“Insulting the community”

From Burjor M. Daboo’s letter "Insulting the community” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, January 7, 2011), and from several others it is evident that Ahmeda­bad seeks pride of place as the stronghold of dhongidoxy. The Sanjan Day 2010 video of current Parsipanu confirms this view.

Whoever Behramsha Pithavala is, it is undoubtedly clear that in the matter of disposal of the dead the very texts which are brought to bear on it are being grossly disfigured and blatantly marginalized in the pursuit of humbugry. Apart from the strange raptor called "khahrakas,” and the "La” bit from the Shayast ne-shayast — "Oh la la!” best sums up the inane distortions.

Whilst being most impressed with Daboo’s analysis of the sun’s effectiveness, it should not be forgotten that the learned priests of old who compiled these very texts insisted on calling the dakhma system khwarshed nigerishnih — "exposure to the sun” and not some "bird-feeder” setup.

That system, good Ahmedabadi sir, has not merely failed, but has irretrievably broken down. At least 1,500 years ago the exact religious texts which the priests actually pray in the course of the Vandidad ceremony strongly warned against the various infections — complete with their labels — arising from the dakhmas. For those who cannot be bothered with perusing the Avestan original, there is an expanded list in its Pahlavi rendition for their delectation — it is an alarming catalog of death-dealing plagues, and all issue from rotting human remains.

Where we should be dazzled by current priestly learning, we are instead dazed by their abnormal level of ignorance, impudence and irrationality. Let’s get this straight — it is the priests, headed by the six dasturs, touted by their control-freak lackeys, who are insulting the community. They have betrayed not only Zarathushtra, whose verses are recited for the comfort of the bereaved, not the deceased, but deliberately and mindlessly also the sacred memory of their own ancestors. An unnamable high priest summed it up for me — for once, truthfully! — "They are frightened people!” Who is doing the frightening today, and why?

The maliciously contrived opposition of "orthodoxists/traditionalists” versus "reformists/liberals” remains a favorite ploy of the dhongidoxists who have nothing to offer Zoroastrians but deceit, dissension and disruption. The few decent priests who have the gumption and honesty to follow truth and Good Mind (Mazda’s primary agencies) are to be lauded for their integrity. As for the rest, perhaps the Ahmedabadi mister’s five zillion rupees can pension them off or even get them respectable jobs. The Udvada high priest is not his only target!

Another correspondent, E. P. Bharu­cha in "Snafu in Sanjan” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, January 7, 2011), would seek clarification from dhongi priests on reincarnation, monotheism, Ilm-e-Khshnoom (is it some kind of sneezing?), and sundry items. Fat chance of honest responses! It is high time we all realize that these "guides” have entirely perverted Zara­thushtra’s doctrines.

FARROKH JAL VAJIFDAR

London

f.vajifdar@btinternet.com