“Tenets and traditions”

There is a typographical error in my letter "Tenets and traditions” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, July 21, 2008). The Mazda’s philosophy propagated by Khojeste Mistree and Rustom Jamasji contends that deaths and disasters in the world are a temporary victory of Ahri­man the devil, and not over them.

These mavericks do not believe in natural causes for death and disasters and claim that they are ordained by supernatural beings. Such heresies are unfounded and propounded by people who have no scientific background.

Dr P. D. SUNAVALA

In his letter "Tenets and traditions” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, July 21, 2008) Dr P. D. Sunavala has once again completely missed the point. He tries to link my statement of temporary victory of evil by death in Zoroastrian philosophy to other institutions, but he forgets that if there is such a link it is due to Zoroastrian literature which he can ignore if it suits his agenda.

This literature includes Dr I. J. S. Tarapore in his translations of Gatha Ahunavad, Yasna xxx, 4 which states, "And now when these two spirits came, they in the beginning created life and not-life.”

My statement including Chapter 28 of the Bundahishn translated by E. W. West, Sacred Book the East, talking about the struggle of the soul of the departed also includes the Greater Bundahishn chapter 4 point 24 which states: "Thereupon, the evil spirit imagined: ‘The creations of Ohrmazd all, except Gayomard, (are) made inactive (by me)’; he let loose Astwihad, with a thousand death producing devs, on Gayomard; they did not find any means to kill him, (as) the destined time had not come.”

The Minoh-i-Kharad states "with the desire of evil of Eshm, the impetuous assailant, and of Astwihad who devours creatures of every kind and knows no satiety” — Chapter 2 para 117.

Y 45.2 from M. N. Dhalla’s book on Angre Mainyu: "In his thoughts, words, deeds, faith, conscience, soul, and everything else, he stands at the opposite pole to the good spirit. He is himself evil in thought, word and deed, and chose to do worst things. When he first manifested himself he created non-life in opposition to the action of the good spirit who created life. He denounces the providence of Ahura Mazda.”

Sunavala has claimed historical evidence as "unsubstantiated” in his earlier letters; now he tries to portray fictitious links, ignoring proofs from Zoroastrian documentations. He once again tries to maneuver my letter away from its meaning. His latest letter proves he cannot fathom the claim to strengthen dakhmenashini to be in situ, i.e. strengthen it so it can be passed on to the coming generations of Zoroastrians.

Once again he chooses to malign dakhmenashini. For whether in a pit under the ground or above the ground, a corpse decomposes, yet for personal agendas one can choose to refer to decomposition under the ground as a rose garden and the one above as rotting to disband the system, ignoring even the thumb rule of decomposition, i.e. oxidization. A corpse will decompose twice as fast in air than in water, and as much as four times faster than when buried in the ground. Deep burial increases the decomposition time as it causes the formation of adipocere.

Sunavala once again proves my point by way of Ahriman’s temporary victory in death and also by allowing Mazda worshipers to act against instead of for Mazda’s system by his compulsive propaganda against a system mentioned in ancient Zoroastrian texts and its upholders.

RUSTOM JAMASJI