The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-26
AMONG THE -PARsEEs.
THE REV. DIR. TALMAGE SPENDS
TWO WEEKS AT BOMBAY.
His Talks with Nbted Fire Worship
characterization of Parsee Catech-
ism-A Visit to N Tower of silence
Heather Matrimonial Rites.

the world sermons through the press,
chose today for his subject THE Fire
WorShipers," the text selected being
Matthew II, /, There came wise men from
the East to Jerusalem"
These wise men were the Parsees. or
the so-called fire worshipers. and found
their descendants In India last October
Their heathenism Is more tolerable than
any. Of the other false religions and has
more alleviations, and while In this round
the world series have already shown you
the worst forms OF heathenism today
show you the least offensive.
The prophet of the Parsees was Zoroaster
OF Persia. He was poet and philosopher
and reformer as well as rellgionlst. His
disciples thrived at first in Persia, but
under Mohammedan persecution they re-
treated to India, where I met them, and
in addition to what saw OF them at their
headquarters in Bombay, India, 1 had two
weeks OF association with one Of the most
learned and genial Of their people on ship
board from Bombay to Brindisi.
a Tenet of Faith.
The bible Of the Parsees, or fire wor-
shippers. as they are inaccurately called, is
the Zend Avesta, a collection of the
hands There were originally twenty-one
volumes, but Alexander the Great in a
drunken lit set fire to a palace which
contained some Of them, and they went
into ashes and forgetfulness. But there
are more Of their sacred volumes left than
most people would have patience 10 read.
There are many things In the religion OF
the Parsees that suggest Christianity, and
some of its doctrines are in accord with
our own religion. ZOroaster, who lived
about 1.400 years before Christ, was
good man, suffered persecution for his
faith and was assaSsinated while wor-
Shipping at an altar. He announced the
theory; He Is best who Is pure of hearth
and that there are two great spirits IN
the wOrld-Ormuzd, the good spirit, and
Ahr1man, the bad spirit-and that all who
do right are under the influence of Or
muZd, and all who do wrong are I'M
der Ahriman, that the Parsee must
be born on the ground floor of the
house and must be buried from the
ground floor; that the dying man must
have prayers said over him and a sacred
juice given him to drink; that the good at
their decease go into eternal light and the
bad into eternal darkness: that having
passed out Of this life the soul fingers near
the corpse three DAYS in a paradisaic state,
enjoying more than all the nations Of earth
put together could enjoy, or In a pande-
mOniac state. suffering more than all the
nations put together could possibly suffer,
but at the end Of three days departing for
its final destiny. and that there will be
resurrection Of the body. They are more
careful than any other people about their
additions. and they wash and wash and
wash. They pay great attention 10 ply
steal health. and it is a rare thing to see
a sick Parsee. They do not smoke tobacco,
for they consider that a misuse Of fire. At
the close Of mortal life the soul appears at
the Bridge Chinvat, where an angel pre-
sides. and questions the soul about the
thoughts and words and deeds of its earth
" state. Nothing, however, is more intense
In the Parsee faith than the theory that the
dead body is impure. A devil is supposed
to take possession Of the dead body. All
who touch it are unclean. and hence the
strange style Of obsequies.
Parsees on Virtue and Vice.
But here I must give three or four ques-
tons and answers from one OF the Parsee
catechisms:
Question-Who is the most fortunate
man in the world?
Answer-He who is the most innocent.
Q.-WhO is the most innocent man in
the world?
Ale who walks in the path of God
and shuns that of the evil.
(Which is the path OF God, and
which that of the devil?
A.-Virtue is the path Of God, and vice
that Of the devil.
Q.-What constitutes virtue, and what
vice?
A-Good thoughts, good words and
goods deeds constitute virtue, and evil
thoughts. evil words and evil deeds con-
stitute vice.
Q.-What constitute good thoughts good
words and good deeds and evil thoughts,
evil words and evil deeds?
A-Honesty charity and truthfulness
constitute the former, and dishonesty, want
Of oh nd al rut fba Ia
ter.
And now, the better to show you these
Parsees, / tell you of two things I saw
within a short time in Bombay. 1t was an
afternoon of contrast.
We started for Malabar hill, on which
the wealthy classes have their empowered
homes and the Parsees their strange tenn
pie Of the dead. AS we rode along the wa
ter's edge the sun was descending the sky,
and a disciple of ZOroaster a Parsee was
In lowly posture, and with reverentiaI
gaze looking into the sky. He would have
been said to have been worshiping the sun.
as al Parsees are said 10 worship the fire
But the intelligent Parsee does not worship
the fire. He .ooks upon the sun as the
emblem OF the warmth and light of the
Creator. Looking at a b.aze of light
whether on earth, on mountain hight or
in the sky, he can more easily bring to
mind the glory of GOd-at east, so the
Parsees tel me. Indeed they are the
p-rdSd4LtSL HEdAlt1 nave met. IneV
treat their wives as equals, while the Hin
docs and Buddhists treat them as cattle
although the cattle and sheep and swine
are better off than most Of the women Of
India.
This Parsee on the roadside on our way
TO Malabar hill was the only one of that
religion had ever seen engaged in wor-
ship. Who knows but that beyond the
light Of the sun on which he gazes he may
catch glimpse of the God who is light
and in whom there is no darkness at
alp"
Where the Dead Lie.
We passed on up through gates into the
garden that surrounds the place where the
Parsees dispose Of their dead. This garden
was given by Jamshidji Jijibhai and is
beautiful with flowers OF all hue and foil
age of all styles Of vein and notch. and
stature. There is on all sides great opu-
lence Of fern and cypress. The garden Is
100 feet about the level of the sea Not
far from the entrance is a building where
the mourners of the funeral procession go
in to pray. A light is here kept burning
year In and year out. We ascend the gar
den by some eight stone steps. The body
Of deceased aged woman was being car
ried in toward the chief tower OF 81
lence." There are five Of these towers
Several Of them have not been used for a
long while. Four persons, whose. business
II is TO do this, carry in the corpse They
are followed by two men with long boards
The tower Of silence to which they come
cost $1,000 and Is 25 feet high and 276
feet around and without a roof. The four
carriers Of the dead and the two bearded