(Revised) rites of passage

Essential Ceremonies — Death and After (with Informatory Notes) by Irach Sorabji Kuka. Published in 2003 (as part of Avan Series) by the author, 665, Band View, Lady Jehangir Road, Parsi Colony, Dadar, Bombay 400014. Pp: 118. Price: Rs 20 (subsidized price).

Really, how old are the prayers recited at a Zoroastrian funeral? Irach Sorabji Kuka in his book, Essential Ceremonies — Death and After sheds new light on ancient practices by packing in a nugget that tells us that the prayers to be recited at a funeral could date back to just 1920, when they were revised and con­densed, and a lot of mumbo-jumbo (not his words, though) was ‘officially’ eliminated following the advice of 11 respected priests, including Shams-ul-Ulama Dastur Dorabji Peshotan Sanjana, (late) Dastur Minocheher Jamasji Jamasp Asa, Dr Jivanji Jamshed­ji Modi, the Kutar brothers (Ervads Mahiyar and Framroj) amongst others. The advice was sought by the Zoroastrian Jashan Committee, a socio-religious body of repute, which recognized that the community was getting fed up of the growing demands of priests for money under the guise of ceremonies for the dead, and with hard times on, took the prudent step of inviting opinions of learned religious scholars and revered well-versed athravans to find out which ceremonies are most essential and need to be performed. The report submitted was ratified by the Athornan Mandal, another reputed organization of the priests, and a fresh and condensed list of prayers from Day Zero to Day 365 of a person’s death drawn up and approved. Now, if only the priests and community of today had that much courage and moral fibre!

Kuka: shedding light on old practices

Kuka’s slim book is filled with such telling facts, and though, it may otherwise read as a condensed version of Modi’s seminal work, The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsees, it is worth every page for many an eye-opening and path-revealing fact. Many in the community may not agree with the different interpretations of what Kuka puts forth, but they do make compelling reading all right. For example, Ushahin gah is considered yet by most community members as the fifth and last gah (period of day), though Kuka’s conclusions would want the reader to believe that it is the first gah. Similarly, there are discussions in Kuka’s work as to which uthamna ceremony is truly necessary — the one at the dawn after the third night/fourth morning when the soul ‘gets up’ (hence, uthamna — to get up) and departs from the material world, or the bamdad uthamna ceremony which is performed at midnight (Ushahin gah) on the third day. Similarly, Kuka even rubbishes the much followed pattern of having a jorianu uthamnu, where during the evening uthamna ceremony, one of the two mobeds prays for the deceased (anusheh rawan) and the other for the living partner (jindeh rawan).

At first glance, the compilation gives an impression of being just a handy book, especially right for the behdin (layman), on the ceremonies and prayers that should be recited once the body is declared ‘dead.’ But, the slimness of chapters on oft-mentioned ceremonies like paidust, Sarosh no kardo, geh sarna, dhup nirang, is truly misleading. For, though Kuka does not waste pages on detailing these ceremonies, he states what prayers have to be recited then, and hence offers a simple guide and even a manual to what is being recited by the priests. The same exercise is well continued in the chapters on masiso (first month), warsi (first year) prayers. The plus point here is that Kuka tells the reader why these particular prayers have to be performed, and why some other prayers need to be dropped, or are superfluous.

The strength of Kuka’s slim book is hence not so much in its contents, as in its footnotes. Here’s one work that should be read in complement with the additional information accompanying it, where the source of the same is also given for the curious reader.

Three ‘lists’ which are given towards the end of the book are the highlights of the work. The first list enumerates the essential and required ceremonies to be performed by mobeds. The list does not feature ceremonies undertaken on bamsi (second month after demise) and chhamsi (sixth month). It also clearly states that "on none of the days during the whole (first) year, the vendidad ceremony is to be performed,” or the farokshi recited. Yet, harboring a misconception, possibly pre-1920s, Zoroastrians continue to spend a bomb on the advice of their panthakies and mobeds to have a vendidad ceremony done at great costs, and have the farokshi recited with almost the same mandatory air as afringan and baaj.

The second list outlined in Kuka’s work is of prayers that may be recited during the first year by relatives of the de­ceased. The third is of ceremonies and customs which are optional and may NOT (capitalization ours) be per­formed.

The reader may tend to agree or otherwise with Kuka’s dis­sertation. But the book, rightly sub-titled ‘with informatory notes’ deserves to be read for the latter, even if the ‘informa­tory’ notes are ‘inflammatory.’ At its subsidized price of Rs 20 only (the book is co-published by Daulat S. Wadia in memory of her husband Dr Sarosh R. Wadia), the publicatoin is a steal! Get a copy, and keep it bound along with your Modi. And pray for another modi-fication in Zoroastrian rites and rituals. Kuka’s work shows that history too does approve of the same.

H. J. R.