If ye will only know and learn these Laws,

Which Mazda hath ordained for ye, O men,

The Laws of happiness, the Laws of pain,

That falsehood hinders progress,

That Truth leads on to a fuller higher life,

Upon all such the Light Divine shall dawn.

(Yasna 30:11)

According to Zoroastrian theology, death involves the parting of the immortal spirit or soul from the mortalphysical body. While the immortal spirit or soul moves on into the spiritual world, the mortal physical body remains devoid of the life-giving energy that once animated it, becoming a source of physical pollution. A number of measures are suggested in the Zoroastrian scriptures to control this pollution.

Onslaught Of Druj

From the doctrinal point of view, a dead body comes under the attack of Druj(or Druj-e-Nasu)or evil, which, as per the Vendidad, rushes towards the dead from the North, in the form of a Makhshi(microbe). As per Zoroastrianism, the process of containing Drujmust be started immediately,preferably in the same gahof the death.

In India the body is washed with taro, the kustiis tied around the waist of the deceased for the last time and the body is placed on stone slabs. Thereafter, a Kash is drawn with an iron nail and recital of the Ashem. This ritually confines the Druj in the demarcated area. Thereafter, Sagdid(sight of a dog) is performed from time to time as it is believed that the benevolent energy emitted from the dog’s eyes drives away Drujand other evil forces. Reciting the Ahunavaiti Gatha during Gah Sarna ceremony also prevents Drujfrom spreading among the living. It’s recommended that the body be exposed to the powerful and purifying rays of the sun (AvestaHvareDarasya or Persian khurshedNigarishni).

Role Of The Sun

Many Parsis and non-Parsis seem to think that Parsis consign dead bodies to the Dokhma to be eaten by vultures and other scavenging birds. This is only partly correct. Both, scavenging birds and the rays of the sun, play a role complementing each other in the disposal of the mortal remains.In mofussil areas where only few bodies are consigned to the dokhma, the elements of Natureare capable of disposing the mortal remains in a relatively slow but eco-friendly manner. Where scavenging birds are available, the process is naturally much faster.

Consecrated Space

Dokhma is not simply a circular, tower-like stonestructure where mortal remains are laid to rest. It is a consecrated place which is created after a series of complex and intricate religious ceremonies, including the KudaliMarvani Kriya, where priests dig the ground with the recital of Yatha Ahu Vairyo, Tano Purvani Kriyawhere three hundred and one nails weighing fourmaunds (the number four having numerological connectivity with the four elements) are struck in the ground at various points with the recital of one Yathaand a cotton cord with one hundred and onestrands (signifying the  one hundred and onenames of Ahura Mazda) is passed through each of these three hundred and one nails three times around, forming an intricate ritual circuit. Thereafter, Vendidad andIjashne ceremonies are performed. The object of all these ceremonies is to containDruj.

Why Burial Is Avoided?

The Vendidad,the only surviving Nask of the original twenty-oneAvestanvolumes, states that Ahura Mazdaand Spenta Armaity (the spirit or essence of earth) feel ‘the sorest grief’ when dead bodies are buried under the ground. The Vendidadeven recommendsthat buried dead bodies be exhumedand exposed to the purifying rays of the sun. Not for a moment are we recommending this, but simply pointing out the abhorrence with which our sacred texts oppose the system of burial.

Having said that, in places where there are noDokhma, Parsis do bury their dead. However, where one is compelled to bury, the oral tradition is to not use a coffin and to bury the body only at a certain depth, away from rivers and wells and with sea salt and lime (chuna) to speed up the natural process of decomposition.

Why Is Cremation Disallowed?

Parsis doctrinally consider fire as sacred – the giver of light and life. Ardibehesht(Asha Vahishta), Ahura Mazda’s quality and energy of Truth and Righteousness, presides over fire, making it the living embodiment of Asha or Ahura Mazda’s Truth and Divine Order. This is why we offer prayers, fragrant wood and good deeds before the consecrated Fire of an Agyari or Atash Bahram, as also our household divo.Offering anything dead or polluted to fire is doctrinally considered disrespectful.

It’s often argued that fire is a great purifier and cannot be polluted but this is not true. Fire simply transforms a polluting substance from one state to another. When we offer fragrant wood or frankincense to fire, the divine scent lifts our spirit and soothes us (aroma therapy), but the smell emitted when garbage or any toxic material is being burnt,makes you feel sick. Output depends on the input. Certain inputs to the fire help cleanse and fumigate while others pollute and cause harm.

Burning dead bodies leads to environmental pollution and adds to greenhouse gases.A single cremation produces roughly one hundred to five hundred kilograms of carbon dioxide, equivalent to burning two tanks of gasoline.

Electric Crematorium

Though it’s often argued that no fire used in an electric crematorium, its process involves raising the heat inside the furnace to more than700°C,at which point the hydrocarbons of the body catch fire or self-ignite. Environmental pollution caused by electric crematoriums is a worldwide concern. Scrubbers from high chimneys could reduce but not eliminate stench and fly ash. Closer to home, those residing around Chandanwadi(Mumbai)and Vaikunth(Pune) cremation grounds are forced to shut their windows each time the crematorium is turned on, even as a layer of soot forms over clothes drying on the clothes-line outside. Residents also complain of chronic respiratory problems, headaches and nausea.

Visually Disturbing Sights

Some who have seen the dokhma from inside say it’s a visually disturbing sight. As is only natural! The same would hold true should a corpse be exhumed from a grave or if the electric crematoriumwere to have glass windows!

Death is the only certainty of life. When a person passes on,it’s the physical body that dies, not the spirit. Upon death, the physical body returns to the earth, dust or its constituent organic elements (dust-to-dust.) What is important is disposing the physical body in a matter that is least harmful to the living!