Every word that Darius Khambata, advocate general of Maharashtra has uttered in the article "Independent and impartial advice,” (Parsiana, October 7, 2012) is logical and religiously relevant. Some of the salient features of the article need to be highlighted as they are thought-provoking and need to be implemented. It is voices like his that would perhaps din some sense into the self-proclaimed Zoroastrian scholars.
He brushes off some of the notions we have been tutored about by saying "the concept of Parsi Zoroastrian has no place in Zoroastrianism. The notion of Parsi came into being much later and appeared in trust deeds drawn up 150 to 250 years ago… it has nothing to do with religion.” This shows that to deem Parsi as being synonymous with Zoroastrian is false!
Another notion that he dispels is that "our practice not to convert was based on historical circumstances; it would be a travesty if one termed it a tenet of the religion.” This argument is often used against anyone marrying outside the community because the orthodox believe we are direct descendants of Zarathushtra himself! It is time we look at all this objectively and eschew the theory of the "pure Parsi,” as this only exists in the fertile imagination of some people.
Naturally this would raise the tricky question of why non-Parsis are not allowed to enter agiaries or live in baugs. Here again there is no religious involvement.
As Khambata says, "It’s the will of the settlor.” How right this sounds! Just because a section of the community thinks in one way it need not necessarily
be right! This automatically leads to the question of lineage. Descent only through the father and not the mother is a warped theory because at the end of the day it is only the mother who knows the truth! Here too Khambata says: "It can’t be anything to do with our religion as even high priests could not substantiate their claims, and nothing is cited from the Gathas in which Ahura Mazda revealed the tenets of the religion of Zoroaster himself.”
A very impressive thought was on conversion, though Khambata does not want mass conversion as in Christianity or Islam. He states, "Let people who want to share in the light of Ahura Mazda share it.” And Parsiana would be the first to second this, along with many of us.
An encouraging idea is to build an agiary where all Zoroastrians can enter. But the cost factor would be a deterrent, he feels, so Khambata retorts, "It’s a matter of money and property… that is why I said, religion is held hostage to property.” This is a proven fact as the orthodox are afraid that their properties and funds would be shared by the converted behdins, something they would never allow and hence their constant resistance to conversion.
To an extent Khambata blames the "worthy members of our community who could dispel erroneous notions but chose not to do so.” For me this is why we as a community are going through a crisis. Amongst us are persons who are knowledgeable but do not wish to get involved in Parsi politics and so remain silent. And there are those who put spokes in the wheel of reason for ulterior motives, which is why orthodoxy reigns today. Khambata says: "It is very difficult for an individual to fight a system. This is what the establishment knows” and the end result is jèm chaléch tèm chalva deo (retain the status quo).
Khambata ends on a sad note, warning that what we are witnessing today is "the keepers of the flame ultimately destroyed it (the faith)!” Is this what we want? Is this then the end? I feel it’s still not too late and with Ahura Mazda’s grace we can still tread the right path, shunning the wrong, a choice given to us. Are we ready for it?