for supplies, more jobs and more opportunities for
prosperity. On 7th August 1853 Karachi had an extraordinary
heavy rains of nearly 11” in one day. On its establishment the
Municipality was given jurisdiction over 72 sq. miles of land and the entire
camp area was under the Cantonment Board. As old town had become too
congested the Municipality proceeded to develop the surrounding areas. On
the west side fishermen and port workers were allowed to build their huts, where
ditches were filled. This way ‘Machi Mianee’ and ‘Khadda’ areas came into
being
Next three years saw the arrival of many notable
Parsis. Byramji Pirojshah Minwalla was seven years old when he came with
his brother Dinshah (mentioned earlier). Byramji later prospered well and
developed great influence and respect. He was a very famous arbitrator and
was much sought after. It is said that he could capture any live snake
with bare hands and shake it to death and knew the art of curing snake
snakebites. Unfortunately he did not teach that art to any body. Besides
other businesses he owned a number of fishing vessels. Jamshedji Rustamji
Ghadyali came as the first Parsi watchmaker. Afterwards he changed his
vocation and opened up a liquor shop; probably a case of more drinkers and less
watch owners! In the late eighties he donated Rs.2,300/- to have a water
line procured for the Dokhma garden.
Byramji Edulji began his career as a purchase officer in the police force and then became Police Collector. He too changed his vocation and started contracting for commissariat. Ultimately he established a bar and a wine and general store, which ran successfully for many generations. Since he had been a collector he adopted the surname ‘Collector’ which is still carried on by his family. ■
[To be
continued]
EXPLANATION OF SRĀOSH BĀJ
By Framroz
Rustomjee
T
HIS prayer is taught to
every child, by heart, before investing the child with a Sudrēh and
Kusti. This is a prayer in which God’s Intuition and Inspiration to
man is invoked with reverence and praise. It is difficult to understand
this valuable prayer to Srāosh (Divine Intuition) without an elementary
knowledge of the working of the Divine Essence, Fravashi, which a man
possesses.
Man’s soul has the freedom of choice to be good or
to be base, but the Divine Essence –Fravashi working in man is wholly
good and pure. When the soul of man invokes the assistance and caries out
the behests of his indwelling Fravashi, then every act of his tends
towards goodness. When the soul does not elect to invoke the
Fravashi, then the individual often deviates from the path of virtue,
Asha, and man comes to grief and pain and distress.
Srāosh is the Voice of God, which man hears
in the silence of the mind. Man hears that Voice not through his outward
ears, but only intuitively. To understand the nature of Srāosh
various words are used to express its power, purpose and glory.
Srāosh being Divine, in essence is wholly
pure and righteous, most powerful, embodied with Divine Commandments and steeped
in religious lore. Srāosh is referred to as being helpful to ward
off all evils and dangers besetting man. Srāosh is described as the
‘leader of and guide to all the creations of God’.
The devotee has to be prepared to invoke
Srāosh. As the worshipper of Mazda and follower of Zarathushtra, he solemnly
declares that he would in thoughts, words and deeds, avoid all sins and would
repent for all sins done. He elects to fight against evil, through the
teachings of Ahurā.
As Srāosh is ever present to help the
creations of God, his aid is invoked at all times of the day in all the five
Gāhs from sunrise to midnight.
The prayer is full of powerful ideas, on the
substantial aid which Srāosh, Divine Intuition does render to mankind,
when invoked by any one conscientiously. The four prayers, which follow,
are usually prayed after the prayer to Srāosh, and also after every other
long Nyāēsh or Yasht in the Avestā.
In these prayers, a devotee implores Ahurā Mazdā
to grant him Divine splendor, glory, physical health, strength and well-being,
contentment, wise progeny, long life for the spread of righteousness, victory
over evil, and ultimate reward for all good deeds done
These prayers, which are well chosen extracts from
the Avestā and Pāzend writings, help a devotee to understand the limit of good
things and blessings, he could beseech Ahurā Mazdā to grant him.
■
[Source: DAILY
PRAYERS OF THE ZOROASTRIANS by the author]
THE REAL
STORY OF FREDDIE
MERCURY
Mariam
Ahundova
T
HE great rock-musician
Freddie Mercury (born Faroukh Bulsara) is considered to be Zoroastrian only by
birth. Having been brought in the Zoroastrian family, Freddie is supposed
to have broken with his ancestors’ religion in his further life and to have
become an atheist.
This disillusion, as well as all other ridiculous
myths about Freddie Mercury is actively spreading with the help of the British
media and the Queen Official Fan Club. Unfortunately many Zartoshti have
believed it too. Freddie’s creative work is not still accepted as a part
of Zoroastrian cultural heritage, and he is considered to be the apostate from
Parsis’ faith and tradition.
The book entitled The Real Story of Freddie
Mercury written by Mariam Ahundova, an author from Russia destroys many
artificial stereotypes and prejudices, created around this great person and the
rock-group Queen as well as the opinion about the entertaining nature of his
works. The sixth chapter of this book is totally dedicated to the analysis
of religious motives in Queen’s songs. The second chapter deals with
falsification and direct concealment of the facts, connected with the great
musician’s childhood. According to the author’s opinion, the aim of this
lie is to conceal the influence of the Zoroastrian environment upon the
formation of Freddie’s personality, to describe his child hood as an
“unimportant” episode of his life, that didn’t seriously, influenced his further
development. The first chapter deals with the influence of the Zoroastrian
environment upon Freddie Mercury.
According to the author’s opinion, Freddie
Mercury’s private and public life answers the description of a righteous
Zoroastrian. He was a kind, generous, responsive, merciful, and a vivid
person. Being a serene inspired personality, he brought the light of his
religion and his soul into the music. Freddie Mercury’s creative work is
still not understood because of ignorance of Zoroastrian researchers. But
still the song ‘My Fairy King’ from the Queen’s first album narrates of
Achrimum’s description of the world. The ritual bracelet, that Freddie
used to wear on stage, symbolized the defeater of Daevas and the Defender of the
Zoroastrian religion. His concert clothing also symbolized the Zoroastrian
religion. White color, his favorite one, is the Zoroastrian ritual
color. The red clothes with an emblem of panther are the ancient symbol of
the Persian warrior, who fights against the evil and defends people. We
can see Freddie’s Zoroastrian ritual gestures while performing on stage or in
videos, but the real meaning of such gestures is not clear to uninitiated
observers.
The symbol of Daena is used in ‘Breakthue’ video,
the symbol of Faravahr –in ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ video, the symbol of the
Holy Fire – in ‘Made in Heaven’ video. One of the episodes in ‘Radio Ga
Ga’ video reminds of the Zoroastrian cathedral. Even Queen’s crest has the
picture of Symurg. You can find this and much more, if you read the
unabridged version of the book. ■
“People are often unreasonable illogical and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.”
[Mother Teresa]
THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF MAZDA YASNA ---
AS TAUGHT
BY PROPHET
ZARATHUSHTRA
Cyrus P. Mehta
INTRODUCTION
I
N 1967, the Parsi
Zoroastrian Association of Calcutta produced the voluminous work
THE HYMNS
OF ATHARVAN ZARATHUSHTRA by the outstanding Bengali scholar Jatindra Mohan
Chatterji, M.A. The book contained the following generous message from Dr.
Servapali Radhakrishna, the then President of India.
“I am happy to learn that the Parsi Zoroastrian
Association of Calcutta is shortly publishing a treatise “Hymns of Atharvan Zarathushtra”, comprising 35
years of research work on the Avesta by Shri Jatindra Mohan Chatterji. I
am sure the publication will prove a valuable contribution towards the study of
Avesta in the light of Vedic literature and I send my best wishes for its
success.”
A thousand copies of the book were printed but
soon they ran out of stock; it was not possible to produce a second edition of
the book. However, it was felt that there was a popular demand for such
books so the introduction of the book was produced as a separate volume under
the title ATHARVAN ZARATHUSHTRA – THE FOREMOST PROPHET
Good books on Zoroastrianism are few and are
produced in a limited number. When first published they received good
publicity but after a few years one hardly hears about them. The purpose
of this article is:
i. To draw the attention of the reader to the existence of the book in question, and
ii To reproduce
four Gatha verses viz. Yasna 30.6, 32.1, 33.3 and 46.12 as translated
by the late Chatterji with his comments, which are worth considering by the
Parsi-Zoroastrian community.
(Note: - I have added suitable headings, two stories and my own
observations. Everything else quoted from the author’s book is given in
parentheses, unless stated otherwise.)
Simplicity and Rejection of Unnecessary
Ceremonials
[“Zarathushtra asked people to
pay more attention to the end than the means. This is the meaning of his
condemnation of ceremonials (Yasna 30.6) and acclamation of love (Yasna
32.1)”]
YASNA 30.6 –
TRANSLATION
[“Of them two, the Deva-worshippers do not
see aright as they proceed to worship by way of deification (attribution of
divinity to insignificant things). Because they choose the narrowest mentality,
they glide to infatuation (foolish passions), which is calculated to deflect the
life of the mortals.”]
YASNA 30.6 -
COMMENTS
[“Bhagwan Zarathushtra here lays down
the fundamental principle of his religion, explaining as to why he differs from
Deva-Yasna. The Deva Yasnis pay more attention to non-essentials matters,
making a fetish of every minor rite. They idolize the medium and pay to
rituals the devotion that is due to God. Those who pay more attention to
little things miss the greatest things in life. The protest of Bhagwan Zarathushtra is echoed in
the ‘Mahabharata’ –‘Real religion is killed by too many rites’ (Santi
Parva 268.21). Here we have the larger problem of Dogmatism vs.
Rationalism, the necessity of distinguishing between the Essential and the
Non-essential, between the chaff and the corn. Further we are asked not to
consider any ceremonial as indispensable for the worship of Mazda, i.e. not to
make an idol of any ceremonial. Mazda alone and nothing else is our
concern. In words of Jalal, ‘How long will you go on dallying with the shape of
the jug? Leave the jug alone, seek water’ (Masnavi 2.1021). It is
not that Deva-Yasni had got no value at all. But ‘the good is the enemy of
the best’ and, if we choose the good in preference to the better we can never
reach the highest goal. This is at least stagnation, if not the beginning
of a downward march. So Jalal advises us not to be satisfied with good but
to adopt the better procedure. (Masnavi 2.2792)”]
STORY
NO. 1
An Italian couple was getting married. They
made an arrangement with the parish priest to have a small reception on the
parish courtyard outside the church. But on the day of the marriage it
rained heavily and it was impossible to hold the reception outside. So
they asked the priest, “Would it be alright if we had the celebration in the
church?” The priest naturally seemed reluctant to give his permission to
such a request. But the couple said, “Father, we will eat a little cake,
sing a little song, drink a little wine and then go home.” So the Father
was persuaded and agreed. But being good, life-loving Italians they drank
a little wine, sang a little song, then drank a little more wine and sang some
songs. Within half an hour there was a great celebration going on in the
church and everybody was having a good time, full of fun and frolic. The
Father was upset about all the noise the wedding party was making. In came
the assistant pastor, who looked at the agitated face of the Father and said, “I
see you are quite tense and upset.” The Father blurted out, “Of course, I
am tense and upset. Listen to all the noise they are making and that too
in the House of God.” The assistant pastor said, “Well, Father they had no
place to go for their celebration, “ to which the Father replied, “I know that!
But do they have to make all that racket?’
“Well, we must not forget Father, that Jesus
himself was once present at a wedding!” In answer the Father replied, “I know
Christ was present at a wedding banquet! But they didn’t have the Blessed
Sacrament there!!!” Sacrament is defined as a religious rite variously
regarded as a channel or as a sign of grace amongst Roman Catholics e.g. at
Baptism and the Lord ‘s Supper especially the bread and wine etc. (This story
has been taken from the book AWARENESS by Anthony de
Mello, a Member of Jesuit Province of Bombay). Commenting on the story,
the author writes: - “You know there are times like that when the Blessed
Sacrament becomes more important than Jesus Christ, when worship becomes more
important than love, when the church becomes more important than life, when God
becomes more important than the neighbor. And so it goes on. That’s
the danger”
* * *
*
So we could all benefit from the guidance given in
Yasna 30.6 viz. Pay more attention to important things and
differentiate between the essential and non-essential
LOVE FOR
MAZDA
Turning our attention to Love for Mazda as taught
by Zarathushtra,
Chatterji translates Yasna 31.1 and comments it as follows:
[“Him the Khaetu (Vaishya) worships, and Him the
Varejna (Kshatriya) along with the Aryamna (Brahmin) worship. In my mind
there is the love of Mazda (and not mere formal compliance). I have come
as your messenger. I would chastise them that would deny
you”]
[“The cult of love is not the good fortune of
every religion. It is preeminently the way of the Zoroastrians. Poet Hafiz
wrote, ‘This is the wine of the Maghas and can be sipped only in the company of
Maghas.’ Yasna 32.1 lays down the root principle of Bhakti Yoga and
declares, for the first time in the world, the distinction between formal
worship and worship by love, which the Vaishnavas in India and Sufis in Iran
subsequently developed so exclusively. Sufism enjoins the intoxicating
love of God, teaches the devotee to forget himself entirely, and live only for
and in Mazda.’]
REGARD FOR
EQUALITY
[“Zarathushtra clearly
declared that no one was to be excluded from the worship of Mazda. It
means little whether a man is an Aryamna, a Varejena or a Khaetu, even non
–Aryans were not to be excluded from taking part in the worship of
Mazda.”]
YASNA 33.3 –
TRANSLATION
[“He who is most beneficent to the pious, be he
Khaetu (Vaishya), or an Aryama (Brahmin), O Ahura, or a servant of the world
–verily he belongs to Rectitude and serves to uphold
conscience.”]
[“Zarathushtra lays down here
another fundamental principle of his religion, viz: that caste
distinctions counts for nothing and that the only thing that really counts is
whether the man is promoter of Rectitude. Mahabharata catches the idea and
says, “All of us are equally subject to desire, anger, fear, greed, grief,
anxiety, hunger and fatigue. What is the good of division into different
castes?”]
YASNA 46.12 -
TRANSLATION
[“As soon as Rectitude grows in the rite-less sons
and grandsons of Frayana, the Turanian, the sooner do their realms develop by
the power of Faith and forthwith Conscience accosts them and Ahura Mazda
(Himself) teaches them to ‘delight’.”]
[“Mazda is not God of any particular tribe.
The doors of Mazda-Yasna are not closed to the foreigners forever. As soon
as one of them becomes fit he is (like Frayana) to be included in the
fold. Non-proselytism is the denial of the brotherhood of man. He who
discourages the idea sets too much importance on the supposed superiority of his
race. There is no doubt that Atharvan Zarathushtra desired his
gospel to be spread throughout the whole world. Non-proselytism means rejection
of his precept. The Persians, out of their race-arrogance, rejected the salutary
maxim of the universal Prophet Zarathushtra. As a
consequence they dwindled in number and lost the battle of life. The Arabs
acted on the advice of Zarathushtra and Islam has
spread in every country. It is time for the Parsis to consider whether
they should not revise their ways (as had been recommended by Dr. Dhalla)”]
Chatterji, in his comments on Yasna 46.12, further
informs us that:
a) “The Gospel of
Mahamuni Nanak, and after him that of Guru Govinda, is the same in spirit as
that of Zarathushtra. That
is why Mahamuni Nanak says that the real scripture of Kali Yoga (Modern Age)
is “Athrava Veda, the Veda of the Athravan Zarathushtra.”
b) “In the matter of
conversion, none should be regarded as being low born; the strength of every
individual counts. To level up is the law of social growth. If one
rejects this rule, there is a risk of being leveled
down.”
c) “Jalal tells us how
there are kindred souls in every race. Sometimes a Turk will be found to
agree more with a Hindu than with another Turk.
d) ”Love of God is
calculated to remove distinction between one nation and
another.”
e) ”Zarathushtra intended that
non-Aryans should be brought over to the Aryan fold. Faithful to his
wish, Jalal showed that all the noble truths that the Koran contains are to be
found in Masnavi. Thus he made it easy for the Arabs to accept the
religion of the Gatha by way of Sufism.”
f) “Similarly it may be
shown that nothing is to be found in any other scriptures, which is not found
in the Gathas. Jalal only leads the way so far as the Arabs are
concerned. Kabir does so for the Indians.”
Based on the above comments of Chatterji, it could
be said that the followers of Sufism and Kabir are as much Zoroastrians as
Parsis. The fact that they do not wear Sudreh-Kusti is of little
consequence.
CONCLUSION
When we went to school, to learn the 3R’s was of
great importance. In life, learning of the 3A’s is of utmost
importance. The latter are acceptance, adjustment and
achievement. Over a period of more than 100 years, the Parsi
community has been given the true knowledge of what Zoroastrian religion
is. A section within the community still does not want to acquire this
knowledge and refuses to make or allow some adjustment in the communal
structure. As such the whole community has failed to achieve a common
platform of unity in religious and communal matters. Many years ago, the
Late Dastur Khurshed S. Dabu in his book, MESSAGE OF ZARATHUSHTRA wrote: “…an average Parsi would rather remain
illogical rather than break with the tradition.”
All over the world Parsis are still discussing the
questions of inter-marriages, conversion of non-Zoroastrian spouses and their
children without coming to any sensible conclusions, mainly because of the
illogical thinking of the so called average Parsi. So let us heed to the
following wise words of the Late Dastur Dr. M.N. Dhalla: “All men and all
women are drops of water from the one and the same sea of life. Let us
strengthen this bond of unity between people and people. Let us love all
as we love ourselves” (From: ‘Homage Unto Ahura Mazda’)
STORY
NO. 2
There is a story about King Akbar of the Mogul
Dynasty (who ascended the throne of Delhi in 1556 A.D.) and his Minister,
Birbal, a very wise and witty man. One day the King asked him, “Who is greater,
me or God?” Birbal, without hesitation replied, “You are, Your
Majesty.” Though the King was flattered by his reply, he asked, “How can
that be?’ Birbal replied, “O, Your Majesty, if you do not wish to accept
someone, you can banish him from your kingdom very easily. But how can God
banish anyone from his kingdom? Where can he send him?”
The moral of the story is that, if a religion
excludes anyone from joining it, then it is not the religion of God who is All
Pervasive. So whom can God reject? Neither did Prophet Zarathushtra as confirmed in
the last sentence of Din-no-Kalmo prayer:
“Din dinē Zarthost dinē
Ahura Mazdā dādēh Zarthost Ashāonē’
A religion, which is the religion of Zarathushtra (and), which is the religion of Ahura Mazda given to Holy and Righteous Zarathushtra (for spreading it among mankind).
[Translation by Framroz
Rustomjee]
It would therefore not be unreasonable to appeal
to the community that the time has now come to do away with some of its bigoted
and exclusive, narrow-minded thinking and behavior. Let it not blindly
believe and cling to the dogmas of the past. The community now lives all over
the world in contact with different nationalities and cultures. Each generation
has to evaluate its outward mode of life without fearing loss of its so-called
identity. The only identity that Zoroastrian religion enjoins us is that
of being a righteous person, and so long as we practice and promote it, we are
true followers of Prophet Zarathushtra. That is
what the early day followers of the prophet did; they went to foreign countries
to promote righteousness. Let us practice “Good Thoughts, Good Words and
Good Deeds.” That is all any Zoroastrian or human being is required to
do. That way lays the progressive betterment of an individual or a
community or a nation leading to the building of a Perfect World. ■
“Zoroastrianism has vast
scope for individual thinking.
It is not rigid but
flexible. There is nothing that must be adhered to.
The changing pattern of life
demands that religion be reexamined now and then
for the religion is the way
life is to be lived”
[DARA CAMA]
PRAY FOR PEACE, BUT ALSO DO GOD’S WILL
By Bob
Layne
D
URING these days of hatred,
terror, war and death, there must be many prayers being offered to God.
Most religious people must be begging God to prosper their cause, ensure their
victory and protect their warriors. Whether Christian, Muslims or Jews,
God is surely hearing many prayers from His faithful.
I have been wondering, however, even the midst of
all the prayers whether God might be asking us:
“Why do you repeatedly ask me to do for you what
you steadfastly refuse to do for yourself? Why do you call on me to
protect your young men and women when it is you who send them into death’s
door? Why do you want me to bring peace, when it is you who invade without
warrant, who attack without warning, who escalate murder in vengeance, who
pursue justice through terror and security through
conquest?”
“You can have the peace you seek when you stop the
war I abhor, when you ensure justice for all, when you spend your resources and
energy for life rather than for death. You can do these things. Why
do you assault me with weeping and wailing to do the things you can do
yourselves?
“You cry, “Thy will be done!” But it is your
will you do. Your hypocrisy is an affront! Your reverence is a
sham! Your holiness is a show!”
Yet we must continue to pray. But we must
listen, and not constantly plead. We should pray that God speaks to the
President, that the President listens carefully, and that the President
obeys. That would ensure the pathway to peace in the Middle East. It
would be the pathway to peace throughout the world. Prayer is our hope.
Prayer works. Prayer is good. ■
[Note: The author is a
retired Episcopal priest. Source: THE WICHITA
EAGLE – May 27, 2004]
Published for Informal
Religious Meetings Trust Fund, Karachi
By Virasp
Mehta
4235 Saint James Place,
Wichita KS 67226, U.S.A.
E-mail:
viraspm@yahoo.com
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