Bull’s-eye! Berjis Desai’s brilliant tongue-in-cheek article adroitly focuses on the most misunderstood, misused Zoroastrian tradition — the use of a bull’s urine in Zoroastrian rituals/ceremonies ("Nirang: Is it all bull?” Parsiana, August 7-20, 2022).
Ervad (Dr) Jivanji J. Modi in his The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsees correctly states: "Cow’s urine was believed by the ancient Zoroastrians to possess disinfecting properties.” He notes ancient Zoroastrians sprinkled bull’s urine around contaminated areas to combat bacterial proliferation.
The human body (skin, hair, gastrointestinal tract, etc), home to millions of dangerous yet essential microorganisms, is protected by the body’s natural immune system. Through medical science we know that the immune system ceases to be active upon death. Unchecked in death, these microbes actively putrefy the body. While the ancients could not articulate the principles of science, they had sufficient knowledge gained by observation and experience that a cadaver rapidly decomposes and any contact, direct or indirect, with the deceased may cause serious illness or even death. They discovered that bovine urine has aseptic properties. Hence, it became a disinfectant of yore. (Urine, animal or human, has a high content of ammonia, one of many chemicals in commercial disinfectants.) The ancients did not have Dettol or other man-made disinfectants. Nature gave them one. This led to the practice of treating the stones upon which the corpse is placed with bull’s urine.
Illustration by Farzana Cooper
I offer this observation to stress an important hygienic practice reflected in science. The Zoroastrian religion is based on the laws of nature: science. Using the gaomez as a disinfectant falls in the realm of science. Chanting over excrement, expecting the words to transform the bull’s body waste into some exclusive elixir is fantasy, not science.
Yes, the Zoroastrian religion is emphatic about purity in all aspects of life. However, taking swigs of consecrated bull urine will not purify the mind, body and soul. That purification comes from righteous thoughts, words and deeds to perfect ourselves and our imperfect world. Quaffing bovine excrement, a practice Dadabhai Naoroji called disgusting, does not ensure spiritual purity in any form.
The Zoroastrian religion is a very powerful religion packed with wisdom, intelligence and rationality. It is not a fairy tale. Our éminences grises turn it into one with unintelligent, unscientific proclamations.
That the consecrated urine of an albino bovine has supernatural benefits is all bull!
The editors reply:
The World Health Organisation noted on February 6, 2013 that while "most agents do not survive long in the human body after death, human remains only post a substantial risk to health in a few special cases, such as deaths from cholera or hemorrhagic fevers.
"Workers who routinely handle corpses may however risk contracting tuberculosis, blood borne viruses (eg hepatitis B and C and HIV) and gastrointestinal infections (eg cholera, E coli, hepatitis A, rotavirus diarrhea, salmonellosis and typhoid/paratyphoid fevers).”