The other day one of my friends confided that after her demise she wished to be cremated but was worried lest the priests from nearby fire temples refused to pray for her soul. There may be more priests willing to perform after death ceremonies for those opting for alternate methods of disposal, but they may be worried about losing their jobs.
This brings to mind two priests who had the courage to buck the establishment. Religious zealots of our Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) branded them as renegades and dragged them to court to stop the practice. We all know the result. A few crores of the BPP’s trust money went down the drain.
I remember reading letters from traditionalists stating that the souls of Parsis who opt for cremation will not reach the gates of heaven. If this were true, all the Parsis dying abroad or in places where there are no dakhmas will never see heaven’s door. We all know that we shall be judged by how we live in this life and not by the method of disposal of our earthly bodies.
Many Parsis are unable to rid themselves of the notion that disposal in a dakhma is the only method. This is understandable. They have probably had the belief drilled into them by their parents or elders from an early age. Yet, unless we stop accepting our parents’ beliefs, we cannot be free to use our power of reasoning. This does not mean that our parents were wrong. They were right in the age and circumstances in which they lived. In their times there were plenty of vultures and dakhmenashini was probably the best method of disposal of dead bodies.
Years back I had attended a talk by the late Ervad (Dr) Minocher Karkhanawala of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He had held the listeners spellbound while proving scientifically that the disposal of dead bodies in a dakhma is the least polluting method. However, with the disappearance of vultures this method of disposal does not offer any particular advantage. It is only a tradition, not religion. They are the customs passed down from generation to generation. Already a change in the mindset is visible as in the case of the Parsis from Navsari who opted for a burial ground.
One does not have any objection to Parsis who choose dakhmenashini or cremation or burial. The problem arises when one side tries to denigrate the other. If we wish to change, it should start from the top, from our elders and those in charge of our fire temples.
Decades back it was a practice in many Parsi households to quarantine women while they were menstruating. The women had to sit, eat and sleep apart, without touching other family members. Slowly this practice has disappeared, largely because the young women of today rebelled against it. Education has made them aware that menstruation is merely a biological function which has nothing to do with religion.
I would like to end with a few lines from Homage Unto Ahura Mazda by Dastur (Dr) Maneckji N. Dhalla: "Let me discern the signs of the age I live in. Let me be in harmony with it. Let me remember that the world is surging with new life. Let not the unthinking and blind traditionalism retard and arrest my progress.”
YAZDI KOHIAR
yazdikohiar@yahoo.co.uk