Navjote ceremony

I recently read a news item in a Parsi community newspaper about a young boy of 12, who had become a navar at the age of 11, performing the navjote ceremony of his younger sister. Such things have happened several times in the past, but I wish to draw the attention of people of our community to a few points as I feel that the navjote is a very important ceremony during which the child is initiated into the religion.

The requirements for a navjote are that the child should know the basic kusti prayers; that the officiating priest acts as a link between Ahura Mazda and the child; and that he instills his own good qualities of righteousness into the child. Hence, the selection of the priest to perform the ceremony is of utmost importance and it is very necessary for the family to ensure that the child’s navjote is performed by a learned, highly respected and morally righteous priest. It is for this reason that even in priestly families, navjotes are performed not by brothers of the initiate but by the senior most and the most respected member in the family. This is also why many families seek help from vada dasturs, priests or panthakies whose character is spotless and who pray well.

The prayers in a navjote are Patet Pashemaani, which the priests are allowed to recite softly even while reading them; Din-no-Kalmo, which everyone knows; gah in full, which every priest knows by heart; Ahuramazda Khodai and Jasa-me-Avanghe Mazda, which everyone knows; and the Tandarosti, which many of us know.

I write to impress on readers that we should be more specific about these matters rather than giving importance to pomp and grandeur, in the best interest of the child.

However, the irony is that, in the words of Vada Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal, the term "navjote” is erroneously used by Parsis. The correct term for the initiation ceremony is "sudreh kusti pushun,” meaning the ceremony of putting on the sacred shirt (sudreh) and girdle (kusti). The term navjote actually applies to candidates who are newly initiated into the priesthood.

RUSTOM A. HAVEWALLA

raslu@hathway.com