The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-10

Qudi lcfS Ol lflE II Is therefore,
not unusual to see number Of Parsees
saying their prayers, morning and even
ing, in the open space, turning their
faces to the rising or the setting sun, be-
fore the glowing moon or the foamins
sea- Turning to these grand objects, the
best and sublimest of his creations, they
address their prayers to the Almighty.
To educate their children is a
spiritual duty of Zoroastrian parents.
Education is necessary, not only for the
material good Of the children and the
parents, but also for their spiritual
good.
The proper age recommended by re-
hgiOus Parsee books for ordinary edu-
cation is seven. Before that age chill
dren should have home education with
their parents, especially with the mother.
The Parsee books speak Of the
necessity Of educating all children.
whether male or female. Thus female
education claims as much attention
among the Parsees as male educa-
The religious books of Parsees say
that the education of Zoroastrian youths
should teach them perfect discipline,
obedience to their teachers. obedience
to their parents obedience to their
elders in society and obedience to the
constitutional forms of government
should be one of the practical results OF
their education. OF all the
by the religious precepts Of Zoroas-
trianism is that Of the observation OF
sanitary rules and principles. Several
chapters Of the Vendidad form, as Ii
were. the sanitary code Of the Parsees.
Most OF the injunctions will stand the
test Of sanitary science for ages to-
gether. OF the different Asiatic COM
nlunities inhabiting Bombay the Parsees
have the lowest death rate. One can
safely say that that is, to a great extent,
due to the Zoroastrian ideas of SANTA
ton, segregation, publication and clean
We now come to the question Of
wealth. poverty and labor. AS Hero
dotus said, a Parsee. before praying for
himself, prays for his sovereign and for
his community, for he is himself in
cluded in the community. His religious
precepts teach him to drown his indi-
viduality in the common interest Of his
community. He is to consider himself
as part and parcel of the whole COM
munity. The good of the whole will be
the gOod-and that a solid goOd-of the
parts. In the twelfth chapter Of the
Yasma, which contains. as it were. Zorro
astrian articles Of faith, a. ZoroaStrian
promise to preserve a perfect bother
hood. He promises, even at the risk of
his life, to protect the life and the prop
srty Of all the members Of his COM
munity, and to help in the cause that
would bring about their prosperity and
welfare. It is with these good feelings
of brotherhood and charity that the
Parsee community has endowed large
funds for benevolent and charitable pur
a ParSee does not restrict his ideas of
brotherhood and charity to his own COM
munity alone. He extends his charity to
non-ZOroastrians as we'll
Marriage is an institution which is
greatly encouraged by the spirit OF the
Parsee religion. 1t is especially recon-
mended in the Parsee scripture on the
ground that a married life is more likely
to be able to Withstand physical and
mental aff1ictiOn than an unmarried per-
son, and that a married man is more
likely to lead a religious and virtuous
life than an unmarried one. The
qualifications of a good husband, from
Zoroastrian point of view are that he
must be young and handsome; strong,
brave and healthy, diligent and indus
trious, so as to maintain his wife and
children; truthful as would prove true to
herself and true to all others with whom
he would come in contact, and is wise
and educated The qualifications Of
good wife are that she be wise and edu-
Gated modest and courteous, obedient
and chaste. Obedience to her husband is
the first duty of a ZOrOastrian wife 1t
is great virtue, deserving all praise and
reward. DisObedience is a great sin,
punishable after death.
Fifteen is the minimum manageable
age spoken of by the Parsee books. The
parents have a voice Of sanction or APP
prevail in the selection Of wives and hus-
bands. Mutual friends of parents or
marrying parties may bring about q
good selection Marriage with non
ZOrOastrians are not recommended, as
they are likely to bring about quarrels
and dissensions owing to difference OF
al nd Iah
We said above that the Parsee religion
has made its disciples tolerant about the
faiths and beliefs of others Ii has as
well made them sociabIe with the other
sister communities Of the country. They
mix freely with members Of other faiths
and take part In the rejoicings of their
holidays. They also sympathize with
them in their griefs and Affections, and
in case OF sudden calamities such as fire,
etc, they subscribe literally to alleviate
their misery"
We will let the above summary Of this
paper suffice to show US the trend of the
Parsee religion.
1t seems quite probable that, with
careful investigation of the oriental man
ners and customs OF worship. we shall
see that they do not really worship the
objects they use in their forms Of WOr-
ship, but are used as symbols, and serve
TO concentrate the mind upon God as
they conceive Him 10 be and their du-
ties toward Him.
Whatever the future may bring forth
we all know that as yet symbolism IS al
most universally practiced in some form
in the Christian religion, which may be
to us of more intellectual and spiritual
significance, according to our education
and custom. More anon.
Danville, H., Jan. 4.