The legend of the fire-worshippers

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Source: Pune Newsline, India

ON THE OCCASION OF NAVROZE, BRIG N B GRANT TELLS US ABOUT THE HISTORY, CULTURE AND BELIEFS OF THE PARSEE COMMUNITY

The legend of the fire-worshippers

Pune, August 18: IT was 1300 years ago that a band of Zoroastrians embarked on the Gujarat coast, thus becoming an integral part of India. The day is celebrated by the members of the faith as their New Year, known to us as Navroze. Parsees belonged to a tribe who folled the teachings of Zoroaster.

In order to escape persecution at the hands of the Muslims in Iran, a small group of Zoroastrians had left their ancestral town of Paras and set sail for India. Known as Parsis, this group on reaching Sanjan, on the Gujarat coast, asked the local king Jadi Rana, for asylum. Before getting permission, they were asked to prove how they wouldn’t be a burden on the local people. The leader of the group stirred some sugar into a bowl of milk which was filled to the brim. When the sugar dissolved, the priest told the Rana, "The bowl of milk represents your people, the sugar represents us. Just like the sugar gets absorbed in the milk and sweetens it without spilling, we, too, will assimilate with your people and sweeten their life without disturbing it.’’



The Rana was taken aback with the Parsi’s reply. He gave them asylum but laid down five conditions. These were:

* The esoteric and exoteric doctrines and practices of the religion should be explained.
* They should forsake their native language for the local one. Hence, their mother tongue is Gujarati.
* Parsi women would only wear what the local women wore. Parsi women wear sarees, wrapped in the Gujarati style even today.
* Eating beef would not be permitted. Most Parsis do not eat beef even today.
* They would not convert the locals to the Zoroastrian faith and perform their religious ceremonies where the local population couldn’t witness it.

This practice prevails even today. No outsider (not born a Parsi) is allowed to practice the faith or enter their place of worship, the Fire Temple.

This holds true for only the Parsis, though. The Prophet never ordained this isolation for the religion.

The Zoroastrians are often called fire worshippers. The Prophet Zarathusthra or Zoroaster urged his followers to keep the fire in their hearts eternally burning. Praying before a lit fire was symbolic, so that followers would be reminded of the fire within their hearts. However, as it has happened with all religions, the external symbols have been regarded as the truth, but their inner meanings have degenerated into rituals. Thus, they came to be called ‘‘fire worshippers.’’

Zoroastrianism is a religion of happiness and laughter, which expects its followers to eat, drink, create wealth and be merry provided these are based on the three pillars of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds, bound together with a band which stipulates that ‘‘happiness comes only to those who give happiness to others.’’

This is the only religion that has no rituals, dogmas, penance and fasting. Any rituals observed by the Parsis in India are only those followed by their adopted country, the one which provided them shelter. Zoroastrianism teaches us to act right; and the only way to do so is to live by deeds and not by rites.

Zoroastrianism believes in the philosophy that the best way to honour the religion is to serve man. Religion must bend to accommodate the social needs of man; it believes in the theory that there is no need for man to sacrifice his worldly interests as long as he serves another.

With tenets such as these it is no wonder that this monotheistic, non idolatrous and the world’s oldest religion (6000 BC), has survived even today.