In 1861, at the llth meeting of the Bombay Literary and Philosophical Society, Professor Daddabhai Naoroji gave a short sketch of the present condition of the priesthood, whom he described as a body not only ignorant of the duties and objects of their own profession, but entirely uneducated. They only know how to read and write, as that is necessary to the pre paration by rote of a number of recitations and prayers required for their daily avocations. On account of this general ignorance among the priests, there is no pulpit among the Parsees. The religious education of the Parsee child con sists only in the preparation by rote of a certain number of prayers in Zend, without understanding a word of it. Of late some effort has been made to supply this want. A dialogue is composed, which gives a general outline of the doctrines and morality of the Zertusht religion, as believed by the present Parsees. The creed taught in it is summed up as follows :—To know God as one ; to know the prophet, the exalted Zertusht, as his true prophet; to believe the religion of the Avasta, brought by him from God, as true beyond all manner of doubt ; to believe in the goodness f God ; not to disobey any of the commands of the Mazdiashurt religion ; to shim evil and wickedness ; to strive for good deeds ; to pray live times in the day ; to believe in the reckoning and justice on the fourth morning after death ; to hope for heaven and to fear hell ; to consider the day of general resurrection and judgment as certain ; to remember always that God has done what he willed, and shall do what he wills ; to turn the face to some luminous object while wor shipping God. God is the creator of all things. Deeds shall determine reward or punishment after death, and none but God alone will and can save.
They have sacred tires in the temples, towards which they turn when addressing their prayers, not to it, but to the God of which it is the symbol. The injunction is to turn their face to anything that is glorious, as the sea, the sun, etc. They would not abuse fire, nor extinguish it unnecessarily, nor use it nl a contemptuous manner. Hence the Parsecs do not smoke. Gaomaezo or nirang is the urine of the cow, ox, or she-goat; and the second act of a Parsee, after rising from his bed, and before touching anything with his hands, is to rub it over the face and hands, after which he purifies himself by having water poured on his hands and feet. This pro cess is laid down and enjoined as a purification rite in the 9th Fasgard of the Vendidad (page 120, line 21, in Berghaus edition). The reforming Parsecs object to its use. Others say that Max Muller has misinterpreted this sentence.
A pious Parsee has to pray about sixteen times a day. They pray in the Zend language, which none of them understand. They pray on getting out of bed, after using the nirang, after bathing, after cleaning the teeth, after finishing the morn ing ablutions, after the ordinary natural functions, after washing the hands. Every one of the three meals begins and ends with prayer, besides the grace, and before going to bed the day is closed with prayer. Amongst the Parsecs there is no
pulpit, or pulpit orations in the vernacular of the people. Ordinarily every one goes to the fire temple whenever he likes, recites his prayers him self, and as long as he likes ; gives, if so inclined, something to the priests to pray for him. On several occasions, as in the occurrence of the Gluunbar, the bimestral holidays, there are assem blages in the temple, and prayers arc then repeated, in which few or none join. The priests are described as very bigoted, and exercise much injurious influence, especially over the women. Perhaps only a dozen of professional priests lay claim to a knowledge of the Zendavesta, to the extent of reading with meaning the books they have been taught. Parsecs have one wife. They do not eat beef, pork, or ham, and do not eat food cooked by a person of another religion. The high priest is called Dustoor ; the other priests are styled Mobed, and the priesthood is heredi tary. The Yazna, Vispard, and Vendidad are their sacred writings, but they have not been translated into a vernacular, and each Parsee has to pick up his religion as best ho may.
Their ablutions for purification are much insisted on, after most of the natural functions, and, like the Hindu, the women dwell apart when unwell, and, similarly, for the forty days after child birth, as followed by the Mosaic and :Muhammadan ritual. The people are of a yellowish-white colour, tall, large-made men, with long arms and large feet. Their women are of a pale white, but mostly with a slightly santhowi hue. A new code of laws for the Indian Parsee* wax promul gated in the middle of the 19th century. In social life, they now can marry only one wife. though formerly, in case of barrenness, a second could be married. The young bride is taken to her husband's house after she grown up. The women of the Parsee community are believed to be very chaste. They marry in comparative childhood, and this seems to have its usual result ing cynic, for the immeralities of the men are frequently before the community in the public papers. The wife and husband call each other by their names. The Parsecs do not eat the flesh of the cow or hog, and are permitted the use of spirituous liquors. Their women also use the latter ; but they are a sober people, rarely par taking to excess. At their meals, when sitting down, they pronounce the grace, called Jamwani baz, which they suppose to be a thanks-offering.
Priestcraft, acting upon ignorance, has not failed to do its work, and has left a legacy of a few works for which the Parsee has no reason to be thankful. Many ceremonies have been thus introduced, but the reformers contend that all those ceremonies that have no autbority in the original Zendavesta ought to be abolished. Of course the old and the priests do not like this at all. Marriage among cousins is recommended. The form of marriage among the l'arsees is a very simple ceremony,—little more, indeed, than a civil contract, ratified by family consent and abundant festivity.