Over two thousand five hundred years ago, the Greek Philosopher Heraclitus said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Indeed, everything changes with time, and change is the only constant. The world we live in is fast changing and there is great pressure on the community to move with the times. But, change, especially within an ethnic religious community, ensconced in its comfort zone, and long held religious and cultural beliefs, is not easy. Religion and religious beliefs are sensitive issues that need to be handled with care and patience.

Should we change or perish? What should we change? How much should we change? These are questions that have no simple or easy answers. All we know is the fact that over time, some changes do come to be accepted. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the community took a dim view of educating female children. Until even the mid-nineteenth century, it was considered inappropriate to marry a girl from the Athornan (priest) family to someone from a behdin family. Social reformers were frowned upon. However, today there’s complete acceptance of gender parity and both – girls and boys are given equal opportunity to educate themselves.

Acrimony To Acceptance

In 1745, the Kadmi sect of the community in Gujarat, changed its calendar and adjusted it one month ahead to conform with the calendar observed by the community in Iran. Those who did not adopt the change called themselves Shehenshahi or followers of the royal traditional calendar from the time of King Yazdagird III of the Sassanian dynasty. In truth, both calendars were out of sync with the seasons, running inaccurately without intercalation. Dispute over which calendar was accurate led to much infighting, leading to street fighting and rioting within Parsi Mohallas. Marriages between two sects was unacceptable and an innocent behdin Homaji Behdin Jamshed was the victim of this unfortunate controversy which divided the community bitterly and violently.

However, today, as a community, do we even bother to ask fellow coreligionists whether they are Kadmi or Shehenshahi? Do any of our youngsters even know the difference or care to know the difference? Don’t we pray at both Kadmi and Shehenshahi Atash Bahrams with equal respect and devotion in Mumbai and in Surat? Over time, acrimony has changed to acceptance and even mutual respect.

Religion Should Unite Not Divide

It is ironic that while religion is supposed to be a unifying force, it often leads to division. Unfortunately, today despite our dwindling numbers, the ‘Orthodox v/s Liberal’ dispute continues. Vegetarian Parsis castigate meat eating Parsis. Orthodox Parsis demonize those who bury or cremate the dead. Some orthodox Parsis see no harm if an inter-married Parsi man visits the fire temple, but considers the place of worship as desecrated if an inter-married Parsi woman visits the fire temple.

There is an acute shortage of full-time priests. However, as a community we are averse to building the capacity of behdin-pasban (para mobed) beyond the bare basic. There are places of worship with hardly any footfall. However, even a suggestion to move a Holy Fire to another place of worship leads to public outcry or even a run to the nearest court. Historically, Holy Iranshah was moved to several places since it was first consecrated in Sanjan. The fires that glow at several current locations in Mumbai and Pune used to glow elsewhere. However, some within the community would rather let the Holy Fire languish for want of patronage and ritual support of limited and overworked priests, rather than adopt a more rational approach, albeit without compromising on religious tradition.

The problem with most of us is that we have no idea how to change or what to change. We go in either one of two directions, resist all change, or embrace all change. Both directions are unworthy. The resolution lies in opening our arms to change, but not letting go of our core values.

Values And Ethics

Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions, providing the general guidelines for conduct. Values are the motive behind purposeful action, responsible for ethics and ethical behaviour. There is no point in saying that we are deeply rooted in religious values if we do not have the ethics to also say that we are open to the idea of peaceful dialogue, understanding each other and arriving at a solution that is best for the community and its long-term sustainability. Values are the ideals of the community, about what is good or bad, or desirable or undesirable. Ethics is all about reasoning and how to decide and take the right action.

Core Zoroastrian Values And Ethics

A core Zoroastrian value is Asha or Truth. Evil is often described as ‘the lie.’ Ignorance is evil. Every good action of a Zoroastrian must arise from a position of knowledge, good reasoning and understanding. In religion, faith plays an important role. However, Zarathushtra in the Gatha recommends that we think before we believe. Is everything told to us by some esoteric interpreters of the religion and its doctrine, true? We need to cultivate a reflective mind.

Close on the heels of Asha comes the value of ‘Haka’ or friendliness. It’s unfortunate that Parsis, especially in India, have become argumentative, sometimes even turning acrimonious. In stark contrast, over 2,500 years ago, the Achaemenian dynasty, founded by Cyrus the Great, built a world empire (the first in history) based on friendship – the Haka-manish. Haka means friend or friendly and Manish means mind, mentality or more broadly a temperament. The great kings of the Haka-manish empire were builders, not destroyers, respecting every creed and culture. They abolished slavery, upholding human rights, and believing in justice for all.

Being charitable is also a core Zoroastrian value. Here, charity is not just about giving money, food, shelter, or the contribution of one’s time to a good cause. The Pahlavi concept of Raadhi (charity) goes together with Raasti (truth) and encourages charity in thought, word, and deed. We need to be charitable or generous in our thinking and realise that truth could possibly be somewhere in-between two strong but opposing arguments.

Unity And Harmony

The Zoroastrian scriptures indicate various ways in which Zoroastrians may live in harmony with fellow human beings. According to Yasna 12:9, the very first principle of righteous conduct is to put an end to all discord. The Shayest ne-shayest (20:6) speaks of three important duties – To make an enemy a friend; To make a wicked person righteous; and, To make an ignorant person wise.

A Zoroastrian is expected to end all discord and live in harmony with others. In the Afrin-e-Gahambar we are exhorted to be in Hamazor (unity) with righteous persons of all the seven regions. By helping each other and living in harmony, virtue is accumulated in the treasury of Ahura Mazda and blessings showered and redistributed among all righteous human beings. May we all aspire and work towards positive change, upholding our Zoroastrian values and ethics always!